Sunday 5 February 2012

Why Black Union Workers Matter in This Year's Super Bowl Showdown
Jamilah King, Colorlines.com: "Less than a week before America's biggest sporting event of the year kicks off in Indianapolis, Gov. Daniels' fight with the state's unionized workers over legislation that could curtail the power of their collective bargaining rights has given a new national platform to the right wing's bitter, decades-old war against unions…. Consider what's at stake for Indiana's workers, particularly black ones. Black workers are disproportionately union members. They're more likely than whites, Asians, and Latinos to be in public-unions, and make up 15 percent of total membership, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Historically, unions have been crucial gateways for black workers to earn higher wages and break into the middle class."
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Chinese Fascism's Global Consequences
Roland Farris, Truthout: "There was a time when China was referred to as a society which was Communist or Post-Communist; today, the terms Authoritarian Capitalist or Capitalist with Asian/Chinese Characteristics are more common. However, there is a new term that appears to be increasingly applicable…. It is increasingly clear that China is the most powerful, mature and internationally accepted fascist state in global history and its status as such should cause us all a great deal of concern."
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Protests in Tahrir Square Continue as Egypt Appears to End Siege of Interior Ministry
David D. Kirkpatrick, The New York Times News Service: "After the fiercest battles in three days of street fighting with protesters, Egypt's military-led government appeared by daybreak Sunday to have ended, at least for now, a siege of its interior ministry. Security forces erected two new walls of cement blocks bisecting streets that had been central battlegrounds between security forces and protesters calling for the end of military rule."
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Oral History Collection Gives Voice to Incarcerated Women
Victoria Law, Truthout: "'Inside This Place' delves further into injustices inside women's prisons through firsthand accounts from the women themselves. Recognizing that not all people in women's prisons identify as women, it also includes the story of Charlie Morningstar, incarcerated in a women's prison because, although he identifies as a man, his body is deemed biologically female. These stories illustrate the myriad ways that prisons attempt to erase their personhood."
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Occupy DC Raided by Police in Riot Gear
Travis Waldron, ThinkProgress: "United States Park Police bearing riot gear and on horseback raided Occupy DC Saturday morning and throughout the day, removing tents that were deemed to be in violation of a no camping rule at McPherson Square. Park Police spokesperson Sgt. David Schlosser said the raid did not constitute an eviction and that protesters would be allowed to continue activities at the park as long as they complied with the no camping rule."
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America's Jobs Deficit, and Why It's Still More Important Than the Budget Deficit
Robert Reich, Robert Reich's Blog: "The most significant aspect of January's jobs report is political. The fact that America's labor market continues to improve is good news for the White House. But as a practical matter the improvement is less significant for the American work force.... America's job deficit is still mammoth. Our working-age population has grown by nearly 10 million since the recession officially began in December 2007 but many of these people never entered the workforce. Millions of others are still too discouraged to look for work."
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US Leak on Israeli Attack Weakened a Warning to Netanyahu
Gareth Porter, Inter Press Service: "When Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told Washington Post columnist David Ignatius this week that he believes Israel was likely to attack Iran between April and June, it was .... the White House was taking advantage of the current crisis atmosphere over that Israeli threat and even seeking to make it more urgent in order to put pressure on Iran to make diplomatic concessions to the United States and its allies on its nuclear program in the coming months."
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Bill Moyers | Jonathan Haidt Explains Our Contentious Culture
Bill Moyers, Moyers & Co.: "Our country is more politically polarized than ever. Is it possible to agree to disagree and still move on to solve our massive problems? Or are the blind leading the blind - over the cliff? Bill and social psychologist Jonathan Haidt talk about the psychological underpinnings of our contentious culture, why we can't trust our own opinions, and the demonizing of our adversaries."
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Koch Brothers Convene Super-Secret Billionaires' Meeting for 2012 Elections
Lee Fang, Republic Report: "At a retreat last weekend, dozens of wealthy donors convened in a large golf resort in Indian Wells, Calif. for a four day conference to raise money and plot out election year strategy, the Republic Report has confirmed. We traveled to the conference, and spoke to a few of the attendees. The summit, organized by the billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch, was cloaked in secrecy."
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Black Mask: Trip Through an Anarchist Turf War
Paul Buhle, Truthout: "They believed in a kind of anti-art, a disruption of galleries and exhibitions that represented the official art world, offering guerilla theater and bold statements in Black Mask, sold for a nickel or given away free. Likely, the most famous incident involving the group was not theirs: Valerie Solaris' attempted assassination of Andy Warhol.... Because Warhol was seen as corrupting the possibilities of avant-garde art, he was (and is, in the interview) seen as an appropriate target."
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The BuzzFlash commentary for Truthout will return Monday, February 6.

Komen's Small Board Includes GOP CEO, Her Son, a Top GOP Financial Fundraiser and Big Texas GOP Donor
Read the Article at BuzzFlash

Komen Decision: Race, Class, Abortion and Republicans
Read the Article at Politics 365

January Jobs Report Brings Good News for the Economy and Bad News for the Republicans
Read the Article at Mediaite

Tensions Heighten as Greece Holds Latest Round of Bailout Talks
Read the Article at BBC

The Obama Team Sadly Misinformed by Job Outsourcers
Read the Article at DailyKos

Romney, Self-Deporter, in the Lead After Winning Nevada Primary
Read the Article at The Wall Street Journal

Inside the New Hate
Read the Article at Salon

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