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McCain’s Brain Cancer Draws Renewed Attention to Possible Agent Orange Connection

Charles Ornstein and Mike Hixenbaugh ProPublica
McCain’s diagnosis comes as the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is under increased pressure to broaden who’s eligible for Agent Orange-related compensation. News of his illness has prompted Amy Jones and others to call on the VA to study a possible connection between their loved ones’ Agent Orange exposure and glioblastoma.

Census Challenges Jeopardize Efforts Towards Greater Equity in the South

Allie Yee Facing South
Should anything go awry with the 2020 count, it could have political implications affecting how voting districts are drawn or how language minorities can access the ballot. Important funding decisions are also driven by Census data. Nationwide, nearly $600 billion in federal funding is allocated to states based on Census numbers, according to a recent report by the George Washington Institute of Public Policy. Southern states receive $179.2 billion of that total.

Many Bridges, One River: Organizing for Justice in Vietnamese-American Communities

Thuan Nguyen and Vy Nguyen, Editors Asian Studies Center UCLA
Many Bridges, One River is the first published collection of interviews with organizers and activists who have been working in Vietnamese American communities throughout the United States, starting in the 1970s. These interviews document the strategies and lessons learned in the fight for social justice and progressive social change by Vietnamese Americans with powerful insights dealing with red-baiting, inter-generational differences and sustainable activism.

Transgender Liberation Won't Be Found in the Military

Sydney Roberts Truthout
Contrary to the rhetoric dominating the news cycle right now, trans liberation doesn't look like gender non-conforming bodies in military uniforms killing civilians overseas. It doesn't include rallying for entrenchment into the military-industrial complex that furthers the imperialist aims of the United States, or assimilating in hopes that a country that has never cared for trans lives will begin to.

The Big Lie About California’s Housing Crisis

Deepa Varma, San Francisco Tenants Union San Francisco Examiner
As California stands at the height of the worst housing crisis the state has ever seen, hundreds of tenants across multiple cities are taking matters into their own hands by confronting corporate landlords to demand a freeze on rent increases. The tenants and organizations leading this are part of a new, broad-based coalition, Housing Now!, to fight for the repeal of the statewide restrictions on rent control - established by the Costa Hawkins Rental Housing Act.

What Happens If We Win?

Stephanie Luce Jacobin
For the Left, winning local office is one thing — actually governing is another.

Black Women’s Equal Pay Day

Valerie Wilson, Janelle Jones, Kayla Blado, and Elise Gould Economic Policy Institute
July 31st is Black Women’s Equal Pay Day, the day that marks how long into 2017 an African American woman would have to work in order to be paid the same wages as her white male counterpart was paid last year.

Xi, Trump and Rising China in the World

Duncan McFarland Portside
This fall the Chinese Communist Party holds its Nineteenth Party Congress. The US-China relationship is one of considerable global importance on several levels: political, economic and the situation of socialism and the international working class. Trump in his presidential campaign adopted a very hostile anti-China tone. However, after Trump assumed power, he changed; his actions towards China proved largely a continuation of established policy. Why did this happen?