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Daniel Barenboim on Music, Israel and Playing in Gaza

Jon Snow Channel 4 News (Ireland)
Conductor and pianist Daniel Barenboim talks to Jon Snow about music's power to bring people together, and says Israelis and Palestinians should live together or side by side - but not back to back.

6 Lessons for the U.S. from Spain's Democratic Revolution

Erica Sagrans In These Times
How Spain's 15M movement went from occupying city squares to city halls-without compromising its independence. An important part of progressives' recent electoral success can be traced to a strong network of locally organized 'social centers' across Spain. These are spaces where community members can interact and share ideas, whether that means organizing a demonstration, taking Zumba classes or checking out library book.

Europe at a Crossroads; Greece Puts Off IMF Payment; Call for Solidarity by European Left

Alex Tsipras Le Monde Diplomatique
Europe is at a crossroads..the decision is now not in the hands of the institutions...but rather in the hands of Europe's leaders. Which strategy will prevail? The one that calls for a Europe of solidarity, equality and democracy, or the one that calls for rupture and division? If some think or want to believe that this decision concerns only Greece, they are making a grave mistake. I would suggest that they re-read Hemingway's masterpiece, For Whom the Bell Tolls.

Will Kaiser's Labor Partnership Crack?

Alexandra Bradbury Labor Notes
It’s this year’s biggest private-sector bargaining, between the Kaiser Permanente system and a coalition of 28 locals representing 100,000 health care workers.But the national deal, due June 4, may reveal widening cracks in the celebrated labor-management partnership that turns 18 this year. Kaiser is looking for three concessions, say non-coalition unions: increased health care co-pays, cuts to retiree medical coverage, and a two-tier pension.

Until the Rulers Obey

Staughton Lynd ZNetwork
Editors Clifton Ross and Marcy Rein offer a host of interviews with today's social change activists from Latin America. Staughton Lynd offers a review of this kaleidoscopic survey.

Congress Did Not Pass an Anti-Surveillance Law (And Other Thoughts About the USA Freedom Act)

Kevin Gosztola Firedoglake
June 2 was a day that the people won against the security state. US citizens took away the government’s control of nearly all of their domestic call records. And power was forced to act because their operation of a program and the operations of a secret surveillance court, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, were no longer seen as legitimate. The extent of the victory, however, probably ends there.

FIFA: Why the USA?

Dave Zirin The Progressive
This story may very well end with the seventy-nine- year-old FIFA Boss finding a new home inside a U.S. prison. But no, the United States is not the well-oiled machine Putin and others imagine, and sometimes the simplest explanations are in fact the best ones.