William Rivers Pitt | The Iraq War Was a Smashing Success
William Rivers Pitt, Truthout: By any vaguely human measure, the situation in Iraq is a US-made disaster of historic proportions. But for those in the “defense” industry, the specter of ongoing war and fear and death and weaponized mayhem is a fantastic return on their investment.
From Freedom Summer to Black August
Dan Berger, Dissent: Thirty-five years ago, California prisoners founded Black August, a holiday to pay tribute to African-American history in the context of an ever-expanding carceral state. Through Black August, prisoners sought to demonstrate the personal power they maintained despite incarceration.
Israeli Company Targeted by Oakland Blockade Imports Ammunition Into US
Darwin BondGraham, Truthout: Israeli-owned shipping company Zim, the target of recent port blockades organized by Palestinian solidarity activists in California, is importing millions of rounds of small arms ammunition into the United States each year.
Caught on Tape: What Mitch McConnell Complained About to a Roomful of Billionaires
Lauren Windsor, The Nation: At a secret meeting of elite donors convened by the Koch brothers, McConnell laid out his plan for shrinking the federal government and whined about having to vote on minimum wage bills.
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Street Sweepers, Part I: The Battle for the Cecil
Aaron Cantú, Beacon Reader: Downtown Los Angeles is home to two extreme phenomena: hyper-gentrification and a homeless population rising more rapidly than in any other city in the nation. No story embodies this more than the battle between activists and developers for the Cecil Hotel.
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You Don’t Know What “Libertarian” Means
The Daily Take Team, The Thom Hartmann Program: Libertarianism is not what most Americans think it is. From wanting to privatize health care, to doing away with federal agencies and eliminating minimum wage laws, libertarianism put the interests of billionaires and the wealthy elite first, and the interests of everyone else dead last.
Why Wall Street and Consulting Firms Win at the Elite College Brain Drain Game
Yves Smith, Naked Capitalism: From the perspective of elite college administrators, steering more students to get big-ticket jobs creates a virtuous circle for the school: More well-heeled graduates makes for a bigger pool of income from which to solicit donations.
Laura Flanders | Surplus Military
Laura Flanders, GRITtv: Obama says the review of surplus military equipment will be done by White House staff and “relevant” agencies, including Homeland Security and the Departments of Defense. But how about the residents in towns with all this firepower review the program? Especially those who have had police point assault rifles at their heads.
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Paul Krugman | The “Libertarian Moment” Will Have to Wait
Paul Krugman, Krugman & Co.: The libertarian vision of the society we actually have bears little resemblance to reality. Libertarianism is a crusade against problems we don’t have, or at least not to the extent that libertarians want to imagine.
Ferguson: Living Through the Replay
Dr. Mercedes Lynn de Uriarte, The Rag Blog: As a society, we seem repeatedly surprised by the anger generated by educational inequity, vanished jobs, ever more income disparities, lost affordable housing and racial and ethnic profiling of those targeted. We seem not to hear our fellow Americans until these events replay and coverage lets protestors speak for themselves.
Climate Crisis Connects Us, Climate Justice Requires Unity
Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese, Popular Resistance: There are solutions to the climate crisis, but like all other real solutions, they will have to come from organized and mobilized people at the grassroots level.
Economic Update: Corporate Economics
Richard D. Wolff, Economic Update / Truthout: This episode covers Burger King, French socialism, cellphone overcharging and Bank of America’s fine. We also address the advertising industry and the lack of an economic recovery. Plus, we respond to listeners’ queries about Michigan teachers’ union fight, the poor still being kept out of top US colleges and corporate stock buybacks.
BuzzFlash
Romney May Run for President Again: Invasion of the Plutocrats, the Sequel
Mark Karlin, BuzzFlash at Truthout: What this portends, given that the 2016 Democratic candidate for president is, at this time, likely to be a neoliberal on economics, is that the next presidential election is currently destined to be another horse race spectacle, rather than a serious discussion of potential structural changes in our economic system.
Everything Is Already Broken, So Let’s Bomb Some More Stuff
Russians Invading, Says Ukraine Leader; Tanks Reported Crossing Border
Read the Article at the Los Angeles Times
Chevron: Global Bandit, Local Bully
A 9-Year-Old at a Shooting Range, an Uzi and Outrage
Read the Article at The New York Times
Elizabeth Warren Faces Angry Questions About Gaza at Town Hall
Read the Article at the Cape Cod Times
Charles P. Pierce | It Is Never About Race: A Continuing Series
Your Cellphone Company Says Your Location Info Is Private. Think Again.
Spirit In Action 