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Richard Eskow – Inequality’s Getting Worse. How Do We End This?

On July 1, at the start of the Independence Day weekend, we learned that income inequality in this country became even worse last year. Economic inequality produces scars that last a lifetime – and even longer. That’s one reason why President Obama said in 2013 that “increasing inequality … challenges the very essence of who we are as a people.” Well, that …

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Ten Degrees Above Average, Alaska is Having Its Hottest Year Since Records Began

Like the rest of the world, Alaska has been unusually hot this year—and it’s about to get hotter. That’s according to the most recent data released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), as Climate Central reported. Between March and May of this year, the meteorological spring, the entire state has been about 10 degrees hotter than normal, with an average temperature …

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Study reveals incarceration’s hidden wounds for African-American men

There’s a stark and troubling way that incarceration diminishes the ability of a former inmate to empathize with a loved one behind bars, but existing sociological theories fail to capture it, Vanderbilt University sociologists have found. According to a commonly used model of stress and health, the experience of having a family member locked up does not have a significant …

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Keli Tianga – As Boomers Retire, Mom-and-Pop Businesses Convert to Co-ops to Save Jobs

Susanne Ward and her husband, Patrick Reilley, moved from California to Maine in 1992 with plans of starting their own business. They decided on a used bookstore and coffee house, as they felt both good coffee and good books were in short supply in their new neighborhood. Located in the city of Rockland, Rock City (named for the limestone quarries …

Dangerous New Normal as 400 ppm Carbon Baseline Expected Within Days

The planet is hurtling towards a disturbing milestone as researchers predict that the southern hemisphere “within days” will reach a new atmospheric baseline of 400 parts per million (ppm) of carbon, signifying that humanity has entered a new phase in our climate impact. “Once it’s over [400 ppm], it won’t go back,” Paul Fraser, a retired fellow with Australia’s Commonwealth …

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Hamid Dabashi – American democracy is rigged

This entirely undemocratic, arcane, draconian, and ipso facto rigged aspect of the US electoral system came to a crucial dead-end during the New York primaries of the Democratic and Republican parties on April 19, when Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump won their respective primaries. Decisive setback In many significant ways, the presidential primaries in New York were a turning point in …

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The U.S. Foster Care System: Modern Day Slavery and Child Trafficking

May is National Foster Month, “Honoring, Uniting, and Celebrating Families.” But is this really what foster care is doing? Theoretically, foster care provides a temporary loving, nurturing and safe home for children who are removed from their own families due to heinous neglect or abuse. This theory helps those involved in the system sleep good at night and feel like …

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ANIS SHIVANI – The Democrats have no soul: The Clintons, neoliberalism, and how the “people’s party” lost its way

Looking beyond the daily tussle between Donald J. Trump and the Republican Party, or Bernie Sanders and the Democratic Party, let’s consider the larger historical picture to see what the current election campaign tells us about the state of the two major political parties and their future.  Over the last forty years both major political parties have been in a …

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Bruce A. Dixon – Bernie Sanders Has His Plan B. What’s Yours?

“…the numbers are against Bernie. Not the numbers of Democratic activists and voters, but the numbers tabulated by the Democratic party’s official rules….” Bernie Sanders wants and maybe deserves the Democratic presidential nomination. But Bernie does have a Plan B. Bernie’s Plan B is now and has always been supporting Hillary Clinton. Bernie said it a year ago, he repeated it last week, …

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Visualizing The Energy & Mineral Riches Of The Arctic

The Arctic has been the fascination of many people for centuries. Hundreds of years ago, the Europeans saw the Arctic’s frigid waters as a potential gateway to the Pacific. The region has also been home to many unique native cultures such as the Inuits and Chukchi. Lastly, it goes without saying that the Arctic is unsurpassed in many aspects of …