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The Massive Dock Workers Strike, Explained (Maria)
The author writes, “Workers at ports on the East and Gulf Coasts went on strike Tuesday following a breakdown in negotiations between the union representing them, the International Longshoremen’s Association, and the organization of international shipping companies that employ them. Approximately 45,000 workers walked off the job at 12:01 a.m., making it the most significant strike the union has engaged in since 1977. On Tuesday, workers at 36 different ports stopped work after their six-year contract with the United States Maritime Alliance expired — and … it could have a monumental impact on the US economy.”
Jews and Catholics Warn Against Trump’s Latest Loyalty Test for Religious Voters (Reader Steve)
The authors write, “Former President Donald Trump recently reissued his loyalty test to religious Americans, declaring that he can best protect their freedoms while preemptively blaming members of certain faiths should he lose the presidential election in November. Jews and Catholics can vote for him and ace the test, but those who don’t, he says, ‘need their head examined.’ … Trump’s speeches for years have hewed to divisive ‘us’ versus ‘them’ messaging, but tying those themes to specific religious Americans who oppose him is out of line and even dangerous, according to rhetoric experts, religious leaders, and academics.”
Cleared by Fire: What Happened That Day in Haditha? (Dana)
From The New Yorker: “On November 19, 2005, a squad of US Marines was driving down a road in Haditha, Iraq. It was the third year of the Iraq War, and the Marines had been deployed to Haditha to combat insurgent activity there. Suddenly, the fourth vehicle in the convoy hit an I.E.D. buried in the road. The driver, Lance Corporal Miguel Terrazas, was killed instantly. Two other Marines were injured. In the hours after the explosion, Marines killed twenty-four Iraqi men, women, and children near the I.E.D. site, all of them civilians. The massacre attracted international attention, and President George W. Bush promised a full investigation. The incident led to one of the most high-profile war-crimes prosecutions in American history. And then it all fell apart.”
You Should Stop Calling Immigrants ‘Migrants’ (Laura)
From The Intercept: “While the right has embraced anti-immigration politics as a means to appeal to a white voter base energized by the threat of the Other, the left has stopped pushing back. Instead, politicians desperate to court moderate voters and a media that follows their lead have employed narratives and buzzwords implying that immigrants are seedy, animalistic, and dangerous. To see how this sort of thing takes root and spreads, consider the word ‘migrant.’ Today, it’s the term of art from both the right and the left.”
US to Ban Chinese Connected Car Software and Hardware, Citing Security Risks (Sean)
From ArsTechnica: “The US government is readying its latest measure to defend local automotive manufacturing. In May, US President Joe Biden levied new 100 percent tariffs targeted at specific Chinese automakers. Now, the US Commerce Department is set to enact a de facto ban on most Chinese vehicles, by prohibiting Chinese connected car software and hardware from operating on US roads, according to Reuters. The rationale? National security concerns.”
How Political Violence Lost Its Power (Al)
The author writes, “The bitter irony is that the so-called ‘political violence’ being mechanically bemoaned by both sides is as nothing compared with the violence tearing civil society apart. It is almost obscene to express outrage over political violence when America suffers more mass shootings, and more school shootings, than any country on earth. In such a situation, political violence surely is an inevitability.”
