Internal Postal Service Plan to Cut Worker Benefits

The agency hopes to get Congress’ help in trimming pensions and paid leave, as well as slashing delivery service.

In Praise of I.F. "Izzy" Stone

In these critical times, remembering what one of last century's most courageous journalists taught us

'Sudan's Revolutionaries Offline but not Silenced'

In the wake of the massacre the internet was shut down by ruling Transitional Military Council (TMC), which said it was necessary in the interests of "national security".

Iran: U.S. Media Beats Drums of Mideast War (Again)

"Do U.S. reporters, anchors, and editors really want more Middle Eastern blood on their hands? If not, they need to fix their rather credulous and increasingly hawkish coverage of Iran—and fix it fast."

Global Left Midweek - June 19, 2019

Marta Harnecker: Life and Work * Hong Kong x2 * Switzerland * Brazil * Nigeria * Barcelona* Pakistan's Revolutionary Rhythms

Will Someone Please Explain to Trump How Tariffs Work?

Tariffs are not paid by foreign governments, such as Mexico and China, or by Mexican or Chinese companies exporting goods to the U.S. Instead, they are paid for by the American company importing the goods.

Marta Harnecker, Presente

A relentless fighter, comrade Marta Harnecker (1937 – 2019) made valuable contributions in the areas of theory related to revolution for socialism in the broader Latin American perspective.

Do You Actually 'Like' Your Private Health Insurance?

In 2018, as millions of Americans borrowed $88 billion to pay for health care, 62 CEOs of health care companies made a combined total of $1.1 billion in compensation

Bernie Sanders’ Democratic Socialism Speech

In a single speech, Bernie showed why he's an existential threat to the political establishment. He decried poverty and exploitation and named capitalism as the culprit and democratic socialism as the solution.

Media Bits and Bytes - June 18, 2019

Byron Allen v. Comcast goes to SCOTUS; Rightist Media Power; T-Mobile-Sprint Merger; Tech Economy Brings Inequality; Media Workers Unionize; "When They See Us"; Readers Call Out NYT Warmongering
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Culture

books

The Impossibility of Impeachment

Michael Kazin The New Republic
For reviewer Kazin, the failure of the effort to remove President Andrew Johnson from office, a story that is brilliantly recounted in this book, deserves careful study as we review today's political environment.

film

Scorsese’s Rolling Thunder Energy

Sam Adams Slate
Martin Scorsese blends fact and fiction for a playfully experimental film about the most freewheeling tour Bob Dylan ever did. The true shock of Rolling Thunder Revue is in how good, how alive, Dylan is on stage.

food

You Will Never Smell My World the Way I Do

Heather Murphy The New York Times
New research provides evidence of how extraordinarily different one person’s “smellscape” may be from another’s. It’s not that some people are better smellers; it’s that any one person might experience certain scents more intensely than their peers.

poetry

To Amal

Hedy Habra Verse Daily
The Lebanese American poet struggles to transcend a mother’s worry in a war-torn city, “your nightmare, a faint echo/of raging battles.”

books

Remembering the English Revolution

Daniel Johnson New Politics
A book not only for history buffs but for activists focuses on the Levellers in a history from the bottom-up that tells the story of a revolutionary mid-17th century British radical group that turned its world upside down.

Labor

labor

BuzzFeed News Is Part of a Union Wave at Digital Media Outlets

Marc Tracy The New York Times
Expertise in the language of the internet is part of what has made BuzzFeed a digital giant. Now members of the website’s news staff are using their fluency in digital culture to pressure their employer to come to the bargaining table.

labor

America Has a Permanent Temp Worker Problem

David Van Arsdale The Indypendent
worker loooking at computer screen Over the last few decades, the employee-employer relationship has been hollowed-out...by the staffing industry and businesses that want to “hire” workers without the regulations and obligations that come with officially employing them.

labor

Why the UAW Lost Again in Chattanooga

Chris Brooks Labor Notes
Those losses are the result of highly sophisticated and intense anti-union campaigns by employers, business groups, and politicians. They are also the result of the unsophisticated, shallow organizing approach of the UAW.

Friday nite video

video

Protest Music in the Era of Trump

From Woody Guthrie to the tumultuous 1960s, musicians have responded to the times with music. Musicians across multiple genres are once again responding to the political climate.

video

93PUNX, Vic Mensa | Camp America

A Trump official says that the immigrant children ripped from their parents are in places just like "summer camp." Yeah, like this.

video

Dr John's Best Version of "Such a Night" Piano Blues

Malcolm John Rebennack (Nov 20, 1941 - June 6, 2019), better known by his stage name Dr. John, was an American singer and songwriter. His music combined blues, pop, jazz, boogie-woogie and rock and roll (Wikipedia).