Any National “Conversation About Race” Must Include Black Radical Tradition
Adam Hudson, Truthout: Black radicalism has taught that any serious “conversation about race” must address the systemic racism that results in patterns of racial inequality in the judicial system, the national and global economies, policing, the education system, religion, popular culture and a war machine that predominantly kills non-Europeans around the world.
Political Economist Answers: What’s So Dangerous About Austerity?
C.J. Polychroniou, Truthout: In this interview with Mark Blyth, author of Austerity: The History of a Dangerous Idea, we learn that austerity policies are called “a class-specific put option” in finance and are dangerous because they don’t achieve their purported goals and harm the least politically powerful.
The Invisible Hands That Do All the Work
Eleanor J. Bader, Truthout: The stories in Corinne Goria’sInvisible Hands paint a horrifying portrait of the impact of rampant consumerism on communities and individuals from Bangladesh to Zambia. But while the workers experience profound disrespect, they dream of equity, fairness and workplace decency.
Corporations? Corporations? Nobody Here but Us Chickens
Donald Lazere, Truthout: In Why Higher Education SHOULD Have a Leftist Bias, author Donald Lazere surveys the means by which American corporations render their own political and economic power invisible while diverting blame for social ills to “the government.”
Feds Won’t Enforce Money-Laundering Laws Against Banks Doing Business With Pot Stores
Rob Hotakainen, McClatchy Newspapers: The move was hailed as a step forward by proponents of marijuana sales, but banking organizations warned that accepting the deposits was still illegal and said it was unlikely to widely change banks’ business practices.
Left Out of the Narrative: LGBTQ Undocumented Detainees
Erika L. Sánchez, Truthout: Undocumented LGBTQ people are caught in a double bind of belonging neither in white mainstream LGBTQ narrative nor in the mainstream immigrant narrative. The consequences can range from difficult to deadly.
Truthout Interviews Greg Palast on the Koch Brothers and Chris Christie
Ted Asregadoo, Truthout: In the Citizens United era, it can be more difficult to follow the money because of the anonymity 501(c)(4) super PACs afford their donors. But that hasn’t stopped Greg Palast, who shares some of what he has uncovered.
Quit Talking About Equal Pay and Do Something
Elizabeth Schulte, Socialist Worker: It’s a hallmark of the Obama presidency: talk about change, but not deliver any. Will the president’s pledge on equal pay suffer the same fate?
Steve Horn and Caroline Selle, DeSmogBlog: Documents reveal that the government of Calvert County, Maryland signed a non-disclosure agreement with Dominion Resources, raising concerns about transparency between the local government and its citizens.
On the Money: What a Tangled Web We Weave
Gail Ablow, Moyers & Company: Gail Ablow provides a critical reading list for the issues that made the headlines this week, including deceptive political ads, industry ties in the fight over minimum wage and billionaires using super PACs to advance pet causes.
Dr. James Zogby discusses Black History Month and the extent to which racial inequality still persists; Leslie Thatcher is wowed by Sigrid Unset’s first novel, Marta Oulie, now released in English for the first time; David Swanson talks about how communities across the country can survive the oncoming military downgrade, and, in another post, lends support to military veterans and family members who will travel to ten west-coast cities promoting GI outreach; Brad Friedman sheds a light on the media’s anti-Snowden sentiments; former Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya analyzes the US influence on Thailand’s government in three stunning op-eds; Edward Erikson offers a plan towards returning to a democracy ruled by the people instead of corporate interests; James Kwak provides an example of how the national debt cannot be cut; and more.
BuzzFlash
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Michael Dunn’s License to Kill: The Murder of Jordan Davis and Florida’s Perverted Justice
Spying by NSA Ally Entangled US Law Firm
Read the Article at The New York Times
Volkswagen Works Council Says It Will Pursue Labor Representation at US Plant
The US Calls Him a “Global Terrorist”, but He Still Has Counterterrorism Advice for Washington
Read the Article at The Washington Post
Germany and France to Mastermind European Data Network, Bypassing US
Environmentalists Offer $5,000 Reward for Info on North Carolina Coal Ash Spill Leading to Charges
Read the Article at Facing South
North Dakota Oil Spill Cleanup to Last at Least Two More Years