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Dispatches From the Culture Wars – May 10, 2022

Strippers fight for a union, and AIPAC goes whole hog

Credit,Ashley Floréal
  1. A Tale of Two Rallies for Reproductive Justice
  2. AIPAC Grovels to Trump
  3. Strippers Organize
  4. Michigan Cops are Kill Crazy
  5. PA Baptist Stands for Public Education
  6. Picking a Climate Candidate
  7. Roe Reversal and LGBTQ Rights
  8. The Battle for an Ohio School Board
  9. Gunning for Chesa Boudin
  10. Starbucks Scumbags

 

A Tale of Two Rallies for Reproductive Justice
By Jess McAllen
The Baffler

Sometimes you feel comforted in a sea of thousands, deferring to people—or vehicles—in positions of power, and sometimes you feel like standing with just a few hundred others, in colder temperatures and without a sound system, willing to loudly yell the word “abortion” without apology.

AIPAC Grovels to Trump
By Eric Alterman
The American Prospect

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Turbo Israel hawk Lynn Cheney is on AIPAC’s shit list. The powerful lobby, erected in the name of defending Jews, has split from the “respectable” right, and is now part of MAGA—the most anti-Semitic government faction since before WW2.

Strippers Organize
By Antonia Crane
The Nation

How many assaults, rapes, and shootings will it take for these performers to be afforded even the basic protections a union could provide?

Michigan Cops are Kill Crazy
By Gus Burns
MLive

Michigan leaders in recent years have proposed police reform with the hope of reducing police killings, but it doesn’t seem to working. At the current rate, Michigan will record 30 police killings of citizens this year.

A Baptist View: Fight for Public Education
By Mark Wingfield
Baptist News Global

It is disgusting, dismaying and disheartening to see the continued attack on public education from conservative evangelical Christians and people who pretend to be evangelical Christians but couldn’t find John 3:16 in the Bible if you asked them. It is time to stop being shocked at this behavior and stand up against it.

Picking a Climate Candidate
By Raina Lipsitz
The New Republic

Support for new candidates is partly driven by frustration with the fossil fuel industry’s grip on many incumbents. Activists’ emphasis on fossil fuel donations represents a shift from other metrics environmental groups have used to evaluate candidates.

Roe Reversal and LGBTQ Rights
By Jo Yurcaba and Tat Bellamy-Walker
NBC News

The opinion could change over the next two months before it is officially released, but LGBTQ people and advocates fear the consequences it could have. Advocates say that LGBTQ people are already disproportionately affected by restrictions on abortion due to higher rates of medical discrimination and poverty. 

The Battle for Diversity in an Ohio School Board
By Madeline Mitchell
Cincinnati Enquirer

Racial Diversity Awareness Day at Turpin HS traditionally includes a series of activities, discussions, video clips and breakout sessions focused on history, the criminal justice system and empathy. This year it was cancelled. The event was scheduled to included guest speakers from the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center and Back2Back Ministries Cincinnati.

SF Elite Gunning for Chesa Boudin
By Abe Asher
Jacobin

Wealthy San Francisco residents are pouring money into the recall campaign against progressive district attorney Chesa Boudin, who’s being blamed for out-of-control crime. There’s just one problem: the city’s supposed crime wave is a paranoid fantasy.

Starbucks Scumbags
By Kate Rogers
CNBC

The NLRB accuses Starbucks of interfering with, restraining and coercing employees seeking to unionize in various ways. The Buffalo office said the coffee giant threatened and intimidated workers by closing down stores, reduced workers’ compensation, enforced policies against union supporters, engaged in surveillance and fired workers, among other alleged violations.