Skip to main content

Advocates and attorneys cheer judge’s decision against family detention

Nuri Vallbona Global Sisters Report
Judge Gee also decried the “deplorable” conditions of the temporary holding centers along the border dubbed “hieleras” or ice boxes. Testimony from recent detainees said that the overcrowded rooms sometimes held as many as 100 people “which forced children to sleep standing up or not at all.”

Autonomous Weapons: an Open Letter from AI & Robotics Researchers

Future of Life Institute
This open letter was announced July 28 at the opening of the IJCAI 2015 conference on July 28. Journalists who wish to see the press release may contact Toby Walsh. Hosting, signature verification and list management are supported by FLI; for administrative questions about this letter, please contact tegmark@mit.edu.

Georgia is Segregating Troublesome Kids in Schools Used During Jim Crow

Marian Wang ProPublica
"It's a warehouse for kids the school system doesn't want or know how to deal with," a parent told the Justice Department of the program. The Justice Department detailed its findings in a letter earlier this month to Georgia's governor and attorney general.

The Return Of The Ugly German

Joschka Fischer Social Europe
The massive conflict with France and Italy, the eurozone’s second and third largest economies, is not over, because, for Schäuble, Grexit remains an option. By claiming that debt relief is “legally” possible only outside the eurozone, he wants to turn the issue into the lever for bringing about a “voluntary” Grexit.

'JIMMY'S HALL' - Ken Loach’s New Film About Irish Working Class Heroes

Ed Rampell Hollywood Progressive
Based on a true story, 'Jimmy’s Hall' is about Jimmy Gralton the only Irishman deported as an illegal alien from Ireland, the land of his birth – without so much as a trial! Of course Gralton’s true crime was to fight against the reactionary church, aristocratic landowners and narrow nationalism by setting up a hall where ordinary people could dance to jazz music, study art and pursue a more class conscious politics during the Depression.

Landlords Behaving Badly: San Francisco Too Valuable for Poor People*

Carl Finamore CounterPunch
“The data clearly shows that the evictions crisis and resulting loss of rental units” is a big blow to the city meeting its affordable housing goals, said Board of Supervisor Jane Kim. Speaking on the steps of city hall, Kim announced her new pro-tenant “Eviction Protection Act/Just Cause 2.0” ordinance, a reference to the latest dot.com boom that set off soaring housing competition. The ordinance idea came from the community she said.

Univ. of California Academic Workers’ Union Calls on AFL-CIO To Terminate Police Union’s Membership

Mario Vasquez In These Times
The letter written by the UAW’s Black Interests Coordinating Committee (BICC) charges that police associations operate in ways that are antithetical to the mission statement of the AFL-CIO, particularly its stated goal "to fulfill the yearning of the human spirit for liberty, justice and community; to advance individual and associational freedom; [and] to vanquish oppression, privation and cruelty in all their forms."

Unions Win Court Ruling that Chicago Pension Cuts are Unconstitutional

AFSCME
"This ruling that overturns city pension cuts and protects the life savings of city workers is a win for all Chicago," AFSCME Council 31 executive director Roberta Lynch said. "All city residents can be reassured that the Constitution--our state's highest law--means what it says and will be respected, while city employees and retirees can be assured that their modest retirement income is protected."

The Unreality of the Iran-Nuke Fight

Paul Pillar Consortium News
An interesting article on the Iran Agreement written by a former CIA Analyst. "Everything that has been gained under this agreement in the way of restrictions on, and monitoring of, the Iranian nuclear program is a net, as well as a gross, gain over the situation that prevailed before the negotiations began and over the situation that would prevail if the agreement is killed."