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Jahangir & Wells, Tolerant Islam

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Muslim bigotry
A woman gives a thumbs-down as she takes part in a protest against LGBTQ+ Pride in Ottawa, June 9, 2023. Photo by THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick.

Muslims protesting against LGBTQ+ pride are ignoring Islam’s tradition of inclusion

by Junaid B. Jahangir, MacEwan University and Kristopher Wells, MacEwan University

Each summer, Pride is celebrated across the world in support of LGBTQ+ inclusion, diversity and human rights. Given the recent backlash against LGBTQ+ communities in Canada and elsewhere, Pride is more important than ever to promote visibility and challenge discrimination.

In recent months, some Muslim communities in Canada and the United States have protested against LGBTQ+ inclusion. Socially conservative Muslims have criticized what they see as growing LGBTQ+ “indoctrination” in schools and society more broadly.

In Michigan, a Muslim majority city council banned Pride flags from being flown on city property. In Ottawa, young children at an anti-LGBTQ+ protest stomped on Pride flags.

Similar protests also took place in Calgary and Edmonton, where one teacher was surreptitiously recorded lecturing Muslim students about skipping school as part of a national protest movement against Pride month activities. The National Council of Canadian Muslims cited the teacher’s comments as Islamophobic.

Kids stomp on pride flags.Children step on Pride flags during a protest against Pride in Ottawa, June 9, 2023.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Pride and protest

This year the Christian anti-abortion group Campaign Life Coalition, organized a National Pride Flag Walk-Out Day on June 1 designed to target Pride month celebrations in public schools. The walk-out protests were also supported by a series of “pray-ins” held at Catholic school boards and dioceses across Canada.

Given their vast financial resources and faith networks, Christian evangelicals have redoubled their efforts targeting LGBTQ+ communities, which have been buoyed by recent political lobbying successes in Uganda, which saw the government pass some of the harshest anti-LGBTQ+ laws in the world.

In Canada, conservative religious groups are also trying to take over school boards by having candidates run in elections under the guise of “parent voice” and anti-LGBTQ+ platforms.

Much of this rhetoric is couched within language about parental rights and protecting kids, which is inherently premised on the belief that teaching about LGBTQ+ identities is wrong.

These tactics are not new but harken back to the days of gay rights opponents like Anita Bryant. Her 1970s “Save Our Children” campaign sought to roll back anti-discrimination laws and prohibit gay and lesbian people from teaching in schools or working in public services.

These campaigns branded gay and lesbian communities as pedophiles who posed a direct threat to the moral fabric of society and helped launch the careers of noted homophobic televangelists such as Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Jimmy Swaggart and others.

Today’s right-wing talk show pundits and politicians use similar language and tropes that link LGBTQ+ identities with odious terms like “groomer.” What’s old is new again, but with a twist in logic and strange new alliances.

Building new coalitions

Seeking to build new coalitions of support, far-right evangelicals have been courting conservative Muslims to jump on their homophobic bandwagon against LGBTQ+ rights and inclusion.

Sadly, some conservative Muslim leaders are now fanning the flames of hatred against sexual and gender minorities. For example, some conservative imams and Muslim think tanks have latched onto similar narratives about the moral decay of Western societies and the dangers of Pride movements. They warn against allying with the “progressive left” and against supporting LGBTQ+ equality.

A person in a green shirt holds a paper that reads: hate is not holy.A counter-protester carries a sign confronting a protest against Pride in Ottawa, June 9, 2023.
CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick.

Muslim accommodation of gender diversity

Muslim societies have historically accepted gender diversity. Even today, despite societal discrimination, there exists a variety of diverse gender identities like the hijras of South Asia and the khanith of the Middle East.

In South Asia, multiple gender identities such as the zenana, chava, kothi and so on exist. On the Sulawesi Island of Indonesia there is also recognition of multiple gender traditions.

There is also Islamic scholarship on the accommodation of gender and sexual minorities in Islam. This includes work by one of us (Junaid B. Jahangir) on the issue of Muslim same-sex relationships. This research offers an invitation to traditionally trained Muslim scholars to revisit the issue with a renewed perspective.

Moreover, this scholarly work builds on the seminal contributions of researchers like Islamic studies scholar Scott Kugle and writer Samar Habib.

In addition, gender identities are well recognized in Islamic jurisprudence. The mukhannathūn (effeminate men) of Medina inhabited the social space during the time of the Prophet. Muslim jurists derived laws of inheritance, funeral and prayer for the khuntha mushkil (indeterminate gender) individuals.

Traditional Islamic texts offered such individuals prayer space between the rows of men and women. The Encyclopedia of Islamic Jurisprudence documents rulings on the marriage of such persons.

In 2016, a group of clerics in Pakistan issued religious edicts permitting third-gender individuals to marry.

There have also been edicts permitting gender reassignment surgery issued from the highest bodies of both Sunni and Shia Islam.

However, allowance of gender reassignment surgery does not automatically translate into acceptance. For instance, while Iran is deemed as “the global leader for sex change,” it remains heavily opposed to LGBTQ+ rights.

Trans women, some wearing hijabs, sit around a table reading from copies of the Quran.
Trans women attend a Quran reading class in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, Nov. 6, 2022. Muslim societies have historically accepted gender diversity. AP Photo/Dita Alangkara.

Avoiding the anti-LGBTQ+ bandwagon

Nonetheless, when Muslim groups in Western democracies jump on the anti-LGBTQ+ bandwagon, they act against the longstanding accommodation of sexual and gender diversity in their own tradition.

Our main worry is for LGBTQ+ Muslim youth who may be isolated without support from their families and communities. Thankfully, there are Muslim community groups providing important sexual health education which embraces Islamic laws and traditions.

This community education is especially important when youth struggle with their sexuality and gender in an environment where they cannot be open about their identities. Muslim leaders like the late Maher Hathout acknowledged and offered a compassionate view on Muslims struggling to reconcile sexual and religious identities.

Islamic teachings on sexual and gender diversity are far more diverse than what many conservative groups would like us to believe. Discrimination based on religious dogma undermines and threatens the individual freedoms essential to secular and democratic societies. Building more inclusive societies means we must all challenge prejudice and hate from both within and outside our communities.The Conversation

Junaid B. Jahangir, Associate Professor, Economics, MacEwan University and Kristopher Wells, Associate Professor, Faculty of Health and Community Studies, MacEwan University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

 

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Editorials: Coalition talks; and Standing by if needed

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ironic
How much weight should Panamanian voters give to Uncle Sam’s preferences? Panama has been formally decolonized since 1979, even if Washington and some of its emissaries seem to ignore that fact. It’s a choice for Panamanians, not anybody else. Archive photo of a slate arranged at the US Ambassador’s Residence. Both members of that 2009 ticket are now barred from the USA for alleged corruption.

Now that primary season is over and alliance talks are on…

Former Panama City mayor José Isabel Blandón did well enough in his primary to negotiate on a level with former foreign Minister Rómulo Alberto Roux. But would those two guys be enough? Or would voters say “ENOUGH!” and decide that, opposition or not, more establishment politics won’t suffice?

What if alliance talks got down to everybody who is neither PRD nor Martinelista? There are many problems with that, but two big ones for starters:

1. Will Ricardo Alberto Martinelli Berrocal even be on the ballot for a “Stop __________ pitch?
2. Who is PRD? Would those seeking an alliance want to talk to Martín Torrijos Espino, or Zuly Rodríguez Lu?

There is a palpable sense that people want change, not just a smiley face on what we have now. All contenders are likely to say that we need a new constitution – but a basic charter that says what? Everybody’s against inflation and crime – but how?

Plus, how much to the left, and how much to the right, and how deep into the grass roots, should a broad national alliance for change reach to get a national consensus? There will be people and factions saying with varying justifications that “If SHE is in it, I’m not.”

Some talks are in order, and not based on the pecking order of the 2019 runners-up results. A good starting point is for interested people – not just the usual power brokers, maybe not even including them at all – to speak up about what they, what WE want this nation to do next. Forget the chicken in every pot stuff for just a moment, and think about what kind of society, with which sort of economy, we want to be. Think of projects to inspire a nation, not necessarily to attract hypothetical foreign investors. Agreement on those sorts of things would be the basis for a worthy coalition.

 

As people on the left and right taunt Joe Biden for senior moments…

The USA has a pretty good insurance policy in case of surprises from the actuarial table.

Kamala Harris is a different person than Joe Biden, but well qualified to step up to his podium and sit at his Oval Office desk if need be.

 

Indira Gandhi portrait in the Dutch National Archives.

You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist.

Indira Gandhi

Bear in mind…

If knowledge can create problems, it is not through ignorance that we can solve them.

Isaac Asimov

It is better to die on your feet than live on your knees.

Emiliano Zapata

Readers are plentiful; thinkers are rare.

Harriet Martineau

 

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Hill, The Ukraine War: innocents caught in the middle on both sides

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OUCH!!!
Fuel tanks burn after a shelling Russian officials said was conducted by Ukrainian forces at a fuel depot in Makiivka in Russian-controlled Donetsk region on July 5, 2023. AP photo by Alexei Alexandrov.

There are civilian casualties on both sides
of the front lines in the war in Ukraine

by Alexander Hill, University of Calgary

Western news sources regularly report on civilian deaths on the Ukrainian side of the front lines of the war in Ukraine. But what about civilian deaths on the Russian side?

In May 2023, the United Nations reported 8,791 civilians have died and 14,815 have been injured in Ukraine since February 2022. Of those, 1,971 have been killed and 2,636 injured on territory occupied by the Russian Federation.

Western news outlets have tended to only provide details on a regular basis of those casualties suffered on the Ukrainian side of the front line. Exceptions to this — when the western media has widely reported on casualties behind Russian lines — have largely been when Russian forces have been accused of atrocities.

As Ukraine began an offensive against Russian forces in the fall of 2022, instances of civilian deaths resulting from Ukrainian missiles, rockets, drones, artillery and small arms fire on Russian-held territory inevitably increased.

Just as western news sources regularly report on deaths from missile, drone and artillery attacks on Ukrainian-held territory, Russian news outlets frequently report deaths and injuries on Russian-held territory.

A recent example is when the Russian news agency TASS and other Russian outlets reported one death and tens of injuries after Ukrainian forces shelled what Russians call Makeevka — Makiivka in Ukrainian — in the Donetsk region in July 2023. Some western news outlets didn’t report on the attack at all.

Civilian casualties prior to 2022

The war in Ukraine precedes February 2022, so statistics amassed since then aren’t telling the whole story of the conflict.

In the West, the war is largely perceived to have begun in February 2022 when Vladimir Putin’s government launched what it described as a “special military operation” and invaded Ukraine. But for all intents and purposes, the war has been going on since 2014.

Early that year, the pro-Russian democratically elected government of President Viktor Yanukovych was overthrown in a far from bloodless coup. That event has been described as a revolution by the current Ukrainian government.

Men in helmets and battle fatigues stand in front of a government building.Protesters stand guard in front of the parliament building in central Kyiv, Ukraine, in February 2014 as the country’s embattled president Viktor Yanukovych complained of an ongoing coup. He later fled Ukraine for Russia. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

In response, regions in eastern Ukraine — where pro-Russian sentiment is the strongest — saw separatists seize control with scant Russian assistance. These separatists were soon fighting against Ukrainian forces as Russian support began to increase.

According to the Russian government’s Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, more than 2,600 civilians died and at least 5,500 were wounded in fighting in the separatist regions of Ukraine as of February 2022. Many of them were killed or wounded by Ukrainian forces seeking to crush the separatists.

These figures are supported by data from the West. In January 2022, the United Nations recorded 3,106 conflict-related civilian deaths and as many as 7,000 wounded in fighting in Ukraine up to that point. During that period, most of the fighting was over separatist-controlled territory.

Growing threats to civilians

As Ukraine is increasingly provided with long-range weapons by the West, the potential for civilian casualties as a result of Ukrainian missile and long-range artillery attacks has increased.

While many of these weapons have good accuracy, they nonetheless are too often fired by both sides on the basis of inaccurate or flawed intelligence.

Even after the fighting has moved on from a particular area, the war leaves behind a legacy of unexploded munitions. These can range from unexploded bombs and artillery shells to mines.

In October 2022, for example, the government of the Donetsk People’s Republic reported that combat engineers had destroyed more than 20,000 “Lepestok” or “butterfly” mines on its territory. Western sources have suggested that both Ukraine and Russia have been using anti-personnel mines.

A roadside sign says Stop! Mines! in Ukrainian
A poster reading ‘Stop! Mines!’ stands near the city of Kramatorsk in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine in June 2014. (AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky)

Cluster munitions are another particular threat to civilians long after the fighting has moved on from a given area. There have been reports of both the Russians and Ukrainians using cluster bombs to date. Neither Russia nor Ukraine is a signatory to the Convention on Cluster Munitions banning their use.

Cluster bomb use likely to increase

The United States — also not a signatory to the convention — has recently decided to provide Ukraine with cluster munitions from its own stocks. That decision can only increase their use by both Ukraine and Russia, meaning that civilians on both sides of the front line will inevitably fall victim to unexploded munitions over time.

The United States claims the munitions it plans to provide Ukraine will leave behind no more than three per cent of the munitions unexploded. Even if this is accurate — which is unlikely — the immediate effect of this decision “will be to knock away much of the moral ground Washington sits on in this war,” according to one BBC report. The longer-term impact will be more civilian deaths and maiming.

A man behind bags of sand.
A man enters a shelter near Novomykolaivka, eastern Ukraine. Work on large farms in the area had halted because the fields and buildings have been hit so many times by mortars, rockets, missiles and cluster bombs that farmers are unable to sow the crater-scarred land or harvest any crops. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Since 2014 in Ukraine, at least 12,000 civilians have been killed and 22,000 wounded. Those figures continue to increase on both sides of the front line.

Claiming the moral high ground in any war isn’t just about justifying a war effort — it’s also about how a war is fought.

Civilian casualties in war are unavoidable but can be mitigated. Both Ukraine and Russia, sadly but inevitably, have plenty of civilian blood on their hands.The Conversation

Alexander Hill, Professor of Military History, University of Calgary

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

 

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Jackson, What to do about a state-acquired media asset?

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Critica Tweet
From La Critica’s Twitter feed, a forwarded thing.
It’s not like EPASA isn’t already crudely partisan.

EPASA, a degraded but valuable public asset

By Eric Jackson

Olimpo Sáez, witing in an op-ed published in El Siglo today, gets into the matter of what should happen to the EPASA publishing house in the wake of criminal convictions in the New Business case that establish that it was stolen property. He raises good questions and suggests reasonable answers.

Mr. Sáez and I have different politics – he’s a liberal and I’m a democratic socialist. I could review his life as a political activist and find nits and arguments to pick. He could do the same with respect to me. Would the Pope take such an argument as proof positive that neither of us qualify for sainthood? Perhaps it’s a good thing that neither of us are running for that. He takes out his liberalism within the context of MOLIRENA – the Nationalist Republican Liberal Movement – which traces winding roots back to the Colombian-era Liberals of Belisario Porras et al. I take out my democratic socialism wearing my Panamanian citizen and voter hat as an independent, and as a US citizen and voter as a Democrat – one who, once upon a time, got my hippie head shaven by Doug Harvey’s boys, the deputies of a Democrtatic Washtenaw County, Michigan sheriff. Long and complicated story, for each individual and each party.

Notwithstanding all of that, and notwithstanding that he serves as a diplomat in a PRD administration that’s backing whom I consider a ridiculous man as its preferred successor, I consider Olimpo Sáez one of the good guys in Panamanian politics. Regardless of what he might think of me.

(Panamanian politics has this way of bad governments using good people, and of the best of those walking away after their public service with their heads rightfully held high. So let me not play guilt by association games about a MOLIRENA man serving in a coalition government with the PRD, nor about the most prominent elected official in his party being the religious rightist Corina Cano. Take Sáez for who he is, and what he writes on its merits.)

Back to the opinion column in question. Sáez suggests that now that Judge Marquínez has declared that the shares of EPASA are government property by virtue of being purchased with stolen government funds, and if the appeals to overturn that verdict come and go with the ruling intact, the company should be turned over to the Ministry of Education or the Ministry of Culture and its excellent printing plant be used to:

  1. Print, for free distribution to students, all of the Panamanian public schools’ primary and secondary level textbooks; and
  2. Become a publishing house for Panamanian writers.

Both very good ideas, I think.

Meanwhile, national and international journalists’ organizations are expressing concern about the fate of of the three newspapers that EPSA publishes, El Panama America, La Critica and Dia a Dia. Not only are they concerned about the jobs of their colleagues, but also the possibility of this government, or whatever, taking private and independent media and turning them into crude propaganda organs for the party in power.

In the halls of power in Washington, there is such an aversion to public-owned media that it’s hard for a reporter working for one of them to get press credentials to cover Congress, the White House or other federal institutions. However, the United Kingdom’s BBC, Canada’s CBC, France’s AFP, the Qatari Al Jazeera, the Public Broadcasting Service in the United States and the Panamanian Sistema Estatal de Radio y Televisión all report the news, are all state-owned or state-backed, have all faced challenges their independence and objectivity, and have all managed to keep reasonably clean reputations intact.

Yes, we hear the Martinelista screams. And when they threw foreign reporters out of Panama, blocked cellular communications during troubles in Chiriqui, denied press access to public records over partisan criteria and fired journalists and discontinued columns ver partisan criteria when Martinelli took over EPASA they denied any impropriety. It was not considered by those in the Martinelli orbit to be any violation of press freedom when an armed guard threatened me, as I was standing on a public sidewalk trying to get a photo of a Maserati seized from a Colombian racketeer parked in the ephemeral Martineli goon acting attorney general of that moment. Any and all questions about the hacking of just about all non-Martinelli online Panamanian news media – including The Panama News – in the days leading up to and just after the 2014 elections were treated as rude paranoia unworthy of investigation. These people should not be heard to complain about freedom of the press now.

But there is a real concern and the likes of Gaby Carrizo and Benicio Robinson are not to be trusted to properly address it.

Does the sensationalist necro-porn tabloid La Critica serve any important public function? Even if it increased the amount of nudity and published recipes with cannibalism stories? But perhaps if turned over to a collection of more serious and ethical journalists it could turn into something that actually enhances Panamanian culture. If Dia a Dia or El Panama America were turned over to students at our universities’ journalism departments it would likely be a vehicle for an across-the-board national improvement of the craft.

And then, if we want to encourage children to read, how about publishing some Panamanian comic books aimed at kids, not to be assigned at school but to be readily available for kids to get in the habit of reading for fun.

A national debate, in the legislature and otherwise, about what to do with this publishing business? It would probably get crude and ugly, and at those moments serve inform the public about who and what some of our elected officials really are.

EPASA should neither be sold at auction nor thrown away. It’s too valuable of a public asset.

 

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Today’s Panameñista primary

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From the Panameñista Twitter feed.

The primary season ends today – but it won’t be the
final word on who’s running in the general election

by Eric Jackson

From seven in the morning until two this afternoon, more than a quarter of a million members of the Panameñista Party will be eligible to cast their primary votes. All indications, including the party’s own projections, are that most of the members won’t vote today.

It’s a primary, and if by general election turnouts Panamanian voters tend to be bigger participating supporters of democracy than their US counterparts, like up there primaries down here generally draw lower numbers of electors. Also, it’s continuation primary rather than a decision at a crossroads primary. Former Panama City mayor, legislator and last time’s presidential candidate José Isabel Blandón Figueroa will again be the party’s main standard bearer. That is, unless the honor gets negotiated away in coalition talks between now and the end of September.

It used to be that the Panameñistas were the largest political organization in Panama, more vulnerable to outside forces than to other parties as such. An offshoot of the Colombian-era Liberals that arose in the 1920s as the racist Accion Comunal movement, it was led by the Arias Madrid brothers, Harmodio and Arnulfo. A platform of getting rid of the West Indians, the Chinese, the Arabs and the Sephardic Jews did not much faze Uncle Sam at the time, but Panama drawing close to Europe’s fascist powers during the 1932-38 Harmodio Arias presidency was another matter. After a violent campaign in which his main opponent withdrew out of concern for personal safety, Arnulfo Arias was elected president in 1940.

With German U-boats prowling the Caribbean and attacking US Lend-Lease shipments to the British when possible, Washington was not amused by one of Hitler’s and Mussolini’s friends being president of Panama. (During his brother’s administration Arnulfo was sent as a diplomat to Europe and made the personal acquaintances. The Americans didn’t so much promote a rival party as lobby other powers within the Panamanian state — legislators and the National Police. Within the latter the found their strongman behind the scenes, then-Colonel José Antonio Remón Cantera. Arnulfo flew off to Havana to visit his eye doctors, not bothering to notify, much less get the permission of, the National Assembly. The law required the president to get the legislature’s permission to leave the country, the US ambassador went to the vice president to notify him of this US interpretation of Panamanian law, the National Assembly was canvassed and given some assurances, and Remón was the enforcer in the October 1941 coup that sent Arnulfo Arias into a longer-lasting exile than planned.

Rémón, who later ran for president only to be elected and then assassinated, embarked on a run of being the power behind the presidency for the duration of US involvement in World War II. He founded this tradition of social reforming but moderately capitalist militarism out of which grew, during the 1968-89 dictatorship, the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD).

Arnulfo Arias was twice again elected, only to be twice more ousted in coups d’etat. After his death the Panameñista Party that he founded elected three presidents of Panama: Guillermo Endara Galimany (1989-94), Arnulfo’s widow Mireya Elisa Moscoso Rodríguez and Juan Carlos Varela Rodríguez. Endara was seen by many as a puppet of the US forces and had the unenviable task of running a country devastated by both the death and destruction of the 1989 invasion and the lasting hardships from the US economic sanctions of the Noriega years. Moscoso divided her administration into little fiefdoms, some of which were well run, others not, and others noteworthy centers of corruption and nepotism. In her time she managed to grab a choice estate on the Pacific in Pedasi, arguing that the property had been seized from her family years before. Varela awaits an October trial date, along with his predecessor and one-time running mate Ricardo Alberto Martinelli Berrocal and many others, for allegedly taking and laundering Odebrecht bribes.

Blandón comes to primary day as the default presidential candidate, but as the guy who came in fourth with 10.84 percent of the vote in 2019 and has registered single digits in most presidential polls conducted this year. The most talked-about possible coalition partner would be Cambio Democratico’s Rómulo Roux, who came in a close second in 2019. There are other possibilities, Ricardo Martinelli and the PRD’s Gaby Carrizo not among them.

Today’s turnout would be one more number in calcuilating the strength of the Panameñista Party’s bargaining position. If half the party members cast ballots, that would be an unexpectedly strong showing. If only a quarter of the membership votes, it argues for Blandón as a vice presidential nominee on a coalition ticket at best.

A lot of the down-ticket spots are reserved for designation by the party leadership, which reduces the chances of down-ticket primary surprises.

 

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Jack Schlossberg endorses Joe Biden, pans his cousin

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Statement by Jack Schlossberg about the candidacy of his cousin, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — both of them relatives of President John F. Kennedy

President John F. Kennedy is my grandfather, and his legacy is important. It’s about a lot more than Camelot and conspiracy theories. It’s about public service and courage. It’s about civil rights, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and landing a man on the moon. Joe Biden shares my father’s vision for America, that we do things not because they are easy, but because they are hard. And he is in the middle of becoming the greatest progressive president we’ve ever had.

Under Biden, we’ve added 13 million jobs, unemployment is at its lowest in 60 years. Biden passed the largest investment in infrastructure since the New Deal and the largest investment in green energy ever. He’s appointed more federal judges than any president since my grandfather. He ended our longest war. He ended the COVID pandemic, and he ended [former President] Donald Trump. These are the issues that matter. And if my cousin, Bobby Kennedy Jr., cared about any of them, he would support Joe Biden too.

Instead, he’s trading in on Camelot, celebrity conspiracy theories and conflict for personal gain and fame. I’ve listened to him. I know him. I have no idea why anyone thinks he should be president. What I do know is his candidacy is an embarrassment. Let’s not be distracted again by somebody’s vanity project. I’m excited to vote for Joe Biden in my state’s primary, and again in the general election. And I hope you will too.

Declaración de Jack Schlossberg sobre la candidatura de su primo, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., ambos familiares del presidente John F. Kennedy

El presidente John F. Kennedy es mi abuelo y su legado es importante. Se trata de mucho más que Camelot y teorías de conspiración. Se trata de servicio público y coraje. Se trata de los derechos civiles, la crisis de los misiles en Cuba y el aterrizaje de un hombre en la luna. Joe Biden comparte la visión de mi padre para Estados Unidos, que hacemos las cosas no porque sean fáciles, sino porque son difíciles. Y está a punto de convertirse en el mejor presidente progresista que jamás hayamos tenido.

Bajo Biden, hemos agregado 13 millones de empleos, el desempleo está en su nivel más bajo en 60 años. Biden aprobó la mayor inversión en infraestructura desde el New Deal y la mayor inversión en energía verde de la historia. Ha nombrado más jueces federales que cualquier presidente desde mi abuelo. Terminó nuestra guerra más larga. Terminó con la pandemia de COVID y terminó con [el expresidente] Donald Trump. Estos son los temas que importan. Y si a mi primo, Bobby Kennedy Jr., le importara alguno de ellos, también apoyaría a Joe Biden.

En cambio, está intercambiando Camelot, teorías de conspiración de celebridades y conflictos para beneficio personal y fama. Yo lo he escuchado. Lo conozco. No tengo idea de por qué alguien piensa que debería ser presidente. Lo que sí sé es que su candidatura es una vergüenza. No nos dejemos distraer de nuevo por el proyecto vanidoso de alguien. Estoy emocionado de votar por Joe Biden en las primarias de mi estado y nuevamente en las elecciones generales. Y espero que tú también lo hagas.

Contact us by email at / Contáctanos por correo electrónico a fund4thepanamanews@gmail.com

 

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¿Wappin? Heat wave / Ola de calor

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heat mirage
Heat mirage on a dry road. / Espejismo de calor en una carretera seca. Photo by / foto por Jeffrey Beall.

Canciones para los días más calurosos de nuestra vida
Songs for the hottest days of our lives

Third World – 1865
https://youtu.be/hwE5gfZlMZY

Martha and the Vandellas – Heat Wave
https://youtu.be/XE2fnYpwrng

Darell & Farruko – Caliente
https://youtu.be/oQDnI4SWJUA

Diego El Cigala – Desahogo
https://youtu.be/0o9tkl8ktGk

Cássia Eller – O Segundo Sol
https://youtu.be/QdWtFUiBLE0

Peter Tosh – Till Your Well Runs Dry
https://youtu.be/oY8CJiz9Ug4

Randy Weston – Blue Moses
https://youtu.be/U4Ij_vCU3WM

Kate Pierson – Time Wave Zero
https://youtu.be/-AkOfG_TjfM

Janis Joplin – Summertime
https://youtu.be/eI7eBTrnPzA

Yomira John – Madre Tierra
https://youtu.be/tuwAnf2pop0

Bryan Adams – Heat of the Night
https://youtu.be/x2bE6jzACFQ

Tracy Chapman – Across the Lines
https://youtu.be/kP3mpcb3Z4Q

David Bowie & Freddy Mercury – Under Pressure
https://youtu.be/HglA72ogPCE

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The Barbie Pay Gap

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UE

Ken walks the picket line. You know what they say about men of quality and women’s equality. Graphic by the unionized workers of Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania (UE Local 696).

In the UK Ken would make £4 million a year more than Barbie in the same roles, gender pay gap data reveal

by Leila Glen — Money.co.uk/business/bank-accounts
    • A shocking 90% of Barbie’s jobs pay men more money for doing the same thing
    • Only 6 out of 59 (10%) roles analyzed showed females to earn more than their male counterparts
    • The top pay disparity role is a Judge; If Ken was a judge, he’d be paid 31% more than Barbie doing the same role

Lifetime salary difference between Barbie and Ken

Barbie’s astounding CV across the occupations with data available and the number of years worked in each role was analyzed to calculate the earning disparity should Ken have the same resume. 

In the UK, Barbie’s lifetime salary across the 59 roles with data available would total a whopping £45.4 million (£45,428,296), whereas Ken would earn over £4 million more (£49,554,215).

Which Barbie occupations have the greatest gender pay gap?

Over the years, Barbie has made gigantic leaps for gender bias and equality throughout her lifetime. With the brand providing Barbie with careers where women are woefully sparse, Barbie has been a stable game-changer, showcasing to young children all over the globe that you can live your dream and be who you want to be.

However, despite efforts and campaigns by women’s rights groups to close the gender pay gap, it still exists. Two known major contributors to the gender pay gap are fewer females working managerial or senior roles and women working part-time. 

Top five Barbie occupations where females are paid more than males in the UK:

2

Top five Barbie occupations where males are paid more than females in the UK:

3

Which of Barbie’s occupations are the highest paying for females in the UK?

4

Which of Barbie’s occupations are the lowest paying for females in the UK?

5

 

Out of the lowest paying job positions, Park ranger Barbie has the greatest difference with men earning on average £4.7k (21.1%) more than women in the same role.

Commenting on the analysis, money.co.uk’s business bank account expert Lucinda O’Brien said:

“Children’s career aspirations have long been defined by gender stereotypes; it’s therefore refreshing and positive to see Barbie working a whole variety of jobs (president being one of them!) in the latest live action Barbie movie. Young girls watching their favorite doll in roles that they might have otherwise seen as not for them, can only serve to encourage positive change.

However, even with Barbie working across a wide variety of job sectors in recent years representing females in largely male dominated positions, women continue to be misrepresented in the working world. Although there are current laws in place ensuring equal pay, the data still reveals men continue to be favored in the workplace. More measurable steps need to be taken to re-address this balance.”

 

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Heatwave Chevron?

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heat wave
Guy Walton said he chose the naming system “to shame them in the process and to identify culprits that are exacerbating these deadly systems.” A heat wave in Arizona. US National Science Foundation archive photo.

As the USA bakes, former meteorologist names heatwaves after oil companies

by Olivia Rosane — Common Dreams

As more than a fifth of the US population braces for air temperatures or heat indices of more than 105°F this weekend, one former meteorologist has an idea for how to remind the public who is to blame: name major heatwaves after fossil fuel companies.

Guy Walton, who once worked for The Weather Channel, now runs a blog dedicated to monitoring extreme weather. He has dubbed the heatwave that began over California in early July and has now stretched all the way to the southeast Heatwave Chevron.

“I’m naming heatwaves to highlight this worsening climate problem and perhaps save lives by getting the public to focus on this weather threat,” he wrote in an April blog post. “This year I’m naming major heatwaves after oil companies to shame them in the process and to identify culprits that are exacerbating these deadly systems.”

“Heat extremes have increased in likelihood and intensity worldwide due to climate change, with tens of thousands of deaths directly attributable.”

Heatwaves are the deadliest type of extreme weather event in the United States, according to The Weather Channel, killing more people on average each year than tornadoes or hurricanes put together. Yet they do not receive names like hurricanes or wildfires, and some experts have argued that changing this might help people take them more seriously and save lives. For example, the city of Seville, Spain, has become one of the first to start ranking and naming heatwaves with a view toward encouraging the public to take greater precautions.

“It seems to be working as we intended from last year—and has actually started to change some behavior,” Kurt Shickman, director of Arsht-Rock’s heat initiative, told E&E News in June.

Heatwaves are also the extreme weather event most clearly attributable to the climate crisis caused primarily by the burning of oil, gas, and coal, a 2022 study found.

“Heat extremes have increased in likelihood and intensity worldwide due to climate change, with tens of thousands of deaths directly attributable,” the study authors wrote.

So far this year, Walton has named three US heatwaves after fossil fuel companies, moving down a list he proposed in April, along with Category 1 to 5 ranking system modeled after the Saffir-Simpson scale for hurricanes.

The first, Heatwave Amoco in the Pacific Northwest, briefly reached Category 3 status in May and damaged Canadian oil and gas production by igniting wildfires.

“Perhaps Mother Nature is trying to tell us go leave fossil fuels in the ground, otherwise heatwaves like Amoco or worse with more smoke choking wildfires will be an end result,” Walton wrote at the time.

Next came Heatwave British Petroleum, which reached Category 4 status and baked Texas, parts of the Southwest, and Mexico in June. The heatwave was made at least five times more likely by the climate crisis, Climate Central calculated.

One Wednesday, the city of Phoenix, Arizona, reported its 20th day in a row of temperatures 110°F, as well as its highest all-time daily average temperature at 108°F, according to the local branch of the National Weather Service (NWS). Tucson, Arizona, also broke a record for the number of days over 110°F in a year, at 11.

“Will we break this record again tomorrow?” NWS Tucson asked.

On the same day, the NWS Austin/San Antonio announced that Austin, Texas, had hit its 10th day in a row of temperatures 105°F or higher for the first time on record.

Also on Wednesday, the cities of Miami, Florida; El Paso, Texas; and Las Cruces, New Mexico, all broke records for the number of days in a row with a heat index of 100°F or higher at 38 days, 33 days, and 17 days respectively, ABC News reported.

All of this heat has taken a toll on human health. At least 18 people have died because of heat in Arizona’s Maricopa County alone, though authorities are investigating another 69 deaths. A 71-year-old man also died in California’s Death Valley National Park Tuesday, most likely after hiking in 121°F heat.

And relief is not in sight. As of Thursday morning, around 115 million people were under heat alerts in more than 12 states, Axios reported. Over the weekend, more than 20% of the US population, or 80 million people, could face either an air temperature or heat index higher than 105°F. A heat index is how the air feels on the skin when heat combines with humidity, and a heat index of 103°F or higher can cause dangerous health complications.

“Take the heat seriously and avoid extended time outdoors,” the NWS cautioned, as Axios reported. “Temperatures and heat indices will reach levels that would pose a health risk, and be potentially deadly, to anyone without effective cooling and/or adequate hydration.”

Walton said that Heatwave Chevron could reduce its range next week and shrink back to the West, but later, it could again extend north and east, where it could “make life miserable for the Midwest, which is one of the few areas across the Northern Hemisphere that has seen below average temperatures this summer.”

As the nation continues to bake, does Walton think naming heatwaves after fossil fuel companies might catch on? Walton told The Guardian he would like to see newscasters name major heatwaves, but thought it was unlikely they would adopt his naming method.

“I’m trying to be a bug in the ear of my compatriots to take what I’m doing and run with it,” he said. “I realize what I’m doing is controversial and corporate media will want to steer clear of it, but people need to be riled up. I don’t think we need to pull any punches. If it causes consternation, so be it.”

 

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House GOP’s proposed cuts to the Social Security Administration

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“More cuts to SSA will result in a rapid increase of wait times, force SSA offices to close in many communities, and reduce service hours to the public.” Social Security Administration graphic.

Union warns GOP proposal would ‘devastate’ the Social Security Administration

by Jake Johnson — Common Dreams

A union representing more than 750,000 federal employees warned Wednesday that the House GOP’s proposed cuts to the Social Security Administration for the coming fiscal year would deeply harm the already strained and understaffed agency, potentially forcing it to close offices and slash service hours.

Such impacts would “devastate the agency’s ability to serve the American public,” Julie Tippens, legislative director of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), wrote in a letter to the top members of the House Appropriations Committee.

Last week, a Republican-controlled appropriations subcommittee approved legislation that would cut the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) budget for fiscal year 2024 by $183 million below the currently enacted level. President Joe Biden’s 2024 budget proposal, by contrast, called for a $1.4 billion increase for the agency.

The full House Appropriations Committee still must approve the measure, one of a dozen government funding bills that Congress is looking to pass by September 30 to avert a government shutdown.

Tippens noted that “seniors and disabled individuals already face long lines to get help at field offices”—conditions that would only worsen under the GOP proposal.

“Someone calling SSA’s helpline faces an antiquated phone system that frequently drops their calls and where the average wait time is 35 minutes,” Tippens wrote. “A worker with disabilities trying to claim their earned disability benefit faces a wait time of over seven months to get an initial decision and up to two years or longer to schedule a disability hearing. More than 10,000 Americans die, and another 5,000 Americans are forced to declare bankruptcy, every year while waiting for their disability hearing.”

“More cuts to SSA will result in a rapid increase of wait times, force SSA offices to close in many communities, and reduce service hours to the public,” she added, urging lawmakers to reject the funding reduction.

“Social Security is one thing the American people should be able to count on, yet the House Republican bill would disrupt access to those earned benefits.”

The GOP’s proposed cuts to the Social Security Administration come after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) announced plans to establish a bipartisan “commission” to examine ways to cut Social Security.

Two weeks after McCarthy’s remarks, the 175-member Republican Study Committee released a proposal that would raise Social Security’s full retirement age to 69, a change that would cut benefits across the board.

Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.), a leading proponent of Social Security expansion in the House, warned last week that Republicans’ attack on the Social Security Administration is their “first step” toward cutting benefits.

“Social Security is one thing the American people should be able to count on, yet the House Republican bill would disrupt access to those earned benefits,” said Larson. “Already, years of underfunding, combined with the Covid-19 pandemic, have significantly worsened Social Security Administration’s service, and led to lengthy delays during a time of rising need.”

“The House Republican bill will only pile onto this problem, making it harder and harder for Americans to access their earned benefits,” Larson continued. “I will continue to fight for the Social Security Administration to have the funding and staffing it needs to improve customer service to the American people.”

 

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