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The Forgotten History of How Automakers Invented the Crime of "Jaywalking"

Joseph Stromberg Vox
It's strange to imagine now, but prior to the 1920s, city streets looked dramatically different than they do today. They were considered to be a public space: a place for pedestrians, pushcart vendors, horse-drawn vehicles, streetcars, and children at play. As cars began to spread widely during the 1920s, the consequence of this was predictable: death.

Faced With Land Seizures, Defiant Nebraskans Vow to Halt Keystone XL

Nadia Prupis Common Dreams
Landowners from Nebraska's York and Holt counties last week filed suit against TransCanada to stall or even stop construction of the Keystone XL pipeline through their state. On Tuesday, they continued to call on President Barack Obama to veto the project altogether.

MLK’s Radical Vision Got Distorted: Here’s His Real Legacy on Militarism & Inequality

Geoff Gilbert Salon
In the address, Dr. King implored the necessity for the nation to undergo a “radical revolution of values,” explaining, “We must rapidly begin the shift from a thing-oriented society to a person-oriented society. When machines and computers, profit motives, and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.”

How Propaganda Conquers Democracy

Nicolas J S Davies Consortium News
America’s “managed democracy” has devolved into “inverted totalitarianism,” concentrating power and wealth in the hands of a small ruling class more efficiently and sustainably. Is this a basic test of democracy for the citizens of any country?

Can the U.S. Ever Fix Its Messed-Up Maternity Leave System?

Claire Suddath Business Week
According to the United Nations’ International Labour Organization, there are only two countries in the world that don’t have some form of legally protected, partially paid time off for working women who’ve just had a baby: Papua New Guinea and the U.S. The U.S. is also way behind the 78 countries that also offer leave to fathers.

Can the U.S. Ever Fix Its Messed-Up Maternity Leave System?

Claire Suddath Business Week
According to the United Nations’ International Labour Organization, there are only two countries in the world that don’t have some form of legally protected, partially paid time off for working women who’ve just had a baby: Papua New Guinea and the U.S. The U.S. is also way behind the 78 countries that also offer leave to fathers.

‘Solidarity Forever’ Written 100 Years Ago, Today

Jonathan Rosenblum Labor Notes
“Solidarity Forever” echoes symbolically this Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend. Dr. King’s last sermon was delivered in Memphis during the sanitation workers strike, a strike in which he acted not just as a civil rights leader but also a union leader. He even called for a general strike of black workers and students in Memphis.