(2020-04-14). Facebook Picks up Senior FTC Official to Undermine Her Former Employees. cepr.net The Covid-19 pandemic is creating ripe conditions for corporate acquisition sprees by industry giants. But at least one company, already under the microscope, isn't just looking to pick off competitors. Facebook has its eyes on the supposed cops on this beat, the antitrust enforcement officials ready to jump ship. Barbara Blank just joined Facebook …
(2020-04-14). Prioritizing Jails Over Hospitals Has Made Rural US More Vulnerable to COVID-19. zcomm.org If we are to emerge from this crisis with a functioning and fair society, public safety will need to mean safety for everyone. The time has come to definitively end mass incarceration and to build for a just future…
(2020-04-14). Mast fires surge over Easter weekend amid 5G-coronavirus conspiracy theories. thecanary.co Another 20 suspected arson attacks against phone masts occurred over the Easter weekend amid concern about conspiracy theories linking 5G to coronavirus. | Among them was an incident in Dagenham, where two 19-year-old men and an 18-year-old man were arrested on suspicion of arson, as well as a fire in Huddersfield involving a mast used by emergency services. | The chief executive of Vodafone said one of the sites targeted over the weekend provides mobile connectivity to the Nightingale hospital in Birmingham. | "Burning down masts means damaging important national infrastructure," explained Nick Jeffery. | "In pr…
(2020-04-13). Wash Your Hands? Despite Pandemic, Thousands Still Have No Water in Detroit, a Coronavirus Hot Spot. democracynow.org 
Water shutoffs continue amid the coronavirus pandemic in Detroit, despite a moratorium and a program to help thousands of residents restore service last month. The lack of water access comes as nearly 1,500 people in Michigan have died from COVID-19, and 40% of those who have died are African-American, despite making up just 14% of the state's population. We speak with community pastor and activist Rev. Roslyn Bouier, who has been working with residents to restore their water.
(2020-04-13). Colombia: Police Abuse Becomes Common During COVID-19 Outbreak. telesurenglish.net Colombian citizens denounced the police brutality and misuse of power during quarantine enforcement due COVID-19 outbreak inside the South American nation, a new report revealed. | RELATED: | Social media users shared videos showing police imposing arbitrary and random fines during the quarantine period in Colombia this past week. Colombian officers are also intimidating citizens who are seen outside of their homes. | Esteban Velazquez, a psych…
(2020-04-13). US: African-Americans Are More Vulnerable to COVID-19. telesurenglish.net The U.S.' African-American population is more vulnerable to COVID-19, according to social and demographic studies on the virus. | RELATED: | The reason for this exposure of the African-American population is not its genetics or physical conditions, but the systemic discrimination it suffers. Many of the non-white citizens of the United States are lacking health insurance, so they may also have underlying health problems tha…
(2020-04-13). Thousands Still Have No Water in Detroit, a COVID-19 Hot Spot. truthout.org Water shutoffs continue amid the coronavirus pandemic in Detroit, despite a moratorium and a program to help thousands of residents restore service last month. The lack of water access comes as nearly 1,500 people in Michigan have died from COVID-19, and 40% of those who have died are African-American, despite making up just 14% of the state's population. We speak with community pastor and activist Rev. Roslyn Bouier, who has been working with residents to restore their water. | TRANSCRIPT: | AMY GOODMA…
(2020-04-10). A Failed Model: Why Adam Schiff Must Stand Down on a "9/11-Style" COVID-19 Commission. mintpressnews.com 
Many members of the Trump administration deserve to be arrested and tried in a court of law. They should not, however, have the luxury of escaping truth and justice by way of a "9/11-style Commission."
(2020-04-08). "A Systematic Issue of Disparity": Black People in Louisiana Account for 70% of COVID-19 Deaths. democracynow.org 
Louisiana faces one of the worst outbreaks of the coronavirus in the United States. New data shows black people account for 70% of all the state's coronavirus deaths, though they comprise just 32% of the state's population. Louisiana also has the highest incarceration rate in the country, and more than 65% of the people in its jails and prisons are black. At least 28 people are infected, and 22 corrections staff have tested positive. State corrections officials are sending infected prisoners to the Louisiana State Penitentiary — known as Angola, the largest maximum-security prison in the United States [mdas…
(2020-04-08). Albert Woodfox: COVID-19 Offers Public a "Small Window" into What Prisoners Face in Solitary Confinement. democracynow.org 
As millions shelter in place around the world, we speak with Albert Woodfox, who served the longest time in solitary confinement of any prisoner in the United States. Known as one of the Angola Three, along with Robert King and Herman Wallace, Woodfox was held in isolation for nearly 44 years at the Louisiana State Penitentiary, known as Angola. He was convicted of killing a guard in jail, but always maintained his innocence. He says he was targeted for co-founding the first Black Panther chapter in Angola. He was released in 2016 and is now 73 years old. His memoir is "Solitary: Unbroken by Four Decades in Solit…
(2020-04-08). If COVID-19 Doesn't Discriminate, Then Why Are Black People Dying at Higher Rates? aclu.org COVID-19 is ravaging many parts of the United States, but nowhere more than in Black communities. Early data from the
(2020-04-08). "They Don't Care if You Die": Immigrants in ICE Detention Fear the Spread of COVID-19. aclu.org 
Mario Rodas, Sr. first found out there was a deadly virus spreading through the country while he was watching television at the Plymouth County Correctional Facility in Massachusetts. In early March, Rodas had been pulled over and arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents while driving to the supermarket with his wife, a legal resident and the mother of his three U.S. citizen children. Since then, he'd been in the custody of ICE, mostly at Plymouth. | The more Rodas heard about the disease, the more fearful the 59-year-old became. | "I was scared for my health," he told the ACLU. "I was worr…
(2020-04-07). Deaths of Inequality: AOC on Black and Latinx Communities at Epicenter of Epicenter of the Pandemic. democracynow.org 
As COVID-19 deaths spike in African-American and immigrant communities, almost a third of New York City's infections are in Queens, one of the most diverse places in the world, and many in the hardest-hit neighborhoods are undocumented and working-class. We speak with Congressmember Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who represents the neighborhoods at the epicenter of the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, about how the Trump administration's response to the pandemic is causing "deaths of incompetence," "deaths of science denial" and "deaths of inequality."
(2020-04-06). "Leaving Us in Here to Die": Prisoners Plea for Release, Protection Amid Skyrocketing Infections. democracynow.org 
U.S. Attorney General William Barr issued an emergency order Friday calling for the release of vulnerable federal prisoners into home confinement amid the coronavirus crisis. This news comes as at least 16 states have also released prisoners. We look at the treatment of incarcerated people in New York state, where Governor Andrew Cuomo has yet to grant anyone freedom despite at least 24 confirmed cases among state prisoners. Meanwhile, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has said he'll release about 300 people from Rikers Island and other city jails, but advocates are calling for far more to be freed. We speak to…
(2020-04-06). Everyone Must be Counted in the 2020 Census. aclu.org Every 10 years, the federal government conducts a census to count everyone living in the United States. For people of color, especially Black people, the census has traditionally been exclusionary and deeply flawed. | Article 1, Section 2 of the Constitution was intentionally designed to protect the institution of slavery by immorally reducing those enslaved to three-fifths of a human being. It remains the only reference to slavery in the Constitution and was the law when the first census was completed in 1790 and for 75 years thereafter until the 14th Amendment was passed. Two hundred thirty years later, Bla…
(2019-07-24). MPP National Director Nick Brana arrested with XR. peoplesparty.org 
with Extinction Rebellion climate activists | MPP National Director Nick Brana arrested with Extinction Rebellion climate activists after supergluing themselves to Congress in mass civil disobedience: | Washington, D.C. — Movement for a People's Party National Director Nick Brana was arrested during a protest to block Congress and demand that they join the countries of the UK and Canada and declare a climate emergency. | Brana and 15 people affiliated with the climate action group Extinction Rebellion (XR) glued themselves to three underground tunnel entrances leading to the Capitol, blocking access…