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Alternate History

Bill Glose The Sun
Poet Bill Glose, a former paratrooper and author of three collections of poetry, addresses the psychology and luck that brought him back from Iraq.

What Happens When All We Have Left is the Pentagon? - Trump's Vision of a Militarized America

William D. Hartung TomDispatch
Last Friday, Donald Trump made his first visit to the Pentagon where he spoke of signing an order to begin "a great rebuilding of the armed services of the United States." This will mean a massive surge in federal dollars pouring into the abyss of the Pentagon, which has shown itself quite capable of absorbing such moneys in the past and seems to lack the slightest ability to account for what's done with them. (The Pentagon has never even managed to pass an audit.)

California Just Threatened To Stop Paying Taxes If Trump Cuts Federal Funding Over Sanctuary City Status

Grant Stern Occupy Democrats
The State of California's elected officials are exploring ways to combat President Trump's Executive Order cutting off funding to sanctuary cities. National legal experts say that Trump's sanctuary cities order is unconstitutional because, at its core, the order is an attempt to commandeer state and local officials in violation of the 10th Amendment.

Worldwide, School Choice Hasn't Improved Performance

Henry M. Levin; Steve Hinnefeld US News and World Report
The experience of other countries suggests Betsy DeVos' voucher vision falls flat. Research led by an Indiana University professor confirms what school voucher critics have long argued: Voucher programs receive public funding yet discriminate on the basis of religion, disability status, sexual orientation and possibly other factors. Democratic political participation requires access to information, engagement in discourse and electoral activity to be effective.

Tidbits - February 2, 2017 - Reader Comments: Senate Dems Need Spine; Open Letter to Historic Women's March; Readers respond to Bhaskar Sunkara; Union Membership Continues Decline, Building Trades Makes Deal; How to Resist; and more...

Portside
Reader Comments: Whither the Resistance - Senate Dems Need Spine; Open Letter to Historic Women's March; And this is Just the First Two Weeks; Readers respond to Bhaskar Sunkara, "Our Alternative"; Union Membership Continues Decline, Building Trades Leadership Makes Deal, Undercuts Rest of Labor; Resources - How to Resist, What to Do;Announcements - Vito Marcantonio Forum; Igniting the Socialist Resistance Against Trump; Never Forget the Japanese Internment; and more..

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Portside
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DC 37 Launches “100 Days of Resistance” Campaign

Henry Garrido DC 37 Blog
DC 37 Executive Director Henry Garrido wrote, "we are carrying out our own "100 Days of Resistance" fight-back and I pledge that we will not back down in the next four years". DC 37 represents 125,000 municipal workers in New York City.

America’s Construction Carnage

Sam Pizzigati OtherWords.org
In 2014, the last year with full statistics, 899 construction workers nationwide died from workplace injuries. The reason: loss of union strength and decline in OSHA funding. President Trump's anti-union and anti-federal spending polices promise to only make the situation worse.