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Solitary Confinement Isn't Punishment, It's Torture

Jasmine Heiss The Guardian
Albert Woodfox – who has the dubious honor of being the United States’ longest serving prisoner in solitary confinement – is just one of an estimated 80,000 people held in solitary confinement on any given day in the United States.

Innovative Toolkit Maps Israeli Violations in Gaza

Amnesty International
The Gaza Platform, launched by Amnesty International and Forensic Architecture, records the time and location of each attack on an interactive map and classifies it according to numerous criteria including type of attack, site struck and number of casualties to highlight patterns. The aim is to identify and publicize patterns which can help in the analysis of whether particular attacks constitute violations of international humanitarian law, including war crimes.

The Confederate Flag at War (But Not the Civil War)

Greg Grandin TomDispatch
“Northerners and Southerners agreed on little” in the years after the Civil War, historians Boyd Cothran and Ari Kelman write, “except that the Army should pacify Western tribes.” Reconstruction -- Washington’s effort to set the terms for the South’s readmission to the Union and establish postwar political equality -- was being bitterly opposed by defeated white separatists. “Many Americans found rare common ground on the subject of Manifest Destiny.”

Hillary Clinton Pledges to Defend Israeli Apartheid & Fight BDS Movement in Letter to Mega-Donor

Kevin Gosztola Firedoglake
“I am writing to express my alarm over the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement, or ‘BDS,’ a global effort to isolate the State of Israel by ending commercial and academic exchanges,” Clinton wrote [PDF]. “I am seeking your advice on how we can work together—across party lines and with a diverse array of voices—to reverse this trend with information and advocacy, and fight back against further attempts to isolate and delegitimize Israel.”

Why We Voted No: Young Greeks on the Referendum

Carmen Fishwick The Guardian
Greece’s young voters rejected the bailout package drawn up by creditors by around 2 to 1. Analysts had predicted that the ballot could be swung by the youth vote, with some polls suggesting that 80 per cent of young Greeks would vote against the plan.

The Destruction in Syria

Rabie Nasser Jacobin
As part of a series on the devastating civil war in Syria, Jacobin spoke to Rabie Nasser, a Syrian economic analyst who works with the Syrian Center for Policy Research. We discussed the social and economic disaster in the country, the role global and regional powers have played in the war, and how Syria may one day be rebuilt.

Women's Prisons as Sites of Resistance: An Interview With Victoria Law

Maya Schenwar Truthout
When we think of prison protest, what comes to mind? That list would include the Attica uprising, George Jackson, struggles of the Angola 3 activists, the 2013 California prison hunger strike and other crucial resistance - mostly organized by incarcerated men. Often, organizing work done by incarcerated women goes wholly unrecognized. In her book, Resistance Behind Bars: The Struggles of Incarcerated Women, Victoria Law focuses on women prisoners activism.

No Smiley Faces: Jared Bernstein on the TPP Juggernaut

Steven Mikulan Capital and Main
Economist Jared Bernstein recently sat down with Capital & Main to offer his perspective on a wide range of political and income-inequality topics. Formerly a top advisor to Vice President Joe Biden and, currently, a senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Bernstein spoke to us again, following the U.S. Senate vote to fast-track the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.