CUTTING FOOD AID PROMOTES HUNGER, NOT WORK

U.S. (OW) — You may have heard about the Trump administration’s latest attack on very poor Americans: a punitive new restriction that will cut SNAP benefits for 688,000 people. SNAP, formerly known as food stamps, is our country’s most popular and effective nutrition assistance program. Growing up, my family got food stamps — and oh, I hated it. I hated standing in line at the grocery store, knowing we’d be paying with coupons that would brand us as “poor” to anyone who noticed. And yet I loved the fact that we had food….

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Confidence Game: On Bernie Sanders and the State of U.S. Electoral Integrity

US (PT) “Voting is the most preciousright of every citizen, and we have a moral obligation to ensure the integrity of ourvoting process.” -Former Secretary of State HillaryRodham Clinton, in reference to the Election Reform Bill (2005) when she wasserving as a U.S. Senator for New York State Itʼs hard not to laugh when we consider exactly how well the U.S. ranks in electoralintegrity among other industrialized nations. But itʼs one of those laughs weembrace because the bitter truth of it leaves desperation thick in the air. Thispsychological response to…

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Misrepresentations Regarding Soviet/US Roles in WWII and the Cold War

INTRODUCTION The Soviet Union contributed more than did any other nation to the defeats of Germany and Japan in World War II, but America and Britain together defeated Italy. Many prominent Western ‘historians’ white-out the Soviet roles in defeating Hitler and especially Hirohito, and they overstate the importance of America’s victories to the ultimate outcome, and ignore or underplay Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s strong rejection and repudiation of Winston Churchill’s imperialistic agenda, not only for a continuation of empires, but for a continued postwar exploitation of colonies, as being acceptable goals…

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When Does The Line Get Crossed?

“Come writers and criticsWho prophesize with your penAnd keep your eyes wideThe chance won’t come againAnd don’t speak too soonFor the wheel’s still in spinAnd there’s no tellin’ whoThat it’s namin’For the loser nowWill be later to winFor the times they are a-changin’”- Bob DylanOn Our Cultural Zeitgeist, Civil Disobedience, and How to be anEffective Dissident “It is to Madame Justice that I dedicate this concerto, in honor ofthe holiday that she seems to have taken from these parts, and inrecognition of the impostor that stands in her stead.”- V…

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Brian LaFleur Discusses Anti-fascist Action

US (PT) – “Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe.” – Frederick Douglas  J20 Protesters. Source: Wikimedia In a recent Huffpost article, the nature of the neo fascist group The Proud Boy’s were revealed in all their machinations to be subversive and cunning. They are adapting to evolving currents of popular and political climes, and modifying their tactics…

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He Made it From Honduras to the U.S., and Was Sent Right Back

San Diego, CA (VOSD) – At first, Denilson didn’t want to go to the United States. But his friends and neighbors insisted. Denilson, who is now 20, had been running from Honduras for years. When he was teenager, the mayor of the town where he lived wanted to kill him. Then, after he’d fled to a different city, gang members threatened his life. He had lived in Panama for a while and tried escaping to the United States multiple times – the last attempt had resulted in a brutal kidnapping. But…

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CEOS GOT AN $800K RAISE LAST YEAR. DID YOU?

US (Otherwords) – Congratulations on that nice pay raise you got last year. A 7 percent hike — wow! After 40 years of stagnant wages, that uptick should help you pay off some of old credit card bills or get an upgrade on your 10-year-old pickup. Oh, wait… you say you didn’t get such a raise? Oops, my mistake. It was the CEOs of corporate giants who reported to the Associated Press that they enjoyed a median jump of 7 percent last year. And, since their paychecks were already king-size, that amounted to…

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VETERAN JOURNALIST AND ACTIVIST BILL WEINBERG ON GEOPOLITICS AND THE LEFT

Jae: Could you introduce yourself for those unfamiliar with your work? Bill:  I’m a 30-year veteran journalist in the fields of human rights, indigenous peoples, drug policy and war. I’ve reported widely from Latin America and am the author of Homage to Chiapas: The New Indigenous Struggles in Mexico, about the Zapatistas and related movements. I’m struggling to finish a follow-up book about indigenous struggles in the Andes. I was news editor at High Times magazine in the ’90s, and continue to cover the drug war beat for Cannabis Now magazine. I was a…

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How Taxpayers Covered a $1,000 Liquor Bill for Trump Staffers (and More) at Trump’s Club

Florida (Propublica) — In April 2017, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trump’s Palm Beach, Florida, estate and club, for a two-day summit. While Xi and his delegation stayed at a nearby hotel, Trump and his advisers stayed at the peach-colored, waterfront resort. That evening, Trump and a dozen of his closest advisers hosted Xi and the Chinese delegation in an ornate dining room where they ate Dover sole and New York strip steak. Those sorts of lavish, formal gatherings are expected for a major bilateral summit. DALLAS,…

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What Do We Tell Our Kids About Drugs?

This article was prepared by Stíofán Caomhanach who is a Researcher and Activist, and the Founder of Legalize Cannabis Ireland for Talking Drugs. World (TD) – I’ve been studying drug policy and advocating for drug policy reform for years now, so I didn’t expect to be so unprepared when asked: “What do we tell our kids about drugs?” This question prompted me to put serious thought to the issue and try to come up with a comprehensive answer. The slightly vague short answer is… the truth. But that is to ignore the vast…

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