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Author Michael Chabon: On His Recent Visit to the Occupied West Bank

Naomi Zeveloff Jewish Daily Forward
Pulitzer Prize Winning Author Michael Chabon speaks with The Forward’s Naomi Zeveloff at the end of his weeklong tour of the Israeli Occupied West Bank earlier this month. Chabon was a member of a literary tour organized by the Israeli group, Breaking the Silence, which collects and distributes testimonies of Israeli soldiers who served in the occupied territories. He termed the occupation “the most grievous injustice I have ever seen in my life.”

TTIP: Chevron Wants Investor “Right” to Challenge Government Laws

Arthur Neslen The Guardian
As negotiators begin the 13th round of talks to close the controversial Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership’s (TTIP) deal, new revelations surfaced regarding Chevron Oil’s attempts to incorporate Investor State Dispute Settlement Courts into the TTIP. These panels threaten national sovereignty because they can rule against a country’s social or environmental laws, if they are deemed to have reduced profits below those projected at the time of the investment.

The Long Journey from the Age of Jackson to Harriet Tubman on the Twenty

Catherine Clinton History News Network
When I began my academic career over forty years ago, the idea that a sea change from Andrew Jackson to Harriet Tubman would happen within my lifetime, that my students would come to college familiar with not only Harriet Tubman—but also Harriet Beecher Stowe and Harriet Jacobs—seemed unimaginable. The forgotten voices of women, particularly women of color, are being recovered.

Finally, Campaign Finance Reform Gets Some Political Respect

Kathy Kiely Bill Moyers and Company
Campaign finance reform, long a lonely political backwater frequented only by good government groups, is suddenly becoming a hot new address for some of this year’s candidates. Whether that will lead to a vibrant new political community remains the open question.

Friday Nite Videos -- April 29, 2016

Portside
John Oliver: Puerto Rico. Bernie Challenges Dems. Pres. Obama's Language Games. How Did Life Begin on Earth? Samantha Bee | Twenty-Dollar Tubman.

Trump, Bullying, and the Legacy of White Supremacist Terror: Let’s Call it What it Really Is

Dave Stovall Beacon Broadside
This was written by educator Dave Stovall shortly after Trump was run out of Chicago earlier this year in March and serves as an important reminder: White supremacy predates and will last well beyond Trump. This is not a strange blip in the annals of U.S. history. It is in its foundation. This piece appeared originally on Beacon Broadside.

Tidbits - April 28, 2016 - Reader Comments: Puerto Rican Coalition Against Debt Formed; Verizon Strike; Sanders, Hillary and a Revitalized Left; Beyonce's Lemonade; and more...

Portside
Reader Comments: Puerto Rican Coalition Against Debt Formed; Verizon Strike; Sanders, Hillary and a Revitalized Left; Sanders Allies - June Conference - Future of the Movement; Beyoncé's Lemonade; Harriet Tubman currency; and more; Announcements: Ways to Justice - Perspectives on Nonviolence, Civil Resistance and Self Defense; ALBA/Puffin Award for Human Rights Activism - 80th Annual Celebration Abraham Lincoln Brigade; Rise of the Right forum (California and New York)

Exclusive: Yanis Varoufakis Reveals How European Powers' Troika Abolished Greek Anti-Tax Evasion Unit

Lucy Komisar The Komisar Scoop
Former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis revealed for the first time how days after he resigned, the Troika effectively abolished a unit he had set up to combat tax evasion. European Commission (EC) President Jean-Claude Junker led the efforts to prevent Greece from collecting taxes. Junker was Minister of Finance and later Prime Minister of Luxembourg from 1989 to 2013. Varoufakis called Luxembourg the largest tax haven in the world.