White supremacy
Until Donald Trump’s coup attempt, Confederate flags were flying in people’s front lawns throughout the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. Now, “[t]hese images [of Confederate-themed clothing at school] are offensive to many within the Norwin community.”[1] But “[o]ne of the images of the students that was shared on social media contained text that said ‘Triggered teacher Count #1,’”[2] which is to say that defiance is the point. The kids are doing just like their parents and singling out these kids will accomplish nothing at all.
Gillian Brockell, “Counties with more Confederate monuments also had more lynchings, study finds,” Washington Post, October 13, 2021, Counties with more Confederate monuments also had more lynchings, study finds
Joe Napsha, “Norwin superintendent reaches out to parents following Confederate clothing incident,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, October 13, 2021, https://triblive.com/local/westmoreland/norwin-superintendent-reaches-out-to-parents-following-confederate-clothing-incident/
Donald Trump
Finances
William D. Cohan, “The Case for Not Prosecuting Donald J. Trump,” Puck News, October 13, 2021, https://puck.news/the-case-for-not-prosecuting-donald-j-trump/
Coup attempt
Stephen Collinson wrote an analysis of the “Stop the Steal” campaign back in March.[3] It seems to be aging well.[4]
Jeremy Schwartz, “Trump Won the County in a Landslide. His Supporters Still Hounded the Elections Administrator Until She Resigned,” ProPublica, October 12, 2021, https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-won-the-county-in-a-landslide-his-supporters-still-hounded-the-elections-administrator-until-she-resigned
Pandemic
Economy
Tami Luhby, “Unemployment benefits ended, but hiring did not surge in September,” CNN, October 10, 2021, https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/10/politics/unemployment-benefits-jobs-september/index.html
(Inter)national
Tom Hals, “Texas vaccine mandate ban may be trumped by federal law but could cause uncertainty,” Reuters, October 13, 2021, https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/texas-vaccine-mandate-ban-likely-be-trumped-by-federal-law-could-cause-2021-10-13/
California wildfires
There is a new blog post, entitled “The tragic argument over California forest management.”
Ryan Sabalow and Dale Kasler, “‘Self-serving garbage.’ Wildfire experts escalate fight over saving California forests,” Sacramento Bee, October 14, 2021, https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/fires/article254957722.html
Abortion
Roman Catholic Church
In yet another snub to U.S. bishops, Pope Francis will meet with Joe Biden.[5] U.S. bishops have sought to deny Biden communion;[6] the Vatican has pushed back on the bishops, suggesting they should be pastors rather than politicians;[7] and the Pope has previously met with Nancy Pelosi, another pro-choice politician.[8]
Amy B. Wang and Chico Harlan, “Biden to meet with Pope Francis to discuss coronavirus, climate change, caring for poor,” Washington Post, October 14, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/10/14/biden-pope-meeting/
- [1]Jeff Taylor, quoted in Joe Napsha, “Norwin superintendent reaches out to parents following Confederate clothing incident,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, October 13, 2021, https://triblive.com/local/westmoreland/norwin-superintendent-reaches-out-to-parents-following-confederate-clothing-incident/↩
- [2]Joe Napsha, “Norwin superintendent reaches out to parents following Confederate clothing incident,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, October 13, 2021, https://triblive.com/local/westmoreland/norwin-superintendent-reaches-out-to-parents-following-confederate-clothing-incident/↩
- [3]Stephen Collinson, “Trump’s army takes aim at 2022 touting his election lies,” CNN, March 23, 2021, https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/23/politics/trump-mo-brooks-election-lie/index.html↩
- [4]Jeremy Schwartz, “Trump Won the County in a Landslide. His Supporters Still Hounded the Elections Administrator Until She Resigned,” ProPublica, October 12, 2021, https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-won-the-county-in-a-landslide-his-supporters-still-hounded-the-elections-administrator-until-she-resigned↩
- [5]Amy B. Wang and Chico Harlan, “Biden to meet with Pope Francis to discuss coronavirus, climate change, caring for poor,” Washington Post, October 14, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/10/14/biden-pope-meeting/↩
- [6]Michelle Boorstein, “Catholic bishops vote on controversial Communion document,” Washington Post, June 18, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2021/06/18/biden-catholic-president-bishops-abortion-communion/; Matt Viser, “Biden, deeply Catholic president, finds himself at odds with many U.S. bishops,” Washington Post, June 18, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/biden-catholic-bishops/2021/06/18/acf576c0-d04a-11eb-a7f1-52b8870bef7c_story.html↩
- [7]Donna Cassata, “Top Vatican cardinal says Biden should not be denied Communion,” Washington Post, October 4, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/biden-catholic-communion-abortion-rights/2021/10/04/4c4a7138-2525-11ec-8831-a31e7b3de188_story.html; Elisabetta Povoledo, Richard Pérez-Peña, and Ruth Graham, “Pope Weighs In on Calls to Deny Communion to Biden Over Abortion,” New York Times, September 15, 2021, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/15/world/europe/pope-francis-biden-abortion.html↩
- [8]Philip Pullella, “Pope meets Pelosi as abortion debate rages back home,” Reuters, October 9, 2021, https://www.reuters.com/world/us/pope-meets-pelosi-abortion-debate-rages-back-home-2021-10-09/↩