Baba Brinkman - Religion Evolves

Baba Brinkman, a Canadian hip-hop performer with an intellectual bent, sexy beats and sumptuous lyrics, tackles where religion comes from, what purpose it serves and how it evolves. NYT: "like attending the best Ted Talk ever." See him at the Soho Playhouse in NY, or get his album (pay what you want) here.

Men In Skirts Protest Violence Against Women In Turkey

Men in Istanbul put on skirts over the weekend to protest violence against women and the brutal murder recently of Özgecan Aslan. Hundreds of people turned out, chanting slogans and showing solidarity between the sexes.

'Chuy' Garcia for Mayor of Chicago

The Chicago Teachers Union says enough of closed schools, red light cameras, privatization, mandatory sentencing minimums, closed libraries and mental health clinics. Money does not vote. People do. And the people support Jesus 'Chuy' Garcia for mayor.

The Real Social Security Crisis Is Income Inequality

Richard Long Campaign for America's Future
Senator Bernie Sanders proposes raising the percentage of income subject to the payroll tax. “You can start at $250,000,” he says, “and what the Social Security Administration has told us, their actuary has told us, is that if you do that, you’re going to make Social Security solvent for the next 40 years on top of the 18 years it’s solvent. “

Yes, O'Reilly's Fabrications Are Damaging Fox News

Eric Boehlert Media Matters
Year after year, newsroom embarrassments like O'Reilly's undermine Fox's credibility to the point where it seems more and more journalists today start with a working assumption that Fox is not a legitimate news operation. That represents a major shift from President Obama's first year in office and it's a key reason why O'Reilly's fabrications matter.

With Chicago Tired of "Mayor 1%," Chuy García Could Actually Win His Runoff with Rahm Emanuel

Kari Lydersen In These Times
While money poured into the recent mayoral and aldermanic elections, voters showed that they are tired of business as usual. Chicago has been portrayed internationally as a symbol of the growing chasm between America's haves and have-nots, the 1% and the 99%, a "tale of two cities." The concept worth contemplating now is that Chuy García could actually win. It would be a story for the ages.

With Chicago Tired of "Mayor 1%," Chuy García Could Actually Win His Runoff with Rahm Emanuel

Kari Lydersen In These Times
While money poured into the recent mayoral and aldermanic elections, voters showed that they are tired of business as usual. Chicago has been portrayed internationally as a symbol of the growing chasm between America's haves and have-nots, the 1% and the 99%, a "tale of two cities." The concept worth contemplating now is that Chuy García could actually win. It would be a story for the ages.

Desertec: The Renewable Energy Grab?

Hamza Hamouchene The New Internationalist
Europeans, in order to lessen their dependence on Russian oil and gas, are plotting to develop European controlled solar energy in the Algerian (or Tunisian Sahara). These projects would be done in such a manner as to maintain the core-peripheral relations between France and Algeria - using neo-liberal economic models that the Europeans should own and control the energy sources while the North Africans would get nothing out of the deal. Before it was oil, now solar.