'Freedom Summer' 2014
USA Today
50 years after the murder of my brother, Andrew Goodman, voter rights still threatened.
Prosecutor Is Closing in on Gov. Christie
Esquire
Indictments against four cronies are near certain, sources say. Only question is if David Samson, Christie's longtime mentor, will flip.
Moral Mondays Are Back in Business
The first Moral Monday since court struck down the North Carolina General Assembly's new rules — interpreted by many as measures designed to silence the Moral Monday Forward Together movement — singing, praying, chanting, and civil disobedience arrests looked a lot like what we saw from Moral Monday in 2013.
The Raleigh News and Observer reports:
Days after persuading a Superior Court judge to suspend some new rules for the N.C. Legislative Building, protesters were back on Monday, raising their voices by many decibels against a state budget and Republican-controlled agenda they describe as "extremist."
As the demonstrators tested the breadth of the order signed Monday by Judge Carl Fox about the overly broad definition of "disturbing behavior," General Assembly police checked with their attorneys on the depth of their authority to remove the noisemakers from the state building.
About 20 minutes after the N.C. Senate went into session, law enforcement officers began wrapping plastic cuffs around the wrists of 20 demonstrators who had continued singing, chanting and speechmaking after being asked to quietly leave the rotunda area outside the General Assembly chambers.
The scene was reminiscent of last summer, when more than 900 demonstrators were arrested for similar actions.
Read more here.
Professor Louie: The Cockroach
The good Professor Louie of Brooklyn has a rap for us about why the cockroach is so successful, hoping we will take a hint before our short stay on this planet is over. Live at the People's Voice Cafe, NY, Jan 2012. Accompanied by Fast Eddie.
More Professor Louie: What Does It Mean to Be Working Class?
NSA vs USA
Shahid Buttar lays down a bass track with a message:
What does it mean to monitor thoughts?
Spying means a lot more than watching what you bought
it's the Feds always knowing what you’ve got in your head
Full lyrics here.
Friday Nite Videos -- June 20, 2014
Portside
NSA vs USA. George Takei: How It Got Better. Professor Louie: The Cockroach. Orange Is The New Black: Monsanto. Moral Mondays Are Back in Business.
Scott Walker Suspected of Coordinating with Outside Groups
The Washington Post
Wisconsin prosecutors have alleged that Gov. Scott Walker was part of a wide-ranging “criminal scheme” to coordinate the activities of conservative groups that spent millions to help him and other Republicans fend off recall efforts.
After Rana Plaza: Setting the Record Straight on the Bangladesh Safety Accord
United Students Against Sweatshops
The campaign for the Bangladesh Safety Accord, coordinated by United Students Against Sweatshops, that included two Bangladeshi worker tours, six sit-ins and countless direct actions across the country, 23 universities, including Penn State, UW-Madison, and NYU, have required their brands to sign the Accord, and 17 college-logo brands, including Adidas and Fruit of the Loom, have signed the agreement since September.
Creating Community On Skid Row
Equal Voice
Starting around 1999, public policies that spurred development in Los Angeles' Skid Row started. Buildings that were dubbed underused were transformed in the 50-block area. Well-heeled residents have moved in. In 2014, Skid Row's streets have a vibrancy of sorts - one in which families, the homeless, the hip, the elderly and even well-treated dogs coexist in an ever-changing place.
Tidbits - June 19, 2014
Portside
Reader Comments - Iraq; Ruby Dee; Cecily McMillan and Wall Street; Ukraine; Detroit Shuts Off Water to Thousands; Working Families Party; Civil Rights Movement; Children's Literature and Diversity; Common Core; Testing; Support Philly Jewish school teachers; Gabriel Kolko; Hatriot Politics and Las Vegas Killers; Argentina and US Banks; The Presbyterian Church and Divestment; Net Neutrality; Historic Slave Cemetery Bulldozed In Houston; Freedom Summer 2014
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