Supreme Court Reinstates Alabama’s Racial Gerrymander

Noah Y. Kim Mother Jones
The court’s order “does a disservice to Black Alabamians who under that precedent have had their electoral power diminished—in violation of a law this Court once knew to buttress all of American democracy,” Justice Elena Kagan wrote.

How Buddhism Has Changed the West for the Better

Rebecca Solnit The Guardian
We are not who we were very long ago. A lot of new ideas have emerged from Buddhism and other traditions emphasizing compassion, equality, nonviolence and critical perspectives on materialism and capitalism

How China Captured Hollywood

Erich Schwartzel The Atlantic
Over this next century, China wants to use the movies to rebrand itself, and it has learned how to do so from the best.

Friday Nite Videos -- January 27, 2017

Portside
President Donald Trump's First Negotiation Was A Humiliation. Musical Internationalism | Groove in G. Radical Brownies. Russia Treason Arrest Seen as Tacit Corroboration of US Intel. Kellyanne Conway - SNL.

President Donald Trump's First Negotiation Was A Humiliation

Lawrence O'Donnell explains why Mexican President Peña Nieto's decision to not attend a scheduled meeting with Pres. Trump over the border wall is Trump's first humiliation on the global stage and sends a message to other world leaders about future negotiations.

Musical Internationalism | Groove in G

Starting with musical group Tinariwen in West Africa, Playing for Change traveled the world asking musicians to add to the song. A groove in the key of G transformed into a global jam with its roots in the blues.

Radical Brownies

Berets, badges, Black Lives Matter and social justice: the youth group for activist girls of color