Introduction Twenty years after 9/11, the war on terror has remade the U.S. into a far more militarized actor, both around the world and at home. The human costs of this evolution are many — including mass incarceration, widespread surveillance, the violent repression of immigrant communities, and hundreds of thousands of lives lost to war and violence. But of course, this militarization also has financial costs too. Over 20 years, the U.S. has spent more than $21 trillion on militarization, surveillance, and repression — all in the name of security. These investments have shown us that the U.S. has the capacity […]
Cost
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Above photo: Megan Kingston, who served as a medic in Iraq, wears an oxygen tube as she listens to a House Veterans’ Affairs Health Subcommittee hearing on potential health effects of burn pit exposure, June 7, 2018, in Washington. A September 11 Reckoning. Congress should not nickel-and-dime caring for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans recovering from injuries that would have been fatal in previous conflicts. The withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks that were used to justify multiple Middle Eastern interventions is a fitting occasion to consider the ultimate […]
Israeli blockade Has Cost Gaza $16.7 Billion November 26, 2020 Israeli blockade Has Cost Gaza $16.7 Billion2020-11-262020-11-26https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2020/11/gaza-e1606437573234.jpg200px200px Above photo: Palestinian street vendors sell candy in Gaza City. Getty. Israel‘s blockade of the Gaza Strip cost the Palestinian enclave’s economy an estimated $16.7 billion in just over a decade, the United Nations said Wednesday. The coastal enclave has been under an Israeli-enforced blockade since 2007, the year the Islamist movement Hamas took power. In the 11 ensuing years, its economic situation deteriorated dramatically, the UN Conference on Trade and Development found in a new report. Between 2007 and 2018, “the estimated cumulative economic cost of the […]
How Much Would It Cost Consumers To Give Farmworkers A Significant Raise? By Daniel Costa and Philip Martin, Economic Policy Institute. October 27, 2020 How Much Would It Cost Consumers To Give Farmworkers A Significant Raise?2020-10-272020-10-27https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2020/10/farmworkers-e1603826193917.jpg200px200px Above photo: Getty/Joe Raedle. A 40% increase in pay would cost just $25 per household. The increased media coverage of the plight of the more than 2 million farmworkers who pick and help produce our food—and whom the Trump administration has deemed to be “essential” workers for the U.S. economy and infrastructure during the coronavirus pandemic—has highlighted the difficult and often dangerous conditions farmworkers face […]
The UK announced reversal of its decision on the Chinese telecoms giant in July, forcing British telecos to remove kit from existing networks over potential threats to network supply lines due to US sanctions. But the delays are set to cost billions in GDP and cause Britain to lose its place as Europe’s 5G capital, numerous reports have shown. A delay to Britain’s 5G rollout could cost billions of pounds due to a drop in economic output, a report from the Centre for Policy Studies read on Monday. The centre-right think tank noted legislative challenges, including Downing Streets rip and replace […]
Chris Hedges: The Cost Of Resistance By Chris Hedges, ScheerPost.com. September 22, 2020 Chris Hedges: The Cost Of Resistance2020-09-222020-09-22https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2020/09/roger-and-julian-scaled-e1600787950797.jpg200px200px Above image: By Mr. Fish. You can measure the effectiveness of resistance by the fury of the response by ruling elites. Two of the rebels I admire most, Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks publisher, and Roger Hallam, the co-founder of Extinction Rebellion, are in jail in Britain. That should not be surprising. You can measure the effectiveness of resistance by the fury of the response. Julian courageously exposed the lies, deceit, war crimes and corruption of the ruling imperial elites. Roger has helped organized the […]
It could become the most costly damage in US history, surpassing those Los Angeles suffered in the 1992 riots after police officers were acquitted in the beating of black man Rodney King. Damage caused by violent protests only from 26 May to 8 June could cost US insurance companies from $1 billion to $2 billion, according to Property Claim Services (PCS), the insurance industry’s primary source for reporting on insured losses from catastrophes. PCS has collected US insurance claims history related to civil unrest since 1950 to learn that this year’s riots could be the most expensive, going far higher than the […]
Consumer prices rose 0.4% in August and 1.3% over the last 12 months. Some economists say that official measure understates inflation, because the pandemic has changed both what and how we buy. (Image credit: Eva Hambach/AFP via Getty Images) Source link
In his forthcoming book “Rage,” journalist Bob Woodward revealed that US President Donald Trump knowingly downplayed the danger posed by COVID-19 in the early days of the outbreak. However, to those paying attention to how the administration has handled the pandemic, the idea that they withheld information is not new, a journalist told Sputnik. “There are so many people that are trying to cash on the Trump phenomenon. You know, obviously, he’s a very interesting character and obviously very over the top and ridiculous, but what really made me scratch my head – I saw some of the headlines – about […]
The report builds from Downing Streets expectations of a 3-year delay to its 5G rollout and comes after the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) announced the ban in July this year. The UK government’s ban and removal of Huawei from national 5G networks by 2027 will risk a severe delay in the country’s 5G rollout targets, an independent report from research and analysis firm Assembly said on Wednesday. The report, commissioned by Huawei Technologies, found that such measures could cost the UK economy £18.2bn and the countries competitive lead in 5G. British mobile operators had made “significant” progress […]
The explosion that ripped through Beirut on 4 August aggravated Lebanon’s economic crisis and fuelled anti-government sentiment, which led to an early departure of the prime minister and his cabinet. The Beirut explosion caused between $3.8 billion and $4.6 billion in physical damage to the Lebanese capital, according to the World Bank’s preliminary assessment. The bank estimates that the additional decline in economic activity following the devastating blast was between $2.9 billion and $3.5 billion. Housing, transport and cultural assets are thought to be among the worst-hit sectors. Lebanon is estimated to need from $1.8 billion to $2.2 billion for public […]
Wildfire, Hurricanes, Floods And Droughts Quadrupled In Cost Since 1980 By Bob Berwyn, Inside Climate News. August 26, 2020 Wildfire, Hurricanes, Floods And Droughts Quadrupled In Cost Since 19802020-08-262020-08-26https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2020/08/fire.png200px200px A new report looks at the price of climate-linked natural disasters and how global warming is making them worse. Lisa Paul was still recovering from the wildfire trauma of 2017 when she experienced a renewed wave of sickening dread last week, the skies above her home and vineyard in the mountains east of Sonoma, California, filled with lightning that sparked hundreds of wildfires. “I had pretty close to a panic attack when the Hennessy […]
A two-shot coronavirus vaccine will be available for public use by the end of 2020, its manufacturer Sinopharm has announced. The price tag for the sought-after cure won’t be too high, the pharmaceutical company assured. Sinopharm Chairman Liu Jingzhen has told the Guangming Daily newspaper that the firm’s Covid-19 vaccine has entered the third and final stage of clinical trials – during which the efficacy and safety of a new drug are tested on a large group of people with a disease or condition. Sinopharm’s product is likely to be launched by the end of December 2020, Liu said. If so, […]
The Human Cost Of Nuclear Tests By John Letman, The Diplomat. July 19, 2020 The Human Cost Of Nuclear Tests2020-07-192020-07-19https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2020/07/thediplomat-e1595172355931.jpg200px200px Above photo: The landscape at the former Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site in northeastern Kazakhstan where more than 450 nuclear tests were conducted. The Center for International Security and Policy. 75 Years After Trinity. Talk of new U.S. testing deeply concerns those who have first-hand knowledge of nuclear devastation. July 16 – Seventy-five years ago today, the United States conducted the Trinity test, the world’s first nuclear detonation. In the ensuing years, the U.S. ultimately conducted more than 1,000 nuclear tests, half of all known tests conducted by […]
VT: Corrupt cop fabricated evidence, fabricated witness testimony, in fact made up the entire case other than two dead people (and we wonder who killed them…and if police were involved in the murder)… Detroit News: A federal judge Friday dismissed attempts by a Detroit police officer to toss out claims against him by a man falsely convicted of two murders based on allegedly false evidence provided by the officer. Most recent exoneration: Mubarez Ahmed released from prison after serving 16 years https://t.co/esZUQIt7em “This has got to stop…” pic.twitter.com/o0bmT3k0np — robert gelinas (@RobertRGelinas) November 6, 2018 Mubarez Ahmed was found guilty in […]
At least five years, “ideally seven,” will be needed to replace Huawei’s 5G equipment, Vodafone and BT have told British MPs. The introduction of the ultra-fast networks across the country would be delayed, they warned. Executives from rival companies British Telecom and Vodafone UK have given their takes on phasing out the 5G equipment manufactured by the Chinese IT giant. Speculation that the UK government could ban Huawei’s gear from British networks has circulated in the press in recent days. Andrea Dona, head of networks at Vodafone UK, told Parliament’s Science and Technology Committee that replacing the Huawei systems with alternative […]
TORONTO (Sputnik) – Providing a guaranteed basic income for Canadians struggling with the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic could cost the government up to $72 billion, the Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer said in a report. “The total estimated gross cost of the defined guaranteed basic income would range between $47.5 billion [$34.92 billion USD] and $98.1 billion [$72.12 billion USD] based on the three scenarios for the six-month period from October 2020 to March 2021”, the report said on Tuesday. The plan takes into consideration a phasing-out rate of 0.50, 0.25, and 0.15 Canadian dollars for each dollar […]
The construction of an Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP), to deliver fracked natural gas 600 miles from West Virginia, through Virginia to a North Carolina port, has faced heavy opposition by environmental activist groups since it’s 2014 announcement. Activists also opposed a pipeline tunneling below the famed Appalachian Trail. Two US companies attempting to carry out the Atlantic Coast Pipeline project, Dominion Energy and Duke Energy, announced on Sunday that they would abandon the pipeline due to “ongoing delays” brought by legal battles and “increasing cost uncertainty” that “threaten the economic viability of the project”. The two companies cited a recent Montana […]
https://cdn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/107233/53/1072335380_0:86:1280:806_1200x675_80_0_0_819371348c74f94f158b9f5b9cf5a150.jpg Sputnik International https://cdn2.img.sputniknews.com/i/logo.png Sputnik https://cdn2.img.sputniknews.com/i/logo.png https://sputniknews.com/military/202006261079731393-uk-defence-ministry-failed-to-account-for-final-cost-of-aircraft-carriers-public-watchdog-says/ MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The UK’s Ministry of Defence has not counted all future costs of operating its two aircraft carriers in the upcoming budgets, a report by a public spending watchdog has concluded. The National Audit Office said in a 61-page report published Friday that the Ministry did not know how much its aircraft carrier project would cost over time and identified this lack of clarity as an obstacle to the ships achieving their full operational capability. “It has not established a clear view on the future cost of enhancing, operating and supporting Carrier […]
www.youtube.com Public Health Policies Have Prevented Hundreds of Millions of Coronavirus Infections NIH Director’s Blog The alarming spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) last winter presented a profound threat to nations around the world. Many government leaders responded by shutting down all non-essential activities, implementing policies that public health officials were hopeful could slow the highly infectious SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19. But the shutdown has come at a heavy cost for the U.S. and global economies. It’s also taken a heavy personal toll on many of us, disrupting our daily routines—getting children off to school, commuting to the […]
On 23 June, the much discussed memoir by ex-national security adviser John Bolton was released a few days after some pirated editions appeared online. American academics and law experts have explained why the White House and the GOP have failed to stop the release of the book given that their candidate’s re-election bid is at stake. Despite the White House’s attempt to block the publication of Bolton’s book, Judge Royce Lamberth of the DC District Court concluded last Saturday that though the former top aide’s conduct “raises grave national security concerns”, an injunction is not “an appropriate remedy”. Most juicy excerpts […]
This article was published originally by PassBlue, a partner of The Daily Beast, which provides independent coverage of the United Nations. It was written by Fiona Shukri. United Nations health agencies already struggling with a surging COVID-19 pandemic must now face the possibility the United States will abdicate its leading role fighting polio—just as the world gets tantalizingly close to eradicating it for good. The U.S., polio-free since 1979, has historically made combating the infectious disease its top funding priority at the World Health Organization, investing more than $158 million in voluntary contributions over the last two years alone. The effort […]
A Seattle Man Received a $1.1 Million Bill for His COVID-19 Treatment Time BY MADELEINE CARLISLE AND TARA LAW After spending months hospitalized for COVID-19 at Swedish Medical Center in Issaquah, Wash., Michael Flor, 70, says that he knew his stay would be pricey. He’d spent 62 days in an intensive care unit, including weeks in an induced coma, and come so close to death that his family had called to say goodbye. But he says it was still “heart-stopping” to read the hospital’s bill — for $1.1 million. “I had to look at it a number of times… to see if I […]
President Donald Trump’s decision to deploy the National Guard to quell Black Lives Matter protests in the nation’s capital has cost U.S. taxpayers about $21 million as of this past Friday, a spokesperson for the guard told The Daily Beast. That projected cost includes the deployment of the guard to the District from 12 different states, the spokesperson said. The official mission, the spokesperson said, was “to support the D.C. civil unrest operations.” About $18.2 million of the total cost of the operation was dedicated to pay and allowance for the guard and about $2.9 million went to operations and management, […]
Central bank digital currencies might one day replace commercial banks. But that comes with risks, according to new research from the Federal Reserve of Philadelphia. The 32-page research paper – titled “Central Bank Digital Currency: Central Banking for All?” – investigated the implications of an account-based central bank digital currency (CBDC), focusing on its potential competition with the traditional maturity transformation role of commercial banks. “The introduction of digital currencies may justify a fundamental shift in the architecture of a financial system, a central bank ‘open to all,’” the paper, which was published on June 1, reads. Questions posed by the […]
Submitted to VT by the Washington Post James Mattis, retired four-star Marine Corps general and former defense secretary, writes in Washington Post Opinions: On Memorial Day this year, we may be keeping social distance from one another, but that cannot detract from the sense of closeness, the sense of community and the sense of shared sacrifice that we feel for one another on a day when we come face-to-face with the human cost of freedom. What do we owe our fallen and their families on this day? Remembrance, for sure, yet we also owe a keen awareness of what they fought […]
Saudi Arabia asks Hadi regime officials to leave as costs bite amid economic downturn …from PressTV, Tehran [ Editor’s Note: VT always suspected that only economic pressures would force Prince Salman to fold his tent and go home, on the financial part of the war. But that does not necessarily mean an end to the war. Cutting the funding for the Hadi government is one thing, but there has been no mention on whether Saudi airstrikes will be ended, or be continued to pressure both sides to come to a settlement. We also will watch to see if the UAE wants […]
77-year-old Biden held a virtual round table to discuss the Coronavirus from his basement on Thursday. As usual, his virtual town hall was marred by glitches and audio problems. Biden struggled for 20 seconds to remember who briefs him on the Coronavirus every morning. Then he confused the number of Coronavirus deaths in the US and the number of Americans unemployed. TRENDING: John Brennan Goes Berserk After His Role in Unmasking General Mike Flynn Revealed “This is not a moment for excuses or deflections or blame game. We’re, we’re, we’re in the middle of a pandemic that has cost us more […]
Hillary Clinton and the DNC both claimed they knew nothing about the Trump-Russia dossier when it was published by Buzzfeed in January 2017. The New York Times — famous for their fake news — reported that Hillary and the DNC were unaware that their law firm Perkins Coie was working on the dossier. Officials from the Clinton campaign and the D.N.C. have said they were unaware that Perkins Coie facilitated the research on their behalf, even though the law firm was using their money to pay for it. Even Mrs. Clinton only found about Mr. Steele’s research after Buzzfeed published the […]