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Vietnam's Labor Newspaper Reports on Abuses at Home and Abroad: Maintains an Independent Critical Voice

David Bacon The Reality Check
It might surprise unionists here, that Vietnam not only has a labor newspaper, Lao Dong (Labor), but that it has a staff of about 200. It's a mainstream publication and the second most widely read newspaper in Vietnam, with a print run of 40,000 and another 200,000 digital subscribers. And Lao Dong has deep roots, having been published since 1930. This is in remarkable contrast to the United States, where we have no national labor newspaper.

THE NEXT BIG THING IN FANCY FOOD

SARAH LASKOW The Atlantic
Instead of seeking out farms growing delicious fruits and vegetables, chefs look one step deeper into the food production system—to the plant breeders who provide farmers with seeds.

#NuitDebout: A Movement is Growing in France’s Squares

Sam Cossar-Gilbert Roar Magazine
Fed up with inequality, unemployment and labor reforms — and increasingly outraged at the financial and political elite — tens of thousands across France are taking to the streets and the squares.

Why we must save the EU

Yanis Varoufakis The Guardian
The European Union is disintegrating – but leaving is not the answer.

Dirty Harry Lives

Patrick McGilligan Jacobin
Clint Eastwood’s iconic character spawned generations of vigilante cop fantasies.

Undercover Cops, Rahm Aides Kept Tabs on Protesters

Mick Dumke Chicago Sun-Times
The Sun-Times previously has reported that, over the past seven years, the police have spied on anti-Olympics protesters, the Service Employees International Union, critics of the visiting Chinese premier, the Occupy movement and NATO Summit demonstrators. Following nationwide protests over the shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, the police here monitored black demonstrators and kept logs of events led by the Rev. Jesse Jackson and other groups.

Capitalist Deserter Pfizer Just Got a Spanking

William Greider The Nation
The Treasury Department is often a limp watchdog when it comes to policing arcane tax dodges, but this time, Treasury grew some fangs by tightening its regulations, which led Pfizer to call off the deal. Pfizer’s loss is a potent win for small-d democracy. It can provide a starting point for reinvigorating reform politics.

'Scandal’ Keeps Missing Opportunities to Address Olivia Pope’s Mental Health

Stacia L. Brown The Washington Post
According to data from the Center for Disease Control, black women have long faced high rates of depression and low rates of treatment. “Scandal” has been so groundbreaking in many ways; it’s curious that it hasn’t seized a really ripe, low-hanging opportunity to be more progressive in its depiction of black women’s struggles to safeguard their mental health.