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The Self(ie) Generation

Charles M. Blow The New York Times
Millennials - are ‘digital natives’ - the only generation for which - the Internet, mobile technology and social media - are not something they’ve had to adapt to.

The Big Lie about Mayor Bill de Blasio and Charters

Diane Ravitch Diane Ravitch's blog
The question before the Mayor is whether he will continue to fund a dual school system–one sector able to choose the students it wants–and the other sector serving all. He is trying to have it both ways, and it doesn’t work. He gave the charter lobby almost everything it wanted, and they still came after him as if he had given them nothing at all.

HIV Gene Therapy Using GM Cells Hailed a Success After Trial

Ian Sample The Guardian
A radical new gene therapy for HIV using genetically modified cells mimics a rare but natural mutation that makes about 1% of the population resistant to the most common strains of HIV. Scientists were cautious not to draw strong conclusions from the small scale trial, which was designed to assess the safety of the therapy, but the early signs have raised their hopes.

The Great U-Turn

Robert Reich Robert Reich's blog
In the 1950s and 1960s, the richest 1 percent took home 9 to 10 percent of total income. Today the top 1 percent gets more than 20 percent.

The Third Party That's Winning

Sarah Jaffe In These Times
With new strategies, the Working Families Party is shaking up the two-party system.Bertha Lewis knows perhaps better than anyone else how hard those fights can be. But she thinks they're worth it. "Sometimes, in years past, you couldn't tell a Democrat from a Republican. No one wanted to talk about race; no one wanted to talk poverty. This conversation that we're having nationally about inequality is because [groups like WFP] kept to our principles and our ideas...' "

Breathless in Beijing

Jayati Ghosh Frontline (India)
The air pollution in Beijing in mid-February was more than 10 times the WHO-prescribed safe limit. It led to the authorities shutting down chemical, metallurgical and other such industries, besides banning outdoor barbecues and even asking people to stay indoors.

Tidbits - March 6, 2014

Reader Comments - International Women's Day; Cecily McMillan; Ukraine; Venezuela; Are Unions Necessary?; Gov. Christie and Bridgegate; What the Hell Is Barack Obama's Presidency For?; War in Iraq; Announcements - Dignity in Action -San Francisco -Mar 8; Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire Commemoration -New York - Mar 25; New book - Save Our Unions: Dispatches from A Movement in Distress; Today in History - Supreme Court rules in Dred Scott - March 6, 1857