Crisis

Sensible people with a modicum of historical perspective are raising the question that until recently they dared only whisper: Quo vadis United States of America?

Imagine believing that you know what is in the best interests of others, and worse, ones you have never even met, and worse still, believing you have a right to improve their situation in the manner and timeline you see fit. The belief that one has the right to save the world is termed ‘communal narcissism’. Therein lies the first problem with progressive imperialism.

David STOCKMAN
International Man: Recently, massive riots have broken out in many cities across the US.
Despite the unrest—and the economic damage from the shutdowns—the stock market continues to rally.
It seems that markets don’t reflect earnings, economic prosperity, or growth. What is going on here?
David Stockman: It’s quite simple. The Fed has unleashed the greatest torrent of liquidity ever, and it’s finding its way into a relentless, massive bid for risk assets.

With America in turmoil following the murder of George Floyd, the talk is all about police reform – defunding them, abolishing them, or subjecting them to greater federal oversight. It brings to mind the nineteenth-century British member of parliament who supposedly cried out in despair, “Reform! Reform! My God, aren’t things bad enough as they are?”

Caitlin JOHNSTONE
Wikipedia, Facebook, Twitter, and mainstream media are falling all over themselves with censorship and spin jobs to get the narrative back under control as mass protests continue to sweep across America.

Patrick COCKBURN
Britain is failing to cope with the Covid-19 epidemic as well as other countries in Europe and East Asia have. Out of 62,000 excess deaths in the UK, says former chief scientific officer Sir David King, “40,000 excess deaths could have been avoided if government had acted responsibly”.

A hot humid day, but a gentle, warm breeze is blowing. The smoke and tear gas swirl gently to and fro, hanging in the dense, sweaty air, as shafts of dazzling sunlight scythe through the smokiness at sharp angles. A mass protest is forming. Youths are chattering; people moving aimlessly. It still has not solidified into purpose, yet the raw tenseness of the coming conflict hangs, as palpably as does the smoke in the air. It is evident – there will be violence today.

Allan STEVO
The number of viruses in you, or any other perfectly healthy human, at this moment outnumber your own cells by a factor of 100, as virologist Dr. John Mokili points out: “In the human holobiont, the 10^13 human cells are outnumbered 10-fold by bacteria and 100-fold by viruses.” Is the world really turning upside down over a virus?
Data Is Readily Available Today Like Never Before 

I do not believe that a nation dies save by suicide. To the very last every problem is a problem of will; and if we will we can be whole.
G.K. Chesterton
I

The mass protests raging across the United States over the police killing of yet another African-American man have had the salutary effect of exposing Washington’s rank hypocrisy in international relations.
In particular, before the gruesome death of George Floyd at the hands of police officers on May 25, President Donald Trump and Congressional lawmakers were building a provocative campaign of vilification against China. That campaign was related to groundless claims that Beijing had engaged in an alleged cover-up of the coronavirus pandemic.