27 March 20
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27 March 20
Bill McKibben | The Nature of Crisis
Bill McKibben, The New Yorker
McKibben writes: "An idea beloved of the technorati is that we are actually living not on the earth we seem to inhabit but in a simulation. Elon Musk has said that it's 'most likely' the case, and Neil deGrasse Tyson has set the odds at fifty-fifty. If so, we've clearly reached the point where whoever is supervising the action has handed the game over to a bored supervillain who is wildly pressing buttons: Pandemics! Locusts! Firestorms!"
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Bill McKibben, The New Yorker
McKibben writes: "An idea beloved of the technorati is that we are actually living not on the earth we seem to inhabit but in a simulation. Elon Musk has said that it's 'most likely' the case, and Neil deGrasse Tyson has set the odds at fifty-fifty. If so, we've clearly reached the point where whoever is supervising the action has handed the game over to a bored supervillain who is wildly pressing buttons: Pandemics! Locusts! Firestorms!"
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Charles Koch, chief executive officer of Koch Industries, at the Broadmoor Resort in Colorado Springs, Colorado, June 29, 2019. (photo: David Zalubowski/AP)
Charles Koch Network Pushed $1 Billion Cut to CDC, Now Attacks Shelter-in-Place Policies for Harming Business
Lee Fang, The Intercept
Fang writes: "Americans for Prosperity, the pro-corporate pressure group founded and funded by billionaire industrialist Charles Koch, wants employees to return to work despite desperate pleas from public health officials that people should stay home as much as possible to help contain the spread of the coronavirus."
Lee Fang, The Intercept
Fang writes: "Americans for Prosperity, the pro-corporate pressure group founded and funded by billionaire industrialist Charles Koch, wants employees to return to work despite desperate pleas from public health officials that people should stay home as much as possible to help contain the spread of the coronavirus."
As states began to order nonessential businesses to shut down last week, AFP released a statement calling for all businesses to remain open.
“Rather than blanket shutdowns, the government should allow businesses to continue to adapt and innovate to produce the goods and services Americans need, while continuing to do everything they can to protect the public health,” said Emily Seidel, chief executive of AFP, in a press release.
Some of the group’s state chapters have taken a similar tone. AFP Pennsylvania’s state director, as well as a regional director with the group, have taken to Twitter to lambast shelter-in-place policies. The Michigan chapter of AFP on Monday slammed Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s stay-at-home order, which closed down fitness centers, nail salons, amusement parks, casinos, and other businesses deemed nonessential, calling it the “wrong approach for our state.”
Whitmer’s order, variations of which are being implemented by state and local governments nationwide, contains exceptions for critical industries such as grocery stores, pharmacies, health care providers, financial services, transportation, child care, hazardous materials, and energy.
“All businesses are essential — to the people who own them, the people who work in them, and the communities they serve,” said Annie Patnaude, the Michigan state director for AFP, in a statement responding to the order.
AFP’s position, which directly contradicts the advice of medical experts who say that social isolation is essential to curbing the spread of the coronavirus, comes after the group lobbied the Trump administration in 2018 to rescind $1 billion from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Much of AFP’s recommended cuts to government programs, which included CDC money for infectious disease control and global health, became part of the official White House budget request, though most were not adopted by Congress.
The cuts, AFP argued, would “relieve the burden overspending is placing on all taxpayers.” The CDC is now one of the front-line organizations dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, which has impacted nearly 70,000 people in the United States and has claimed over 1,000 lives.
The libertarian advocacy network has spent tens of millions of dollars lobbying for corporate tax cuts, deregulation, and reductions to social welfare programs, particularly state Medicaid programs. This aggressive advocacy record has come into focus in recent days as Americans confront the coronavirus pandemic. Medicaid funding is seen as a critical tool for treating sick patients, and many are now questioning the wisdom of reductions to the CDC’s funding and staff.
Internal memos from AFP reveal the size and scope of the organization, which employed 650 staff members during the 2016 election and has successfully worked to block Medicaid expansion in at least four states. During the 2016 election, the group also aired negative advertising sharply criticizing Hillary Clinton and Senate Democrats, an electioneering push that dramatically shaped the current balance of power in Washington, D.C.
The group has since used its government influence to slash environmental rules, retreat from the Paris Climate Accord, and demand cuts to federal programs. It also helped secure $1.5 trillion in tax cuts as part of President Donald Trump’s 2017 tax overhaul.
Experts around the country have called for shelter-in-place policies for nonessential businesses, arguing that social isolation can drastically curb the spread of the coronavirus. Slowing the pandemic, they say, can save lives by lowering the demand for medical supplies and limited hospital beds. Despite their medical necessity, these policies are being rejected by conservatives around the country. Republican state leaders, including Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, have balked at shutdown requests. On Tuesday, Reeves signed an executive order superseding local bans on public gatherings.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the federal government’s top infectious disease expert and a member of the White House coronavirus task force, has said he has “emphasized very emphatically” that bars, restaurants, and other nonessential businesses close and that those who may work from home do so.
The Intercept asked AFP if the group had consulted any public health officials before beginning the push against shelter-in-place policies, and whether the group continues to support steep cuts to the CDC.
The group did not respond to the inquiry regarding the CDC and did not name any public health experts.
A spokesperson for AFP noted in an email that they are “encouraging every public official dealing with these incredible challenges to consider how communities and businesses are adapting to meet critical needs as they make these difficult decisions” and that the group believes that there is “value in businesses and government working together to stop the spread of this virus and help the people who need it.”
The Koch network, while pushing for businesses to stay open, is taking the opposite approach for its lobbying apparatus. AFP and its affiliates, including LIBRE Initiative and Concerned Veterans for America, are now working from home. “Out of an abundance of caution and to ensure the health and safety of our activists, staff, and voters, our staff are working from home and are utilizing digital organizing as one way to continue their grassroots engagement,” a spokesperson from AFP told CNBC.
A ventilator and other medical supplies on display at a news conference on Monday in Manhattan. The shortage of ventilators has emerged as one of the major criticism of the Trump administration's response to the coronavirus. (photo: John Minchillo/AP)
After Considering $1 Billion Price Tag for Ventilators, White House Has Second Thoughts
David E. Sanger, Maggie Haberman and Zolan Kanno-Youngs, The New York Times
Excerpt: "A deal with General Motors and Ventec Life Systems to produce tens of thousands of the critical lifesaving devices seemed imminent. Then the announcement was pulled back."
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David E. Sanger, Maggie Haberman and Zolan Kanno-Youngs, The New York Times
Excerpt: "A deal with General Motors and Ventec Life Systems to produce tens of thousands of the critical lifesaving devices seemed imminent. Then the announcement was pulled back."
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'What economism misses includes complexity, historical contingency, and the profound, uncountable power of human emotion.' (photo: Angela Weiss/Getty)
The Economy v. Our Lives? It's a False Choice - and a Deeply Stupid One
Siva Vaidhyanathan, Guardian UK
Vaidhyanathan writes: "On Tuesday Trump announced that he wanted all US business back to normal levels of function by Easter, 12 April. 'This cure is worse than the problem,' Trump said. This is beyond immoral. It's profoundly stupid."
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Siva Vaidhyanathan, Guardian UK
Vaidhyanathan writes: "On Tuesday Trump announced that he wanted all US business back to normal levels of function by Easter, 12 April. 'This cure is worse than the problem,' Trump said. This is beyond immoral. It's profoundly stupid."
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ICE detention facility. (photo: Getty)
Immigrants Afraid of the Coronavirus Outbreak Are Protesting Inside ICE Facilities
Hamed Aleaziz, BuzzFeed
Excerpt: "There have been four known use-of-force incidents this week at ICE facilities as fear and anxiety spreads among detainees over COVID-19."
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Hamed Aleaziz, BuzzFeed
Excerpt: "There have been four known use-of-force incidents this week at ICE facilities as fear and anxiety spreads among detainees over COVID-19."
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U.S. Border Patrol agents conduct a training exercise in the Anapra area, in front of the wall that divides Sunland Park, N.M., from the Mexican state of Chihuahua. (photo: David Peinado/Getty)
Amid Coronavirus Concerns, Pentagon to Send Troops to US Borders With Mexico, Canada
Tom Bowman and Brakkton Booker, NPR
Excerpt: "Two U.S. officials tell NPR that the Pentagon is expected to send 1,500 troops to the nation's borders with Canada and Mexico to assist Customs and Border Protection operations as the coronavirus death toll tops 1,100 in the United States."
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Tom Bowman and Brakkton Booker, NPR
Excerpt: "Two U.S. officials tell NPR that the Pentagon is expected to send 1,500 troops to the nation's borders with Canada and Mexico to assist Customs and Border Protection operations as the coronavirus death toll tops 1,100 in the United States."
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The ozone layer over Antarctica is on the mend, and that has knock-on effects for circulating air currents. (photo: Alamy)
The Ozone Layer Is Healing, New Study Finds
Louise Boyle, The Independent
Boyle writes: "The ozone layer is continuing to heal and has the potential to fully recover, according to a new study."
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Louise Boyle, The Independent
Boyle writes: "The ozone layer is continuing to heal and has the potential to fully recover, according to a new study."
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