"As the Trump administration ignores the pleas of its own health experts and embraces a 'herd immunity' strategy that scientists have condemned as fringe and dangerous, researchers at the University of Washington School of Medicine are predicting an 80% spike in US coronavirus deaths by February as cases continue to rise across the nation," Common Dreams reported Friday. What happens next?
"On September 1, US health officials announced they would suspend evictions across the country to help stem further spread of the novel coronavirus," Reuters reported Monday. But renters are still in trouble. "The local, state, and federal eviction bans that gave them temporary protection in the spring began to lapse in early summer. September's reprieve by the CDC [US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention], which protected many, but not all, renters will expire in January," the outlet noted. What's going on now, and what does this portend for the future?
According to a Friday article in MintPressNews: "Citing 'censorship outcry' from the three branches of government, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai announced yesterday via tweet the agency's intention to move forward with regulation of social media by looking to modify Section 230 of the Communications Act, which protects the likes of Facebook and Twitter from the parts of the US code that open publishers to legal challenges over the content posted to their platforms, which inevitably puts content creators, themselves, in the crosshairs of the legal system without the benefit of their First Amendment rights." Is this a real problem?
After months of US opposition, the Iran arms embargo at the UN has expired, and despite American objections, UN officials uniformly agree on the matter. Don't tell that to the Trump administration, though, as it insists the embargo is still in place. What happens next?
US President Donald Trump "says he'll support a bigger coronavirus relief aid package than $1.8 trillion – and blames [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi for stonewalling for political gain," Al Jazeera reported on October 15. Is political brinkmanship being played here? Is Pelosi's unwillingness to allow any Trump victory so close to the November election coming at the expense of the American people?
Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden have their differences, but they share a distrust of China. "This year's presidential race has been dominated by two crises that have upended American lives, the coronavirus, and the economic recession," columnist Doyle McManus wrote for the Los Angeles Times earlier this month. How will this state of distrust play out in the long run?
"The Kremlin said on Monday that Moscow hoped talks with the United States would continue despite Washington rejecting a Russian proposal to unconditionally extend the last treaty limiting the two countries' strategic nuclear weapons," Reuters reported Monday. "Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the demise of the New START accord, which was signed in 2010 and is due to expire in February, would have 'harmful' consequences." How much of this is tied to Trump being a very transactional person and not understanding that this is not as simple as renewing a building lease?
Guests:
Dr. Yolandra Hancock - Board-certified pediatrician and obesity medicine specialist
Jack Rasmus - Professor in the Economics and Politics departments at St. Mary's College of California
Marshall Auerback - Market analyst and research associate at the Levy Economics Institute of Bard College
Wyatt Reed - Sputnik news analyst and producer for By Any Means Necessary
Scott Ritter - Former UN weapons inspector in Iraq
Richard Lachmann - Professor at the State University of New York at Albany and author of "First Class Passengers on a Sinking Ship: Elite Politics and the Decline Great Powers"
Caleb Maupin - Journalist and political analyst
Mark Sleboda - Moscow-based international relations and security analyst
We'd love to get your feedback at radio@sputniknews.com
