William Rivers Pitt | Hope in the Village
William Rivers Pitt, Truthout: Like a coal in the night, a bunch of kids are immersed in the practice of community and good government. They are engaged, learning how to express themselves, learning how to work together, learning how to be real and effective citizens. They will carry those experiences with them into adulthood, and improve their world, thanks to the Game of Village.
Common Minerals: Lifeblood of the Economic System, Disappearing Along With Fossil Fuels
Shay Totten, Truthout: Minerals and fossil fuels that are rapidly being exhausted are described by Ugo Bardi, professor at the University of Florence and the author of Extracted, as “Gaia’s Gift”: “It is a gift that was made only once in human history and that will not be made again in the future. From now on, we are on our own, and we must learn how to live with less.”
“Deporter-in-Chief” to Reach 2 Million Mark
Sarah Rosenblatt, Truthout: Despite Obama’s deportations of a record 2 million immigrants, rights groups across the country have resisted draconian measures to destroy American families. Undocumented activists who put their lives and families on the line have shed light not only on the inhumanity of deportation practices, but also on the exploitation of immigrant workers.
Sarah Jaffe | The Right to Parent, Even If You Are Poor
Sarah Jaffe, In These Times: Since the 1996 welfare reform bill, low-income women get little financial help raising children, and then their poverty is used as a strike against them. They are pushed to find work because society doesn’t see the care work they do as worthy of financial support.
The Latest Crack in Our Broken Immigration System
Diana Anahi Torres-Valverde, OtherWords: It takes the Citizenship and Immigration Services agency an average of seven years to grant green cards. Due to the structure of the immigration system that imposes a per-country cap, the wait now lasts more than two decades for Mexican immigrants.
Zarif and Kerry Signal Momentum on Nuclear Pact
Gareth Porter, Inter Press Service: As the negotiations on the Iranian nuclear program approach the July 20 deadline, both US Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif have signaled they are now moving toward agreement on the two most crucial issues in the talks.
Who Advised Cuomo on Mortgage Industry Investigation? A Mortgage Lobbyist
Justin Elliott, ProPublica: In early 2007, when he was New York State attorney general, Andrew Cuomo brought on a longtime confidant as a consultant on mortgage industry investigations, a move that has gone undisclosed until now. The friend had another job at the same time: consultant and lobbyist for the very industry Cuomo was investigating.
US Turns Back on Child Migrants After Its Policies in Guatemala, Honduras Sowed Seeds of Crisis
Amy Goodman and Juan González, Democracy Now!: The US has a long and bloody history of destabilizing democratic governments in Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador – the very countries that are now the sources of a migration wave in which tens of thousands of children are crossing the US border fleeing violence.
Watch the Video and Read the Transcript
Equal Pay for Women Would Mean a More Secure Retirement for All
Kitty Lan, Campaign For America’s Future: The link is simple and clear: Women earn less than men in the workplace, resulting in lower Social Security payments after retirement. The pay discrimination against women not only hurts their current well-being and future security, but also means tens of billions less in revenues to fund Social Security.
Dan Arel, AlterNet: In the United States, the battle to bring creationism and intelligent design into the classroom is alive and well. So what states and bills have been the worst for science education? Here are five examples of states that have either enacted or are relentlessly fighting to pass anti-evolution and or anti-science bills.
What if You Could Only Get an Abortion if Two Doctors Approved It?
Robin Marty, Care2: Although abortion is allowed in Canada, in New Brunswick a restriction was placed on the procedure that bans Canadian health insurance from paying for it unless it is done in a hospital, and with the approval of two doctors who have declared it a “medical necessity.”
All of Us Are Connected – None of These Words Are Mine Alone
Henia Belalia, Waging Nonviolence: Writing can be a process to explore interconnectedness and reclaim histories as tools we can use toward collective liberation. In this era of media stunts, celebrities and executive directors, there’s something fundamental for us to recognize: none of these words are ever ours alone.
BuzzFlash
Who Is the Refugee? Native Americans and Mexicans Lived in California First
Mark Karlin, BuzzFlash at Truthout: To those who protest the meager humanitarian relief granted to young people running for their lives from Central America and Mexico, one can ask if the hatred would appear if the immigrants were white Anglo-Saxons? Because that is what the tectonic war over democracy in the United States has been about for nearly 50 years.
This Is What Gaza Looks Like Right Now
Read the Article at Mother Jones
Top AIDS Researchers Among Malaysia Airlines Passengers Killed After Plane Shot Down
Read the Article at The Boston Globe
Anatomy of a Border Crisis: How Child Migrants Became America’s Top Issue
Read the Article at Talking Points Memo
First-of-Its-Kind Map Details Extent of Plastic in Five Ocean Gyres
The Human Price of Neocon Havoc
Read the Article at Consortium News
The New Age of Global Paranoia: Russia, Ukraine and the Plane Crash Heard ‘Round the World
Obama Opens East Coast to Oil Search
Read the Article at The Associated Press
Spirit In Action 