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Tidbits - January 11, 2018 - Reader Comments: Puerto Rican Foreclosures; Israel - Teens Refuse New Ban on BDS Supporters; Pensions; Second Amendment; Jim Crow history; Women's March 2018 - January 20; and more.....

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Reader Comments: Puerto Rican Foreclosures; Israeli Teens Refuse Army; Israel Bans BDS Supporters; Worker Safety; Pension; Free Market; Settler Colonialism and the Second Amendment; Nuclear Testing; Pollution from U.S. Military Bases - in our country; U.S. history - Jim Crow South; Record Numbers Visit Cuba last year (from the U.S.); Women's March 2018 - January 20; Resources, Announcements; and more.....

Melinda and Sandy and Oprah

Andrew O'Hagan London Review of Books
Fresh from her remarks at the Golden Globes Awards ceremony, Oprah Winfrey is being touted in the mainstream media as a potential presidential candidate in 2020. Whether it's a passing fancy or the start of a serious draft effort, now is a good time to look back on celebrity journalist Kitty Kelley's 2010 biography of Oprah, which the reviewer in an essay alternately caustic and refreshing, credits Kelley with "a very powerful understanding of what makes a modern celebrity. She gets the journey, to use a favorite Oprah word, but she also gets the cost of the journey."

The "Vicious But Brilliant Exploitation" That Drives Right Wing Economics

Hamilton Nolan Splinter News
The rise of inequality in America is the outcome of a very clear political agenda of disempowering and undermining workers. Corporate dominated globalization is a key part of undermining the bargaining power of workers by giving multinational corporations massive mobility, massive flexibility, and political power.

How Langston Hughes Brought His Radical Vision to the Novel

Angela Flournoy The New York Times
In his famous essay “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain,” Hughes expresses fondness for “the low-down folks, the so-called common element.” Poor African-Americans made up a majority of the black population but were rarely depicted as fully realized characters in the serious literature of the day.

Astrophysics for People in a Hurry

Josh Trapani Washington Independent Review of Books
The well-known scientist and commentator on science has presented us with a primer on his subject that is aimed at a wide and popular audience.

The Polluter Is Not Paying

H. Patricia Hynes Portside
Wars may end, bases may close, but our toxic military footprint remains as a poisonous legacy for future generations.