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Target to raise its minimum hourly wage to $15 by the end of 2020

Associated Press AP
The changes come at a time when there's growing concern for hourly workers. Thousands of workers have staged protests to call attention to their financial struggles and to fight for hourly pay of $15. The November election of a Republican-controlled Congress dampened hopes of an increase in the $7.25-an-hour federal minimum wage. But advocates have continued to press for boosts on the state and local level.

Klan 2.0: Some 'Good People'

Scott McLemee Inside Higher Ed
In The Second Coming of the KKK: The Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s and the American Political Tradition, Linda Gordon emphasizes broad patterns, making the book more timely than even the headlines of white nationalist outpourings the past months would suggest, writes Scott McLemee. What stands out in Gordon’s book is that the Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s tried to create a world unto itself through spectacle, mass communications and branding.

If Trump were Really President, He'd Forgive Puerto Rico's Debts and Rescue It

Juan Cole Informed Comment
Presidential action needed when 3.4 million Americans are living without electricity, 40% of them without potable water, and hundreds of thousands without shelter. When some 80% of its agricultural crops were wiped out. This is an apocalyptic scenario. We can't even know what is going on very much because there is no wifi most places. Some entire towns haven't been heard from! But this President tweets about football players who protest racism.

Kap, Cops and Confederate Statues: A Better World Without Double Standards

Frank Serpico CounterPunch
Frank Serpico, who testified against NYPD police corruption in 1972, joined more than 100 African American uniformed officers who demonstrated at a rally supporting NFL player Colin Kaepernick's objections to police abuse and inequality. "Kaepernick was not disrespecting the flag or our vets. I believe that Kaepernick was protesting a corrupt system of justice that allows some police to use excessive force, even the taking of innocent life, without consequences"

Tidbits - September 28, 2017 - Reader Comments: Support for Colin; MLK - also called `Disruptive'; Youth Football Players Kneel; My Flag - A poem; Puerto Rico Calamity; Women's Health; Police Unions; Cuba travel; Resources; Announcements; and more....

Portside
Reader Comments: From Louis Armstrong to the NFL - Michael Meeropol remembers; MLK was also called `Disruptive' and an `Agitator'; Eight-Year Old Football Players Kneel; My Flag - A poem by Seymour Joseph; Puerto Rico Calamity; Reproductive Health Care; Police Unions; Brazil; Resources; Announcements; and more....

French Workers Are Being Steamrolled by Macron, but They Could Learn a Thing or Two From India's Farmers

Vijay Prashad Alternet
Indian farmers - carrying the Red Flag of the Kisan Sabha and the Communist movement - used the technique of the mahapadav (sit in) to stop local governments from operating and to paralyze the state. This forced the neoliberal government to negotiate. Perhaps if the French workers hear about this struggle and its victory, it might inspire them in their own battles against anti-labor laws.

It All Began with Adam and Eve

Michael Schaub NPR
Stephen Greenblatt gives a new look into one of our civilization's origin myths and its role in the development of misogynist discourse.

From Prison to Ph.D.: The Redemption and Rejection of Michelle Jones

Eli Hager The New York Times
“I knew that I had come from this very dark place — I was abhorrent to society,” said Michelle Jones, a Ph.D. candidate at N.Y.U. who was released from prison in August after serving 20 years. “But for 20 years, I’ve tried to do right, because I was still interested in the world, and because I didn’t believe my past made me somehow cosmically un-educatable forever.”