31 Aug 2015

Delays Abound In Prosecution Of Austin Police Detective For 2013 Shooting Of Larry Jackson

Two years ago, Austin Police Det. Charles Kleinert shot and killed Larry Jackson, Jr., an unarmed black man, under a bridge near one of the city’s many greenbelt trails. His death was the savage culmination of a wild chase through the city that ultimately led to Kleinert’s early retirement and indictment for manslaughter.

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31 Aug 2015

As With Civil Rights Movement, Democrats Seek to Co-Opt Black Lives Matter Ahead of Election

The Democratic National Committee passed a resolution at its summer meeting on August 28, which endorsed “Black lives matter.” The resolution was an effort by Democrats to co-opt the energy coming from the movement for black lives and steer it into the 2016 Election.

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31 Aug 2015

Walmart Increased Wages Only To Later Cut Hours

Late last year, in response to a series of strikes by workers and protests by activists, Walmart agreed to raise wages so that many of the company’s workers received at least a meager $9 an hour in 2015. Unfortunately, Walmart’s entire business model is based on severely exploiting workers in the US, so the order has now come down from Walmart executives to cut workers’ hours to lower company costs.

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31 Aug 2015

Tennessee Department of Corrections Struggles To Keep The Lid On Prison Crisis

The Tennessee Department of Corrections is threatening and intimidating corrections officers speaking out against dangerous work conditions, according to a letter [PDF] published on August 27 by the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee. The organization asked the DOC to clearly state it will not seek to silence or retaliate against employees for their speech.

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31 Aug 2015

After Detention & Abuse, Immigrants Find Lifesaving Support In An Unexpected Place

Three years ago, Juan Jose Antonio Deras, 35, an undocumented immigrant man who arrived in the United States as an 11 year old, walked into the Denver Contract Detention Facility in Aurora, Colorado. But on July 24, 2015, he left in a wheelchair. He was all but broken, but his indomitable spirit kept him alive, along with support from an unexpected source: a volunteer volleyball league out to help more than just him.

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30 Aug 2015

Podcast: Under Siege, Palestinian Refugees Endure Typhoid, Famine & ISIS-Inspired Assassinations

The population of the Palestinian refugee camp in Yarmouk, on the southern outskirts of Damascus, was once around 200,000 people. A brutal siege by the Syrian regime and an occupation by fighters from the al Qaida arm in Syria and the Islamic State dramatically reduced that number to 18,000 in March. Now, it is somewhere between 5,000 and 8,000 people, according to journalist Patrick Strickland.

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29 Aug 2015

If U.S. Government Can Kill An American Child In A Drone Strike, Is Anyone Safe?

Wednesday, August 26, 2015, would have been Abdulrahman Awlaki’s 20th birthday. Instead, he was killed in 2011, by a CIA drone strike in Yemen, a country which the US had not declared war on. Abdulrahman was not linked to any terrorism-associated activity, never mind charged with an actual crime.

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28 Aug 2015

The Poor Are Never The Enemy: Talking With Shadowproof Readers

In Shadowproof’s Mailbag: Our borders are under invasion (from refugee children?)! Poor people are lazy and just don’t want to work. Why is the corporate-owned media telling us to hate other poor people and ignore the global 1%? Also: Campaign Zero, Ferguson, and people’s movements for revolutionary change.

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28 Aug 2015

CEO Compensation Jumped In 2014 As Workers Treaded Water

The pay for CEOs of public companies continued its upward climb in 2014 according to a report by The Conference Board, a business research organization. The report, published in August, claims that total compensation for chief executive officers of US public companies in the Russell 3000 Index rose up 11.9 % from 2013 and as much as 34.7 % from 2010.

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28 Aug 2015

Key Constitutional Issues Avoided as Lawsuit Against NSA Surveillance Heads Back to Lower Court

Today, a federal appeals court vacated a preliminary injunction against the National Security Agency’s phone records surveillance program, and the lawsuit was sent back to the lower court for further proceedings if appropriate. But the U.S. Court of Appeals did not rule on whether the program, exposed by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, was lawful or not.

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