The West has been this lonely for some time it just revealed itself through the lockdowns.
The West has been this lonely for some time it just revealed itself through the lockdowns.
When all of this started, it was asked aloud whether or not this would lead to various Russian allies in the "Global South" keeping their distance. It appears that, at least as far as Cuba is concerned, there is no intention to do so. The country, which has had a tense relationship with the United States for forever, is not about to end the Russian alliance over Ukraine.
It appears to be the same scenario in much of Africa, where the Russians have generally been intimately involved for some time on a level that Europeans can't.
yet another in the continuing series of medicine admitting it doesn't know shit about the human body and that we are all their guinea pigs
By Peter Baker & Aishvarya Kavai @ NYTimes.com, April 26
WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris tested positive for the coronavirus on Tuesday, becoming the latest highest-ranking official in Washington to be infected and raising new concerns about President Biden’s potential exposure as the virus tears through his administration.
The vice president’s office said she tested positive on both rapid and P.C.R. tests and would stay away from the White House until she tests negative, working instead from the vice president’s official residence on the grounds of the Naval Observatory. She had not been in close proximity to Mr. Biden for an extended period in recent days, her office said.
“She has exhibited no symptoms, will isolate and continue to work from the vice president’s residence,” Kirsten Allen, Ms. Harris’s spokeswoman, said in a statement. “She has not been a close contact to the president or first lady due to their respective recent travel schedules.” [....]
Supermarkets stocked up as long lines formed. The Chinese authorities ordered mass testing to contain a rising number of cases in an affluent district of the capital.
By Keith Bradsher & Chris Buckley @ NYTimes.com, April 25, WITH VIDEO & PHOTOS
BEIJING — Families in Beijing rushed to stock up on food. Supermarkets stayed open late. Residents endured long lines for mandatory testing. China’s stock markets plunged.
A fresh coronavirus outbreak in China’s capital has raised concerns that Beijing could become, after Shanghai, the next Chinese megacity to put life on hold to contain the spread of the Omicron variant. The central government has leaned heavily on lockdowns despite their high social and economic costs, in pursuit of the Communist Party leader Xi Jinping’s “zero Covid” strategy of eliminating infections.
On Monday, the Beijing government said that 70 coronavirus cases had been found in Beijing since Friday. Nearly two-thirds have been in the district of Chaoyang, which ordered all 3.5 million residents to take three P.C.R. tests over the next five days. In other cities, mass testing in response to initial coronavirus cases has sometimes been a prelude to stringent lockdowns, like the four-week one in Shanghai that has kindled widespread complaints from residents there [....]
“Chaoyang District is now the topmost focus for pandemic prevention,” Cai Qi, the Communist Party secretary of Beijing, and a protégé of Mr. Xi’s, said in instructions cited in the official Beijing Daily newspaper on Sunday. Mr. Cai appeared determined to show that Beijing would not be hesitant about taking steps to stifle infections, which has been a criticism leveled by some at Shanghai [.....]
By Michael Hirtzer @ Bloomberg.com, April 25
Tyson Foods Inc., the biggest U.S. meat company, is spending $60 million to give its workers free college.
Some 120,000 U.S. employees can enroll in programs at 35 universities and other education providers starting this summer, with Tyson covering all costs for tuition, books and fees, the company said Monday in a statement. Employees can pursue undergraduate and master’s degrees, career certificates as well as [....]
is a paper by Lee Drutman for the Niskanen Center, April 2022 (PDF, 15 pages of text)