Background Briefing: March 29, 2020
The Pandemic Worsens With the First Peak in New York in 2 to 3 Weeks We begin as the COVID-19 pandemic worsens in the U.S. which now has the highest number of cases in the world with the peak of infections expected in the next 2 to 3 weeks in New York then...
Background Briefing: March 26, 2020
Barr Places a $15 Million Bounty on Maduro While Guatemala Exports Six Times More Cocaine to the US We begin with the announcement today by Attorney General Barr that the U.S. government is putting a $15 million bounty on the head of Nicolas Maduro, the...
Background Briefing: March 25, 2020
The Stimulus Bill Emerges as an Obscene Gift to CEO's With Chump Change for Workers We begin with an analysis of the $2 trillion stimulus bill that is supposed to emerge from the Senate which the House in expected to vote on tomorrow, Thursday, since...
Background Briefing: March 24, 2020
An Emergency Physician Who Became Infected With COVID-19 at Work We begin with an emergency medicine physician, Dr. Dara Kass, who became infected with the COVID-19 virus working with patients at Columbia University Center in New York City where she is an...
Background Briefing: March 22, 2020
What Kind of Election Will We Have in November, If Any? We begin with how the coronavirus has wiped the Democratic primary election campaign from the headlines as the contagion intensifies and the possibility of the November elections being cancelled or...
Background Briefing: March 19, 2020
Today's GOP as the "White Grievance Party" in Which "Race Is the Original Sin" We begin with Trump's continuing use of racist dog whistles in referring to the "Chinese virus" which may be a tactic on his part to distract us and change the conversation away from...
Background Briefing: March 18, 2020
Will Trump's Followers Who Were Told It Is a "Hoax" Be the First to Get the Virus? We begin with the first of what are likely to be a series of bailout and stimulus bills with the Senate today approving the House-passed coronavirus relief bill which now heads...
Background Briefing: March 17, 2020
A Medical Ethicist on Moral Questions Arising from the Coronavirus Pandemic We begin with advice from a medical ethicist to help navigate us through the challenges ahead as more and more people are locked down at home in isolation while businesses close and...
Background Briefing: March 16, 2020
COVID-19 and the Body's Immune System We begin with efforts by Dr. Anthony Fauci and other immunologists to understand what is happening with the immune response to COVID-19 which acts like the flu in having an initial spike in immune cells, lymphocytes, with a...
Background Briefing: March 12, 2020
A History of Plagues and Pandemics We begin with an overview of the history of plagues and pandemics throughout the centuries up until today’s coronavirus outbreak and compare the lethality of the many deadly plagues that decimated populations to the current...