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Blacks, Low-Wage Employment and the Fight for $15

Marc Bayard Ebony
Forty-two percent of all U.S. workers make less than $15 per hour. This is shocking but even more shocking is that more than half of African American workers make less than $15 an hour, according to the National Employment Law Project (NELP). If one delves even deeper you discover that Black women are even more ensnared in this low-wage trap, as Linda Burnham, Research Director at the National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA), points out.

The Paradox of Paul Ryan: Why the Tea Party’s Right to be Wary

Bill Moyers, Michael Winship Common Dreams
There’s a paradox to all this. Despite his ideological kinship with the anti-government crowd, Paul Ryan is the embodiment of the troika of money, power, and politics that corrupts and controls the capital, the very thing the tea partiers detest.

Portugal Government Fuels Debate About Democracy in Europe

Stephen Fidler, Patricia Kowsmann, Matt Moffett The Wall Street Journal
An interesting article from The Wall Street Journal describing the current crisis of parliamentary democracy in Portugal in which the left coalition was not allowed to form a government, but the pro Eurozone forces will not be able to govern.

The Idea of the Deep State and "Real Alternatives."

Harry Targ Diary of a Heartland Radical
The concept, “deep state,” describes the hidden policy-making process. It suggests that power to make critical decisions resides not in the superstructure of the political process; the place were competitive games are played for all to see, but in powerful institutions embedded in society that can make decisions without requiring popular approval. Real Alternatives is a Crisis Pregnancy Center opposing women's reproductive rights receiving millions of dollars of funding.

"Trumbo"

'Trumbo' covers the span of time leading up to anti-communist hysteria in 1947, right after WWII when our ally, the Soviet Union suddenly became our enemy. Those who had written screenplays praising the USSR or supported union workers against the studio bosses were now suspect, and any of their friends and associates were considered enemies of the State.

Al-Aqsa Status Quo at the Heart of New Violence

Mike Hanna Al Jazeera
It is understood that Kerry intends to meet Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas and, importantly, King Abdullah II of JordanSeveral sources- Palestinian, Israeli and European- say Kerry is focusing on one major issue that many argue is the root cause of the current conflict: the status quo of what Israel calls the Temple Mount - the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. These are the mutually agreed arrangements that govern access to a site holy to both Jews and Muslims.

As Police Commander's Trial Nears, a `Black in Blue' Legacy is in the Spotlight

Glenn Reedus Chicago Reporter
The trial of Police Commander Glenn Evans, which is scheduled to begin in December, highlights divisions in neighborhoods where crime is often highest and police misconduct complaints are frequent. Evans, a 28-year veteran of the Police Department, is accused of shoving the barrel of a gun down a man’s throat while simultaneously holding a stun gun to his genitals.