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Egypt’s Transition Has Failed: New Age of Military Dictatorship in Wake of Massacre

Juan Cole juancole.com
Morsi and the Brotherhood leadership bear a good deal of the blame for derailing the transition, since a democratic transition is a pact among various political forces, and he broke the pact. But the Egyptian military bears the other part of the blame for the failed transition. Ambitious officers such as Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Morsi’s Minister of Defense, were secretly determined to undo Morsi’s victory at the polls.

Tidbits - August 15, 2013

Portside
Reader comments: Prisons; Labor Unions; Banning Russia from the Olympics - a Very Bad Idea; Remembering Viola Liuzzo; Bayard Rustin & '63 March on Washington; American Jews & Israeli Racism; Student Debt; Announcements: FREEDOM '63 REMIXED - Legacies of the March on Washington - Aug 16 -New York; The Forgotten History of the March on Washington, Aug 22 -Washington, DC - two events; Walmart Workers are Standing Up!; CCDS 7th Convention; Useful graphic on Climate Change

Isabel Allende: 'Forever a Foreigner'

David Frost Al Jazeera
An intimate, occasionally sad and frequently humorous insight into the life of one of the world's best known authors.

Egypt Crackdown - Reports and Analysis

Sharif Abdel Kouddous, and others
The violent clampdown by security forces has all but ended the possibility of a rapprochement with the Muslim Brotherhood. A cross section of Middle East analysts discuss the implications of the latest wave of violence in Egypt (in Al Jazeera)

Bradley Manning Did Not Hurt the United States

Rainey Reitman Freedom of the Press Foundation
Bradley Manning didn't hurt us any more than a dentist hurts a patient when removing an abscessed tooth. The brief discomfort that resulted from the WikiLeaks disclosures was necessary to begin the process of healing and reform. It is a process that we do not yet know will be successful, but which began with Manning's decision to leak vital documents to WikiLeaks. And for that, we owe Manning thanks; no apologies necessary.

Coming Up Short: Working-Class Adulthood in an Age of Uncertainty

Jennifer M. Silva The Boston Globe
Book Review and Interview: Jennifer Silva's "Coming Up Short: Working-Class Adulthood in an Age of Uncertainty." In 100 in-depth, in-person interviews, she found a new working-class adult “bewildered in the labor market, betrayed by institutions, distrustful of love, disconnected from others, and committed to emotional growth.”

The Offline Wage Wars of Silicon Valley

By Nona Willis Aronowitz Economic Hardship Reporting Project
For 10 years a massive income gap has been widening across Silicon Valley. Last November, however, the residents of San Jose voted in favor of a small but significant change: Raising the city’s minimum wage from $8 to $10 per hour. In Forefront this week, journalist Nona Willis Aronowitz explores the people and policies shaping the economic future of a San Jose that many cities in the Bay Area could look to as a model for economic justice.