ICE, Ricardo Rossello Resigns, Venezuela and more -- The Week in News, Opinion and Videos July 21 - 28

This week's list of articles, news items, opinion pieces and videos that I see as a must if you are looking for a roundup that should be of interest to The Left Chapter readers.


This list covers the week of July 21 - 28.

1) Do they know it’s a tax haven? Live Aid star Bob Geldof named in Mauritian finance leaks

Phil Miller, The Morning Star

BOB GELDOF used a tax haven to make money from business deals across Africa, according to leaked documents.

2) Huge swathes of the Arctic on fire, ‘unprecedented’ satellite images show

Harry Cockburn, The Independent 

Vast swathes of the Arctic are suffering from "unprecedented" wildfires, new satellite images have revealed.

3) The House Voted To Condemn The Boycott Israel Movement Over Protests From Reps. Ilhan Omar And Rashida Tlaib

Kadia Goba and Addy Baird, BuzzFeed News 

The House voted overwhelmingly Tuesday night to formally oppose the Palestinian-backed movement to boycott Israel, over the objections of Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib.

4) “NATO get out from the Balkans, the Balkans belong to the people!”

Muhammed Shabeer, People's Dispatch 

Interview with Aleksandar Ðenić, first secretary of the League of Yugoslav Communist Youth (SKOJ), the youth wing of the New Communist Party of Yugoslavia (NKPJ).

5) NAVIGATING A SEA OF SANCTIONS

Bennett Guillaume, People's Voice

In April a Japanese newspaper revealed a policy document purportedly detailing the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s economic strategy for the 2016-2020 period.

6) The red locomotive in Brussels? Interview with the Workers’ Party of Belgium MEP


Denis Rogatyuk, Green Left Weekly 

On May 27, Europe woke up to what seemed like a new stage in the resurgence of the far-right and reactionary forces and a major retreat for the left in the elections to the European parliament.

7) CANADA: (STILL) A NUCLEAR WEAPONS COUNTRY

People's Voice Editorial Board 

Every August, commemorations of the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are an important reminder of the dangers of nuclear weapons and the importance of ongoing disarmament efforts. People in Canada generally don’t think of this as a nuclear weapons country – the deployment of nuclear-tipped Bomarc missiles in Canada was ended in 1972, and the nuclear-armed CF-101 fighter jet was replaced by the non-nuclear CF-18 in 1984. More often than not, people here consider nuclear disarmament “an American issue.”

8) A Survivor's Granddaughter Reflects On Tulsa Race Massacre: 'It Was A Horrendous Situation'

Robin Young, WBUR

Last month before a House subcommittee, writer Ta-Nehisi Coates referred to something called “Black Wall Street” in making his case for slavery reparations.

9) GREEK ELECTIONS AN OMEN FOR CANADA?

People's Voice Editorial Board

Immediately after Greece’s general election, KKE General Secretary Dimitris Koutsoumbas said that “the right-wing and conservative policies of the SYRIZA government paved the way to New Democracy … it purified and resurrected them.” Describing the SYRIZA leadership as “sellouts to Trump and the EU Commission,” Koutsoumbas explained that the Tsipras party’s cynical use of socialist slogans had resulted in a demoralized and demobilized left in the labour and people’s movements. This opened the door for New Democracy to return to power.

10) This Supreme Court Case Made School District Lines A Tool For Segregation

Elissa Nadworny and Cory Turner, NPR

Roughly 9 million children — nearly 1 in 5 public school students in the U.S. — attend schools that are racially isolated and receive far less money than schools just a few miles away. That's according to a sweeping new review of the nation's most divisive school district borders from EdBuild, a nonprofit that investigates school funding inequities.

11) Food Stamp Cuts To Hurt Poor, According to Trump Gvt's Own Study

Telesur 

A Trump administration proposal to reduce eligibility for food stamps could undercut access to basic nutrition for millions of Americans and hurt some low-cost retailers, according to an analysis conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which runs the program.

12) Puerto Rico's Governor Announces Resignation Effective Aug. 2

Telesur 

Puerto Rico's Governor Ricardo Rossello announced Wednesday at midnight his resignation effective Friday, August 2, 2019 at 5:00 pm local time, and will be replaced by the secretary of Justice, Wanda Vazquez.



13) Puerto Rico: Rossello Replacement Being Probed for Corruption

Telesur 

Puerto Ricans continue to protest as the role of governor passes from Ricardo Rossello to Secretary of Justice Wanda Vazquez who was already being investigated for corruption linked to Hurricane Maria aid provisions.

14) Latest victim is 138th FARC member killed since peace signed in Nov 2016

Justice for Colombia 

In addition to 138 FARC members, more than 500 social activists have been killed since the peace agreement was signed in November 2016.

15) Video of man taunting mom, daughter with slurs prompts more worries about racial tensions in Quebec

Jonathan Montpetit · CBC News

A white man accosted an Arabic-speaking woman and her two-year-old daughter earlier this week, uttering racial slurs and sexually violent threats in broad daylight on a Montreal street.

16) Meet Shahid Buttar, Pelosi’s Left-Wing Challenger

Natascha Elena Uhlmann, Jacobin 

Nancy Pelosi is facing a primary challenge from a civil rights lawyer who supports the Green New Deal and Medicare for All. Knocking her off would be a resounding win for the Left.

17) Outrage as Trump brands mostly black Baltimore 'infested mess'

Al Jazeera 

US President Donald Trump was hit with new accusations of racism on Saturday after he attacked a prominent African American congressman and branded the majority-black city of Baltimore an "infested mess".

18) Statement from our union at the Toronto public transit system

CUPE Local 2

TTC electrical workers call for FREE PUBLIC TRANSIT and a campaign of mass strikes and protests to BRING DOWN DOUG FORD.

19) OHIO REPUBLICANS BALKED AT A NUCLEAR BAILOUT, SO THE INDUSTRY ELECTED NEW REPUBLICANS — AND WALKED AWAY WITH $1.1 BILLION

Ryan Grim and Akela Lacy, The Intercept 

ON TUESDAY, a dark-money effort linked primarily to the Ohio nuclear industry delivered an audacious payoff, as a newly elected state legislature overcame years of opposition to shower a $1.1 billion bailout on two state nuclear plants.

20) Following U.S. education policy, Doug Ford declares public high schools open for business

Rick Salutin, Rabble

Among his sins, now rising up to haunt him before they even settle into the loam, Doug Ford has decreed that beginning in fall 2020, Ontario high school students will need to take four online courses to graduate.

21) Critics slam reports of Doug Ford's changes to Toronto relief line plan

CBC News

Critics are slamming Premier Doug Ford's transit plan, after reports that his government's new vision for a downtown relief line could be significantly different from the line the city already approved.

(Related: Of course Ford has not revealed plans for the TTC "Ontario Line". It will never be built.)

22) 18-Year-Old U.S. Citizen Held in Immigration Detention for a Month Has Finally Been Released

Emma Ockerman, Vice News 

The young, Texas-born U.S. citizen wrongly held in migrant detention for nearly a month was finally released on Tuesday.

23) Video Shows ICE Agents Smashing a Family’s Car Window and Dragging the Dad Out

Gaby Del Valle, Vice News

Kansas City officials and activist groups are blasting the Trump administration and the local police department over the brutal arrest of a local dad who got pulled over by ICE.

24) Trump’s Border Patrol Chief Admitted She Was Part Of A Secret Facebook Group Filled With Racist, Sexist Comments

Salvador Hernandez, BuzzFeed News

The chief of United States Border Patrol admitted to members of Congress she was a member of a secret Facebook group filled with racist and sexist posts, but claimed she was not aware of the troubling content until the group was revealed by reporters.

25) Federal Judge Temporarily Blocks Trump Administration Asylum Restrictions

Antonia Blumberg, HuffPost

A California federal judge granted a preliminary injunction on Wednesday blocking the Trump administration from enforcing a new rule ending asylum protections for most Central American migrants.

26) AS IMMIGRANTS BECOME MORE AWARE OF THEIR RIGHTS, ICE STEPS UP RUSES AND SURVEILLANCE

Nausicaa Renner, The Intercept 

AMID THE TRUMP administration’s threats to accelerate deportations, agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have increasingly been using deception and surveillance to make targeted arrests, according to immigrant rights groups across the country.

27) Another ‘NY Times’ biased report — this one about Israel’s destruction of Palestinian homes in Jerusalem

James North, Mondoweiss 

The New York Times had to report Israel’s shocking demolition yesterday of Palestinian apartment blocks in Jerusalem; the story was too big to ignore. But the paper’s Isabel Kershner cleverly tried to present Israel’s brutal action in the best possible way, while muffling the voices of the victims.

28) Western Media Losing Enthusiasm for Failing Coup in Venezuela

Lucas Koerner and Ricardo Vaz – FAIR

When previously unknown Venezuelan opposition politician Juan Guaidó stood up in an East Caracas plaza and declared himself “interim president” of the South American country, Western corporate media were ebullient.

29) Venezuela Hosts 25th Meeting of Leftist 'Sao Paulo Forum'

Telesur 

Embracing “Peace, Sovereignty and Prosperity of the Peoples” as a common goal, over 120 Latin American social and political organizations began Thursday the 25th Meeting of the Sao Paulo Forum (SPF) in Caracas, Venezuela.

30) Venezuela: High Court Rejects Guaido's TIAR Attempt

Telesur 

Venezuela’s Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) has nullified the National Assembly’s attempt to reinstate the nation in the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance (TIAR), calling the move "an assault on the rule of law and the power of the Venezuelan people."

31) Cuba Has 9 Doctors Per 1000 Citizens, Highest in Its History

Telesur 

Cuba has more than 100,000 doctors, the highest number in the history of the country with a proportion of nine doctors per 1,000 citizens.

32) Amazon gold miners invade indigenous village in Brazil after its leader is killed

Dom Phillips, The Guardian 

Dozens of gold miners have invaded a remote indigenous reserve in the Brazilian Amazon where a local leader was stabbed to death and have taken over a village after the community fled in fear, local politicians and indigenous leaders said. The authorities said police were on their way to investigate.

See also: Puerto Rico Protests, Ilhan Omar, Israeli Apartheid & more -- The Week in News, Opinion and Videos July 14 - 21

Puerto Rico Protests, Ilhan Omar, Israeli Apartheid & more -- The Week in News, Opinion and Videos July 14 - 21

This week's list of articles, news items, opinion pieces and videos that I see as a must if you are looking for a roundup that should be of interest to The Left Chapter readers.


This list covers the week of July 14 - 21.


1) Puerto Rico Governor Defies Calls To Resign Amid Growing Protests Over Text Chats

Adrian Florido & Vanessa Romo, NPR

The governor of Puerto Rico is resisting calls to resign despite growing protests against his government after leaked text chats revealed conversations rife with homophobic and misogynistic slurs.

2) These Dramatic Pictures Show The Huge Protests Against The Puerto Rico Governor

Gabriel H. Sanchez, BuzzFeed

Thousands of people have taken to the streets of Puerto Rico in protest against Gov. Ricardo Rosselló following the leak of his misogynistic and anti-gay text messages.

3) Why Half a Million Puerto Ricans Are Protesting in the Streets

 Ed Morales, The Nation

This week has been unlike any other in Puerto Rican history. An estimated 500,000 demonstrators filled Old San Juan’s cobblestone streets on Wednesday to demand the resignation of Governor Ricardo Rosselló. He has lost public confidence because of mounting scandals in his government and damning revelations from a leaked trove of private chats, published on July 13 by the island’s Center for Investigative Journalism.

4) BBC Panorama hatchet job on Labour antisemitism is a farce

David McAllister, Counterfire 

The BBC's Panorama on antisemitism in the Labour Party provides no real evidence and shows how cynical the smear campaign is.

5) Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes remind us of how millions of women are exploited in the sex industry

Sonia Ossorio & Lauren Hersh, New York Daily News

In the world of prostitution, Epstein is the norm, not the exception. And if we are outraged about what he did, we ought to be equally outraged by this insidious effort underway to legalize and legitimize pimping, the buying of sex and the owning of brothels.

6) Amazon workers walk out across the world on Prime Day

The Morning Star

WORKERS worldwide walked out of Amazon warehouses today in protest over pay and conditions during the company’s Prime Day.

7) There's An Environmental Disaster Unfolding In The Gulf of Mexico

 Rocky Kistner, HuffPost US

As fishermen deep in the Louisiana bayou, Kindra Arnesen and her family have faced their share of life-altering challenges in recent years.

8) Planting ‘Billions of Trees’ Isn’t Going to Stop Climate Change

Madeleine Gregory and Sarah Emerson, Vice News

Planting billions of trees is the most effective way to combat climate change. At least that’s what a recent Science study claimed. Its findings were initially celebrated by a wave of articles, but the response is being met with a flood of criticism—from Indigenous activists, policy experts, and climate scientists.

9) Nazi collaborator involved in killing of 8,000 Jews honoured with statue in Ukraine

Ben Chacko, The Morning Star

UKRAINE’s rehabilitation of fascist war criminals continued this week after authorities unveiled a monument honouring an Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) officer involved in the murder of 8,000 Jews in Poltava in 1941.

10) A Judge Ruled A Neo-Nazi Blogger Should Pay $14 Million To A Woman Targeted In A Racist “Troll Storm"

Salvador Hernandez, BuzzFeed

The judgment against Andrew Anglin included $10 million in punitive damages for what the judge called "particularly egregious and reprehensible" behavior.

11) Call me a communist

Rossana Cambron, People's World

As an activist in my early 20s, I didn’t know much about what communism really was; all I’d heard was they were bad people that could hurt you and your loved ones. Being active in the Chicano student movement, I came across a member of MEChA (Movimiento Estudiantil Chicanx de Aztlán) who mentioned to me that the Communist Party USA was giving a class on Marxism and asked if I was interested in going.

12) Another Ontario First Nation declares a state of emergency over water

Jorge Barrera · CBC News

Another fly-in First Nation in Ontario has declared a state of emergency over of its water quality.

13) The Innisfil experiment: the town that replaced public transit with Uber

Leyland Cecco, The Guardian 

Ridership is high and there’s plenty of work for drivers, but success has come at a cost to this Ontario town.

14) 5 Years After Eric Garner's Death, Activists Continue Fight For 'Another Day To Live'

Yasmeen Khan, NPR

The news that federal prosecutors will not charge a New York City police officer in the death of Eric Garner, who repeated the phrase "I can't breathe" almost a dozen times while being arrested for an alleged misdemeanor, closed another door for Garner's family and police reform activists seeking accountability.

15) NDP Suppresses Palestinian Solidarity Again

Yves Engler

One side is playing for keeps. They oust elected representatives and block members from voting on efforts to challenge a brutal occupation. On the other side, members defending a morally righteous cause twist themselves in knots to avoid directly criticizing nakedly authoritarian party leaders.

16) Ecuador: Roads Blocked, Media Silence as National Strike Hits 2nd Day

Telesur 

As the national strike called for this week in Ecuador, by social and political organizations, enters its second day Tuesday, major roads were blocked and manifestations were reported all across the country including the country’s capital, Quito.

17) Peru: Doctors, Health Workers Begin Nationwide Strike

Telesur

Both the Peruvian Medical Federation (FMP) and the National Federation of Health Workers (FENUTSSA) started Wednesday a 48-hour national strike to demand that President Martin Vizcarra's administration increase the budget assigned to the public Integral Health System (SIS).

18) BOMBS AWAY? BOMBARDIER ON TRACK FOR TAKEOVER

People's Voice

Bombardier’s recent announcement that it will cut 550 jobs at its Thunder Bay Rail Transportation facility has sparked outrage within labour, community and political circles. It has reignited the debate around public takeover of industries that are key to the economy and society.

19) Tensions rise in Oka as mayor speaks of being 'surrounded' by Mohawks

Colin Harris · CBC News

The grand chief of the Mohawk community of Kanesatake, northwest of Montreal, is demanding the mayor of the neighbouring town of Oka apologize for what he's calling "hate-filled" and "racist" remarks over a contentious land transfer proposal.


The Sandinista revolution of 1979, led by the FSLN, overthrew the U.S. backed dictatorship of the Somoza family.


20) Trump admin dramatically limits asylum claims by Central Americans

 Priscilla Alvarez, CNN

The Trump administration on Monday moved to dramatically limit the ability of Central American migrants to claim asylum if they enter the United States by land through Mexico, the latest attempt by the White House to limit immigration and toughen the US asylum process amid overcrowded conditions at border facilities.

This is one of the single most racist moments in modern American political history. As Trump began attacking my friend Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, the crowd began chanting “SEND HER BACK, SEND HER BACK.” It’s utterly despicable and dangerous. We are here. We are in THAT time. And it is ugly. - Shaun King



21) A Racist in the White House

 David Remnick, The New Yorker

On November 4, 2008, Barack Obama beat John McCain by nine and a half million votes and became the country’s first African-American President. In 2016, Donald Trump, an unapologetic racist, lost the popular ballot by three million votes but, thanks to the antediluvian rules that still govern our voting system, succeeded Obama in the Oval Office. Understanding the role of racism and its persistence in this dismal pivot will be as central to our understanding of our times as it was to our understanding of Reconstruction.

22) Racism Is an Impeachable Offense

Shaun King, The Intercept

DONALD TRUMP HAS a rich, varied history of racism, bigotry, and discrimination going back to at least 1973, when the Justice Department filed a racial bias suit against him for mistreating Black applicants and tenants all over New York. At the time, it was one of the largest lawsuits of its kind. That was 46 years ago. Since then, the list of offenses has piled up. In a better time, his racist behavior would have prevented him from ever being elected, but here we are. He’s president and now he’s openly carrying that bigotry right into the Oval Office. Not only do I think he is violating his oath of office — I think his open, flagrant bigotry is an impeachable offense.

23) The Real Trouble with Ilhan Omar

Sarah Jaffe, The Progressive 

Ilhan Omar has spent most of her adult life making trouble—good trouble, as her colleague John Lewis, with whom she’s just introduced a resolution supporting Americans’ right to participate in boycott movements, likes to say. So it’s perhaps understandable that she maintains an impressive cool under the repeated onslaught of criticism, threats, and rage thrown her way, from the right as well as well as from the Democratic leadership.

24) Ilhan Omar Introduces Bill Backing Pro-Palestine BDS Movement

Telesur 

U.S. Congresswoman Ilhan Omar introduced a resolution in the House of Representatives Wednesday defending the pro-Palestinian Boycott, Divestment, and  Sanctions (BDS) movement the lawmaker told the news outlet Al-Monitor.

25) Top Dems imply they’d pressure Israel to end the occupation, but none will even commit to moving the embassy back to Tel Aviv

Michael Arria, Mondoweiss

Last month, the progressive Jewish group IfNotNow officially became a tax-exempt organization legally permitted to lobby politicians. Since then, IfNotNow activists have been confronting Democratic candidates on the campaign trail and asking them about the occupation of Palestine.

26) Israel lobby groups hatch plan to divide the left

Ali Abunimah, The Electronic Intifada 

Influential Israel lobby groups are offering “rules” for how Jewish communal organizations can divide the left and break up emerging intersectional coalitions.

27) ‘They shot to kill’: residents of West Bank village in shock after Israeli snipers shoot 10-year-old boy in the head

 Yumna Patel, Mondoweiss 

For eight years, the residents of the northern occupied West Bank village of Kafr Qaddum have protested every single Friday, rain or shine, against Israeli land confiscations and the closure of the village’s southern road by Israeli forces.

28) Israeli plan to raze East Jerusalem homes may be first step towards mass demolitions across the West Bank

Yumna Patel, Mondoweiss

In less than 24 hours, 42-year-old Ismail Obeidiya, his wife Nida, and their six kids, could be made homeless. It’s a terrifying reality that Obeidiya is struggling to grapple with, his unease and frustration more palpable with every word.

29) BDS in the face of Israeli Apartheid

Palestinian BDS National Committee, Socialist Project Bullet 

On July 9th, Palestinians marked with a mix of alarm and hope the 14th anniversary of the BDS Call (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions), launched by Palestinian society in 2005 in pursuit of freedom, justice and equality.

30) ‘The Lion King’ is a fascistic story. No remake can change that.

Dan Hassler-Forest, The Washington Post 

No matter how you look at it, this is a film that introduces us to a society where the weak have learned to worship at the feet of the strong.

31) 'Intensely stupid': Health community challenges Scheer's pledge to review new Food Guide

Kristy Kirkup, The Canadian Press 

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer faced strong criticism from nutrition experts on Thursday after he pledged to review the new Canada Food Guide should the Tories win power this fall.

32) The lesson from the ruins of Notre Dame: don’t rely on billionaires

Aditya Chakrabortty, The Guardian 

The French super-rich promised to dig deep, but such philanthropy comes at a steep price.

33) Ford Government fails to host mandatory anti-racism conference

Yusra Javed, iPolitics 

Ontario appears unlikely to host a mandatory anti-racism conference in 2019, prompting fresh accusations that Premier Doug Ford’s government doesn’t take the anti-racism file seriously.

34) Doug Ford is Quietly Planning Over $100 Million in Cuts to Housing and Rent Support Programs

Press Progress

The Ontario government’s 2019-2020 expenditure estimates for the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing show more cuts are coming to housing supports, rent support and homeless assistance efforts.

35) More than 3,000 new Toronto child care spaces at risk due to provincial cuts

 Laurie Monsebraaten, The Toronto Star 

Thousands of new child cares spaces approved by the previous provincial government — including 3,049 in Toronto — may never get built due to the latest Ford government cuts.

36) Venezuela: Trump Diverts Central America Aid to Guaido as EU Threatens More Sanctions

Ricardo Vaz, Venezuela Analysis 

The Trump administration is reportedly diverting over US $40 million of aid destined for Central America to the Venezuelan opposition.

37) Cuba: Safest Country in Latin America to Be a Child and an Adolescent

Telesur 

The annual Save the Children report evaluates 176 countries using international indicators on infant mortality, access to education, nutrition, protection against harmful practices, such as child labour, child marriage, homicides and forced displacement.

38) Boris Johnson’s take on Islam is historically illiterate

Jerry Brotton, The Guardian 

No printing press until the 19th century? Wrong. But why let reality get in the way of a story that fires up his base?

39) Baby H is in her fifth foster home and family services has stopped communicating with family says grandfather

Melissa Ridgen, APTN

Baby H, the B.C. infant who was seized from hospital after medical staff reported her mother was neglecting her 90 minutes after having a C-section is back in a stranger’s care after her aunt asked for a break.

40) Low-Income Workers Can’t Afford Rent in 91% of Canadian Cities

 Anne Gaviola, Vice News

A new study shows how unaffordable this country has become as cities like Vancouver and Toronto are basically out of reach for anyone making less than $70,000.

41) Waste only: How the plastics industry is fighting to keep polluting the world

Sharon Lerner, The Intercept 

THE STUDENTS AT Westmeade Elementary School worked hard on their dragon. And it paid off. The plastic bag receptacle that the kids painted green and outfitted with triangular white teeth and a “feed me” sign won the students from the Nashville suburb first place in a recycling box decorating contest. The idea, as Westmeade’s proud principal told a local TV news show, was to help the environment. But the real story behind the dragon — as with much of the escalating war over plastic waste — is more complicated.

42) Why I’m Fed Up With Being Told To ‘Go Back Where I Came From’

Piya Chattopadhyay, Chatelaine 

For years, I’ve told myself not to let those words bother me. But they do. And why shouldn’t they? The only place I’m from is Saskatoon.

43) Five Men Sentenced to Life for Operation Condor Killings Trained at School of the Americas

Brett Wilkins, Common Dreams

Five of the 24 men sentenced last week by an Italian court to life in prison for their roles in a brutal and bloody U.S.-backed Cold War campaign against South American dissidents graduated from a notorious US Army school once known for teaching torture, assassination, and democracy suppression.

44) Sudan CP hails broad coalition for democracy

Emile Schepers, CPUSA

The Sudanese Communist Party, in its latest bulletin updating the world on the dramatic events that have roiled that African country since the beginning of a mass uprising which gained strength in December of last year and which led to the fall of long time dictator Omar Hassan al Bashir, is sounding an optimistic note.

See also: Epstein, Censoring Palestinian Voices, Syriza & more -- The Week in News, Opinion and Videos July 7 - 14

Israeli Attacks, Venezuela Resists, Climate Change & more -- The Week in News, Opinion and Videos March 24 - 31

This week's list of articles, news items, opinion pieces and videos that I see as a must if you are looking for a roundup that should be of interest to The Left Chapter readers.

This list covers the week of March 24 - 31.


1) Ford government cancels electricity conservation programs

Krystalle Ramlakhan, CBC News 

Ontario's government has cancelled a number of electricity conservation programs, including one which offered pool owners a $400 rebate for upgrading to energy-efficient pumps.

2) 9-year-old US citizen detained at the border for more than 30 hours

 Aris Folley, The Hill

A 9-year-old United States citizen was detained by Customs and Border Patrol officials for more than 30 hours this week after she tried to cross the U.S-Mexico border on her walk to school.

3) Autopsy For 7-Year-Old Migrant Who Died In U.S. Custody Shows She Died Of Sepsis

Shannon Van Sant, NPR

An autopsy report has revealed that a 7-year-old girl who migrated to the United States from Guatemala died from a bacterial infection known as streptococcal sepsis while in the custody of U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

3) 12 signs we're in the middle of a 6th mass extinction

Aylin Woodward, Business Insider 

The planet is undergoing a mass extinction, the sixth time in the history of life on Earth that global fauna has experienced a major collapse in numbers.

4) Chicago's Democratic socialists on brink of transforming city's politics

Eric Lutz, The Guardian 

Six Democratic socialists may join city council this year, reflecting the progressive momentum in national politics.

5) US: Democrat Presidential Candidates Boycott AIPAC Convention

Telesur 

2020 Democrat presidential candidates will skip AIPAC annual conference revealing the growing discontent of progressives with the pro-Israel lobby in the U.S.

6) Free Transit in Ottawa

Socialist Project Bullet 

Ottawa’s public transit system has many shortcomings. Too often buses are congested and/or infrequent. Few stops have shelters and many users face lengthy trips to get where they want to go. ParaTranspo is often inaccessible to those most in need. And the system is expensive! OCTranspo’s (Ottawa-Carleton Transportation Commission) fares are among the highest in the country. It is lower income people who depend on public transit to move around the city who are most affected by these shortcomings. There is an urgent need, and a question of social justice, to improve the quality and accessibility of the public transit system.

7) Montrealers take to the streets for anti-racism demonstration

CBC News

Several hundred people came out Sunday afternoon in Montreal to denounce racism and xenophobia, in the wake of the mosque shootings in New Zealand.

8) Hijab-wearing teacher threatens to leave Quebec if secularism bill becomes law

CBC News 

"I wouldn't let a man tell me to wear [the hijab]. I won't let a man tell me to remove it"

9) Omar Khadr's war crimes sentence is finished, Alberta judge rules

CBC News 

Former Guantanamo Bay prisoner Omar Khadr has completed his sentence, an Alberta judge ruled Monday.

10) Message from Omar Khadr to his supporters

Omar Khadr

On Monday, March 25, Chief Justice Mary Moreau granted me the freedom I have been long awaiting. This decision did not bring an end to my legal battles but it has removed the shadow of indefinite chains from my life. I would like to thank everyone who has stood by me throughout the years.

(Related: Omar Khadr is 'innocent' even if he is 'guilty')

11) The Three Intersecting Reasons Ilhan Omar Gets Singled Out

Vanessa Taylor, The Intercept 

What has been displayed is not genuine concern regarding anti-Semitism and violence against Jewish people because, as has been well-documented, anti-Semitic comments by nonblack, non-Muslim elected officials barely make a blip in the news cycle. Omar, instead, was condemned by everybody from the president of the United States — no stranger to anti-Semitic tropes himself — to Democratic leadership. Omar’s case puts on display the United States’s unwavering support for Israel, its violent protege, and the use of anti-black Islamophobia to carry that message.

12) Republican Lawmaker Prays for Forgiveness as Pennsylvania State House Swears in First Muslim Woman

Prachi Gupta, Jezebel 

As Pennsylvania made history on Monday, swearing in the first Muslim woman elected to the state House, one Republican lawmaker prayed to Jesus for forgiveness.

13) Trump tells aides "he doesn't want another single dollar" sent to hurricane-torn Puerto Rico: report

Shira Tarlo, Salon 

President Donald Trump wants to limit additional federal aid from going to Puerto Rico as the territory continues to recover from Hurricane Maria, The Washington Post reported Monday, citing senior administration officials.

(Related: Puerto Rico puts the lie to America's supposed "humanitarian" concern for Venezuela's blackout)

14) Mexico's AMLO Requests Apology From Spain, Church For Conquest

Telesur 

During a Facebook video recording in front of Mayan ruins, President Lopez Obrador says Spain, Pope should apologize to 'original people' for Conquest 'massacres'.

15) Still an Emergency, Still No Action: BC’s Homeless Deaths Have Skyrocketed

Jessica Hannon, The Tyee

Two years ago, when the coroner released the 2015 homeless deaths numbers — a then unprecedented 73 deaths — Megaphone called upon the next provincial government to support a review panel on homeless deaths. Before the 2017 election, both the BC NDP and the BC Greens said they supported the creation of the panel.


But that call has gone unheeded.

16) Who benefits politically from the B.C. NDP government's love of LNG? Elizabeth May, of course

Charlie Smith, The Georgia Straight 

On this issue, the B.C. NDP is on the same side as the federal Liberals.

17) Cuba Sends Field Hospital to Help Mozambique amid Cyclone Idai

Telesur

Cuban cooperation includes doctors and equipment to counteract the public health effects of the worst southern hemisphere tropical storm ever.

18) Uber and Lyft drivers in Los Angeles strike over pay, working conditions


Ben Kesslen and Ted Chen, NBC News

“I’m drowning in this gig economy," one striking driver told NBC News.

19) Bolsonaro To 'Commemorate' Brazil's 1964 Military Coup

Telesur

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro gave the Ministry of Defense freedom to carry out the "due commemorations" of the 55th anniversary of the country’s 1964 military coup on March 31, spokesman of the presidency Otavio Rego Barros said Monday.

20) Food banks are no solution to poverty

Open Letter, The Guardian 

Charitable food aid is a sticking plaster on a gaping wound of systemic inequality in the UK and US, say signatories including Prof Olivier de Schutter, a former UN special rapporteur on the right to food.

21) Tributes paid to assassinated communist commander

The Morning Star 

Commander of the Rojava MLKP, Bayram Namaz, was killed in a car bomb attack in northern Syria on Saturday morning.

22) Spain election: Prime minister Pedro Sanchez set to stay in power with left-wing coalition, polls show

Jon Stone, The Independent 

The socialist leader would be able to govern with support of left-wing parties.

23) Mueller Report Ends a Shameful Period for the Press

Chris Hedges, Truthdig 

The Mueller report’s categorical statement that Donald Trump and his campaign did not collude with Russia ends one of the most shameful periods in modern American journalism, one that rivals the mindless cheerleading for the Iraq War by most of the press. It further erodes and may prove fatal to the credibility of a press that has steadfastly rendered most of the country invisible and functions as little more than an array of gossiping courtiers to the elites.

24) Communists protest against Kremlin policies

The Japan News 

Several thousand supporters of Russia’s Communist Party rallied in Moscow against government policies, with some attacking President Vladimir Putin, who they said was personally responsible for entrenched corruption and rising prices.

25) Caribou have quietly gone extinct in the Lower 48

Karin Brulliard, The Washington Post

This year, in the dead of winter, America’s wild caribou went extinct in the contiguous United States.

26) Bill Morneau Announced a Plan to Provide Meals to Low-Income School Children. The Plan Has No Funding.

Press Progress 

Believe it or not, but Canada is the only G7 and OECD country without a national school meal program for low-income children.

27) Dr Who the leftist

Matthew Trinder, The Morning Star 

From their ecological critique of capitalism, their awareness of class issues, to their steadfast opposition to racism, Dr Who has been flying the red flag for decades.

28) Racist street checks are a white silence problem

Robert Devet, The Nova Scotia Advocate 

The Wortley report, dealing with racist profiling within the Halifax police force, with all its stats and stories, only confirms  what the Black Nova Scotian community has known forever, and has said forever.

29) HUD Charges Facebook With Enabling Housing Discrimination

Matt Novack, Gizmodo 

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on Thursday charged Facebook with discrimination under the Fair Housing Act. HUD says it believes the company was “encouraging, enabling, and causing housing discrimination through the company’s advertising platform.”

30) Shrinking Arctic sea ice linked to less rain further south

Bob Weber · The Canadian Press

Research has uncovered powerful evidence linking shrinking sea ice in the Arctic to snow and rain in central North America.

31) China becoming more of an open book to much of the world

Cameron Orr, People's World 

Earlier this month, 22 communists from the United States, Canada, the U.K., Finland, Norway, and Sweden returned home after their two-week visit to Zhejiang Province and Beijing in China. While there, they learned about the history of China and current developments of “Socialism with Chinese Characteristics.”

32) 100 Years of Fighting for People, Peace and Planet Before Profits

Communist Party USA

Celebrating 100 years in the struggle for working-class and people’s democracy, equality, peace, a sustainable environment, and socialism, the Communist Party USA will convene its 31st National Convention in Chicago from June 21 to 23, 2019.

33)  'There is no racism in Canada': Beyak leaves controversial letters online as minister calls for action

John Paul Tasker · CBC News

More than a week after the Senate Ethics Officer ordered Non-affiliated Ontario Sen. Lynn Beyak to take down letters posted to her website that have been condemned by politicians of all stripes as racist and hateful, the correspondence is still featured prominently on her taxpayer-funded page.

34) Lethal Fungus Threatens 'Earth's Sixth Mass Extinction' Event

Telesur 

A fungus-borne disease that has spread to over 60 countries has been killing large populations of amphibians over the last 50 years.

35) Argentina: Poverty Increases to 32% and Extreme Poverty Reaches 7%

Telesur 

Argentina's statistics agency published a study on Thursday which shows that poverty affects 32 percent of the population with 6.7 percent living in extreme poverty. In one year, indigence increased from 4.8 percent to 6.7 percent.

36) Those who are fighting back are in danger

Sebastien Brulez, The Morning Star


Brazilian feminist activist TALIRIA PETRONE talks to Sebastien Brulez about the struggle today against the reactionary government of Jair Bolsonaro and the political assassination of her comrade Marielle Franco last year.

37) 'We Are Running Concentration Camps': Images From El Paso Stir Outrage Over Migrant Treatment

Eoin Higgins, Common Dreams

Hundreds of migrants are being held by border agents in a fenced in encampment under a bridge in El Paso, leading to anger and accusations that the American government is holding people in "concentration camps."

38) ‘Renouncing Violence’ Is a Demand Made Almost Exclusively of Muslims

Adam Johnson, FAIR

A FAIR survey of the phrase “renounce violence” in the New York Times over the past 10 years shows that 95 percent of the time the demand is made of Muslim organizations, people or political parties, the most prominent being the Taliban and Hamas. There are zero instances of anyone in the Times—whether reporters quoting officials or columnists—from March 28, 2009, to March 28, 2019, insisting or suggesting that the United States, Israel or any white-majority country “renounce violence.”

Teachers really are paid terribly in America. This is how bad.

39) Good riddance to Amsterdam’s disgraceful red-light district tours

Julie Bindel, The Spectator 

The city of Amsterdam is to finally ban guided tours around its most notorious window brothel area, the sex tourist trap known as De Wallen. Since Holland legalised its already burgeoning sex trade back in the year 2000, it has become apparent that if you display women in windows, wearing nothing but a bikini and a fake smile, and market them like pieces of meat, that is how they will be treated by those that flock into the area to have a laugh at the human zoo.

40) An Awkward Kiss Changed How I Saw Joe Biden

Lucy Flores, The Cut

In 2014, I was the 35-year-old Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor in Nevada. The landscape wasn’t looking good for my party that year.

41) Georgia Lawmakers Approve ‘Heartbeat’ Abortion Ban

Emma Hurt, WABE

The Georgia House of Representatives put its final stamp of approval on an anti-abortion, so-called “heartbeat” bill Friday, by just one vote. It now needs Gov. Brian Kemp’s signature to become law.

42) Russian Troops, Military Advisers Land in Venezuela, Report Says

Reuters

'Russia has various contracts that are in the process of being fulfilled, contracts of a technical military character,' confirmed Russian government-owned news agency Sputnik, quoting an unnamed source.

43) 'Arrogant': Russia Tells Trump Troops To Remain in Venezuela as Long as Needed

Telesur 

Russia's Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova rejected Thursday President Donald Trump's statements regarding the presence of Russian military in Venezuela and noted that her country's actions were legitimate and agreed upon with the President Nicolas Maduro administration.

44) Chinese Aid Arrives in Venezuela

Telesur

China delivered 65 tons of medicine and supplies to Venezuela Thursday as a result of a strategic cooperation between the two countries. The delivery of aid is one of many, according to government officials.

45) CHINA TAKES ON U.S. OVER VENEZUELA AFTER RUSSIA SENDS TROOPS: IT’S NOT YOUR ‘BACKYARD’

Tom O'Connor, Newsweek 

China has defended Russia's recent deployment of troops to Venezuela amid U.S. statements suggesting Moscow and Beijing had no right to support a Latin American government disavowed by Washington.

46) Fake Photos of Venezuelan Health Situation on Social Media: AFP

Telesur 

A publication with ten photos that supposedly shows the health situation in Venezuela has been shared on Facebook but not all of the photos were taken in Venezuela and none of them are recent.

47) Defending the Bolivarian Revolution, one commune at a time

Fernando Arce, Rabble

In Venezuela, socialist communes play a key role in the production and distribution of food directly to families as hyperinflation, price speculation and illegal U.S. and Canadian sanctions limit access to many necessities. In the wake of Juan Guaido's unconstitutional self-proclamation as president, communes have also taken a more active role in the defence of the Bolivarian Revolution by holding those who are leading it accountable, including incumbent president Nicolas Maduro's government.

48) Pathological Deceit: The NYT Inverts Reality on Venezuela’s Cuban Doctors

Ricardo Vaz & Lucas Koerner, FAIR

After debunking Washington’s lies about the burning of “humanitarian aid” trucks on the Venezuelan/Colombian border (more than two weeks after being scooped by independent journalists), the New York Times quickly reverted to form in an article by Nicholas Casey headlined “‘It is Unspeakable’: How Maduro Used Cuban Doctors to Coerce Voters”.

49) University of Ottawa Professor Melts Down at #HandsOffVenezuela Presentation

Dimitri Lascaris

As for Nahon–Saferty’s assertion that I would fail his journalism class, I have only this to say: one of the very reasons that journalism is so pathetic in this country is that ‘professors’ like Nahon-Serfaty are teaching it.

50) Venezuelan Gov’t Presents Evidence of Alleged Opposition Paramilitary Plot

Ricardo Vaz, Venezuela Analysis 

Venezuelan authorities claim to have uncovered the plot from a conversation between Guaido and Russian pranksters impersonating the president of Switzerland.

51) Venezuela Denounces New Attack On Its National Electric System

Telesur 

A new attack on Venezuela’s National Electric System, which left many sectors of the country without service, was denounced Monday by Vice President of Communication, Tourism and Culture Jorge Rodriguez.

52) US sanctions don’t work, make human rights situation worse – UN sanctions rapporteur

RT

From Venezuela to Iran, Liberia to Belarus, there’s barely a corner of the world not sanctioned by the US. But economic penalties don’t help regime change and unfairly impact civilians, the UN sanctions rapporteur told RT.

53) INTERNATIONAL TRADE UNIONS CONDEMN RECOGNITION OF GUAIDÓ

Ivar Andersen, Popular Resistance 

More than 60 countries have recognized Juan Guaidó as legitimate interim president. But among international trade unions, support for Venezuelan self-determination is resolute .

54) No More US Financial Aid for Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador

Telesur 

United States President Donald Trump has ordered to suspend financial assistance to Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) said.

55) How War Criminal Elliott Abrams Orchestrated the 2007 Hamas-Fateh Palestinian Civil War

 Utsa Sarmin and Mohamed Hemish, Telesur 

Elliott Abrams, the convicted war criminal behind many U.S. interventionist policies, was also behind the coup against a democratically elected Hamas in Palestine in 2007.

56) What you need to know about the bombings in Gaza

Mike Merryman-Lotze, AFSC

Israel has begun bombing targets in Gaza and has issued call-up orders for thousands of reserve troops, signaling that a new large-scale attack on Gaza may be in its early phases. Political action is needed now in the U.S. to push for a halt to violence that could result in the deaths of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza.

57) Cuba condemns U.S. recognition of Israeli occupation

Granma 

The U. S. government’s announced intention to recognize the occupied Syrian Golan as Israeli territory constitutes a flagrant violation of the UN Charter and the Security Council’s Resolution 497 of 1981.

58) Palestinian junior medic shot and killed by Israeli soldiers

Ceren Sagir, The Morning Star 

Mourners pray by the body of Sajed Mizher, 18 during his funeral in the Palestinian Refugee camp of Dheisheh, near the West Bank city of Bethlehem, today.

59) Gaza border protests: 190 killed and 28,000 injured in a year of bloodshed

Oliver Holmes and Josh Holder, The Guardian 

One year ago, Palestinians trapped in Gaza began a protest movement at the frontier with Israel that was intended to last six weeks.

60) Over 450 Brazilian Jurists Call for Release of Lula

Telesur 

A manifesto signed by 464 Brazilian jurists calls for the release of former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who has been held as a political prisoner since April 7, 2018, after being sentenced on the second instance for passive corruption and money laundering without any evidence against him.

61) Playgrounds only for the rich kids? What grotesque social apartheid

Gaby Hinsliff, The Guardian 

A developer has fenced off social housing residents from a playground outside their homes. This is society at its most mean-spirited.

See also: Christchurch Aftermath, Venezuela, Israel, Climate Change & more -- The Week in News, Opinion and Videos March 17 - 24

Christchurch, International Student Climate Strikes, Venezuela & more -- The Week in News, Opinion and Videos March 10 - 17

New Zealand Vigil for Victims of Christchurch Terrorist Attack

This week's list of articles, news items, opinion pieces and videos that I see as a must if you are looking for a roundup that should be of interest to The Left Chapter readers.

This list covers the week of March 10 - 17.




In addition to a general overview of news and opinion this week's installment begins with a section of articles and videos devoted to the white supremacist terrorist attack in Christchurch, the international student climate strikes, and to Venezuela.

1) We told you the threat is white supremacy. You ignored us

Randa Abdel-Fattah, The New Arab

We told you the threat is white supremacy and you fueled it, gained from it, enabled and permitted it.

2) A horrifying pattern of white supremacist attacks

SPLC

Our government – particularly policymakers and law enforcement – must begin to view what we call “domestic terrorism” through a global lens and recognize the growing white supremacist movement for what it is: a clear and present danger around the entire world.

3) The massacre in Christchurch: individual terrorism was nurtured by state terrorism

Redline 

Redline stands in solidarity with the bereaved family and friends of the victims.  And we stand in solidarity with the peoples of the Third World who are on the receiving end of the bombs and bullets delivered by order of people like Scott Morrison and Jacinda Ardern.

"Heartbroken. On the left is 3 year old Muca Ibrahim, the youngest of all of the victims murdered by the white supremacist terrorist in New Zealand. Here he is with his older brother Abdi." - Shaun King on Facebook

4) White Nationalism Is an International Threat

Patrick Strickland, The New Republic 

The Christchurch attacks point to a disturbing web reaching from the United States, to the United Kingdom, to Greece, and beyond.

Halfway through the New Zealand shooting, as dozens around him lay dead, a single unarmed worshipper rushed the shooter, doing whatever he could to make him stop.
Some people will publicize the villain. 
Let's remember the heroes instead.
This is Naeem Rashid.
Even as his son Talha was shot and people around him lay bleeding in the mosque, he rushed the gunman, with no weapon, just his bare hands.
Both he and his son lost their lives.
#NewZealandTerroristAttack#christchurch
(Words from @muhammadlila) - Shaun King on Facebook 

5) 'Hello brother,' first New Zealand mosque victim said to shooter

Diana Pereira, CITY TV News 

The hashtag #HelloBrother is gaining traction on Twitter following the massacre in Christchurch, New Zealand.

6) SCHEER’S TWEET ABOUT THE NEW ZEALAND WHITE SUPREMACIST TERRORIST ATTACK IS A DISGRACE

Geoff Sharpe, The Cable

Canada’s Conservative leader Andrew Scheer issued two tweets denouncing the attack on “freedom”. Glaringly missing was any mention of Muslims, denunciation of white nationalists, or characterization of the killings as a terrorist attack.

7) New Zealand PM vows to toughen gun control laws after Christchurch attack

Jon Swaine, The Guardian 

New Zealand’s gun control laws will be strengthened following the massacre of 49 people in Christchurch mosques, the country’s prime minister has said.

8) White Supremacist Kills 49 Muslim Worshipers in New Zealand as Islamophobic Hate Crimes Rise Globally

Democracy Now

In New Zealand, a white right-wing extremist killed 49 people in an attack on two mosques in the city of Christchurch during Friday prayers. It is the deadliest shooting in New Zealand’s history. Police have arrested and charged a 28-year-old Australian man named Brenton Tarrant with the attack. The gunman live-streamed the attack and published a manifesto in which he praised President Donald Trump as “a symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose.” We speak with human rights activist and lawyer Qasim Rashid, who recently launched a campaign to run for a seat in the Virginia state Senate. And we speak with Farid Hafez, a lecturer and researcher at the University of Salzburg, senior research fellow at The Bridge Initiative at Georgetown University and expert on Islamophobia.

9) MARCH 21: #UNITEAGAINSTRACISM | CROSS-CANADA DAY OF ACTION

Migrants Rights Network 

Now, more than ever, we must bring together people across the country from all walks of life around an anti-racist, migrant justice vision. Let us #UniteAgainstRacism and demand #MigrantJusticeNow!

Newcastle #YouthStrike4Climate demo



10) Arctic now locked into devastating temperature rise, UN report says

Walter Strong · CBC News

The Arctic is now locked into a destructive degree of climate change regardless of what measures are taken to halt global greenhouse gas emissions.

11) Spanish youths start getting organized against climate change

Miguel Bayod, El Pais 

As worldwide protests get underway on March 15, youngsters in Spain are using social media to create groups aimed at pressuring politicians and civil society leaders.

On 15 March over one million students walked out of school to protest climate destruction in 2000 places across the globe. The youth are showing the way forward!



12) Australian School Students Have Gone On Strike For Climate Change

Hannah Ryan & Lane Sainty, BuzzFeed News 

Tens of thousands of Australian students skipped school on Friday to demand politicians take action on climate change.

Photo: Australian Climate Change Strike via Green Left Weekly on Facebook

13) YOUNG PEOPLE FEEL BETRAYED BY ADULTS OVER THE CLIMATE CRISIS. TODAY, THEY’RE GOING ON STRIKE.

Sharon Lerner, The Intercept

“They think threatening us with arrest and suspension will stop us, but it won’t,” said Tierney. “The climate crisis is way more frightening than that.”

14) NYT’s Exposé on the Lies About Burning Aid Trucks in Venezuela Shows How U.S. Government and Media Spread Pro-War Propaganda

Glenn Greenwald, The Intercept 

EVERY MAJOR U.S. WAR of the last several decades has begun the same way: the U.S. government fabricates an inflammatory, emotionally provocative lie which large U.S. media outlets uncritically treat as truth while refusing at air questioning or dissent, thus inflaming primal anger against the country the U.S. wants to attack. That’s how we got the Vietnam War (North Vietnam attacks U.S. ships in the Gulf of Tonkin); the Gulf War (Saddam ripped babies from incubators); and, of course, the war in Iraq (Saddam had WMDs and formed an alliance with Al Qaeda).

15) US Regime Change Blueprint Proposed Venezuelan Electricity Blackouts as ‘Watershed Event’ for ‘Galvanizing Public Unrest’

Max Blumenthal, The Gray Zone


The US-funded CANVAS organization that trained Juan Guaido and his allies produced a 2010 memo on exploiting electricity outages and urged the opposition “to take advantage of the situation…towards their needs”

16) Venezuela: 100% of Electricity is Back On

Telesur

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro ordered the creation of a commission to investigate the events, which he considers an act of terrorism against the Venezuelan people. It will also request the support of international experts for research.

17) Cuba: Electric Sabotage Against Venezuela is Terrorism

Telesur 

The government of Cuba has rejected and described as a terrorist act the attack on Venezuela's electricity system which occurred last Thursday.

(Related: Puerto Rico puts the lie to America's supposed "humanitarian" concern for Venezuela's blackout) 

18) Pompeo: US To Withdraw All Personnel From Venezuela This Week

Telesur 

In a Monday night tweet U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says his office will send home the last remaining diplomatic officials in Venezuela.

19) Trump Admin Wants $500M to Fund Its Intervention in Venezuela

Telesur 

U.S. President Donald Trump asked Monday Congress to cut aid to Latin America but allow the U.S. Department of State to use US$500 million to fund its interventionist policies against the government of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela which the Trump administration refers to as "democratic transition".

20) Guaidó Claims He Can Authorize Foreign Military Intervention in Venezuela

The Real News Network 

Temir Porras, Former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs under Hugo Chavez, says Guaidó’s assertion on Fox News is a violation of the Venezuelan constitution; Porras says the only way to avoid a blood bath is a negotiated political solution

21) Trudeau’s position on Honduras reveals hypocrisy about Venezuela

Yves Engler 

The hypocrisy is head spinning. As Justin Trudeau lectures audiences on the need to uphold Venezuela’s constitution the Liberals have recognized a completely illegitimate president in Honduras. What’s more, they’ve formally allied with that government in demanding Venezuela’s president follow their  (incorrect) reading of that country’s constitution.

22) Ricardo Hausmann’s 'Morning After' for Venezuela: The Neoliberal Brain Behind Juan Guaido’s Economic Agenda

Anya Parampil, Venezuela Analysis 

If you’ve followed Venezuela-related news on social media, you’ve undoubtedly stumbled across a video released by comedian Joanna Hausmann in which she promises to tell you, “What’s Happening in Venezuela: Just the Facts.” Despite a title designed to instill confidence in the uninformed viewer, upon closer examination the “facts” presented in Hausman’s video hardly stand the test of reality.

23) Veterans Call on U.S. Troops to Resist Illegal Orders to Invade Venezuela

Veterans For Peace

Refuse to be used in an illegal war. Follow your conscience and be on the right side of history.

24) Democrats and Death Squads in Venezuela

Lucas Koerner, Venezuela Analysis 

The 1980s appear to be back in vogue these days, and Elliott Abrams is not the only wretched corpse recently exhumed and returned to national political life.

25) SP Zambia joins ‘Hands Off Venezuela’ solidarity campaign

Oliver Chisenga, The Mast

The fight against Venezuela is a fight against humanity and we cannot fail,” he said. “So we hereby joining our comrades all over the world in shouting; Hands Off Venezuela.”

26) Prostitution is central to women’s oppression – so why do many on the left defend it?

Thain Parnell, The Morning Star 

Support on the left for the exploitative sex trade must stop if we are to claim we stand in solidarity with the oppressed, which rightly should include the class of prostituted women.

27) PARTY GUESTS SUING OVER MASS ARREST FOR LESS THAN AN OUNCE OF MARIJUANA

Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg, The Appeal

Attorneys representing the arrestees in Cartersville, Georgia, say they were mistreated in jail, lost jobs, and endured public humiliation.

28) A GOP BILL IN GEORGIA WOULD JAIL DOCTORS WHO PERFORM ABORTIONS IN A POST-ROE AMERICA

Rachel Cohen, The Intercept

WHEN BRETT KAVANAUGH was named a Supreme Court justice last fall, a world in which access to abortions would be significantly limited, if not downright illegal, became more likely. Late last month, Georgia joined a handful of Republican-led states positioning themselves to lead the charge if Roe v. Wade, the seminal Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion, were to be overturned.

29) Kentucky Just Banned Abortion

 Brigitte Amiri, ACLU

The Kentucky Legislature passed two bills on this week, and unless a court blocks them, abortion will effectively be banned in the state.

30) Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East? Netanyahu’s comments have shattered that illusion

Ben White, The Independent

His comments that the country belongs to ‘Jewish people alone’ strike to the heart of the nature of Israel.

31) We need roses too: Student voices in revolutionary Cuba

Aretha Green, Education for Tomorrow 

IN OCTOBER 2018, I was privileged to take part in a six-day National Education Union delegation to Cuba. This short article is a reflection on some of what I experienced there and the lessons for our own education system.

32) Dozens killed and injured by new attacks in western Yemen, UN coordinator condemns ‘outrageous’ toll

UN News

Reports from Yemen’s Hajjah Governorate indicate that scores of civilians have been killed following attacks on residential areas over the past two days. Medical sources suggest that at least 22 have died, with more than 30 injured during the bombardment.

33) Brazil: 2 Former Police Arrested in Marielle Franco Murder

Telesur

Two former policemen were captured Tuesday in Rio de Janeiro as suspects in the murder of Marielle Franco, a councilwoman and human rights activist who was shot on Mar. 14, 2018.

34) Study Finds Racial Gap Between Who Causes Air Pollution And Who Breathes It

Jonathan Lambert, NPR

Pollution, much like wealth, is not distributed equally in the United States.

35) Emergency workers summoned to Amazon warehouses 189 times over suicide concerns, breakdowns: report

Emily Birnbaum, The Hill

“It’s this isolating colony of hell where people having breakdowns is a regular occurrence,” Jace Crouch, a former warehouse employee from Florida, told The Daily Beast, adding that it is “mentally taxing to do the same task super fast for 10-hour shifts, four or five days a week.”

36) Social Democratic Party of Kenya changes name to Communist Party of Kenya

Brian Ukaya, Standard Digital 

The Social Democratic Party of Kenya (SDP) has changed its name to Communist Party of Kenya (CPK).

37) Meritocracy is a myth invented by the rich

Nathan Robinson, The Guardian 

The elite college admissions scandal in the US is a reminder that wealth, not talent, is what determines the opportunities you have in life.

38) Gov. Gavin Newsom to block California death row executions, close San Quentin execution chamber

Phil Willon, LA Times

Gov. Gavin Newsom will sign an executive order on Wednesday to impose a moratorium on the death penalty in California, vowing that no prisoner in the state will be executed while he is in office because of a belief that capital punishment is discriminatory, unjust and “inconsistent with our bedrock values.”

39) ‘HOW TO SPOT A JEW’: POLISH NEWSPAPER FRONT PAGE GIVES READERS ANTI-SEMITIC ADVICE

David Brennan, Newsweek 

A right-wing national weekly newspaper in Poland has published an article on its front page that explains to its readers “how to recognize a Jew.”

40) Puerto Rico’s demand for independence more alive than ever

Nuria Barbosa León, Granma 

Puerto Rico’s demand for independence was reaffirmed by the patriot Oscar López Rivera recently, insisting that this is the inalterable demand of the island’s people.

41) Activists Demand Cancellation of Puerto Rico’s $72 Billion Public Debt

Democracy Now

And in New York City, activists rallied outside federal court in Manhattan Wednesday, where a judge is overseeing Puerto Rico’s municipal bankruptcy proceedings—the largest such case in U.S. history. The protesters are demanding Judge Laura Taylor Swain cancel Puerto Rico’s $72 billion debt. This is activist Nicole Torres-Bruno.

42) Sanand Ford India workers protest against meager wages

IndustriALL

For the past 27 days, workers at the Ford India plant in Sanand, Gujarat, have been boycotting food provided by the company in protest against management’s refusal to increase wages in collective bargaining negotiations.

43) Australia Aboriginals win right to sue for colonial land loss

Bill Code Al Jazeera 

The ruling in favour of the Ngaliwurru and Nungali groups paves the way for billions of dollars in compensation.

44) 'Racist and fascist' - Spanish right attacked over baby offer

James Badcock, News Europe

Spain's conservative Popular Party (PP) has pledged that pregnant illegal immigrants will be able to avoid deportation by giving their baby up for adoption, if the party wins April's general election.

45) Four Left parties to contest together in Jharkhand

The New India Express

The leaders of the Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), Marxist Coordination Committee and Communist Party of India-Marxist Leninist decided to go for an alliance.

46) Les 10 propositions du PCF pour la France

PCF

Face au mouvement des Gilets jaunes, aux mobilisations populaires, le président de la République a du ouvrir un grand débat national. Celles et ceux qui se sont exprimés y ont porté un message clair. Ils disent vouloir vivre dignement et être respectés. Ils disent que le travail doit payer. Ils disent que les injustices sociales et fiscales sont une honte. Ils disent, à l’échelle de leurs quartiers, de leurs lieux de travail, qu’ils veulent pouvoir décider. Ils disent que la fin du mois ne doit pas être opposé à la fin du monde. Ils attendent des réponses fortes et ambitieuses.

47) The Profound Emptiness of Beto O’Rourke

Alex Shephard, The New Republic 

After months spent teasing his supporters and the political media, Beto O’Rourke surprised absolutely no one Thursday when he officially announced his candidacy for president. “We are truly now more than ever the last great hope of Earth,” he said in a video posted on social media, channeling The Lord of the Rings. “At this moment of maximum peril, and maximum potential, let’s show ourselves and those who will succeed us in this great country just who we are and what we can do.”

48) The German Revolution’s Bloody End

Ralf Hoffrogge, Jacobin 

The decisive battles of the German Revolution ended in March 1919 with the bloody crushing of the workers’ uprising. Why did it meet such a fate?

49) Brazil Moves to Open Indigenous Lands to Mining

Sue Branford and Maurício Torres, EcoWatch 

For many years, international and Brazilian mining companies have dreamed of getting access to the mineral wealth lying beneath indigenous lands. And finally, the government of Jair Bolsonaro seems determined to give them that opportunity. On March 4, while Brazilians were distracted by Carnival celebrations, the new Minister of Mines and Energy Admiral Bento Albuquerque announced plans to permit mining on indigenous land.

See also: Ilhan Omar, IWD, Venezuela & more -- The Week in News, Opinion and Videos March 3 - 10