"A record 6.6 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week as the new coronavirus struck the US economy and sent a recently booming labor market into free fall," the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. "The large number of claims was double the 3.3 million who sought benefits two weeks ago as the US shut down parts of the economy in an effort to contain the virus. Jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs, provide temporary financial assistance for workers who lose their jobs." On its face, the answer to this question might be obvious, but what do these numbers really signal?
"The Iranian Foreign Ministry on Wednesday called for an immediate halt to 'warmongering during the coronavirus outbreak' as US forces reportedly deployed Patriot missiles to Iraq and President Donald Trump warned — without presenting a shred of evidence — that Tehran is planning a 'sneak attack' on American troops in the region," Common Dreams reported Thursday. This sounds a lot like the Bush administration and its allegations of WMDs.
"The State Department released what it called its 'democratic transition framework for Venezuela' on Tuesday; a 13-point plan for the removal of Nicolas Maduro and a radical overhaul of the country’s political system," MintPress News reported Wednesday. What’s the legal basis, the moral basis, the ethical basis for such demands?
"To deflect from the unconscionable failures and deceptions that allowed the pandemic to spread deep into the US population, the White House has launched a blame-shifting PR campaign targeting China," says a Wednesday article in The Grayzone. "At the heart of Washington’s narrative is the accusation that Beijing orchestrated a 'cover-up' that is responsible for the disastrous situation in the US." What's going on here?
GUESTS:
Dr. Linwood Tauheed — Associate professor of economics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
Jefferson Morley — Journalist and editor who has worked in Washington journalism for over 30 years, 15 of which were spent as an editor and reporter at The Washington Post. The author of "The Ghost: The Secret Life of CIA Spymaster James Jesus Angleton" and "Our Man in Mexico: Winston Scott and the Hidden History of the CIA," Morley has written about intelligence, the military and politics for Salon, The Atlantic and The Intercept, among others.
Alan MacLeod — Academic and journalist. He is a staff writer at MintPress News and a contributor to Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR), as well as the author of "Bad News From Venezuela: Twenty Years of Fake News and Misreporting."
Danny Haiphong — Activist and journalist in the New York City area. He and Roberto Sirvent are the co-authors of the forthcoming book "American Exceptionalism and American Innocence: A People's History of Fake News - From the Revolutionary War to the War on Terror."
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