The Ultra-Right-Wing State Nobody Mentions
Bryan K. Bullock, Truthout: Quick! Name the state that’s been ground zero for privatization of public resources, voter ID laws, assaults on reproductive rights, lax environmental regulations, dismantling unions, enacting ALEC-sponsored legislation, creation of charter schools and voucher, anti-immigrant initiatives and more. It’s not Texas or Arizona…
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Iraq and Detroit: Both Plundered by the Same Bandits
Margaret Kimberley, Black Agenda Report: Very powerful people in boardrooms and government offices made decisions that turned Detroit into an Iraq in the United States’ midst and now sneer at pleas for mercy. Just as Iraq’s infrastructure has been destroyed, Detroit residents now live without basic services, which ought to be regarded as a human right.
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“Open Season on Reproductive Health Care Clinics”: A Clinic Escort Responds to McCullen Ruling
Katie Klabusich, The Brad Blog: “I am a long-time clinic defense escort volunteer in cities from Los Angeles to Chicago to New York. The idea that the people standing outside clinics screaming and yelling, chasing people into the streets and threatening staff are there for First Amendment expression reasons would be laughable if the potential for violence wasn’t so real.”
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Robert Pollin: Why Did Economy Shrink So Dramatically During the First Quarter of 2014?
Anton Woronczuk, The Real News Network: “We’re talking about roughly a 3 percent decline in GDP growth in one quarter. That is greater than the decline that occurred in the entire recession of 2001 and in the entire recession of 1970. So this is a huge number,” says economist Robert Pollin.
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Red Cross: How We Spent Sandy Money Is a “Trade Secret”
Justin Elliott, ProPublica: Just how badly does the American Red Cross want to keep secret how it raised and spent over $300 million after Hurricane Sandy? The charity hired a fancy law firm to fight a public request filed with New York state, arguing that information about its Sandy activities is a “trade secret.”
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A Forgotten Community in New Orleans: Life on a Superfund Site
Julie Dermansky, DeSmogBlog: Shannon Rainey’s home in Gordon Plaza is part of a subdivision developed by the city in 1981 on top of the Agriculture Street landfill. No one disclosed to the buyers that their new homes were built on top of a dump that was closed in 1965.
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Fifty Years After Freedom Summer, US Faces Greatest Curbs on Voting Rights Since Reconstruction
Amy Goodman and Juan González, Democracy Now!: In a week marking the 50th anniversary of Freedom Summer, Mississippi was in the news when African-American voters crossed party lines to help Republican Sen. Thad Cochran narrowly defeat a Tea Party challenger to win his party’s nomination.
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This Might Be the Biggest Reason to End the Tipped Minimum Wage
Emily DiVito, Campaign For America’s Future: Women represent 72 percent of all workers in tipped-wage jobs – those with a federal minimum wage of just $2.13 an hour. This means women are disproportionately placed in the very compromising position of having to please customers to earn enough to have decent take-home pay.
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Judge Says Constitution Doesn’t Exempt Religious from Vaccinations
Crystal Shepeard, Care2: While New York does not allow for “personal belief” exemptions, states that do are considering re-examining such policies due to the numerous outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases over the past several years. The attorney for the plaintiffs has said they would appeal the ruling.
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Zimbabwe’s Unfolding Humanitarian Disaster: We Visit the 18,000 People Forcibly Relocated to Ruling Party Farm
Davison Mudzingwa and Francis Hweshe, Inter Press Service: There is great concern for displaced families settled in an area earmarked for a proposed biofuel project. The project is set to be driven by the Zimbabwe Bio-Energy company, a partnership between the Zimbabwe Development Trust and private investors.
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Spirit In Action 