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Could Trump Help Democrats Gain Ground in Southern State Politics?

Chris Kromm Facing South
With Donald Trump now the presumptive Republican nominee for president in the race against Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton, attention is now turning to the impact the White House contest will have on down-ticket races, including state offices in the South.

Contamination at Largest US Air Force Base in Asia: Kadena, Okinawa

Jon Mitchell The Asia-Pacific Journal
Located in the center of Okinawa Island, Kadena Air Base is the largest United States Air Force installation in Asia. Documents obtained under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act reveal how years of accidents and neglect have polluted local land and water with hazardous chemicals including arsenic, lead, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), asbestos and dioxin.

Profile, Practices and Needs of California’s Domestic Work Employers

Saba Waheed, Lucero Herrera, Reyna Orellana, Blake Valenta UCLA Labor Center
Based on 501 randomly-dialed phone surveys throughout the state, this study provides demographic and household details, as well as an understanding of the employment practices and needs of domestic employers.

Fervently Singing Timely History of Chicago’s ‘Haymarket’ Affair

Hedy Weiss Chicago Sun-Times
“Songbook” frames its story through the memory of Lucy Parsons, the daughter of a slave who later becomes the widow of “anarchist martyr” Albert Parsons, a white man who had served in the Confederate Army, but then found his calling as a charismatic labor leader. There are unquestionably distant echoes of terrorist activity in our own time in this show, along with enduring issues of income inequality, police brutality, and a compromised judiciary and media.

Could the Left Finally Win in Spain This June?

Bécquer Seguín and Sebastiaan Faber The Nation
A new progressive alliance could break the stalemate—but whoever wins will face a hamstrung economy and deep discontent with politicians.

HBO’s All the Way Delivers a Kinder, Gentler LBJ

Gregg Barrios Texas Observer
Robert Schenkkan’s Tony award winning All the Way portrays Lyndon Baines Johnson in his finest hour, and its multi-media staging on Broadway was already cinematic in nature. HBO’s TV adaptation — directed by Jay Roach in collaboration with Schenkkan’s screenplay and airing Saturday — has upped the ante, giving us a leaner, less unwieldy and more intimate rendering.

Chronicle of a Strike

Alex Gourevitch Jacobin
Verizon strikers are fighting against the oppression and indignity of the American workplace.

Army Exalts Confederate Generals But Says Black Power Salute Inapt

Jason Dempsey The Washington Post
West Point’s investigation of the 16 Black women cadets who posed in uniform with raised fists determined that while the cadets didn’t violate military regulations their gesture was “inappropriate.” The U.S. Army, which vigorously defends the naming of 10 of its bases after Confederate generals who fought against the U.S. to preserve slavery, will instruct the 16 Black cadets on how “a symbol or gesture that one group of people may find harmless may offend others.”

US Labor Against the War: 2016 Natl Assembly Reportback

USLAW US Labor Against the War
US Labor Against the War (USLAW) held its 2016 National Assembly at ATU’s Tommy Douglas Center in Silver Spring, MD from April 15-17. Unlike the labor movements of most countries in the world, with the exception of trade and immigration, most of the American labor leadership still is uncomfortable or has yet to see the importance of talking about foreign policy and the need for international labor solidarity in practice rather than just in rhetoric.