The West and the Third World, B. Krotkov, USSR 1971

Soviet poster about the American "commitment" to peace!

Vintage Leftist Leaflet Project

Leaflet: The West and the Third World, B. Krotkov, USSR 1971

Published in 1971 this excerpt is a section from a larger work called "False and True Friends of the Third World" entitled "The West and the Third World". It was written by Soviet analyst B. Krotkov and looks at the hypocrisy and violent interventionism that lies at the heart of western neo-colonialism in the Third World.

The author starts by pointing out that it is very difficult to take western professions of solidarity with and friendship towards Third World countries seriously given that they all fought against or opposed every single national liberation and independence movement that ever emerged there. 

It then looks at the imperialist bag of tricks that will seem very familiar sadly today including the use of "humanitarian aid" as a method of exerting political and economic control that is anything but "humanitarian" or about "aid".

Two notable passages include:

Between 1958 and 1966, under various pretexts, the American imperialists openly interfered in the internal affairs of sovereign states in Asia, Africa and Latin America 157 times. In the ten years between 1954 and 1964, 170,000 persons were killed, 800.000 wounded and 400,000 thrown in prison in South Vietnam by the American and Saigon troops. From 1965 to 1969, 4,580,000 tons of bombs were dropped on Vietnam, which is three times the weight of bombs dropped on Europe during the Second World War. In 1970 the Americans increased their bombing of the civilian population of Vietnam and Laos; the extended hostilities to Cambodia thus bringing the whole of Indochina within the sphere of their aggression. 

and:

Colonialism and neo-colonialism have the same nature, but their aims and tasks differ in some respects. If during colonial domination, the colonialists' chief aim was to rob the oppressed peoples, today in addition to this they are trying with every means at their disposal to preserve the disintegrating capitalist system, to intensify the struggle against socialism, national revolutions and social progress.

Also note the passing reference to Admiral John McCain, the father of American war criminal Senator John McCain. 

(click on scans to enlarge)

When The Left Chapter began part of what I wanted to do on the blog was to show and highlight vintage public leftist election/political leaflets and booklets. While many of these have been offered with commentary to date, a very large collection of hundreds of them from several different sources remains and to preserve these often quite rare documents we will be posting them on a regular (almost daily) basis now often without or with minimal commentary so that people may have access to them as quickly as possible as an historical resource. 

While these will all be leaflets from a variety of different leftist viewpoints and countries, they are being posted as an historical/study resource and the views or opinions expressed in them do not necessarily reflect the views of this blog or blogger.

All of these posts (as well as posts made to date) will be listed on the page: Vintage Communist/Socialist Leaflets  (which is still being updated with past posts).


If you have any public, vintage leaflets or booklets you would like to contribute to this project please contact us via theleftchapter@outlook.com

The rehabilitation of the American right is a dangerous mistake

Perhaps it is understandable. Given the crass and debased manifestation that Donald Trump is of what is in fact the underlying thinking of the mainstream Republican right in the United States perhaps it should be no surprise that so many self-styled progressives have begun to rewrite even recent political history.

As Trump plays the buffoon while calling for the same racist, far right, anti-worker, militarist and authoritarian polices that Republicans have supported and been pushing towards to one degree or another since Nixon, somehow the American liberal tries to find solace by re-imagining bigots and vicious imperialists like George H.W. Bush and John McCain as paragons of civility and decency -- a revisionism that would almost be funny were it not so terribly dangerous.

McCain helped to legitimize the very wing of the Republican Party that now most vehemently backs Trump by choosing an extremist like Sarah Palin as his running mate in 2008 when he ran for President. His history of supporting anti-woman, anti-gay, anti-worker polices, military adventurism, his war crimes and his use of bigoted language has been well documented including here on The Left Chapter and in many other forums. 

As the media and politicians lionized George H.W. Bush a few voices of reason tried to remind about the drumbeat of lies that led to the first Iraq War, the indiscriminate slaughter of civilians that was the result of his illegal invasion of Panama, his emboldening of fascists at home and abroad, and-on-and-on-and-on. A round-up of these articles can also be found here.

I suppose the dog-whistling of the Willie Horton ads in 1988 were a kinder, gentler campaign racism.

CNN host Don Lemon's castigating of Trump for going to Bush Sr's funeral was utterly misguided in its target. It would have been better to ask what folks like Jimmy Carter and Obama were doing there.

The sheer idiocy of liberals, progressives and the media glowing over the passing of candy by the second Bush of the Patriot Act, the Iraq War, the indiscriminate use of the death penalty and Hurricane Katrina -- to name just a few of his crimes --is genuinely grotesque. Michelle Obama may have been willing to gush “I love him to death...He’s a wonderful man” but I rather suspect history will deliver a very different verdict.

Of the little tender moment a writer in the Boston Herald opined:

This was a statement that George W. Bush plainly wanted to make, and wanted his countrymen to see: in an America convulsed by the assaults on decency and civility that Trump and team have visited upon it, it is not too late to restore the best of what have always been regarded as American values.

This is such unmitigated bullshit it is very hard to wrap one's mind around it. Bush's two terms as President were a prolonged and non-stop set of "assaults on decency and civility".  It is of such recent memory that it astounds that so many seem to have entirely forgotten what it was like to live through his reign and the relentless attacks of his Presidency on American democracy and rule of law. Never mind the millions who have been slaughtered directly due to Bush's illegal wars based on lies and misinformation.

Bush has in no way stopped his indecency, by the way, and found time in his retirement to make calls to swing senators in support of Trump Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. What a wonderful fellow.

All of this reactionary revisionist liberal and media nonsense plays to profoundly false notions of an America and American political class that was allegedly once pure, just, democratic and fair. An America that was once great.

That America is a chimera. A lie. It never existed. And neither did the "good" Republicans and conservatives. Reagan, both the Bushes, McCain. They were all practitioners of a bigoted politics with a deep authoritarian streak and they all worked with the Republican and Democratic politicians in congress to push the envelope ever further towards a toxic, racist, reactionary, corporate political culture that allowed a President Trump.

For all the hue-and-cry about Trump's alleged "indecency" sitting Republicans have had little problem falling in line with his legislative agenda. Neither have many corporate Democrats.  Republicans on the state level continue to undermine what is left of American democracy -- such as it was -- through gerrymandering, voter suppression, vote fraud and even outright authoritarian maneuvers such as those that are occurring in Wisconsin and Michigan. 

Every time the Republicans push the United States further and further towards the right the Democrats adapt and ultimately fall in line with the new normal. 

In the interregnums where the Democrats supposedly reigned little was made better. Clinton campaigned as a pro-death penalty, anti-"entitlement" Democrat and took great pride in policies and rhetoric that led to the dismantling of the American welfare state, the scapegoating of immigrants and the mass incarceration of black Americans.

Obama singularly failed to hold the Wall St. elite accountable for the crimes that brought the 2008 economic meltdown and continued Bush's imperialist and adventurist aggressive war polices with little to no change. In fact, of course, Obama left a terrible legacy of death and destruction with the ongoing and endless war in Afghanistan, the increased use of illegal drone attacks, the appalling Libya intervention, the coup in Honduras,and the rest of the shitshow that was his foreign policy record.

Now Hilary Clinton echoes Trump by calling for Europe to curb immigration to "stop" the far right. It is not much of victory to keep extremists out of power by adopting their worst policies.

Ultimately this is where the danger lies in creating this myth of the virtuous, "good" American reactionary. It not simply normalizes what was the right wing extremism and incivility of just ten years ago, it also helps to normalize the politics and ideological underpinnings of it. It creates the conditions for the birthing of an enfant terrible like Trump and then for the worse yet that may follow. 

See also: Trump -- Reflections on the state and the revolution

Corbyn Attacks, India, Brazil, Bolivia & More -- The Week in News, Opinion and Videos September 2 - 9

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 2 - 9.


There is one article from prior to the period that has been integrated into the post.

1) Toronto City Councillor Poses With Sledgehammer, Declares He Will Literally Destroy ‘Social Housing’

Press Progress

Toronto City Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti is continuing to dial up his disturbing rhetoric targeting low-income, racialized members of his own community.


2) Is Giorgio Mammoliti a racist?

Byron Armstrong, Now Magazine

Let’s put the Toronto councillor’s pronouncements on guns and crime up against the Ontario Human Rights Commission’s definition of racial discrimination

3) Israel's Arab MPs back Corbyn in antisemitism row

Oliver Holmes, The Guardian 

A political alliance of four Arab-dominated parties in Israel’s parliament have broken ranks with fellow legislators to announce their support for Jeremy Corbyn.

4) Labour’s fifth column won’t end its attacks until Corbyn is hung out to dry

The Morning Star

The idea voiced by decent, well-meaning people that adoption of the unfettered IHRA definition ought to draw a line under months of turmoil is a dangerous illusion.

5) ‘Can Labour be taken back? Yes – we've already done it’

Ben Chacko, The Morning Star

LABOUR has changed — and for the better, MPs and trade unionists told Tony Blair today after the former prime minister launched a broadside against Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership.

6) CORBYN CALLS ON THE UK TO 'FILL THE GAP' AFTER U.S. ENDS UNRWA FUNDING

Hagay Hacohen, The Jerusalem Post

UK Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn took to social media Saturday evening to call the US's decision to end its funding of UNRWA “shameful” and called it “a vital UN refugee agency.”

7) Lana Del Rey, 14 Artists Boycott Israel's Meteor Festival

Telesur

A total of 15 performers have joined the international campaign to boycott Israel’s Meteor Festival, the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) confirmed Monday just a few days after U.S. pop singer Lana Del Rey, the festival's main guest, announced she was not attending the concert in a big victory for pro-Palestinian activists. 

8) A Hitler Admirer at Yad Vashem

Haaretz Editorial 

Under the shadow of Duterte’s visit, Israel once again proves it's willing to overlook leaders' human rights violations for the sake of opportunities for arms deals and defense contracts.

Israeli security forces stormed the Palestinian village of al-Walaja and destroyed numerous homes.




9) The Manufactured McCain: Lifting Up A Bloodstained, Lying, Venal Servant of Capitalist Empire

Bruce Dixon, Black Agenda Report 

There’s a real John Sidney McCain III and there’s a fake one, manufactured for the public relations of US empire. Imperial PR needs to justify, even sanctify the ecocidal and genocidal rule of the rich by portraying its servants not as the venal and bloodthirsty thieves they are, but as the brightest, the best, the most noble and deserving among us. The Manufactured McCain whom the corporate media will spend another week on top of the previous one lifting up to the heavens bears only passing resemblance to the real John McCain. The real McCain was no hero. He was a lying, bribe taking, neo-nazi sympathizing politician and war criminal, who served the US empire and himself for all of his long life.

Philadelphia Eagles Player Michael Bennett Wears Pro-Immigrant ‘MAGA' Hat



10) When Union Leaders Don’t Want to Strike

Bianca Cunningham, Jacobin

Some New York union leaders have joined Governor Cuomo against public-sector workers' right to strike. They're picking political favors over bottom-up organizing.

11) Venezuela Fights On!

Jeanette Charles, Venezuela Analysis 

VA's Jeanette Charles talks to the International Strategy Center about the recent economic measures in Venezuela, migration, and other matters.

A Paradise Toxic Beach

The beach is an Instagram hit, but is actually being pumped with factory waste.



12) THOUSANDS OF WOMEN UNDER AIDWA BANNER VOW TO FIGHT VIOLENCE, FEAR, HUNGER AND UNEMPLOYMENT AGGRAVATED BY BJP’S MODI REGIME

Communist Party of India (Marxist) Statement 

Raising slogans of unity and resistance, thousands of women from 23 states across the country marched resolutely, under the banner of the All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA), from Mandi House to Parliament Street in New Delhi on September 4, 2018.This massive gathering was organized to draw the nation’s attention to the unprecedented rise in communal and other forms of violence against women and the denial of decent work and right to food under the Modi regime. Crimes against women and children have increased by 34% in the last four years. Victims and other persons fighting for justice against such crimes addressed the rally. A resolution was adopted vowing to confront and change this state of affairs, refusing to be silenced by the BJP-RSS promoted culture of fear and standing up for equality and basic rights enshrined in the Constitution. Women resolved to expose the Sangh Parivar and the Modi-led government for the failure to deliver on their promises.

13) 100,000 rally in New Delhi against farmers' poverty

Ben Chacko, The Morning Star 

Communist Party of India-Marxist leads demonstration against the Modi government

14) Austerity, Corruption To Blame For Brazil National Museum Blaze

Telesur 

Politicians and citizens say that corrupt authorities and funding cuts to arts, education, and infrastructure are to blame for the destruction of the historical museum.    

15) The death rate for migrants crossing the Mediterranean has soared. Here’s why.

Tim Hume, Vice News

The death rate for migrants crossing the Mediterranean into Europe has skyrocketed due to a crackdown on human traffickers, according to a U.N. report published Tuesday.

16) 'Walk Out!': Progressives Disgusted as Democrats Fold at Brett Kavanaugh Hearing

Julia Conley, Common Dreams

As more than 30 people were dragged away in handcuffs on Tuesday for protesting during the confirmation hearing for Brett Kavanaugh, critics of the Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee demanded a comparable show of courage and called on those lawmakers—who failed to win a delay of the proceedings—to simply end their participation and walk out.

17) “ABSOLUTELY OVERWHELMED”: FEMA STUMBLED BADLY IN PUERTO RICO, GAO SAYS

Alex Lubben, Vice News

In August, as the official death toll from Hurricane Maria was raised from 64 to nearly 3,000, President Trump praised his administration’s response. "I think we did a fantastic job in Puerto Rico,” he said.

18) Should we celebrate Colin Kaepernick's Nike deal as progress?

Wagatwe Wanjuki, Daily Kos

As Labor Day was winding down, I noticed an uptick in posts about Nike and Colin Kaepernick. The football player, who was essentially ostracized by the NFL once his kneeling protests during the national anthem drew ire from angry white people, is the new face of Nike’s signature slogan.

19) On Colin Kaepernick’s Nike Ad: Will the Revolution Be Branded?

Dave Zirin, The Nation 

But global, multibillion-dollar corporations that run an archipelago of sweatshops don’t underwrite rebellions. They co-opt and quash them. If anyone can navigate this snakepit, it is Colin Kaepernick, but it won’t be easy. The revolution will not be branded. We should be honest about that. The message of standing up to police violence and racial inequity shouldn’t end up in a swoosh-laded graveyard. That’s the risk that comes with this sponsorship. But if anyone has earned the right to take that risk, it’s Colin Kaepernick.

20) Brazil: Setback for Lula’s presidential candidacy

Emile Schepers, People's World

On Saturday, September 1, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) of Brazil voted six to one that former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the presidential candidate of the Workers’ Party (Partido do Trabalho) in the October elections this year, must be barred from running because of a dubious conviction earlier for corruption and money laundering. The Workers’ Party is now appealing this decision to the country’s Supreme Court.

21) Dilma Says 'Coup Has Taken Brazil Off Course'

Telesur

"Brazil faces a long path on the road to rebuilding," said senatorial candidate and former Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff.

Shaun King: After charging this young man, 21 y/o Raheem Howard w/ the 1st degree attempted murder of a police officer, the DA now admits that they:

Found no gun
Found no bullet 
Have no footage because the cop turned off his body camera & dash cam

They just dropped all charges. This cop clearly lied and should be investigated. Only bullet they found was his. He was clearly willing to ruin this kid’s life. 

And to be clear. The video of his arrest was from several months ago. It took months of hard work from activists on the ground to finally get them to drop these bogus charges. 


The cop concocted this lie to save his own ass. Was willing to ruin this kid’s life to do it.



22) As Climate Warms, Algae Blooms In Drinking Water Supplies

Dirk Vanderhart. NPR

For the first time in Oregon's history, toxins from a nearby algae bloom had made their way into a city's tap water.

23) Saudi 'seeks death penalty' for Muslim scholar Salman al-Awdah

Al Jazeera 

Public prosecutors in Saudi Arabia are seeking the death penalty against prominent Muslim scholar Salman al-Awdah, local media, activists and his family members have said.

24) Israel says it launched 200 strikes in Syria since 2017

Al Jazeera

Military sources say the attacks are mostly aimed at preventing Iran from establishing a military presence in Syria.

25) MKO blasts province, Manitoba Hydro for 'horrific, systemic abuse' of Indigenous women and girls

CBC News

A First Nations leader is demanding apologies from the province and Manitoba Hydro in response to damning allegations of sexual abuse and racism by workers at hydro projects dating back to the 1960s.

26) Why Canadian Prisoners Are Participating in the US Prison Strike

Jordan House, Jacobin

Much of the US prison system's distinguishing features — massive racial disparities, the exploitation of prisoners' labor by private firms, overcrowding, brutality, and much more — are the same in Canada.

27) India decriminalizes homosexual acts in landmark verdict for world’s largest democracy

Ashok Sharma, The Toronto Star

India’s top court on Thursday struck down a colonial-era law that made homosexual acts punishable by up to 10 years in prison, a landmark victory for gay rights in the world’s largest democracy.

28) Half of B.C. workers living paycheque to paycheque, survey finds

CTV Vancouver

As the cost of living in British Columbia continues to climb, a new survey is raising serious concerns about many residents' financial stability.

Evo Morales Announces Universal Healthcare:

29) Mexico: UNAM Students March Against 'Mercenary' Shock Groups

Telesur

Thousands of students marched today at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), the country’s most prestigious higher education institution, to hold an assembly and demand the authorities dissolve the ‘porros,’ mercenary shock groups associated with internal political organizations that are used to violently break up protests.

30) India: BJP continues its attack on civil liberties and oppressed people

Michael Porter, Liberation 

On Aug. 28, five civil rights activists (Gautam Navlakha, Varavara Rao, Vernon Gonzalves, Arun Ferreira and Sudha Bharadwaj), were arrested in India on trumped-up charges. They were accused of causing the violence that took place in the village of Bhima Koregaon at the beginning of this year in the state of Maharashtra. Along with raids in June, these arrests have brought the total number of activists arrested to 10. The five were also accused of plotting the assassination of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The government has made the accusation that these five activists have connections to the ongoing Naxalite Rebellion in the East of the India and are “Urban Naxalites” or” Urban Maoists.” This comes as Narendra Modi and his  Bharatiya Janata Party lose popularity because of their bigotry and failed economic policies.

31) Passport denials reflect long history of racist attacks on Mexican Americans

Roger Gonzalez, Liberation 

The Washington Post and Texas Tribune have reported the U.S. State Department has begun denying passport applications, or annulling existing passports, from American citizens, largely Mexican Americans in South Texas. In some cases, applicants or passport holders have undergone detention under the threat of deportation, while others have been denied re-entry to the United States from Mexico at border checkpoints.

32) Spain Sentences Three Unionists To Prison For 2012 14N Strike

Telesur

After almost six years of deliberation, three Spanish citizens and unionists have been convicted of public disorder during the 14N general strike, with sentences ranging from six months to four years and nine months, despite lingering doubts over their guilt.

33) Dear Anonymous Trump Official, There Is No Redemption in Your Cowardly Op-Ed

Mehdi Hasan, The Intercept

There is no redemption; no exoneration for you or your colleagues inside this shit-show of an administration. You think an op-ed in the paper of record is going to cut it? Gimme a break. You cannot write an article admitting to the president’s “anti-democratic” impulses while also saying you want his administration “to succeed.” You cannot publish a 965-word piece excoriating Donald Trump’s “worst inclinations” while omitting any and all references to his racism, bigotry, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, and white nationalism.

34) BirdLife International Declares Brazil's Spix Macaw Extinct

Telesur

The blue-feathered Spix’s macaw which starred in the popular children’s film, Blue Sky Studios’ Rio is now extinct, the BirdLife International said in a recent statistical analysis.

35) Exposed: Undercover Reporter at Amazon Warehouse Found Abusive Conditions & No Bathroom Breaks

Democracy Now

Independent Senator Bernie Sanders has targeted Amazon for its role in widening the wage gap in the United States, and this week he is expected to unveil legislation requiring large employers like Amazon to cover the cost of federal assistance received by their employees. We speak with journalist James Bloodworth, who spent a month working undercover as a “picker” in an Amazon order fulfillment center and found workers were urinating in bottles because they were discouraged from taking bathroom breaks. His new book is “Hired: Six Months Undercover in Low-Wage Britain.”.

36) The brutal apartheid of the French banlieues

Peter Franklin, UnHerd

It is the Autumn of 2005 and Paris is burning. Suburb after suburb goes up in flames as the French riot police fight pitched battles with local youths.

37) ‘Open’ London is built on exploited labour

James Bloodworth, UnHerd 

To be a hypocrite is often to be half correct. And so it is with London. It is self-evidently right to promote tolerance along with racial and sexual equality. But equality – or more precisely, a rhetoric of equality – that is unmoored from a sense of economic justice is not really equality at all. It certainly has little to say to the Uber driver – or for that matter, to the millions of others toiling away in London’s low pay economy – who have precisely zero chance of diversifying a company’s boardroom any time soon.

38) MPs were warned about the dangers of cladding two decades before the ‘entirely avoidable’ Grenfell tragedy

Lamiat Sabin, The Morning Star

FIREFIGHTERS’ union FBU warned the government about dangerous cladding almost two decades before the “entirely avoidable” Grenfell Tower fire, general secretary Matt Wrack said today.

39) The August job numbers: Beyond the big business spin

David Bush, Rank and File

The August job numbers are out and on the face of it they look grim for the workers of Ontario. 80,000 jobs were lost in August. The headlines are ready-made for the Ford government to use as an excuse to freeze the minimum wage and rollback the labour law reforms in Bill 148.

40) Rachel Notley, Pride is no place for pipelines

Evans Yellow Old Woman, Rabble

My name is Evans Yellow Old Woman, I am a member of the Siksika Nation and also a co-founder and board member of VOICES, a coalition of LGBTQ2SIA+ people of colour committed to advocating for racialized and marginalized communities in the City of Calgary. I gave the land acknowledgement before your speech at the Calgary Pride in the Park 2018 Opening Ceremony.

41) Ukrainian speaker Andriy Parubiy slammed for praising Hitler as history's ‘greatest democrat’

Ben Chacko, The Morning Star

UKRAINIAN progressives called today for the immediate dismissal of parliament speaker Andriy Parubiy after he said on TV that Hitler had been history’s “greatest democrat.”

Argentina To Open Its First Indigenous Hospital:

The establishment of the Ranguiñ Kien Intercultural Hospital is an unusual victory for Argentina’s Mapuche people.

42) #MeToo at Fortress Europe's borders

 Nidzara Ahmetasevic, Al Jazeera 

Refugee women are being sexually abused at the EU border. Where is the outrage?

43) Sex dolls show us what men want from real women — we should pay attention

Megan Walker, Feminist Current

Let’s be clear. There is nothing harmless about “sex dolls.” They represent the ultimate debasement of women. They represent yet another level of society’s detachment from its responsibility to value, respect, and protect women. “Sex dolls” are a manifestation of porn culture and the male dominant society’s belief that it needs to do whatever it can to make sure men can have sex when and however they want it no matter at what cost.

44) Trump Administration Discussed Coup Plans With Rebel Venezuelan Officers

Ernesto Londono and Nicholas Casey, The New York Times

The Trump administration held secret meetings with rebellious military officers from Venezuela over the last year to discuss their plans to overthrow President Nicolás Maduro, according to American officials and a former Venezuelan military commander who participated in the talks.

45) Cuba's 'Si Yo Puedo' Helps Panama Cut Illiteracy in Half

Telesur

Cuba's internationally recognized literacy program, Yo si Puedo, has helped Panama reduce its illiteracy rate by half over the past 11 years.

Via Shenaz Uppal on Facebook

See also: Arctic Melting, John McCain, the TPS and Faith Goldy & more -- The Week in News, Opinion and Videos August 26 - September 2

War Criminals Assembling to Mourn a War Criminal is NOT Resistance

At top: Actual French Resistance fighters laying their lives on the line to fight the Nazis in the streets of Paris

At bottom: War criminals George W. Bush, Bill and Hillary Clinton and Dick Cheney assemble with war criminals Barack Obama and Henry Kissinger to mourn the death of war criminal John McCain. 

Many media dimwits have said such things as "John McCain’s Funeral Was the Biggest Resistance Meeting Yet", while countless liberals and social democrats have celebrated his life and the lie that he was a "war hero" and a symbol of "American Democracy'!

Nothing could more conclusively prove that liberals and socials democrats have reached peak stupidity and uselessness.

Further Readings:

John McCain, war criminal, dead

The Manufactured McCain: Lifting Up A Bloodstained, Lying, Venal Servant of Capitalist Empire

Hold the Plaudits, John McCain’s 2008 Campaign Paved the Way for Donald Trump

Why on this despoiled earth would NDP leaders praise John McCain?

Arctic Melting, John McCain, the TPS and Faith Goldy & more -- The Week in News, Opinion and Videos August 26 - September 2

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 August 26 - September 2.

There are two articles from prior to the period that have been integrated into the post.

1) Hold the Plaudits, John McCain’s 2008 Campaign Paved the Way for Donald Trump

Mehdi Hasan, The Intercept 

So the reality is this: if you were drawing up a list of Americans who share blame for the rise of Donald Trump, John McCain’s name would have to be somewhere near the top of it. With the noxious Palin at his side, the Arizona senator ran a nasty, bigoted, and desperate presidential campaign in 2008 that paved the way for Trump and Trumpism in 2016.

2) Obit Omit: What the Media Leaves Out of John McCain’s Record of Militarism and Misogyny

Democracy Now

We host a roundtable discussion on the life and legacy of John McCain, the Vietnam veteran and former prisoner of war, six-term senator and two-time presidential candidate, who died Saturday at the age of 81 of brain cancer. We speak with Mehdi Hasan, columnist for The Intercept and host of their “Deconstructed” podcast. He’s also host of “UpFront” at Al Jazeera English. He’s been tweeting in response to McCain’s death and wrote a piece last year headlined “Despite What the Press Says, 'Maverick' McCain Has a Long and Distinguished Record of Horribleness.” We are also joined by Medea Benjamin, co-founder of CodePink, which McCain once referred to as “low-life scum,” and by Norman Solomon, national coordinator of RootsAction, executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy and author of “War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death.”

3) Why on this despoiled earth would NDP leaders praise John McCain?

Yves Engler

The NDP hierarchy’s response to noted war hawk John McCain’s death is shameful. Even worse, it reflects a general hostility towards the victims of Western imperialism.

4) Federal Tory Delegates Vote That Being Born In Canada Shouldn’t Guarantee Citizenship

Althia Raj & Ryan Maloney, HuffPost

Birthright citizenship should be barred to anyone who doesn't have a parent who is a Canadian citizen or is a permanent resident, Tory delegates said in a vote Saturday at their party's policy convention.

5) Conservative Delegate Who Led Push to End Birthright Citizenship Linked to Campus ‘Alt-Right’ Scandals

Press Progress

Controversial campus conservative led push to make Conservative Party adopt Trump-style anti-immigration policy,

6) Class-action lawsuit launched against Ontario government over cancellation of basic income pilot

Mark Riley, The Toronto Star

Four Lindsay residents have launched a proposed class-action lawsuit for breach of contract against the province in the wake of the Progressive Conservative government’s cancellation of the basic income pilot project.

Via Jerome Adamo / Facebook

7) Israel's Racist Lynch Mobs Are Hunting Arabs. And They're Fueled by Government Incitement

Noam Shuster Eliassi, Haaretz

I was assaulted in Tel Aviv for 'looking Arab.' My privilege - being a Jew of Mizrahi origin - spared me, but won’t protect millions of Israel’s Arab citizens, serially delegitimized by legislation, three of whom were viciously attacked last weekend.

8) Donald Trump’s “white genocide” rhetoric: A dangerous escalation of racism

Amanda Marcotte, Salon

Last Wednesday, Donald Trump briefly interrupted his ongoing Twitter tirades denouncing various investigations into his shady behavior with a bizarre tweet about "the large scale killing of farmers" and "land and farm seizures and expropriations" in South Africa. It didn't take long for journalists to figure out what Trump was talking about. He was referencing a racist (and false) conspiracy theory that floats around white supremacist and neo-Nazi websites and had been elevated by Tucker Carlson, the Fox News host who has grown increasingly bold about mainstreaming ideas picked up from the white supremacist fringe.

9) Ignore Donald Trump’s actual words. What matters is who they are aimed at

Nesrine Malik, The Guardian

The president cares little about South Africa. He is issuing a clarion call to US white supremacist voters.

10) Corbyn says Labour would consider state-owned Facebook rival

Tom Batchelor, The Independent

Party leader attacks Fleet Street's 'herd instinct' and says journalists should be allowed to elect their editors.

11) PHOTO OF TORONTO POLICE OFFICERS WITH FAR-RIGHT MAYORAL CANDIDATE FAITH GOLDY RAISES SERIOUS QUESTIONS

Critical Justice Project 

A photo of two Toronto police officers posing with far-right mayoral candidate Faith Goldy raises serious questions about potential violations of the Police Services Act‘s prohibition against police supporting a candidate for election.

12) “Just a job”: Toronto Police defend officers posing with white nationalist candidate

Kevin Metcalf, Medium

The Toronto Police Service is defending two TPS members who posed with their uniforms and vehicles for a group photo with a far-right mayoral candidate known for espousing pro-police, white nationalist and neo-Nazi talking points. “We get asked countless times a day to pose for photos with members of the public and that’s what they were doing.” said Mark Pugash, Director of Corporate Communications for TPS. “This was just a job.”

(Related: Why are Toronto police officers striking a pose with far-right mayoral candidate Faith Goldy?) 


Achiya Schatz, an activist with Breaking The Silence, shared this video to Twitter yesterday. Mairav Zonszein added this commentary:

"This is how a Palestinian girl in Hebron has to get home because Israel built a fence around her house and today the gate was left locked.":



13) Hurricane Maria Caused 2,975 Deaths In Puerto Rico, Independent Study Estimates

Adrian Florido, NPR

Puerto Rico's governor updated the island's official death toll for victims of Hurricane Maria on Tuesday, hours after independent researchers from George Washington University released a study estimating the hurricane caused 2,975 deaths in the six months following the storm.

14) Argentines Protest as Report Reveals Police Kill One Every 23 Hours

Telesur

Social organizations, relatives of victims of police brutality, and human rights groups marched in Argentina Monday against what they call security forces’ “trigger happy” approach to crime fighting, which has seen a person killed every 23 hours according to the Coordinating Committee Against Police and Institutional Repression (Correpi for its Spanish acronym).

15) An Open Letter to ‘Socialists’ Who Might be Fronting for the Democratic Party

Quetzal Cáceres, Black Agenda Report

Any socialist who thought, as I did, that Ocasio-Cortez would be our socialist champion should watch the entire 27-minute PBS Firing Line interview to get a sense of just how bad this train wreck might be.

A $15 minimum wage is coming on January 1, 2019. But Big Business lobbyists are trying to cancel it. It is our job to let every elected official know that Ontarians expect and demand #15andFairness. Share this video to spread the word, then come out to your local #labourday event to show your support:




16) Siding with the Palestinian struggle is not antisemitic

Ahmad Samih Khalidi, The Guardian

Jeremy Corbyn has no need to apologise for being the first Labour leader to oppose Zionism on moral grounds.

17) High-income earners paid $4.6-billion less in taxes in 2016 despite higher rate for top 1 per cent

Bill Curry, The Globe and Mail

The Liberal government’s tax on Canada’s top 1 per cent failed to produce the promised billions in new revenue in its first year, as high-income earners actually paid $4.6-billion less in federal taxes.


Channel 4's Michael Crick caught up with Theresa May as she was about to visit Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was incarcerated for nearly 20 years. Crick asked her what she had done personally to help bring about Mandela's release and end South African Apartheid.

She struggled ...



18) A Week Into the US Prison Strike 2018

Telesur

Prisoners are demanding an end to modern slavery and they're getting support from outside.

19) When Illness Is ‘Death Sentence’: Victimization of Gaza Women

Ramzy Baroud, Telesur

In truth, these women embody the remarkable spirit and courage of every Palestinian woman living under Israeli Occupation and siege in the West Bank and Gaza.

20) Union leaders in Colombia face threats and violence

 IndustriALL

Colombia is one of the ten most dangerous countries in the world for workers and trade union leaders, where 19 trade union members have been murdered so far this year. IndustriALL Global Union and other federations have expressed their concerns to Colombia's president, Iván Duque.

21) There is a Burning Need to Rekindle Anti-militarist Political Movements in Canada

Yves Engler, Dissident Voices

Are soldiers more valuable to society than teachers? Are they more essential than the people who drive buses or clean up our waste? Are their jobs that much more dangerous than firefighters, or psychiatric nurses or loggers? Is what they do more honourable than parenting, caring for elders, providing essential social services or reporting the news?

22) War is big business. We need a strengthened movement to challenge the arms industry

Brent Patterson, Rabble

War is highly profitable for a few transnational corporations.

23) No Remorse: Reflections on Radical “Purism”

Paul Street, Counterpunch 

I have this recurrent experience as an “iconoclastic” Left critic of what gets sold as progressive and Left. It starts with me getting a radical truth-telling rush discovering and showing how some political figure, organization or “movement” is nowhere near as progressive, portside, revolutionary, and transformative as widely advertised and perceived.  That’s stage one.

24) Warm water under Arctic ice a 'ticking time bomb,' researcher says

Katie Toth, CBC News

A pocket of warm ocean water underneath the surface of the Canada Basin could melt a significant portion of the region's sea ice pack if it were to ascend, a new study suggests.

25) The Melting Arctic Is a Real-Time Horror Story — Why Doesn’t Anyone Care?

Jeff Goodell, Rolling Stone

“Save the Arctic!”, however, is not a rallying cry that’s going to motivate many Americans. The Arctic is too distant, too far away, too alien. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t matter. Think of the Arctic as our early warning system, a big screaming alarm that is alerting us to the fact that the planet we will live on tomorrow is nothing like the planet we lived on yesterday, and we better get ready. As the Arctic heats up, it raises sea levels in Miami and Bangladesh and every other coastal city in the world, and it increases the odds of wildfires in California and the west. In a sense, the massive changes that are taking place in the Arctic are remaking the weather in America and northern Europe, with profound implications for everyone who lives there, whether they know it or not. And they are a reminder of one of the great truths about climate change, and one that is hardest to grasp: In our rapidly changing world, no place is too distant or too far away to matter. Like it or not, we are all in this together. When ice melts in the Arctic, the west burns.

26) Louis C.K. and Men Who Think Justice Takes as Long as They Want It To

Roxane Gay, New York Times

We spend so little energy thinking about justice for victims and so much energy thinking about the men who perpetrate sexual harassment and violence. We worry about what will become of them in the wake of their mistakes. We don’t worry as much about those who have suffered at their hands. It is easier, for far too many people, to empathize with predators than it is to empathize with prey.

27) Why the American empire has lost control—and its failure is imminent

Brian Bethune, Maclean's 

Chris Hedges—Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, ordained Presbyterian minister, ferocious anti-corporate activist and prolific author—has long occupied an isolated spot among American public intellectuals, as much a moral crusader as a political critic. But as American, and Western, politics continue to decay and xenophobic nativism continues to rise, Hedges, 61, seems less and less an outlier, his critique of contemporary America more acceptable to his countrymen. And that’s without walking back any of his analysis. If Hedges was worried nine years ago in Empire of Illusion that his nation—like all republics before it—would fail to survive the acquisition of an empire, he’s now convinced it won’t. The title of his newest book, America: The Farewell Tour, says it all. In powerfully reported chapters—including “Decay” (deindustrialization), “Heroin” (the opioid epidemic), “Sadism” (the pornography-industrial complex), and “Hate” (racism)—Hedges talks to the most oppressed and dispossessed citizens of an empire he thinks has not much more than a decade of life left.

28) ‘They wanted to kill us’: masked neo-fascists strike fear into Ukraine's Roma

Alex Sturrock (reporting and images); additional reporting by Hannah Summers, The Guardian

After a spate of brutal attacks on Roma settlements by far-right groups, authorities have been accused of failing to act. As the violence escalates, human rights groups are suing the police for failing to protect families from raids by masked men.

(Related: Canada green lights arms sales to Ukraine as fascist militias attack Roma) 

29) U.S. is denying passports to Americans along the border, throwing their citizenship into question

Kevin Sieff, The Washington Post

Juan is one of a growing number of people whose official birth records show they were born in the United States but who are now being denied passports — their citizenship suddenly thrown into question. The Trump administration is accusing hundreds, and possibly thousands, of Hispanics along the border of using fraudulent birth certificates since they were babies, and it is undertaking a widespread crackdown.

30) After Federal Court quashes Trans Mountain, Rachel Notley pulls out of national climate plan

John Paul Tasker, Kathleen Harris · CBC News

In the wake of the Federal Court's bombshell decision to quash cabinet approval of the Trans Mountain expansion project, Alberta Premier Rachel Notley is pulling her province out of the national climate change plan.

(Related: Oil industry hack Rachel Notley's hypocritical concern for the "rule of law" now fully exposed) 

31) Labor History on Labor Day: Trump tries to kill OT

Mark Gruenberg, People's World

It says something about the anti-worker bias of the GOP Trump administration that its Labor Department has spent the 80th anniversary of the Fair Labor Standards Act – the nation’s basic overtime pay and minimum wage law – trying to weaken it.

32) Lana Del Rey Cancels Israel Concert After BDS Pressure

Telesur

Del Rey was one of the headliners at the Meteor Festival, which was scheduled to take place at Kibbutz Lehavot Habashan.

33) Kaepernick collusion grievance will go to trial

Al Neal, People's World

In the first of many knockout blows to the NFL, et al. (Donald J. Trump), an arbitrator late Thursday ruled in favor of Colin Kaepernick and will advance his collusion grievance against the league to trial. The hearing is expected to begin later this year.

34) Doug Ford’s Orwellian ‘Free Speech on Campus’ Policy Calls For Crack Down on Student Protests

Press Progress

Ford’s new policy policing speech aims to create a safe space on campus for anti-abortion activists and alt-right speakers.

35) Business group calls for ‘full repeal’ of Ontario’s new workplace protections


Sara Mojtehedzadeh, The Toronto Star

The umbrella body representing 60,000 Ontario small business owners is calling on the provincial government to fully repeal the most sweeping changes to workplace protections in decades — including a higher minimum wage, equal pay protections for temporary workers, and paid emergency leave days.

36) US confirms end to funding for UN Palestinian refugees

Peter Beaumont and Oliver Holmes, The Guardian

The Trump administration has announced it will cut all US funding for the main UN programme for Palestinian refugees, a move with potentially devastating impacts for five million people who rely on its schools, healthcare, and social services.

37) Absolutely Repulsive': After $1.5 Trillion Tax Giveaway to the Rich, Trump Cancels Modest Pay Raise for Federal Workers

Jake Johnson, Common Dreams

"President Trump pushed through a tax scam that gave unprecedented handouts to billionaires and corporations—but believes it's too expensive to pay hardworking federal workers a reasonable wage."

38) Toronto rally confronts Zionist slanders

John Clarke, Counterfire

As the Toronto community stands firm against Zionist attacks, John Clarke reminds us that our solidarity with the Palestinian cause mustn't be apologised for.

39) US journalist to revive Labour left magazine Tribune

Jim Waterson, The Guardian

Tribune, the historic publication of the Labour left, will be revived next month by a US journalist who hopes to benefit from the rise of Jeremy Corbyn and run a financially sustainable leftwing print magazine.

40) Activist Arrests in India Are Part of a Dangerous Global Trend to Stifle Dissent

Vijay Prashad / Independent Media Institute

On Tuesday morning, the police from the Indian city of Pune (in the state of Maharashtra) raided the homes of lawyers and social activists across India and arrested five of them. Many of them are not household names around the world, since they are people who work silently on behalf of the poor and oppressed in a country where half the population does not eat sufficiently. Their names are Gautam Navlakha, Sudha Bharadwaj, Vernon Gonsalves, Arun Ferreira and Varavara Rao. What unites these people is their commitment to the working class and peasantry, to those who are treated as marginal to India’s state. They are also united by their opposition, which they share with millions of Indians, to the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

41) Thousands protest in Russia against plans to hike pension age

The Guardian

Vladimir Putin has called the reform a financial necessity as Communist party leader brands move ‘cannibalistic’.

See also: John McCain, Michael Cohen, Climate Change, CNE Lockout & more -- The Left Chapter Sunday Reading List August 19 - 25