The centre did not hold

An Italian supermarket worker

When the epic horror story that is the capitalist coronavirus crisis is finally over the truth will be that the centre did not hold. Things had already fallen apart, but somehow many needed a catastrophe to truly show it.

For over a generation politicians of all stripes -- including  "social democrats" like Tony Blair and Roy Romanow and Democrats and liberals like Jean Chrétien, and Bill Clinton -- have devastated civil society, the social safety net, social solidarity and the institutions that were meant to protect working people.


After the trauma of the Great Depression and the Second World War, and with the alternative of a developing and seemingly energetic Soviet Union and Socialist Bloc, the capitalists were pushed into a post-war "compromise". Workers in the advanced west would get unions, middle-class wages, cars and homes, opportunity for their kids, and some semblance of job and social security in the hope that they would eschew a more radical alternative or communism.

The social democratic parties like Labour in the UK and the NDP in Canada bought into this fully. They became an essential electoral outlet that told working people that they had some version of "representation" in parliaments and legislatures while, when in power, actually selling them out in virtually every case. "Power" became an exercise in quisling attempts to prove that they would be good little capitalist managers and they, too, would stand firm in defense of the "western" system.

When the neo-liberal era dawned and the "death" of communism seemed to be the end of history no one bought into the new paradigm more than social democrats who were certain that they could build a new capitalism that would include everyone as "stakeholders" and that would truly allow equality of opportunity.

Of course, it was all a lie.

Over the last three decades inequality has risen to near feudal levels in virtually every respect. Not only is inequality staggering in terms of wages and lifestyles, but any semblance of democracy that once existed has been shown to be a sham from the rigged primaries and elections in the United States to the near Shakespearean tragedy that was the utter capitulation of Syriza in Greece.

The "left" gleefully participated in destroying the "welfare state" from Tony Blair's "Cool Britannia" to the saxophone prison state of Bill Clinton, to the neo-con "Liberal" budget in Canada of 1995 to the squandered opportunities of NDP governments from Nova Scotia to Ontario to British Columbia now.

Among the many travesties were the devastation of public health institutions and the decimation of laws protecting working people and, for example, renters.

When the 2008 crisis came the companies and banks were bailed out, but working people were allowed to drown. Barack Obama gave Wall St. criminals a pass and the penalty for corporate malfeasance was massive corporate welfare.

While there have been flashes of backlash against this in Bernie Sanders and Jeremy Corbyn the truth is that they have not led to much. They have failed, nobly perhaps, to change the disastrous course we are on. Sanders lingers in the Democratic primary at the moment, but it does not matter at all in terms of how this unfolding nightmare will play out other than in rearguard attempts to build enough public pressure to prevent the absolute worst. A worthwhile effort to be sure, but not one coming from a place of power.

With the coronavirus we are seeing the reality of the corporate state laid bare.

The corporations and their hired staff political class have built an economy and society that is entirely based around corporate power and the fantasy that "economic growth" meant something for everyone.

After having sold the public on tax cuts, contracted out public services and endless cutbacks, the corporations and the wealthy have being doing extraordinarily well while supposedly "advanced" countries like the United States and Canada lack sufficient hospital beds or infrastructure to cope with what is now on the horizon.

When we look, as working people, in vain for allies we see governments like the NDP in British  Columbia refusing at first to stop evictions by greedy landlords in the truly terrible housing market of Vancouver while also allowing mass concentrations of workers to continue to build colonial and environmentally destructive pipelines despite the obvious and terrible health risk this poses.

It is grotesque. It is appalling. It is enraging. It is predictable.

Some fightback has and will begin. We can only work to make sure it is not too late to prevent the mass destitution of millions of North American workers all while this terrible illness spreads exponentially.

But even if we do salvage some semblance of justice and fairness for working people during this terrible time we must remember that what the coronavirus has shown us is that the society we live in is built on fictions and injustice.

And that when the time came and the cases of illness and death spiraled out of control, the right spoke of opening the economy back up anyway even if that killed hundreds of thousands while the left fiddled with half-measures and its own impotence.

In the immediate future we are very likely to see the already greatly emboldened western far right encouraged and gaining momentum in this context of immense disempowerment and displacement.

To counter this will require a mass movement and a new anti-capitalist vision. We know that this will not be forthcoming from the parties of the institutionalized "left". The rotten edifices of parties like the Democrats and the NDP are corrupted by parliamentarianism and a fundamental faith in the system. Large elements of the Labour Party worked to destroy Corbyn, for example, because when push comes to shove they would rather have the Conservatives in power than an actual socialist. We need to move far beyond the notion that fairness is just a little bit of tinkering away or that by electing this or that candidate in an old-line party we can achieve transformative change.

This is by no means an easy task and I am not suggesting that a blueprint exists for how to do it, but when "Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere The ceremony of innocence is drowned;", such is the moment for the left to rise again out of the ashes of the old order.

It had best lest it is the rough beast of fascism that slouches instead towards Bethlehem to be born.

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

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

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 7 - 14.

1) In Patriarchy No One Can Hear You Scream

 Rebecca Solnit, Literary Hub

One of my favorite books when I was young was T. H. White’s The Once and Future King, and one of its central themes is the attempt of King Arthur to replace an ethos of “might is right” with something closer to justice. Justice means everyone is equal under the law—and equality means both that everyone has equal value under the law and that everyone is subject to the law. That’s been a foundational concept for the United States, but might is right has never ceased to be how things actually work at least some of the time. In White’s novel, might means in part the capacity for physical violence on the part of individual warriors, armies, tribes, and kingdoms, but the ability of individuals (and corporations and nations) to commit that violence with impunity is another kind of might that matters now.

2) Jeffrey Epstein: Trump once praised financier charged with sex trafficking minors for liking women 'on the younger side'

Kat Tenbarge, Business Insider

In light of Jeffrey Epstein's reported Saturday-night arrest on charges of sex trafficking minors, a quote from President Donald Trump praising the financier's fondness for young women has resurfaced.

3) Jeffrey Epstein’s Sick Story Played Out for Years in Plain Sight

Vicky Ward, The Daily Beast

A couple of years ago, I was interviewing a former senior White House official when the name Jeffrey Epstein came up.

4) Jeffrey Epstein and the Oxymoron of ‘Underage Women’

Tracy Clark-Flory, Jezebel 

Since Jeffrey Epstein’s arrest on sex trafficking charges on Saturday, TV news anchors and radio hosts have repeatedly trotted out a telling oxymoron: “underage women.” The phrase on its own is contradictory—a woman is an adult, while an underage person is a minor—but it’s especially so in context. Consider the CNN reporter who recently said on-air, “Epstein [allegedly] lured underage women, some as young as 14 to massage him and engage in sexual acts.” A 14 year old is not an “underage woman.” No “woman” is underage.

5) Trump labor secretary who cut Epstein deal plans to slash funds for sex trafficking victims

Ed Pilkington, The Guardian 

Alexander Acosta, the US labor secretary under fire for having granted Jeffrey Epstein immunity from federal prosecution in 2008, after the billionaire was investigated for having run a child sex trafficking ring, is proposing 80% funding cuts for the government agency that combats child sex trafficking.

6) Trump Labor Secretary Acosta resigning after criticism over Epstein plea deal in sex case

Adam Edelman, NBC News

Embattled Secretary of Labor Alex Acosta, who came under fire this week over a decade-old plea deal with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, is resigning, President Donald Trump said Friday.

7) Too many men think teenage girls are fair game. That gave Jeffrey Epstein cover

Moira Donegan, The Guardian 

Epstein is an extreme example of how heterosexual pedophilia is both normalized and often cast as aspirational: the reward for male success.

8) New Jeffrey Epstein accuser: He raped me when I was 15

Sarah Fitzpatrick, Savannah Guthrie and Rich Schapiro, NBC News 

Jennifer Araoz says she was 14 years old when a young woman approached her outside her New York City high school in the fall of 2001.

9) Why Are Judges So Concerned About the Future Potential of Rapists?


E.J. Dickson, Rolling Stone

A judge in New Jersey sparked outrage by giving a 16-year-old alleged sexual abuser a slap on the wrist, citing his sterling academic record.

10) Two Guatemalan Indigenous Leaders Killed

Telesur

The organization reported the crimes occurred during a peaceful action in defense of the Right of the Land, demanding that those responsible "be captured and receive an exemplary sentence” for the killings.

11) Portugal Passes ‘Right to Housing’ Law As Prices Surge

Peter Yeung, City Lab

A bill passed on Friday by Portugal’s parliament sets out a legal basis for housing being treated as a citizens’ right. Under the new law, the Portuguese government becomes responsible for ensuring adequate housing for all citizens as “the guarantor of the right to housing.”

12) “The Class Enemy Remains Stronger and has got Wider Mechanisms to Divide the Working Class”

Muhammed Shabeer , News Click

Nicolas Maury of the French Communist Party (PCF) analyzes the situation following the European parliament elections in May, and looks into the victories of the far-right, especially in France.

13) Despite talk of promoting democracy Trudeau in bed with repressive monarchy

Yves Engler

Given his personal history perhaps it is no surprise that Justin Trudeau is fond of monarchies.

14) Abolish Eton: Labour groups aim to strip elite schools of privileges

Richard Adams, The Guardian

Labour activists are aiming to capitalise on Boris Johnson’s likely election as Conservative leader with an aggressive campaign against his old school, Eton, and other elite private schools in England.

15) 'This isn't about national security': Civil liberties group publishes CSIS reports related to alleged spying

Jim Bronskill · The Canadian Press

The B.C. Civil Liberties Association has released thousands of heavily redacted documents by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) in regards to allegations the agency had spied on peaceful protesters of the now-defunct Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline project.

16)  'KKE will fight against the new anti-people government'

International Communist Press

 "This result was achieved in conditions of the change of the correlation of forces amongst the bourgeois parties, a generalized trend towards increasing conservatism, blackmail, disillusionment that had been sowed by the anti-people political line of the 'left' SYRIZA government."

17) Syriza: the denouement

Richard Seymour 

What a miserable object-lesson. What a miserable end.

18) In Albania, call centre workers are organising for better working conditions

Louis Seiller, Equal Times

In one of the few old houses still standing in central Tirana, a small courtyard covered with colourful posters of social struggles from around the world has become the meeting place for a new generation of Albanian activists. “Fatjon, that’s the name I prefer to use,” says a tall, young man, slightly embarrassed. “I’m one of the members of this union. Solidariteti was created by call centre operators.” Fatjon’s reluctance to reveal his real name is understandable: he is now a unionised employee of Teleperformance, the world’s leading telemarketing company. The French multinational set up a call centre in Albania 11 years ago. Last February, the company learned that some of its employees had formed a trade union, a new development in the industry. Teleperformance Albania did not respond to Equal Times’ request for an interview.

19) Half of Indigenous children live in poverty, above national rate, study says

Jordan Press, The Canadian Press 

The worst child-poverty problem in the country was dropped in the laps of the country's premiers on Tuesday, as the Assembly of First Nations presented them with new numbers to show about half of Indigenous children live in poverty -- just as they did a decade ago.

20) First Nations launch new legal challenges against Trans Mountain

Coast Protectors 


Vancouver, Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Territories: Several First Nations officially launched their appeals of the recent re-approval of the Trans Mountain Pipeline and Tanker Expansion Project (TMX) today. If successful, these legal challenges could once again stop the project in its tracks by quashing or nullifying the approval, announced on June 18th by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

21) Despite Death Threats, Glenn Greenwald Speaks Out About Exposing Large Corruption Scandal in Brazil

Democracy Now

A political crisis in Brazil is growing in the wake of The Intercept’s investigation into a judge who likely aided federal prosecutors in their corruption case against former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The Bolsonaro administration announced Monday that Brazilian Justice Minister Sérgio Moro has been granted a leave of absence from July 15-19 to “deal with personal matters.” Leaked cellphone messages among Brazilian law enforcement officials and other data obtained by The Intercept point to an ongoing collaboration between then-Judge Sérgio Moro and the prosecutors investigating a sweeping corruption scandal known as Operation Car Wash. Lula was considered a favorite in the lead-up to the 2018 presidential election until he was put in jail and forced out of the race on what many say were trumped-up corruption charges. The leaked documents also reveal prosecutors had serious doubts about Lula’s guilt. The jailing of Lula helped pave the way for the election of the far-right former military officer Jair Bolsonaro, who then named Judge Sérgio Moro to be his justice minister. The news of Moro’s leave of absence comes amid increased calls for him to step down after new revelations of Moro’s questionable role in Operation Car Wash were published in Brazil’s leading conservative magazine, Veja, in partnership with The Intercept. We speak with Glenn Greenwald, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and one of the founding editors of The Intercept. Greenwald has faced death threats and a possible government investigation due to his reporting on the scandal.

22) Maxime Bernier photographed with members of alleged hate group in Calgary

Sarah Rieger · CBC News 

People's Party of Canada Leader Maxime Bernier posed for a photo with members of an organization described as a hate group in Calgary Sunday.

23) THONG JAMSRI, LAST COMMUNIST LEADER, DIES AT 98

 Teeranai Charuvastra, Khaosod English 

An ex-leader of the Communist guerilla movement, who later took up the cause of democratizing Thailand, died today at the age of 98.

24) Beware of betrayal by the military, Sudanese Communist Party warns protesters

Pavan Kulkarni, People's Dispatch

In a statement, the Sudanese Communist Party has asked the protesters to stay on the streets to ensure that the military sticks to its side of the July 5 agreement on a new transitional government.

25) Under pressure from Zionists, church cancels Palestinian youth event

Nora Barrows-Friedman, Electronic Intifada 

Under pressure from Israel lobby groups, a Canadian church canceled an event celebrating a scholarship award in honor of the iconic Palestinian writer Ghassan Kanafani.

26) United Church suppresses Palestinian youth cultural event

Yves Engler

The Jewish Defence League and B’nai Brith are boasting that they convinced the Trinity-St. Paul Centre for Faith, Justice and the Arts to cancel a room booking “to celebrate the artistic and cultural contributions of Palestinians in the diaspora.” The Toronto United Church had agreed to provide space to the Palestinian Youth Movement for “an evening of spoken word, music and food” to “showcase the winners of the Ghassan Kanafani Resistance Arts Scholarship.” Planned for July 13, the event was suppressed after the anti-Palestinian groups complained it included the name of Ghassan Kanafani, a famous novelist who was a spokesperson for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in the early 1970s.

Related: PYM Responds to Cancellation of Ghassan Kanafani Resistance Arts Scholarship Celebration in Toronto Due to Zionist Pressure

27) Palestinian child shot in head by Israeli forces in West Bank

MEE and agencies

A 10-year-old Palestinian child was shot in the head with live ammunition used by Israeli forces during a protest in the occupied West Bank town of Kafr Qaddum, the Palestinian WAFA news agency said.

28) Netanyahu meets with head of Ukrainian party that includes neo-Nazis

Sam Sokol, The Times of Israel 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has come under fire in recent years for allegedly failing to confront anti-Semitism and revisionism in Central and Eastern Europe, met Wednesday with the head of a Ukrainian political party whose membership includes ultranationalists and neo-Nazis.

29) Nelson Mandela's grandson slams 'Israeli apartheid'

Gavin O'Toole, Al Jazeera

The grandson of anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela has delivered a damning condemnation of "Israeli apartheid", in a high-profile expression of solidarity between South Africans and Palestinians.

30) Intermarriage Among Diaspora Jews Is 'Like a Second Holocaust,' Israel's Education Minister Says

Shira Kadari-Ovadia , Danielle Ziri and The Associated Press

Israel's education minister has likened intermarriage among diaspora Jews, and particularly North American Jews, to the Holocaust in a recent cabinet meeting. A spokesman for Education Minister Rafi Peretz confirmed Tuesday that Peretz said that "assimilation is like a second Holocaust."

31) Entry ban at Israeli city park provokes apartheid warnings

Jonathan Cook, Middle East Eye 

The barring of a lawyer and her infant from a public park in the Galilee last week has triggered a legal battle over whether local authorities in Israel can segregate citizens on a racial basis.

32) In drought-hit Delhi, the haves get limitless water, the poor fight for every drop

Mayank Bhardwaj, Reuters 

 In this teeming capital city of more than 20 million people, a worsening drought is amplifying the vast inequality between India’s rich and poor.

33) The Koch Brothers and the Tar-Sands

John McMurtry, Canadian Dimension 

As we know, big lies can run free across borders with few people joining the dots. For example, no media has been reporting that China’s growing dispute with Canada is based on Canada’s enforcement of the Trump administration’s unilateral embargo against Iran. This is what politicians called ‘the rule of law’. In fact, it is assisting the US takedown of China’s superior IT competition – Huawei – for not obeying the illegal US embargo.

34) Immigration officers conduct I.D. checks on Toronto streets

680 News

Advocates are sounding the alarm after reports of citizens allegedly being randomly stopped for I.D. checks by immigration officers. Ginella Massa with what could be behind the practice, and whether it’s legal.

35) Ahead of ICE raids, Miami advocacy groups set up secret shelters for immigrants in fear

Monique O. Madan, Miami Herald

An expected crackdown by immigration authorities throughout the country on Sunday is spreading panic among undocumented immigrants in South Florida, with some families deciding to leave their homes or the state altogether, and advocates preparing safe sanctuary spaces in secret locations for those seeking to avoid being caught up in the raids.

36) BORDER PATROL CHIEF CARLA PROVOST WAS A MEMBER OF SECRET FACEBOOK GROUP

Ryan Devereaux, The Intercept

WHEN NEWS BROKE that thousands of current and former Border Patrol agents were members of a secret Facebook group filled with racist, vulgar, and sexist content, Carla Provost, chief of the agency, was quick to respond. “These posts are completely inappropriate and contrary to the honor and integrity I see — and expect — from our agents day in and day out,” Provost said in a statement. “Any employees found to have violated our standards of conduct will be held accountable.”

37) Migrant kids in overcrowded Arizona border station allege sex assault, retaliation from U.S. agents

Jacob Soboroff and Julia Ainsley, NBC News

The poor treatment of migrant children at the hands of U.S. border agents in recent months extends beyond Texas to include allegations of sexual assault and retaliation for protests, according to dozens of accounts by children held in Arizona collected by government case managers and obtained by NBC News.

38) Venezuelan Gov’t and Opposition to Continue Negotiation Talks in Barbados

Telesur

Norway’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed on Sunday that representatives from both the Venezuelan government and the country’s opposition have decided to continue the process of dialogue mediated by the Scandinavian nation.

39) ‘Weaponizing human rights’: UN chief Bachelet’s Venezuela report follows US regime change script

Anya Parampil, The Gray Zone

Former UN special rapporteur Alfred de Zayas slams UN High Commissioner Bachelet’s report on Venezuela as a politicized collection of baseless accusations by “advocates of regime change”

40) UN Report on Human Rights in Venezuela Faulty by Design

Nino Pagliccia - Venezuelanalysis.com

Following Michelle Bachelet's visit to Venezuela last June, the official report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) on the human rights situation in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela was released on July 4, a day before initially scheduled. Judging by the quick review I made, the mainstream media is gloating on the uncritical details of reported violations. It appears to be the perfect gift for the US Fourth of July celebration. But one that did not stop Venezuela from celebrating the 208th anniversary of its independence from Spain, on July 5th, and its 20th from US domination.

41) A first: Red-red-green coalition wins in Bremen, Germany’s poorest state

John Wojcik, People's World 

In an election last week in Bremen, Germany’s poorest state, the voters put into power the first red-red-green coalition ever elected in a state that was part of the old West German Federal Republic of Germany.

42) Donald Trump tells AOC and Ilhan Omar to ‘go back’ to their ‘original’ countries

Jane Dalton, The Independent

Donald Trump has said some Democrat congresswomen from countries “whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe” should “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime-infested places from which they came”.

See also: Freeland 'America First', Israeli Apartheid, Climate Emergency & more -- The Week in News, Opinion and Videos June 30 - July 7

Freeland 'America First', Israeli Apartheid, Climate Emergency & more -- The Week in News, Opinion and Videos June 30 - July 7

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 June 30 - July 7.

1) SAN FRANCISCO IS PAYING FOR JAMAL TRULOVE’S WRONGFUL CONVICTION. WILL KAMALA HARRIS?

Kyle C. Barry, The Appeal 

Police and prosecutors framed a father of four in a 2007 murder case with local and national political implications.

2) Uber co-founder buys record-breaking LA mansion for $72.5m as drivers fight for wages

Sam Levin, The Guardian 

Two massive luxury real estate deals in Los Angeles have shone a harsh light on the wealth gap in a region where tens of thousands of people live on the streets while mansions the size of football fields sell for more than $100m.

3) US Activist Scott Warren To Be Retried in Helping Migrants Case

Telesur

United States (U.S.) activist and member of the humanitarian group "No More Deaths", Scott Warren will be retried after a jury was unable to agree on a verdict for charges for helping migrants at the border with Mexico, U.S. prosecutors said Tuesday.

4) MEDIA FRAME: A ‘WAR ON COPS’ NARRATIVE WITHOUT EVIDENCE

Adam H. Johnson, The Appeal

An ABC News report last week on a “multi-year” trend of violence targeting the police highlights how easily the “war on cops” narrative sneaks into mainstream media with thin sourcing and little fact-checking.

5) Frustration and confusion mark Parkdale-High Park NDP nomination

Matt Fodor, Now Magazine

It was a stressful, painful and humiliating experience for the mostly African immigrants who came to support Saron Gebresellassi and participate in the Canadian political process for the first time.



6) The NDP should allow Rana Zaman to run

Judy Haiven, The Nova Scotia Advocate 

Just 4 months before the 2019 federal election, the NDP is has effectively blocked two women of colour from running under its banner.

7) Honduran Police Repress Protesting Teachers with Teargas

Telesur

Teachers and students are renewing round of protests across the country in favor of public healthcare and education services on Thursday and Friday amid police violence and repression, reported local media.

8) Outcry after reports Brazil plans to investigate Glenn Greenwald

Dom Phillips, The Guardian

Brazil’s Bar Association, journalists and opposition lawmakers have reacted with outrage to reports that the country’s federal police plan to investigate the bank accounts of an American journalist who published leaked conversations between prosecutors and the graft-busting judge who is now Jair Bolsonaro’s justice minister.

9) Enforcer of Philippines War on Drugs Defends Killing a Toddler: “Shit Happens”

David Gilbert, Vice News

The man responsible for conducting Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte’s brutal war on drugs has defended the killing of a three-year-old girl during a drugs raid by saying “shit happens.”

10) In Rural Areas, Homeless People Are Harder To Find — And To Help

Mary Meehan, NPR

"A lot of people in the world don't realize it, but they are one paycheck away from being out here with us"

11) China Condemns Western ‘Hypocrisy’ on Hong Kong

Telesur

China has labeled western criticisms over Hong Kong protests as ‘hypocritical’, whilst the city’s leader Carrie Lam condemned the 'extremely violent' protests that saw demonstrators break into the Legislative Council and raise the former British colonial flag.

12) DSA/Jacobin/Haymarket-sponsored ‘Socialism’ conference features US gov-funded regime-change activists

Ben Norton and Max Blumenthal, The Grayzone

The 2019 Socialism Conference, sponsored by American leftist juggernauts the DSA, Jacobin magazine, and ISO’s Haymarket Books, features regime-change activists from multiple US government-funded NGOs.

13) UK Acting With 'Typical Imperialist Arrogance' On Iran's Tanker Seizure - Communist Party

Umer Jamshaid, Urdu Point

Thursday's interception and seizure of the Iranian oil tanker, Grace 1, by the UK Royal Marines constitutes a "reckless" provocation at a time of escalating tensions in the middle East and looks like an act of "typical UK imperialist arrogance," Robert Griffiths, the general-secretary of the UK Communist Party, told Sputnik on Friday.

14) Madrid threatens migrant rescue ship with massive fines

Alejandro López, WSWS

The acting Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) government of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is threatening the migrant rescue charity boat Proactiva Open Arms with huge fines if it continues rescuing migrants. It is part of the mounting assault on migrants throughout the world by capitalist governments, which, facing mounting domestic political opposition, are promoting nationalism and xenophobia.

15) Syriza betrayed its principles – and the Greek people. Its days are numbered

Alexander Kazamias, The Guardian

Alexis Tsipras’s party promised to fight EU-imposed austerity, but instead embraced it. Sunday’s polls will punish them.

16) Corbyn wishes Amazon 'many happy tax returns' on its 25th anniversary

Mark Sweney, The Guardian 

The Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, has sent a barbed birthday card to Jeff Bezos to mark Amazon’s 25th anniversary, wishing the company “many happy tax returns” and demanding it pays more UK tax, pays its staff better and improves working conditions.

17) Alberta to spend $2.5M on public inquiry into 'foreign-funded special interests'

Drew Anderson · CBC News

"It's basically kind of a show trial to try and intimidate critics and people concerned about climate change into silence."

18) The living hell of young girls enslaved in Bangladesh's brothels

Corinne Redfern, The Guardian

Sold by traffickers, trapped for years and raped many times a day … this is the life of tens of thousands of underage girls in Bangladesh. We hear their stories.

19) FBI’S LENIENCY TOWARD BORDER VIGILANTE CONTRASTS WITH HARSH TREATMENT OF “BLACK IDENTITY EXTREMIST”

Trevor Aaronson, The Intercept

While militia leader Larry Hopkins remained free to terrorize immigrants, Christopher Daniels was jailed for months, losing his home and his job.

20) Israeli government minister takes credit for 27 U.S. states passing anti-BDS laws

 Philip Weiss, Mondoweiss

A leading Israeli government minister takes credit for 27 U.S. states passing laws aimed at curbing citizens’ advocacy for BDS, the boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign targeting Israel.

21) Palestinian Authority thought compliance would lead to independence, but it only strengthened Israel’s domination

Noura Erakat, Mondoweiss

The following is an excerpt from Noura Erakat’s new book Justice For Some: Law and the Question of Palestine. In in Erakat outlines how the Palestinian Authority’s “illusory quest” for statehood “has shaped the Palestinian leadership’s commitment to U.S. tutelage and its reticence to embark on a bolder course based on a politics of resistance.”

22) Talib Kweli’s removal from festival lineup is part of anti-Palestinian censorship trend

Open Letter, The Guardian

103 signatories including Peter Gabriel, Naomi Klein and Boots Riley condemn attempts in Germany to impose political conditions on artists who support Palestinian rights.

23) Israel Might Apologize to Ethiopians but Will Keep Shooting at Unarmed Gazans

Gideon Levy, Haaretz

Israel’s ludicrous attempt to create islands of morality and equality in a sea of racism and violence has once again blown up in its face.

24) Sports-washing and the Toronto Raptors

Marion Kawas, Mondoweiss

If you’re a basketball fan, and also a supporter of justice for Palestine, then you have probably heard about the controversy surrounding the offer of a proposed trip to Israel for the new NBA champs the Toronto Raptors, from one of their co-owners Larry Tanenbaum.

25) Canada adopts Israel lobby’s contested definition of anti-Semitism

Nora Barrows-Friedman, Canadian Dimension

Canada has announced that it will formally adopt a definition of anti-Semitism that could characterize Palestinian rights campaigning as anti-Jewish bigotry.

26) Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Other Democrats Reject “Staged” Tour of Migrant Detention Facilities

Robert Mackey, The Intercept

REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ resisted the efforts of Customs and Border Protection officials to prevent her from speaking directly to migrants detained in El Paso, Texas, on Monday, forcing her way into a cell filled with women during a congressional delegation visit.

27) Border Patrol Agents Have a Secret Facebook Group, Where Racism and Sexism Prevail

Abigail Weinberg, Mother Jones

Current and former Border Patrol agents, who are responsible in part for detaining people who enter the US illegally, have displayed shocking callousness toward immigrants and women in a secret Facebook page with roughly 9,500 members.

28) 'Help': Photos show hundreds of migrants squashed into cells, appealing for assistance

Julia Ainsley and Annie Rose Ramos, NBC News

Government investigators have identified poor conditions in another sector of the southern border, publishing graphic photos showing extreme overcrowding in Rio Grande Valley migrant facilities and finding that children there did not have access to showers and had to sleep on concrete floors.

29) ‘Canada Adopts America First Foreign Policy,’ US State Dept boasted in 2017, with appointment of FM Chrystia Freeland

Ben Norton, The Grayzone

The US embassy in Ottawa boasted in a March 2017 memo, “Canada Adopts ‘America First’ Foreign Policy,” just after PM Trudeau appointed hard-line hawk Chrystia Freeland as foreign minister.

Venezuelans tell Canada to lift the economic blockade.



30) President Maduro Ratifies Commitment to Dialogue in Norway

Telesur 

The Venezuelan president said that his government is keeping open all doors for political dialogue with the opposition and said that next week there will be good news.

31) Why the US Puppet President of Venezuela is Toast

Roger Harris, Counter Punch

Even the corporate media are losing enthusiasm for the US government’s ploy to replace the democratically elected President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela with the US-anointed security asset Juan Guaidó. Reuters reports in a July 1 article, “Disappointed Venezuelans lose patience with Guaidó as Maduro hangs on,” that the US-backed “military uprising” has “unraveled.” A critical reading of the article explains why.

32) 'Fundamentally Flawed': UN Expert on Bachelet Venezuela Report

Telesur

Former consultant for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the one Bachelet now leads, says her report is 'unfortunately unbalanced', calls for lifting sanctions.

33) Eternal gratitude for Cuban blood shed to win Angola’s independence

Granma

As part of his official visit to the island, Angolan President João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço met with Cuban combatants who fought in his country’s independence struggle, recalling those times.

34) Alaska: temperatures rival Miami amid 'unprecedented' heatwave

Edward Helmore, The Guardian 

Alaska’s temperatures soared to new highs on the Fourth of July as the state bisected by the Arctic Circle endures a heatwave that has shattered records in some cities.

35) India staring at a water apocalypse

Saikat Datta, Asia Times

A combination of climate change, bad policies and political apathy is steadily pushing India into a catastrophic water crisis that threatens stability in South Asia.

36) Amazon destruction accelerates 60% to one and a half soccer fields every minute

Vasco Cotovio, CNN

Amazon deforestation accelerated more than 60% in June over the same period last year, in what environmentalists say is a sign that the policies of President Jair Bolsonaro are starting to take effect.

37) Welcome to the fastest-heating place on Earth

Jonathan Watts, The Guardian 

In the world’s northernmost town, temperatures have risen by 4C, devastating homes, wildlife and even the cemetery. Will the rest of the planet heed its warning?

38) June was hottest ever recorded on Earth, European satellite agency announces

Conrad Duncan, The Independent 

Last month was the hottest June ever recorded, the EU‘s satellite agency has announced.

See also: Europe Burns, MMIWG, Bill 21 & more -- The Week in News, Opinion and Videos June 23 - 30

Kavanaugh Confirmed, Quebec Solidaire, Brazilian Election & more -- The Week in News, Opinion and Videos September 30 - October 7

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 September 30 - October 7.


It begins with a selection of articles related to the Kavanaugh confirmation.

1) Ford's attorney fires back at Trump: 'He is a profile in cowardice'

John Bowden, The Hill

An attorney representing Christine Blasey Ford fired back at President Trump on Tuesday after the president mocked Ford's testimony concerning her allegation of sexual assault against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

2) National Council of Churches calls for Kavanaugh's nomination to be withdrawn

Avery Anapol, The Hill

The nation's largest group of Christian churches on Wednesday called for the withdrawal of Brett Kavanaugh's nomination for the Supreme Court.

3) Yale roommate says Kavanaugh lied under oath about drinking and yearbook

Kate Sullivan, CNN

James Roche, one of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's freshman year roommates at Yale, said Wednesday that Kavanaugh lied under oath about his drinking and about the meaning of his yearbook entries.

4) Kavanaugh's former classmates, 'drinking buddies' call on Senate to vote 'no' on confirmation

Justin Wise, The Hill

A group of former Yale University students who referred to themselves "drinking buddies" with Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh are calling for the Senate to vote against his confirmation.

5) ‘Unfathomable’: More than 2,400 law professors sign letter opposing Kavanaugh’s confirmation

 Susan Svrluga, The Washington Post

More than 2,400 law professors have signed on to a letter saying that Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh displayed a lack of judicial restraint at a Senate hearing last week — behavior that would be disqualifying for any court nominee.

6) Accuser 'Silenced' and Witnesses Ignored, FBI's Kavanaugh Probe Denounced as 'Sham' and 'Charade'

Jon Queally, Common Dreams

With the report summarizing the FBI's less-than-a-week-long probe into sexual assault allegations against Brett Kavanaugh now in the hands of the Senate Judiciary Committee, his accusers as well as witnesses to the events are speaking out forcefully Thursday morning to decry the entire process.

7) Mass Arrests as Thousands Descend on Senate Office Building Demanding Lawmakers Reject Kavanaugh

Julia Conley. Common Dreams

As the Senate moved one step closer to voting to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court, thousands of men and women took over the atrium of the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on Thursday afternoon, voicing solidarity with sexual assault survivors and demanding that lawmakers reject President Donald Trump's nominee.

8) Joe Manchin flounders as he tries to explain Kavanaugh support in the face of furious protesters

Luke Barnes, Think Progress

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), the lone Democrat to defect and announce that he will vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court despite allegations of sexual assault, was drowned out by protesters in the Senate as he tried to explain his decision to the gathered media.

9) Brett Kavanaugh Has Lied His Way Onto the Supreme Court

John Nichols, The Nation

The House has a duty to do what the Senate has failed to do: investigate this shameful jurist and hold him to account.

10) Toronto is segregated by race and income. And the numbers are ugly

Sandro Contenta, The Toronto Star

In Toronto, the colour of money is mainly white.

11) Child poverty plagues every corner of Toronto, census data shows

Laurie Monsebraaten, The Toronto Star

Upwards of 125,000 Toronto children — more than one in four — are growing up in poverty, a problem that plagues pockets of every city ward, says a new report released Monday by Social Planning Toronto and a coalition of agencies serving vulnerable communities.

12) Real Madrid football club honours Palestine activist Ahed Tamimi

Al Jazeera

Palestinian activist, who spent eight months in Israeli prison, is welcomed at Bernabeu stadium by the football club.

13) Palestinians Mourn and Demand Justice After Israeli Snipers Murder Two Young Children in Gaza

Jake Johnson, Common Dreams

After Israeli snipers massacred seven Palestinians—including two young children—and injured over 500 during protests against Israel's brutal occupation on Friday, thousands of Gazans on Saturday attended funerals for those who were killed and demanded justice from the international community.

14) Canada capitulates to Trump on trade with renegotiated NAFTA

Duncan Cameron, Rabble

Pierre Trudeau called the original FTA with the U.S. "a monstrous swindle." The new deal is that, plus a set of unnecessary capitulations to shut up Donald Trump on trade. It won't.

15) With its new trade deal, Canada surrenders sovereignty to a bully

Neil Macdonald · CBC News

So first, Clause 32. It's long-winded and uses code language, but basically, it says that if Canada wants a trade deal with China, it has to notify the Americans about any negotiations, and tell them the substance of those negotiations, and submit the text of any deal, "including any annexes and side instruments" in advance, for American scrutiny, and then, like a puppy, await Washington's verdict.

16) Canadian steelworkers were 'sacrificed' to make new trade deal, union says

Dan Taekema, CBC News

The union representing Canadian steelworkers says they were "sacrificed" to make a new trilateral trade deal with Mexico.

17) Solidaires Score Important Breakthrough in Quebec Election

Richard Fidler, Socialist Project Bullet 

The October 1 general election campaign in Quebec unfolded as two distinct contests. One was the competition between the Liberals and Coalition Avenir Québec for control of the government. The other was a battle between the Parti québécois and Québec solidaire for hegemony within the pro-sovereignty movement.

18) Quebec Solidaire makes big gains on and off island of Montreal

CTV Montreal

Quebec Solidaire's slow growth since its founding in 2007 has paid off.

19) Anti-racist activists take aim at incoming CAQ government

CTV Montreal

Francois Legault hasn’t even taken office as premier yet, but he’ll already find himself the subject of a protest on Sunday.

(Related: The rising of the hard right in Canada) 

20) Left Parties Statement

Communist Party of India (Marxist)

Leaders of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist)-Liberation have issued the following statement.

21) Detroit fast food workers to strike for union rights

Tom Perkins, Detroit Metro Times

Around 1,000 fast food workers in Detroit and Flint will strike on Oct. 2 to demand union rights.

22) Macedonia's failed referendum: a disaster for the EU and Nato

Vladimir Unkovski-Korica, Counterfire

The failed referendum in the small Balkan state represents a major upset for the West.

23) Ford government prepares to drop the axe on labour reforms

City TV News

Premier Doug Ford says his government will be scrapping Bill 148, and that could impact Ontarians who are part-time workers.

24) Ontario Business Lobby Calls Additional Domestic Abuse Leave, Other Rules “Harmful to Business”, Begs Ford to Repeal It

North 99

Two of Ontario’s corporate business lobby groups are calling on Ford to repeal A Plan for Fair Workplaces and Better Jobs (Bill 148).

25) Doug Ford’s Minimum Wage Halt Will Increase Kids’ Exhaustion, Anxiety: Teachers

Emma Paling, HuffPost

Daniel "killed himself" juggling two jobs at both the local school board and a shoe store this summer, trying to save as much money as possible before classes started in September. The 18-year-old feared that Doug Ford's election as premier meant the minimum wage would go down.

26) Protestors confront MPP Elliott over minimum wage rollback

Kim Champion, Newmarket Today

Protestors for a $15 an hour minimum wage today confronted Newmarket-Aurora MPP Christine Elliott in Aurora as she made her way into a local chambers of commerce event.

27) Ontario’s Education Minister Has Emerged From Hiding After Dodging Journalists for 41 Days

Press Progress

Ontario’s education minister had been AWOL since mid-August.

28) Female Nobel prize winner deemed not important enough for Wikipedia entry

Leyland Cecco, The Guardian

When the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm announced the Nobel prize for physics this week, anyone wanting to find out more about one of the three winners would have drawn a blank on Wikipedia.

29) The alpha males of physics

Leonid Schneider, For Better Science

Two sets of events for Women in STEM: the theoretical physicist Alessandro Strumia, soon likely ex-CERN affiliated, decried feminist conspiracies and the discrimination against males like himself, in a workshop talk on gender. Right after, the Nobel Prize for physics was finally after 55 years given to a woman. Thing is: one of the other recipients, Gerard Mourou, made it clear in a 2013 video what the roles of males and females in physics are.

30) Congolese doctor, Yazidi activist, champions in fight against rape in war, win Nobel Peace Prize

Crispin Kyalangalilwa, Ted Siefer and Nerijus Adomaitis, Reuters 

Denis Mukwege, a doctor who helps victims of sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Nadia Murad, a Yazidi rights activist and survivor of sexual slavery by Islamic State, won the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday.

31) 24-hour strike hits public transportation, health care, schools and daycare, retail

YLE

Finnish industrial workers join service, food, and power sector workers in a 24-hour strike on 3 October to protest a government bill that would make it easier for small firms to fire employees. Welfare sector union JHL also launched an indefinite overtime ban starting 1 October.

32) Toronto Election 2018: The colour-coded race for mayor

Azeezah Kanji, NOW Magazine

Instead of correcting for the deep social, economic and political disadvantages of racism and sexism, media compound them by ignoring racialized candidates.

Thanks to Desmond Cole for the support: “Walied Khogali Ali is the best candidate for the heart of Toronto because he is making sure that people in our communities don't get left behind."



 
33) Trump Engaged in Suspect Tax Schemes as He Reaped Riches From His Father

New York Times

President Trump participated in dubious tax schemes during the 1990s, including instances of outright fraud, that greatly increased the fortune he received from his parents, an investigation by The New York Times has found.

34) Suppression of a Daily Newspaper

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement:

The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) strongly condemns the action of the BJP state government of Tripura in cancelling the registration of Daily Desharkatha, a progressive newspaper.

35) The Cruelty Is the Point

Adam Serwer, The Atlantic

President Trump and his supporters find community by rejoicing in the suffering of those they hate and fear.

36) Trumpism as capitalism’s default option

Zoltan Zigedy, The Morning Star

Although he represents the growth of ‘anti-elite’ feeling in the masses, the US president is a ruling-class response to a ruling-class crisis.

37) Amazon's hourly workers lose monthly bonuses and stock awards as minimum wage increases

Eugene Kim, CNBC

Amazon's minimum-wage increase for its hourly workers comes with a trade-off: no more monthly bonuses and stock awards.

38) While Nestlé extracts millions of litres from their land, residents have no drinking water

Alexandra Shimo, The Guardian

Just 90 minutes from Toronto, residents of a First Nations community try to improve the water situation as the beverage company extracts from their land.

39) Fast food, pub and delivery workers strike across the country

Jack Hazeldine, Counterfire

The Fast Food Shutdown - #FFS410 - sees TGI Fridays, McDonalds and Wetherspoons workers strike in nine workplaces, joined by UberEats couriers in at least six cities.

40) Federal Judge Blocks Trump From Removing Immigrants From 4 Countries

Richard Gonzales, NPR
A federal court in California has blocked the Trump administration from terminating the Temporary Protected Status program that allows immigrants from four countries to live and work in the United States.

41) How Baltimore police routinely violated people's rights

Al Jazeera

An Al Jazeera investigation reveals information about a corrupt unit of the Baltimore Police Department (BPD) that was allowed to continue operating in spite of grievious violations for at least a decade.

42) Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke found guilty of second-degree murder in Laquan McDonald killing

Ray Sanchez, CNN

Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke was found guilty Friday of second-degree murder in the 2014 shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald.

43) Convicting Laquan McDonald’s Killer Isn’t Enough

Nate Marshall, BuzzFeed

I hope that we can have better visions for liberation than cages. I hope that the young people who will grow up where Emmett Till and Laquan McDonald and Rekia Boyd and I grew up will have their chances for libraries and for liberation. I hope that we can make a way forward with new institutions that don’t murder us as part of their “official conduct.”

44) Puerto Rico Governor Calls for ‘Elimination’ of Venezuelan Government, Offers to Host ‘Transition’ Logistics

Paul Dobson, Venezuela Analysis 

Hypothetical post-Maduro planning has been discussed “at many levels”, Governor Rossello claimed. His comments follow Trump’s endorsement of a military coup d'état in Venezuela.

45) Miami will be underwater soon. Its drinking water could go first

Christopher Flavelle, Bloomberg

One morning in June, Douglas Yoder climbed into a white government SUV on the edge of Miami and headed northwest, away from the glittering coastline and into the maze of water infrastructure that makes this city possible. He drove past drainage canals that sever backyards and industrial lots, ancient water-treatment plants peeking out from behind run-down bungalows, and immense rectangular pools tracing the outlines of limestone quarries. Finally, he reached a locked gate at the edge of the Everglades. Once through, he pointed out the row of 15 wells that make up the Northwest Wellfield, Miami-Dade County’s clean water source of last resort.

46) Syriza’s Repressive Turn

Stathis Kouvelakis and Costas Lapavitsas, Jacobin

Alexis Tsipras’s government promised to end austerity. Now it’s defending the banks against people evicted from their homes — and persecuting those who protest.

47) Saudi Women Who Fought for the Right to Drive Are Disappearing and Going Into Exile

Sarah Aziza, The Intercept

If, in the meantime, the government continues its crackdowns on all dissent, it may find itself rebuffed by the same Western audiences it hopes to entice. “Going after civil society in such an aggressive way, MBS is shooting himself in the foot,” said Aldosari. “Maybe, when he was just arresting clerics, the Western world didn’t care. But arresting women, elderly people, respected academics, all of them nonviolent — this is a direct contradiction of his rhetoric of modernization and openness. And he can’t stop everyone who wants to criticize him. The world doesn’t work that way anymore. Even if he throws all the activists in jail, they started a work that will continue. It cannot be stopped.”

48) Women Are Retreating From Public Life In Iraq After Several High-Profile Murders

Nishita Jha, BuzzFeed

A week after the murder of Tara Fares, former Miss Baghdad and Iraq’s sixth most-followed person on social media, Shimaa Qasim posted a tearful video on Instagram.

49) How a homophobic, misogynist, racist ‘thing’ could be Brazil’s next president

Eliane Brum, The Guardian

Jair Bolsonaro is the monstrous product of the country’s silence about the crimes committed by its former dictatorship.

50) I JUST VISITED LULA, THE WORLD’S MOST PROMINENT POLITICAL PRISONER. A “SOFT COUP” IN BRAZIL’S ELECTION WILL HAVE GLOBAL CONSEQUENCES.

Noam Chomsky, The Intercept

PRISONS ARE REMINISCENT of Tolstoy’s famous observation about unhappy families: Each “is unhappy in its own way,” though there are some common features — for prisons, the grim and stifling recognition that someone else has total authority over your life.

51) Brazil: Indigenous Parliamentary Front Unites Against Bolsonaro

Telesur

Jair Bolsonaro, the far-right candidate leading Brazil's presidential polls since the electoral tribunal banned Lula from running in the elections, has vowed to end Indigenous reservations, claiming they are too large for such a small fraction of the population.

52) Brazil: Lula Rallies Support for Haddad Ahead of Presidential Vote

Telesur

As the Brazil presidential election enters its final stage ahead of the first round of voting Sunday, former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has released a video rallying support behind stand-in Worker's Party (PT) candidate Fernando Haddad.

53) Democracy Vs. Fascism: Polls Open in Brazil Elections

Telesur 

Brazilians went to vote Sunday in a polarized presidential race that could result in the election of a far-right former Army captain, whose praise of past dictatorships enrages critics but whose promise of a brutal crackdown on crime and corruption has electrified his supporters.

See also: Kavanaugh Confirmation, Ontario Austerity, Gaza & more -- The Week in News, Opinion and Videos September 23 - 30