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A Vatican Shot Across the Bow for Hard-Line U.S. Catholics

Jason Horowitz The New York Times
The article warns that conservative American Catholics have strayed dangerously into the deepening political polarization in the United States. The writers even declare that the worldview of American evangelical and hard-line Catholics, which is based on a literal interpretation of the Bible, is “not too far apart’’ from jihadists.

A Manual for a New Era of Direct Action

George Lakey Waging Nonviolence
What follows is a different manual from the one we put out over 50 years ago. Then, movements operated in a robust empire that was used to winning its wars. The government was fairly stable and held great legitimacy in the eyes of the majority.

BDS Movement Turns 12 in July. Here Are 12 Wins From 2017 To Mark The Occasion

Palestinian BDS National Committee Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee (BNC)
The Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC) is the largest coalition in Palestinian civil society. It leads and supports the global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. Follow on social media. In face of continued USA-funded and supported Israeli atrocities, participate in BDS actions!

Clinton Lost Because PA, WI, and MI Have High Casualty Rates and Saw Her as Pro-war, Study Says

Philip Weiss Mondoweiss
An important new study has come out showing that Clinton paid for this arrogance: professors argue that Clinton lost the battleground states of Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Michigan in last year’s presidential election because they had some of the highest casualty rates during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and voters there saw Clinton as the pro-war candidate.

Courts Must Hold Executive Branch Accountable for Drone Strikes

Marjorie Cohn Truthout
"It is not the role of the Judiciary to second-guess the determination of the Executive, in coordination with the Legislature, that the interests of the US call for a particular military action in the ongoing War on Terror." Taking issue with the DC Circuit's application of the political question doctrine, it was queried, "if judges will not check this outsized power, then who will?" Our democracy is broken."

The Latest Challenges to the South's Felony Disenfranchisement Laws

Olivia Paschal Facing South
While all Southern states have laws disenfranchising people while they are incarcerated and on probation or parole, Florida stands out with one of the nation's most restrictive felony disenfranchisement laws — one of only four states that impose a lifetime ban on voting for anyone convicted of a felony. The others are Virginia, Kentucky and Iowa.

The Pentagon Playbook for Recruiting Students

Pat Elder BuzzFlash
Ominous developments in three states this summer -- Oregon, Texas, New Jersey, and one city -- Chicago, provide a glimpse into the Pentagon's new playbook to recruit soldiers from high schools across the country. In brief, the military has been engaged in a robust lobbying campaign to lower academic standards to make it easier to recruit youth.

Where? Where Are You Going?

Esther Kamkar Portside
"Even if the sea does not swallow you," writes the poet Esther Kamkar (herself a migrant to North America) about the experience of migration, "your heart will be broken."

Bolsheviks and Beyond: Revisiting John Reed's "Ten Days that Shook the World"

Michael Hirsch Democratic Socialists of America
On the centennial of the Russian Revolution, John Reed's first-hand look at the uprising of workers, peasants, soldiers and sailors is fit reading about a mass movement that overthrew the old aristocracy and then the bourgeois class itself. An exposition on ordinary people making history for themselves, the book is a gripping account of events in Petrograd, when Lenin and the Bolsheviks lead the various workers councils in finally seizing state power.