Despite wintery blasts, deserts keep popping up in Chicago’s poor, underserved communities

 Despite wintery blasts, deserts keep popping up in Chicago’s poor, underserved communities

First it was food deserts as Whole Foods, Aldi and other commercial food enterprises abandoned Chicago’s south and west sides. Can't make enough Do-Re-Mi they claim. 

Then came the pharmacy desert as Walgreen’s and CVS fled to more lucrative demographics

Now a health clinic desert descents on poor, sick Chicagoans trapped in underserved communities as nonprofit Heartland Health Alliance closes its 2 remaining health care clinics and 3 food pantries this month. Tho nonprofit, Heartland Health Alliance simply running out of money

Free enterprise is failing Chicago’s poor. Nonprofits are also sadly chained to the almighty dollar.

Alas, a moral desert is descending upon those of us affluent and privileged who have more food, drug and medical services choices than we can use while ignoring the plight of those left behind by a cruel, capitalist society chasing endless riches thru tax cuts and closing up less profitable but vital resources for the poor.  

Walt Zlotow, Glen Ellyn IL 

Trump ratchets up Biden’s genocide enabling to whole nother level

 Trump ratchets up Biden’s genocide enabling to whole nother level

The self-proclaimed man of peace during the campaign now governing as man of genocide

Trump campaigned for president claiming he’d end current wars and start no new wars if elected.

Once in office he pivoted to expanding his predecessor Biden’s grotesque enabling of Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

Trump horrified the entire world, (while Israel cheered) by proclaiming America will complete Israel’s ethnic cleansing of Gaza by forcing all 2 million Palestinians out so America can rebuild it for a Greater Israel.

Now Trump is backing Israel’s breaking of the ceasefire in which dozens of Palestinians have been killed along with obstruction of food and medicine along with building materials for temporary housing.

When Hamas pushed back against these ceasefire incursions, stating it may hold up the next hostage release, Trump went full genocide, declaring “If all the hostages aren’t returned by Saturday at 12 o’clock, I think it’s an appropriate time. I would say cancel it, and all bets are off. Let hell break out.”

Of course Trump knows that release of all hostages is not part of phase 1 of the ceasefire. He also knows, as reported in Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu intends to sabotage the ceasefire deal and that the Israeli negotiators in Qatar aren’t expected to bring the deal into its second phase.

Breaking ceasefire agreements is standard operating procedure for Netanyahu. Provoke a response from Palestinians by attacking and killing enough of them to guarantee they’ll respond; allowing the ethnic cleansing to continue unabated.

Trump is fully aware of this policy. To lend his support he welcomed the International Court of Justice indicted war criminal to the White House to coordinate his support for the demise of Palestinian life in Gaza.

To bolster his Israeli genocide bonafides, Trump increased US sanctions on the International Criminal Court of Justice for daring to indict Netanyahu for the worst crimes any leader can commit. The country that established the international tribunals to prosecute WWII war criminals is now trashing international tribunals when America and ally Israel are committing war crimes. Trump's defense, if ever indicted himself, might be similar to those back in 1946...'I was just following Netanyahu's orders.'

Trump added to the impending resumption of genocide by releasing his first tranche of genocide weapons to complete the ethnic cleansing of those pesky Palestinians who courageously refuse to leave their homeland.

Included are 2,800 500-pound bombs, 166 small diameter bombs, thousands of guidance kits, fuses, bomb components, and other equipment, 3,000 Hellfire missiles and related equipment.

It took Joe Biden to two and a half years to go all in supporting Israeli genocidal ethnic cleaning in Gaza. It’s taken Donald Trump less than 2 weeks to out genocide his predecessor.