Police and bylaw harassment is not a coronavirus cure

We have all heard the mystifying stories of folks choosing to gather in public or private spaces in ways that are dangerous and that could spread Covid-19 in our communities. There have also been cases of people with the virus or who may have been exposed to it ignoring quarantine directives in ways that are obviously anti-social.

There is no question that this behaviour is dangerous and unacceptable. At times it will be necessary for law enforcement of one type or another to get involved to ensure compliance with laws as is normally the case.

But in many North American jurisdictions police and even by-law officers have been given sweeping new powers that are often unnecessary and also open to abuse.

As should have been expected reports of such abuses are quickly emerging.

In the United States a former cop, for example, was actually briefly arrested for playing catch with his 6 year old daughter in a Colorado park even though they were nowhere near anyone else.

Black Americans are "being profiled for wearing masks" despite the fact that this is recommended by most health authorities.

In Ontario cops and bylaw officers have been granted the power to demand that people identify themselves if they are allegedly transgressing new rules. Failure to comply with the request can result in steep fines. They also have the power to issue hefty fines for failing to comply with what are often contradictory or vague social or physical distancing rules.

Given our collective history of systemic racism and oppression this is guaranteed to result in the harassment of the racialized, marginalized and of people living in poverty. We are certain to see harassment of people who in many cases are doing absolutely nothing wrong under the new laws as written.

It is important to note that police in Ontario were already allowed to ask a person to identify themselves if they have a legitimate reason to think that they either have or are going to commit an illegal act. The new powers -- that now include bylaw officers who don't even have the training that police do -- are sufficiently broad that they amount to a re-institution, allegedly temporary, of carding.

With the many of the courts shut down and the ability of people to appeal tickets thereby limited, and with a widespread sense in the public that anyone being stopped probably did something wrong, we can be absolutely certain that police and wanna-be police will feel they can act with impunity.

And it has already begun. Almost immediately reports emerged of people getting fined for being in park areas, alone, that were not clearly marked as or that may not even have been off limits.

In Toronto a woman who has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and was sitting alone with her dog in a park was confronted by someone in a yellow vest who said she was violating the new city park by-laws even though it is not at all clear that she was. The wording of the by-law related to parks on the city website is vague on this point.

An Ottawa man, Obi Ifedi, says that a "bylaw officer punched him in the face with a bare-knuckle fist" in an incident that began because he was walking with his daughter through a park that apparently had no signs indicating that it had been closed. He was also issued a $2000 ticket after initialing refusing to identify himself.

In Hamilton, police outrageously issued $750 fines to homeless people for allegedly not practicing physical distancing. Never mind that these are fines that they will likely never be able to pay, issuing them will do absolutely nothing to help the cause of public health.

As such it can only be seen as harassment and cruelty for its own sake. 

While it is important to ensure that people who are refusing to comply with or flaunting rules resulting from these terrible circumstances we find ourselves in are prevented from doing so, this does not mean we should give the police free reign.

We already know what happens if we allow our police forces to act without proper limits and oversight and history has already shown us who they will primarily target and abuse. This will be amplified by the fact that many of the new bylaws or laws are not always clear or have numerous exceptions leaving them open to "selective" and arbitrary application or enforcement. Fears about this pandemic cannot be used to justify and normalize such a situation.

Notre Dame Fire Exposes Deep Hypocrisy, Ontario Austerity Attacks, Revolution in Sudan and more -- The Week in News, Opinion and Videos April 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 April 14 - 21.

It starts with sections related to the Notre Dame fire and the ongoing austerity attacks of the government in Ontario.

1) The billionaires’ donations will turn Notre Dame into a monument to hypocrisy

Aditya Chakrabortty, The Guardian 

Not least among this litany of ironies is that it takes a Catholic cathedral to remind us that we have barely advanced an inch from the medieval buying of indulgences, when the rich could amass their fortunes in as filthy a fashion as they liked – and then donate to the Church to launder their reputations and ensure their salvation. What was it that old Friar Tetzel used to say? “As soon as gold in the coffer rings, the rescued soul to heaven springs.”

2) Reaction of the rich to the Notre Dame fire teaches us a lot about the world we live in

Carl Kinsella, JOE

The next time someone tries to pretend like you need to choose between homelessness or immigration, nurses' pay or a tax cut, a children's hospital or a motorway, remember this moment. The money is there at a click of a finger. It just isn't in our hands.

3) Normandy Yellow Vests Statement About the Notre Dame Disaster

Stalker Zone

When we triumph, when democracy – true, direct, without a state, leaders or representatives – will be there, when we will self-manage our lives and our places of life, so we will decide what is necessary, vital, and important. So the markets, profits and money will be distant memories.

4) Notre Dame fire: Alt-right conspiracy theorists are using the cathedral blaze to spread anti-Muslim rhetoric

Clark Mindock, The Independent 

The inferno that has engulfed the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris has been seized upon by far right provocateurs to spread anti-Muslim hate and conspiracies, even as officials said they have ruled out arson as the cause.

5) Ontario’s cuts to legal aid for refugees: Racist, xenophobic and possibly unconstitutional

Sharry Aiken and Sean Rehaag, The Conversation 

The recent Ontario budget included a 30 per cent cut to legal aid. This will cause hardship for many low-income residents of Ontario, who are disproportionately drawn from racialized communities.

6) Province slashes Ontario Library Service funding by 50%

CBC News 

Southern Ontario Library Service says it's facing a 50 per cent budget cut from the province, which would need to be absorbed into the current 2019-20 fiscal year.

7) Ontario budget cuts millions in compensation to victims of violent crime, advocates say

Alyshah Hasham, The Toronto Star 

Victims of violent crimes will get significantly less compensation after proposed changes in the provincial budget, including capping awards for pain and suffering at $5,000, advocates say.

8) Another 155 teachers receive surplus letters as Ford deflects questions about cuts

 Shanifa Nasser, CBC News 

Just one day after hundreds of teachers in Peel Region received word that they would no longer have permanent positions come September, over 150 more in neighbouring Halton Region learned they face a similar fate, the union representing them says.

9) Ontario’s Right-Wing Ford Government Advances Unconstitutional Bill To Silence Critics of Israel

Dimitri Lascaris

With the support of Ontario’s right-wing Premier, Doug Ford, a staunchly pro-Israel member of Ontario’s legislature is pushing a private member’s bill designed to silence critics of Israel.

10) Ontario slashes Toronto Public Health funds by $1B over a decade, board chair says

Lauren Pelley · CBC News

The Ontario government is slashing Toronto Public Health's funding by $1 billion over a decade as part of a plan to consolidate local public health units across the province, says the chair of the city's board of health — a move that's prompting an outcry from city officials.

11) Ont. university funding will be tied to graduates' earnings, minister says

The Canadian Press

Ontario's minister responsible for post-secondary education says institutions' future funding will depend on metrics such as graduates' earnings.

12) ACLU Warns of “Fascist Militia” Holding Migrant Border Crossers at Gunpoint

Democracy Now


The American Civil Liberties Union is warning that armed vigilantes are working directly with the U.S. Border Patrol to unlawfully detain hundreds of migrants at gunpoint along the U.S.-Mexico border. The ACLU cites videos posted on social media showing members of a militia group pursuing migrants in New Mexico’s desert west of El Paso, Texas, and effectively kidnapping them against their will. In one video, vigilantes armed with assault rifles are seen approaching a group of several dozen people seated on the ground, as the video’s narrator, a man named Jim Benvie, films.

13) The FBI Has Arrested The Leader Of An Armed Militia Detaining Migrants At The Border

Adolfo Flores, BuzzFeed News 

The FBI arrested the head of an armed right-wing "patriot" group that had detained hundreds of migrants at the New Mexico border on Saturday for being a felon in possession of a weapon.

14) Police Chief Rails At 'Nazis' Enforcing Laws After Girl Is Ordered Deported Without Mom

Mary Papenfuss, HuffPost US

An infuriated Houston police chief blew up Friday on Twitter after an 11-year-old girl was ordered to be deported without her family.

15) Defiant Resistance: The Venezuelan Crises and the Possibility of Another World

Jeremiah Gaster, Socialist Project Bullet 

Bob Dylan once said, “Let us not talk falsely now, the hour is getting late.” February 23rd, 2019, was the day that Juan Guaidó, the self-proclaimed President of Venezuela, had “authorized” “humanitarian aid” to enter Venezuela, an attempt to force the Maduro government, and thus the Venezuelan people, to their knees. There is great urgency as an ever-increasing escalation of violence is being perpetuated by those who would destroy Venezuela, including several attacks on Venezuela’s electrical grid over the last few weeks. But let me be clear: the Venezuelan poor are resilient, and any change will be on their terms. Most importantly, Venezuelan politics is collective, and there is a deep form of solidarity across communities along with an abiding interest in building a different form of politics. In short, if one does not unearth this collective politics, one cannot understand what is happening in Venezuela.

16) Russia To Help Venezuela Probe Cyber Attacks on Electric Grid

Telesur 

Russian deputy foreign minister said Russia will help Venezuela in investigating the cyber attacks on the country which cause nation-wide blackouts.

17) Attendees of Secret Meeting for 'US Military Assault' on Venezuela Revealed

Eoin Higgins, Common Dreams 

A group dedicated to regime change in Venezuela held a secret meeting on overthrowing the country's government last week, according to reporting from The Grayzone Project.

18) US Pushing for War with Venezuela: Moncada

Telesur 

The President of the United States (US), Donald Trump, is secretly preparing for a war against the government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela's Ambassador to the United Nations (UN), Samuel Moncada, said on his Twitter account.

19) With tightening of blockade, U.S. seeks to strangle Cuba…again

W. T. Whitney Jr., People's World 

“The Trump administration has declared the most severe new sanctions against Cuba since President John F. Kennedy imposed an economic embargo banning all trade with the communist island in 1962.” That was the assessment of William M. LeoGrande, a widely respected Cuba analyst, in reaction to announcements on April 17 by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and National Security Adviser John Bolton concerning new economic sanctions being imposed on Cuba.

20) Cuba just started giving PrEP away for free to those who need it

 Gwendolyn Smith, LGBTQ Nation 

A pilot program that began on March 6 has Cuban officials distributing pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to those in need.

21) 'Pompeo has Lost His Mind': Chinese Ambassador to Chile

Telesur 

“There are numerous examples, including the relentless blockade imposed by the United States against Cuba for more than half a century, President Trump's construction of a separation wall along the border between the United States and Mexico, and the very little assistance provided by the United States to Haiti and Central American countries. Chileans are also well aware that Chile's development achievements are not the result of American charity."

22) Bolivian Lawmakers Ask for US Intervention in a Letter to Trump

Telesur 

A group of 10 deputies, two senators and three representatives of political and non-government organizations sent a letter to United States President Donald Trump asking to “intercede” in their country’s affairs, resulting in heavy criticism from Bolivian President Evo Morales.



23) The far right is trying to make crucifixes mandatory across Italy

Andy Hayward and Andrew Potter, Vice News

A northern Italian town in the heartland of Italy’s far-right League Party has adopted a new emblem, one that sends a clear message about the country's history: a Christian cross.

Cops in schools is the ultimate bad policing idea:



24) Contempt charges dropped against 14 protesters blocking B.C. pipeline project

Betsy Trumpener · CBC News

All contempt charges have been dropped against 14 people who were arrested at a blockade in northern British Columbia in January for barring access to a pipeline company.

25) Finland's Left Wing Party Scores Narrow Election Victory, Far-right Party Comes in 2nd

Telesur 

Finland’s leftist Social Democrat party (SDP) leader Antti Rinne has declared victory in Sunday’s general election after results showed his party winning by a very tight margin with 17.7 percent.

26) “Democracy has been hijacked in Guatemala”

People's Dispatch 

Daniel Pascual, coordinator of the Committee for Peasant Unity (CUC), speaks about the struggle for the rights of Indigenous and peasant people and for the defense of territory in Guatemala at a conference in Basque Country.

27) Man Charged with Hate Crimes over Fires at 3 Black Louisiana Churches

Democracy Now

A man accused of setting fire to three historically black churches in Louisiana was charged with hate crimes Monday. Holden Matthews, the 21-year-old son of a deputy sheriff, was also charged with three counts of arson after being arrested last week. The first blaze occurred at the end of last month, and the two others in early April. All three churches were in St. Landry Parish, about 30 minutes north of Lafayette.

28) Leaked Docs Show Saudis 'Overwhelmingly Dependent' on Western Weapons to Wage War on Yemen

Jessica Corbett, Common Dreams 

Leaked documents from France's military agency "show that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are overwhelmingly dependent on Western-produced weapon systems to wage their devastating war in Yemen," The Intercept reported Monday.

29) What Alberta’s new UCP majority government means for the environment

Sharon J. Riley, The Narwhal 

Regulations and renewables are on the outs and battles with environmental groups are in, as Kenney promises to accelerate approvals of energy projects, scrap efficiency measures and fund an ‘energy war room’ to fight anyone who criticizes the province’s energy sector.

30) Ultranationalism in Ukraine – a photo essay

Felipe Dana, The Guardian 

The growing presence of far-right groups in Ukraine leaves the west in a quandary. The ultranationalists have played a key role in fighting Russia-backed separatist rebels and are now challenging government corruption. But they are pushing for changes that go against democratic ideals.

31) Rethinking Ottawa’s Transit System

Julia Szwarc, Socialist Project Bullet 

During the week of February 4-10, Free Transit Ottawa challenged Ottawa’s City Councillors and Mayor to take the Transit Week Challenge. The idea was simple: To get the people who make decisions about public transit to experience the system firsthand. To the surprise of the organizers, the majority of Council chose to participate. Some, such as Shawn Menard, Laura Dudas, and Theresa Kavanagh, enthusiastically took the challenge.

32) Half of England is owned by less than 1% of the population

Rob Evans, The Guardian 

Half of England is owned by less than 1% of its population, according to new data shared with the Guardian that seeks to penetrate the secrecy that has traditionally surrounded land ownership.

33) ‘Citizens don’t feel safe’ as hate fills Edmonton’s streets

Omar Mosleh, Star Edmonton

Standing onstage, a man in a video recites a white supremacist slogan in Churchill Square — a place named after a world leader instrumental in defeating the Nazis.

34) Which has failed—capitalism or socialism?

Rick Nagin, People's World 

Although nearly every issue of The Wall Street Journal tries to combat growing public support for socialism, this only proves that Marx and Engels got at least one thing right when they wrote in the Communist Manifesto that the specter of communism continually haunts the ruling class.

35) Illinois Approves Ban On ‘Right-To-Work Laws’

CBS Chicago 

With the support of labor unions, a new bill prohibiting municipalities in the state from enacting “right-to-work laws” was signed into law by Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker last week.

36) Sudan sit-in shows how ordinary people can run society and win real change

Charlie Kimber, Socialist Worker 

Sudan’s ruling class is desperately trying to reassert control as protests continue demanding fundamental change.

37) A First Victory for the Sudanese Revolution

Sungur Savran, Socialist Project Bullet 

Omar al Bashir, the 30-year long dictator of Sudan, the perpetrator of the massacre of hundreds of thousands of civilians in the Darfour and South Sudan wars, the enemy of the working class and the poor of Sudan, the ally of the Muslim Brothers (the Ihwan), the collaborator of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the AKP of Turkey, has been ousted. This is a result of the power and resilience displayed by the popular movement, the revolutionary struggle that has lasted for four and a half months. Blessings to the peoples of the Middle East and Africa! We owe a debt of gratitude to the people of Sudan for having demonstrated once again that despots are not stronger than a people in action. Our hearts beat for the success of the Sudanese revolution.

38) The Sudanese Revolution seeks unity against US imperialism and reactionary governments

International Communist Press

According to the statement of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Sudanese Communist Party, issued on 15 April, the forces for Freedom and Change, including the Sudanese Communist Party, continue to play a leading role in furthering and consolidating the unity of the masses in the streets.

39) Our leaders are ignoring global warming to the point of criminal negligence. It's unforgivable

Tim Winton, The Guardian 

Humanity survived the cold war because no one pushed the button. On climate change, the button has been pushed again and again.

See also: Ontario Austerity, Far Right Win in Israel, Libya & more -- The Week in News, Opinion and Videos April 7 - 14

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

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

This list covers the week of March 24 - 31.


1) Ford government cancels electricity conservation programs

Krystalle Ramlakhan, CBC News 

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

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

 Aris Folley, The Hill

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

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

Shannon Van Sant, NPR

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

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

Aylin Woodward, Business Insider 

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

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

Eric Lutz, The Guardian 

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

5) US: Democrat Presidential Candidates Boycott AIPAC Convention

Telesur 

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

6) Free Transit in Ottawa

Socialist Project Bullet 

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

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

CBC News

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

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

CBC News 

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

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

CBC News 

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

10) Message from Omar Khadr to his supporters

Omar Khadr

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

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

11) The Three Intersecting Reasons Ilhan Omar Gets Singled Out

Vanessa Taylor, The Intercept 

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

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

Prachi Gupta, Jezebel 

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

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

Shira Tarlo, Salon 

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

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

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

Telesur 

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

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

Jessica Hannon, The Tyee

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


But that call has gone unheeded.

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

Charlie Smith, The Georgia Straight 

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

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

Telesur

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

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


Ben Kesslen and Ted Chen, NBC News

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

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

Telesur

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

20) Food banks are no solution to poverty

Open Letter, The Guardian 

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

21) Tributes paid to assassinated communist commander

The Morning Star 

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

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

Jon Stone, The Independent 

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

23) Mueller Report Ends a Shameful Period for the Press

Chris Hedges, Truthdig 

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

24) Communists protest against Kremlin policies

The Japan News 

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

25) Caribou have quietly gone extinct in the Lower 48

Karin Brulliard, The Washington Post

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

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

Press Progress 

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

27) Dr Who the leftist

Matthew Trinder, The Morning Star 

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

28) Racist street checks are a white silence problem

Robert Devet, The Nova Scotia Advocate 

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

29) HUD Charges Facebook With Enabling Housing Discrimination

Matt Novack, Gizmodo 

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

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

Bob Weber · The Canadian Press

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

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

Cameron Orr, People's World 

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

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

Communist Party USA

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

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

John Paul Tasker · CBC News

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

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

Telesur 

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

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

Telesur 

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

36) Those who are fighting back are in danger

Sebastien Brulez, The Morning Star


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

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

Eoin Higgins, Common Dreams

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

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

Adam Johnson, FAIR

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

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

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

Julie Bindel, The Spectator 

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

40) An Awkward Kiss Changed How I Saw Joe Biden

Lucy Flores, The Cut

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

41) Georgia Lawmakers Approve ‘Heartbeat’ Abortion Ban

Emma Hurt, WABE

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

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

Reuters

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

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

Telesur 

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

44) Chinese Aid Arrives in Venezuela

Telesur

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

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

Tom O'Connor, Newsweek 

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

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

Telesur 

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

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

Fernando Arce, Rabble

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

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

Ricardo Vaz & Lucas Koerner, FAIR

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

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

Dimitri Lascaris

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

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

Ricardo Vaz, Venezuela Analysis 

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

51) Venezuela Denounces New Attack On Its National Electric System

Telesur 

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

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

RT

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

53) INTERNATIONAL TRADE UNIONS CONDEMN RECOGNITION OF GUAIDÓ

Ivar Andersen, Popular Resistance 

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

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

Telesur 

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

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

 Utsa Sarmin and Mohamed Hemish, Telesur 

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

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

Mike Merryman-Lotze, AFSC

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

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

Granma 

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

58) Palestinian junior medic shot and killed by Israeli soldiers

Ceren Sagir, The Morning Star 

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

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

Oliver Holmes and Josh Holder, The Guardian 

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

60) Over 450 Brazilian Jurists Call for Release of Lula

Telesur 

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

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

Gaby Hinsliff, The Guardian 

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

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

Carding, Streaming, Police in Pride and more -- The Left Chapter Sunday Reading List April 23 - 30

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

This list covers the week of April 23 - April 30. It is generally in order of the date of the article's release.

1) Party girl’ stereotype played role in acquittal of Halifax taxi driver, review suggests

Adina Bresge, CBC News

The stereotype of the “promiscuous party girl” may have factored into the acquittal of a Halifax cab driver accused of sexually assaulting a woman in his car, a review of the case suggests.

Read the full article. 

2) Why banning uniformed police at Pride will actually make the event more inclusive

Alex Verman  & Vincent Mousseau, CBC News

For many white, straight, or cisgender people, it's easy to forget what the uniformed police officers who dance on parade floats do on the other 364 days of the year.

Read the full article.

3) Carding not stopping anytime soon in Halifax

Robert Devet, The Nova Scotia Advocate

The Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission (NSHRC) will lead a narrow investigation into the practice of carding (or police street checks)  in Halifax. An expert will be hired to determine if discrimination actually occurs.

Meanwhile Black people will continue to be targeted.

Read the full article.

4) Black students in Toronto streamed into courses below their ability, report finds

Muriel Draaisma, CBC News

A new report has found that large number of black students are being streamed into applied instead of academic programs and they are suspended at much higher rates than their counterparts in Toronto.

Read the full article. 

5) Toronto’s art school students mostly white, from high-income families, study finds

May Warren, The Toronto Star

Students in Toronto’s arts-focused high schools are overwhelmingly white and come from high-income families despite living in one of the most diverse school districts in North America, suggests new research from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.

Read the full article. 

6) 'I want someone to take my pain': Woman set on fire by husband denied home insurance payout.

Rachel Houlihan & Diana Swain, CBC News

Allstate puts up legal fight despite telling CBC News it would review its handling of such criminal cases.

Read the full article. 

7) The Handmaid's Tale has already come true - just not for white western women

Glosswitch, The New Statesman

Why, if the fate of the fictional Offred is so horrifying, is the fate of real-life women in surrogacy hostels causing so little outrage?

Read the full article.

8) Ryerson's racist history still riles students

Sophia Smith, NOW Magazine

Ryerson University takes pride in its progressive courses, forward-thinking policies and initiatives centred around social justice. It’s big on diversity, as seen in its multicultural student population and on-campus events.

But look at it through the lens of Indigenous people and your perspective changes. The university is named for Egerton Rayerson, an integral figure in the implementation of the residential school system in Canada. This system robbed Indigenous people of their culture and heritage, leaving many with irreparable psychological, emotional and physical damage.

Read the full article.

9) Kathleen Wynne’s basic income plan is bread without circuses

Thomas Walkom, The Toronto Star

Ontario's new scheme assumes poverty is an inexorable part of the gig economy.

Read the full article.

10) Sex robots epitomize patriarchy and offer men a solution to the threat of female independence

Meghan Murphy, Feminist Current

People love to pretend as though everything from prostitution to pornography to sex dolls are a solution to not only men’s supposed loneliness and unmet sexual “needs,” but to their violent, perverse desires. It being the future and all, “sex robots” are the natural next step. Similarly, men have claimed sex robots are the perfect solution to their apparent inability to stop raping and abusing women, as well as their inability to socialize with women as though they are actual human beings. One might ask how creating “realistic,” non-human dolls that men may project their desires onto and do whatever they wish with will impact women and men’s view of women, but capitalist patriarchy doesn’t ask questions so long as there is a product to sell and an erection to satisfy.

Read the full article.

11) Hundreds protest in support of safe access to abortion clinics

Gabriele Roy, The Ottawa Citizen

On Wednesday evening, hundreds of people gathered at the Human Rights Monument on Elgin Street to show their support for abortion rights.

The protest came after those at the Morgentaler abortion clinic on Bank Street had accused authorities of doing little to stop anti-choice demonstrators from constantly harassing and intimidating clients and staff members. The clinic’s director of operations, Shayna Hodson, told the Citizen that incidents such as verbal harassment and being spat on had been happening for years.

Read the full article.

12) No new cash for fixing social housing stock

Emily Mathieu, The Toronto Star

Toronto’s crumbling social housing stock will not receive any new money for desperately needed capital repairs as part of this year’s provincial budget.

Read the full article.

13) Responses to Serena Williams’ Pregnancy Are Steeped in the Racism and Sexism She’s Long Faced

Shireen Ahmed, Rewire

Serena Williams is the best tennis player—and arguably the best athlete—in the world. Her passion and determination make her a standout on the court, and her charisma constantly delights millions of fans. Last week, three months after winning the Australian Open, Williams announced via Snapchat that she is 20 weeks pregnant.

Read the full article.

14) Bombardier is corporate greed at its worst; nationalizing it could create the global leader we need

Dru Oja Jay, Medium

Bombardier, Quebec’s Ski-doo manufacturer-turned-aerospace and rail giant, has been getting some bad press. When the company was in trouble last year, Quebec’s provincial government bailed them out with a $1 billion investment. In 2017, the Federal government kicked in $372 million in loans. Bombardier then announced sweeping job cuts — 14,000 positions worldwide, 5,000 in Canada. Shortly thereafter, Bombardier executives offered themselves $32 million in bonuses (under pressure, they later delayed payment).

Read the full article.

15) Sex assault lawsuits seek culture change in Canada's military

Matthew Behrens, NOW Magazine

A recently announced review of military uniforms, ceremonies, badges and drills - part of a new diversity strategy aimed at making a broad swath of equity-seeking groups feel more welcome in the Canadian military - drew a chuckle from Navy veteran Nicola Peffers. She's one of two lead plaintiffs in sexual harassment and assault class actions filed against the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF).

Read the full article.

16) Internationalism and the Mexican Working Class

Jimena Vergara, Left Voice

Internationalism is a strategic necessity. As the Mexican working class begins to mobilize, workers in the US and Mexico must unite against the capitalists and the state.

Read the full article.

17) Europe’s youth don’t care to vote—but they’re ready to join a mass revolt

Aamna Mohdin, Quartz

Young Europeans are sick of the status quo in Europe. And they’re ready to take to the streets to bring about change, according to a recent survey.

Read the full article.

18) Big Corporations Win the French Presidential Elections

Adrien Welsh, Rebel Youth

On April 23rd, the French people were called to chose two out of the eleven candidates running for the Presidential elections who would make their way to the second round and aspire to be the next tenant of the Élysée palace.

Read the full article.

19) Le Pen Promotes Holocaust Denier and Plans to Ban Kosher Butchers and Yarmulkes

Robert Mackey, The Intecept

FRANCE’S JEWISH COMMUNITY is watching the second round of this year’s presidential election with profound unease, as Marine Le Pen of the far-right National Front has unveiled plans to ban the ritual slaughter of animals for kosher and halal meat and promoted a deputy who has been accused of praising an infamous Holocaust denier.

Read the full article.

See also: The British and French Elections, The West Wing and more -- The Left Chapter Sunday Reading List April 16 - 23

See also: Mélenchon, US Bombings, Christie Blatchford & more -- The Left Chapter Sunday Reading List April 9 - 16

The British and French Elections, The West Wing and more -- The Left Chapter Sunday Reading List April 16 - 23

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

This list covers the week of April 16 - April 23. It is generally in order of the date of the article's release.

1) Far-left veteran Melenchon draws big crowd as French election enters final straight

Johanna Decorse and Emmanuel Jarry, Reuters 

Far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon drew tens of thousands to a rally on Sunday, aiming to maintain momentum that has pushed the one-time outsider into contention in the French presidential election, with the first round of voting a week away.

Read the full article.

2) HOW LIBERALS FELL IN LOVE WITH THE WEST WING

Luke Savage, Current Affairs

In the history of prestige tv, few dramas have had quite the cultural staying power of Aaron Sorkin’s The West Wing.

Set during the two terms of fictional Democratic President and Nobel Laureate in Economics  Josiah “Jed” Bartlet (Martin Sheen) the show depicts the inner workings of a sympathetic liberal administration grappling with the daily exigencies of governing. Every procedure and protocol, every piece of political brokerage—from State of the Union addresses to legislative tugs of war to Supreme Court appointments—is recreated with an aesthetic authenticity enabled by ample production values (a single episode reportedly cost almost $3 million to produce) and rendered with a dramatic flair that stylizes all the bureaucratic banality of modern governance.

Read the full article.

3) Stop swooning over Justin Trudeau. The man is a disaster for the planet

Bill McKibben, The Guardian

Donald Trump is so spectacularly horrible that it’s hard to look away – especially now that he’s discovered bombs. But precisely because everyone’s staring gape-mouthed in his direction, other world leaders are able to get away with almost anything. Don’t believe me? Look one country north, at Justin Trudeau.

Read the full article.

4) Nuclear war has become thinkable again – we need a reminder of what it means

Paul Mason, The Guardian

Last week, Donald Trump deployed his superweapon Moab, the “mother of all bombs” – 10 tonnes of high explosive detonated in mid-air in such a way as to kill, it is claimed, 94 Isis militants. The Russian media immediately reminded us that their own thermobaric bomb – the “father of all bombs” – was four times as powerful: “Kids, meet Daddy,” was how the Kremlin mouthpiece Russia Today put it. But these are child’s play compared with nuclear weapons. The generation waking up to today’s Daily Mail strapline – “World holds its breath” – may need reminding what a nuclear weapon does.

Read the full article.

5) Fightback against austerity is essential

The Treaty 6 Justice Collective, Regina Leader-Post

There are moments in history when local politics have national, and even international, significance. Saskatchewan is currently living one of those moments.

Read the full article.

6) Ottawa police won’t protect abortion clinic despite pleas

Heather Mallick, The Toronto Star

One block away from Parliament Hill, even as Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai won over MPs in the House of Commons on April 12 by crying out for the rights of girls, a cruel and abhorrent scene was playing out on the street.

Read the full article.

7) Jeremy Corbyn says he will break political rules to overturn the ‘rigged system’

Jon Stone, The Independent 

Jeremy Corbyn will promise to overturn “the wealth extractors’ rigged system” of politics and prove his critics wrong by breaking the rules of the "cosy cartel" that runs British politics.

Read the full article. 

8) If you think "sex work is work", how can you be against sex for rent?

Glosswitch, New Statesman

The mainstream left has no right to be shocked about sex for rent. It’s the logical conclusion of a pseudo-feminist politics which refuses to engage fully with power and labour redistribution.

Read the full article.

9) Once-pristine Arctic Ocean contains 300 billion pieces of plastic, study suggests

Ian Johnston, The Independent

Hundreds of billions of pieces of plastic are floating in the once-pristine Arctic, according to a new study, in a startling indication of how polluted the planet has become.

Read the full article.

10) The Handmaid’s Tale Is a Warning to Conservative Women

Sarah Jones, New Republic

Like the Kingdom of God, the Republic of Gilead is both now and not yet. Margaret Atwood’s 1985 novel The Handmaid’s Tale conjures a theocratic dystopia—a version of the United States taken over by fundamentalist Christians after a terrorist attack on Washington. Women are now divided into rigid classes determined by an idiosyncratic interpretation of the Bible. Atwood’s protagonist, Offred, is a Handmaid—a fallen woman who is forced to bear children for righteous couples—and the book follows her sufferings under the Gilead regime. Atwood paints in garish strokes intended to shock: This new society calls homosexuality “gender treachery” and forbids women to read, own property, or choose their own clothing.

Read the full article.

11) Why calls for secularism in education is a facade

Sachin Maharaj and Nadir Shirazi, The Toronto Star

If the true intent is for our schools to be secular, we would move toward one publicly funded system in which all the major religious holidays of our students are recognized and celebrated.

Read the full article.

12) Jean-Luc Mélenchon should be French president. Here’s why

Olivier Tonneau, The Guardian

The leftwing politician is not out to destroy Europe: he is out to save it. La France Insoumise proposes a peaceful revolution towards a fair democratic society.

Read the full article.

13) America is Regressing into a Developing Nation for Most People

 Lynn Parramore, Institute of New Economic Thinking

A new book by economist Peter Temin finds that the U.S. is no longer one country, but dividing into two separate economic and political worlds.

Read the full article.

14) Let’s appreciate what the Fearless Girl represents, rather than tearing her down

Susan Cox, Feminist Current

Is the Fearless Girl statue facing down Wall Street’s Charging Bull a symbol of female empowerment or a corporate cooptation of it?

Read the full article.

15) Activist’s protest against practice of ‘carding’ derails Toronto police board meeting

Wendy Gillis, The Toronto Star

Meeting adjourned after journalist Desmond Cole refuses to leave following deputation. Of data collected on citizens by police, Cole said: “It was never your information to take in the first place.”

Read the full article.

16) Will We Abandon Women’s Rights in the Name of Progressive Politics?

Rebecca Traister, NY Magazine

The most disturbing thing to emerge from this week’s badly bungled Democratic “Unity Tour” staged by Vermont senator Bernie Sanders and new DNC head Tom Perez was the fact that the only thing on which the two men seemed to easily agree was that reproductive rights are not necessarily fundamental to progressive politics. This led to uproar and outrage among some precincts of the left, and eventually to mea culpas and “clarifications” from Sanders and Perez. But it is worth closely examining this fight over the importance of reproductive rights in the party because it is an argument that the Democrats seem to rehash over and over and over again.

Read the full article.

17) In The First Week Of Election Campaigning, Corbyn Has Outperformed May Significantly

Kerry Lanigan-Coyle, The Huffington Post

Flying start - two words that sum up the beginning of Labour’s general election campaign. In five days, Jeremy Corbyn has shown he has the passion and the plan in place to transform Britain in the interests of the many.

Read the full article.

18) Sanders-Backing Socialist Wins Big In Georgia City Council Race

Daniel Marans, The Huffington Post

A leading Black Lives Matter activist and self-identified democratic socialist named khalid kamau won a city council seat on Tuesday in South Fulton, Georgia, a newly incorporated municipality outside Atlanta.

Read the full article.

While this article is from before the period covered, it is an important read and has been included as well:

19) Burmese Nobel Prize Winner Aung San Suu Kyi Has Turned Into an Apologist for Genocide Against Muslims

Mehdi Hasan, The Intercept

AUNG SAN SUU KYI IS ONE of the most celebrated human rights icons of our age: Nobel Peace Laureate, winner of the Sakharov Prize, recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, an Amnesty International-recognized prisoner of conscience for 15 long years.

These days, however, she is also an apologist for genocide, ethnic cleansing and mass rape.

Read the full article.

See also: Mélenchon, US Bombings, Christie Blatchford & more -- The Left Chapter Sunday Reading List April 9 - 16

See also: Syria, Trump, the JDL & more -- The Left Chapter Sunday Reading List April 2 - April 9