North Carolina, Come On and Rise Up

Amy B Dean, Truthout Report Truthout
This is a movement, not a moment...Moral Mondays have really caught fire. It took several months last spring and early summer for the Moral Monday protests to reach a crescendo. While early statehouse rallies in North Carolina started by attracting about 50 protesters, by July thousands of people from around the state were swarming the state capitol. After three consecutive months of action, there had been around 920 arrests for civil disobedience at the weekly rallies.

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Strikes Surge as Killings of Colombian Union Leaders Fall

Andrew Willis Bloomberg
Strikes, demonstrations and protests are at a record pace in Colombia this year as workers seek a bigger share of wealth generated by the country’s expanding economy. After 50 years of guerrilla warfare, the government’s success in weakening illegal armed groups has drawn investment and rewarded businessmen, while the gap between rich and poor remains considerable, according to the World Bank’s Gini index of income distribution.

labor

NC educators plan job action for Nov. 4

William Rogers Left Labor Reporter
Fed up with state cuts to public school budgets, a group of North Carolina educators are planning a job action on November 4 to protest the cuts.

Tidbits - October 17, 2013

Portside
Reader Comments- Mexico teachers; Social Security; Israel; Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap; McDonald's; Grad Student unions; Jobs; Unemployment; Announcements- NYC - Full Employment and the Right to a Job: (Oct 18); Film showing - Anne Braden-Southern Patriot(Oct 24); D.C - Government Surveillance in Communities of Color; So.Calif - Government Spying, Immigrant Detention Policies(Nov 12); Louis E. Burnham Award Welcomes Applicants Today in History-Salt of the Earth

Tidbits - October 10, 2013

Portside
Reader Comments- Teachers Protests in Brazil and Mexico; Shutdown and Social Security; , GOP Playbook; Two Countries in 2014; Koch Bros. Monster Out of Control; Ghost of McCarthy; Lessons from Germany; Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap; Mission Accomplished? More Responses; Annnouncements- Trans-Pacific Partnership Forum - New York-Oct 25; Concert Celebration for Jon Fromer - New York-Oct 26 Social Cost of America's Race to Incarcerate - Chicago-Nov 7; Shorts, Job Announcement

Ravitch a Texas-bred Paul Revere - Review of Diane Ravitch's "Reign of Error"

Mike Klonsky Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog
Definitely go out and buy Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to Americas Public Schools by Diane Ravitch. Reign of Error lays out step by step the relentless thirty year drive to either centralize the education of the young - on one hand - or divest it entirely into privatized hands on the other. Finally, the two sides have joined forces on a strategy that simultaneously does both. (Deborah Meier)

Teachers, Education Reform, and Mexico’s Left

By Benjamin T. Smith Dissent: A Quarterly of Politics and Culture
Mexican leftists have flocked to support teachers’ unions in their protests against proposed education reforms. But by overlooking the unions’ undemocratic features and lack of popular support, the left weakens the fight against neoliberalism.
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