French unions set to intensify struggle as Macron bypasses parliament on pension reforms

Peoples Dispatch | March 06, 2020

Trade unions have been protesting the French government’s pension reforms since July 2019. (Photo: Romain Lafabregue/ AFP)

French trade unions and workers’ organizations are preparing for further struggles after president Emmanuel Macro’s government decided to bypass parliament to put into place the controversial pension reforms.

On March 3, Tuesday, the French government opted to use article 49.3 of the constitution to take this route and approve the pension reforms proposed by Macron. Workers in the country have been protesting the controversial reforms since they were proposed in July 2019. Outraged French trade unions staged a protest on Tuesday against the government’s move. The opposition parties have also moved two motions to censure the use of article 49.3 which allows the government to unilaterally pass financial or social security bills without consulting the parliament.

U.S Democratice Presidential Primary: Feature or Bug? Super Tuesday Plagued by Long Lines, Closed Polling Stations and Systemic Failure

by Alan Macleod

MintPress News | March 04, 2020

Chaos and gridlock again reigned across much of America as fourteen states chose their candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination yesterday on Super Tuesday. Many voters were forced to wait in line for up to six hours as understaffed and poorly equipped polling stations were inundated with voters, particularly in Texas and California, the two largest and most influential Super Tuesday states.

In California, electronic voting systems were unable to connect and experienced severe problems, something election integrity activists had warned was bound to happen. The law dictates that all those in line by closing time must be allowed to cast a ballot. But the technical difficulties meant that many stood in line through the evening for their right to choose. MOVE Texas, an activist focused on youth voter turnout organized lines at Texas State University in San Marcos, handed out pizza and bottles of water to those still waiting.

Coronavirus: Countries are not grasping reality of threat, warns WHO chief as 300 million students sent home worldwide

 Countercurrents Collective | March 06, 2020

World Health Organization (WHO) officials have warned that some countries are not taking the coronavirus crisis seriously enough, as outbreaks surged across Europe and in the U.S. where medical workers sounded warnings over a “disturbing” lack of hospital preparedness.

The epidemic has wreaked havoc on international business, tourism, sports events and schools, with almost 300 million students sent home worldwide.

Religions around the world have also been affected: The Vatican said Pope Francis may have to change his schedule, Bethlehem was placed under lockdown.

‘Do wear masks but don’t think you’re safe’: Top Soviet virologist & WHO expert explains Covid-2019 & debunks popular myths

Countercurrents Collective | March 03, 2020

As coronavirus fears spread, a world-renowned virologist has explained when Covid-2019 will fade away and, whether medical masks are of any use.

Around the world, public anxiety grows, with people embarking on panic buying and even fighting for medical masks.

But for initiated professionals, the Covid-2019 is just one of many epidemics that come and go without inflicting devastating losses to humankind.

Virologist Dmitry Lvov, who made his name on researching the most dangerous viruses in the former USSR and beyond, explained why this is the case during a sit-down with journalist Anton Krasovsky for RTD’s ‘Epidemic’ series.

Scientists fault gov’t and private industry response for U.S. coronavirus spread

by Mark Gruenberg

People’s World | March 06, 2020

A man wearing a mask walks away from the entrance of the Life Care Center nursing home in Kirkland, Wash., near Seattle, Tuesday, March 3. The facility has been tied to several confirmed cases of the COVID-19 coronavirus. | Ted S. Warren / AP

Two top scientists—the chief of occupational medicine at the University of Illinois and the Dean of the Baylor University’s School of Tropical Medicine—are faulting the federal government’s and private industry’s response for the spread of COVID-19 coronavirus in the U.S.

And the top union for registered nurses, National Nurses United, found in a nationwide survey of 6,500 nurses, and counting, that only 44% report their hospitals and nursing homes have trained them in how to recognize and cope with the coronavirus, and only 29% have plans to isolate coronavirus sufferers.

The remarks, from Dr. Peter Orris of the University of Illinois at Chicago and Dr. Peter Hotez of Baylor University, came as the U.S. death toll from coronavirus rose to 14, and as data shows workers and older patients at nursing homes are particularly at risk of becoming ill and—for the elderly—dying.

Turkey: Activists hit out as anti-war slogans banned in Istanbul

by Steve Sweeney

Morning Star | March 05, 2020

Legislators push each other as a brawl breaks out in Turkey’s parliament in Ankara, yesterday

ACTIVISTS and human-rights lawyers in Istanbul today demanded that a ban on the slogan “no to war” and demonstrations against military operations in Syria be overturned.

The city governor’s office came under fire after it issued a decree against all actions and activities criticising Turkey’s offensive in Idlib province, where it is holed up with its jihadist allies.

FACE OF A POLITICS: U.S.: Half a billion dollars sent to waste

A Journal of People report

The on-going U.S. presidential election race is an area for learning politics in capitalist state. Following are a few of the huge number of incidents going around the race, which show a part of the politics.

Bloomberg’s millions go to waste

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg spent more than half a billion dollars of his own cash to buy himself a place in the race. Yet, despite spending a whopping $500 million on ads, the idea of Bloomberg as president never took off with voters.

To Understand America’s Broken Health Care System, Look at Colorado

Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) | March 05, 2020

WASHINGTON – The Effects of Hospital Consolidation in Colorado, a report by Jared Gaby-Biegel, published today by the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), can easily be the stand-in for what is broken in America’s health care system. What is clear from this report is the damage done by hospital consolidation and the cascading harm that follows – to health care insurers, patients, and communities.

The report shows how hospital consolidation leads to soaring charges for services that, in turn, push insurers to either consolidate or drop out.  Patients are stuck — either in a health insurance desert, or with an insurance deductible so high they can’t afford to use it.  Meanwhile, hospitals have split into the have and have-nots. Urban and wealthy suburban hospitals, even so-called nonprofit hospitals, rake in the profits, while rural hospitals teeter on the edge of financial insecurity.

Where did ‘The Gates’ lead?

by Kriston Capps

CityLab, March 2, 2020

Fifteen years ago, Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s audacious public art installation debuted in New York City’s Central Park. We’ll never see anything like it again.

When the artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude arrived in New York City from Paris in 1964, the view of Lower Manhattan from their place aboard the transatlantic liner S.S. France stuck with them. Soon after, the married couple, who dreamed of making installations on an urban scale, decided they wanted to do something for their adopted hometown. Christo sketched out an idea, a drawing over a photograph snapped by Jeanne-Claude. His drawing showed two towers, 2 Broadway and 20 Exchange Place, wrapped in fabric and tied up in rope — skyscrapers packaged like gifts to the city.