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

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

This list covers the week of September 30 - October 7.


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

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

John Bowden, The Hill

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

2) National Council of Churches calls for Kavanaugh's nomination to be withdrawn

Avery Anapol, The Hill

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

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

Kate Sullivan, CNN

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

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

Justin Wise, The Hill

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

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

 Susan Svrluga, The Washington Post

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

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

Jon Queally, Common Dreams

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

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

Julia Conley. Common Dreams

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

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

Luke Barnes, Think Progress

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

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

John Nichols, The Nation

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

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

Sandro Contenta, The Toronto Star

In Toronto, the colour of money is mainly white.

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

Laurie Monsebraaten, The Toronto Star

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

12) Real Madrid football club honours Palestine activist Ahed Tamimi

Al Jazeera

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

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

Jake Johnson, Common Dreams

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

14) Canada capitulates to Trump on trade with renegotiated NAFTA

Duncan Cameron, Rabble

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

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

Neil Macdonald · CBC News

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

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

Dan Taekema, CBC News

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

17) Solidaires Score Important Breakthrough in Quebec Election

Richard Fidler, Socialist Project Bullet 

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

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

CTV Montreal

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

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

CTV Montreal

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

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

20) Left Parties Statement

Communist Party of India (Marxist)

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

21) Detroit fast food workers to strike for union rights

Tom Perkins, Detroit Metro Times

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

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

Vladimir Unkovski-Korica, Counterfire

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

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

City TV News

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

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

North 99

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

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

Emma Paling, HuffPost

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

26) Protestors confront MPP Elliott over minimum wage rollback

Kim Champion, Newmarket Today

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

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

Press Progress

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

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

Leyland Cecco, The Guardian

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

29) The alpha males of physics

Leonid Schneider, For Better Science

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

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

Crispin Kyalangalilwa, Ted Siefer and Nerijus Adomaitis, Reuters 

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

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

YLE

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

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

Azeezah Kanji, NOW Magazine

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

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



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

New York Times

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

34) Suppression of a Daily Newspaper

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

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

35) The Cruelty Is the Point

Adam Serwer, The Atlantic

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

36) Trumpism as capitalism’s default option

Zoltan Zigedy, The Morning Star

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

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

Eugene Kim, CNBC

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

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

Alexandra Shimo, The Guardian

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

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

Jack Hazeldine, Counterfire

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

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

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

41) How Baltimore police routinely violated people's rights

Al Jazeera

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

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

Ray Sanchez, CNN

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

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

Nate Marshall, BuzzFeed

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

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

Paul Dobson, Venezuela Analysis 

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

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

Christopher Flavelle, Bloomberg

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

46) Syriza’s Repressive Turn

Stathis Kouvelakis and Costas Lapavitsas, Jacobin

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

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

Sarah Aziza, The Intercept

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

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

Nishita Jha, BuzzFeed

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

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

Eliane Brum, The Guardian

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

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

Noam Chomsky, The Intercept

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

51) Brazil: Indigenous Parliamentary Front Unites Against Bolsonaro

Telesur

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

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

Telesur

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

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

Telesur 

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

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

The rising of the hard right in Canada

What a difference four months can make.

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

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

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

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

He is likely just getting started.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 23 - 30.

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

1) KAVANAUGH FLOATS NEW DEFENSE AGAINST SEXUAL ASSAULT CLAIMS: I WAS A VIRGIN

David Gilbert, Vice News

Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh offered a novel explanation Monday for why he could not have sexually assaulted Christine Blasey Ford in high school — because he was a virgin.

2) How to humiliate a woman: the ugly lesson of Brett Kavanaugh's yearbook

Sian Cain, The Guardian

He and his teenage friend shared boasts of being a ‘Renate alumnus’, a claim that, 35 years later, has embarrassed a woman who had offered her wholehearted support to the US supreme court nominee.

3) Brett Kavanaugh accused of drugging women who were then gang-raped

Ruth Brown, The New York Post

A third woman accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct has come forward — alleging he helped “drug” girls at parties in the 1980s where they were gang-raped.

4) Read the sworn declaration by Kavanaugh accuser Julie Swetnick

NBC News

On Wednesday, Michael Avenatti released a declaration from his client, Julie Swetnick. This is an allegation against Brett Kavanaugh, not a proven fact and NBC News has not vetted Swetnick's allegation.

Via Occupy Nashville on Facebook

5) What Brett Kavanaugh teaches us about teenage boys and male power

Suzanne Moore, The Guardian

More than 25 years ago, Anita Hill was dismissed as ‘nutty and slutty’ for alleging sexual harassment. Now another supreme court nominee stands accused. Has nothing changed?

6) Woman Who Confronted Jeff Flake in the Elevator: 'I Wanted Him to Feel My Rage'

Drew Schwartz, Vice News

The protesters who cornered Flake just before he voted on Kavanaugh's confirmation spoke out about why they did it.

7) The rape culture of the 1980s, explained by Sixteen Candles

Constance Grady, Vox

The beloved romantic comedy’s date rape scene provides important context for the Brett Kavanaugh accusations.

8) Boys Will Be Boys: Brett Kavanaugh, Rape, & 1980s High School Culture: Soriano’s Comment, №24

Scott Soriano, Medium

White people spent much of the past decade living under the lie that we lived in a “post-racial” world. We had a Black president, so everything was “ebony and ivory.” We were fools. Men and some women fuming that “This wasn’t my high school” and “NotAllMen” are, again, playing the fool. They are more concerned with self-appearance and parsing words than dealing with real world problem of rape and misogyny. We cannot be sucked into petty arguments over language, otherwise we are playing whack-a-mole with symptoms. We squash “boys will be boys” and now have to deal with “horseplay” or “rough sex” or whatever lame ass thing comes out in defense of Kavanaugh and others. Forget that, let’s get to the disease and root it out.

9) The Whole Country Just Watched What Happens When Angry, Powerful Men Don't Get Their Way

Gabrielle Moss, Bustle

I came in to work thinking that I was just going to watch a Senate hearing — a Senate hearing that I was, frankly, very depressed about. I was prepared to see Christine Blasey Ford, who has alleged that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her in high school, have her memory and character attacked. I was prepared to see senators try to minimize the allegations, saying that Ford's memory was fuzzy or that the alleged assault wasn't really that bad. And I also expected Kavanaugh to deliver the fairly placid opening remarks that he made available publicly the night before the hearing, prepared to see him again deny the allegations and quietly try to get this whole thing over with.

10) White House limits scope of the FBI's Kavanaugh investigation

Ken Dilanian, Geoff Bennett, Kristen Welker, Frank Thorp V, Hallie Jackson and Leigh Ann Caldwell, NBC News

The White House is limiting the scope of the FBI's investigation into the sexual misconduct allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, multiple people briefed on the matter told NBC News.

11) Bernie Sanders calls for FBI to investigate whether Kavanaugh told truth in hearing

Tal Axelrod, The Hill

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Saturday sent a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) demanding that the FBI, in addition to investigating sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, also examine the truthfulness of Kavanaugh's statements made under oath Thursday before the Senate panel.

12) HOW WE KNOW KAVANAUGH IS LYING

Nathan J. Robinson, Current Affairs 

This man should not serve another day as any kind of judge…

13) Under the Fog of Kavanaugh, House Passes $3.8 Trillion More in Tax Cuts

Glenn Fleishman, Fortune

With attention fixed on the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation hearings, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a new $3.1 trillion tax cut on Friday. The vote was 220 to 191, including three Democrats.

14) Israel gives Palestinians eight days to leave Khan al-Ahmar

Al Jazeera

Israel's planned demolition of the occupied West Bank village has been criticised by the international community.

15) Italian government adopts hardline anti-migrant decree

Ylenia Gostoli, Al Jazeera

Security bill dubbed the 'Salvini decree' makes it easier to expel migrants and strip their citizenship.

16) Ontario midwives welcome ‘historic’ victory in pay equity case

Sara Mojtehedzadeh, The Toronto Star

Ontario midwives won a “historic” victory in a groundbreaking pay equity case Monday, after a tribunal ruled the government’s failure to proactively monitor midwives’ compensation and regularly negotiate with them over it constitutes discrimination.

Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi said her countrymen "will not give up Jerusalem, the eternal capital of Palestine," while attending an annual festival organised by the Greek Communist Youth in Athens.




17) 'Shocking' sexual abuse of children by German clergy detailed in report

Kate Connolly, The Guardian

Minister warns abuse of 3,677 children by about 1,670 clerics may be ‘tip of the iceberg’ for Catholic church.

18) Why Québec Solidaire is having the campaign of its life

Jonathan Montpetit · CBC News

No one seems to be having a good campaign these days in Quebec; no one, that is, except a small left-wing party that doesn't believe in leaders and has a campaign bus bereft of journalists.

19) Does Canada support an invasion of Venezuela?

Yves Engler

In their obsession for regime change, Ottawa is backing talk of an invasion of Venezuela. And the NDP is enabling Canada’s interventionist policy.

20) Doug Ford’s History Of Flirting With the Alt-Right and White Nationalists

North 99

Photographs and video of Doug Ford posing with white nationalist Faith Goldy, a woman who expressed support for neo-Nazis, have emerged in recent days.

21) Doug Ford Stands Behind This Photo He Took With a Group of Extremely Racist White Nationalists

Press Progress

Ontario Premier Doug Ford will not disavow a group of white nationalists who took a photo with him over the weekend at “Ford Fest,” even as the white nationalists use the photo for propaganda purposes to legitimize their views.

22) Why do Marxist feminists oppose liberal feminists’ claims that porn and prostitution are liberating for women?

Morgan Horn, Morning Star

We must be clear that the sexualisation of women places men in a position of superiority and impedes class struggle.

23) Thousands protest in Buenos Aires against austerity policies

Al Jazeera

Thousands of people have poured out on to the streets of the Argentinian capital, Buenos Aires, to protest President Mauricio Macri's economic policies, a day before a nationwide 24-hour strike called for by unions takes place.

24) Judge Restores Grizzly Bears' Protections As Endangered Species

Nate Hegyi, NPR

A federal judge has restored Endangered Species Act protections for grizzly bears living around Yellowstone National Park.

25) Revealed: less than a third of young men prosecuted for rape are convicted

Alexandra Topping and Caelainn Barr, The Guardian

The crisis engulfing the criminal justice system over its approach to rape cases is revealed by startling figures that show less than a third of prosecutions brought against young men result in a conviction.

26) Díaz-Canel addresses the Nelson Mandela Peace Summit

Granma

Addressing the UN as part of the Nelson Mandela Peace Summit in New York this Monday, September 24, President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez began by noting Cuba’s pride on having supported the struggle against apartheid in South Africa, and recalled the iconic embrace between the Comandante en Jefe Fidel Castro and the anti-apartheid leader, Nelson Mandela, who visited Cuba in 1991, shortly after his release from prison.

27) Ontario Government’s attack on local democracy shows need for democratic constitutional reform

Communist Party of Canada Statement

The legal and political battle around the Ontario government’s Bill 5, the Better Local Government Act, once again proves the need for democratic constitutional reform in Canada.

28) UK's Labour Party Passes Motion to Ban Arms Sales to Israel

Telesur

“Ordinary members of the party want Labour to stand up for Palestinian rights. And today for the first time in many years a Palestine motion is on the agenda of the conference."


29) Jeremy Corbyn Promises to ‘Recognize Palestinian State as Soon as We Take Office’

Telesur

"In order to help make the two-state settlement a reality, we will recognize a Palestinian state as soon as we take office," Corbyn said.

30) B.C.’s climate targets will be impossible to reach if LNG Canada project goes ahead, critics say

Brent Jang, The Globe and Mail

Environmentalists are warning that it will be impossible for British Columbia to reach its climate targets if a Shell-led liquefied natural gas project forges ahead along the northern coast.

31) Right-wing populism on rise in New Brunswick

Thomas Walkom, The Toronto Star

Score one more victory for right-wing populism. The People’s Alliance of New Brunswick made a breakthrough in that province’s election Monday and could end up holding the balance of power in a hung legislature.

Toronto mayoral candidate Saron Gebrasallasi said Tuesday the city needs a mayor who can appeal to working class and “racialized” communities.





32) Ford government scraps minimum wage hike set for 2019

Paola Loriggio, The Canadian Press 

Ontario's Progressive Conservative government said it will halt a planned increase to minimum wage that was scheduled to kick in next year, following up on a promise made during the spring election campaign.

33) Business groups lobby Ford government to repeal workplace reforms

Mike Crawley · CBC News 

Business groups are urging Premier Doug Ford's government to take away the new sick day and pay equity protections granted to Ontario workers this year.

34) Jacobin Accused of Reneging on Wage Deal in British Takeover of Tribune Magazine

Mike Elk, Payday Report

In his bid to take over the historic British left-wing magazine, The Tribune, Jacobin publisher Bhaskar Sunkara is being accused of reneging on wage deal by employees of the paper, who kept the publication alive during struggling times. Tribune was once the home of such greats as George Orwell and has since become the leading publication associated with the influential Momentum faction within the Labor Party.

35) The British Labour Party and Community Ownership Plans

 John McDonnell, Socialist Project Bullet

Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell MP has unveiled Labour’s plans for a new, publicly-owned water system, run by local councils, workers and customers and for “unprecedented openness and transparency” in how the industry will be managed. Building on Labour’s manifesto commitment to bring key utilities back into public ownership, for the first time McDonnell has outlined in detail how they would do it.

"The U.S. doesn't care about democracy. If it did, it wouldn't threaten democratic countries with military intervention," Morales said.




36) Trump Backs Military Coup in Venezuela Against Maduro

Telesur

Speaking on the sidelines of the UNGA meeting, an organization meant to promote peace, the U.S. president confirmed his backing for violent military takeovers and interventions.

37) Reactions to anti-Muslim video highlight political double standard

Linda McQuaig, The Toronto Star

Maybe there’s a good reason not to sanction Israel — despite its violation of international law — but then let’s hear our political leaders articulate that reason, rather than simply smacking down anyone who dares to question their silence on the issue.

38) Workers groups cry foul as WSIB celebrates financial milestone

Sara Mojtehedzadeh, The Toronto Star

The workers’ compensation board will slash employers’ premiums by 30 per cent after eliminating its unfunded liability a decade ahead of schedule — a move the province says will boost the economy but labour advocates say could harm workers.

39) World 'nowhere near on track' to avoid warming beyond 1.5C target

Oliver Milman, The Guardian

Author of key UN climate report says limiting temperature rise would require enormous, immediate transformation in human activity.

40) Nigerian unions launch general strike over minimum wage

Chijioke Ohuocha, Reuters  

Nigeria’s main unions launched an indefinite nationwide strike on Thursday in a dispute over the minimum wage after talks with the government broke down a day earlier.


41) Correcting the record on China and Africa

Ian Goodrum, People's World

Media figures in the West will squawk about “colonialism” while denying their own countries’ roles in Africa’s subjugation. Better not to pay them any mind; the results speak for themselves. China is helping the continent toward a better future, while each new statement from the White House shows the U.S. is little more than a fair-weather friend. After all, would a true ally say the kinds of unprintable things President Donald Trump has about the African continent?

42) Ontario becomes a testing ground for hyper austerity

John Clarke, Counterfire

Just three months into its mandate, it is becoming clear that the Tory Government of Ontario, under the leadership of right-wing populist multimillionaire, Doug Ford, is going to unleash an agenda of austerity and privatisation that will be unprecedented in its scale and severity.  Fifteen years of stealthy and incremental Liberal attacks on workers and communities have now given over to a regime of crude and reckless brutality. Under the federal system of government in Canada, the provincial level is where most decisions are made on social policy and, while Ontario is but one of ten provinces, the size of its economy and population will make the results of the unfolding struggle here particularly important, across the Country and internationally.  A successful and massive intensification of the neoliberal agenda here would be a defeat that would threaten to spread while a successful model of resistance would be a precious resource for others to build upon.

43) Canada’s housing affordability has reached the worst level in 28 years, and Toronto is off the charts, report says

Tess Kalinowski, The Toronto Star

Canadian housing affordability has reached its worst level in 28 years with the most severe challenges in Toronto, Vancouver and Victoria, says a report from RBC.

44) The Zaghari-Ratcliffe case and Theresa May's outrageous hypocrisy

Alia Al Ghussain, Al Jazeera

The British government is concerned about Iran's political prisoners, but ignores those unjustly detained in the UK.

45) Seven Palestinians, Including 12-year Old, Said Killed by IDF Fire in Gaza Border Clashes

Jack Khoury, Yaniv Kubovich and Almog Ben Zikri, Haaretz

Seven Palestinians, including two boys age 12 and 14, were killed by Israeli military fire during clashes along the Gaza Strip's central and eastern sections of the border fence, the Gaza Health Ministry said on Friday.

12 year old Nasser Musabeh - one of a few kids killed today by Israeli snipers.

RIP little man.

Via Walid Mahmoud on Facebook

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  See also: Kavanaugh Nomination, Corbyn Smears, Amazon & more -- The Week in News, Opinion and Videos September 16 - 23

Roy Moore, Honduras, Site C and more -- The Left Chapter Sunday Reading List December 10 - 17

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  December 10 - 17. It is generally in order of the date of the article's release.


This installment has 3 entries that are from before the period. They have been integrated into the post.

1) Mainstream media silent as Jeremy Corbyn wins International Peace Prize

J.D McGregor, Evolve Politics

As the majority of the British mainstream media disingenuously fawns over Theresa May’s pitiful capitulation to the European Union’s Brexit demands, there has been an incredibly conspicuous radio silence regarding Jeremy Corbyn’s latest achievement.

Read the full article.

2) ‘Bibi to prison’: Thousands demand Netanyahu resignation over corruption in Israel

RT News

Thousands of Israelis took to the streets of Tel Aviv calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over corruption charges.

Read the full article.

3) ‘Shocking’ toll of women killed by men renews call for safe spaces

Jamie Doward and Anna Menin, The Guardian

Of the 113 women killed by men in England, Wales and Northern Ireland last year, 85 died in their homes, according to the Femicide Census, an annual analysis by the charity Women’s Aid.

Read the full article.

4) Anita Hill on Sexual Harassment: ‘Today, More People Would Believe My Story’

 Ricardo Lopez, Variety

In the three decades that have passed since law professor Anita Hill first accused the then-nominee for the Supreme Court, Clarence Thomas, Hill said she was never discouraged by the outcome — seeing her harasser confirmed to the highest court.

Read the full article.

5) They say they suffered ‘cruel and sadistic’ abuse as kids at Ontario training schools — and the government paid them to keep quiet


Kenyon Wallace, The Toronto Star

The province has secretly settled 220 lawsuits alleging sexual, physical and emotional abuse by teachers and staff at its schools for troubled youth between 1960 and 1984, a Star investigation has found.

Read the full article.

6) Courting trouble

Matt Kwong, CBC News

The controversy over Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore sheds light on the fundamentalist Christian practice of marrying off teen girls.

Read the full article.

7) 'He got away with everything': Woman says court cared more about abuser's future than her safety

Janelle Kelly, CBC News

Being assaulted was bad enough, but what happened in the courtroom has caused one St. John's woman to lose all faith in the justice system.

Read the full article.

8) The Deadly Racism of Thunder Bay

Robert Jago, The Walrus

A series of stalled police investigations reveals a city that’s indifferent to Indigenous lives.

Read the full article.

9) Mario Batali Steps Away From Restaurant Empire Following Sexual Misconduct Allegations

Irene Plagianos and Kitty Greenwald, Eater

Four women accuse the chef of inappropriate touching in a pattern of behavior that spans at least two decades, according to dozens of Eater interviews.

Read the full article.

10) Most Dire Climate Change Predictions, Warns New Study, Are Also the Most Accurate

Julia Conley, Common Dreams

Climate change is occurring at a faster rate than has previously been predicted, according to a new study which suggests that the most extreme estimates of the effects of global warming are likelier than more optimistic predictions.

Read the full article.

11) So the Cat Person short story has made straight men feel uncomfortable. Good

Glosswitch, The New Statesman 

A story in the New Yorker offers an unforgiving look at the ways gender makes victims of us all.

Read the full article.

12) BC NDP folds like cheap tent in first test to Indigenous peoples with Site C decision

Windspeaker News

“When it comes to reconciliation and working with Indigenous leadership, look there has been over 150 years of disappointment in BC. I’m not the first person to stand before you and disappoint Indigenous people.”. BC NDP Premier John Horgan

Read the full article.

13) Venezuela Rejects US Interference in Municipal Elections

Telesur

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza condemned on Monday statements made by the U.S. government against the democratic system of the South American nation, where municipal elections were held on Sunday, the third elections in the last six months.

Read the full article.

14) ON THE FRONT LINES OF UNFOUNDED

Robyn Doolittle, The Globe and Mail

The trauma expert leading specialized sexual-assault training. The advocate pushing groundbreaking police oversight. The government lawyer who made that change possible, and the senior police officers who embraced it.

These are among the people who have been on the front lines of the sexual-assault policing reforms happening across the country in response to The Globe and Mail’s Unfounded investigation, which in February revealed that Canadian law enforcement has been dismissing sexual-assault allegations at a rate much higher than for other crimes. Through hundreds of Freedom of Information requests, it was determined that police were closing one out of every five sexual-assault files as “unfounded,” a term that means the investigating officer does not believe a crime occurred – nearly double the rate for physical assault.

Read the full article.

15) RCMP to review 25,000 more sexual assault cases

Alison Crawford, CBC News

The RCMP is set to dramatically expand its review of closed sexual assault cases.


The decision comes after an examination of 2,225 files from 2016 where Mountie investigators had concluded the complainants' allegations were unfounded.

Read the full article.

16) Alberta Conservative House Leader Fired Single Mother After She Complained of Sexual Harassment

Press Progress

A company owned by United Conservative Party house leader Jason Nixon was fined by British Columbia’s Human Rights Tribunal for firing a woman after she complained she was being sexually harassed at work.

Read the full article.

17) Halifax fire department admits to systemic gender discrimination

Stephanie vanKampen, CBC News

Female firefighters in Halifax have faced systemic historic gender discrimination at work, according to a settlement involving the city, the Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency Service and former firefighter Liane Tessier.

Read the full article.

18) Child-care fee hikes outpace inflation with Toronto parents hardest hit

Laurie Monsebraaten, The Toronto Star

Toronto continues to be the most expensive city in Canada for child care across all age groups, according to a new Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives report.

Read the full article.

19) Canada and Honduras: Election Fraud is Only the Latest Outrage in Eight Year Nightmare

Tyler Shipley, Socialist Project Bullet 

The dictatorship that rules Honduras is in the process of stealing another election, and the Canadian government is doing precisely what it has done the last two times the Honduran dictatorship stole an election: nothing.

Read the full article.

20) Canada Must Stop Support to Honduras Regime following Botched Election & Fraud in Honduras and the Future of Fair Elections

Jen Moore & Laura Carlsen, Socialist Project Bullet

In the chaos following national elections in Honduras on November 26, Canadian authorities must take a strong public stand and forcibly denounce evidence of electoral fraud and violent repression of public protests. Across Honduras, tens of thousands of people have been demonstrating their discontent over evidence of electoral fraud by the government-controlled electoral tribunal. As widely reported, while early trends in the vote count indicated that opposition presidential candidate Salvador Nasralla was on track to win, delays, irregularities and evidence of vote-rigging since then favour the incumbent National Party candidate, Juan Orlando Hernández (JOH).

Read the full article.

21) Roy Moore’s stunning defeat reveals the red line for Trump-style politics

Richard Wolffe, The Guardian

The shock election results saw a Democrat make rare inroads in deep-red Alabama – and will hasten the existential question facing the Republican party.

Read the full article.

22) 'Suck it, Bannon': former Trump strategist has bad night in Alabama

David Smith, The Guardian

It was Meghan McCain, the daughter of Senator John McCain, who summed up the feelings of many in a three-word tweet: “Suck it, Bannon.”

Read the full article.

23) Québec Solidaire Clarifies Its Support for Independence

Richard Fidler, Socialist Project Bullet

There were two main tasks on the agenda at the congress of the left party Québec solidaire (QS), meeting in Longueuil December 1-3. One was the adoption of the party's platform for the next Quebec general election, to be held in October 2018. The other was ratification of a proposed fusion with Option nationale (ON), a small party originating in a split from the Parti québécois in 2011 after the PQ had put its goal of Quebec independence on the back burner for the foreseeable future. The fusion may add several hundred ON militants to QS's membership of 18,000.

Read the full article.

24) No evidence any Montreal mosque asked women be barred from work site, construction board finds

CBC News

An investigation by Quebec's construction board has confirmed confirmed that no Montreal mosque sought to exclude women from a nearby work site during Friday prayers.

Read the full article.

25) TVA apologizes for mosque story, says it will investigate 'journalistic process'

René Bruemmer, Montreal Gazette

The TVA news network apologized Friday for a controversial and since debunked report on mosques banning women from a nearby construction site, but a national Muslim organization says the network needs to go further.

Read the full article.

26) Mexico: murders of women rise sharply as drug war intensifies

Associated Press

Of more than 50,000 killings of women since 1985, nearly a third took place in last six years, official report says.

Read the full article.

27) Woman who says her employer docked pay for washroom breaks will have human rights hearing

Jaren Kerr, The Toronto Star

Laurie Bates says she was singled out for having irritable bowel syndrome. In a complaint, she says the company docked her pay and alerted coworkers when she used the washroom.

Read the full article.

28) Why toys are more divided by gender than ever before

Amy Dempsey, The Toronto Star

For years, parents and researchers have challenged the blue/pink divide in the toy aisle. But the split has only become starker. And what we play with as a kid can have a lasting influence.

Read the full article.

29) Hayek's accusations about the making of Frida make us question nudity in movies

Stephanie Merry, The Age

Salma Hayek has become the latest woman to come forward with allegations of sexual harassment and bullying against producer Harvey Weinstein. In an oped for The New York Times, she wrote, "for years, he was my monster", and detailed how he allegedly propositioned her again and again. "With every refusal came Harvey's Machiavellian rage," she wrote. "I don't think he hated anything more than the word 'no.'"

Read the full article.

30) Think our governments can no longer control capitalism? You’ve been duped

Larry Elliott, The Guardian

In reality there has been a class war, in which the right has spent decades using the state to undermine workers. We can fight back.

Read the full article.

31) Minnie Driver: men like Matt Damon 'cannot understand what abuse is like'

Edward Helmore, The Guardian

Actor calls former co-star’s remarks about ‘spectrum of behaviour’ in sexual misconduct ‘Orwellian’ and questions defence of disgraced comedian Louis CK.

Read the full article.

See also: The #MeToo Movement, Jerusalem, Honduras and more -- The Left Chapter Sunday Reading List December 3 - 10

See also: Honduras, the #MeToo Movement, the OFL & more -- The Left Chapter Sunday Reading List November 26 - December 3

Honduras, the #MeToo Movement, the OFL & more -- The Left Chapter Sunday Reading List November 26 - December 3

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  November 26 - December 3. It is generally in order of the date of the article's release.

1) Nepal: A New Democracy or a New Oligarchy?

David Seddon, Jacobin

Recent elections in Nepal may further entrench divisions that have stalled democratic progress for a decade.

Read the full article.

2) This is How Cubans Run, Campaign and Vote in Elections

Telesur

The Cuban electoral process doesn't allow discriminatory or demeaning political campaigning and no organization can pay for any campaign.

Read the full article.

3) Women from Brazil's MST Occupy Farm Owned by Condemned Rapist

Telesur

Brazil's Landless Workers' Movement marked this year's International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women by occupying a farm owned by Dr. Roger Abdelmassih, condemned in 2010 to 278 years in prison for raping 39 women, most of whom were his patients.

Read the full article.

4) 'Every refuge will close': what funding changes could mean for women

Jamie Grierson, The Guardian

Freya fled her partner after being raped and beaten; without eventually finding a refuge place, she might have had to go back to him.

Read the full article.

5) Sexual violence in war zones at ‘worst ever’ as drive to protect women falters

Rebecca Ratcliffe, The Guardian

The head of UN Women has condemned the inadequate response to the widespread use of rape and sexual violence in conflicts, and warned that the amount of money dedicated to fighting such war crimes is shrinking.

Read the full article.

6) The trouble with bitcoin and big data is the huge energy bill

John Naughton, The Guardian

The consequences are astonishing but predictable. According to one estimate, bitcoin mining is now consuming more electricity than 159 countries, including Ireland, Bahrain and the Slovak Republic. The same source reckons that it’s currently taking as much electricity as would be required to power 2.7m US households and that it’s responsible for 0.13% of global electricity consumption. If things go on like this, bitcoin mining will require all of Denmark’s electricity consumption by about 2020.

Read the full article.

7) Ontario sees rise in single-person households using food banks: report

CBC News

A new report by the Ontario Association of Food Banks (OAFB) says nearly 500,000 people in the province turned to a food bank last year, with a growing number of those clients being single-person households and renters.

Read the full article.

8) Finance Minister Bill Morneau silent on stock sell-off before tax changes

Bruce Campion-Smith, The Toronto Star

Finance Minister Bill Morneau is refusing to say whether he sold millions of dollars worth of company stock days before introducing tax changes that may have caused share prices to drop.

Read the full article.

9) Joe Ceci says 'recession behind us,' wants unions to agree to wage freeze

Emma Graney, Edmonton Journal

The public sector needs to pitch in and reject raises in current contract negotiations if Alberta’s economy is going to continue its path to recovery, the finance minister says.

Read the full article.

10) Israel's Attempts to Preserve a Racist Heritage

Haaretz Editorial

It would be interesting to see Israel’s response if some other country passed a constitutional amendment letting communities that exclude Jews be established. Under the radar of public attention, robust committee discussions continue on a new Basic Law on Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people. On Tuesday a committee will discuss a particularly scandalous clause under the heading “preservation of heritage.” The clause states: “The state may permit a community, including the members of a single religion or the members of a single nationality, to establish separate community settlements.”


Read the full article.

11) Labour’s review of candidates is not a purge: it’s what’s known as democracy

Owen Jones, The Guardian

Construing grassroots internal elections as an authoritarian cleanse is part of the smear campaign against Momentum by those terrified by its success.

Read the full article.

12) Rape victim arrested on immigration charges after going to police

Haroon Siddique and Kevin Rawlinson, The Guardian

Pregnant woman, who had also been kidnapped, was being cared for in recovery centre in London when arrest took place.

Read the full article.

13) Human Rights Commission launching inquiry into racial profiling by Toronto police

Wendy Gillis, The Toronto Star

The commission has asked for seven years’ worth of data — from January 2010 to June 2017 — to examine whether there is racial profiling and discrimination against members of the Black community during specific interactions.

Read the full article.

14) The Franken case is our moment of truth as progressives

Ruth DeFoster and Marta Shore, The Star Tribune

Too many are casting aspersions on Leeann Tweeden and making excuses for the senator. This is hypocrisy, and we need to respond differently.

Read the full article.

15) Why Is There No “Saudi-Gate”?

Branko Marcetic, Jacobin

For decades, the DC establishment has been on the payroll of a foreign terror state. But because it's Saudi Arabia, you won't hear a peep.

Read the full article.

16) OFL UNITY DISRUPTED AS DELEGATES ADOPT CONTROVERSIAL ELECTION PLAN

PV Ontario Bureau, People's Voice

Hundreds of union delegates met in Toronto from November 20-24th to discuss policy resolutions and adopt a plan of work, at the biennial convention of the Ontario Federation of Labour. This was the first convention since the newly elected team of Chris Buckley, Patti Coates and Ahmed Gaied replaced Sid Ryan, Irwin Nanda and Nancy Hutchinson two years ago. This leadership projected a united image claiming that many of the crises plaguing the OFL over the previous four years have been resolved or dealt with.

Read the full article.

17) Kaepernick Wins Sports Illustrated Muhammad Ali Legacy Award

Telesur

Sports Illustrated has announced Colin Kaepernick as the recipient of the 2017 Sports Illustrated Muhammad Ali Legacy Award for his "steadfastness in the fight for social justice, for his adherence to his beliefs no matter the cost."

Read the full article.

18) #MeToo Must Fight For Women In Refugee Camps, Not Just On Red Carpets

Caroline Riseboro, HuffPost

The stories of girls living in the developing world whose rights are being violated don't seem to captivate our attention with the same urgency.

Read the full article.

19) Matt Lauer, Charlie Rose and the Sexism of Morning TV

James Poniewozik and Margaret Lyons, New York Times

For the second week in a row, viewers of a network morning show woke up to a disturbing surprise: Two female hosts reporting, and working publicly through the emotion of, the ouster of their male colleague over allegations of sexual misconduct.

Read the full article.

20) Children of war: Carrying on with babies born of rape

Tanya Birkbeck, The Globe and Mail

In South Sudan's civil war, sexual violence by both government and rebels is a regular occurrence. 'It's no longer a gun,' an orphanage director says. 'It becomes another way of damaging people's morale and their community.' Mothers raising children born of rape must press on in a judgmental society, as Tanya Birkbeck reports from Juba.

Read the full article.

21) The Reckoning at Vice Has Begun

Aimée Lutkin, Jezebel

On Thursday, Vice Media reportedly fired three employees after an investigation into claims of sexual harassment. This follows a report earlier this month from The Daily Beast on a “toxic” culture of abuse at the company, including some public embarrassments at Broadly, Vice’s site for women.

Read the full article.

22) University sexual harassment victim kept in dark over whether professor was punished

CBC News

Véronique Pronovost still lacks closure three years after filing a complaint with her university against a professor who sexually harassed her, because the school is keeping her in the dark about how — or even if  — the professor was disciplined.

Read the full article.

23) Gender pay gap persists, census data shows

Miriam Katawazi, The Toronto Star

New Statistics Canada figures show that women holding a bachelor’s degree have a median income of $68,342 in 2016, while men with the same level of education earned $82,082.

Read the full article.

24) Six in 10 classical music workers harassed, UK survey finds

Nadeem Badshah, The Guardian

Six out of 10 people who work in the classical music sector have been victims of discrimination and sexual harassment, according to a study.

Read the full article.

25) Toronto's #MeToo march gives hundreds of sexual misconduct survivors space to stand together, heal

Amara McLaughlin, CBC News

Hundreds of people gathered in downtown Toronto on Saturday afternoon to transform the pervasive two-word social media discussion #MeToo into action against sexual harassment and assault.

Read the full article.

26) Québec Solidaire members back merger with Option Nationale

CBC News

Québec Solidaire delegates have voted in favour of a proposal to merge with the smaller sovereigntist party Option Nationale.

Read the full article.

27) Left-center opposition looks headed for victory in Honduras

Emile Schepers, People's World

Although Honduras’ incumbent right-wing president, Juan Orlando Hernández, went into Sunday’s vote certain of re-election, it now seems that such confidence may have been misplaced. Unless his ruling National Party comes up with a scheme to rig the results during ballot counting—which it may very well be attempting to do—it looks like the unity candidate of the left-center opposition forces, Salvador Nasralla, will take the presidency.

Read the full article.

28) Honduras suspends rights as violence spreads over delayed vote count

Reuters

The Honduran government has suspended constitutional rights to give the army and police more powers and imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew to contain unrest triggered by a contested election, a senior government official said on Friday.

Read the full article.

29) Opposition Protests To Continue Amid Curfew, Police Repression

Telesur

Former Honduran president and coordinator of the Opposition Alliance, Manuel Zelaya, called on all Hondurans to take to the streets to defend presidential election preliminary results which showed opposition candidate, Salvador Nasrallah with a comfortable lead over the right-wing incumbent, as the electoral board continues to withhold final results.

Read the full article.

30) Honduras On The Brink: Curfew Enforced By Military, Opposition Calls For New Election

Jose Olivares, NPR

The Honduran government suspended constitutional rights and called for the military to enforce a curfew and disperse protesters over the weekend after a contested election plunged the Central American country into a political crisis.

Read the full article.

See also: Transit, Housing, Climate Change & more -- The Left Chapter Sunday Reading List November 19-26

See also: Polish Nationalist Marches, the Tar Sands, Libya and more -- The Left Chapter Sunday Reading List November 12-19