Judge Lenehan, Dr. Seuss, Berta Cáceres & more -- The Left Chapter Sunday Reading List February 26 - March 5

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

This list covers the week of February 27 - March 5. It is generally in order of the date of the article's release.

1) The Contemporary ‘Cult Of The ‘Sex-Worker’’

Heather Brunskell-Evans, The Huffington Post

In certain social circles praising sex-workers has become fashionable. How has prostitution - an out-dated, slavery-like industry - been made to look so modern?

Read the full article.

2) The Toronto Sun Fell For An Obvious Hoax About Paid Anti-Trump Protesters

Ishmael N. Daro, BuzzFeed

The Toronto Sun tabloid ran an article that falsely claimed people were being paid $3,500 to protest against Donald Trump, based on a year-old fake news story.

Read the full article. 

3) Berta Cáceres court papers show murder suspects' links to US-trained elite troops

Nina Lakhani, The Guardian

Leaked court documents raise concerns that the murder of the Honduran environmentalist Berta Cáceres was an extrajudicial killing planned by military intelligence specialists linked to the country’s US–trained special forces, a Guardian investigation can reveal.

Read the full article.

4) Manning Centre hosts 'bonkers' panel claiming Quebec City mosque was actually helping terrorists

Press Progress

This is the Manning Centre's go-to "expert on terrorism"?

At this weekend's Manning Centre Conference in Ottawa, one of the right-wing think tank's "expert" panelists suggested a Quebec City mosque, attacked by a man who held far-right anti-immigration views last month, had links to terrorist entities – a claim that has never been alleged by police or other national security officials.

Read the full article.

5) Fucking Creep Wins Oscar

Joanna Rothkopf, Jezebel 

On Sunday evening, Casey Affleck, an alleged sexual predator, won the Academy Award for Actor in a Leading Role for his portrayal of a grief-stricken father in Manchester By The Sea.

Read the full article. 

6) Dramas like Broadchurch have helped rape survivors speak out. But services need funds

Rowan Miller, The Guardian

TV series and high-profile sexual abuse stories have raised demand for our rape crisis service by 284%. But long waiting lists mean many drop out without help.

Read the full list.

7) THE CIA READS FRENCH THEORY: ON THE INTELLECTUAL LABOR OF DISMANTLING THE CULTURAL LEFT

Gabriel Rockhill, Philosophical Salon

It is often presumed that intellectuals have little or no political power. Perched in a privileged ivory tower, disconnected from the real world, embroiled in meaningless academic debates over specialized minutia, or floating in the abstruse clouds of high-minded theory, intellectuals are frequently portrayed as not only cut off from political reality but as incapable of having any meaningful impact on it. The Central Intelligence Agency thinks otherwise.

Read the full article. 

8) 'Clearly a drunk can consent,' Halifax judge says in acquitting taxi driver charged with sexual assault

Haley Ryan, Metro News

A Halifax taxi driver found with an intoxicated, unconscious, mostly naked woman in his cab and her DNA on his mouth has been acquitted of sexual assault by a judge who said there wasn’t enough evidence to prove the woman’s “lack of consent.”

Read the full article. 

9) Halifax Sex Assault Victim Couldn't Give Consent. A Judge Gave It For Her

Glen Canning, The Huffington Post

Nova Scotia Provincial Judge Gregory Lenehan could likely have been the judge had my daughter Rehtaeh Parsons' case gone to court as a sexual assault trial while she was alive. Watching what unfolded in a Halifax courtroom this week is how that trial would have ended.

Read the full article.

10) Petition: Formal Inquiry into Justice Gregory Lenehan

Change.org

Justice Gregory Lenehan recently acquitted a Halifax taxi driver, Bassam Al-Rawi (Bassam Abdullatif) of sexual assault.  Bassam was caught by police assaulting a passenger who was passed out drunk in his taxi.  The passenger's DNA was found on Bassam's mouth.  This was not enough evidence to charge Bassam in Gregory Lenehan's opinion.

Sign the petition.

11) Men Going Their Own Way are treading a well-worn path to alt-right racist extremism

David Futrelle, We Hunted the Mammoth

Last month, Reddit admins shut down three subreddits catering to the internet Nazi phenomenon known as the alt right. Not because these subreddits were filled with vile bigotry and hate speech — though they were of course filled with that — but because Reddit’s alt-righties had repeatedly violated the site’s rules against doxxing, according to Reddit’s statement announcing the ban.

Read the full article.

12) Castro’s daughter favors bold legislative weapon to combat prostitution — punish the client

Abel Fernandez, The Miami Herald

The daughter of Cuba's most powerful man is publicly discussing a bold proposal to combat prostitution: penalize the clients who pay for sexual services.
“We have to act. We can’t simply say that we are against sexual exploitation as a form of sexual work. We cannot say that we want to protect our children and adolescents from sexual exploitation. It's not just wanting it, but breaking our heads to find a way to do it,” Mariela Castro said recently on the nationally televised Cuban program Mesa Redonda, which discussed the International Symposium on Gender Violence, Prostitution, Sexual Tourism and Human Trafficking held earlier this year in Havana.

Read the full article. 

13) In Last Monologue, Israeli Comedy Show Host Implores Israelis to Wake Up and Smell the Apartheid

Haaretz

Assaf Harel's scathing indictment of Israeli society has gone viral.

Read the article and watch the video.

14) THESE KIDS MADE FLYERS TO PROTEST "DR. SEUSS WEEK" AT SCHOOL

Angry Asian Man Blog

Meet Rockett and Zoe, the wokest kids in class. Their elementary school is currently celebrating "Dr. Seuss Week" as a part of National Read Across America Day, which coincides with the popular children's book author's birthday on March 2. But, as many may be unaware, Dr. Seuss was kind of racist. So these super-conscious siblings decided to help their classmates get more aware.

Read the full article. 

15) The Racist History of Dr. Seuss & What it Means in Today’s Social, Political & Educational Context

The Real African

Today marks the 20th Anniversary of the National Education Association’s (NEA) “Read Across America” Day  — an event observed every year on Dr. Seuss’s birthday. It is the largest celebration of reading in America, with over 45 million students, parents, teachers, libraries and community centers participating. Dr. Seuss books and activities are central to the annual celebration — schools have Dr. Seuss-themed festivals, eat “green eggs and ham”, and get dressed up as their “favorite Dr. Seuss character”. The NEA sells Dr. Seuss merchandise through their website, and kids across America will be seen wearing the red and white striped hats from the book, The Cat in the Hat.

Read the full article. 

16) MPs take 13 minutes to decide to double the Royal Family's income

Tom Peck, The Independent

A tiny, temporary committee of MPs set up explicitly to consider doubling the publicly funded income of the Royal Family took thirteen minutes to decide that, yes, the Royal Family should indeed have its income doubled.

Read the full article. 

17) This Time, Trump's Tweets Might Blow Up in His Face

Chemi Shalev, Haaretz

By accusing Obama of wiretapping his HQ, the president has made the strongest case yet for an independent investigation of his links to the Kremlin.

Read the full article. 

See also: #Resistance150, the Oscars, Remembering Bob White & more -- The Left Chapter Sunday Reading List February 19-26

See also: Climate Change, Bill Maher, NSTU & more -- The Left Chapter Sunday Reading List February 12-19

Green Eggs and Ham Cookbook: A Dr. Seuss inspired romp through cooking!

Vintage Cookbook: Green Eggs and Ham Cookbook, Georgeanne Brennan


Publication Details: Random House, 2006




Published in 2006, though sadly already out of print, The Green Eggs and Ham Cookbook is a truly fun and zany look at cooking through a Dr. Seuss inspired lens. Meant to appeal to Seuss fans young and old alike, it is full of illustrations of Dr. Seuss characters and photos of over-the-top food offerings.



It is also full of really great recipes, over 40 of them, with terrific ideas to jazz up breakfast, lunch, snacks, dessert (of course!) and mains. The recipes are specifically designed with ideas and components that kids should be able to participate in the making of.

Today we are sharing two recipes, one for Hoop-Soup-Snoop Group Potato Soup and one, needless to say, for Green Eggs and Ham! The text and recipes are exactly as originally presented.

Hoop-Soup-Snoop Group Potato Soup

Soup is good for spooning and sipping, and this creamy potato soup is worth jumping through a few hoops for, especially with its toppings of croutons, cheese, and bacon - and more, if you want.

Ingredients:

1 pound potatoes, peeled and cut into several pieces
1/4 cup chopped onion
6 cups water
2 teaspoons salt
2 cups whole milk
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
4 slices crisply cooked bacon, crumbled
1 cup croutons
1/2 cup minced green onion (optional)

Directions:
1. In a large saucepan, combine the potatoes, onion and water and 1 teaspoon of salt. Bring to a boil over high heat. Cover, reduce the heat to medium, and cook until the potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes.
2. Drain the potatoes and return them to the hot saucepan. Mash them with a potato masher.
3. Stir the milk into the mashed potatoes and return to medium heat, stirring, until the soup is well blended and hot, about 5 minutes. Taste and add slat and pepper as desired.
4. Put the cheese, bacon, and croutons, and, if you want, the green onion in spate bowls to accompany the soup

Makes 4 servings

Green Eggs and Ham

If you, like Sam-I-am, also like green ages and ham, you will like these green guacamole eggs and green glazed ham-just try them. You can make the guacamole as mild or as spicy as you like. (If you don't want to cook a whole ham, try making a tablespoon or two of the glaze for a slice of ham.) You can also eat them here or there. You can heat them anywhere.

Ingredients for Ham:

1 Fully cooked and smoked ham, about 8-10 pounds
1 cup apple or mint apple jelly
3 medium tomatillos, husked and minced
1 cup minced cilantro leaves or 1/2 cup minced cilantro leaves and 1/2 cup minced parsley leaves

Ingredients for eggs:

4 ripe avocados
juice of 2-3 limes
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons white onion, minced (optional)
2 Serrano chilies, seeded and minced (optional)
4 ounces butter or 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil or other light cooking oil, such as canola or sunflower
12 pasteurized eggs (pasteurization is necessary for safety when yolks aren't fully cooked)

Directions for Ham:

1. Heat the ham as directed by the package instructions. Let cool to almost room temperature, about 20 minutes.
2. Mix the apple jelly and the minced tomatillos together to make a glaze. Spread the ham all over with the glaze, except on the cut side.
3 Using your hands, gently pat the cilantro, and parsley, into the glaze until it is solid green.

Directions for Eggs:

1. Cut the avocados in half and remove the pits. With a spoon, scoop the flesh out into a bowl. Mash it with a fork, then add the lime juice and salt and, if you want, the onions and chilies. Mix again.
2. In a large frying pan, melt the butter or heat the oil over medium heat. When hot, crack the eggs into the pan.
3. Cover the pan and cook until the yolk has a pale white film over it and is slightly to very firm.
4. With a spatula, gently slide the eggs onto plates or a serving platter.
5. Spoon the guacamole over each yolk, covering it. Serve immediately.

Makes 12 servings.

Editors Note: If you cannot find pasteurized eggs, simply cook the eggs fully and then top. This loses some of the effect, but ensures safety.