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Remember a President for Free Labor

Mark Lause Labor and Working-Class History Association
During the Civil War, strikers and other workers with grievances found a sympathetic ear in the White House and a willingness to use what Lincoln saw as the limited power of his office to allow for a fair contest in disputes between labor and management...

The Economics of Love and Loneliness

Sam Pizzigati Too Much
Why aren't Cupid's arrows hitting their lovelorn targets the way they once did? New research points to our growing economic divide.

The GOP’s Health Crisis

Eugene Robinson The Washington Post
Wednesday’s status report on the health-insurance reforms was by far the best news for Democrats and the Obama administration since the program’s incompetent launch. January was the first month when new enrollments surpassed expectations, as the balky HealthCare.gov Web site began functioning more or less as intended.

Christie Watch: Inside the Port Authority

Bob and Barbara Dreyfuss The Nation
Since 2010, Christie has installed dozens of cronies and favored operatives at the Port Authority. Christie has used the PA to build his political machine, using its power to curry favor with a wide range of Democratic mayors, county officials and party bosses.

Friday Nite Videos -- Feb 24, 2014

Portside
Michael Sam and the NFL. Language and Human Nature. Moral March on Raleigh. Are We Descended from Martians? Pete Seeger Speaks.

Sid Caesar Obituary - American TV's Great Comedian of the 1950s

Christopher Hawtree The Guardian
Sid Caesar at the height of his fame, was drawing audiences of up to 25 million. Broadway theatre owners complained, they always had empty seats on Saturday nights - the time that Your Show of Shows and later, Caesar's Hour, were broadcast live to the nation. Caesar's fans included Albert Einstein - who died before their planned meeting - and Alfred Hitchcock, who remarked that "the young Mr Caesar best approaches the great Chaplin of the early 1920s".

Tidbits - February 13, 2014

Portside
Reader Comments - Cecily McMillan Update - Occupy Activist Faces Seven Years in Jail - Trial Postponed to March 3rd; Africa; Latin America; Learning from History; Slavery; UAW Campaign at Volkswagen; Amiri Baraka; Pete Seeger memories; Announcements - CISPES Delegation to El Salvador; Workers Get a Cut on Powell Books purchases; New Video - The USA's new underclass; Labor Notes conference - April 4 - 6 - Early bird discount