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Labor Unions, Waning Nationwide, Stay Robust in New York

Patrick McGeehan The New York Times
For the third year in a row, union density has gone up in New York City. Over one-quarter of New York City workers now belong to unions. The growth has come primarily in the private sector.

The Epic Fight Over How To Label "Natural" Foods

Neal Ungerleider Fast Company
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the government agency that oversees food labeling in the United States, is changing its definition of what "healthy" actually means—and are still trying to figure out a definition for "natural foods."

Millions of Indian Workers Strike for Better Wages

Al Jazeera Al Jazeera
Tens of millions of public sector workers have gone on a day-long strike across India, protesting against Prime Minister Narendra Modi's economic policies, particularly his plans to push for greater privatization. Thousands of state-run banks, government offices and factories were closed on Friday, and public transport disrupted, in the strike called by 10 trade unions.

How Real is Voter Fraud?

Sami Edge, News21 and Sean Holstege; Brennan Center Brennan Center for Justice
As historians and election experts have catalogued, there is a long history in this country of racially suppressive voting measures including poll taxes and all - white primaries put in place under the guise of stopping voter fraud that wasn’t actually occurring in the first place. The surest way toward voting that is truly free, fair, and accessible is to know the facts in the face of such rhetoric.

The Toxic Legacy of Racism and Nuclear Waste Is Very Much Still With Us in Los Alamos

Taryn Fivek Alternet
Things will continue on in Los Alamos, no matter who is elected U.S. president in November. The political roots run deeper than the surface justifications of security or scientific advancement. And like the rest of the United States, the lasting effects Los Alamos has had on the planet will be felt for millennia to come, if humanity outlasts the product of its labor for at least 24,100 years—the half-life of plutonium-239.

The Failed Turkish Coup: Winners and Losers Throughout the Region

Conn Hallinan Dispatches From the Edge
President Recip Tayyip Erdoğan has effectively used Turkey’s failed coup to isolate his internal opposition and consolidate his personal power. In the wake of the coup, the Kurds have suffered setbacks in Turkey and throughout the region. But there is also evidence of some shifts in regional alliances that may impact the deadly civil wars in Syria and Yemen, if the outside powers fueling the two conflicts can agree on negotiated solutions to these unwinnable wars.

Fred Hellerman, Last of the Weavers Folk Group, Dies at 89

William Grimes The New York Times
“We really got together for the fun of it, singing in Pete’s basement on Macdougal Street,” Mr. Hellerman told The New York Times in 1980. “We sang for unions, at picket lines and at hootenannies, but we had no anticipation of getting jobs. Even Pete, the most accomplished of us, could not get jobs on his own, so we couldn’t expect anyone to pay for four of us.”