Jeffco Voters Recall Three Conservative School Board Members

John Tomasic Colorado Statesman
Jefferson County school board politics have made headlines across the state and the nation for nearly two years. Pundits called the election Tuesday a political “proxy war” over larger right-left economic and cultural issues, a key battle for the future of public education, a warm up for the 2016 presidential election year in a bellwether county in a crucial swing state.

Puerto Rico's Colonial Economy

Arthur Macewan Dollars & Sense
Dear Dr. Dollar: It seems like Puerto Rico’s economic and financial mess came out of nowhere. Until recently, there wasn’t much about Puerto Rico in the press, but what there was seemed to portray things as fine, with a generous amount of funds going to the island from Washington. Sometimes, Puerto Rico was held up as a model for economic development. So where did the current mess come from? —Janet Sands, Chicago, Ill.

Portugal's Democracy Crisis

Conn Hallinan Foreign Policy in Focus
A likely vote of no confidence in Portugal's hard-right government will signify whether voters in the EU can still choose their own government.

Can’t You Hear the Children?

Fred Norman Portside
War veteran Fred Norman devotes his writing to Peace. His mantra: Each night I ask myself/what did I do today/to end the wars?//If I answer back with/"Nothing"/then the dead that day/are mine.//I beg of them forgiveness.

Why Asian Americans Don’t Vote Republican

Cecilia Hyunjung Mo The Conversation
Three quarters of the Asian-American vote went to the Republican presidential candidate just two decades ago. In 2012, three quarters of Asian Americans voted for Barack Obama. This dramatic change in party preference is stunning. No other group has shifted so dramatically in their party identification within such a short time period. Some are calling it the “GOP’s Asian erosion.”

Cities and States Leading Fight Against Big Money

Benjamin T. Brickner Brennan Center for Justice
Maine's Clean Elections program and Seattle's Honest Elections Seattle swept to notable victories on Tuesday, providing ways that candidates can run for office without relying on big money from special interests. These efforts are a reminder that many of the most important initiatives to fix our broken campaign finance system are happening on the state and local level.

Male/Female Brain Differences? Big Data Says Not So Much

Science Daily
A research study has debunked the widely-held belief that the hippocampus, a crucial part of the brain that consolidates new memories and helps connect emotions to the senses, is larger in females than in males.

Matt Taibbi: The Case for Bernie Sanders

Matt Taibbi Rolling Stone
His critics say he’s not realistic – but they have it backwards. The only reason this attention-averse, sometimes socially uncomfortable person is subjecting himself to this asinine process is because he genuinely believes the system is not beyond repair.

Sanders’ Strength? Millennials Back Socialism

Socialist? Populist? Progressive? Joseph Schwartz and Gar Alperovitz discuss Senator Bernie Sanders’ plans for extending democracy to the economic sphere and attacking inequalities in wealth and income.

Movie: This Changes Everything

Directed by journalist and filmmaker Avi Lewis (The Take) and produced in conjunction with Naomi Klein's bestselling book of the same name, this urgent dispatch on climate change contends that the greatest crisis we have ever faced also offers us the opportunity to address and correct the inhumane systems that have created it.