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How the Geography of U.S. Poverty Has Shifted Since 1960

Jens Manuel Krogstad Pew Research Center
Over the past 50 years, the poor have increasingly lived in the 20 most populous counties. In 2010, about one-in-five poor Americans (21%) lived in these high-density counties.

Sean O’Casey: Unrepentant Socialist

Lily Murphy CounterPunch
O’Casey changed the way Irish life had been portrayed on stage, from a rural and almost fantasy like setting to a realistic urban one divided by class.

How Can Washington Properly Fund Its Schools? Do What New Jersey Did.

Jen Graves The Stranger
When, in 1976, New Jersey was in a similar situation [to Washington], the Supreme Court shut down the schools for eight days. The fruits of that conflict remain with New Jerseyites to this day, for the need to fund schools more fairly is what led New Jersey in 1976 to adopt a state income tax for the first time.

Attacks on Planned Parenthood Threaten Millions of Women

Lauren McCauley Common Dreams
As the partisan Congressional Republican attack on Planned Parenthood heated up this week, a new study released Tuesday by the Guttmacher Institute found, "unequivocally that for women in many areas of the country, losing Planned Parenthood would mean losing their chosen provider—and the only safety-net provider around." Safety-net providers provide care and services in low-income, medically underserved, immigrant, and communities of color.

Jeremy Corbyn’s Huge Mandate as Labor’s New Leader

Rowena Mason The Guardian
Jeremy Corbyn has been elected leader of the British Labor party, in a stunning first-round victory that dwarfed even the mandate for Tony Blair in 1994. The election of the anti-war activist and rank and file Member of Parliament means the Labor party now has one of the most leftwing, anti-establishment leaders in its 115-year history. Minutes after his victory, Corbyn said the message is that people are “fed up with the injustice and the inequality” of Britain.

According to the Nuclear Industry “Radiation is Good For You”

Karl Grossman CounterPunch
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has a set a November 19 deadline for people to comment on its proposed relaxation in standards for nuclear power plants, an alarming change in U.S. federal policy that is based on a theory that low doses of radioactivity are good for people. The NRC is supporting changes being pushed by the nuclear industry and “a group of pro-nuclear fanatics,” according to the Nuclear Information and Resource Service.

Odetta: Long Ago, Far Away

The singer, songwriter, guitarist and civil rights activist Odetta gives a haunting performance of Dylan's 'Long Ago, Far Away.' 'One man lived just like a king/The other man begged on the street/Things like that don’t happen/No more, nowadays.'

U.S. Military in Africa: Problem Partners, Ugly Outcomes

Nick Turse (with additional reporting by Gabriel Karon) TomDispatch
Since 9/11, the Pentagon has increasingly viewed the African continent as a place with a multitude of problems that can only be remedied by military means. But, despite billions of dollars in aid and training missions and joint exercises conducted by America’s most elite troops, West African nations find themselves chronically imperiled by a plethora of insurgent groups and members of their own armed forces, many of whom were trained by these same U.S. special forces.