A Bitter Harvest: California, Marijuana and the New Jim Crow
Chris Moore-Backman, Truthout: California’s marijuana industry is directly tied to the racial injustices of the system of mass incarceration. In Truthout’s first installment of the radio documentary series, “Bringing Down the New Jim Crow,” Michelle Alexander, a young farmer and two prominent activists talk about how and why.
Read the Transcript and Listen to the Audio
Backing Banks Over Borrowers, California Judges Often Big Stakeholders in Same Banks
Darwin BondGraham, Truthout: Why do individual borrowers so rarely win in cases against banks in spite of the evidence of massive frauds systematically perpetrated by banks? Is there a case for systemic judicial bias?
Target Favelas: The Neoliberal Scramble for World Cup Wealth
Dave Zirin, Haymarket Books: In this excerpt from Brazil’s Dance With the Devil, Zirin describes the history of the poor Rio communities known as favelas, as targets of a real estate land grab. The World Cup and the Olympics are being used as excuses for enriching the few by dislocating many from their communities.
Environment Under Siege in New India
Papri Sri Raman, Truthout: India’s new Bharatiya Janata Party has a pull-out-the-stops development policy that includes targeting environmental and indigenous rights, anti-nuclear and anti-GMO NGOs, as well as investing in dubious hydro projects.
“The Revolution Has Begun”: How the Gun Industry Drives the Violent Rhetoric of the NRA
Christian Exoo and Calvin F. Exoo, Truthout: The violent, anti-authority rhetoric of Jerad and Amanda Miller’s recent Las Vegas shootings is far from an outlier. In fact, it’s the primary message promoted by the gun industry and its political water carrier, the NRA.
Hate Summer? Just Wait Until Global Warming Really Kicks In
The Daily Take Team, The Thom Hartmann Program: A report released on Tuesday by a bipartisan group of scientists and officials says global warming is going to make the weather so hot and humid over the next 80-plus years that going outside in the summer will be pretty much impossible.
Stories Begetting Stories: How Pop Culture Reinforces Abortion Stigma – and Can Help End It
Maya Dusenbery, Feministing: The way pop culture has reinforced abortion stigma extends beyond just the visibility – or lack thereof – of the choice. Not only are they almost absent in films and TV shows, fictional abortions are also frequently portrayed as far riskier than they actually are.
Repressing World Cup Protests – a Booming Business for Brazil
Anna Feigenbaum, Waging Nonviolence: As part of the World Cup’s massive security budget, Rio-based company Condor Nonlethal Technologies scored a $22 million contract, providing tear gas, rubber bullets, Tasers and sound grenades to police and private security forces.
Amy Fallon, Inter Press Service: Like many in Rwanda, Salaam Uwamariya’s life changed in 1994 when close to a million Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed. Among the dead were her husband and her two eldest children. Yet Uwamariya has been able to slowly rebuild her life by making clothes that have been shown on African catwalks.
To Fix VA Waits, Hire More Staff
Alexandra Bradbury, Labor Notes: The real solutions to the VA’s problems don’t involve privatization. The agency needs to hire more staff and fewer managers, update an antiquated computerized scheduling system, expand facilities where need is growing and reduce missed appointments by offering rides.
A Private Putsch Against Public Schooling
Sam Pizzigati, Too Much: Billionaire political might has come to constitute a clear and present danger to the single most bedrock institution of our democracy: public education.
Glenn Greenwald on Government Snooping: Why It’s Dangerous and What We Can Do About It
Dean Paton, Yes! Magazine: Award-winning journalist Glenn Greenwald, who was one of three reporters to break the Snowden stories, talks about government threats to his reporting, as well as what citizens can do to protect and bolster civil liberties in the digital age.
BuzzFlash
The Cruelty of Banning Dissent in the United States
Mark Karlin, BuzzFlash at Truthout: Cruelty in the hands of those who are maliciously ignorant is something to fear – and resist with all one’s might.
Jim Hightower: The Militarization of “Officer Friendly”
Supreme Court Rules Cell Phones Cannot Be Searched Without a Warrant
Read the Article at Mother Jones
Pesticides Linked to Bee Deaths Must Be Banned, Scientists Say
VA Deaths Covered Up to Make Statistics Look Better, Whistleblower Says
Federal Judges Rule Against Gay Marriage Bans in Utah and Indiana
Read the Article at The Washington Post
The Next Generation of GMO Crops Has Arrived – and So Has the Controversy
Judge: No-Fly List Violates Constitutional Rights
Read the Article at The Associated Press
Spirit In Action 