El Paso Blood Is on the Hands of Everyone Who Has Scapegoated Migrants

Monday, August 5, 2019 Independent journalism has the power to spark real change -- but only with your help. [Donate Now →]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [El Paso Blood Is on the Hands of Everyone Who Has Scapegoated Migrants]( Spencer Sunshine, Truthout The slaughter of more than 20 people in El Paso, Texas, on Saturday was a horrifyingly predictable outcome of right-wing scapegoating that has seen both active and tacit encouragement from Trump and the GOP. We all need to take a role in the fight against the far right and its violence. It's abundantly clear that the government is not going to do this for us, especially given recent attempts to outlaw the grassroots antifascist movement that has helped keep white nationalists in check. [Read the Article →]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [Mass Shootings, Militarism and Policing Are Chapters in the Same Manifesto]( Derecka Purnell, Truthout After the mass shootings in Texas and Ohio this weekend, Rep. Steve Cohen tweeted, "You want to shoot an assault weapon? Go to Afghanistan or Iraq. Enlist!" Cohen, a Democrat from Tennessee, apparently merely wanted to redirect the shooter's bullets toward people of color outside of the United States. His tweet was a chilling reminder of how the U.S.'s militarism against other countries and its domestic manifestations of white supremacy replicate and reinforce each other. [Read the Article →]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [Grades Are Capitalism in Action. Let's Get Them Out of Our Schools.]( Richard D. Wolff, Truthout Grading has little educational payoff for students or their teachers, and while it may serve as a hiring tool, it has little to offer employers. Yet grading has become the most important aspect of education within our capitalist system because it is the primary means for teaching meritocracy. Without a meritocracy to redirect blame onto its victims, capitalism would likely collapse under the weight of its own failures. [Read the Article →]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [Mexico Plans Legal Action Against U.S. After Six Citizens Killed in El Paso]( Jake Johnson, Common Dreams After six Mexican nationals were killed in El Paso by a gunman authorities believe is the author of a racist and anti-immigrant manifesto, Mexico on Sunday said it is planning to take legal action against the United States for failing to protect its citizens. Mexico is investigating who is responsible for selling the weapon used and may try to extradite the suspected shooter. [Read the Article →]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [Revised Profit Data Are Good News But Don't Reverse Decades of Wage Stagnation]( Dean Baker, Truthout Revised profit data for 2018 from the U.S. Department of Commerce indicate workers are getting their share of the gains from GDP growth. This is welcome news that shows a tight labor market is working the way it is supposed to. But this doesn't mean everyone is doing great. You don't reverse four decades of wage stagnation with four relatively good years. [Read the Article →]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [Misogyny Drives Many Mass Shootings. Dayton Was No Exception.]( Amy Goodman, Democracy Now! Over the span of 13 hours, the U.S. was shaken by two mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio. While there is still no clear motive for the Dayton shooting, Alex Yablon, a reporter at The Trace, explains how the hatred of women may be a factor, as the suspected Ohio gunman whose sister was among those he killed, had a history of threatening women. [Watch the Video and Read the Transcript →]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [Puerto Rico's New Governor Helped Plunge the Island Into Crisis]( Abner Dennis, Eyes on the Ties As Pedro Pierluisi attempts to assume the governorship of Puerto Rico, many questions are swirling about the constitutionality of his appointment. Pierluisi's many conflicts of interest represent the continuity of all the corruption that his predecessor was implicated in, as his past as a lawyer and lobbyist links Pierluisi with the same corporate interests that fueled the country's indebtedness and austerity. [Read the Article →]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [Why Are Harmful Flame-Retardant Chemicals Still Showing Up in Children's Toys?]( Rachel Cernansky, Ensia More than a decade ago, U.S. manufacturers began to phase out a number of flame-retardant chemicals from furniture, electronics, textiles and other everyday items. Today, however, these chemicals continue to turn up, inadvertently making their way into our lives as hitchhikers in products made from recycled plastics that contain them. [Read the Article →]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [Trump's Is Not the First Administration to Slash Aid for Reproductive Health]( Gillian Kane, openDemocracy Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has distinguished himself by going after even the smallest human rights agencies that so much as whisper the word "abortion." But this line of executive activism predates Trump, and has been powered partly by a little-known but influential lobby group in Virginia that has fueled ultraconservative, anti-abortion campaigns for decades. [Read the Article →]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [No, Trump, More Dollars to the Defense Sector Don't Mean More Jobs]( Nia Harris, Cassandra Stimpson and Ben Freeman, TomDispatch Even before Donald Trump was sworn in as president, he was already insisting that military spending was a great jobs creator. He's only doubled down on this assertion during his presidency. However, the facts tell a different story: More taxpayer dollars invested in the defense sector actually mean fewer Americans employed. [Read the Article →]( --------------------------------------------------------------- In Case You Missed It --------------------------------------------------------------- [Should U.S. Public Schools Eliminate Homework?]( Eleanor J. Bader, Truthout While schools in Finland have reduced daily homework or eliminated it completely, U.S. public schools have increased the volume of homework over the last several decades -- sometimes by as much as 51 percent. Yet, Finland ranks third in educational achievement to the U.S.'s 21st. This has given rise to a debate in the educational community over whether homework actually reinforces classroom learning or just exacerbates student stress and anxiety. [Read the Article →]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [Trump Is Repackaging His Brand of Neoliberalism as Economic Nationalism]( Samantha Borek, Truthout Somehow, Trump has convinced his supporters that his economic policies are not just more U.S.-led corporate globalization. The U.S. has a long history of manipulating global markets for the benefit of the extremely wealthy, but where did it all begin? And how can we learn from that past and the current moment to save the planet and its population? T.J. Coles, author of Privatized Planet, answers these questions and describes the economically brutal ways in which the U.S. has always been a grand manipulator. [Read the Interview →]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Like what you're reading? Support Truthout's independent news and analysis by making an automatic monthly donation. [Donate Now →]( Connect With Us [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [Donate]( Truthout is a reader-supported, nonprofit organization; donations are tax-deductible. Truthout is a proud member of the Newspaper Guild/CWA, Local 36047. Please add messenger@truthout.org to ensure you receive our messages. [Subscribe]( | [Unsubscribe]( | [Privacy Policy](