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As Marginalized Communities Face Dearth of Trauma Care, Activists Step in to Fight for Survival

Maya Dukmasova Truthout
The community surrounding the University of Chicago's Hyde Park campus has one of the highest shooting rates in Chicago and consequences of the lack of a Level 1 adult trauma center are acutely felt. In Oakland, California, activists and trained first responders were frustrated by the lack of urgency they observed among police and EMTs after shootings. Keeping trauma care inequality campaigns grassroots gives lasting power and impact. Elsewhere, activists agree.

Desertion: A Long, Proud History

CJ Hinke World Beyond War
There are as many reasons to desert military service as there are deserters. All countries’ militaries like to snatch young men when they are uneducated, inexperienced, and unemployed. It takes a soldier far greater courage to throw down his weapon than to kill a stranger. There are deserters in every country that has an armed forces. Armies demand blind obedience and human beings crave liberty. Why do men desert? Certainly not from cowardice.

ALEC Confidential: Tales From the Supply-Side

Bill Raden Capital and Main
The 42nd Annual Meeting of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) got underway July 22 in San Diego. The mood was convivial, attire corporate casual: Brooks Brothers suits without ties, Dockers and sports shirts. ALEC, (secretive rightwing bill mill funded by Koch Brothers and global multibillion dollar corporations), has been described as a legislative dating service that arranges hookups between mostly Republican state lawmakers and corporate lobbyists.

Can Auto Shed Its Tiers?

Alexandra Bradbury Labor Notes
Eight years after accepting a drastic two-tier system of wages and benefits—and nearly a decade since the first tier got a raise—the United Auto Workers are bargaining with the Big 3 automakers.

Israel Moves Forward with 1,065 Settlement Housing Units

IMEMC News and Agencies International Middle East Media Center
Israel’s Civil Administration is advancing plans for the development of 1,065 housing units in eight different settlements throughout occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank, a settlement watchdog announced on Thursday.

Remarks by Senator Sanders at the Southern Christian Leadership Conference

Bernie Sanders Bernie Sanders
Sanders calls on the nation to ". . . simultaneously address the structural and institutional racism which exists in this country, while at the same time we vigorously attack the grotesque level of income and wealth inequality which is making the very rich much richer while everyone else – especially the African-American community and working-class whites – are becoming poorer."

State Spent $2.4 Million Jailing Residents of Just One Austin Block

Alex Nitkin DNA Info
In Chicago, over a 5 year period from 2005-2009, there were: 851 blocks with over $1 million committed to prison sentences; 121 blocks with over $1 million committed to prison sentences for non-violent drug offenses. This is wasteful spending at its worst, especially given that research has shown that incarceration does not necessarily reduce crime in neighborhoods. The good news is that there are many innovative, common-sense, and creative alternative approaches.

Beyond Legal Protections, Disability Rights Advocates Seek Economic Progress

Curtis Black Chicago Reporter
Disabled people tend to live in the poorest areas with much less access to jobs and good education. There are a lot of obstacles. It’s the kind of social issue that isn’t being addressed -- when we talk about poverty, we don’t talk about people with disabilities.

Here Are Some Antidotes to Science’s Old White Guy Problem

Sophia Chen Wired
In 2010, more than half of all the people with science and engineering related jobs were White men. But—enough wallowing in disheartening numbers and bigoted language. Plenty of people are moving the conversation forward: writing, speaking, and tweeting intelligently about the lack of diversity in science.