Up to 40 million Americans face homelessness as eviction and foreclosure crisis looms
In response to the looming economic collapse, Congress passed the CARES Act, which included a one-time stimulus check of $1200 for some Americans, the Payroll Protection Program (PPP), and a moratorium on evictions and foreclosures. Despite trillions in aid, gaping holes remained that Main Street and American families have fallen through. Banks did not get guardrails on how to manage forbearances. Congress didn’t waive rent, only deferred it, and didn’t provide any financial support for small landlords. Twelve-million American households find themselves more than $5000 behind on rent, and six-million households face foreclosure.
Congressional leaders and the White House have agreed in principle that another stimulus package is needed, but hyper-partisan politics has destroyed any forward progress. In 20 days, the CARES Act and all of its protections evaporate. If Congress takes no action, the transfer of $2.5 trillion in wealth to large scale investors, private equity, and large corporations will begin.
Our live webcast from the Seattle Anarchist Jurisdiction
malcontentment happy hour – December 14, 2020
Governor Inslee proposes several equity measures for the upcoming state budget
Up to 40 million Americans face homelessness in 2021 and a $2.5 trillion transfer in wealth will happen if Congress doesn’t act
COVID vaccine arrives in Washington, but don’t take those masks off just yet
Right-wing violence from racists, domestic terrorists, and militant Trump supporters continues to escalate
Olympia Washington protest on Saturday, December 12, 2020 results in one shot – Forest Machala arrested for the shooting
Red House update from December 13, 2020, with approved video from behind the barricades
Part two of our interview with Nikayla Rice
Malcontent News has been approved as a Google News source
Editor comment: The video of the Olympia, Washington protest has the wrong date on it of December 10, 2020. The correct date is December 12, 2020. We apologize for the error.
North King County and Snohomish County hospitals are nearing maximum ICU capacity, and a few have already hit that point. In Kirkland, Washington, the first significant outbreak site in the United States, Evergreen Hospital is currently at 90% ICU usage. Further north in Everett, Washington, Providence Hospital ICU is at 100% capacity.
In contrast, Seattle and Bellevue are reporting more available beds, but a worsening situation. Seattle is at 70% utilization while Overlake Hospital in Bellevue is at 64%. The utilization number at Overlake doesn’t tell a complete picture. The facility has a staffing crisis due to a low number of available specialists and many nurses sick with COVID. Traveling nurses are making as much as $10,000 a week to work at hospitals in COVID hotspots. Nurses are offered such high pay due to the dire need, long hours, and overall risk of infection. In Seattle, Harborview Medical Center has more patients with COVID than at any time since the pandemic started.
Area capacity to treat patients is reaching a critical breaking point. Seattle only has 121 ICU beds available as of this writing, based on a seven-day rolling average. With almost 1,100 patients in Washington hospitals with COVID, the governor’s office predicted that a “better case” scenario would be 2,000 hospitalized by the end of the year.
The central issue isn’t available hospital beds, but the staff to support sick patients. A COVID patient in ICU requires an extensive care team of three to four people per patient. Hospitals are optimized from a staff and revenue standpoint to operate at 60% to 80% capacity. The excess capacity is available for short term surges due to accidents, natural or humanmade disasters. To sustain above 80%, hospitals need additional staffing, which isn’t widely available.
Earlier today, the United States reached another grim milestone. Officials reported 3,054 COVID deaths, the most single-day fatalities in the United States since the pandemic started.
The New York Times, US Department of Health and Human Services, and The COVID Tracking Project provided some of this article’s data.
A graphic that has been making the rounds on the Internet provides a list of the eight deadliest days in United States history. How accurate is that list, and what is the reality?
How accurate is this meme? Not very.
We pulled meteorological, military, and disaster records for a list of fatalities on US soil, including US territories. We reviewed data from The COVID tracking project provided by The Atlantic. Our conclusion? The graphic isn’t accurate based on available data.
The graphic gets the first one right with the 1900 Galveston Hurricane, the deadliest single day tragedy in United States history. The battle of Antietam is more complicated. If you count both Union and Confederate deaths, it is the second on the list. If you count Union forces only, it falls out of the top ten, with 2600 fatalities. The numbers fall apart after that. The San Francisco Earthquake, the San Ciriaco Hurricane, Hurricane Maria, and the 1928 Okeechobee Hurricane are all left off. Although you could argue that almost all of the deaths associated with Hurricane Maria and the San Ciriaco Hurricane of 1899 deaths were in Puerto Rico, they are Americans. In 1899 Puerto Rico was occupied by the United State military after the island was invaded, and the horrors of Hurricane Maria are well documented.
As for the COVID numbers, the variations in daily death counts occur because each state reports its data differently and at different times. Aggregating this data by various sources uses different methodologies, creating the daily variances from the other sources.
So what is the correct list
1900 Galveston Hurricane – 6,000 to 12,000 (estimated)
There are several multiday historical events, particularly during the Civil War such as the Battle of Gettysburg that produced a total fatality count that was higher. However, this wasn’t on a single day, and when daily fatalities of these battles are considered, the incidents don’t crack the top ten.
The sharing of factual data for COVID is critical to not fuel misinformation and further erode trust in the data. Finally, without accurate records for daily deaths attributed to the 1918 Flu Pandemic, it is difficult to determine if any single day would move into this chart.
Governor Inslee held a press conference today where he announced additional grants for small businesses, a potential unemployment extension for up to 100,000 citizens, and a continuation of statewide COVID restrictions. The governor cited 80% ICU utilization, 1,094 people hospitalized for COVID statewide, and over 10,500 new cases reported in the last 48-hours as the reasons for the extension. The state projects that 2,000 Washingtonians will be hospitalized with COVID under a “moderate” scenario by the end of December.
Part of today’s press conference announced an additional $50 million in grants to assist small businesses most impact by COVID-related closures. The Department of Commerce is prioritizing businesses such as yoga studios, fitness centers, entertainment venues, and bars to receive the new grants. The maximum amount a company can receive is $20,000. The number of approved applicants will determine that final sum.
Officials in Washington D.C. remain deadlocked on a second stimulus package for Main Street and citizens. Benefits from the CARES Act in the form of unemployment extensions and unemployment for 1099 employees, also called gig workers, is set to expire on December 31. For most people, the actual expiration date is December 26. Governor Inslee announced that for a subset of people collecting unemployment, extensions would continue into January.
People collecting Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) will continue to received benefits if the federal government does not come up with a stimulus package. This extension benefits approximately 60% on unemployment and would represent a flat payment versus the current sliding scale. The governor did not state how much each qualified individual would get, only saying that for “a few,” it would be less. The governor indicated that funds were available for him to extend the program through executive order and that Employment Security was already working on implementing the plan. Officials stated there were insufficient funds to expand PEUC, impacting as many as 172,000 people if benefits expire.
Governor Inslee did not take further business restrictions off the table and announced businesses not complying could receive fines up to $10,000 a day. Multiple state officials stated that we would better understand the number of new COVID cases created by Thanksgiving travel and celebrations in the next one to two weeks. The change in those numbers will dictate if the state needs to issue another extension after January 4 or take more robust measures.
State officials indicated that 62,000 doses of the Coronavirus vaccine would arrive in the state of Washington on December 15. Frontline healthcare workers and residents of nursing homes would get top priority. An additional 182,000 doses would come by the end of December, with more “likely” in January. Immunization requires two doses, 28 days apart, and takes a total of 60 days to become effective. The amount of vaccine arriving in December will not be enough to immunize everyone at the head of the line. Washington will receive vaccines from AstraZeneca and Moderna.
Eleven years ago, French-born Khalid Kaskou had a dream of bringing authentic French pastries to the Pacific Northwest. With his wife, Andrea Yao, Kaskou founded Belle Pastry nine years ago, and it has grown into a successful small business in old town Bellevue. The year brought COVID-related shutdowns, civil unrest, and economic hard times, but Kaskou met those challenges head-on. Going beyond keeping the doors open, he has kept his staff employed, aided other small businesses, and honored the first responder community.
andrea yao of belle pastry
When the first round of lockdowns happened, business dropped 70%. “To be honest, we were terrified and panicked a little bit,” said Yao, “but like any challenges in life, we wanted to meet the crisis head-on.” To date, the bakery has not closed a single day, not even during the civil unrest in Bellevue on May 31, and they have not had to reduce staff.
Belle Pastry had to adapt to a changing business climate and added services such as curb side pick-up.
“A couple of our customers reached out to us pretty early on during COVID, saying they wanted to buy pastries. They would like for us to deliver them to hospitals and clinics. That gave me the idea, why don’t we make it easier for people to participate in a pastry donation like this,” Yao explained. Since they started the program, over 3,300 pastries have flowed into the hands of hospitals and clinics throughout Puget Sound.
Open from 7 AM to 6 PM, Belle Pastry is more than baked goods, offering a full-service menu with lunch and dinner items. They recently started a program where individuals can donate to fight local food insecurity. In less than a week, they raised over $3,700 – enough to feed more than 200 people.
Belle Pastry offers a full menu with breakfast, lunch, and dinner options.
Kaskou’s support of the community goes beyond feeding tired and hungry mouths and includes feeding wearing souls. In May, Yao learned about the plight of Hmong flower growers, displaced from Pike Place Market due to COVID business restrictions. She had an idea. With her husband’s support, they opened up the area in front of their bakery to the Hmong Association of Washington to use as a pick-up point and a place to collect donations. Kaskou also helped Homemake Gardens of Carnation, Washington, expand their business to the eastside by allowing customers to pick up their purchases at Belle Pastry.
Prior to COVID-related shutdowns, Hmong flower growers sold their products at Pike Place Market in Seattle.
Another way Kaskou is helping is breaking down the barriers of social distancing for businesses and familes. Belle Pastry offers virtual parties, where each participant gets a cake or pastry delivered to their location. That way, in a virtual meeting, everyone can have their cake and literally eat it too.
You can order for yourself, make a donation for first responders and those in need via their website, or visit Belle Pastry at 10373 Main Street, Bellevue.
Kesha Rodgers started The Ally League with her friend Sara So to help promote and support Black businesses and dismantle systemic racism. The events of 2020, including the resurgent Black Lives Matter movement and the disproportionate impact of COVID on the BIPOC community, created opportunity and hardship. As working moms, Rodgers and So realized that people wanted to support the Black community but didn’t have the time or resources to engage actively. The mission of The Ally League is to promote and support Black-owned businesses while enabling allies to learn about the available products.
kesha rodgers and sara so interview
“We wanted to move people from performative things like changing your square black on Instagram,” said Rodgers. “What are things that can actively and meaningfully make a difference? [Things] that will engage people who are less likely, and maybe unable to protest so that anyone can be actively anti-racist.”
“We had so many ideas on how to help,” Rodgers continued, “but the fact that so many businesses are failing, a lot of it has to do with exposure. There is an assumption that if a product has a Black person on the front of it, it is only for Black people. There are so many products that if they were in someone’s hands, they would buy them over and over again.“
On November 29, The Ally League launched Black Box, two different priced boxes filled with products created by Black-owned businesses. Some featured items include Hunni Water, sparkling water infused with honey, AH Lip & Body Butter skincare products, Sukie’s Candles, and Boon Boona Coffee sourced from Africa. All boxes come with a “compassionist” key chain, so allies are reminded to be compassionate and open-minded. “We really want people to put the compassionist mindset front and center,” said So.
You can place your order for a $25 Mini Black Box or a $75 Premier Black Box at The Ally League. Although supplies are limited, So indicated they would do a second run in early 2021. As an additional service that supports the Black community, The Ally League can create custom and co-branded boxes with items from Black-owned companies for corporate giving and events.
Governor Inslee’s office has reached out to business and union leaders across the state by e-mail, requesting input on broader COVID-related restrictions starting after December 15. Washington state continues to add 2,000 or more COVID cases daily with no sign of slowing down, with a record number of people in hospitals and on ventilators. The state reported 31 deaths from COVID yesterday, the highest number since a summer spike.
Despite significant evidence that social distancing, limiting indoor interactions to essential needs, and wearing a mask is highly effective in slowing the spread, growing COVID fatigue works against these efforts. Hospital officials at a local, state, and federal level are concerned about wave upon wave of COVID patients as hospitalizations reach record levels. The looming issue isn’t beds or ventilators, but doctors, nurses, and specialists to staff the incoming waves of patients. In Washington state, Snohomish County reported that their 911 system is almost overwhelmed with calls for ambulances, and patients are arriving at hospitals in worse shape than the spring.
With the CARES Act set to expire on December 31, 2020, the spike in cases, hospitalizations, a looming shutdown couldn’t come at a worse time. Hundreds of thousands of Washingtonians will see their unemployment benefits end, and 172,000 families will face eviction or foreclosure without federal government intervention.
This is a breaking story and will be updated when more information is available.
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![The Ally League creates Black Box to support local Black-owned businesses [short version]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/2vvmiU6Jfb4/hqdefault.jpg)
