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Tidbits - March 27, 2014

Portside
Reader Comments - Ukraine; Russia; Climate Change; Wall Street; Capitalism; Wanted: Populist Movement of the 99%; Angela Davis; Charter Schools; Government Spying, NSA; NCAA Racism; TPP Announcements - Left Labor Project - Election Strategy Discussion -New York -Apr 3; Need 100 Jewish voices in New York against anti-boycott bill; 2014 Moving Beyond Capitalism Conference; New resource - Politics and ideology in the American Historical Profession

Jonathan Schell Dies at 70; Author and Anti-nuclear Activist

Times Staff and Wire Reports Los Angeles Times
With unrelenting rage and idealism, Schell focused on the consequences of violence in essays and books that conveyed a hatred of war rooted in part in his firsthand observations of American military operations in Vietnam.

A Bottom Up View of Cesar Chavez’s United Farm Workers

Steve Early CounterPunch
Neuburger’s volunteer assignments as an inside organizer in UFW recruitment campaigns, combined with his “shop floor” experience with many different employers, gave him a perspective on the union that’s rare for a gringo. Where he could, he played a very different role than the many college-educated activists who acquired UFW “membership” by virtue of their boycott activity the country or appointed staff positions at union headquarters in La Paz.

The NCAA's "Student-Athlete" Charade Is Officially Crumbling

By Jordan Weissmann Slate
The broader point of Ohr’s ruling is that Northwestern’s scholarship football players really do work for pay. They are recruited largely for their football abilities; they spend an inordinate amount of time on their sport; they’re rewarded with valuable scholarships, which can be canceled; they’re subject to special rules other students aren’t; and their labor is clearly valuable to the school, which brings in millions of dollars in football-related profits.

Keystone XL: State Department Tells the Environment to Drop Dead

Systemic Disorder
So the pipeline would enable a major boost to tar-sands production — and global warming. It is not only the environmental impact that is misrepresented, however. Pipeline opponents believe that potential economic gains are greatly overstated by the U.S. government and TransCanada Corporation, the company behind the Keystone XL project.

New York Schools Most Segregated in the Nation

The Civil Rights Project / Proyecto Derechos Civiles
“In the 30 years I have been researching schools, New York State has consistently been one of the most segregated states in the nation--no Southern state comes close to New York,” commented CRP Co-Director Gary Orfield. “Decades of reforms ignoring this issue produced strategies that have not succeeded in making segregated schools equal."

Real Apes

M. Wuerker Politico gocomics.com

How 'Male" Jobs Hurt Female Paychecks

Olga Khazan The Atlantic
The problem? Male jobs pay more—way more. The median annual wage for computer programmers was $74,280 in 2012, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and it was $53,400 for kindergarten teachers. Many women would need to change fields in order to make all workplaces in America have about a 50/50 gender split.