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Off-Year Election Takeaways for Money in Politics

Beatriz Aldereguia , Natalie Giotta Brennan Center for Justice
Last week’s off-year elections provided a window into the role money plays in our politics, and the possibilities for campaign finance for reform across the country.

The Trump Doctrine

Michael T. Klare TomDispatch
Making Nuclear Weapons Usable Again

Upton Sinclair is Dead and the Food Industry has the Trump Admin. Right Where It Wants It

Alana Toulin In These Times
In an era when the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are increasingly compromised, and workers in the American food industry are often poorly paid and under-protected, advocates and commentators must consciously work to dismantle the elitism that so often surrounds cultural discussions about food in the United States.

Working Families Party - What Happened?; Why; What Next?

Ted Fertik; Sarah Jaffe; Charles Lenchner
The Working Families Party recently concluded their New York State convention. Zephyr Teachout, prominent Fordham law professor announced her challenge to Gov. Coumo three days before, and she received 42% of the weighted vote. Gov. Coumo tried to bully the endorsement - it didn't work. Before writing off the WFP's Cuomo endorsement as yet another capitulation, consider the concessions wrung out of him. Will he keep the promises, what happened, what next...read on.

Children's Literature and Diversity

Jenny Price; Aly Seidel
Kids' books are missing the diversity of modern America. In children's books, it can be easier to find talking pandas than characters of color. Only 6 percent of children's books published in 2012 featured diverse characters.

Rwanda: Acquitted But Still Not Free

Beth S. Lyons Portside
The environment in Rwanda under the current government is unsafe for anyone or any party perceived to be in opposition to the regime. Defense lawyer Beth S. Lyons reports on what happens when the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) rules against Rwanda's current President Paul Kagame.

The Second Iran-Iraq War and the American Switch

Juan Cole Informed Comment
In the looming second Iran-Iraq War, the US will be de facto allied with Iran against the would-be al-Qaeda affiliate (ISIS was rejected by core al-Qaeda for viciously attacking other militant vigilante Sunni fundamentalists in turf wars in Syria). In fact, since ISIS is allegedly bankrolled by private Salafi businessmen in Kuwait and elsewhere in the Oil Gulf, the US is on the opposite side of all its former allies of the 1980s.