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The Three Ideologies in American Political Life

Harry R. Targ Diary of a Heartland Radical
As the long and painful presidential election season unfolds, it is useful to analyze the three competing ideologies that dominate current debate. Each has its adherents. Each represents interests. Each explains how the world works in a different way. And each has a different vision of a better future.

How Scott Walker's Hubris Killed His Campaign

Molly Ball The Atlantic
Walker returns home badly damaged by his ill-starred foray onto the national stage. Wisconsin’s once-dominant chief executive looks decidedly fallible, and even his allies doubt that he will run for a third term in 2018.

Rev. Graylan Hagler Disinvited to Speak on Palestine, Sent Death Threats

Ben Norton Mondoweiss
Despite being disinvited to speak, Hagler said, “in the spirit of defiance, I am going to Rochester anyway.” Because he was disinvited by the Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School, he had to seek a new venue at which to speak. Rev. Hagler will now instead be speaking at the Historic German House, on the same date.

Shifting Work to Mexico Now Up for UAW Vote

Alisa Priddle and Greg Gardner Detroit Free Press
The UAW and Fiat Chrysler reached a tentative agreement Tuesday night that puts more money in workers' pockets and invests $5.3 billion to update plants. The investment is part of the automaker's five-year product plan and involves shifting the geography of where many Chrysler, Dodge, Ram and Fiat vehicles are made.

Film Trailer: Forgotten/‘Olvidados’

“Olvidados” is one of those gripping, hard hitting political films about Latin America, a tradition including Sergei Eisenstein’s 1932 epic “Que Viva Mexico!”, Costa-Gavras’ 1972 “State of Siege” and 1982 “Missing”, Set and shot mostly in Bolivia and Chile, “Olvidados” (the forgotten, vanished people) creatively uses a flashback structure to tell the harrowing tale. 

Trade Union Women

Jane LaTour ZNetwork
A new book, "Gender and Leadership in Unions," offers historical and comparative insights on gender, political consciousness, intersectionality and the future of the labor movement. The book is based on a collaborative research project of scholars and union members in both countries.

Film Review: Carlos Bolado’s ‘Olvidados’ Uncovers the CIA’s Role in Latin America’s Bloodiest Dictatorships

José Raúl Guzmán NACLA
Olvidados serves as powerful indictment of the military personnel who were responsible for thousands of deaths and disappearances of political dissidents in Latin America during Operation Condor, estimated at 30,000 forced disappearances, 50,000 deaths, and 400,000 arrests. Beginning in 1975 the political campaign of repression spanned across Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Brazil, Uruguay, and Paraguay—carried out by the right-wing military dictatorships, backed by the CIA.

The Radical Roots of the Great Grape Strike

David Bacon The Reality Check
Mythology has hidden the true history of how and why the great grape strike started, especially its connection to some of the most radical movements in the country's labor history. After 50 years that silence is lifting. Dawn Mabalon, a history professor at San Francisco State University, has documented the radical career of Larry Itliong, who headed the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC), one of the two organizations that carried out the 1965 strike.

Mothers Serving Long-Term Drug Sentences Call for Clemency

Victoria Law Truthout
Thousands are still imprisoned on federal drug charges who, without presidential clemency, will most likely die behind bars. In 2013, 98,200 people (more than half the federal prison population) were in prison for drug offenses such as trafficking and possession. Within the federal prison system, the overall imprisonment rate for Black women is more than twice that of white women. Latinas are also imprisoned at a higher rate than their white counterparts.