Historic Failure for Social-Democratic Left in French Elections

Elisabeth Gauthier transform! europe
The recent French municipal elections...The abstention levels of 39% were a record high for municipal elections. They were particularly high in areas most affected by the crisis; in metropolitan communes; among the young; workers; and voters of the Front de Gauche (Left Front) and of the FN (National Front). In addition, almost 3 million potential voters were not registered to vote.

Breaking the Law? Northwestern Football Coach Pressures Players Not to Unionize

Dave Zirin The Nation
It takes an enormous amount of chutzpah for Fitzgerald to so strenuously oppose the efforts of his players to have a seat at the table when he is making $2.2 million per year and received a $2.5 million loan from the school upon signing his most recent contract. Yet Fitzgerald's stance is not only distasteful. It may be illegal.

The Revolt of the Cities

Harold Meyerson The American Prospect
During the past 20 years, immigrants and young people have transformed the demographics of urban America. Now, they're transforming its politics and mapping the future of liberalism. In America, politics follow demographics: Voters of color and millennial voters stand well to the left of their white and older counterparts in their support for government intervention to counter the market's inequities.

Latin America: Then and Now

Portside
The presidents of the Latin American countries of Argentina, Brazil and Chile reflect the deep transformations in the political life of the continent since the days of military dictatorship.

Friday Nite Videos -- April 25, 2014

Portside
'Toreador': A Random Act of Culture. What the 1% Don't Want You to Know. Guns: Not Our Words. Schizophrenia: What's in My Head? Matt Taibbi Explores Criminal Injustice With Bill Maher.

'Toreador': A Random Act of Culture

The Opera Company of Philadelphia performs "The Toreador Song" from Bizet's Carmen at the city's famed Reading Terminal Market for a crowd of surprised and delighted shoppers who responded with a chorus of cheers and a rousing ovation.

Guns: Not Our Words

Not our words. This weekend we are this television ad in Indianapolis and in Washington, D.C. It features survivors of gun violence and family members of victims speaking the extremist words of gun lobby leaders -- words that don't speak for them or their experience with gun violence.

Schizophrenia: What's in My Head?

When she's experiencing hallucinations, artist Sue Morgan feels compelled to draw; to 'get it out of her head'. Sue was diagnosed with schizophrenia about 20 years ago. The drawing is therapeutic, but it's also Sue's way of expressing the complex and sometimes frightening secret world in her head. In this film Sue meets Sukhi Shergill, a clinician and researcher at the Institute of Psychiatry in London. He's also making pictures, but using MRI to peer inside the brains of schizophrenia patients.