John Bolton Pushes for War, Venezuela, Abortion Rights & more -- The Week in News, Opinion and Videos May 5 - 12

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 May 5 - 12.

1) Failed ‘Coup’ a Fake Corporate News Story Designed to Trick Venezuelan Soldiers and US Public

Dave Lindorff - FAIR

After days of breathless reporting in the US media about public and military support for Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro collapsing, and about an April 30 coup by presidential poseur Juan Guaidó, we now know the truth:  The whole thing was a fraud, staged at the instigation of Washington in hopes that the Venezuelan people and rank-and-file troops would fall for the trick and think an actual coup was underway.

2) The Atlantic Illustrates Everything That’s Wrong With Media Coverage of Venezuela Sanctions

Joshua Cho, Common Dreams

“Trump’s Venezuela Policy: Slow Suffocation,” an Atlantic report (4/17/19) by Uri Friedman and Kathy Gilsinan, passed up a rich opportunity to expose the humanitarian pretexts for economic intervention, and instead exhibited the worst tendencies of corporate media coverage of US policy in Latin America.

3) Police Arrest Second Top Venezuelan Opposition Lawmaker for Attempted Coup

Telesur

The alleged crimes Zambrano is charged with are: "treason to the homeland, conspiracy, instigating and insurrection" among others.

4) Venezuela Will Defend Itself From Any Foreign Invasion: Arreaza

Telesur 

"The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela does not represent a threat to the United States, but in the case of a military intervention, the Bolivarian National Armed Forces and the People of Venezuela are prepared to defend its sovereignty."

5) Guaido's Bluff: Coup Leader Admits Failure After Embarrassing Attempt To Overthrow Government

Telesur

The self-proclaimed "interim president" of Venezuela admitted to the Washington Post that he expected the legitimate President Nicolás Maduro to step down after he announced his coup on April 30.

6) Fake news: CNN falsely claims US-appointed Venezuelan coup leader Guaidó was ‘elected’

Ben Norton, The Grayzone 

Six CNN journalists produced an article falsely claiming US-appointed Venezuelan coup leader Juan Guaidó was elected, before quietly issuing a misleading correction.

7) AOC Lines Up with Pelosi, Bolton and Trump in Support of Coup Attempt in Venezuela

Nathaniel Flakin, Left Voice

The coup attempt in Venezuela, orchestrated by Trump’s National Security Advisor John Bolton, has been condemned by socialists around the world. “Democratic socialist” congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, however, is siding with Republican and Democratic Parties in support of U.S. imperialism.

8) US State Department publishes, then deletes sadistic Venezuela hit list boasting of economic ruin

Anya Parampil, The Grayzone 

The Grayzone has obtained a list of “key outcomes” on Venezuela deleted out of apparent embarrassment by the State Department. It boasts of wrecking the nation’s economy, destabilizing its military, and puppeteering its political opposition.

9) What Is Happening at the Venezuelan Embassy Is an Outrage

Medea Benjamin, Common Dreams 

Determined to avoid another war, a group of US peace activists sought and received permission from the legitimate Venezuelan government to form an Embassy Protection Collective.

10) Cuban “troops” saving lives in Venezuela

 Raúl Antonio Capote, Granma

Cubans are truly committed to the principle of sovereignty, we are protective of our independence, and we would never do to others what we would not allow to be done to ourselves.

11) Trudeau continues push to overthrow Venezuela’s government

Yves Engler 

The effort Justin Trudeau is putting into overthrowing Venezuela’s government is remarkable.



12) Ontario Telemedicine Network lays off 44 staff

Mike Crawley · CBC News 

A non-profit agency that helps Ontario patients access health care through videoconferencing has laid off more than 15 per cent of its staff in the wake of a cut to its provincial funding, CBC News has learned.

13) Cuts force Ont. family to pay for 6-year-old cancer patient's tube feed supplement

CTVNews.ca Staff, with a report from CTV Kitchener’s Heather Senoran

The family of a six-year-old girl with cancer says it must pay hundreds of dollars each week for her nutrition supplements following the Ontario government’s cuts to the provincial youth pharmacare program.

14) MPP Sam Oosterhoff’s office calls cops on library-loving seniors

 Karena Walter , The St. Catharines Standard

Police were called to MPP Sam Oosterhoff's riding office Tuesday after a group of older adults clutching books showed up to stage a "read in" over provincial library cuts.

15) MY UNTHINKABLE ABORTION: ST.CATHARINES REG. COUNCILLOR GOES PUBLIC AND SENDS LETTER TO OOSTERHOFF

Bonnie Heslop, Newstalk 610

A St.Catharines Regional Councillor has gone public about her abortion after Niagara West MPP Sam Oosterhoff declared he wants to make abortion "unthinkable."

16) Should 11-year-old girls have to bear their rapists' babies? Ohio says yes.

Eric Zorn, Chicago Tribune 

An 11-year-old rape victim in northwestern Ohio is pregnant, according to news reports, and a highly restrictive state law on abortion signed last month says a girl in her position must carry and deliver her rapist’s baby.

17) Mike Pompeo praises the effects of climate change on Arctic ice for creating new trade routes

Clark Mindock, The Independent 

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has praised the effects of global warming for cutting the time it takes to trade between Asia and the west, during a speech before an international group.

18) Texas Voter Intimidation Bill Targets Elderly, Disabled, and Most Vulnerable

David Badash, NCRM


Texas Republican State Senator Bryan Hughes' bill on "election integrity" is a clear attack on voting rights, get out the vote efforts, and preys on the most vulnerable voters. Senate Bill 9 passed the Senate last month, and is a priority for the very powerful Texas Lt. Governor, far right wing ideologue and Trump supporter Dan Patrick, to become law. He claims it "protects our democracy."

19) Muslims Under Attack: Solidarity or ‘Left Secularism’

John Clarke, Socialist Project Bullet 

Western governments and the xenophobic far right are engaged in a veritable war on Muslims. One way in which this attack unfolds is an ongoing effort to force Muslims to embrace dominant ‘values’ and change their forms of dress or abandon religious observances. Though he was not speaking exclusively about Muslims, the infamous war criminal, Tony Blair, recently sounded off on this very theme of the obligation to ‘integrate’ and was challenged very powerfully by Aditya Chakrabortty in The Guardian.

20) Trump Pardons Ex-Soldier Convicted of Killing Unarmed Iraqi Man

Telesur 

United States President Donald Trump granted a full pardon Monday to a former army lieutenant who was convicted of killing an unarmed Iraqi man.

21) Native American communist topples incumbent council president in Wisconsin town

Earchiel Johnson, People's World 

While there has been some media attention to self-described socialist candidates winning elections in bigger cities, in Northern Wisconsin now, for the first time in its history, a Communist is on the city council in Ashland.  Whitebird defeated incumbent Mettille 52-42.

22) 'Itching for a War,' Bolton Threatens Iran With 'Unrelenting Force' as US Bombers Deployed to Middle East

Jake Johnson, Common Dreams 

In a late Sunday statement warning—without any evidence whatsoever—of "troubling and escalatory" actions by the Iranian government, U.S. national security adviser John Bolton used the scheduled deployment of an American aircraft carrier and bomber task force to the Middle East to threaten Iran with military action.

23) Trita Parsi: John Bolton Has Wanted War With Iran for 20 Years. Now Could Be His Best Chance

Democracy Now

Iran is accusing the United States of “psychological warfare” after National Security Advisor John Bolton announced the U.S. is deploying a carrier strike group and a bomber task force to the region. In a statement on Sunday night, Bolton said the move was intended to “send a clear and unmistakable message to the Iranian regime that any attacks on United States interests or on those of our allies will be met with unrelenting force.” On Monday acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said the deployment was made because of a “credible threat by Iranian regime forces” but he offered no details. Axios is reporting the threat is based on information passed on from Israel. The Trump administration has been ratcheting up pressure against Iran following Washington’s withdrawal from the landmark Iran nuclear deal last year. Last month, the U.S. designated Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization. The Trump administration also said it will end a waiver program that allowed some nations to circumvent U.S. sanctions and continue buying Iranian oil without suffering penalties. We speak with Trita Parsi in Washington, D.C., author of “Losing an Enemy: Obama, Iran, and the Triumph of Diplomacy.” He is the founder and former president of the National Iranian American Council, and an adjunct associate professor in the Center for Security Studies at Georgetown University.

24) Chief Poundmaker, wrongly convicted of treason-felony in 1885, to be exonerated by Trudeau

Olivia Stefanovich · CBC News

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will later this month exonerate a First Nations chief who was wrongly convicted of treason-felony after leading his warriors in battle against Canadian forces in 1885.

25) Britain passes one week without coal power for first time since 1882

Jasper Jolly, The Guardian 

Britain has gone a week without using coal to generate electricity for the first time since Queen Victoria was on the throne, in a landmark moment in the transition away from the heavily polluting fuel.

26) Bolivia Vaccinates 80,000 People in One Week

Telesur 

Bolivia’s government provided more than 80,000 Bolivians in the department of Cochabamba, with free vaccinations, inoculating against more than 15 diseases.

27) Ontario Federation of Labour announces boycott of Canadian Niagara Hotels

OFL

The Ontario Federation of Labour, which represents 54 unions and one million workers in Ontario has issued an official boycott declaration of Canadian Niagara Hotels Inc. (CNH), effective immediately.

28) Trump's Vendetta Against Puerto Rico Hampers Disaster Relief, Says US Congressman

Telesur

Democratic lawmakers from the United States claimed Wednesday that President Donald Trump holds a “personal vendetta against Puerto Rico” which has left disaster relief for the territory in limbo, as well as for that of Florida after being struck by Hurricane Michael last October.

29) PRESIDENT TRUMP’S RACIST TWEET JUST DELAYED A PAIR OF BILLS TO HELP INDIAN COUNTRY – REPUBLICANS WHO GOT COLD FEET SHOULD EXPECT A VOTE

Levi Rickert, Native News Online 

Chair Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) said today that he will pursue other means of passing a pair of bills to help Indian Country after they were pulled from consideration by the House of Representatives in the wake of President Trump’s racist tweet and subsequent Republican opposition to the measures. The House was scheduled to vote on Rep. Bill Keating’s (D-Mass.) H.R. 312, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Reservation Reaffirmation Act, and Rep. Tom Cole’s (R-Okla.) H.R. 375, which updates the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 to affirm that the federal government can take land into trust for the benefit of tribes that received federal recognition after June 18, 1934.

30) Lynn Beyak suspended from Senate after refusing to take down letters condemned as racist

John Paul Tasker · CBC News 

Lynn Beyak has been suspended from the Senate for the remainder of this parliamentary session after declining to remove letters from her website that have been widely condemned as racist, and for refusing to apologize for posting them.

31) Meet the Wealthy Toronto Elites Who Funded White Nationalist Faith Goldy’s Campaign for Mayor

Press Progress

Faith Goldy complains her failed campaign to become the Mayor of Toronto was sabotaged by “establishment elites,” but in fact her campaign was bankrolled by donors living in some of Toronto’s wealthiest neighbourhoods.

32) Paul Manly's Green victory is personal vindication and sends a message on climate change

Karl Nerenberg, Rabble 

Green candidate Paul Manly has won the federal byelection in Nanaimo-Ladysmith on Vancouver Island, a seat formerly held by the NDP's Sheila Malcolmson. Commentators are saying the result is a wake-up call for all of Canada's political class. It means Canadians might be much more serious about climate change than most politicians seem to think, they say.

33) Oregon teachers, parents, students walk out to demand more school dollars

Mark Gruenberg, People's World 

More than 20,000 Oregon public school teachers statewide — at least two-thirds of all teachers in the state — walked out of classes on May 8 to demand more state funds to fix crumbling schools and provide up-to-date textbooks.

34) First Time in History: France's Nine Biggest Unions Join Together for Million-Worker Strike

Telesur 

For the first time in their history, the nine largest French workers unions -including the General Confederation of Labour (CGT), the French Democratic Confederation of Labour (CFDT) and the Workers' Force (FO)- summoned millions of citizens on Thursday to protest against President Emmanuel Macron’s reforms which seek to change contracting modalities, reduce the right to organize and eliminate about 120,000 jobs.

35) Bolivia Showcases New Approach to Drugs After Expelling DEA

Telesur

The Organization of American States (OAS) have announced they will be visiting Bolivia to learn about the country’s anti-drug strategy. This follows the country’s rejection of the US ‘War On Drugs’.

36) Iranian communists demand release of activists arrested on May Day

The Morning Star 

IRANIAN communists are demanding “the immediate and unconditional release” of May Day demonstrators they say were rounded up by police as they tried to mark International Workers’ Day.

37) The Eurovision boycott row confirms it: Palestinian lives don’t matter

Arwa Mahdawi, The Guardian 

Eurovision has always been an exercise in bad taste, but this year’s event takes things to an extreme. If you want to enjoy the kitschy song contest, which will take place from 14 to 18 May in Tel Aviv, Israel, then you have got to ignore the bloody political context that surrounds it. Indeed, Israel is so intent on keeping Eurovision politics-free that anyone it says might disrupt the event will be blocked from entering the country.

38) Scheer says he will move Canada’s Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv if elected

Mike Blanchfield, The Globe and Mail

A Conservative government would move Canada’s embassy in Israel to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv, party Leader Andrew Scheer said in a sometimes fiery foreign-policy speech on Tuesday that took personal aim at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

39) Critics Condemn 'Double Dehumanization' of Palestinians by Corporate Media as Headlines Focus on Israeli Casualties

Julia Conley, Common Dreams

Human rights advocates and progressives in Congress on Monday slammed the corporate media for perpetuating anti-Palestinian sentiments in their reporting on the violence in Gaza and Israel over the weekend.

See also: Imperialist Coup Fails in Venezuela, Israeli Attacks, Climate Change & more -- The Week in News, Opinion and Videos April 28 - May 5

Bolsonaro and Fascism in Brazil, Honduran Migrants, Ford Attacks Workers & more -- The Week in News, Opinion and Videos October 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 October 21 - 28.

1) Canada Post union workers to begin rotating nationwide strikes Monday morning

Jessica Vomiero, Global News

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) announced Sunday that it will begin rotating strikes on Monday morning at 12:01 a.m. in Victoria, Edmonton and Windsor, and at 1:01 a.m. in Halifax.

2) From Mosul to Moria: 'A US air strike killed all of my family'

Richard Hardigan, Al Jazeera 

An Iraqi refugee remembers the day when 12 of his relatives, including a six-month-old, died in the Battle for Mosul.

3) Will NAFTA 2.0 Really Boost Mexican Wages?

Carrie Khan, NPR

NAFTA is no more. The North American Free Trade Agreement has a new name — the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA — and its rules have been updated and revamped.

4) Hondurans continue to leave for US as Trump ramps up threats

Jeff Abbott, Al Jazeera

Exodus of Hondurans seeking refuge in US continues, as small groups of migrants and refugees stream into Guatemala.

5) Brazil: Bolsonaro's Son Threatens Electoral Court with Violence

Telesur

Eduardo Bolsonaro warned the Supreme Electoral Court that they would face dire consequences if they contested his father’s candidacy.

6) Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro threatens purge of leftwing 'outlaws'

Tom Phillips, The Guardian

The far-right favourite to become Brazil’s next president has vowed to spearhead a historic purge of his leftwing political foes in a menacing address that delighted supporters and left opponents outraged and unnerved.

7) Bolsonaro, foreign meddling and the destruction of Brazilian democracy

 Marcelo Zero, Brasil Wire

At the moment that I write this article (October 2018), Brazil is about to elect Jair Bolsonaro as President of the Republic. He is an ex-military officer and politician who is openly fascist, homophobic, misogynist and racist.

8) 'Secure Justice for Berta': NGOs Condemn 'Arbitrary' Rulings in Berta Caceres Case, Accuse Honduran Officials of Limiting Victim’s Rights

Telesur

A coalition of NGOs and human rights groups have condemned the court's decision to exclude Berta Caceres' family and lawyers from the murder trial.

9) 'You can’t even walk, there’s just so many people': Migrant caravan bound for US swells despite Trump threats

John Bacon, USA Today

A caravan of Central American migrants marching into Mexico bound for the United States grew to more than 5,000 people Sunday despite threats from President Donald Trump to use the U.S. military to seal the border.

10) PM Modi not honouring promise of helping Kerala after floods: CM Pinarayi Vijayan

Jeemon Jacob, India Today

In a Facebook post, Kerala CM alleged that the prime minister has backed out from his promise of granting clearance for the visits of state cabinet ministers to various countries to raise funds for the reconstruction work in the state.

11) Iqaluit student sits during national anthem to make statement about residential school curriculum

CBC News

A 12-year-old student in Iqaluit says he ended up in the principal's office after he sat during the Canadian anthem to make a statement about how the history of residential schools is taught.

12) A 14-year-long oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico verges on becoming one of the worst in U.S. history

Darryl Fears, The Washington Post 

An oil spill that has been quietly leaking millions of barrels into the Gulf of Mexico has gone unplugged for so long that it now verges on becoming one of the worst offshore disasters in U.S. history.

13) Attack of the Right-Wing Snowflakes

Michelle Goldberg, The New York Times

In other words, some men are really angry, and the political faction that claims to hate political correctness is appealing to the state to shut people up.

14) Venezuela’s Maduro Meets Commune Leaders, Calls for Devolution of State Power

Paul Dobson, Venezuela Analysis 

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro led a gathering of commune leaders this weekend as part of the IV Congress of Communes and Social Movements, during which he made a series of important announcements in the area.

15) Remembering John Reed and 'Ten Days that Shook the World'

Telesur

If you've ever read about the Russian Revolution, you've probably heard of "Ten Days That Shook the World," an intense recount of the socialist movement by John Reed.

16) Doug Ford is Gutting Labour Laws, Eliminating Sick Days and Cancelling Raises for Minimum Wage Workers

Press Progress

Doug Ford’s government announced Tuesday it is tabling sweeping legislation to gut Ontario’s labour laws.

17) No sign minimum wage hike was 'job killer' Doug Ford says it was

Mike Crawley · CBC News

The changes did put more money in workers' pockets and less in employers' pockets, and that simple fact raises questions about the real reasons why the Ford government is making this move.

18) Making Ontario Open for Greed

David Bush, Rank and File 

Quick look at the Tories “Making Ontario Open for Business Act.” This is a massive gift to employers coming off the back of workers.

Facebook via Canadian Labour Institute

19) Here's why Ontario PC government’s ‘deceptive’ measures aren’t saving taxpayers money

Paul Taylor, Orangeville Banner

The current Ontario Progressive Conservative government has just cancelled more than $300 million in funding expansion to post-secondary education institutions.


20) Ministry of Labour puts hold on proactive workplace inspections, internal memo says

Sara Mojtehedzadeh, The Toronto Star

The Ministry of Labour has instructed staff not to initiate any new proactive inspections aimed at preventing wage theft and other employment standards violations, according to an internal memo obtained by the Star — a day after the Progressive Conservative government introduced a bill that will significantly roll back recently enacted labour protections.

21) ‘Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat’ Is Marxist Fantasy Porn

Malcolm Harris, Eater

“They say the potter always drinks out of a broken pot,” Nosrat’s mother tells her in the last episode, “Heat,” as they share some rice that misses the serving plate. In what kind of world is the food fallen on the counter the best bite? One that will belong to the workers, someday.

22) Some 60 Journalists Killed Since Peña Nieto Took Office in 2012

Telesur

The Foro Nuestras Voces Frente a la Impunidad, a group composed of journalists from several Mexican states, denounced President Enrique Peña Nieto’s Government for being the most violent towards journalists over the last 18 years of the country's history.

23) West Backs Saudi Arabia Despite Calls for Boycott Over Khashoggi Murder, FII Receives $50B in Investments

Telesur

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman received a warm welcome in Riyadh Tuesday during his surprise visit to the Future Investment Initiative (FII) conference. The conference has yielded investment deals worth an estimated US$50 billion despite calls for a boycott by activists and some countries over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

24) European Parliament votes to ban single-use plastics in bid to tackle pollution

Josh Gabbatiss, The Independent

The European Parliament has voted for an extensive ban on single-use plastics to stop pollution entering the world’s oceans.

25) UCP Candidate Steps Down After Receiving Illegal Corporate Donation from Alberta Car Dealership

Press Progress

One of Jason Kenney’s United Conservative Party nomination candidates has withdrawn after taking an illegal corporate donation from a car dealership.

26) Killing Journalists Is Wrong When the Saudis Do It — and When the United States Does It, Too

Mehdi Hasan, The Intercept

We rightly demand justice in the case of Khashoggi, so why not in the case of Ayoub?

27) The ominous third-place finish of a white supremacist in Toronto

Brian Budd, The Conversation

It’s important that Goldy’s campaign isn’t laughed off or dismissed as a delusional political incursion by an extreme right-wing media figure.

28) Palestinian women: An untold history of leadership and resistance

Mohammed El-Kurd, Al Jazeera

The hallways of my memory have always echoed with my grandmother's voice storytelling, and thus unburdening, narratives of womanly struggle. Her voice projected both wit and resilience in the face of the Israeli ethnic cleansing of Palestine and the decades-old Israeli military occupation. However, my grandmother's testimonies were rarely recognised.

29) US Midterms: Judge Rules Against Voter Suppression in Georgia

Telesur

The move prevents Georgia elections officials from throwing out any ballot on 'exact match' grounds.

30) Georgia’s Kemp Purged 340,134 Voters, Falsely Asserting They Had Moved

Greg Palast, Truthout

Last year, Brian Kemp, Georgia’s secretary of state canceled the registrations of over half a million Georgians because they left the state or moved to another county. Except they didn’t. The nation’s top experts in address location reviewed Kemp’s list of purged voters — and returned the names and addresses of 340,134 who never moved at all.

31) Calling out the Toronto Sun's Islamophobia

Richard Warman and Bernie Farber, NOW Magazine

Time for media and civic institutions to stop granting legitimacy to the Toronto tabloid while its columnists continue to demonize the "other"

32) Dodgers players and staff ignore striking hotel workers, cross picket line in Boston

Alan Pyke, Think Progress

With their own fights with management looming, Major League Baseball Player’s Union members let an opportunity for labor solidarity bounce under their gloves Monday when the Los Angeles Dodgers crossed a picket line at a Boston hotel ahead of their World Series matchup with the Red Sox.

Meet Cibo, the Italian street artist using paintings of treats, fruits and vegetables to fight neo-fascism.




33) How Olympic Champion Wyomia Tyus Found Her Voice At The ’68 Games

Karen Given, WBUR

On Oct. 16, 1968, Wyomia Tyus and about 200 other athletes crammed into the stands of the Olympic stadium in Mexico City to watch Americans Tommie Smith and John Carlos accept their medals.

34) Young black Portuguese men take police brutality case to court

Ana Naomi de Sousa, Al Jazeera

Six alleged victims say officers beat them until they bled and were bruised and forced them into humiliating positions.

35) Thousands march in Taiwan gay pride parade for referendum vote

Al Jazeera

The massive march, attended by nearly 13,000 people, was held in capital Taipei on Saturday in advance of a landmark vote next month on LGBT rights.

36) Another Indigenous Rights Activist Killed in Oaxaca, Mexico

Telesur

This is the fifth member of the Indigenous Rights Defense Committee to be killed in 2018.

37) Mexicans shower the caravan with kindness — and tarps, tortillas and medicine

Joshua Partlow, The Toronto Star

Everything Pedro Osmin Ulloa was wearing, from the black felt shoes with the gold buckles to the shimmery blue button-down, was as new to him as he was to Mexico.

38) Liberia announces free tuition for undergraduates

AFP Reporter

Liberian President George Weah, who overcame childhood poverty to become one of the world's top footballers, has abolished tuition fees for undergraduate students in the poor West African country's state universities.

39) Sanders and Varoufakis Announce Alliance to Craft 'Common Blueprint for an International New Deal'

Jessica Corbett, Common Dreams

After arguing in a pair of Guardian op-eds last month that a worldwide progressive movement is needed to counter the unifying rightwing "that sprang out of the cesspool of financialized capitalism," former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis announced in Rome on Friday that he and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) plan to officially launch "Progressives International" in the senator's state on Nov. 30.

Advice on fighting fascists from Lyudmila Pavlichenko, the WW2 female Soviet sniper who killed 309 Nazi’s singlehandedly. Today is the anniversary of her passing in 1974.

“"How many men have you killed?"

"Not a man... fascists. 309."

40) 'I leave the car at home': how free buses are revolutionising one French city

Kim Willsher, The Guardian 

Dunkirk is a month into a project that makes it the biggest European city to offer entirely free public transport to residents and visitors alike. So what do people think?

41) Cesar Sayoc, Mail Bombing Suspect, Found an Identity in Political Rage and Resentment

JACK HEALY, JULIE TURKEWITZ and RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr., The New York Times

Cesar Sayoc was a volatile nobody desperate to become a somebody.

42) Trump Didn’t Pull the Trigger on Jews in Pittsburgh, but He Certainly Prepped the Shooter

David Rothkopf, Haaretz

The massacre in a Pittsburgh synagogue is the result of Trump’s constant endorsement of hate against the other, a hate-and-fear-mongering which has brought America to a very dark place.

43) Pittsburgh suspect was avid poster of anti-Semitic content on Gab

Jason Silverstein, CBS News

The suspected Pittsburgh synagogue gunman regularly posted anti-Semitic threats, memes and conspiracy theories on a social network often associated with conspiracy theorists and extremists — including an ominous warning posted just hours before the attack. Robert Bowers was a regular user on Gab, a website that promotes itself as a haven for free expression that major social networks will not allow.

44) A Day Before Brazil Elections, Bolsonaro Supporter Kills Young Man at Haddad Rally

Telesur

Charlione was the son of the National Secretary of the Working Women of CNTRV/CUT. The confederation said in a statement that the victim was shot in a peaceful rally by a Bolsonaro supporter.

45) Polls Open in Second Round of Brazil Elections

Telesur

Polls opened Sunday for the second round of the presidential elections, the most polarized of their kind in decades as voters choose between far-right Jair Bolsonaro and leftist Fernando Haddad who has been reducing his opponent's lead over the past few days, as he looks for a surprise upset victory.

UPDATE: Bolsonaro has won in Brazil. The sixth most populous country in the world has elected an outright, actual fascist.

Very disturbing news.

Tory wins, Mammoliti out, little changes -- Toronto's election brings neo-liberal continuity

After the drama of Doug Ford's undemocratic downsizing of Toronto City Council mid-election, the new, smaller results represent neo-liberal continuity. Very little of any fundamental significance has changed.

John Tory won a landslide victory over his main opponent, Jennifer Keesmaat, which is unsurprising given that there was almost nothing that separated them. Disappointingly, neo-fascist candidate Faith Goldy garnered more votes than leftist candidate Saron Gebresellassi, though neither broke 3.5% of the vote.

Meanwhile, council races were a mixed bag.

Michael Ford's result in Ward 1 has to have been uncomfortably close for his uncle given all the political resources he invested in it. A loss would have been politically catastrophic for him though it did not happen. Ford beat another reactionary Vincent Crisanti by almost eight percent of the vote.

In a silver lining Giorgio Mammoliti, who ran a disgraceful, dog-whistle campaign and who has been a disruptive far right presence on council for all too long, went down to a richly deserved defeat. He lost to Anthony Perruzza by nearly 12 points. This was, at least, a minor setback for Ford style bombastic stupidity at City Hall.

Many of council's "progressive" establishment "heavyweights" have been returned for what that is worth.  Family heritage crew Mike Layton and Joe Cressy are still there, as are centrists like Kristyn Wong-Tam. Gord Perks won easily in Ward 4 which is a positive given that he is likely the sole Councillor that can honestly be described as a leftist. Labour Council endorsed (surprise, surprise) Paula Fletcher defeated fellow progressive Mary Fragedakis whose personal connections were perhaps not quite as close.

In a fascinating example of the paucity of politics now, Josh Matlow -- a liberal notable largely for his fierce and correct resistance to Tory's inane Scarborough subway plans -- handily defeated the supposed New Democrat Joe Mihevc in Ward 12 by over 10 points. Mihevc might be remembered by The Left Chapter readers for his relentless nonsense about alleged TTC fare evasion and his musings on making sure kids get on the Presto train. He also, in what was a truly cynical and telling move, asked for John Tory's endorsement and received it. It likely, and deservedly, did more harm than good.

Deeply ironically Labour Council endorsed Jennifer Keesmaat ganged up with John Tory to back Brad Bradford over Labour Council endorsed former NDP MP Matthew Kellway in Ward 19. Bradford won. Sadly, I doubt this will cause the Labour Council to reflect on its pattern of often terrible, short-sighted decisions.

Overall, despite the hyperbole and the Ford machinations, the results indicate continuity. They do not appear to show any shift significantly to the right or ideologically otherwise at all. In fact, only 12 of 25 candidates endorsed by Doug Ford's de facto official organ the Toronto Sun won. The composition and balance of power between what passes as a left, the centrists and the right remains largely the same.

The lack of an organized socialist civic movement, though, is as glaring as its consequences are telling.

The council also continues to lack anything remotely like the diversity of the city it supposedly represents.

With this council we can anticipate little serious or significant resistance to the Ford provincial agenda municipally. When understood within the broader politics of disillusion in Ontario, it is clear that any fightback will have to be organized outside of and in spite of existing mainstream electoral channels.

See also: Ontario’s 2018 Election: Pessimism Today, Strategic Organizing Tomorrow

Bill 148 and Fighting Austerity in Ontario, Climate Change, Sankara & more -- The Week in News, Opinion and Videos October 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 October 14 - 21.


1) Faith Goldy said neo-Nazis have “well-thought-out ideas” – Conrad Black says her opinions are not offensive

North 99

In a radio interview clip circulating on Twitter, National Post columnist and convicted criminal Conrad Black defended white supremacist Faith Goldy, saying her opinions were “not be offensive to any ethnic or religious group”.

2) The Bolsonaro effect: what now for Brazil?

Orlando Hill, Counterfire 

As Brazil's elections progress to the second round, Orlando Hill examines the prospects for the left in defeating the presidential candidacy of the far right Jair Bolsonaro.

3) The Tories are destroying our schools, we need a socialist education policy

Judy Cox, Counterfire

The campaign against school funding cuts has attracted a lot of attention, but a socialist education policy can do much more than solve the funding crisis argues Judy Cox.

4) Thomas Sankara Revolutionized Burkina Faso

Telesur

Burkina Faso president Thomas Sankara was a feminist Marxist Pan-Africanist revolutionary leader who was assassinated in a coup d'etat four short years after he took power.

WHEN THE PEOPLE STAND UP, IMPERIALISM TREMBLES!

Read: Thomas Sankara's address to the United Nations General Assembly, October 4, 1984
Via Communist Party of Canada on Facebook

5) MILITARY OFFICIALS AREN’T SUPPOSED TO ASSOCIATE WITH HATE GROUPS. SO WHY ARE THESE GENERALS SPEAKING AT FRANK GAFFNEY’S CONFAB?

Murtaza Hussain and Eli Clifton, The Intercept

OVER THE PAST decade, the Center for Security Policy has emerged as one of the most notoriously bigoted and conspiratorial think tanks in Washington, D.C. Under its founder and president, Frank Gaffney, the organization regularly found itself in the news for promoting anti-Muslim conspiracies — including farcically paranoid ones. Yet, unlike similar organizations that remain on the political fringes, the Center for Security Policy is remarkably close to the halls of power — not just to President Donald Trump, for whom Gaffney was an informal adviser during the campaign, but also to the traditional power brokers of the defense establishment.

6) Police spies infiltrated UK leftwing groups for decades

Rob Evans, The Guardian 

Exclusive: database shows 124 green, anti-racist and other groups spied on by undercover police

7) Craig Kielburger Founded WE To Fight Child Labour. Now The WE Brand Promotes Products Made By Children.

Jaren Kerr, Canadaland

A CANADALAND investigation reveals that WE is connected to no fewer than three companies known to use child and slave labour in their supply chain.

8) 'It was like hell': California hotel workers break their silence on abuse

Michael Sainato, The Guardian 

Just outside of Los Angeles in Ranchos Palos Verdes, the Terranea Resort boasts fine dining, a golf course, scenic beachfront views, and accommodations ranging from luxury guest rooms to private, secluded villas. While it may be a paradise for guests, resort workers claim they are subjected to a culture that has enabled sexual harassment and sexual assault.

9) Repealing Bill 148 will hurt women

Hassan Yussuff, The Toronto Star

It’s time for Ontario Premier Doug Ford and his team to read the fine print in Bill 148.

MRA Logic

Via Capitalism Kills on Facebook

10) Trouble brewing: climate change to cause 'dramatic' beer shortages

Damian Carrington, The Guardian

Trouble is brewing for the world’s beer drinkers, with climate change set to cause “dramatic” price spikes and supply shortages, according to new research.

11) Colin Kaepernick sounds the alarm against a re-emerging evil

Richard Williams, The Guardian

Former quarterback’s stand is a reminder the injustice highlighted by raised fists 50 years ago has not gone away.

(Related: Black Power Olympic Salute for Justice: 50 Years Ago Today in Mexico)

12) Why Don’t ‘Good Men’ Believe Women?

Soraya Chemaly, Medium

Philosopher Kate Manne has described this tendency toward disparate concern for men as “himpathy.” It depends primarily on two ideas: that masculinity is more important than what women are saying; and that women cannot be believed or trusted.

13) Ford government disbands Liberals’ expert panel to end violence against women

Molly Hayes and Laura Stone, The Globe and Mail

Ontario’s Progressive Conservative government has pulled the plug on an expert panel to end violence against women that was established under the Liberals to provide strategic advice on policies.

14) Protesters urge Ford to keep worker protections, minimum wage bump in place

Sara Mojtehedzadeh, The Toronto Star

Protesters rallied across the province Monday urging Premier Doug Ford not to scrap new worker protections after he pledged earlier this month to repeal the law giving Ontarians two paid sick days, equal pay for equal work and a minimum wage bump.

15) Dennis Hof is dead, but his legacy lives on through those who advocate to legalize prostitution

Meghan Murphy, Feminist Current

So-called leftists and feminists who promote the legalization of prostitution are nothing more than capitalists and misogynists in disguise. And while Dennis Hof may be dead, these “progressives” are carrying on his legacy.

16) Making misandry a hate crime will embolden abusive men

Jessica Eaton, The Guardian

While misogyny has centuries of research, evidence, statistics, law and legislation, oppression, death and suffering behind it, misandry is harder to pinpoint. Some people even ask the question: “Does misandry exist?”

17) CANADA'S MOST PROMINENT BLACK ACTIVIST IS FIGHTING DOUG FORD. HE ALSO HAS A MESSAGE FOR WHITE LIBERALS.

Brian J. Barth, Pacific Standard Magazine

At the center of Canada's burgeoning black resistance movement is journalist-turned-activist Desmond Cole. The 36-year-old Torontonian was a popular columnist at the Toronto Star, Canada's second-largest daily newspaper, until May of 2017, when he abruptly severed ties, saying that the paper's publisher had complained that Cole was "writing about race too often." But recent events in the Great White North suggest that race isn't being written about enough.

18) Canada Post union issues strike notice; workers could begin rotating strikes Monday

The Canadian Press

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers says it has given strike notice to Canada Post that workers could walk off the job as early as next week.

19) Trump Threatens To Withdraw Honduras Aid Over Approaching Migrant Caravan

Sara Boboltz, HuffPost US

President Donald Trump on Tuesday issued a threat to Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez: Somehow recall a mass caravan of mostly Honduran migrants bound for the United States or watch American aid dry up.

20) Man told to stop recording violent takedown gets apology from Toronto police sergeant

Jasmin Seputis, CBC News

A Toronto man who was ordered by police to stop shooting video of a violent takedown in January of 2017, and was told he was "going to get AIDS" if he didn't move back, received an apology Tuesday from an officer at a disciplinary hearing.

21) Praise the Workers, Not Amazon

Jonathan Rosenblum, Socialist Project Bullet 

"Power concedes nothing without a demand,” abolitionist leader Frederick Douglass declared 161 years ago.

22) Elizabeth Warren Falls for Trump’s Trap—and Promotes Insidious Ideas About Race and DNA

Masha Gessen, The New Yorker

Warren ended up providing one of the clearest examples yet of how Trumpian rhetoric shifts the political conversation. The woman who is hoping to become the most progressive Democratic nominee in generations is not merely letting herself get jerked around by a Trumpian taunt. She is also reinforcing one of the most insidious ways in which Americans talk about race: as though it were a measurable biological category, one that, in some cases, can be determined by a single drop of blood. Genetic-test evidence is circular: if everyone who claims to be X has a particular genetic marker, then everyone with the marker is likely to be X. This would be flawed reasoning in any area, but what makes it bad science is that it reinforces the belief in the existence of X—in this case, race as a biological category. Warren’s video will hardly convince a Trump voter, who will see only a woman who feels that she has to prove something. Trump himself has already walked back his promise of a million-dollar charity donation. Warren, meanwhile, has allowed herself to be dragged into a conversation based on an outdated, harmful concept of racial blood—one that promotes the pernicious idea of biological differences among people—and she has pulled her supporters right along with her.

23) Law to stop bad-faith evictions not working, lawyers and tenants say

Natalie Nanowski, CBC News

Robyn Lemire was compensated a month's rent when she was evicted from her Corktown condo this summer. That seemed fair, until she found out that her landlord's wife didn't move in like she was supposed to.

24) Women in the U.S. Can Now Get Safe Abortions by Mail

Olga Khazan, The Atlantic

The founder of a global abortion-pill provider that has never shipped to the U.S. has quietly started a new service for Americans.

25) Doug Ford will end new domestic abuse leave work rules – and these universities are part of a group that made it happen

North 99

Some of Ontario’s most influential universities and colleges are members of a business lobby group calling for the full repeal of Bill 148, which includes laws designed to protect domestic abuse victims and prevent employers from forcing sexist dress codes on women.

26) The Other Side: Brazil Soccer Fans Repudiate Bolsonaro

Telesur

In the context of Brazil’s 2018 presidential election, the country has seen the emergence of several groupings of soccer fans who have linked themselves to #EleNao movement to reject the possibility of Jair Bolsonaro --leader of the Social Liberal Party-- who, according to polls, looks to win the second round of voting which will be held on October 28th.

27) Africa's Oldest Animal Reserve is Under Threat from Oil Mine

Telesur

With the court date just weeks away, activists are going head-to-head with South Africa’s mining company, Petmin Corporate, whose oil mine borders Africa’s oldest animal reservation.

28) It’s Time We Dispel The Myth Of ‘Progressive’ Liberalism In Ontario

Carlo Fanelli, Socialist Project Bullet 

There is an emerging orthodoxy, rooted more in fiction than fact, that the 15-year regime of the Ontario Liberals somehow swung the ideological and policy spectrum sharply to the left. But this is a gross misinterpretation of actual history. While the Liberals did indeed implement a hodgepodge of policies that might selectively register as ‘progressive’, their time in power was never about a wholesale repudiation of the Conservative’s Common Sense Revolution but rather about deepening and extending it in ways that were more palatable to a public increasingly fed up with the uncompromising and aggressive style of their Conservative predecessors. In other words, it was continuity, not change, that defined the Liberals’ time in power.

29) CHANGING THE EQUATION: ANTI-AUSTERITY ORGANIZING IN ONTARIO

Dave McKee, People's Voice

John Clarke is a well-known figure in the political left in Ontario, and across Canada. As he gets ready to retire, later this year, from 30 years as organizer for the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP), Dave McKee interviewed John about the development, opportunities, and challenges of the anti-poverty organizing and the working class movement in Ontario.

30) Grassy Narrows leader Steve Fobister dead at 66

David Bruser, The Toronto Star

When Steve Fobister came to protest outside the Legislature in 2014, the former fishing guide and chief came with his tent and an ultimatum.

31) Threatening letter that says ‘this isn’t a reserve’ prompts Alberta family to move

 Phil Heidenreich, Global News

A wife and mother of three pre-teen children says her family is moving from their St. Albert, Alta., condo because they don’t feel safe after receiving a racist and threatening letter.


Jeremy Corbyn | Pinochet Arrest

20 years today, Chilean neo-liberal dictator Augusto Pinochet was arrested in London for crimes against humanity.

Guess which British MP did more than any other - on the streets, with the press, in court and in Parliament, to support and show solidarity, as always, with the victims of injustice?

This is a collection of unedited news footage after the Law Lords ruled against Pinochet's impunity. This was a campaign of many months duration, before the Blair government did the "centrist" thing of letting the dictator off in a deal with the Chilean government.

#JC4PM! We need this humanity at the heart of government!

32) Massively Expand Public Transport Now

International Transport Workers' Federation, The Socialist Project Bullet

As a global union federation representing over 20 million transport workers in 145 countries worldwide, the ITF is proud to be leading a programme for Our Public Transport. We recognise that if we act NOW, there is still a chance of stopping dangerous climate change. Expanding public transport is an essential part of the fight to bring down greenhouse gas emissions and address climate change. Bold policies are needed, adapted to specific national and city contexts.

33) Police officers in the US were charged with more than 400 rapes over a 9-year period

Eliott C. McLaughlin, CNN

A police officer in Prince George County, Maryland, was charged this week with raping a woman during a traffic stop. He's pleaded not guilty, but it's a disturbing headline -- even more disturbing when you consider there are hundreds more like him.

34) 'Largest living thing,' an 80,000-year-old Utah forest, is dying, scientists warn

Christopher Carbone, Fox News

An ancient forest in Utah considered to be the largest single living thing in the world is dying, according to scientists.

35) Seventy Years of the New York Times Describing Saudi Royals as Reformers

 Abdullah Al-Arian, Jadaliyya

In honor of Thomas Friedman's latest love letter to the ruling dynasty in Saudi Arabia, here is seventy years worth of the New York Times describing the royal family as reformers.

36) Facebook Blocks Trailer of Film on Palestinian Women's Role in the First Intifada

Oded Yaron, Haaretz 

Facebook only lifted its ban on the advertisement of the documentary after Haaretz contacted the company, which told distributors it would not allow 'advertising that includes derogatory or sensational content'.

37) Black British history: A study in erasure

Paula Akpan, Al Jazeera 

Black people are a part of the fabric of Britain, yet pupils are not taught the full story of Black history in schools.

38) Top EU Court Blocks Polish Supreme Court Law Forcing Judges To Retire

Vanessa Romo, NPR

The European Union's highest court on Friday ordered Poland to reverse a law leading to the removal of nearly a third of the nation's Supreme Court judges, and to reinstate those who were dismissed.

39) Another Candidate for Jason Kenney’s UCP is Now Under Fire for an Anti-Muslim Facebook Rant

Press Progress

Another nomination candidate for Jason Kenney’s United Conservative Party is facing scrutiny after an anti-Muslim Facebook rant surfaced Friday.

40) Donald Trump, Lumpen Capitalist

Samuel Farber, Jacobin

The most important thing about Donald Trump isn’t his psychological condition — it’s that he’s a capitalist. And a particular kind of capitalist at that: a lumpen capitalist.

See also: Bolsonaro, White Supremacists and the UCP, Oscar Romero & more -- The Week in News, Opinion and Videos October 7 - 14

The rising of the hard right in Canada

What a difference four months can make.

Since June we have witnessed what is becoming a seismic shift in the political landscape.

It began with the election of Doug Ford in Ontario. Ford came to his moment almost by accident after winning the Conservative leadership despite losing the popular vote for it in the wake of the totally unexpected ouster of Patrick Brown.

Running a campaign based on obfuscation and simplistic (and generally fictional) narratives, he managed to get a majority government thanks to the deep unpopularity of Kathleen Wynne, the ineptitude of the Horwath led ONDP, who only decided with a couple months to go to pretend to be left wing, and our ludicrous excuse for an electoral system.

Having been gifted the premiership by circumstance has not prevented Ford -- with the, to date, full compliance and complicity of his caucus of "progressive" conservatives -- from unleashing the beginnings of a radically right wing agenda that has included cancelling the new sex-ed curriculum as well as the scheduled minimum wage hike, threatening to use the notwithstanding clause to get his way slashing the size of Toronto City Council during an ongoing municipal election, pulling the rug out from under those on a basic income trial project and musing about stripping workers of all the rights they had gained under the Liberal Bill 148, among other things.

He is likely just getting started.

Ford also seemed terribly reluctant to disavow neo-fascist Toronto mayoral candidate Faith Goldy after she posed in a photo with him at Ford Fest, the Ford family's annual attempt at a low rent version of Triumph of the Will.

While they came nowhere near winning power the People’s Alliance in New Brunswick broke through in the provincial election there last week to take three seats and potentially hold the balance of power.

The People's Alliance, among other things, is fixated on stripping Francophone rights and on bilingualism.

Given that neither the Liberals or Progressive Conservatives won a majority, the People's Alliance may yet end up having a major influence on government policy in this minority parliament.

Finally, of course, this week saw the triumph of the Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ) in a provincial election that led to a party other than the Liberals or the Parti Québécois winning for the first time since 1966. They will have a majority government based on a mere 37.4% of the total vote. 

The CAQ's right populist brand of nationalism is central to its message and goals. The very first thing its leader and the premier-designate François Legault did after his victory was to promise to use the notwithstanding clause to push through a law banning the wearing of religious headgear by public employees in "positions of authority" such as police officers and teachers.

He seems very anxious to get down to the business of bigotry.

He has also pledged to lower immigration levels in Quebec from 50,000 to 40,000 a year while subjecting immigrants to a nebulous "Quebec values" test the failing of which could potentially lead to their deportation.

His comments and win brought praise from groups such as extreme right La Meute as well as from France's National Front neo-fascist leader Marine Le Pen. Legault disavowed this but it still speaks volumes.

The CAQ is looking to enact nativist polices like a larger "baby bonus" to encourage women in Quebec to have more than one child. The idea, as the Montreal Gazette put it, is that this would "stimulate the economy, reduce the number of immigrants and preserve the weight of Quebec within the Canadian federation" by "counting on women to repopulate Quebec." Its commitment to help seniors stay in their homes longer is at least in part obviously similarly motivated by a desire to appeal to a certain demographic.

All is couched in a program that includes cutting the Quebec public service by at least one percent and, interestingly, reducing the number of Montreal's city councillors.

While there is something of a silver lining in Quebec that the election saw a large upswing in support for the leftist Québec Solidaire, it is a disheartening result in Canada's second most populous province, coming on the heels as it does of the result in its most populous.

This is very alarming within the context of a continental and, indeed, global resurgence of the hard right.  It remains to be seen if it will translate into unexpected support for further, overtly extremist projects such as Maxime Bernier's  People's Party of Canada or Goldy's campaign in Toronto.