Historic Failure for Social-Democratic Left in French Elections

Elisabeth Gauthier transform! europe
The recent French municipal elections...The abstention levels of 39% were a record high for municipal elections. They were particularly high in areas most affected by the crisis; in metropolitan communes; among the young; workers; and voters of the Front de Gauche (Left Front) and of the FN (National Front). In addition, almost 3 million potential voters were not registered to vote.

Chris Hani's Political Legacy

Sean Jacobs Africa is a Country
Chris Hani was assassinated April 10, 1993. Yet in the view of this author, he should not be made into an ideal type or used to settle political scores in the present. And further, any observer of contemporary South Africa can't help noticing that while Chris Hani is still lionized and his name invoked in speeches and songs, the principles he stood for no longer animate the political project of the liberation movement he laid down his life for.

The Piketty Panic and Video of Stiglitz and Krugman on the Significance and Right-wing Hysteria over Piketty

Paul Krugman, Joseph Stiglitz, Thomas Piketty
New scholarship by the French economist is a bona fide phenomenon - and the right is terrified. Thomas Piketty argues that the main driver of inequality - the tendency of returns on capital to exceed the rate of economic growth - threatens to generate extreme inequalities that stir discontent and undermine democratic values. He calls for political action and policy intervention. Video - Joseph Stiglitz and Paul Krugman on the significance of the work, and the stir.

Tidbits - April 24, 2014

Portside
Reader Comments - 2014 Moral Freedom Summer Organizer Fellowship (Correction); Jews Speak Out against censorship bans; Auto Parts Strike; Carl Bloice remembered; Charlie Chaplin Legacy; Chris Christie; Announcements - Harlem Celebrates-Duke Ellington's 115th; May Day Rally in New York; Third Annual NYC Film Festival - Global Labor Solidarity; Cuba travel; Volunteer opportunities in El Salvador

40,000 Yue Yuen Workers on Strike

Celia Hatton BBC
Since April 14, 40,000 workers at the Yue Yuen Shoe Factories in Dongguan, Guangdong Provinece have been on strike. They make shoes and sneakers for Salomen, Nike, Asics, Car,and Adidas. Adidas has already begun moving production to another sweatshop.

Net Neutrality: We Need a Better Deal

Eric Klinker Bittorrent Blog
If Internet service providers are allowed to give preferential treatment to certain kinds of traffic, the open Internet will have been paywalled shut. The solution lies in fairer regulation and in better, more people-powered technology.

Matt Taibbi Explores Criminal Injustice With Bill Maher

Journalist Matt Taibbi tells Real Time's Bill Maher about the criminal inequalities between the rich and the poor in the USA - meaning that, for example, people who have committed $800 of fraud are not allowed to see their kids again while those that have stolen billions have not been punished.

Schizophrenia: What's in My Head?

When she's experiencing hallucinations, artist Sue Morgan feels compelled to draw; to 'get it out of her head'. Sue was diagnosed with schizophrenia about 20 years ago. The drawing is therapeutic, but it's also Sue's way of expressing the complex and sometimes frightening secret world in her head. In this film Sue meets Sukhi Shergill, a clinician and researcher at the Institute of Psychiatry in London. He's also making pictures, but using MRI to peer inside the brains of schizophrenia patients.

Guns: Not Our Words

Not our words. This weekend we are this television ad in Indianapolis and in Washington, D.C. It features survivors of gun violence and family members of victims speaking the extremist words of gun lobby leaders -- words that don't speak for them or their experience with gun violence.