Trump just threatened the Modi regime with retaliation if it refuses to export the anti-malarial drug Trump is touting as a cure for coronavirus. As insane & belligerent as that is, it is not very different from the justification that launched the nearly 19-year war & occupation of Afghanistan. Even if the drug were a proven cure for the virus, there is no obligation under the trade laws of capitalism for India to give it up. Competition is the ethos of the system, not cooperation, even against a deadly epidemic. Cooperative relationships require changing the system from one that prioritizes profits for the few to one which prioritizes humanity as a whole.

This is an excellent article on how India (just like Israel) is militarizing the coronavirus epidemic to advance occupation & colonialism.

https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/coronavirus-kashmir-india-responds-more-violence

The vituperations against Muslims in India crescendo, are spread on social media, & the lies take on a life of their own.

https://www.news18.com/news/buzz/muslims-spitting-on-food-hiding-in-mosques-to-spread-coronavirus-beware-of-these-8-fake-news-stories-2565483.html?

UPDATE: this video has been removed by Facebook censors but is still circulating on Twitter: https://twitter.com/kashmirosint/status/1247401096185663488

Indian occupying soldiers vandalizing a family home in Kashmir. To what purpose!?

It is not improper to hope Boris Johnson recovers from coronavirus & gets released from the ICU but eventually meets karma at the pearly gates & goes to the deepest circle of hell. We are above being vindictive even for the many he has caused terrible suffering. But we are not above wanting justice.

This is what the criminalization of Muslims in China leads to: a Chinese man was interrogated & fined for “neglecting his anti-terrorism duty” by allowing a Uyghur student to check in to his hotel.

https://bitterwinter.org/hotels-penalized-for-insufficient-control-of-uyghur-guests/?

“If you rearrange the word “conspiracy”, add a few letters to it and take away others it spells “pandemic” which proves that this is a manufactured virus brought on by the lizard cabals to control and enslave humanity because capitalism failed at doing so.”

–Khaled Mohammed who must be reading too much Global Research conspiracy mongering

We should not be swept off our feet by China’s gesture of sending 10,000 coronavirus kits to Palestinians. It is part of the public relations campaign by the Chinese government to deflect criticism for its culpability for the pandemic. It should be sending out kits, supplies, & medical personnel all over the world. It should also be said that Palestinians would not be so vulnerable before this epidemic if China had exerted any efforts whatsoever to end the occupation & genocide. Instead, China has launched several multi-billion dollar initiatives with Israel to counter BDS. As the Trojans learned long ago, always look a gift horse in the mouth.

In one of my less scholarly moments, I just got around to looking up the difference between epidemic & pandemic. Don’t shoot me for being behind the trends, albeit a deadly one. Epidemic is what happens within a geographical region. Pandemic affects the whole country or the entire world. Coronavirus is rightly called a pandemic.