"Where the Papers At?"

Communication Workers of America Communication Workers of America
Cablevision workers from Brooklyn, invited by the National Action Network to perform at the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, took the stage with their latest rap, "Dear Mr. Dolan: Where The Papers At?" It's a call for fairness from the company that has refused to bargain a fair contract for the 280 workers.

Which Syrian Chemical Attack Account Is More Credible?

Jim Naureckas FAIR - Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting
The government account expresses "high confidence that the Syrian government carried out a chemical weapons attack" on August 21. The Mint report (Mint Press News) bore the headline "Syrians in Ghouta Claim Saudi-Supplied Rebels Behind Chemical Attack." Which of these two versions should we find more credible?

One of the Greatest Nuclear Nonproliferation Stories Never Told

Beth Duff-Brown Stanford Center for International Security and Cooperation
Nuclear hotspots around the world, namely, North Korea; Iran and Israel in the Middle East; and Pakistan and India in South Asia [keep me awake at night.] Of equal concern, however, is getting all countries to take nuclear safety and security seriously. There are no simple technical fixes. International cooperation at all levels is required to ensure that world-class nuclear safety and security is practiced at all nuclear sites.

Budget Documents Detail Extent of U.S. Cyberoperations

David E. Sanger The New York Times
Newly disclosed budget documents for America’s intelligence agencies show how aggressively the United States is now conducting offensive cyberoperations against other nations, even as the Obama administration protests attacks on American computer networks by China, Iran and Russia.

Court Rejects Military Contractor's Attempt to Avoid Trial for Human Trafficking

Steven Watt ACLU
As the ACLU has documented in Victims of Complacency, while the fate of the men may be unique, the scheme of which they were a part was sadly all too common at the time. Since 2003, similar labor trafficking schemes resulted in thousands of foreign workers (known as Third Country Nationals or "TCNs") being hired to work on U.S. government contracts in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere.

A Decade of Flat Wages

Lawrence Mishel and Heidi Shierholz Economic Policy Institute
The priority has to be jobs now, rather than any deficit reduction. On top of lowering unemployment, policy should also restore the bargaining power of low- and middle-wage workers. This means aggressively increasing the minimum wage; it means reestablishing the right to collective bargaining for higher wages; it means guestworkers should have full rights to the same labor market protections as resident workers; it means paying attention to job quality and wage growth.

Respecting the Constitution

There are few things more bizarre than watching people advocate that another country be bombed even while acknowledging that it will achieve no good outcomes other than safeguarding the "credibility" of those doing the bombing. Relatedly, it's hard to imagine a more potent sign of a weak, declining empire than having one's national "credibility" depend upon periodically bombing other countries.