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Tidbits - April 17, 2014

Portside
Cecily McMillan Trial Update; Reader Comments - Palestinian-Israeli Talks; Walmat, Living Wage, Minimum Wage of $15; Syria; Turkey; Pulitzer and Snowden; Paul Robeson; Russia, Ukraine, Crimea; Immune Systems; New book - What Did You Learn at Work Today? Announcements - Howard Zinn Symposium - Apr 24 - New York; 78th Celebration Abraham Lincoln Brigade & ALBA/Puffin Award for Human Rights Activism - Apr. 27 - New York; 45th Contingent of the Venceremos Brigade

Matt Taibbi: The SuperRich in America Have Become 'Untouchables' Who Don't Go to Prison

Amy Goodman, Matt Taibbi Democracy Now!
Matt Taibbi discusses his new book, "The Divide: American Injustice in the Age of the Wealth Gap." The vast majority of white-collar criminals have avoided prison since the financial crisis began, while an unequal justice system imprisons the poor and people of color on a mass scale. Taibbi explores how the Depression-level income gap between the wealthy and the poor is mirrored by a "justice" gap in who is targeted for prosecution and imprisonment.

University of Illinois Chicago Faculty Agrees to Tentative Contract

By Jodi S. Cohen Chicago Tribune
Union officials said that while the contract will expire in about a year and a half, they are well positioned to negotiate future agreements. “We have one year to regroup, and we will continue on with some of the things we didn’t get this time,” said. UIC English Professor Lennard Davis, “We have shown the university what we can do when we organize."

Philly Police Will No Longer Hold Immigrants on Behalf of ICE

News Works
Philadelphia's only Latino City Council member, Maria Quinones-Sanchez, became emotional while talking about the executive order. "This victory is so huge, not only for the city of Philadelphia but for rest of the country," she said. "And for those of you who do immigrant work and know the faces behind the stories, the people who have suffered who we couldn't save before."

Violence surges from Islamic uprising in Nigeria

The Washington Post
In a country where relations between Muslims and Christians can be fraught and sometimes escalate into bloodshed, the 5-year-old insurgency is encouraging extremists from both religions and widening the gulf as never before.

Pulitzer Vindicates: Snowden Journalists Win Top Honor

Lauren McCauley Common Dreams
Guardian and Washington Post each honored with Pulitzer for Public Service. The Guardian team broke the first report on the NSA's collection of Verizon phone records and Gellman, with help from Poitras, reported on the wide-ranging surveillance program known as "PRISM." In addition to Greenwald, Poitras, MacAskill and Gellman—who are primarily credited for the NSA revelations—a number of other reporters working at the publications also contributed to the reporting

The Era of Financialization, An Interview with Costas Lapavitsas: Parts 1 and 2

Interview with Costas Lapavitsas Dollars & Sense
These are the first two parts of a four-part interview with Costas Lapavitsas focusing on the Era of Financialization and the transformations at the “molecular” level of capitalism that are driving changes in economic performance and policy in both high-income and developing countries. Lapavitsas is a professor of economics at SOAS, University of London, and the author of Financialised Capitalism: Expansion and Crisis (Maia Ediciones, 2009)