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Sovereignty and the State of Emergency

Jean-Claude Paye Monthly Review
The U.S. government, following the 9/11 attacks, expressed no intention of reforming its Constitution. It was left free of any procedure for exception or emergency. This does not mean that the United States has remained a more democratic country than France. Attacks against privacy, civil rights, and, above all, habeas corpus have proven even more virulent in the United States than in Europe.

Tyrus Wong, ‘Bambi’ Artist Thwarted by Racial Bias, Dies at 106

Margalit Fox The New York Times
Mr. Wong died on Friday at 106. A Hollywood studio artist, painter, printmaker, calligrapher, greeting-card illustrator and, in later years, maker of fantastical kites, he was one of the most celebrated Chinese-American artists of the 20th century. But because of the marginalization to which Asian-Americans were long subject, he passed much of his career unknown to the general public.

A Ph.D. in Organizing

Dawn Tefft and Jeff Schuhrke Labor Notes
Newly armed with the right to collective bargaining, teaching assistants, graduate assistants, and research assistants at private universities are organizing to join the ranks of the unionized.

Five Years In - How's the Affordable Care Act Doing? A Diagnosis

Carl Finamore MSNBC
Five years in the ACA still primarily serves as a huge government marketing campaign for private insurance companies, funneling millions of new customers with few if any restrictions on ever-escalating prices. The ACA built upon the flaws of our market-based system and, quite predictably, is failing to contain costs and provide broad access to affordable, quality health care. Corporate interests still trump the common good in U.S.