Saturday’s news links – May 23, 2020

Venezuelan Army to escort Iranian tankers bringing gasoline to Venezuelans blockaded by U.S. sanctions

American violence in the time of coronavirus High Country News

Author Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz puts armed ‘reopen’ protests in their historical context.

The Coming Greater Depression of the 2020s Nouriel Roubini

You’re going to start having food riots soon enough. Look at the luxury stores in New York. They’ve either boarded them up or emptied their shelves, because they’re worried people are going to steal the Chanel bags. The few stores that are open, like my Whole Foods, have security guards both inside and outside. We are one step away from food riots. There are lines three miles long at food banks. That’s what’s happening in America. You’re telling me everything’s going to become normal in three months? That’s lunacy.

Labor

VIDEO: Ford Workers Shut Down the Line at Dearborn Truck Plant Labor Notes

Tesla employees fear unsafe conditions at factory, call it ‘modern-day sweatshop’ Electrek

Trump Condemned for Praising Noted Anti-Semite Henry Ford’s “Good Bloodlines” Truthout

Indigenous Peoples

ProPublica: Former Trump aide provided faulty masks to Indian Health Service Indianz

Leading National American Indian Organizations Call for Ouster of Indian Affairs Assistant Secretary Tara MacLean Sweeney Native News Online

China

Analyst: China’s security law for Hong Kong ‘not the business of Pompeo or the US PressTV

China in the post-pandemic 2020s Michael Roberts

The pandemic and lockdown had driven the Chinese economy into a severe contraction for several months, from which it is only just recovering. The economy contracted by 6.8 per cent in the first quarter and most forecasts for the whole year are for less than half of the 6.1 per cent growth rate posted last year. But even that figure would be way better than all the G7 economies in 2020.

Inside the World Uyghur Congress: The US-backed right-wing regime change network seeking the ‘fall of China’ Ajit Singh

Statement from The Lancet in response to President Donald Trump’s May 18 letter to Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization pic.twitter.com/JX8orfpMPB

— The Lancet (@TheLancet) May 19, 2020

Coronavirus

Chinese researchers confident about developing a highly effective treatment this year MSN

77 Nobel Laureates Denounce Trump Officials For Pulling Coronavirus Research Grant NPR

Trump launches historic Virus Rights Movement, will ‘override governors’ on churches reopening BBC

Trump’s Food Aid Program Gives Little Funding to the Northeast, Where Coronavirus Hit Hardest ProPublica

Cuomo Order That Sent Estimated 4,300 Covid-19 Patients to Nursing Homes Denounced as ‘Single Dumbest Decision Anyone Could Make’ Common Dreams

Capitalist crisis

Hertz, one of the world’s largest car rental companies, filed for bankruptcy. It was struggling with debt before the pandemic devastated its business. NYTimes

Catastrophic Plunge in Jobs & Labor Force in Los Angeles, San Francisco/Silicon Valley Smacks into Housing Bubbles Wolf Street

U.S. war drive

‘We’ll spend you into oblivion’: US nuclear envoy reveals ‘negotiating’ tactic for New START, last arms control deal with Russia RT

Trump administration discussed conducting first U.S. nuclear test in decades Washington Post

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