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Washington’s Prying Eyes and the Latin American Backlash

Kirsten Weld North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Edward Snowden’s 2013 revelations about the NSA’s global surveillance practices sparked outrage around the world, but nowhere more than in Latin America. Now that the dust has settled, we should ask: Did the Latin American response to the NSA disclosures represent a historic break in hemispheric relations? Or was this just business as usual, another insult added to the ongoing injury of U.S. hegemony in the Americas?

The Chapel Hill Murders: Why Muslim Lives Don’t Matter

Nadia El-Zein Tonova and Khaled A. Beydoun AlJazeera America
The aftermath of the murder of the three American students in Chapel Hill reconfirms the truth that Muslim lives matter only when they're villains not victims. But the responsibility extends beyond the media. Government-run programs targeting Muslims as "enemy combatants", "national security risks", and "unassimilable", affix the state seal of approval on the vilification of Muslim Americans, stirring Islamophobia and spurring violence.

Simmering Labor Fight Brings Crippling Delays to West Coast Seaports

Erik Eckholm The New York Times
"...owners said they would suspend the unloading of container and other cargo ships on Thursday, Monday and the weekend because of what they called "a strike with pay." The move followed a similar two-day limit on work last weekend that angered many port workers. They saw it as a ploy to punish them and increase pressure to settle on a new labor contract after nine months of negotiations, which continue with the aid of a federal mediator."

No More Late Nights With Jon Stewart

Emily Nussbaum The New Yorker
The truth is that Stewart was often at his most exciting when he got down in the dirt, instead of remaining decent and high-minded, your twinkly-eyed smartest friend. That kind of digging, of disrespecting authority, was a model for reinventing journalism, not comedy.

Crime Falls Along With Imprisonment

The Pew Charitable Trusts
The latest findings from the FBI provide further evidence that states can reduce incarceration rates without compromising public safety.