In the UK the “Lord Chancellor” and Secretary of State for Justice Michael Gove wants to be remembered for his efforts to reform prisons. Writing in The Telegraph, Gove says “The emphasis of our penal system must be on more effective rehabilitation, because our current approach is costing us all dear. At present, nearly half…
Amtrak is in legal trouble. The rail service provider has long enjoyed an anomalous legal status as a for-profit corporation created by the U.S. government. But in 2008, the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act, or PRIIA, heightened that anomaly by giving Amtrak a say in crafting and imposing the regulations that the entire U.S….
Recently more than 15,000 teachers with the Detroit Federation of Teachers (DFT) did not show up for work, instead calling in sick and effectively shutting down 94 of the Detroit district’s 97 schools and leaving over 45,000 students on an unexpected holiday for two whole days. This mass sick-out was called for in an email…
There’s an old saying that when you see a turtle on top of a fencepost, you know it didn’t get up there on its own. In the official capitalist ideology — especially the version that prevails in neoliberal America — great wealth is seen as the reward for superior entrepreneurship, foresight and personal drive. As…
A recent article in Kentucky’s leading paper, The Lexington Herald Leader, discusses the down-fall of coal in the Bluegrass state. The statistics reported are alarming. Overall, the industry is at a 118-year low as more than 50% of coal jobs have disappeared over the past few years. In a region laden with poverty the hits…
On April 4, 2015 in North Charlton, North Carolina a black man named Walter Scott was shot by a white police officer named Michael Slager. Slager alleged that he pulled over Scott for a traffic violation, Scott resisted arrest and took his taser. At this point Slager decided to take action; he shot at Scott…
Good old Knoxville, Tennessee — this scruffy little town that I love — will host the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), a dismal bureaucracy, on May 26, 2016. BLM is heading to the vibrant, plush Tennessee Theatre in the heart of downtown to take comments on how “public” lands are utilized for coal mining. Specifically, strip mining…
On May 10 West Virginia will hold its presidential primary. Contenders Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have all visited the state looking for working class votes. All three contenders have a vision for the future of West Virginia’s economy. Republican Trump wants to bring back “Clean Coal” and protect industry jobs. Democratic candidates…
Ordinarily the word “housing” means a person’s shelter, lodging or place of dwelling. But shortened to “housin” it refers to, according to Urban Dictionary, a show of dominance or authority. And when it comes to the dispute between Airbnb and the Berlin government, it’s clear Airbnb isn’t housin’ anything. The Guardian recently reported that new…
What a sick world we live in where Joseph Buddenberg and Nicole Kissane, two individuals so passionate about the lives of the earth’s most vulnerable, must fight for their own lives for having the courage to act on their compassion. But in a world where justice has become a scarce commodity, should we be surprised…
On April 30th, Father Daniel Berrigan, an anti-war activist, Jesuit priest, author, and poet, passed away at the age of 94. Since the Vietnam War, Father Berrigan spoke bravely against American imperialism. But his opposition to US military interventions abroad went beyond speech. Father Berrigan bravely and repeatedly engaged in direct action to resist America’s…
In a move that should surprise no one, Reuters reports that the Obama administration announced that they’re going to deploy 200 more troops to Iraq. This doesn’t include the additional advisors, Apache helicopters and other gadgets that the US government has authorized to send to Iraq, nor the additional troops to Syria. At a recent…
You may be familiar with the role of proprietary automobile diagnostic software in enforcing a repair cartel of the Big Auto manufacturers, dealership mechanics, and auto repair chains and big garages that can afford to license the software. By using closed software that makes it impossible for an independent party to access it, or open…
Last week, Governor Gary R. Herbert signed a resolution which declared porn a public health crisis in the state of Utah. This latest authoritarian move by anti-porn moralists has been defended by Utah state Senator Todd Weiler who said, “This isn’t just a religious moral issue. Some people want to make this about sex education; no boy…
In a recent op-ed (Karma tastes delicious in America’s new, humane economy, Washington Post, April 15, 2016), Kathleen Parker lauds what she sees as “a revolution…in the ever-more-dignified animal kingdom.” For Parker, evidence of the revolution is clear: From SeaWorld’s ban on orca breeding, to Armani’s discontinuation of fur-use in products, to Walmart’s promise of…
Mike Lindell, president of My Pillow Inc., seems like a nice guy, and I like his product. But he says something in his commercial that bothers me: “Every part of my product is made in the USA.” What could be wrong with that? Lots of things. First, is it true? Lindell may really believe what…
In the cover story of this month’s Harper’s Magazine, author Dan Baum recounts a conversation he had with former Nixon domestic affairs adviser and convicted Watergate co-conspirator John Ehrlichman. Baum states that in 1994, Ehrlichman told him that the Nixon Administration started the War on Drugs as an attack on black Americans and anti-war protesters….
The repeated denunciations of the “coup media,” which supposedly favors the impeachment (a “coup,” in the government’s supporters language), is interesting because it shows how short everyone’s memories are (“Novos discursos, o mesmo golpismo“, Carta Capital, April 4; “Deputado Paulo Pimenta publica roteiro de golpe jurídico-midiático em 13 passos“, Jornal do Brasil, March 25). Nobody…
(CW: Discussions of transphobia and sexual abuse) The Washington Post recently reported on a South Carolina bill introduced by Senator Lee Bright who claims, “I don’t believe transgender people are pedophiles,” but, “I think grown adult men would use this as protection to violate women in the restroom.” Like many others, Bright fails to understand that…
Barack Obama recently said that his biggest blunder was “failing to plan for the day after” his intervention in Libya. While he defended the intervention itself, the president cannot deny that his reckless war has had disastrous consequences, including a growing ISIS presence in Libya. Hillary Clinton eagerly pressured the president to overthrow Moammar Gaddafi….
