Skip to main content

Autonomous Weapons: an Open Letter from AI & Robotics Researchers

Future of Life Institute
This open letter was announced July 28 at the opening of the IJCAI 2015 conference on July 28. Journalists who wish to see the press release may contact Toby Walsh. Hosting, signature verification and list management are supported by FLI; for administrative questions about this letter, please contact tegmark@mit.edu.

Georgia is Segregating Troublesome Kids in Schools Used During Jim Crow

Marian Wang ProPublica
"It's a warehouse for kids the school system doesn't want or know how to deal with," a parent told the Justice Department of the program. The Justice Department detailed its findings in a letter earlier this month to Georgia's governor and attorney general.

The Return Of The Ugly German

Joschka Fischer Social Europe
The massive conflict with France and Italy, the eurozone’s second and third largest economies, is not over, because, for Schäuble, Grexit remains an option. By claiming that debt relief is “legally” possible only outside the eurozone, he wants to turn the issue into the lever for bringing about a “voluntary” Grexit.

Landlords Behaving Badly: San Francisco Too Valuable for Poor People*

Carl Finamore CounterPunch
“The data clearly shows that the evictions crisis and resulting loss of rental units” is a big blow to the city meeting its affordable housing goals, said Board of Supervisor Jane Kim. Speaking on the steps of city hall, Kim announced her new pro-tenant “Eviction Protection Act/Just Cause 2.0” ordinance, a reference to the latest dot.com boom that set off soaring housing competition. The ordinance idea came from the community she said.

Univ. of California Academic Workers’ Union Calls on AFL-CIO To Terminate Police Union’s Membership

Mario Vasquez In These Times
The letter written by the UAW’s Black Interests Coordinating Committee (BICC) charges that police associations operate in ways that are antithetical to the mission statement of the AFL-CIO, particularly its stated goal "to fulfill the yearning of the human spirit for liberty, justice and community; to advance individual and associational freedom; [and] to vanquish oppression, privation and cruelty in all their forms."

The Unreality of the Iran-Nuke Fight

Paul Pillar Consortium News
An interesting article on the Iran Agreement written by a former CIA Analyst. "Everything that has been gained under this agreement in the way of restrictions on, and monitoring of, the Iranian nuclear program is a net, as well as a gross, gain over the situation that prevailed before the negotiations began and over the situation that would prevail if the agreement is killed."

Dreams Deported: Immigrant Youth and Families Resist Deportation

Nancy Guarneros UCLA Labor Center
UCLA Center for Labor Research and Education has just published the third book in a series Dreams Deported edited by Kent Wong and Nancy Guarneros. Utilizing the Center's politically powerful approach that ensures that people speak and act collectively for themselves seeking justice, Dreams Deported is a significant contribution to the movement for immigrant and worker rights here in USA and internationally. Buy this book -- and use it!

As Marginalized Communities Face Dearth of Trauma Care, Activists Step in to Fight for Survival

Maya Dukmasova Truthout
The community surrounding the University of Chicago's Hyde Park campus has one of the highest shooting rates in Chicago and consequences of the lack of a Level 1 adult trauma center are acutely felt. In Oakland, California, activists and trained first responders were frustrated by the lack of urgency they observed among police and EMTs after shootings. Keeping trauma care inequality campaigns grassroots gives lasting power and impact. Elsewhere, activists agree.