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The Critical Hour
The mainstream news outlets play it safe by parroting the perspectives of their corporate benefactors. The Critical Hour uses clear, cutting edge insight and analysis to examine national and international issues impacting the global village in which we live.

US Unemployment Hits Record 14.7% in April, COVID-19 Penetrates White House Halls

US Unemployment Hit Record 14.7% in April, COVID-19 Penetrates White House Halls
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On this episode the The Critical Hour Dr. Wilmer Leon is joined by Dr. Linwood Tauheed, associate professor of economics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

It's Friday: that means it's panel time!

"The April unemployment rate surged to a record 14.7%, and payrolls dropped by a historic 20.5 million workers as the coronavirus pandemic hit the economy, wiping out a decade of job gains in a single month," the Wall Street Journal reported Friday, citing US Labor Department data. What are we to make of this?

Two men are facing charges in the shooting death of an unarmed black man in Brunswick, Georgia. Gregory and Travis McMichael are charged with murder and aggravated assault charges for the death of Ahmaud Arbery back in February. Arbery was jogging down a street when the father and son confronted him with guns drawn. Video of the incident shows the confrontation unfold. Meanwhile, ABC 7 Chicago reported Wedesday, "An Illinois state representative who is black said he was stopped by a police officer while leaving a store and wearing a mask and gloves. In a series of tweets, Representative Kam Buckner (D-Chicago) said he was dressed casually, like most of the other shoppers on Sunday, when an officer asked to see his receipt and ID. Buckner complied. He asked why he was stopped and said the officer told him, 'People are using the coronavirus to do bad things. I couldn't see your face, man. You looked like you were up to something.'" What are we to make of these incidents?

In the context of the operation's poor planning and utter failure, Alan MacLeod writes in MintPress News of the recently attempted coup in Venezuela: "In what has been labeled a new 'Keystone Kops Bay of Pigs,' the latest attempt to overthrow the government of Nicolas Maduro failed spectacularly, as both American and Venezuelan paramilitaries were immediately overwhelmed when they came into contact with the navy, or even with armed local fishermen’s collectives." What are we to make of this?

"Corporate media outlets spread fake news claiming North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had died. The lie originated with a Seoul-based website funded by the US government’s regime-change arm the NED," The Grayzone reported on May 4. "Many of these fake news stories originate with Korean opposition groups that are funded to the hilt by the US government’s National Endowment for Democracy (NED), a CIA cutout created by the Ronald Reagan administration to push regime change against foreign countries that don’t sufficiently kowtow to Washington."

"President Donald Trump made clear during both an interview and a press briefing Tuesday that he is willing to sacrifice lives for the sake of reopening US businesses amid the coronavirus pandemic, declaring that jumpstarting the American economy is worth the dire public health risks," Common Dreams reported Wednesday.

We've got all these stories and more!

GUESTS:

Dr. Linwood Tauheed — Associate professor of economics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.  

John Burris — Lead attorney and founder of the Law Office of John L. Burris. He is primarily known for his work in the area of civil rights, with an emphasis on police misconduct and excessive force cases.    

Caleb Maupin — Journalist and political analyst who focuses his coverage on US foreign policy.

David Schultz — Professor of political science at Hamline University.  

Daniel Lazare — Journalist and author of three books: "The Frozen Republic," "The Velvet Coup" and "America's Undeclared War."  

We'd love to get your feedback at radio@sputniknews.com

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