A Defect of Democracy: Is 2020 Destined to Be America's Next Great Election Crisis?

Is America Prepared for a Presidential Election Crisis?

by Alan Hirsch - Common Dreams

March 12, 2020

What if, on account of the coronavirus, we attempt to hold the 2020 presidential election entirely on-line or through the mail, and it turns into a logistical nightmare? What if a major terrorist attack prevents holding the election on November 3? How about if, on Election Day, destructive weather prevents voting in some states? And what if hackers succeed in changing votes from one candidate to another, calling into question the accuracy of the electoral count?

For obvious reasons, people have begun to raise such questions. But we continue to pay insufficient attention to the over-arching question: Is America prepared for a presidential election crisis? The sobering answer is no.

Say What!? UK Downgrades Coronavirus Threat, While Increasing Social Control Measures

Yet Another Covid-19 "Say What?" Moment

by Rob Slane - The Blogmire

March 25, 2020


On 23rd March, the British Government put the entire country on lockdown risking incalculable consequences that could bring:

Economic meltdown
The mother of all financial crashes
Millions of job losses
Thousands of businesses going to the wall
Masses of people plunged into poverty
A huge deterioration in the mental health of millions
The potential deaths of thousands of old people left on their own with no carers (see the example of the Spanish care homes)
Mass civil unrest

Such enormous risks can surely only be justified if they are proportionate to threat. Are they?

Shock to the System: Leveraging the Fascist New Covid World Order

Coronavirus Is The Shock, Dictatorship Is The Doctrine

by TRNN

March 25, 2020

Recently, thousands of Israelis posted the cover of Naomi Klein’s book The Shock Doctrine on their social media accounts without further comment. They were doing so because they had sensed that the book is a warning and that it’s becoming a reality before their very eyes. The crisis has shocked the population and this now allows the Israeli government to push forward with draconic and undemocratic policies.

Nowhere has the coronavirus pandemic been used more cynically to shut down political debate and the right to protest than in Israel. The Israeli government's state of emergency goes even further than Naomi Klein’s darkest predictions.

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Janine Bandcroft, Christine Nikolic March 26, 2020

This Week on GR

by C. L. Cook - Gorilla-Radio.com

March 26, 2020

Welcome to the new, post-pandemic outbreak breakdown of Gorilla Radio. As regular listeners will know, CFUV has shuttered the studios, so live interviews are no longer possible. What I’ll present in the new not normal are live-to-Skype* interviews on the most pressing issues of this weird moment.

Janine Bandcroft is an educator and social events publisher, broadcaster, and she is too the ‘Green Vegan Grandma’ on Youtube, where her latest video, “What to do when there’s nothing to do” appears.

Janine decided to self-isolate early on in the Corona virus crisis, and so has a head start on the rest of us.

Janine Bandcroft in the first half.

Listen. Hear. 

And; Spring has officially sprung, the toilet paper crisis has passed, and food security and social mobility issues are, or soon will be foremost in our minds.

While the initial shock of the new abnormal has ebbed, the next shoe to drop will be the failure of supply chains. So, what better way to spend your mounds of self and/or imposed social isolation time on than learning how to grow your own food!

Christina Nikolic operates the increasingly busy, Organic Gardener’s Pantry. She also teaches organic horticulture. She is too a past director of SOUL, or the Society for Organic Urban Land Care, and spends, she says, what time there is left, “in the garden, smiling while spreading mulch.” But first, Janine Bandcroft and “What to do when there’s nothing to do”

Christina Nikolic and growing for your life in the second half.

Chris Cook hosts Gorilla Radio, airing live every Thursday between 11-Noon Pacific Time. In Victoria at 101.9FM, and on the internet at: http://cfuv.ca.  He also serves as a contributing editor to the web news site, http://www.pacificfreepress.com. Check out the GR blog at: http://gorillaradioblog.blogspot.ca/

*The first segment was recorded via Zoom. The iffy quality is due to growing pains, (and a less than great mic on my part. - ape)

A Saudi Ball in Putin Court: Reigning in Oil Production

ATTEMPT TO ARRANGE PRESIDENT PUTIN’S MEETING WITH MOHAMMED BIN SALMAN TO STABILIZE OIL MARKET

by John Helmer, Moscow

@bears_with

March 22, 2020

An attempt is underway to arrange a meeting between President Vladimir Putin and the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) to restore the agreement on oil price cuts which MbS broke at the March 6 meeting of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries with Russia (OPEC+). The Crown Prince is reportedly now ready to agree on a formula for oil production limits along the lines already discussed with the Russians. 

His pre-condition is a domestic Saudi one. He is insisting that he will meet President Putin as the Saudi head of state, no longer as Crown Prince. This means that the full and formal transfer of power from his father King Salman bin Abdullaziz will take place “imminently”.

Sean "CNN" Penn Loses His Mind on Camera: "No greater humanitarian force on the planet than the United States military"

Hollywood Celebrities Are Psyops Wrapped In Human Skin

by Caitlin Johnstone - Rogue Journalist

March 22, 2020

CNN recently trotted out Hollywood actor Sean Penn to give the nation expert advice on how to deal with a novel virus pandemic.

Did they do this because we live in a meaningless, godless universe where madness reigns and everything is chaos? Close, but no. They wanted Penn to explain to the public that it would be wonderful if the US military were deployed inside US borders to deal with the pandemic, because the US military is the greatest humanitarian force on planet Earth.