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The Growth and Spread of Concentrated Poverty, 2000 to 2008-2012

Elizabeth Kneebone Brookings
Although severely concentrated disadvantage remains a predominantly urban phenomenon, suburbs now have nearly as many poor residents in high-poverty neighborhoods as cities. If these communities are ignored, they could become areas of concentrated poverty over time.

A Leading Voice of U.S. Jewry: End the Occupation

Amy Goodman/Nermeen Shaikh Democracy Now!
Henry Siegman, former executive director of the American Jewish Congress, tells Democracy Now!, "I think that sending rockets that are going to kill civilians is a crime. But for Palestinians to try, in any way they can, to end this state of affair—and to expect of them to end their struggle and just focus on less than 2 percent to build a country is absurd. That is part of—that’s propaganda, but it’s not a discussion of either politics or morality."

Liberal Zionism After Gaza

Jonathan Freedland The New York Review of Books
When Israelis and Palestinians appear fated to fight more frequently and with ever-bloodier consequences, and when peace initiatives seem to be utopian pipe-dreams doomed to fail, the liberal Zionist faces something like an existential crisis. They will have to decide which of their political identities matters more, whether they are first a liberal or first a Zionist. And that is a choice they don’t want to make.

Blacklisted Writer Norma Barzman Kicks Off UCLA Film Series

Susan King Los Angeles Times
Barzman wrote the 2003 autobiography "The Red and the Blacklist: The Intimate Memoir of a Hollywood Expatriate" and has been a leader in getting blacklisted writers' credits restored to films that were released with a "front" name. She'll be appearing at the Wilder theatre on her 94th birthday Sept. 15 for a screening of the 1946 drama "The Locket," for which she recently received writing credit.

Friday Nite Videos -- August 1, 2014

Portside
John Oliver: Nuclear Weapons. 10 Things You Didn't Know About Orgasm. Movie: Boyhood. Guitar in an African Village. Are US Military Bases and Embassies American Soil?

A Kinder Gentler Bank of America and Other Fairy Tales

Lynn Parramore Alternet
Bank of America and the other giant banks have set their predatory sights on the 25 percent of U.S. residents who rely on the unregulated system of payday lenders, check cashing joints, and pawnshops for their financial services. While the giant banks see an opportunity for maximizing profit, others say this population would best be served by banking through a non-profit institution such as the U.S. Postal Service.

Criminal Prosecution Rates for Environmental Crimes Near Zero

Carey L. Biron Mint Press
The Environmental Protection Agency, the government agency charged with safeguarding the country's health from environmental pollutants, pursues criminal charges in “fewer than one-half of one percent” of total legal violations. And the U.S. Justice Department has an even worse record. Consequently, all corporate violators, even repeat offenders and those involved in the illegal release of large amounts of dangerous toxic chemicals, escape criminal prosecution.