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The Idea of the Deep State and "Real Alternatives."

Harry Targ Diary of a Heartland Radical
The concept, “deep state,” describes the hidden policy-making process. It suggests that power to make critical decisions resides not in the superstructure of the political process; the place were competitive games are played for all to see, but in powerful institutions embedded in society that can make decisions without requiring popular approval. Real Alternatives is a Crisis Pregnancy Center opposing women's reproductive rights receiving millions of dollars of funding.

Portugal Government Fuels Debate About Democracy in Europe

Stephen Fidler, Patricia Kowsmann, Matt Moffett The Wall Street Journal
An interesting article from The Wall Street Journal describing the current crisis of parliamentary democracy in Portugal in which the left coalition was not allowed to form a government, but the pro Eurozone forces will not be able to govern.

The Paradox of Paul Ryan: Why the Tea Party’s Right to be Wary

Bill Moyers, Michael Winship Common Dreams
There’s a paradox to all this. Despite his ideological kinship with the anti-government crowd, Paul Ryan is the embodiment of the troika of money, power, and politics that corrupts and controls the capital, the very thing the tea partiers detest.

Blacks, Low-Wage Employment and the Fight for $15

Marc Bayard Ebony
Forty-two percent of all U.S. workers make less than $15 per hour. This is shocking but even more shocking is that more than half of African American workers make less than $15 an hour, according to the National Employment Law Project (NELP). If one delves even deeper you discover that Black women are even more ensnared in this low-wage trap, as Linda Burnham, Research Director at the National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA), points out.

The Hellish Conditions Facing Workers At Chicken Processing Plants

BRYCE COVERT ThinkProgress
Poultry worker average about $11 an hour, or between $20,000 and $25,000 a year. For every dollar spent on a chicken product, a worker sees just two cents. That kind of pay qualifies a poultry worker with two children for food stamps and free school lunches. And they still might not see all of their promised pay. They often working more than 40 hours a week — they’re required to stay at most plants until all chickens are processed — but rarely get overtime pay.

Al-Aqsa Status Quo at the Heart of New Violence

Mike Hanna Al Jazeera
It is understood that Kerry intends to meet Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas and, importantly, King Abdullah II of JordanSeveral sources- Palestinian, Israeli and European- say Kerry is focusing on one major issue that many argue is the root cause of the current conflict: the status quo of what Israel calls the Temple Mount - the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. These are the mutually agreed arrangements that govern access to a site holy to both Jews and Muslims.

Clinton Clinches Labor Majority

BRIAN MAHONEY Politico
Hillary Clinton’s endorsement Friday by the country’s largest public employee union marks a turning point in her nomination battle as she shores up support from a labor movement that flirted in recent months with Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden.

‘Supergirl’ Leads a Wave of Female Heroes

DAVE ITZKOFF The New York Times
When “Supergirl” has its premiere on Oct. 26, it will enter a cultural landscape where female superheroes are better represented than ever before: where they have nearly as much opportunity to right wrongs and fight crime – and to play the central roles in their own stories — as their muscle-bound male counterparts.