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The Northwest Airlines Mechanics strike - a tsunami of harsh words, misleading newspaper coverage (SHOCKING!) and arguments. In the center, a group of workers on the line. Friends of Labor have stepped forward again. We have an opportunity to hear the workers side and give them a financial hand.

Saturday, August 27, 5:30 pm
OX ROAST
IBEW Local 58 Hall, 1658 Abbott (at Trumbull)
$10 at the door/$4 for striking workers

Short notice, but come on out.
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I agree with most of what Shawn is sayin here, except the statement below.

Public Humiliation: Cindy Sheehan vs. the Usual Bullshit

"Cindy Sheehan will have already accomplished more than the entire anti-war movement has accomplished to date."
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Sigalert.com - West Los Angeles County Traffic Report

cool, but freaky
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test
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Jennifer Loewenstein: Watching the Gazan Fiasco

"A great charade is taking place in front of the world media in the Gaza Strip. It is the staged evacuation of 8000 Jewish settlers from their illegal settlement homes, and it has been carefully designed to create imagery to support Israel's US-backed takeover of the West Bank and cantonization of the Palestinians."
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The Matt Watts Blog: I have a headache.

"I love the CBC. We all do. That's why this is so upsetting. Most people that work there are so proud to be a part of the corp, that they will PAY for a hat or a t-shirt with the CBC logo on it. They wear it with pride.

How many companies can boast that?

I'm realizing more and more that it's not about job security, it's about feeling rejected."
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Independent Truckers Unite! | Freight Truckers | IWW Industrial Unions and Departments | Industrial Workers of the World

"Independent truckers in the intermodal rail yards of Stockton, California won the majority of their demands in a two-day strike September 13 and 14, 2004 against the Patriot Trucking Company.

The majority of the drivers at Patriot Trucking Company in Stockton have joined the Industrial Workers of the World and won:"
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Starbucks Workers vs. Billionaires for Bush on WBAI | Starbucks Union

"And when Sarah Bender, numerous IWW co-workers & supporters picketed the Starbucks at Cooper Union recently, they had to confront numerous hecklers, members of Billionaires for Bush, who could not sip their lattes idly but instead, recognized Starbucks for its outstanding performance in union-busting and its continuing commitment to
pay its baristas unlivable wages."
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B A N C O: BENTON HARBOR: A CITY HEADED FOR FOR CIVIL WAR

"The city of Benton Harbor is moving closer and closer to a great civil strife, unrest, and bloodshed. Although the residents of Benton Harbor are supposed to be of one nation, the division between labor and management is growing more intense. The division between haves and haves-nots is getting wider and wider and that breach is being filled with hatred. The division between politics, right and left, so-called Christian right and left, liberals, conservatives, and all of the many causes that people are giving to signs of bloodshed."
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Bombs and Shields

"Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. - A counter-recruitment march aimed at Pittsburgh's main military recruiting station was dispersed by a police riot. Police tasered, pepper sprayed and beat anti-military demonstrators sending two women to the hospital. Among them were children, an elderly woman who was bitten by a police attack dog, and a man in a wheelchair who was knocked over. Six people were arrested in total. Police Sgt. Clint Winkler admitted that officers 'started pushing the crowd' after commanding them to disperse. "
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From an email:

I urge folks to go out and support Camp Casey in Detroit. I was there for several hours today and folks are intent on making this work. They need 24 hour coverage - even if you can only stop by for a few minutes, that is helpful. Supplies like food and water are also helpful.

For Immediate Release:

Media Advisory

Monday, August 22, 2005

Event: Detroit Delegation to Return Monday
Camp Casey Established in Detroit
Report Back at MECAWI Meeting Wednesday
Contact: Michigan Emergency Committee Against
War & Injustice ("MECAWI":http://www.mecawi.org/)
5922 Second ave. at Antoinette
(313) 680-5508

Detroit's Camp Casey Delegation to Return Today

Describing the atmosphere at Camp Casey One & Two in
Crawford, Texas, as "electric", the delegation from Detroit
which traveled to the historic peace gathering outside the
vacation ranch of President Bush, will return to the city
today.

The delegation has declared the formation of "Camp Casey
Detroit" to further the cause of the Gold Star Families for
Peace and the anti-war movement as a whole to "Bring the
Troops Home Now!". "Camp Casey, Detroit" will be set up at
Grand Circus Park in downtown Detroit on the corner of
Woodward avenue and Adams today, Monday, after 1:00 p.m.


"We are calling upon military families, peace activists,
youth, clergy, people of faith, labor, educators and all
others who wish to see an end to the war policies of the Bush
administration, to join us at 'Camp Casey Detroit'," the
Detroit delegation said in a statement.

This ongoing project will continue at least until the massive
anti-war demonstration in Washington, D.C., which will be
held on September 24. The Michigan Emergency Committee
Against War & Injustice, "MECAWI":http://www.mecawi.org/, is organizing buses to
travel to the nation's capital for this important gathering
to demand that the Iraq occupation be stopped immediately.

Also on Wednesday, August 24 at 7:00 p.m., the weekly meeting
of "MECAWI":http://www.mecawi.org/ will feature a "report back" from the delegation
that traveled to Camp Casey in Crawford. Members of the
delegation met other anti-war activists from around the
country. One delegation member, a military mother whose
daughter served in Iraq for one year, addressed the mass
rally at Camp Casey II near the Bush vacation ranch on
Saturday evening.

The Detroit delegation were so inspired by the outpouring of
anti-war sentiment at Camp Casey in Crawford, they have
choosen to set up "Camp Casey Detroit". This is a nationwide
movement with the establishment of other "Camp Casey"
actions in San Francisco, California as well as a growing
number of cities around the country.

Please come to Grand Circus Park to join in support of this historic
movement toward ending the debacle of the ill-fated war in Iraq,
and help BRING THE TROOPS HOME NOW!

More info: 313-680-5508
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Boing Boing: Boing Boing's $250,000 Intelligent Design challenge (UPDATED: $1 million)

"Boing Boing's $250,000 Intelligent Design challenge
(UPDATED: $1 million)
Yesterday, I posted an item to Boing Boing about the growing popularity of Pastafarianism, a new religion that worships Flying Spaghetti Monster, initially created to protest the Kansas State School Board's decision to teach 'Intelligent Design' in schools."
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BBC NEWS | World | Americas | Free Quixotes big pull in Caracas

"Populist President Hugo Chavez has urged Venezuelans to draw inspiration from the figure of Don Quixote."
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My project SwitchWiki is mentioned in this online class announcement.

Digital Libraries a la Carte, Choices for the Future 2005 : Abstracts

"Abstracts module 1: Trends and Strategic Issues for Libraries

The following lectures will be presented:

General Trends
Paul Duguid

Search Trends and Implications for Libraries: How Can Users Find What They Need?
Sandra Hirsh"
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FreeCulture.org: Manifesto

"The mission of the Free Culture movement is to build a bottom-up, participatory structure to society and culture, rather than a top-down, closed, proprietary structure. Through the democratizing power of digital technology and the Internet, we can place the tools of creation and distribution, communication and collaboration, teaching and learning into the hands of the common person -- and with a truly active, connected, informed citizenry, injustice and oppression will slowly but surely vanish from the earth."
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My first book plug, as highly recommended by steve:

For progressives today, times are clearly not easy. However, as Gar Alperovitz demonstrates in his new work, AMERICA BEYOND CAPITALISM: Reclaiming our Wealth, Our Liberty, and Our Democracy (John Wiley & Sons, $24.95), AmericaBeyondCapitalism.com, just below the surface of public attention, present-day difficulties are also causing a steady build-up of system-changing developments which offer hope for the future, including the development of thousands of worker-owned firms-11,000 to date- neighborhood corporations, municipal enterprises, state investment strategies, public pension funds, and other innovations that are transferring wealth to the vast majority rather than the 1% at the top

"Long before the civil rights movement, there were many years of hard, quiet, dangerous work by those who came before. Long before the feminist explosion there were those who labored to establish new principles in earlier decades," Alperovitz writes. "It is within the possibilities of our time in history that-working together and openly charting an explicitly new course-this generation can establish the necessary foundations for an extraordinary future and for the release of new energies. It may even be that far-reaching change will come much earlier and much faster than many now imagine."
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Galaxy Quest - Wikipedia is a real-life Hitchhiker's Guide: huge, nerdy, and imprecise. By Paul Boutin

"Wikipedia, with more than 1 million entries in at least 10 languages, is the mother of all wikis, but there are also wikis devoted to quotations, the city of Seattle, and Irish politics. (Check out this wiki of wikis, which lists more than 1,000 sites.) Instead of enforcing rules, wikis trust that groups can behave. Anyone can edit or reorganize their contents. If you realize something's missing, incomplete, or incorrect, you can fix it yourself without asking permission. 'People told me that the experience changed their lives,' Cunningham said via e-mail."

I refound this article. It links to my project SwitchWiki. :-)
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Send this to 10 of your friends or your good luck will NEVER happen! | The Bellman

"Hi,

I just signed up to file a Freedom of Information Act Request to force the adminstration to release the records of Supreme Court nominee John Roberts.

Roberts worked for the Justice Department on 16 key Supreme Court cases -- the records will give the best perspective of his view on crucial issues.

What are they hiding? Let's find out -- join me and file a Freedom of Information Act request:

http://www.democrats.org/page/petition/foia/fqiicr

Thanks!"
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London: Last Police Lie Blown Off - by Sanjay Suri

"The new evidence shows also that he was wearing a light denim jacket, and not a padded jacket as the police had claimed earlier. The police had said earlier that a heavy padded jacket on a hot summer day was suspicious because it might have suggested he was carrying explosives as he ran."
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We Support Cindy Sheehan Vigil

Theodore Levin US Courthouse on W. Fort St. between Shelby and Washington Blvd.
231 W. Lafayette Blvd.
Detroit, MI 48226

Wednesday, 17 Aug 2005, 7:30 PM
We Support Cindy Sheehan Vigil is an opportunity to stand up and support those military fighting and their family members who do not believe in Bush and this terrible war.

Message from host: Please come and stand quietly with me, a mother of a soldier in Iraq, for this solemn candlelight event in Detroit to support Cindy Sheehan in Texas. Please bring candles and placards printed from the MoveOn.org website. Standing up against Bush is not being against the military who are fighting for what they believe. Please don't bring pets. The downtown Detroit area is not a great place for animals.

Check here for more details or other locations of vigils in your areas:
Plus you can rsvp on the site to let others know how many will attend. It could help snowball the gathering.

http://www.moveonpac.org/event/events/attendees/index.html?id=-3772240-wi1jGXRUOK03bEVazbZH7g&event_id=3709
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Stupid Evil Bastard: Pentagon to Host 9/11 Propoganda March

"The Pentagon will hold a massive march and country music concert to mark the fourth anniversary of 9/11, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said in an unusual announcement tucked into an Iraq war briefing yesterday.

“This year the Department of Defense will initiate an America Supports You Freedom Walk,” Rumsfeld said..."
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Unfortunately, funds are not available for Rev. Pinkney to go to the state courts and ask for a change of venue.

So, his last chance for a fair trial is at 9am on Tuesday Sept. 6 when his atty. will ask the Berrien County Courthouse to disqualify all Berrien County prosecutors from his trial. They have already denied
him the disqualification of Berrien County judges.

If this is denied, Rev. Pinkney is a big step closer to spending 20 years in prison. He has endured a smear campaign by the Herald Palladium and other area media, and now is forced to spend his time and money to defend his actions: standing up for the people of Benton Harbor.

As one middle aged woman said at the last rally, "We can't allow them to lay their hands on Rev. Pinkney. He's the only person in my lifetime who has stood up for the people of Benton Harbor against racial profiling and police brutality."

We need to pack the courtroom to show that Michigan citizens of conscience will come out to look corruption and injustcie in the face, and show the most terrorized community in the state (that we've been hearing about for decades) that we are watching and supporting one of their advocates.

FREE PINKNEY

9am, Sept. 6
Berrien County Courthouse
811 Port St.
St. Joseph, MI
I-94, exit 33


Send tax-deductible donations for atty. fees to
BANCO
1940 Union St.
Benton Harbor, MI 49022
(desperately needed)
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Friends-

1. Emergency Demonstration to support Cindy Sheehan – Monday, August 15 from 4-5:30 PM at McNamara Federal Building in Detroit. Cindy Sheehan, whose son Casey was killed in the Iraq War, is camped outside Pres. Bush’s Crawford Texas ranch. More and more anti-war activists are joining her daily as she speaks out against the war in Iraq and the occupation of Palestine. Bush was forced to acknowledge the depth of anti-war sentiment in the country at a press conference. Most of us can’t go to Crawford, but we can show our support.

If you aren’t in the Detroit area, call an action at your local Federal Building. Everyone can call, fax, and email the White House and ask the staff there to contact the President on his ranch and ask him to meet with Cindy Sheehan.

Comments: 202-456-1111
FAX: 202-456-2461
E-Mail comments@whitehouse.gov

2. Anti-war message at Detroit’s Labor Day Parade – Monday – Sept. 5.

MECAWI calls on all anti-war activists in the metro area to line both sides of Woodward Avenue starting at 10:00 AM at Grand Circus Park (cross street - Adams).

The AFL-CIO national convention went on record for a “rapid withdrawal of troops from Iraq.”

Let’s expand the message to “Money for Detroit, Not for War” and “Bring the Troops Home NOW!”

Bring your signs and banners. The whole parade will have to march past and we will have a sound system and literature.

For more information call 313-680-5508.

tx for the email peter
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Another labor blogging roundup?!

from the masterful zwichenzug:

"At least one person read last week's roundup, so I figured I'd better do it again.

Let me start with a little bit of housekeeping. There have been several sites added to our labor blog aggregator this week. First and foremost are the Industrial Workers of the World. Wobbly blogger intexile has a few things to say about The Capitalist Pyramid Scheme. Also worth checking out is intexile's analysis of the AFL-CIO split.

(Speaking of the Wobblies, visit Fruits of our Labour to get the goods on a new graphic history of the IWW)"
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Crooks and Liars

"The Raw Story has the latest on 9/11 and Pat Roberts."
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!!!!!! Attention !!!!!!!

Over 1000 baggage handlers and food prep workers are on a wildcat strike (not authorized by the "union")

CNN.com - British Airways cancels all Heathrow flights - Aug 11, 2005

"British Airways cancelled all its flights from London's Heathrow Airport on Thursday at the peak of its summer holiday season, stranding some 20,000 passengers, following a series of wildcat strikes."
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IFILM - Viral Videos: Balancing Point

"Danny Brown employs 'reverse destruction' of rock sculptures, dazzling the eye in this magical short film."
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Good topic for the week!

IFILM - Shorts: Why I Love Shoplifting from Big Corporations

"Independent media group www.submediatv.com has completed a short film inspired by crimethinc's book 'Days of War, Nights of Love'. The short is entitled 'Why I Love Shoplifting from Big Corporations'. It is a short story of a young American striving to survive in a corporate dominated world."
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Open Letter

"I am writing you with much concern after having read of your hearing to decide whether the alternative theory of Intelligent Design should be taught along with the theory of Evolution. I think we can all agree that it is important for students to hear multiple viewpoints so they can choose for themselves the theory that makes the most sense to them. I am concerned, however, that students will only hear one theory of Intelligent Design.

Let us remember that there are multiple theories of Intelligent Design. I and many others around the world are of the strong belief that the universe was created by a Flying Spaghetti Monster. It was He who created all that we see and all that we feel. We feel strongly that the overwhelming scientific evidence pointing towards evolutionary processes is nothing but a coincidence, put in place by Him."
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A more detailed post regarding my earlier post Big Brother Nixes Happy Hour:

Trenches - Journal - NLRB Supports Corporate Control of Worker's Private Lives

"Under Bush, the NLRB has become—like his Labor Dept and his Congress—an extension of the corporate war on workers, and this time they’re reaching into our private lives to control who we can talk to. The ‘anti-dating’ excuse is just a cover for removing yet another worker right. What do you wanna bet we’ll see similarly-phrased ‘dating’ policies popping up in corporate directives all over the country in the next few months as word of the NLRB’s decision spreads?"
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Winter Soldier - The Film

"In February 1971, one month after the revelations of the My Lai massacre, a public inquiry into war crimes committed by American forces in Vietnam was held at a Howard Johnson motel in Detroit. Vietnam Veterans Against the War organized this event called the Winter Sodier Investigation with support from Jane Fonda and Mark Lane. More than 125 veterans spoke of atrocities they had witnessed and committed. 'The major that I worked for had a fantastic capability of staking prisoners,� goes one piece of testimony, �utilizing a knife that was extremely sharp, and sort of fileting them like a fish. . . . Prisoners treated this way were executed at the end because there was no way that we could take them into any medical aide and say, 'This dude fell down some steps.'' "
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Skookum Talk

"Secretive 'guerrilla' artist Banksy has decorated Israel's controversial West Bank barrier with satirical images of life on the other side."

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Skookum Talk

"'I have long been of the opinion that if work were such a splendid thing the rich would have kept more of it for themselves.'"
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INTERNATIONAL ROCK CITY: RICH AHERN 1928 - 2004

"Rich was on the front page of the Washington Post in 1945, a picture of him laying the wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the end of World War II. He said it was that moment that defined his life. 'This can never happen again,' he said. He once told me the story of his attending a speech by his hero and inspiration, Frank Lloyd Wright. He said at one point Wright looked straight at him as he sat there in the audience and asked him to continue his legacy. After telling me that, he asked if I would continue his. To try and create a world where solving conflicts was done honestly and peacefully, so that there will never again be war."
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easily amazed

What does it mean to always display as much love as you can?
How do you know when you're displaying love, espcially in mundane aspects of your day?
Is it really possible to display love at all times. . . for every moment to be a display of love?
What does love look like?
What does love feel like?
How do you recognize love in a room?
How do you recognize love in a person?
How do you recognize love in the wind?
How do you recognize love pouring through your heart. . .and then how do we always display that, as much as we can, always? "
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Oh!pinion

"Cindy Sheehan has a bone to pick with President Bush. She’s stationed herself along a Texas highway three miles from Bush’s Crawford ranch, vowing to stay the month in hopes of meeting with him.

Sheehan has said she wants to ask Bush why her son, Casey, and so many others have had to die in far-off Iraq."
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KN@PPSTER: A rejoinder to "Enough dead"

"So no, Mike, not 'fuck the US troops.' Fuck the system that abuses their loyalty. Fuck the cowards who are always all too willing to send someone else to do the killing they're too good to do for themselves. But don't fuck the kids who are dribbling their blood into the sand because they were naive enough to believe that their country would not ask them to do evil things. They're victims in this thing as much anyone else. You can't put someone in an insane situation and then expect sane conduct. It doesn't work that way."
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for-real-things-I-know:

"In Defense of Emma Goldman:
'ASK FOR WORK; IF THEY DO NOT GIVE YOU WORK ASK FOR BREAD; IF THEY DO NOT GIVE YOU WORK OR BREAD THEN TAKE BREAD'.
EMMA GOLDMANN."
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for-real-things-I-know

"Wal-Mart is a company that wraps itself in red, white and blue.

I might understand it if Wal-Mart said I ought to fire Mark because what he said wasn't accurate. But that isn't the case. Mark accurately reported that there are 10,000 children of Wal-Mart employees in a health-care program that is costing Georgia taxpayers nearly $10 million a year.

Shouldn't we talk about that?"
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Uncommon Thought Journal: Where Does Mercury Come From?

"I thought I knew about the sources and dangers of mercury until I read The Canaries Had Their Coal Mines in the August 8th NY Times. A lot of mercury in the environment comes from burning coal - particularly coal-fired power plants (51% of the US electric generation is from coal-fired plants)."
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Safety Neal's Fireside Chat: Random RFID Update: Microchipping License Plates

"Wired has an article by Mark Baard on microchipped license plates. These are active RFID, which is basically a transponder. The article mentions the benefits of being able to catch anyone who is uninsured or has not renewed their license plate.

But it can also be used to track if you are speeding, if you drive on the wrong side of the road, cross a double yellow line, park in a handicapped stall.....

You get the idea. It isn't a backdoor method of surveillance, it's a front door method of surveillance."
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Iraq War Coalition Fatalities

This is an interesting website, tracks daily attacks visually.
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Alexander Cockburn: How the British Destroyed India

"While these farmers were being driven to suicide by the thousand in Andhra Pradesh, Chandrababu Naidu, the state’s chief minister, was being iconized in the western press as the apex posterboy for neoliberal “reform”. The Wall Street Journal hailed him as “a model for fellow state leaders”. Time crowned him “South Asian of the year”. Bill Gates called on Naidu. So did Bill Clinton. So did Paul O’Neill. John Wolfenson, president of the World Bank, tossed him loan upon loan."
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Alexander Cockburn: How the British Destroyed India

"Ruin metastasized. Sainath showed me an 8x10 picture he’d made of a woman, Aruna, positioning a photograph of her husband Bangaru Ramachari among the implements he made for farmers, getting payment in kind. Amid the slump he’d no customers for two years. He’d died of hunger, too proud to admit, in his last week before he collapsed, that he’d not eaten for five days.
The shift from food crops to cash crops, backed by the World Bank, produced another harvest of disaster. New entrepreneurs replacing old government-run networks sold bad seeds that would not germinate."
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Talking Head video
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Safety Neal's Fireside Chat

"Jerry Seper has an article in the Washington Times discussing the growth of an organization known as Zeta. 15 years ago, Zeta was an elite anti-narcotics paratroop battallion. Then one day the battallion deserted en masse and began freelancing for drug cartels. For Zeta members, duty and honor couldn't compete with the rewards offered by criminal syndicates."
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Dumb joke blogging, post-apocalyptic angst edition via Zwichenzug

Q: What did the last man on Earth say when he walked into a bar?

A: Drink, I'd like another bartender."
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Labor Blog

"When corporations talk about 'constitutional rights', remember that property rights to slavery and child labor are their precedents."
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Labor Needs a Hard Left Turn | Solidarity Unionism | Industrial Workers of the World

"Unions in the rest of the world are not simply asking us whether we will stand with them against General Electric, General Motors or Mitsubishi. They want to know: What is your stand about the U.S. empire, about aggressive wars or coups d'�tat? If we have nothing to say about these things, how can we expect to have any credibility?"
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The Whispering Campaign

"The Whispering Campaign gives you tools to help educate your friends and neighbors, without drawing too much attention to yourself.

Our mission: Find the best real journalism on the net and provide samples of it here, formatted for easy printing and distribution. "
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The Internationale | MetaFilter

"The Internationale , written in 1871 by Eugene Pottier (lyrics) and P. Degeyter (music), has been (and will be) the theme of a variety of Marxist and non-Marxist socialist groups around the world."
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The right to party ends in violence | MetaFilter

"In the Czech Republic over the weekend a free and legal techno party was stormed by heavily-armed riot police."
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Big Brother Nixes Happy Hour

"NLRB Green Lights Ban on Off-Duty Fraternizing Among Co-Workers

Workers Rights Watch Eye on the NLRBIt is a regular pastime for co-workers to chat during a coffee break, at a union hall, or over a beer about workplace issues, good grilling recipes, and celebrity gossip. Yet a recent ruling by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) allows employers to ban off-duty fraternizing among co-workers, severely weakening the rights of free association and speech, and violating basic standards of privacy for America's workers."
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"A moment of silence: Today, August 2, in 216 BC, Carthaginian forces destroyed a Roman army at the Battle of Cannae.

Using a faint retreat in the center of his battle line, Hannibal led the Romans to believe that his forces were in retreat. The Roman pursued into a trap; the Carthaginian center rallied and faced the Romans after the Carthaginian left and right had advanced to strike the Roman flanks. The Carthaginians soon completely surrounded the Romans and slaughtered 50,000 of them."
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Operation Truth - Home

"From Perry Jefferies: I just watched Paul Rieckhoff appear with Melanie Morgan a self-described conservative radio talk-show host from San Francisco on Chris Matthews 'Hardball' on MSNBC. Melanie Morgan says she spent ten days in Iraq and talked to thousands of Soldiers. To the best of my calculations from their journals they really spent about four days in the country of Iraq. If she did talk to thousands of Soldiers, I calculated that by never sleeping and spending every minute of every day and night, she could have fit in two thousand interviews, allowing 2.88 minutes apiece. While I compliment her on her quickness, I have to wonder just how in depth she was in her reporting."
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