OPINION

Charter School Movement About Tax Breaks, Not Helping Kids

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Education Matters – By Larry Lee – It is said that “confession is good for the soul.” With this being the case, the legislators who wrote the Alabama Accountability Act in 2013 are now sleeping better. When this bill was written the people of Alabama were told over and over that the purpose was to…

The Palestinian-Israeli Two-State Solution was Dead Anyway

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By Nicholas Sheppard – Newly re-elected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has tried to walk back his declaration, made late in the contentious political campaign, that no Palestinian state would be established on his watch. His new assertion appeared to do nothing to assuage an irate Obama Administration, and his initial remarks, designed to encourage…

The Conundrum of Corporation and Nation

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By Robert Reich – The U.S. economy is picking up steam but most Americans aren’t feeling it. By contrast, most European economies are still in bad shape, but most Europeans are doing relatively well. What’s behind this? Two big facts. First, American corporations exert far more political influence in the United States than their counterparts…

After Selma: From White Sheets to Spreadsheets

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By Greg Palast – I hate to spoil a happy ending. The movie “Selma,” like this week’s commemorations of Martin Luther King Jr.’s march from Selma, Ala., 50 years ago, celebrates America’s giant leap from apartheid. Half a century ago Alabama state troopers and a mob of racist thugs beat African-Americans and others as they…

After Selma, What’s Next for Black America?

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By Donald Watkins – This weekend marks the 50th Anniversary of the Selma-to-Montgomery march. I did not attend the celebratory events this weekend. I am still deeply troubled by the fact that today’s civil rights movement has morphed into an endless cycle of commemorative events and celebratory parties consisting mostly of photo opportunities. This would…

Citizen Four: Ed Snowden is No Traitor

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Eschew Obfuscation – By Michael Douglass – LOS ANGELES, Calif. — What’s mind blowing about the whole Snowden thing is not what huge deal it was, it’s what a huge deal it is. To my dismay I have become cynical, so it occurred to me at the time that it really sucked but I wasn’t…

Will the 2016 Democratic Nominee Take on Moneyed Interests?

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By Robert Reich – It’s seed time for the 2016 presidential elections, when candidates try to figure out what they stand for and will run on. One thing seems reasonably clear. The Democratic nominee for President, whoever she may be, will campaign on reviving the American middle class. As will the Republican nominee — although…

Alabama Accountability Act Robs Public Schools

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Education Matters – By Larry Lee – Let’s say that Santa brought you a new chainsaw and in your haste to put it to work you gashed your leg severely. With blood gushing everywhere, do you holler for someone to bring you some band-aids? It’s doubtful. And more likely that after you scream for help,…

A Breakthrough Vision on Fixing Earth’s Problems

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The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – I finally know how to fix the world’s intractable problems. I saw the answer in a dream this morning. It is the vision I have been preparing for and waiting for my whole life. I knew when I took elaborate steps to escape the situation I was…

We’re All Independent Contractors Now

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By Robert Reich – GM is worth around $60 billion, and has over 200,000 employees. Its front-line workers earn from $19 to $28.50 an hour, with benefits. Uber is estimated to be worth some $40 billion, and has 850 employees. Uber also has over 163,000 drivers (as of December – the number is expected to…

Trade Deals Boost the Top 1% and Bust the Rest of Us

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By Robert Reich – Suppose that by enacting a particular law we’d increase the U.S.Gross Domestic Product. But almost all that growth would go to the richest 1 percent. The rest of us could buy some products cheaper than before. But those gains would be offset by losses of jobs and wages. This is pretty…

Miracles in Education Still Happen

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Education Matters – By Larry Lee – Contrary to what many think, miracles still happen these days. In fact, one just happened in Alabama concerning public education—though no one seemed to notice. I refer to recent news from the Alabama State Department of Education that four schools formerly on the “failing” school list were removed…

Noam Chomsky Comments on the Future With Climate Change

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By Glynn Wilson – I woke up Sunday morning thinking about something besides aphrodisiacs and Valentines Day, same sex marriage and Mardi Gras. While everyone else seems to be focused on these things, including the Ku Klux Klan in Mississippi, I am still wondering when the devastating news about the rapid pace of climate change…

Same Sex Marriage and Same History in Alabama

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By David Underhill – MOBILE, Ala. – The threat of gay marriage in Alabama has roused governor George Wallace to rise from the dead and stand again in the schoolhouse door. When Roy Moore, chief justice of the state supreme court, flung himself this week between a federal judge in Mobile and the local bureau…

Alabama Political Future Damaged by Labor vs. Environment Split

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The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – MOBILE, Ala. — A few years ago, Princeton graduate Charles Scribner with the Black Warrior Riverkeeper in Birmingham saw my coverage of the BlueGreen Good Jobs, Green Jobs conference in Washington, D.C. and sent me an e-mail asking an important question: Do you think it would be…

Judge Roy Moore Turns the Screws on the Public Again

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Thank You Jere Beasley and Alabama Trial Lawyers – By Glynn Wilson – MOBILE, Ala. — I wonder if Jere Beasley and the Alabama trial lawyers are happy now? Old Ten Commandments Judge Roy Moore is making headlines around the country again in another stand in the courthouse door, this time against a growing federal…

The People Lead on Climate Change

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Coming Clean – By Michael Brune – Earlier this month, almost every Republican in the U.S. Senate went on record that “climate change is real and not a hoax.” All but a handful, however, balked at agreeing that humans are contributing to that change. The “not a scientist” club has a new line in the…