Talking climate disasters, frivolous wastes of money, Pharmaceutical monopolies, environmental justice, and how Trump is continuing to ignore the American tragedies unfolding around him. http://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-feed-homeless-veterans-cost-military-parade-839813 http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/03/local-news-anchors-now-have-to-read-pro-trump-propaganda.html https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2018/mar/12/burning-coal-may-have-caused-earths-worst-mass-extinction https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/welcome-to-the-age-of-climate-migration-w516974 https://medicalxpress.com/news/2018-03-air-pollution-linked-brain-cognitive.html https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/02/corporate-america-would-rather-not-be-associated-with-mass-murder http://www.businessinsider.com/cignas-67-billion-express-scripts-acquisition-changes-pharma-industry-2018-3

So much to cover, so little time. Links below. https://www.forbes.com/sites/marshallshepherd/2018/01/09/cost-of-weather-climate-disasters-was-306-billion-in-2017-what-could-you-buy-with-that/#254f111271ed https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-07/nra-s-banker-wells-fargo-climbs-to-top-of-gunmaker-debt-market https://theintercept.com/2018/03/02/crapo-instead-of-taking-on-gun-control-democrats-are-teaming-with-republicans-for-a-stealth-attack-on-wall-street-reform/ https://theintercept.com/2018/03/06/bank-regulation-citigroup-cbo/ https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/charles-koch-corporate-influence-problems_us_5aa1ed9ce4b086698a9c1930 https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/09/pipeline-ceos-facing-environmental-activism-vow-to-fight-back.html https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-06/zinke-says-interior-should-be-a-partner-with-oil-companies https://www.apnews.com/fe6edd739fff49d3a8e56324f7cc9721 https://www.axios.com/health-care-industry-tax-savings-1519943623-3eb9c0dd-a89b-496b-a6e4-96977ad6d969.html

The proposed Trump budget is the exact opposite of what our economy needs. The greedy liars who have proposed it either 1) don't understand economics, or 2) are lying to steal our money. A little of column A, a little of column B.

It's been a few days since the last one, so I run through some news you might have missed. Verizon will pocket its tax cut. Exxon quintupled its profit. Student debt is dragging down the economy, and young people are unionizing. Finally, let's talk about a plan I call "Soil Economics" https://heavy.com/news/2018/02/risks-costs-private-water-lead-poison/ https://www.themaven.net/beingliberal/room/verizon-will-pocket-tax-cut-savings-not-create-better-network-or-jobs-KshzJNl4zEu6eyAOM7JPkQ https://bangordailynews.com/2018/02/05/business/ll-bean-starts-employee-buyouts-ends-pension-plan/ http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-hy-musk-subsidies-20150531-story.html https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2018/02/02/exxon-mobil-profit-trump-tax-cut/300076002/ http://www.epi.org/publication/biggest-gains-in-union-membership-in-2017-were-for-younger-workers/ http://www.cnn.com/2018/02/11/health/aetna-california-investigation/index.html http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/02/lets-cancel-everyones-student-debt-for-the-economys-sake.html https://www.wvgazettemail.com/life/historian-shines-light-on-region-s-forgotten-history-of-slaves/article_a5dcfb35-fd5f-50c7-9b06-51f456cde046.html

In a lengthy rant, I talk about the criminalization of poverty, and how that leads to big profits for private prisons and other companies that exploit prison labor. On the other hand, if you're rich in America, you grin and ask for your bank to be fined. With enough money, a prison sentence isn't social death - it's a springboard for a senate run! https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2015/02/09/384968360/jail-time-for-unpaid-court-fines-and-fees-can-create-cycle-of-poverty https://www.npr.org/series/313986316/guilty-and-charged http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/43412-jailing-the-poor-for-fines-and-bail-is-a-government-operated-loan-shark-operation http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/43453-yes-lots-of-people-go-to-jail-because-they-can-t-pay-a-fine http://www.hcn.org/issues/49.8/how-the-booming-business-of-private-prisons-came-to-be http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2017/09/slavery-prison-system-170901082522072.html https://www.npr.org/2018/01/30/581778796/er-use-goes-down-as-hospital-program-pays-homeless-peoples-rent https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/06/us/baltimore-police-corruption.html https://www.wvgazettemail.com/opinion/gazette_opinion/op_ed_commentaries/troy-n-miller-it-was-never-about-the-drugs-and/article_674a982f-4639-5741-ba8c-a60bb9a3e872.html http://www.businessinsider.com/jamie-dimon-said-he-could-afford-fines-2015-3 https://www.salon.com/2018/02/05/mick-mulvaneys-cfpb-gives-up-on-equifax-probe/ http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/11/ex-con-coal-baron-don-blankenship-is-running-for-u-s-senate.html

Today we talk about the flu; how climate change plays a role; how the absence of paid sick leave in America leads to epidemics; and, ultimately how greedy employers kill grandmothers. http://time.com/5105929/why-is-the-flu-so-bad-2018/ https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2018/02/03/581805417/the-liberian-elbow-bump-is-your-good-friend-during-flu-season https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/01/130128142847.htm https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24045424 https://www.texasobserver.org/texas-ebola-policy-hamper-fight/