The U.S. is Heading Into a Heavily Militarized Future

Tom Englehardt TomDispatch
When President Obama came into office, in what may be the single exception to the rule of the era, he walked back one crucial set of Bush administration policies, ending torture and closing the “black sites” where it occurred. Since then, however, the CIA has expanded. It and the national security state within which it is lodged, has grown, and the process of expanding that shadow government and freeing it from supervision has been unending.

George Washington, First President and Slave Catcher

Erica Armstrong Dunbar The New York Times
Last week the U.S. paid tribute to former Presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. And while Lincoln’s role in ending slavery is now understood to have been more nuanced than his reputation as the great emancipator would suggest, it has taken longer for us to replace stories about cherry trees with truer narratives about George Washington, president and slaveholder. Perhaps we can also honor Ona Judge, one of Washington's slaves that got away.

Teachers Alone Can’t Fix the “Accumulated Hurt”

Steven Singer The Progressive
The issue is violence against children, particularly low income and minority children. But all violence doesn’t come at the end of a gun. Keeping public schools defunded and dysfunctional is also a form of violence. Promoting privatization and competition when kids really need resources is also cruelty. And when society’s evils are visited upon innocent children, teachers alone can’t protect them.

North Carolina's Pig Farms: Living in Bondage to Feces and Flies

Brian Bienkowski Environmental Health News
A battle is raging in eastern North Carolina as health and environmental justice groups pressure the state, the second leading pork producing state behind Iowa, to more strictly regulate large pig farms. Researchers say fecal waste from the large industrial pig farms is seeping into waterways, and particularly threatening low-income and minority residents. But, the state and the pig industry continue to resist demands for increased regulation.

Friday Nite Videos -- February 20, 2015

Portside
Pussy Riot - I Can't Breathe. Elizabeth Warren: Vaccines Protect Children. The Black Press: Soldiers Without Swords. Another Day, Another Time: The Music of 'Inside Llewyn Davis'. Does Bill O'Reilly Have His Own Brian Williams Problem?

Pussy Riot - I Can't Breathe

Pussy Riot's first song in English is dedicated to Eric Garner and for all those from Russia to America and around the globe who suffer from state terror - killed, choked, perished because of war and state sponsored violence of all kinds - for political prisoners and those on the streets fighting for change. We stand in solidarity.

The Black Press: Soldiers Without Swords

A  powerful and engaging account of American history that has been virtually forgotten: the story of the pioneering black newspapermen and women who gave voice to black America. 

Another Day, Another Time: The Music of 'Inside Llewyn Davis'

A concert inspired by the Coen Brothers' film, 'Inside Llewyn Davis,' which is set in the 1960s Greenwich Village folk music scene, featuring live performances of the film's music, as well as songs from the early 1960s. Performers include the Avett Brothers, Joan Baez, Dave Rawlings Machine, Rhiannon Giddens, Lake Street Dive, Colin Meloy, The Milk Carton Kids, Marcus Mumford, Punch Brothers, Patti Smith, Willie Watson, Gillian Welch, and Jack White, as well as the star of the film Oscar Isaac. More info.