Privateers Make a Water Grab

Ellen Dannin Portside
Facing increasing opposition abroad, over the past several decades, global water privatizers like Veolia and Suez have begun to see U.S. cities as expansion markets. These corporations have aggressively interfered in the democratic governance of water and have sought to trap cities in unfavorable privatization contracts.

Documentary: The Other Side of Immigration

Based on over 700 interviews in Mexican towns where about half the population has left to work in the United States, The Other Side of Immigration asks why so many Mexicans come to the U.S. and what happens to the families and communities they leave behind. Through an approach that is both subtle and thought-provoking, filmmaker Roy Germano provides a perspective on undocumented immigration rarely witnessed by American eyes, challenging audiences to imagine more creative and effective solutions to the problem.

The Browning of America

Olmeca teams up with the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON) and PUENTE Movement to bring you a music video depicting the growth of Latinos in the U.S. The video centers around beautiful “video portraits” of individuals and families within the Latino community. These portraits include past deportation detainees and their families, as well as, immigrant rights activists.

President Obama: Fixing Immigration

In an address to the nation, President Obama lays out the executive action he's taking to fix our nation's broken immigration system

Déjà Vu in Jerusalem?

Neve Gordon The Nation
The latest round of violence in Jerusalem is reminiscent of the Second Intifada, sparked by then Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's provocative visit to the Haram al-Sharif compound (Noble Sanctuary/Temple Mount) in 2000. Last week's events come in the wake of other "structural forms of violence" directed at Jerusalem's Palestinian residents, and are evidence of the "alarming transformations taking place in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict."

A Returning Ebola Volunteer: "Don't Pander to Fear"

Kathryn Stinson GroundUp
Kathryn Stinson, a South African epidemiologist, recently returned from fighting Ebola in Sierra Leone, travelled to Europe with Kaci Hickox, the American nurse later quarantined in a tent outside a New Jersey hospital. Stinson writes about the courage of health care workers there, her own 21 "post-mission" days, and the need to confront the "hysteria and stigma" surrounding returning staff from Ebola-affected areas with science and evidence-based insight.

Mexico Teeters on the Brink and the U.S. Is Oblivious

Ruben Martinez Los Angeles Times
The violent disappearance of 43 students from the Ayotzinapa teachers college in Guerrero state has caused a political earthquake the likes of which Mexico has not seen in generations — perhaps even since the revolution of 1910. That makes it all the more baffling how little attention most people in the U.S. have paid to the unfolding tragedy. Americans must face the fact that the drug-related corruption and violence in Mexico is a "binational affair."

Washington State to Sue U.S. Government Over Nuclear Cleanup

Victoria Cavaliere Reuters
Washington state's Attorney General Bob Ferguson intends to sue the U.S. government for not protecting workers involved in the decades-long cleanup of the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, a decommissioned nuclear site. Dozens of workers, including 44 in the last 12 months, have been sickened by toxic vapors while trying to clean up the site. "Hanford workers face a very real and immediate health risk," Ferguson said in announcing his intent to file the lawsuit.

Minimum-Wage Workers: Where They Work and What They Are Paid

Drew DeSilver Pew Research Center
More than 20 million people, and nearly one-third of all hourly employees over 18 make more than the existing federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour but less than the $10.10 per hour increased federal minimum wage unsuccessfully promoted by the Obama Administration and Congressional Democrats earlier this year. The Pew Research Center's Fact Tank provides a profile of where these "near-minimum-wage" workers work and what they are paid.

Illinois Pension Reform Law is Unconstitutional, Judge Rules

Sandra Guy, Tina Sfondeles Chicago Sun-Times
Legislation by Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn and the Illinois Legislature, would have made deep cuts to employees retirement benefits. The so-called "pension reform law" was ruled unconstitutional by a Illinois Circuit Judge today.