William Rivers Pitt | “Men’s Rights” and the Septic Tank of History
William Rivers Pitt, Truthout: A lot of comfortable people believe the rights of women have been established. In truth, the rights of women are under assault. There are 800 dead babies in Ireland who could tell you all about where this kind of trend invariably winds up: in the septic tank of history.
Communism – Yes! But for Whom?
Frank Smecker, Truthout: The recent FCC proposal to end net neutrality illustrates the trend toward corporate communism, but a social communism is what needs to be rehabilitated.
New Report Documents How Privatization Steals Wages, Harms Communities
Mary Bottari, PRWatch: All across the country, public services are increasingly outsourced to private contractors in the name of efficiency and cost savings. But a new report from a nonprofit research group shows that outsourcing public services hurts middle- and working-class communities, as well as workers.
Ron Fein, Truthout: Agribusinesses are asking a federal judge to throw out a law on the scenic island of Kaua’i requiring that major commercial agricultural companies tell the public what pesticides and genetically modified organisms they’re using on the island – using arguments applied to gay marriage bans.
Helen Wallace, Independent Science News/GeneWatch UK: Building a DNA database within the National Health Service would be a massive waste of public money, and it would create a system of total surveillance that would enable the government and private companies to track many individuals, including their relatives.
Leading Alarmist on Iran Ignored What He Knew Was True
Gareth Porter, Truthout: David Albright, the primary nonofficial source in the news media reporting of the alarming message that Iran presents a nuclear weapons threat, has acted more like a functionary in a political apparatus than as an independent analyst.
Internalized Misogyny Within the Geek Community
Desiree Rodriguez, The Feminist Wire: When women emerged as a noticeable contingent within the geek community, male fans created the “fake geek girl” meme in response. The point of the meme is to discredit female geeks and exclude them from the community. This is not a new phenomenon.
Warmonger Media Storm Against Saving Sgt. Bergdahl Shows Why We Have So Much War
Robert Naiman, Truthout: The political forces that are trashing the deal to rescue Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl are the same political forces that got us into the Iraq war and who want to keep the Afghanistan war going indefinitely.
Dean Baker | Economy Adds 217,000 Jobs in May; Unemployment Stable at 6.3 Percent
Dean Baker, Center for Economic and Policy Research: The economy added 217,000 jobs in May, bringing the average over the last three months to 234,000. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 6.3 percent in May. This is due to the fact that the 0.4 percentage point plunge in labor force participation reported for April was not reversed.
State Senate Leader Reacts to Center Report, Urging Counsel for Truants
Susan Ferriss, Center for Public Integrity: A prominent Tennessee state senator involved in national juvenile justice reforms said he is troubled by a recent Center for Public Integrity report on children who’ve been prosecuted for truancy in his state, jailed and given permanent court records without the benefit of appointed legal counsel.
Senate Debates Constitutional Amendment to Rein in Outside Cash
Jessica Desvarieux, The Real News Network: Though Democrats and Republicans are split down party lines on whether to add a constitutional amendment to limit campaign spending, both parties ignore the 50 percent of Americans who are in favor of public financing.
Watch the Video and Read the Transcript
Economic Update: Economic Side Effects
Richard D. Wolff, Economic Update/Truthout: Updates on Walmart’s Mexican bribes; car loans turning bad; state taxes; the US being slower than Europe on adopting renewable energy; Seattle’s $15/hour wage minimum; and Finland’s fines according to ability to pay. Major discussions of the medical-industrial complex and a London conference on capitalism.
|
Spirit In Action 