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Nightmare Gaza Conditions meet Resistance in Max Blumenthal’s ‘The 51 Day War’

BEN LORBER In These Times
Max Blumenthal, whose book The 51 Day War: Ruin and Resistance in Gaza allows the young men and women of Gaza to speak, offers a gripping and unembellished look at the misery on the ground in the Gaza Strip during the Israeli government’s homicidal Operation Protective Edge in summer 2014, the third war in this tiny stretch of land in the last six-and-a-half years.

Curiosity by Alberto Manguel

Caspar Henderson The Guardian
"Humans are the most curious among animals," writes Caspar Henderson in this review of Alberto Manguel's meditation on inquisitiveness. "Even very young humans are better" than other animals, even the smartest ones, "at noticing the novel, the accidental and the serendipitous and at using that experience to imagine new opportunities.' Henderson's review is a kind of "three-cheers" for this special quality that is among those that distinguish our species.

Gaza: 'Israeli war crimes' followed soldier's capture - Amnesty

BBC News BBC
"This report presents an urgent call for justice that must not be ignored. The combined analysis of hundreds of photos and videos, as well as satellite imagery and testimony from eyewitnesses, provides compelling evidence of serious violations of international humanitarian law by Israeli forces which must be investigated."

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.