This list covers the week of July 29 - August 5. It is generally in order of the date of the article's release.
There are several articles included from prior to the period. They have been incorporated into the post.
1) These six species are about to be sacrificed for the oil and gas industry
Jake Bullinger, The Guardian
Republican-led changes to the Endangered Species Act put plants and animals across America at risk. Here are the ones you should be most concerned about.
Read the full article.
2) Japan’s record-breaking heatwave declared natural disaster, 80 dead
Lorraine Chow, People's World
Hot, dry and fiery conditions are being seen by many parts of the globe right now. This includes Japan, where the nation’s meteorological agency just declared the extreme heat a “natural disaster.”
Read the full article.
3) Mainstream media obscures the truth about climate change from public eyes
Shane Quinn, The Morning Star
As the summer moves on, the world is literally burning under intense heat due to ever-worsening climate change, mainly as a result of government impotence under corporate sway.
Read the full article.
4) World's largest king penguin colony declines by almost 90 percent
Al Jazeera
The world's biggest colony of king penguins has dwindled by almost 90 percent in 30 years, a new research has said.
Read the full article.
5) Senegal's Sinking Villages
Al Jazeera
Doune Baba Dieye was once a vibrant fishing community on the Langue de Barbarie, a narrow, 30km peninsula that has protected the Senegalese port city of Saint-Louis from the Atlantic Ocean for centuries.
Read the full article.
6) As Climate Turns Deadly, Media Are Stuck in Denial
Sonali Kolhatkar, Truthdig
If you live in California, the effects of climate change loom large this summer. In Southern California, where I live, back-to-back heat waves have enveloped suburbs in triple-digit temperatures for weeks now. In Northern California, a fire that has burned more than 100,000 acres and claimed the lives of several people in Shasta County has been declared the seventh worst in the state’s history.
Read the full article.
7) How Record Heat Wreaked Havoc on Four Continents
Somini Sengupta, Tiffany May and Zia ur-Rehman, The New York Times
Expect more. That’s the verdict of climate scientists to the record-high temperatures this spring and summer in vastly different climate zones.
Read the full article.
8) The hottest rain on record
Al Jazeera
As the world waits to see if a new European temperature record will be set in Spain or Portugal on Saturday, another was broken in the US state of California.
Read the full article.
9) Ahed Tamimi Freed, Says Women Are Essential Part of Palestinian Cause
Telesur
Ahed Tamimi became a significant figure of the Palestinian resistance after standing up to Israeli forces who arrested her along with other family members.
Read the full article.
10) THE HOMECOMING
Alice Speri, The Intercept
As if anyone needed reminding, even on the day of her release from prison, Israeli authorities seemed to want to show Ahed Tamimi, her family, and her many supporters that they control Palestinian lives.
Read the full article.
11) Venezuela Lauds Ahed Tamimi Who Notes Maduro, Chavez Support
Telesur
Tamimi expressed gratitude to the government, and specifically President Nicolas Maduro, for unwavering support for Palestine.
Read the full article.
12) Chomsky: Russian Meddling in US Election 'Nothing Compared to Israel's
Telesur
In an interview with Democracy Now's Amy Goodman, Noam Chomsky accused the media of focusing "on issues which are pretty marginal.
Read the full article.
13) There is nothing compassionate about Minister MacLeod’s announcement: Ontario’s cuts to social assistance will hurt the most vulnerable in Ontario
ISAC
Minister MacLeod’s announcement to cut social assistance rates by 1.5 per cent will take approximately $150 million out of the hands of people who are among the most vulnerable in Ontario.
Read the full article.
14) Basic income recipients feel shock, betrayal at Ford government’s surprise move to cancel pilot program
Laurie Monsebraaten, The Star
People participating in Ontario’s basic income pilot project, who were beginning to breathe easier and plan for the future, are feeling betrayed after the Ford government pulled the plug Tuesday, just over a year into the three-year experiment.
Read the full article.
15) Toronto needs to stop acting like Doug Ford is someone else’s fault
John Michael McGrath, TVO
Jennifer Keesmaat launched her mayoral campaign with talk of “secession” — but if the city wants to leave Ontario, writes John Michael McGrath, it has to take Doug Ford in the divorce.
Read the full article.
16) Doug Ford brings the American culture wars to Canada
David Moscrop, The Washington Post
To look at him, you would not think that Ontario Premier Doug Ford was a warrior. He always seems to have a smile on this face. Or at least a grin. He seems to be pointing all the time — as though he sees you. On first glance, he disarms you. He comes off more Augustus Gloop than Caesar Augustus.
Read the full article.
17) COMMUNITY ACTIVIST HELEN KENNEDY RUNS FOR TDSB WARD 4 TRUSTEE
People's Voice
With Toronto’s municipal election less than three months away (October 22), a popular labour and community activist has thrown her hat into the ring as a candidate for School Trustee in Ward 4.
Read the full article.
18) Pakistan’s Ali Wazir: The lone Marxist to win despite Taliban killing 16 of his family
Farooq Tariq, The Print
A rare Communist to survive and win, Wazir refused a seat from Imran Khan, who later didn’t put up a candidate against him.
Read the full article.
19) Nine years on from the coup, we still need to stand up for Honduras
Chris Williamson, The Morning Star
It's now nine years since the US backed the military coup in Honduras which deposed the progressive democratic government of president Manuel Zelaya.
Read the full article.
20) Mexico: Violence, Corruption and Inequality — AMLO to the Rescue?
Michael Roberts, Socialist Project Bullet
The victory in Mexico’s presidential election of Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), under the rubric of his relatively new ‘progressive’ Morena party, is both unsurprising and surprising. It’s unsurprising because AMLO had a huge and increasing lead in the opinion polls leading up to polling day. And Mexico’s 88 million voters (out of 127 million people) have now given him the biggest win in post-war election history, with over 53 per cent of the vote. The candidates of the establishment parties were way behind. For the first time, the parties of the elite and the status quo were split over who should be their standard bearer. And the sheer anger and frustration at the state of Mexico’s economy and daily life for average citizens has swept AMLO into office.
Read the full article.
21) Republicans step up attacks on the poor
Josh Bivens, People's World
This week, congressional Republicans doubled down on their tax scam for the rich and corporations―introducing Tax Scam Round 2, which if passed, would be used as an excuse for further attacks on critical services.
Read the full article.
22) Trump Administration Eyes Capital Gains Tax Cut
Scott Horsley, NPR
The administration is studying a proposal to cut capital gains taxes, a move that would primarily benefit the wealthiest Americans.
Read the full article.
23) 200 Migrants Killed on US-Mexico Border in 2018, Trump Threatens Shutdown
Telesur
From January first to July 30th of this year 200 undocumented migrants have died in the routes crossing the Mexico-US border.
Read the full article.
24) A Look Back At Trayvon Martin's Death, And The Movement It Inspired
Karen Grigsby Bates, NPR
Most of us remember the broad outlines of the story: 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was followed, shot and killed by neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman in Sanford, Fla., on the night of Feb. 26, 2012.
Read the full article.
25) Canada’s richest families own as much wealth as 3 provinces combined: report
Erica Alini, Global News
Fewer than 90 families in Canada hold roughly as much wealth as what everyone living in Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island collectively owns.
Read the full article.
26) What does the new Cuban constitution mean for the island nation and its revolution?
Lauren Collins, The Morning Star
On June 2 this year, an extraordinary session of Cuba’s National Assembly (its parliament), created a commission to draw up an initial draft of a new constitution for the island nation which for 60 years has defied US efforts to end its revolution.
Read the full article.
27) Disneyland agrees to pay its workers $15 an hour
Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN
Unions representing nearly 10,000 Disneyland workers accepted Disney's three-year contract to raise starting hourly wages to $15 an hour beginning next year. The agreement ends a lengthy labor battle over pay at Disney's Anaheim resort.
Read the full article.
28) ‘We are Q’: A deranged conspiracy cult leaps from the Internet to the crowd at Trump’s ‘MAGA’ tour
Isaac Stanley-Becker, The Washington Post
The Newport Beach Police Department said recently it was looking into the presence of a man outside Michael Avenatti’s law office after a link to the lawyer’s website and images of his office building appeared in QAnon threads. This spring, armed members of Veterans on Patrol stumbled on a homeless camp and demanded that authorities investigate it as a site of child sex-trafficking, NBC reported. They later thanked QAnon followers for taking up their cause.
Read the full article.
29) Pope Francis Changes Catholic Church Teaching to Oppose Death Penalty, Declares it 'Inadmissible'
Telesur
The Roman Catholic Church formally changed its stance on the death penalty Thursday making it inadmissible in all circumstances, a move that is likely to be viewed askance in countries where capital punishment is legal.
Read the full article.
30) THE STORY OF THE ‘LARGEST URBAN EVICTION CAMPAIGN’ IN CANADA
Vanmala Subramaniam, Vice
A tiny cockroach scurries along the mouldy crevice of an unwashed kitchen counter, almost barging into a pile of raw meat, cubed, and ready to cook. It’s headed in the direction of the clogged kitchen sink, half-filled with water that has a murky yellow colour to it. In the living room, an 18-year-old disabled girl lies on a mobile bed, smiling and laughing when she sees her father enter the house. It’s hot in Jamale Hussein’s house — with no ceiling fans or central air-conditioning, there’s little respite from the sweltering July heat of Canada’s capital city.
Read the full article.
31) ‘They have nothing’: How a $20 tip cost an immigrant her Dulles job and severed a lifeline to Sierra Leone
Theresa Vargas, The Washington Post
The tip that led to her firing she said came from a couple from Saudi Arabia flying first class. She said her managers never spoke to them or they would have known that the only discussion that occurred about money took place between the couple and in Arabic. Jalloh said she and another wheelchair worker had taken the couple to where they needed to go and once they stopped, the man pulled out a $20 bill for them to split. Jalloh said she would have been grateful for that amount but that the man’s wife then said something to him in Arabic, and he pulled out two $20 bills, one for each worker.
Read the full article.
32) Hamilton's homeless campers told to pack up, get out but say there's nowhere to go
Dan Taekema · CBC News
Billy Case and his girlfriend AJ sorted through a pile of everything they own Thursday afternoon, deciding what they'll be able to carry on their backs and what they'll have to leave behind.
Read the full article.
33) Revolutionary rallying cry for tenant rights in Hamilton
Teviah Moro, The Hamilton Spectator
In a brewing battle over affordable housing, four apartment towers in Stoney Creek are at the centre of a new brand of activism that involves people of all ages, backgrounds and political stripes.
Read the full article.
34) Socialism on the Rise as Americans Seek Out Bold, Humane Alternatives to the Brutality of Trump and Capitalism
Jake Johnson, Common Dreams
The thousands of democratic socialists in the United States who have been organizing and fighting for justice in political obscurity for years likely never thought their ideas would be the subject of heated debates on prominent talk-shows like "The View" or feature pieces in such establishment mainstays as PBS and NPR.
Read the full article.
35) Transit Union Refuses to Bring White Nationalists to 'Unite the Right' Rally
Erin Corbett, Fortune
Washington D.C.’s metro rail system is considering providing separate trains for white nationalists attending the so-called “Unite the Right” rally next weekend, according to the Washington Post. The rally, taking place at the National Mall, will be held on the anniversary of last year’s deadly events in Charlottesville, Va.
Read the full article.
36) Unfounded rates start to fall in cities across Canada
Robyn Doolittle, The Globe and Mail
North Bay is a city of about 59,000 people in northern Ontario that, until a few years ago, had one of the worst sexual assault unfounded rates in the country at 44 per cent.
Read the full article.
37) Women in South Africa are marching against gender violence with #TotalShutdown protest
Damilola Odufuwa, CNN
Women in various parts of South Africa have taken to the streets to protest the increasing levels of gender-based violence in the country.
Read the full article.
38) This is what the life of an incel looks like
Elle Reeve, Vice
Joey’s studio apartment has one huge window with the blinds drawn, a bed with a mattress pad but no sheets, and a laptop. He almost never leaves. He spends all day chatting online, smoking Newports, sometimes going for two days straight. The blinds are drawn to cut down on the glare on the laptop. "Honestly I feel more real here, sitting in front of a computer. When I go outside I almost depersonalize a little bit and feel like I'm playing a video game,” Joey said. “I don't know why that is. It's just a state of mind. It's probably just a side effect of isolation.”
Read the full article.
39) 500-strong Barcelona rally for a 'socialist Catalan republic'
Socialist World
Over 500 people attended the international rally organised by Esquerra Revolucionaria (CWI in Catalonia), on 17 July, in defence of a Catalan Republic of workers and youth.
Read the full article.
40) NRA Says It Faces A Financial Crisis In Lawsuit Against New York State Officials
Shannon Van Sant and Brian Mann, NPR
The National Rifle Association says it could soon face a financial crisis that will force it to shut down some of its operations, including broadcasts by its NRA TV division. The gun rights group blames a campaign by Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo aimed at discouraging insurance companies and other financial institutions from doing business with the NRA.
Read the full article.
41) Maduro Survives Drone Attack, Says Suspects Captured
Telesur
"They have tried to assassinate me today, and everything points to the Venezuelan ultra-right and the Colombian ultra-right," President Nicolas Maduro said.
Read the full article.
42) Africa: Revolutionary Intellectuals 'Inspired By Latin America'
Andre Vitchek, Telesur
Africa is bleeding, but slowly waking up, trying to move forward. There is no doubt that the momentum is building, writes Andre Vitchek.
Read the full article.
43) Brazil party names jailed leader as presidential nominee
The Globe and Mail
The Workers’ Party in Brazil named jailed former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Saturday as its nominee for the country’s top job.
Read the full article.
See also: Doug Ford, the Toronto Sun, European Austerity, Ahed Tamimi & more -- The Left Chapter Sunday Reading List July 22 - 29
