This list covers the week of October 1-8. It is generally in order of the date of the article's release.
1) Fraser Institute Quietly Omits Data on Pay Equity and Child Care From Gender Inequality Rankings
Press Progress
After previously hypothesizing women could die young because they can’t handle the “stress” of working a job, the Fraser Institute has finally come around to the idea that economic inequality could limit the freedom of women.
Read the full article.
2) The White Privilege of the “Lone Wolf” Shooter
Shaun King, The Intercept
LAST NIGHT, THE United States experienced the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history. At least 58 people are dead and over 500 more wounded. No, that’s not a typo: More than 500 people were injured in one single incident.
Read the full article.
3) Every Member of Congress Who Took Money From the NRA and Tweeted 'Thoughts and Prayers' to Las Vegas
Rafi Schwartz, Splinter
Americans woke up on Monday morning to learn of yet another horrific act of gun violence in the United States—this time a mass shooting in Las Vegas that left at least 58 people dead and more than 500 injured. But it seems unlikely that the politicians in a position to actually change our gun laws will actually do something about it, because they never do.
Read the full article.
4) DONALD TRUMP’S DISGUSTING REMARK ON PUERTO RICO IS MORE REVEALING THAN HE KNOWS
Jon Schwarz, The Intercept
PRESIDENT TRUMP ARRIVED in Puerto Rico on Tuesday and immediately began lauding himself and his administration for their response to Hurricane Maria. But mixed in with the self-congratulation were several references to how much relief efforts were costing.
Read the full article.
5) Labour has a once-in-a-generation opportunity, and the Tories know it
Larry Elliott, The Guardian
People are ready for a radical change. Trying to brand Corbyn a Marxist throwback who wants to turn Britain into Venezuela won’t work.
Read the full article.
6) Too poor to vote: how Alabama’s ‘new poll tax’ bars thousands of people from voting
Connor Sheets, The Guardian
In Alabama, money keeps thousands of people away from the ballot box – and the state’s felon disenfranchisement policies are probably unconstitutional.
Read the full article.
7) Ontario to create 'safe access zones' around abortion clinics with new legislation
Andrea Janus, CBC News
The provincial government is moving to make obtaining abortion and other reproductive health services safer for Ontario women by introducing legislation that creates safe access zones around abortion clinics and other health facilities.
Read the full article.
8) Why We Never Talk About Black-on-Black Crime: An Answer to White America’s Most Pressing Question
Michael Harriot, The Root
You’ve heard it before. It is the most frequent response to any accusation of police brutality. It is the repeated sleight of hand used to distract and drown out the voices of Black Lives Matter. It is an oft-used “alt-right” refrain and a sincere query from curious white questioners. It is the weapon of choice for the black practitioners of respectability politics and the favorite follow-up for people who frame their arguments with the preamble, “Not all white people ... ”
Read the full article.
9) Catalonia: From Referendum to Republic?
An interview with Luc Salellas, Jacobin
Amid a general strike in Catalonia, we speak to Lluc Salellas of anticapitalist party CUP about the next steps for the independence movement.
Read the full article.
10) Masha Gessen: Trump Doing “Incredible Damage” to Democracy While Media is Obsessed with Russia Probe
Democracy Now
As the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee says it has reached the conclusion that Russia interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, and CNN reports a number of Russian-linked Facebook ads specifically targeted Michigan and Wisconsin, two states crucial to Trump’s victory in November, we speak with Russian-American journalist Masha Gessen. “We don’t know if there was a conspiracy,” Gessen says of allegations the Trump campaign colluded with Russia. “But even if there was, we should do our best to try not to engage in conspiracy thinking. … It lends itself to this idea that once we discover that Trump colluded with the Russians, that we’ll magically get rid of Trump.” She says it is unlikely the investigation will produce the kind of evidence of collusion that could be used as a legal basis for impeachment, and argues impeachment is unlikely while Republicans have control of both houses of Congress.
Read the full transcript.
11) Climate Groups Hail ‘End Of Age Of Oil’ After Energy East Cancelled
Daniel Tencer, The Huffington Post
As Canada's politicians threw blame around in the wake of TransCanada's cancellation of the Energy East pipeline, environmental groups hailed the decision, and called it a sign that the age of oil is coming to an end.
Read the full article.
12) The Myth of Women’s ‘Empowerment’
Rafia Zakaria, The New York Times
The concept of women’s empowerment needs an immediate and urgent rescue from the clutches of the would-be saviors in the development industry. At the heart of women’s empowerment lies the demand for a more robust global sisterhood, one in which no women are relegated to passivity and silence, their choices limited to sewing machines and chickens.
Read the full article.
13) The truth about capitalism is out as Marx’s magic cap starts to slip
Giles Fraser, The Guardian
A century after the rise of the Bolsheviks, the young are reading Karl Marx again – and faith in the superstitious beliefs that underpin market economies is faltering.
Read the full article.
14) Students protest at forum on social inequality
Josie Kao, The Varsity
Protesters criticize lack of panel diversity at event where Massey Head of College Segal spoke.
Read the full article.
15) How Hugh Hefner represents neoliberalism’s win
Gail Dines, Feminist Current
It is no accident that, as we celebrate individuals rather than movements for radical change, Hugh Hefner has been hailed as the leader of the sexual revolution.
Read the full article.
16) Harvey Weinstein Paid Off Sexual Harassment Accusers for Decades
Jodi Kantor & Megan Twohey, The New York Time
Two decades ago, the Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein invited Ashley Judd to the Peninsula Beverly Hills hotel for what the young actress expected to be a business breakfast meeting. Instead, he had her sent up to his room, where he appeared in a bathrobe and asked if he could give her a massage or she could watch him shower, she recalled in an interview.
Read the full article.
17) Company Scrambles as Weinstein Takes Leave and a Third of the Board Resigns
Megan Twohey & Niraj Chokshi, The New York Times
The Weinstein Company struggled to perform damage control on Friday amid allegations of rampant sexual harassment by its co-chairman Harvey Weinstein and turmoil among its ranks. One-third of the company’s all-male board resigned, while board members who remained hired an outside law firm to investigate the allegations and announced that Mr. Weinstein would take an indefinite leave of absence immediately.
Read the full article.
18) Actresses Respond to Harvey Weinstein’s Accusers: ‘I Believe You’
Niraj Chokshi, The New York Times
The Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein faces a series of previously undisclosed allegations of sexual harassment and unwanted physical contact stretching back nearly three decades, according to a New York Times investigation published on Thursday afternoon.
Read the full article.
19) Why the Harvey Weinstein Sexual-Harassment Allegations Didn’t Come Out Until Now
Rebecca Traister, The Cut
I have been having conversations about Harvey Weinstein’s history of sexual harassment for more than 17 years.
Read the full article.
20) One Undeniable Factor In Gun Violence: Men
Jill Filipovic, Time Magazine
Another mass shooting in America, another round of questions. Was the shooter a terrorist or a lone wolf (read: “Is he Muslim or not?”). Did he have a political agenda? Was he mentally ill? Why would someone do this?
A question we never ask: Was the shooter a man?
Read the full article.
While this article is from 2016, it is well worth reading again in the wake of Las Vegas:
21) One group is responsible for America’s culture of violence, and it isn’t cops, black Americans, Muslims or rednecks. It’s men
Melissa Warnke, Los Angeles Times
On Thursday morning, a fire alarm in the Los Angeles Times' building went off. Fortunately, the dozens of office alarms I've heard over the years have always been drills or misfiring systems. For the first time, instead of begrudgingly grabbing my belongings and traipsing downstairs, I was afraid. For the first time, the thought in my mind wasn't "drill" but "shooter."
Read the full article.
See also: Puerto Rico, Hugh Hefner, Anthem Protests and more -- The Left Chapter Sunday Reading List September 24 - October 1
See also: Anthem Protests, Vietnam Revisionism, Korea and more -- The Left Chapter Sunday Reading List September 17 - 24
