April 02, 2020
Dr Alfa Saadu, Dr Habib Zaidi, Dr Adil El Tayar and Dr Amged El-Hawrani. These are the first NHS doctors to die from Covid-19 — we can but hope they will be the last. Like most NHS staff, the four doctors selflessly put themselves at risk to save the sick. Unfortunately, they have paid with their lives.
Four Migrant NHS Doctors Are Dead. Can We Please Stop Turning Migrants Into Villains?
All four were of a minority race. There’s been some media coverage of their deaths, which is only right, but there is little mention of their migrant backgrounds. I don’t have a problem with that: people’s backgrounds, race or colour shouldn’t factor into the coverage. All people are equal. What troubles me, though, is that ethnicity and immigration status always take centre stage when a migrant commits a crime or does something wrong. ‘Man is hacked to death by his Syrian migrant ex-flatmate’, or ‘Afghan migrant stabbed ex-girlfriend to death’ — such headlines are common. This is often the same case as well with Muslims, and the four medics who died were Muslim, yet there has been little mention of that either.
I came to the UK in 2005 from Malawi, with huge respect for this country, and I studied law in Newcastle. Unfortunately, after my family became involved in a prolonged battle with the Home Office over settlement matters, all my respect dissipated. We moved from Sunderland to Bolton and eventually Glasgow, where we got a bit of relief, at least for now. 
My family’s extremely painful experience opened to me a whole world of the unappreciated, oppressed and marginalised migrant people in the UK. It was a world I never knew at all for all the ten years I lived here — until our ordeal. It is a world of poverty, anguish and uncertainty, unknown to most people. I must hasten to add that the horrible treatment we have had at the hands of the state is hugely contrasted with the sweetest fellowship we have enjoyed with individual British people. 
More generally, my experience has taught me that we’re never allowed to see migrants as heroes, only as villains. We choose too often to pander to divisive voices, feed the stereotype of the violent migrant and ignore the benefits that migrants bring to this nation. The deaths of the four doctors have been a lost opportunity to make a positive case for immigration. And although the research shows that migrants give more to the NHS than they take from it, most people in this country believe the myth that ‘migrants heap pressure on the NHS’.
As Covid-19 peaks, tens of thousands of migrants are putting their lives in harm’s way by serving in the NHS and in the social care sector. The UK would not have been such a great nation without the migrant communities that contribute so much, as we saw with Windrush Generation migrants who were shipped into Britain to rebuild the country after the war but unjustly treated later. We’re never allowed to see migrants as heroes, only as villains.While this could be a time of sober reflection on issues that really matter, worryingly Home Secretary Priti Patel and her department are not doing this. It’s very disheartening that even during this pandemic, migrants can be denied accommodation, charged extortionate amounts for healthcare and reported to the Home Office simply for trying to access what they need to keep themselves and those around them safe.
While Priti Patel urges only the ‘bright and the best’ migrants to the UK, we have seen those who were labelled ‘low-skilled’ suddenly transform into ‘key workers’ who are critical for our economy and safety. Many of these are undocumented migrants, care workers, nurses and cleaners who are treated poorly, yet they still want to serve selflessly in very dangerous environments. 
As Covid-19 is devastating our nation, the Home Office could have made a positive and logical move by easing its oppressive rules against the migrant community who are doing so much to keep this country going. Such a move would not only give migrants a good chance to fight the virus, as we all need to do but also to freely offer their talents to the nation. While MOT exemptions have been made to cars, banks and councils suspend debt collection, and library book fines have been frozen, why not extend this understanding and compassion to fellow human beings? 
Just ask the three people on the forefront fighting the pandemic in the country — Boris Johnston, Professor Chris Whitty, Matt Hancock — who are all in self-isolation after testing positive to the coronavirus: they will tell you that the virus is non-discriminating.
As the nation mourns the death of many people and the four NHS medics from the Covid-19 pandemic, let us reflect on the vital contributions migrants bring to the UK — and that’s not just the work they do, but the value they bring to our communities as neighbours, friends and colleagues.
This is an opportune time to treat all migrants in the UK as permanent residents so that they have access to public services and can help fight the Coronavirus outbreak. And this would be an appropriate tribute to all migrants who are losing their lives to the pandemic. Our chances of survival increase when we are in it together. 
Cryton Chikoko is a member of Migrant Voice, a migrant-led organisation established to develop the skills, capacity and confidence of members of migrant communities, including asylum seekers and refugees.Related... 'No One Is Protecting Us': Bus Drivers On Front Line Slam Lack Of Coronavirus Precautions I Just Got Out Of The Covid-19 ICU. Here's How I Made It Through Top NHS Doctor Alfa Saadu Dies From Coronavirus After Returning From Retirement
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'Trump tax': MSNBC host Chris Hayes shows how Trump winning would increase costs
Mar 28, 2024
How much would former President Donald Trump's proposed 10 percent tariff plan actually cost the average American household?The wave of tariffs Trump enacted when he was last president caused chaos, but there are many complexities that muddy this somewhat. However, MSNBC's Chris Hayes took an educated and simple guess at just how badly the country would be hit in the pocketbook under Trump's second-term plans."We don't know exactly how much everything would cost," said Hayes, but "just add 10 percent on the back of the napkin. Here's the cost of living under the Trump Tax."ALSO READ: ‘Don't have enough’: Wealthy Trump allies balk at helping Donald pay legal bills"Start with groceries," he said. "A dozen eggs cost about $3. Once you apply the Trump Tax, that is up to $3.30, with the U.S. importing over 4 million eggs a year, but cost consumers over $1.2 million. If you like oranges, they currently go for about $1.53 per pound. With the Trump Tax, that would be $1.68 per pound, which would cost American consumers almost $71 million for the nearly half a billion pounds of the import. Bananas. We don't really grow them in the U.S., do we? They average about $.63 per pound and going up to $.69 per pound with the Trump Tax, thanks to the U.S. importing more than 10 million pounds per year, that could cost Americans at $609 million and that's a $609 million tax on American consumers. Then there's tomatoes. They go for about $2.13 per pound. Apply the 10 percent Trump Tax. They would be $2.34 per pound, potentially costing Americans $3.5 million thanks to the 6.8 million pounds we import per year. If you are spending $1,200 on groceries, add another $120 to the bill. That's more than the peak of inflation in 2022, which topped off at 9 percent. This is 10 percent."Groceries are just the start, he continued."How about the refrigerator?" said Hayes. "You need to keep the groceries fresh. The average cost of a new fridge is about $1,300. With the Trump Tax, that could go up to $1,430, costing Americans $1.95 billion for the 15 million refrigerators that we import. Again, $1.95 billion of new taxes. What about the car that you need to drive to the grocery store? On average, a new car costs about $48,808 today. With Trump Tax, it costs $53,684, with Americans potentially taking a $66.3 billion hit across the board on the 13 million cars we import. That's not including the 50 percent tariff which would make it another $25,000. Even the smartphone in your pocket cost on average about $940 right now. With Trump Tax, it can go up to $1,034, with Americans potentially paying an extra $13.2 billion for the nearly 141 million smartphones that we import per year.""Everyone hates when you have to pay more for things," he added. "Inflation is one of the biggest liabilities for a sitting president. Yet here is Donald Trump, in the Year of our Lord 2024, running against President Biden, promising to make things more expensive for every American."Watch the video below or click here. Chris Hayes breaks down "Trump Tax" www.youtube.com
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Trump-endorsed candidate says Beyoncé is teaching women 'how to be hyper-sexual'
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North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson had yet another group of extremist comments unveiled — this time about legendary singer Beyoncé Knowles-Carter.According to The Root, "During a series of rants spanning multiple years, Robinson —who is Black —insulted Beyoncé’s singing abilities, called her a 'skank,' and said she was teaching 'young women how to be hyper-sexual w----s.'"For example, in 2017, Robinson posted to Facebook, “Person; Beyoncé is a role model!” Me; “The only person that butt shakin’, devil worshipping, skank is a role model to is people who want a fast track to Hell.” This is on top of previous reporting that he referred to her music as sounding like "Satanic chants."ALSO READ: ‘Don't have enough’: Wealthy Trump allies balk at helping Donald pay legal billsThese revelations come at a moment when Beyoncé herself has found herself at the center of some national controversy, having written a country music inspired album known as Cowboy Carter, and some country radio stations refusing to play singles off of it because of her race.Robinson, who is challenging Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein for the governorship of North Carolina, has been put under the spotlight for a number of bizarre and offensive comments throughout the years.Among other things, he has referred to school shooting survivors as "prosti-tots," pushed QAnon and "lizard people" conspiracy theories, questioned the Holocaust, and suggested American politics was better in the era when women couldn't vote.
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Politic
'Some prosecutor should be looking into' Trump's latest legal defense scam: expert
Mar 28, 2024
Former President Donald Trump's sprawling network of ostensibly independent political groups raising money for him, much of it in service of paying legal expenses, seems to walk right up to the line of breaking the law, former prosecutor Kristy Greenberg told MSNBC's Alex Wagner — and may in fact cross it."Kristy, how is this legal?" asked Wagner. "How can he keep saying this one thing and doing another?""Well, I think the big question here will be looking behind all of this as to who is coordinating it," said Greenberg. "If Donald Trump is coordinating between his campaign and these PACs that are supposed to be third parties and independent — the Save America PAC is independent, even though he directs it, independent third-party — if there is sufficient coordination, you could prove that, then maybe you would have something to say these expenditures are not purely personal, these are really campaign contributions. And therefore they should be subject to the limits of $5,000 that campaign contributions are subject to."ALSO READ: ‘Don't have enough’: Wealthy Trump allies balk at helping Donald pay legal billsWhat it looks like, Greenberg went on, is that Trump and his allies are "just trying to do an end-run around these various regulations, and it seems so transparent.""[Special counsel] Jack Smith ... had served some subpoenas in connection with that nonexistent, as it turns out, election defense fund," Greenberg said. "He served some subpoenas and then he withdrew them and it was unclear why, because that seemed like such a clear-cut fraud. I questioned why that happened. Perhaps it was optics. Perhaps he thought like he had such strong cases, the January 6 case and the national security case, that he didn't want to seem as though he was trying to drain Trump of the ability to legally defend against those cases. Hard to say. But I questioned it at that time because that seemed like such a clear wire fraud case that it seemed like it should be looked into, but maybe they just had limited resources and didn't like the optics of it.""But I agree with you, this raises a lot of questions," she added. "Someone, somewhere, even if not the special counsel's office, because they are pretty busy — some prosecutors should be looking into this."Watch the video below or at the link. Kristy Greenberg on the legality of Trump's PACs www.youtube.com
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