This list covers the week of September 16 - 23.
There are several articles from prior to the period that have been incorporated into the post.
1) General Strike Mobilizes Costa Rica
Elena Zeledón, Left Voice
The strike has led to Costa Rica’s largest mobilizations in years, and it has left the government isolated and on the defensive, even from its own supporters in the National Assembly.
2) Venezuela, China Sign Security, Energy, and Finance Agreements
Telesur
China and Venezuela signed 28 bilateral strategic cooperation agreements in the areas of oil, mining, security, technology, finance, and health during the closing ceremony of the XVI High-level Diversified Commission meeting in Beijing Friday.
3) The Underbelly of the Sex-Trade Industry
Amelia Tiganus, Truthdig
When I was 17, I was sold by a Romanian pimp to a Spanish pimp for 300 pounds [roughly $350]. But the total debt I was told I owed my new pimp was 3,000 pounds, after he had bought me and paid for my travel, documentation, clothes and the “facilities” that they put me in. Like many Romanian girls, I was totally vulnerable, not only because of economic poverty but also because of social exclusion, and being stigmatized for suffering multiple rapes at the age of 13.
4) Michael Gove refuses to condemn Viktor Orban amid row over Tory MEPs backing far-right Hungarian leader
Mikey Smith, The Daily Mirror
It follows claims MEPs backed Orban in the European Parliament because he will be helpful to Britain in Brexit negotiations.
5) The United States Was Responsible for the 1982 Massacre of Palestinians in Beirut
Rashid Khalidi, The Nation
Washington had explicitly guaranteed their safety—and recently declassified documents reveal that US diplomats were told by the Israelis what they and their allies might be up to.
6) 'Why were they killed?': Saudi-UAE attack hits children in Yemen
Al Jazeera
At least two children were killed in raids on Saada province as UN special envoy arrives in Sanaa for peace talks.
7) Politicians, Organizations Reject Almagro's Threatening Military Intervention In Venezuela
Telesur
Organizations and political leaders are rejecting statements by the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro, for inciting military intervention in Venezuela.
Telesur
The Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro warned that the "conspiracy" against his government "remains underway with the support of the United States", during a press conference Tuesday less than a day after he returned from an official visit in China.
Daniel Finn
Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party have been subjected to an outrageous campaign of scurrilous smears.
T. J. Coles, Counterfire
History shows that the deep state will always mobilise all its resources against even a relatively moderate left-reformist like Corbyn
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| Via Facebook |
11) California professor, writer of confidential Brett Kavanaugh letter, speaks out about her allegation of sexual assault
Emma Brown, The Washington Post
Earlier this summer, Christine Blasey Ford wrote a confidential letter to a senior Democratic lawmaker alleging that Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her more than three decades ago, when they were high school students in suburban Maryland. Since Wednesday, she has watched as that bare-bones version of her story became public without her name or her consent, drawing a blanket denial from Kavanaugh and roiling a nomination that just days ago seemed all but certain to succeed.
12) Kavanaugh And Accuser To Testify Publicly Before Senators Next Week
Scott Horsley, NPR
Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and the woman accusing him of sexual assault more than three decades ago, Christine Blasey Ford, will both testify publicly before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Sept. 24. The committee was supposed to vote on the nomination this Thursday but faced pressure after Ford went public with her allegation over the weekend.
13) Republican men — and not a single GOP woman — will be Christine Blasey Ford's interrogators on the Senate Judiciary Committee
Alexander Nazaryan, Yahoo News
That has some wondering whether the hearing will go through — and, if it does, how hard 11 men will work to discredit a single woman.
14) Kavanaugh’s accuser had to move out of her home after getting death threats
David Gilbert, Vice News
Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh won’t have to face the woman who accused him of sexual assault just yet.
15) The Brett Kavanaugh case shows we still blame women for the sins of men
Rebecca Solnit, The Guardian
We have been here before. We have been here over and over in an endless, Groundhog Day loop about how rape and sexual abuse happen: offering the same explanations, hearing the same kind of stories from wave after wave of survivors, hearing the same excuses and refusals to comprehend from people who are not so sure that women are endowed with inalienable rights and matter as much as men – or, categorically, have as much credibility. We are, with the case of Brett Kavanaugh, Donald Trump’s nominee for the US supreme court, who has been accused of sexual assault, revisiting ground worn down from years of pacing. Kavanaugh denies Christine Blasey Ford’s allegation that he forcibly held her down and assaulted her when both were at high school. We have only the accounts of the participants, and these, it seems, will always contradict each other. The allegation and the denial put us back in a familiar scenario.
16) After the Kavanaugh Allegations, Republicans Offer a Shocking Defense: Sexual Assault Isn’t a Big Deal
Jia Tolentino, The New Yorker
Ever since the professor Christine Blasey Ford revealed that she was the woman who had accused the Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault, in a previously confidential letter, the conservative attempt to protect Kavanaugh from her story has been, to put it mildly, forceful. Ford claims that, in the early nineteen-eighties, when they were both attending prestigious private high schools in suburban Maryland, Kavanaugh attempted to rape her at a party. Republicans have framed this story as a craven act of character assassination rather than an account worth investigating before Kavanaugh receives a lifetime appointment to make pivotal decisions about the future of the nation—including decisions about, for example, the options that will be available to women if they get pregnant after being raped.
17) Spokesman for GOP on Kavanaugh nomination resigns; has been accused of harassment in the past
Heidi Przybyla, NBC News
An adviser for the Senate Judiciary Committee has resigned amid questions from NBC News about a previous sexual harassment complaint.
18) Court Employees Ready To Come Forward About Brett Kavanaugh, But Fear Retaliation
Steph Bazzle, The Hill Reporter
Brett Kavanaugh is Donald Trump’s pick for the SCOTUS seat vacated by Justice Anthony Kennedy, and he’s increasingly surrounded by controversy. After a woman who says Kavanaugh attempted to rape her in high school came forward to share her story, an attorney is sharing a letter he says he sent to Senators in July, letting them know that federal court employees also have concerns.
19) Jian Ghomeshi Doesn’t Deserve Anyone’s Pity
Manisha Krishnan, Vice News
Life has seemingly been hard for disgraced former CBC host Jian Ghomeshi since he was publicly accused of abusing at least 23 women and fired from his job.
20) Fact-Checking Jian Ghomeshi’s Comeback Attempt
Jesse Brown, Canadaland
Had The New York Review of Books bothered to look into Ghomeshi's claims before publishing his essay, this is what they would have learned.
21) Freddie Oversteegen, Dutch resistance fighter who killed Nazis through seduction, dies at 92
Harrison Smith, The Washington Post
She was 14 when she joined the Dutch resistance, though with her long, dark hair in braids she looked at least two years younger.
Victor Jara was killed at the age 40, but his trove of music and poetry along with his tragic destiny has made him into a celebrated symbol against the brutality faced by those judged persona non grata by the Pinochet regime.
22) Argentina: 10,600 Public Workers Let Go in Just Two Months
Telesur
A new report shows that since President Mauricio Macri took office in late 2015 over 33,700 state workers have been laid off. Unemployment rose 2.6 points.
23) Unionized Canada Line janitors lose jobs as new company gets cleaning contract
Carlito Pablo, The Georgia Straight
It’s the end of the line for 50 janitors belonging to Local 2 of the Service Employees International Union.
24) Davos For Fascists
Brendan O’Connor, The Nation
Last weekend, at an airport hotel in St. Louis, Missouri, hundreds of aging Caucasian conservatives gathered for a three-day long conference attended predominantly by Republican white supremacists, conspiracy theorists, and European neofascists. The event was co-organized by Phyllis Schlafly’s Eagle Forum—a militantly anti-feminist, anti-choice, paleoconservative organization founded in 1972—and The Gateway Pundit, a far-right blog that peddled so many anti-Clinton hoaxes during the 2016 election that it obtained a White House credential.
25) German Holocaust Controversy Reveals Brazil's Growing Alt-Right
Telesur
Brazil has a long history of German migration that dates back to the 19th century. Many Nazis fled to southern Brazil and other South American countries after World War II, including Josef Mengele of Auschwitz notoriety.
26) Murder Trial of Berta Caceres Suspended in Honduras
Telesur
The first trial for the murder of Honduran Indigenous activist Berta Caceres was suspended on Monday in Tegucigalpa. Caceres was assassinated on Mar. 2, 2016 in La Esperanza in western Honduras, after battling for years to stop the construction of an internationally-financed hydroelectric dam on the Gualcarque River which the Lenca people consider sacred.
27) The Number Of Workers Wanting To Join Unions Is The Highest In 40 Years
Sahid Fawaz, Labor 411
More and more non-union workers want to belong to a union.
28) 'Dumbest Policy in the World': Report Details How Canada's Massive Fossil Fuel Subsidies Undermine Climate Action
Jessica Corbett, Common Dreams
Working to curb emissions while using public funds to subsidize oil and gas industry "is like trying to bail water out of a leaky boat"
29) I worked in an Amazon warehouse. Bernie Sanders is right to target them
James Bloodworth, The Guardian
In some US states, nearly one in three Amazon workers are on food stamps. Sanders would rightly tax companies whose employees require federal benefits.
30) The dangers of not vaccinating are horrifying and graphic. Government warnings must show that
Jason Chung and Sabrina Jeanty · CBC News ·
Canada has managed to find the most predictable and mundane way to deal with a burgeoning public health crisis.
31) ‘Tied to trees and raped’: UN report details Rohingya horrors
Michael Safi, The Guardian
UN investigators publish report detailing evidence for accusation of genocide against Burmese military.
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| Via Appalachia Revolt on Facebook |
32) Sexual violence and non-consensual sex rising due to porn, finds survey
Simon Collins, NZ Herald
Rape culture and sexual violence may be gaining ground in New Zealand because of pornography, a new survey has found.
33) Ontario’s appeal court sides with Ford government, paves way for 25-ward Toronto election
Nick Westoll and David Shum, Global News
The Court of Appeal for Ontario has granted the province’s request to stay a lower court judge’s decision that set aside a law slashing the size of Toronto city council.
34) UN chief: World has less than 2 years to avoid ‘runaway climate change'
Aris Folley, The Hill
António Guterres, the United Nations secretary general, told global leaders this week that the world has less than two years to avoid “runaway climate change.”
35) SQ officers ignore repeated calls to remove 'solidarity' symbol from vests
Catou MacKinnon · CBC News
Indigenous leaders, inquiry witnesses call red band worn by SQ officers ‘intimidation and provocation’.
36) Voter fraud isn’t real. Voter suppression is
Denise Balkissoon, The Globe and Mail
“You just keep saying voter fraud, voter fraud, voter fraud, voter fraud, rampant voter fraud, voter fraud – until it sounds like the truth.” That, said professor Carol Anderson, is how politicians get away with introducing restrictions aimed at stifling certain voters.
37) 5 ways Puerto Rico is forever changed by Hurricane Maria
Alex Lubben, Vice News
A week before the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rican police found millions of water bottles that were never delivered to survivors at an airstrip near the island’s east coast. The discovery raised, yet again, the question of whether authorities responded to the disaster effectively.
38) Palestinian Poet Dareen Tatour Released From Israeli Prison
Telesur
Palestinian poet Dareen Tatour was released early on Thursday after serving a month and a half in an Israeli prison over posting a resistance poem on social media in 2016. She was accused of 'incitement to violence' and 'supporting terror' through her social media posts.
39) Rural postal carriers to get big pay hike
Terry Pedwell, The Canadian Press
Rural and suburban postal workers across Canada celebrated Thursday after an arbitrator ordered Canada Post to pay them more — much more — as part of a long-awaited pay equity decision.
40) Jordan Peterson Threatened to Sue a Critic for Calling Him a Misogynist
Irin Carmon, The Cut
Best-selling author Jordan Peterson first shot to fame by styling himself as a free-speech warrior at the University of Toronto, where he teaches psychology. Objecting to trans people’s requests that he use their preferred pronouns, Peterson said in 2016, “I don’t recognize another person’s right to determine what pronouns I use to address them.” Later, he told the BBC, “I’ve studied authoritarianism for a very long time — for 40 years — and they’re [sic] started by people’s attempts to control the ideological and linguistic territory.”
41) Lengthy labour dispute in Newfoundland offers refresher course in picket-line reality
Jim Stanford, The Globe and Mail
Union work stoppages have become quite rare in Canada. In the current decade, strikes and lockouts have accounted for less than one-30th of 1 per cent of all working time – down more than 90 per cent from the strike-prone 1970s. The year 2016 set a new postwar low: just 631,870 days lost, breaking the previous record set in 1960 (even though today’s work force is more than /three times bigger). And more of those disputes these days are lockouts – when employers stop production until the workers concede – rather than strikes, when unions take the lead.
42) Ontario students walk out of class to protest sex-ed curriculum changes
Nicole Thompson · The Canadian Press
Students across Ontario walked out of class on Friday to protest the provincial government's decision to repeal a modernized version of the sex-ed curriculum.
43) Now Israel Has a Race Law
Gideon Levy, Haaretz
From now on by court decree, two types of blood exist in Israel: Jewish blood and non-Jewish blood.
On this day, 21 September 1976, Chilean socialist refugee Orlando Letelier and think tank worker Ronni Moffitt were murdered in Washington DC by a car bomb planted by Pinochet's secret police. The killings by agents of the US-backed dictator General Pinochet were part of Operation Condor, a Latin American anti-communist program supported by the US which killed up to 60,000 working class militants, socialists and anarchists.
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| Via Working Class History on Facebook |
44) Windrush generation members to be refused UK citizenship, government announces
May Bulman, The Independent
Critics say it is 'scandalous' that Home Office should subject Windrush citizens to conditions other British citizens are not and raise concerns around absence of appeals process.
45) ICE is arresting immigrant kids’ sponsors because they are also undocumented
Tess Owen, Vice News
The Trump administration has been arresting dozens of undocumented individuals who offer to host immigrant children. And a significant number of those arrests were for immigration violations rather than criminal activity.
46) Chile Convicts 20 Pinochet-Era Intelligence Agents for Role in Operation Condor
Telesur
The former agents were found responsible for the kidnapping, torturing, murdering and disappearing 12 civilians.
47) A man was ignored to death in an ER 10 years ago. It could happen again.
Jane Gerster, Global News
“Brian Sinclair died because he was Indigenous,” Lavallee says, “full stop.”
48) Doug Ford Caught Posing for Photo With White Supremacist Sympathizer Faith Goldy
North 99
Well-known Canadian alt-right and white supremacist sympathizer Faith Goldy was caught posing for a photograph Premier Doug Ford during Ford Nation, Doug Ford’s annual community event.
See also: Notwithstanding, Indian Protests, Tesla & more -- The Week in News, Opinion and Videos September 9 - 16
