Henry A. Giroux | Higher Education and the Politics of Disruption
Henry A. Giroux, Truthout: Higher education has been hijacked by the corporate elite, who have made learning about free-market principles and personal security rather than the public good and promoting democracy and justice. Academics and social movements must reclaim the university and transform it into a public space.
Amid Evidence of Illnesses, Activists Call on Electronics Industry to Boost Workplace Safety
Nicki Lisa Cole, Truthout: More than 200 scientists and environmentalists have challenged electronics companies to prioritize workers’ health and safety and stop polluting the communities around their factories.
Workers Behind Effective Campaigns Are Now on Trial for Racketeering
Michelle Chen, The Nation: The Laundry Workers Center’s courageous tactics have proved successful in challenging their employer’s power. Now the LWC is facing its own challenge in court, accused of illegally “conspiring” to protest against a boss. Fortunately, the law is on the workers’ side.
Israeli Opposition Calls Out Netanyahu for Racist Attack on Arab Voting
Robert Naiman, Truthout: Congressional Republicans apparently see Netanyahu as their “supreme guide” for determining US policy toward Iran. So, the top foreign policy adviser, if you will, to congressional Republicans on Iran policy is an Israeli leader whom the mainstream political opposition in Israel sees as a racist.
Senator Whitehouse Exposes ALEC Climate Change Denial
Jamie Corey, PR Watch: This week, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse took to the Senate floor to call upon the United States to “wake up” to the damaging effects of climate change denial and the fossil fuel industry funding received by groups that promote it, including the American Legislative Exchange Council.
Read the Article and Watch the Video
The SEC’s Andrew Bowden: A Regulator for Sale?
Yves Smith, Naked Capitalism: Bowden, who clearly sees himself as an upstanding person, is nevertheless a textbook case by virtue of how deeply captured he is, and his refusal to scrutinize the comfortable, career-advancing assumptions that have worked so well for him.
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The Big Dick School of US Patriotism: And What We Make of It
Nan Levinson, TomDispatch: “We live in a state of pervasive national security anxiety. There are various possible responses to this low-grade fever that saps resolve, but first we have to face the basis for that anxiety – what I’ve come to think of as the Big Dick School of Patriotism.”
Depaving Cities, Undamming Rivers: How We’re Undoing the Damage
Diane Brooks, YES! Magazine: The largest dam-removal project in history reached completion last fall, when excavators dredged the final tons of pulverized concrete from the Elwha River channel in western Washington State. All around the United States, people are stepping up to help a damaged planet heal.
Will the Photo ID Mess Be Repeated in 2016 or Resolved by the Supreme Court?
Ernest A. Canning, The Brad Blog: There are some key decisions from the US Supreme Court, coming very soon, which may well determine whether millions of otherwise lawfully registered and disproportionately Democratic-leaning African-American and Latino voters will be prevented from voting in the 2016 elections.
Dangerous Diplomacy: US Praises Mexico and Honduras, Targets Venezuela
Cyril Mychalejko, teleSUR: President Obama declared Venezuela an “extraordinary threat to national security” on March 9 on the basis of alleged human rights abuses and political corruption. This is part of an ongoing US campaign of aggression toward Venezuela.
On the News With Thom Hartmann: Last Year Was the Hottest Year Ever, and More
In today‘s On the News segment: The rate of human-caused global warming is going to soar in the next decade; new legislation would end the federal prohibition on medical marijuana; each of us may carry more than 100 genes from other organisms; and more.
Watch the Video and Read the Transcript
BuzzFlash
Koch Brothers Are Endangering the Planet by Funding Climate Change Denial
Mark Karlin, BuzzFlash at Truthout: The Koch brothers, the most noted billionaires in the crusade to corral US democracy into an oligarchy, are back in the news for their funding of climate-denial flummery.
Top 10 Arguments for Raising the Minimum Wage
Jon Stewart Rips Texas Over Gay Marriage Ban “Hate Cake”
Watch the Video at Comedy Central
Drought-Stricken California Only Has One Year of Water Left, NASA Scientist Warns
Read the Article at The Guardian
Iraqi Offensive for Tikrit Stalls as Casualties Mount
Read the Article at The Washington Post
“Radicals of a Different Sort”: How the Reactionary Right Is Plotting to Steal the White House
Inside the Senate GOP’s Self-Made Debacle on Sex Trafficking and Abortion
Read the Article at Talking Points Memo
Oregon Is First State to Adopt Automatic Voter Registration
Spirit In Action 