"Definitely not terrorism."

"The money comes from some of the billions in frozen Venezuelan assets abroad, much of it proceeds from oil sales and the earnings of Houston-based CITGO, a subsidiary of state oil giant PDVSA, that the Trump administration took away from Maduro but until now had refused to hand over to Guaidó."

Long-term care residents with COVID-19 kept in the same spaces as healthy residents.

A refusal to accept the province's offer of a "SWAT team" of healthcare workers to help manage an outbreak.

Staff told not to wear surgical masks because it "would scare the residents."

Those are just a few of the allegations against six for-profit long-term care homes in Ontario, as outlined in a proposed class action lawsuit, CBC News has learned.

par Michaël Löwy | La nécessité de la planification économique dans tout processus sérieux et radical de transition socio-écologique est de plus en plus admise, en contraste avec les positions traditionnelles des partis Verts, favorables à une variante écologique de l’« économie de marché », c’est-à dire-un « capitalisme vert ».

In terms of public policy, COVID-19 will leave behind a number of success stories. Thousands of public servants have worked to implement and deliver billions of dollars in relief. Federal and provincial leaders have collaborated across jurisdictions and party lines. The Canadian health care system has, so far, held up much better than the system in the United States.

DR. TAREK LOUBANI: "Obviously, the situation in Canada is much better than the United States. And I think we can really chalk that up to a couple of factors. One of them is the fact that we have for medical care system that will care for anybody, under any condition, without payment at the point of care. Of course we pay for our medical system, but we don’t do it when we show up to the hospital. ... The other big aspect here is that people, of course, are worried about poverty. Canada is no panacea, but they are not as worried about poverty, because there are some social safety nets. And so, the real pillars of the response are things like making sure that everybody can access healthcare — well, we have that in Canada; making sure that everybody can stay away from work and not be worried about ending up on the streets — well, it’s not as good as we want it, but we have that, in large part, in Canada. Canada has many problems, of course, but when we look to our neighbors in the south, it’s obvious that the way in which Canada has set up its system and guaranteed care has reduced the caseload tremendously and is giving us a fighting chance."

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought a change of priorities, as states buy up masks and ventilators regardless of the cost. Basing economic decisions on human need, not our ability to pay, imposes a principle of equality — allowing us collectively to decide what kinds of production we really need.

"Since the outbreak of COVID-19, Cuban medical aid has been sought by more than 40 countries. But the island has always had its critics – most notably, the neighboring United States. ... But awards and international goodwill on their own will not solve Cuba’s increasing food and fuel shortages at home. Surviving ever-tighter sanctions and helping poor nations ravaged by COVID-19 at the same time is a tall order, even with some support from China and Russia."

CDC has a how-to on making your own face covering.

A French court upheld a ruling Friday restricting Amazon deliveries to essential products only until a risk assessment is carried out, but reduced fines for breaches and extended the list of products that can be delivered.

By Michael Löwy | The need for economic planning in any serious and radical process of socio-ecological transition is winning greater acceptance, in contrast to the traditional positions of the Green parties, favorable to an ecological variant of “market economy,” that is, “green capitalism.”