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Batman Confronts Police Racism in Latest Comic Book

Spencer Ackerman The Guardian
Comics critics say they are hard pressed to remember Batman ever addressing institutional racism and its socio-economic dimensions as bluntly as this in the character’s 75-year history.

High School Football Inc.

Jere Longman The New York Times
What happens when corporate America appropriates high school football . . .

Burden of Mass Incarceration Falls Heavily on Families

Lisa De Bode Al Jazeera
There are 2.4 million people in U.S. jails; and the burden of mass incarceration falls heavily on the many families of inmates who can’t pay off thousands of dollars in debt after paying court-related costs. According to a report published Monday, the average family of an inmate incurs $13,607 in court-related debt, one-third of the families go into debt to pay for phone calls and visits, and 83 percent of the family members responsible for these costs are women.

It’s Time to Break With Saudi Arabia’s ‘Kingdom of Horrors’

Stanley Heller Truthdig
It is long past time for a campaign to end the U.S. alliance with Saudi Arabia and all of the cruel grasping hereditary dictatorships in the Persian Gulf. While U.S arms merchants are making billions selling weapons to these dictatorships, U.S. taxpayers are underwriting the expenditure of trillions of dollars on military bases, troops, contractors, weapons systems, and fleets, all in support of tyrannical regimes, unending wars and cruel occupations.

Behind the German Chancellor’s Quick Reversal on Refugees

Victor Grossman Portside
German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s welcoming response to the refugee crisis won her accolades as Europe’s most humane leader. But with few European Union countries agreeing to accept even small numbers of refugees, Merkel performed an about-face, re-imposing border controls and further exacerbating the crisis. And still neither Merkel nor any other European head of state acknowledges the refugee crisis is the result of wars started and supported by “western democracies.”

Joe Hill Documentary

Joe Hill was a Swedish-American immigrant, IWW labor organizer and author of biting labor songs, including Casey Jones -- Union Scab. He was executed by firing squad, despite a worldwide movement in his defense, after being convicted of murder in a controversial trial in Utah. This Swedish documentary is a fresh exploration of his roots and life.  
 

Steve Earle - Mississippi It’s Time

Singer-songwriter Steve Earle has partnered with the Southern Poverty Law Center to take a stand against the Confederate battle flag and is urging Mississippi to remove the emblem from its state flag with the release of his new song, “Mississippi It’s Time.”
 

Movie -- Time Out of Mind

Richard Gere gives a complex, unblinking portrayal of a homeless man on the streets of New York who is no longer sure of who he is or how he got there. The movie has an exceptional cast including Jena Malone (the estranged daughter), Ben Vereen, Kyra Sedgewick and Steve Buscemi. Check local listings.