{"id":18471,"date":"2015-11-08T00:02:11","date_gmt":"2015-11-08T08:02:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/?p=18471"},"modified":"2015-11-08T00:35:21","modified_gmt":"2015-11-08T08:35:21","slug":"rouge-forum-dispatch-draft-26","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/rouge-forum-dispatch-draft-26\/","title":{"rendered":"Rouge Forum Dispatch: Societies are betrayed by what is false within."},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>We Say Fight Back!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<h1>Students clash with police as tuition fee protest turns violent<\/h1>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-80e65d8e49c9fcbb\" class=\"blkBorder img-share\" src=\"http:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2015\/11\/04\/15\/2E1A573500000578-0-image-a-110_1446650951019.jpg\" alt=\"Students during a protest calling for the abolition of tuition fees and an end to student debt in Westminster, London. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday November 4, 2015. The focus of the rally is against plans to scrap maintenance grants and replace them with loans, which critics are warning will plunge the poorest students into thousands of pounds of extra debt. See PA story PROTEST Students. Photo credit should read: Dominic Lipinski\/PA Wire\" width=\"962\" height=\"640\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Some protesters burst through the police lines and were chased down Victoria Street by officers, while chanting: \u2018What do we want? Free education. When do we want it? Now.\u2019<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Several young men appeared to be arrested and were taken by officers into waiting police vans as the protest came to a stop near Victoria station.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">In a statement, Scotland Yard said a &#8216;small group of protesters&#8217; had thrown paint outside the Home Office during the chaotic scenes, and confirmed 12 people had been arrested for public order offences. : <a href=\"http:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/article-3303774\/Scuffles-break-march-against-university-tuition-fees-shadow-chancellor-John-McDonnell-accuses-Government-betraying-students.html#ixzz3qqaKQWII\">www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/article-3303774\/Scuffles-break-march-against-university-tuition-fees-shadow-chancellor-John-McDonnell-accuses-Government-betraying-students.html#ixzz3qqaKQWII<\/a><\/p>\n<div>\u00a0<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/i.huffpost.com\/gen\/3633090\/thumbs\/o-GETTY-570.jpg?7\" alt=\"getty\" \/><\/div>\n<p><strong>Rikowski :<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"post-12168\" class=\"post-12168 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-communism category-economic-history category-feminism category-history category-imperialism category-london-political-meetings category-marxism category-marxist-analysis category-marxist-theory category-marxist-humanism category-meetings category-news-and-politics category-politics category-postmodernism tag-feminism tag-frantz-fanon tag-gender tag-gilbert-achcar tag-heather-brown tag-imperialim tag-karl-marx tag-kevin-anderson tag-marxism tag-marxist-theory tag-marxist-humanism tag-peter-hudis tag-philosophy tag-politics tag-postmodernism tag-race tag-racism\">\n<div class=\"entry-meta\">\n<h2 class=\"entry-title\">Recapturing Marx on Gender, Race and Colonialism: Beyond Post-Modernism and Orthodox\u00a0Marxism<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"ide6uW2bwq\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/rikowski.wordpress.com\/2015\/11\/04\/recapturing-marx-on-gender-race-and-colonialism-beyond-post-modernism-and-orthodox-marxism\/\">Recapturing Marx on Gender, Race and Colonialism: Beyond Post-Modernism and Orthodox&nbsp;Marxism<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;Recapturing Marx on Gender, Race and Colonialism: Beyond Post-Modernism and Orthodox&nbsp;Marxism&#8221; &#8212; All that is Solid for Glenn Rikowski\" src=\"https:\/\/rikowski.wordpress.com\/2015\/11\/04\/recapturing-marx-on-gender-race-and-colonialism-beyond-post-modernism-and-orthodox-marxism\/embed\/#?secret=LftEvI7z4n#?secret=ide6uW2bwq\" data-secret=\"ide6uW2bwq\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Marx-Was-Right.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-18508\" src=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Marx-Was-Right.jpg\" alt=\"Marx Was Right\" width=\"465\" height=\"620\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Marx-Was-Right.jpg 465w, https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Marx-Was-Right-225x300.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 465px) 100vw, 465px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Eib32B_KH6M\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Eib32B_KH6M<\/a><\/p>\n<h1 id=\"story-heading\" class=\"story-heading\">CUNY Faculty Members Arrested After Staging Protest<\/h1>\n<p id=\"story-continues-1\" class=\"story-body-text story-content\" data-para-count=\"230\" data-total-count=\"230\">Several dozen <a class=\"meta-org\" title=\"More articles about the City University of New York.\" href=\"http:\/\/topics.nytimes.com\/top\/reference\/timestopics\/organizations\/c\/city_university_of_new_york\/index.html?inline=nyt-org\">City University of New York<\/a> faculty members were arrested on Wednesday when they blocked the entrance to the Midtown Manhattan building housing the administration\u2019s offices as part of a demand for salary increases.<\/p>\n<p class=\"story-body-text story-content\" data-para-count=\"460\" data-total-count=\"690\">Several hundred faculty and professional staff members participated in the protest outside 205 East 42nd Street, which houses the central administration offices, said Barbara Bowen, the president of the Professional Staff Congress\/CUNY, the union representing the faculty and professional staff. They carried signs saying \u201cCUNY Needs a Raise,\u201d \u201cStop the War on CUNY\u201d and \u201cNo More Excuses, Chancellor Milliken\u201d \u2014 a reference to James B. Milliken.<\/p>\n<p class=\"story-body-text story-content\" data-para-count=\"221\" data-total-count=\"911\">Those who were arrested had locked arms and sat down in front of the building in a planned act of civil disobedience, refusing to move until either they received an \u201cacceptable offer\u201d or were arrested, Dr. Bowen said.\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2015\/11\/05\/nyregion\/cuny-faculty-members-arrested-after-staging-protest.html?emc=edit_tnt_20151105&#038;nlid=1526508&#038;tntemail0=y&#038;_r=1\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.nytimes.com\/2015\/11\/05\/nyregion\/cuny-faculty-members-arrested-after-staging-protest.html?emc=edit_tnt_20151105&#038;nlid=1526508&#038;tntemail0=y&#038;_r=1<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>The Little Red Schoolhouse<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"irc_mi\" src=\"https:\/\/s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com\/736x\/9d\/96\/6f\/9d966f571c8af4761d4a3742fa0012a5.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"474\" height=\"441\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Obamagoge Put $7 Billion into the False Hope School Shell Game,\u00a0 nearly everyone played, and everyone but the ruling class lost\u00a0 <\/strong>In 2009, the Obama administration saw a chance to tackle a problem that had bedeviled educators for decades.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur goal is to turn around the 5,000 lowest-performing schools over the next five years, as part of our overall strategy for dramatically reducing the dropout rate, improving high school graduation rates and increasing the number of students who graduate prepared for success in college and the workplace,\u201d said Arne Duncan, the administration\u2019s new secretary of education in August of that year.<\/p>\n<p>The administration pumped $3 billion of economic stimulus money into the School Improvement Grants program. Six years later, the program has failed to produce the dramatic results the administration had hoped to achieve. About two thirds of SIG schools nationwide made modest or no gains \u2014 not much different from similarly bad schools that got no money at all. About a third of the schools actually got worse&#8230;&#8230; the \u201cfederal government needs to be held accountable for spending billions of dollars on a program that all the experience told us wouldn\u2019t produce the changes that they said it would,\u201d Smarick said. \u201cThat\u2019s something they\u2019re going to have to explain.\u201d<a href=\"http:\/\/www.politico.com\/story\/2015\/11\/failing-schools-education-white-house-214332#ixzz3qqe0tESZ\">www.politico.com\/story\/2015\/11\/failing-schools-education-white-house-214332#ixzz3qqe0tESZ<\/a><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"View From The Top: General (Ret.) Stanley McChrystal\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/GgrQYS-q5f4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div>\u00a0<em>General (Ret.) Stanley McChrystal speaks to Stanford Graduate School of Business students about essential aspects of leadership such as trust, purpose, and adaptability. &#8220;Talent alone doesn&#8217;t make a great team. You need faith in your colleagues and alignment behind a common goal,&#8221; shared McChrystal. <strong>Watch the last ten minutes to discover how American militarists still do not understand Vietnam, Sun Tzu, or even the American Revolution.<\/strong><br \/>\n<\/em><\/div>\n<p><strong>The 100 Most Militarized Universities in the USA (gentle reminder&#8211;the education agenda is a war agenda&#8211;class and empire&#8217;s wars) <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>#1 UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND<br \/>\nCollege Park, Maryland | Public<\/p>\n<p>The University of Maryland University College (UMUC) is the nation&#8217;s second-biggest enroller of service members and their families who receive tuition assistance, and ranks second in the nation in post-9\/11 GI Bill students. Maryland&#8217;s Department of Homeland Security (DHS)-sponsored National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, and its NSA-sponsored Center for Advanced Study of Language conduct classified work at the University Research Park in Riverdale, which also hosts the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity.<\/p>\n<p>OVERVIEW<br \/>\nPercent Online: 37%<br \/>\nTop Secret Employment Rank: 1<br \/>\nNational Security Funding Rank: 4<br \/>\nDoD Research &amp; Development Funding: $117,491,000<br \/>\nStudents on GI Bill\/Tuition Assistance: 38%<\/p>\n<p>GOVERNMENT AFFILIATIONS<br \/>\nConducts Classified Research<br \/>\nNational Intelligence<br \/>\nNSA<br \/>\nHomeland Security<br \/>\nFBI<br \/>\nMilitary ROTC Program<\/p>\n<p>NATIONAL SECURITY CURRICULUM<br \/>\nIntelligence Studies Program<br \/>\nHomeland Security Studies Program<br \/>\nDrone Program\u00a0\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/news.vice.com\/article\/these-are-the-100-most-militarized-universities-in-america?utm_source=vicenewsemail\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">news.vice.com\/article\/these-are-the-100-most-militarized-universities-in-america?utm_source=vicenewsemail<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>List of states linking scores to teacher reviews\u00a0 States where student test scores are the key factor in teacher evaluations:<br \/>\n<\/strong>Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee as well as the District of Columbia.<strong><br \/>\n_____<br \/>\n<\/strong>States where student test scores play a significant role in teacher evaluations:<strong><br \/>\n<\/strong>Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Virginia.<\/p>\n<p>States that require student growth in evaluations, but it doesn&#8217;t play a significant role:<br \/>\nMassachusetts, North Dakota, South Carolina, Utah, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming.<br \/>\n_____<br \/>\nStates where there&#8217;s no formal policy linking student test scores to teacher evaluations:<br \/>\nCalifornia, Iowa, Montana, Nebraska and Vermont.\u00a0\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.chron.com\/news\/politics\/article\/List-of-states-linking-scores-to-teacher-reviews-6610372.php\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.chron.com\/news\/politics\/article\/List-of-states-linking-scores-to-teacher-reviews-6610372.php<\/a><\/p>\n<h1 class=\"headline\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.counterpunch.org\/2015\/11\/03\/who-they-gonna-call-bias-at-the-new-york-times-on-education-reform\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Who They Gonna Call? Bias at the New York Times on Education Reform<\/a><\/h1>\n<p class=\"post_meta\"><span class=\"post_author_intro\">by<\/span> <span class=\"post_author\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.counterpunch.org\/author\/susoma0934\/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Susan Ohanian<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"post_meta\">On Sept. 6, 1871, <em>The New York Times<\/em> published Karl Marx\u2019s obituary,<a href=\"http:\/\/www.counterpunch.org\/2015\/11\/03\/who-they-gonna-call-bias-at-the-new-york-times-on-education-reform\/#_edn1\" name=\"_ednref1\">[1]<\/a> even though Marx was very much alive at that time\u2013and didn\u2019t die for another eleven years. Whether it was obstinacy or wishful thinking, the <em>Times <\/em> never ran a correction on this item. In more recent times, educators who wondered if they\u2019d live long enough to see a correction on <em>Times<\/em> fly-by-night education reform claims found small hope in this <em>New York<\/em> <em>Times<\/em> official Correction, March 2, 2013:\u00a0http:\/\/www.counterpunch.org\/2015\/11\/03\/who-they-gonna-call-bias-at-the-new-york-times-on-education-reform\/<\/p>\n<p class=\"post_meta\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/littlered-rosa.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-18509\" src=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/littlered-rosa.jpg\" alt=\"littlered-rosa\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/littlered-rosa.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/littlered-rosa-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>US Education Department Easily Joins Liberal (fake-pro-empire) Anti-test movement <\/strong>The Education Department took some of the blame for the sometimes stressful, excessive and time-consuming testing at many schools and said Saturday that it hasn&#8217;t done enough to help states tackle the problem.<\/p>\n<p>The Obama administration is responding to loud complaints from across the country about how much time students spend on testing and the dozens of consequences now associated with poor results on those exams for students and teachers \u2014 policies it had a hand in expanding. Schools have taken on a &#8220;test-and-punish&#8221; culture, advocates say, a movement that got underway with the 2002 No Child Left Behind law.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;In too many schools, there is unnecessary testing and not enough clarity of purpose applied to the task of assessing students, consuming too much instructional time and creating undue stress for educators and students,&#8221; the plan says. &#8220;The administration bears some of the responsibility for this, and we are committed to being part of the solution.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The department issued a &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/static.politico.com\/75\/b0\/06b7c0bd4113b48d4da773d9af14\/education-department-assessment-fact-sheet.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">testing action plan<\/a>&#8221; with recommendations and proposals for cutting back on testing that include easing up on the widely criticized use of student test scores in a proposed rule about evaluating training programs for teachers.: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.politico.com\/story\/2015\/10\/education-department-too-much-testing-215131#ixzz3qqkJYCut\">www.politico.com\/story\/2015\/10\/education-department-too-much-testing-215131#ixzz3qqkJYCut<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>The International Hot War of the Rich on the Poor<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.wsws.org\/asset\/64aa233b-a0bc-410e-be21-254d0f75b0bC\/low.JPG?rendition=image240\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>According to the online manual, the \u201claw of war\u201d (i.e., the law of war according to the Pentagon) supersedes international human rights treaties as well as the US Constitution.<\/p>\n<p>The manual authorizes the killing of civilians during armed conflict and establishes a framework for mass military detentions.\u00a0Journalists, according to the manual, can be censored and punished as spies on the say-so of military officials. The manual freely discusses the use of nuclear weapons, and it does not prohibit napalm, depleted uranium munitions, cluster bombs or other indiscriminate weapons.<\/p>\n<p>The manual might have more properly been titled A Manifesto for Total War and Military Dictatorship.<\/p>\n<p>The manual is an expression of the incompatibility of imperialist militarism and democracy. In the 25 years since the liquidation of the USSR, and especially over the 14 years since the launching of the so-called \u201cwar on terror,\u201d the United States has been almost perpetually at war, seeking to offset its economic decline by threats and military violence around the world. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.wsws.org\/en\/articles\/2015\/11\/03\/laws-n03.html\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.wsws.org\/en\/articles\/2015\/11\/03\/laws-n03.html<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Military-sports.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-18477\" src=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Military-sports.png\" alt=\"Military sports\" width=\"540\" height=\"745\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Military-sports.png 540w, https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Military-sports-217x300.png 217w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 540px) 100vw, 540px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Spectacles to Keep the Rubes Cheering For War: Military spent $6.8M on sports promotions\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>Pentagon officials paid at least $6.8 million over the last three years to professional sports teams for \u201cpaid patriotism\u201d events like on-field color guards and \u201cfree\u201d seats for troops, according to a final report from congressional investigators.<\/p>\n<p>Arizona Republican Sens. Jeff Flake and John McCain hinted that number could be even higher, accusing the Defense Department of withholding details of many of its contracts with sports franchises in an effort to minimize the embarrassment over the arrangements.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese teams do a lot of good work for the military,\u201d Flake told reporters on Wednesday. \u201cWhat is upsetting is that when you see activities like this \u2014 activities that people assume are done out of the goodness of their hearts \u2014 and find out they\u2019re really paid for by the taxpayers, it cheapens the whole lot.\u201d <a href=\"http:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/story\/military\/pentagon\/2015\/11\/04\/paid-patriotism-dod-report\/75158096\/\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.militarytimes.com\/story\/military\/pentagon\/2015\/11\/04\/paid-patriotism-dod-report\/75158096\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Oregon Football Salutes the Troops\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/8M669gZ4ejc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Iraq, Afghanistan, and Other Special Ops \u201cSuccesses\u201d<br \/>\n<\/strong><strong>America\u2019s Elite Forces Deploy to a Record-Shattering 147 Countries in 2015<\/strong>\u00a0 They\u2019re some of the best soldiers in the world: highly trained, well equipped, and experts in weapons, intelligence gathering, and battlefield medicine.\u00a0 They study foreign cultures and learn local languages.\u00a0 They\u2019re smart, skillful, wear some very iconic headgear, and their 12-member teams are \u201ccapable of conducting the full spectrum of special operations, from building indigenous security forces to identifying and targeting threats to U.S. national interests.\u201d They\u2019re also quite successful.\u00a0 At least they think so.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn the last decade, Green Berets have deployed into 135 of the 195 recognized countries in the world. Successes in Afghanistan, Iraq, Trans-Sahel Africa, the Philippines, the Andean Ridge, the Caribbean, and Central America have resulted in an increasing demand for [Special Forces] around the globe,\u201d <a href=\"http:\/\/www.soc.mil\/USASFC\/HQ.html\" target=\"_blank\">reads<\/a> a statement on the website of U.S. Army Special Forces Command.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a name=\"more\"><\/a><\/strong>The Army\u2019s Green Berets are among the best known of America\u2019s elite forces, but they\u2019re hardly alone.\u00a0 Navy SEALs, Air Force Air Commandos, Army Rangers, Marine Corps Raiders, as well as civil affairs personnel, logisticians, administrators, analysts, and planners, among others, make up U.S. Special Operations forces (SOF).\u00a0 They are the men and women who carry out America\u2019s most difficult and secret military missions.<\/p>\n<p>Since 9\/11, U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) has <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tomdispatch.com\/post\/176048\/tomgram%3A_nick_turse,_a_secret_war_in_135_countries\/\" target=\"_blank\">grown<\/a> in every conceivable way from funding and personnel to global reach and deployments.\u00a0 In 2015, according to Special Operations Command spokesman Ken McGraw, U.S. Special Operations forces deployed to a record-shattering 147 countries &#8212; 75% of the nations on the planet, which represents a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tomdispatch.com\/post\/176048\/tomgram%3A_nick_turse,_a_secret_war_in_135_countries\/\" target=\"_blank\">jump<\/a> of 145% since the waning days of the Bush administration. On any day of the year, in fact, America\u2019s most elite troops can be found in 70 to 90 nations.<\/p>\n<p>There is, of course, a certain logic to imagining that the increasing global sweep of these deployments is a sign of success.\u00a0 After all, why would you expand your operations into ever-more nations if they weren\u2019t successful?\u00a0 So I decided to pursue that record of \u201csuccess\u201d with a few experts on the subject.<\/p>\n<p>I started by asking Sean Naylor, a man who knows America\u2019s most elite troops as few do and the author of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/1250014549\/ref=nosim\/?tag=tomdispatch-20\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Relentless Strike: The Secret History of Joint Special Operations Command<\/em><\/a>, about the claims made by Army Special Forces Command.\u00a0 He responded with a hearty laugh.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m going to give whoever wrote that the benefit of the doubt that they were referring to successes that Army Special Forces were at least perceived to have achieved in those countries rather than the overall U.S. military effort,\u201d he says.\u00a0 As he points out, the first post-9\/11 months may represent the zenith of success for those troops.\u00a0 The initial operations in the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 &#8212; carried out largely by U.S. Special Forces, the CIA, and the Afghan Northern Alliance, backed by U.S. airpower &#8212; were \u201cprobably the high point\u201d in the history of unconventional warfare by Green Berets, according to Naylor.\u00a0 As for the years that followed?\u00a0 \u201cThere were all sorts of mistakes, one could argue, that were made after that.\u201d He is, however, quick to point out that \u201cthe vast majority of the decisions [about operations and the war, in general] were not being made by Army Special Forces soldiers.\u201d\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tomdispatch.com\/post\/176060\/tomgram%3A_nick_turse%2C_success%2C_failure%2C_and_the_%22finest_warriors_who_ever_went_into_combat%22\/\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.tomdispatch.com\/post\/176060\/tomgram%3A_nick_turse%2C_success%2C_failure%2C_and_the_%22finest_warriors_who_ever_went_into_combat%22\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/lowres.cartoonstock.com\/caricatures-genghis_khan-mongol_empire-historical_figures-warlords-mongol_invasion-phwn12_low.jpg\" alt=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/lowres.cartoonstock.com\/caricatures-genghis_khan-mongol_empire-historical_figures-warlords-mongol_invasion-phwn12_low.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<h1>Afghan government turns to militias as Taliban gains strength Back to Warlords<\/h1>\n<p>A militia fighter wearing a loose-fitting Afghan tunic and sandals, and with a rocket-propelled grenade launcher strapped to his back, stands at a checkpoint by a rickety bridge. To pass him requires the permission of Nabi Gechi.<\/p>\n<p>To get married here also requires Gechi\u2019s blessing. And to commit a robbery requires a contribution to Gechi\u2019s arsenal. \u201cIf a person steals one watermelon, he has to buy me an AK-47,\u201d he said. \u201cIf he steals a sheep, he has to buy me a PK machine gun.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Gechi is neither a district governor nor a tribal elder. But in this sun-scorched territory of northern Kunduz province, where U.S. troops left long ago and there are no soldiers or police, Gechi and his fighters are the only resistance <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/world\/asia_pacific\/taliban-has-a-major-afghan-city-within-its-grasp-for-the-first-time-since-2001\/2015\/06\/22\/b60741b0-18dd-11e5-93b7-5eddc056ad8a_story.html\">against a resurgent Taliban<\/a>. And that makes him the most influential man for miles around.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNow, no one dares to steal anything in my area,\u201d the militia commander said.\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/world\/as-taliban-resurges-an-afghan-warlord-gains-power\/2015\/10\/29\/5e431aaa-21bf-4713-b681-7226681c18a1_story.html\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.washingtonpost.com\/world\/as-taliban-resurges-an-afghan-warlord-gains-power\/2015\/10\/29\/5e431aaa-21bf-4713-b681-7226681c18a1_story.html<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>More $ for Jihadists (the last batch produced 5 people and cost $500 Mil)\u00a0<\/strong> The U.S. and its regional allies agreed to increase shipments of weapons and other supplies to help moderate Syrian rebels hold their ground and challenge the intervention of Russia and Iran on behalf of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, U.S. officials and their counterparts in the region said.\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/u-s-allies-to-boost-aid-to-syria-rebels-1446682624\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.wsj.com\/articles\/u-s-allies-to-boost-aid-to-syria-rebels-1446682624<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aa.com.tr\/uploads\/Contents\/2015\/09\/30\/thumbs_b_c_0eb5d80555c0ab62f4455c263d8f1461.jpg\" alt=\"http:\/\/www.aa.com.tr\/uploads\/Contents\/2015\/09\/30\/thumbs_b_c_0eb5d80555c0ab62f4455c263d8f1461.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>US. airstrikes in Kunduz destroyed more than a hospital\u00a0 (shall we believe Afghans direct US strikes?) <\/strong>A deadly U.S. airstrike on a Doctors Without Borders hospital last month has triggered an international outcry and investigations by the Pentagon and NATO. But it was not the only U.S. aerial assault during the battle to cause significant damage in this northern city.<\/p>\n<p>Hours earlier, U.S. warplanes zeroed in on a warehouse and a mansion in two densely populated residential areas, according to witnesses and local officials. No one was killed in those attacks, but the targets were pulverized and the walls and windows of nearby homes were shattered.<\/p>\n<p>All three U.S. strikes \u2014 on the warehouse, the mansion and the hospital \u2014 were requested by Afghan commanders, who say they asked for help because their forces were under attack by Taliban fighters. But residents said that while their neighborhoods had been conflict zones earlier, there were no militants at any of the locations at the time of the attacks.\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/world\/asia_pacific\/us-airstrikes-in-kunduz-destroyed-more-than-a-hospital\/2015\/11\/04\/99ef78ff-468a-4113-ae05-086c3450f065_story.html?tid=pm_world_pop_b\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.washingtonpost.com\/world\/asia_pacific\/us-airstrikes-in-kunduz-destroyed-more-than-a-hospital\/2015\/11\/04\/99ef78ff-468a-4113-ae05-086c3450f065_story.html?tid=pm_world_pop_b<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"irc_mi\" src=\"http:\/\/mytruesense.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/06\/obama-imperialism.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"478\" height=\"339\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Nearly 60 million people are currently displaced from their homes by war and persecution \u2014 more than at any time since World War II. Half are children. This multimedia journey in text, photographs and virtual reality tells the stories of three of them.\u00a0 <\/strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2015\/11\/08\/magazine\/the-displaced-introduction.html?hp&#038;action=click&#038;pgtype=Homepage&#038;module=second-column-region&#038;region=top-news&#038;WT.nav=top-news\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.nytimes.com\/2015\/11\/08\/magazine\/the-displaced-introduction.html?hp&#038;action=click&#038;pgtype=Homepage&#038;module=second-column-region&#038;region=top-news&#038;WT.nav=top-news<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>In security breach, Russian programmers wrote code for U.S. military communications systems<br \/>\n<\/strong>A Pentagon contractor farmed its work out to cut-rate Russian computer programmers, sparking a four-year federal probe\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.publicintegrity.org\/2015\/11\/04\/18828\/security-breach-russian-programmers-wrote-code-us-military-communications-systems?utm_source=email&#038;utm_campaign=watchdog&#038;utm_medium=publici-email&#038;goal=0_ffd1d0160d-a4133664de-100253645&#038;mc_cid=a4133664de&#038;mc_eid=033b0e09bd\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.publicintegrity.org\/2015\/11\/04\/18828\/security-breach-russian-programmers-wrote-code-us-military-communications-systems?utm_source=email&#038;utm_campaign=watchdog&#038;utm_medium=publici-email&#038;goal=0_ffd1d0160d-a4133664de-100253645&#038;mc_cid=a4133664de&#038;mc_eid=033b0e09bd<\/a><\/p>\n<h1 class=\"asset-headline\">IEDs injure U.S. troops deployed on new ISIS front in Egypt<\/h1>\n<p>For months, the nearly 700 American soldiers deployed on the ground in Egypt&#8217;s Sinai Peninsula have weathered a crisis all but indistinguishable from their fellow troops in Iraq.<\/p>\n<p>Living amid blast walls topped with razor wire, riding only in up-armored vehicles, the troops face a\u00a0constant threat of attacks from extremist groups loyal to the so-called Islamic State.<\/p>\n<p>On Thursday, four of those troops were injured when their convoy rolled out of the &#8220;North Camp&#8221; just a few miles east of the Egypt-Israeli border and hit two improvised explosive devices.<\/p>\n<p>None of the injuries were life-threatening, but it was the latest indication that the fight against the Islamic State, also known as ISIS and ISIL, is rapidly developing a new front in Egypt, the Arab world&#8217;s most populous and historically influential nation.\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/story\/military\/2015\/09\/04\/isis--egypt\/71711638\/\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.militarytimes.com\/story\/military\/2015\/09\/04\/isis&#8211;egypt\/71711638\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"irc_mi\" src=\"http:\/\/oxygeninusesmokingok.files.wordpress.com\/2010\/10\/american-homeless.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"478\" height=\"323\" \/><\/strong><\/p>\n<h1 id=\"headline\" class=\"eza-title\">Nearly 900,000 veterans are still waiting to get onto the VA backlog (Nice for Veterans&#8217; Day)<\/h1>\n<h2 id=\"summary\" class=\"eza-summary\">The VA inspector general\u2019s office has confirmed mismanagement of almost a million veterans\u2019 health records. Over 300,000 vets may have died awaiting care.\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.csmonitor.com\/USA\/USA-Update\/2015\/0903\/Nearly-900-000-veterans-are-still-waiting-to-get-onto-the-VA-backlog\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.csmonitor.com\/USA\/USA-Update\/2015\/0903\/Nearly-900-000-veterans-are-still-waiting-to-get-onto-the-VA-backlog<\/a><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>The International Economic War of the Rich on the Poor<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/static4.businessinsider.com\/image\/563caf319dd7ccfc418bcbfb-1200-900\/october-2015-labor-force-participation-rate.png\" alt=\"october 2015 labor force participation rate\" data-mce-source=\"Business Insider\/Andy Kiersz, data from Bureau of Labor Statistics\" data-link=\"http:\/\/www.bls.gov\/news.release\/empsit.nr0.htm\" \/><\/p>\n<h1>Labor-force participation stays at a 38-year low<\/h1>\n<p>October&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/october-jobs-report-november-6-2015-11\">jobs report<\/a> was full of good news, with nonfarm payrolls dramatically beating expectations and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/average-hourly-wages-october-2015-2015-11\">average hourly earnings<\/a> growing at a faster rate than at any time since the Great Recession.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, the labor-force participation rate remains at its 38-year low, with just 62.4% of American civilians over the age of 16 either working or looking for work:\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/labor-force-participation-rate-october-2015-2015-11\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.businessinsider.com\/labor-force-participation-rate-october-2015-2015-11<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Reminder:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=bYm_oEO5iyE\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.youtube.com\/watch?v=bYm_oEO5iyE<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>The Emergence of Fascism as a Popular Mass Movement<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<h1 class=\"title\">Report reveals grisly details of deadly U.S. airstrike on hospital<\/h1>\n<h1 class=\"title\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.stripes.com\/polopoly_fs\/1.123916.1288691567%21\/image\/1544379077.jpg_gen\/derivatives\/landscape_804\/1544379077.jpg\" alt=\"http:\/\/www.stripes.com\/polopoly_fs\/1.123916.1288691567!\/image\/1544379077.jpg_gen\/derivatives\/landscape_804\/1544379077.jpg\" \/><\/h1>\n<p>Doctors Without Borders released an internal report Thursday describing the deaths of patients and its workers in a hospital in northern Afghanistan that was bombed by U.S. forces last month.<\/p>\n<p>The international medical charity, known by its French acronym MSF, also said <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/taliban-say-they-are-withdrawing-from-kunduz-in-afghanitsan\/\" target=\"_blank\">wounded Taliban fighters<\/a> were being treated in the hospital, but there were no armed men or fighting in the area at the time.<\/p>\n<p>The charity confirmed that U.S. forces had the exact coordinates of the clinic before launching an aerial assault on Oct. 3 that <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/us-to-make-condolence-payments-for-doctors-without-borders-strike\/\" target=\"_blank\">killed 30 people, including doctors and patients<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The bombing lasted for more than an hour, during which time &#8220;patients burned in their beds, medical staff were decapitated and lost limbs, and others were shot by the circling AC130 gunship while fleeing the burning building,&#8221; the report says.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We lost our ability to treat patients at a time when we were needed the most,&#8221; MSF general director Christopher Stokes said in a <a href=\"http:\/\/kunduz.msf.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">statement posted to the charity&#8217;s website<\/a>. &#8220;We were forced to leave patients to die on the operating table and others burning in their ICU beds.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>According to the report, a hospital worker was decapitated by shrapnel while running for safety. Shrapnel also killed a patient in a wheelchair who was trying to escape from the hospital&#8217;s inpatient department.<\/p>\n<p>MSF doctors and other medical staff were shot while running to reach safety in a different part of the compound,&#8221; the report says.<\/p>\n<p>President Obama apologized for the attack. The U.S. military said the airstrike, requested by Afghan forces, was a mistake.<\/p>\n<p>But Stokes said &#8220;a mistake is quite hard to believe and understand.&#8221; The report, based on interviews with around 60 MSF staff, confirmed earlier accounts by the group.\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/afghanistan-airstrike-report-doctors-without-borders-victims-decapitated-on-fire\/\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.cbsnews.com\/news\/afghanistan-airstrike-report-doctors-without-borders-victims-decapitated-on-fire\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/l3.yimg.com\/bt\/api\/res\/1.2\/BWn0bmnNvesjm.3XWOD.zw--\/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3NfbGVnbztmaT1maWxsO2g9Mzc3O2lsPXBsYW5lO3B4b2ZmPTUwO3B5b2ZmPTA7cT03NTt3PTY3MA--\/http:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en_us\/News\/ap_webfeeds\/feff154355d28b2a820f6a7067003e70.jpg\" alt=\"http:\/\/l3.yimg.com\/bt\/api\/res\/1.2\/BWn0bmnNvesjm.3XWOD.zw--\/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3NfbGVnbztmaT1maWxsO2g9Mzc3O2lsPXBsYW5lO3B4b2ZmPTUwO3B5b2ZmPTA7cT03NTt3PTY3MA--\/http:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en_us\/News\/ap_webfeeds\/feff154355d28b2a820f6a7067003e70.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Solidarity for Never<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/rat_yellow.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-18510\" src=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/rat_yellow.jpg\" alt=\"OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA\" width=\"283\" height=\"331\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/rat_yellow.jpg 283w, https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/rat_yellow-256x300.jpg 256w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 283px) 100vw, 283px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h1>Lawmakers Call For Army To Investigate Misconduct Discharges Of Service Members<\/h1>\n<p>A group of 12 U.S. senators, led by Christopher Murphy, D-Conn., is calling for the Army inspector general to investigate the discharges of tens of thousands of service members diagnosed with mental health disorders, such as post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injuries.<\/p>\n<p>The formal <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/2504656-misconductdischargesletter.html\">letter<\/a> sent to top Army officials Eric Fanning and Gen. Mark A. Milley was motivated by last week&#8217;s &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/2015\/10\/28\/451146230\/missed-treatment-soldiers-with-mental-health-issues-dismissed-for-misconduct\">Missed Treatment<\/a>&#8221; investigation by NPR&#8217;s Daniel Zwerdling and Colorado Public Radio&#8217;s Michael de Yoanna, which revealed that since January 2009, the Army has separated 22,000 soldiers for misconduct after they returned from Iraq and Afghanistan and were diagnosed with mental health problems such as PTSD or TBI. As a result, many of those soldiers won&#8217;t receive benefits or have access to the treatment they need. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/thetwo-way\/2015\/11\/04\/454675053\/lawmakers-call-for-army-to-investigate-misconduct-discharges-of-service-members\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.npr.org\/sections\/thetwo-way\/2015\/11\/04\/454675053\/lawmakers-call-for-army-to-investigate-misconduct-discharges-of-service-members<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>GM Skilled Workers Reject UAW Sellout\u00a0 <\/strong> GM\u2019s contract has not been ratified. The UAW said in a statement Friday that it will hold meetings with skilled trades members at each plant to determine \u201cwhat reason(s) they had for rejection of the tentative agreement. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.detroitnews.com\/story\/business\/autos\/2015\/11\/07\/uaw-ford-reach-deal-gm-hits-snag\/75336830\/\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.detroitnews.com\/story\/business\/autos\/2015\/11\/07\/uaw-ford-reach-deal-gm-hits-snag\/75336830\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Eskelsen-Ravitch-Weingarten.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-18511\" src=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Eskelsen-Ravitch-Weingarten.jpg\" alt=\"Eskelsen Ravitch Weingarten\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Eskelsen-Ravitch-Weingarten.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Eskelsen-Ravitch-Weingarten-300x169.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a>Education rat finks Garcia, Ravitch, Weingarten&#8211;all for the empire at all costs<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sellout NEA Boss Easily Subsumes Anti-test (pro-empire) &#8220;movement&#8221; and calls for less testing <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The question Lily Garcia gets a lot is \u201cwhat single thing\u201d will improve our schools.\u00a0 She says there is no single thing but in 2002 Congress decided there was.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c No Child Left Untested.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Garcia refers to the George W Bush \u201cNo Child Left Behind\u201d legislation as \u201ctest and punish\u201d education system.\u00a0 She says the best turnaround schools instead allow teachers to use their creativity to foster a passion for learning in kids.<\/p>\n<p>Everywhere we\u2019ve seen it work it\u2019s because we\u2019ve humanized education not mechanized it, not standardized it.\u201d\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/ohio\/2015\/11\/06\/national-education-association-prez-calls-for-equity-among-schools\/\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">stateimpact.npr.org\/ohio\/2015\/11\/06\/national-education-association-prez-calls-for-equity-among-schools\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Chicago Teacher Union Bosses Afraid to Hold a Real Strike Vote&#8211;hold &#8220;Practice&#8221; one: <\/strong>Chicago public school teachers, negotiating a new contract amid severe statewide budget troubles, plan to take a practice strike vote on Thursday to prepare for a possible walk-out in response to budget cuts, a union official said.<\/p>\n<p>The purpose of the vote in the nation&#8217;s third-largest city is to test both the process of collecting the vote and teacher sentiment as negotiations with school officials continue, said Jesse Sharkey, vice president of the Chicago Teachers Union.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We&#8217;ve told people to be prepared for a long strike if that&#8217;s what it comes to,&#8221; Sharkey said. &#8220;We&#8217;d prefer there be no strike at all.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The district, which serves about 400,000 students at more than 600 schools, faces a $1.1 billion structural deficit.<\/p>\n<p>Its former chief executive, Barbara Byrd-Bennett, pleaded guilty last month to a fraud charge related to the awarding of a no-bid contract to her former employer, infuriating parents and teachers who had already seen budget cutbacks.<\/p>\n<p>The Chicago Public Schools&#8217; recently approved $5.7 billion budget counts on $480 million in aid from the state of Illinois it has not received. If the money does not come, thousands of teachers could be laid off after Christmas.<\/p>\n<p>Due to an impasse between the state&#8217;s Democratic-majority legislature and new Republican Governor Bruce Rauner, the state has no budget.\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/2015\/11\/05\/us-education-chicago-strike-idUSKCN0SU2IV20151105\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.reuters.com\/article\/2015\/11\/05\/us-education-chicago-strike-idUSKCN0SU2IV20151105<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>90% White Jefferson County Col votes out Testisto &#8220;conservatives&#8221; so DSA&#8217;s Rethinking Schools goes wild <\/strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedenverchannel.com\/news\/politics\/recall-vote-results-for-jefferson-county-school-board-members-julie-williams-john-newkirk-ken-witt\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.thedenverchannel.com\/news\/politics\/recall-vote-results-for-jefferson-county-school-board-members-julie-williams-john-newkirk-ken-witt<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Cuba-santiago.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-18515\" src=\"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Cuba-santiago.png\" alt=\"Cuba santiago\" width=\"920\" height=\"614\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Cuba-santiago.png 920w, https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Cuba-santiago-300x200.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 920px) 100vw, 920px\" \/><\/a><strong>Problems with the results of Cuban Social Nationalism\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>Many younger Cubans feel the weight of the revolution as a challenge to their future rather than as its foundation. The evidence is clear on the streets of Santiago, where young people take their fashion cues, their backward hats and baggy clothes, from the country that was long portrayed as Cuba\u2019s nemesis, the United States.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat can I say, I don\u2019t really believe in politics, and the revolution is purely political,\u201d Rub\u00e9n Suarez Romero, 24, said. \u201cMy main concern is my family, not party politics.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Many Cubans his age have little patience for revolutionary rhetoric, and they are frustrated by the dearth of economic opportunity in the country, despite the diplomatic thaw with Washington. They want to see change in their lives, and revolutionary talk sounds to many like a distraction from their struggles.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe youth want everything now,\u201d Mr. Mato said with a sigh, running his hands along the legs of his pants. \u201cThey think that everything will fall from the sky.\u201d\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2015\/11\/08\/world\/americas\/cuban-revolutionaries-hope-their-legacy-wont-fade-away.html?hp&#038;action=click&#038;pgtype=Homepage&#038;module=second-column-region%C2%AEion=top-news&#038;WT.nav=top-news&#038;_r=1\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.nytimes.com\/2015\/11\/08\/world\/americas\/cuban-revolutionaries-hope-their-legacy-wont-fade-away.html?hp&#038;action=click&#038;pgtype=Homepage&#038;module=second-column-region%C2%AEion=top-news&#038;WT.nav=top-news&#038;_r=1<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Spy versus Spy<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"PSYWAR - The Real Battlefield is the Mind Part 1\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/p4y8fTl00tI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>The Magical Mystery Tour<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Zg5zSVxx9JM\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Zg5zSVxx9JM<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"headline\">\n<h2>MA&#8211;Boston&#8211;SNAP to Cardinal O\u2019Malley<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"content\">\n<p><strong>The Church needs to do more to protect children, help survivors, as well as live up to its promise of being open and transparent.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>WHAT<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Holding signs and childhood photos at a sidewalk news conference, Boston clergy sex abuse victims will be speaking out after the premiere of the movie \u201cSpotlight\u201d \u00a0here in Boston this weekend, and giving their personal feelings viewing it, along with what action the church needs to take to protect children and help wounded survivors.<\/p>\n<p>They will also urge Cardinal O\u2019Malley, as the head of the Pontifical Commission, to urge Pope Francis to take concrete action punishing, firing, and defrocking known Cardinals, Bishops, and Supervisors, who are responsible for the cover-ups and destruction of children\u2019s lives by protecting criminal clerics in their care, as well as other actions, that will protect children.<\/p>\n<p>These are actions that will protect children, and send the message that the church is serious about children\u2019s safety.<\/p>\n<p><strong>WHEN<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Sunday, Nov. 8, 2015 at 11:45 am<\/p>\n<p><strong>WHERE<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Outside the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, Boston<\/p>\n<p>1400 Washington St, Boston, MA 02118\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.snapnetwork.org\/ma_boston--snap_to_cardinal_o_malley\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.snapnetwork.org\/ma_boston&#8211;snap_to_cardinal_o_malley<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>The Best and Worst Things in the History of the World<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"spotlight\" src=\"https:\/\/scontent.fsan1-1.fna.fbcdn.net\/hphotos-xfp1\/v\/t1.0-9\/12208278_1884280721594978_6418202472576587414_n.jpg?oh=43cf1cf96e1ddf05a96f64b44132ace2&amp;oe=56CC1AF9\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<h1>What America\u2019s immigrants looked like when they arrived on Ellis Island<\/h1>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/wonk\/wp\/2015\/10\/24\/what-americas-immigrants-looked-like-when-they-arrived-on-ellis-island\/\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/wonk\/wp\/2015\/10\/24\/what-americas-immigrants-looked-like-when-they-arrived-on-ellis-island\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"zoom-in\" src=\"https:\/\/img.washingtonpost.com\/blogs\/wonkblog\/files\/2015\/10\/Dutch-children.jpg\" alt=\"Dutch children. Portraits from Ellis Island, Augustus Sherman.\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"zoom-in\" src=\"https:\/\/img.washingtonpost.com\/blogs\/wonkblog\/files\/2015\/10\/Greek-soldier.jpg\" alt=\"A Greek soldier. Portraits from Ellis Island, Augustus Sherman.\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>So Long<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<h1 class=\"title\">Real &#8216;Norma Rae&#8217; dies of cancer after insurer delayed treatment<\/h1>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/img6.bdbphotos.com\/images\/orig\/x\/a\/xax7iueoz7kxeuzx.jpg?djet1p5k\" alt=\"Crystal Lee Sutton\" width=\"240\" height=\"240\" border=\"0\" \/><\/p>\n<div id=\"node-3642\" class=\"node node-type-article clearfix\">\n<div class=\"content\">\n<article class=\"article-content\">The North Carolina union organizer who was the inspiration for the movie &#8220;Norma Rae&#8221; died on Friday of brain cancer after a battle with her insurance company, which delayed her treatment. She was 68.<a href=\"http:\/\/www.southernstudies.org\/person\/norma-rae\">Crystal Lee Sutton<\/a>, formerly Crystal Lee Jordan, was fired from her job folding towels at the J.P. Stevens textile plant in her hometown of Roanoke Rapids, N.C. for trying to organize a union in the early 1970s. Her last action at the plant &#8212; writing the word &#8220;UNION&#8221; on a piece of cardboard and standing on her work table, leading her co-workers to turn off their machines in solidarity &#8212; was memorialized in the 1979 film by actress Sally Field. The police physically removed Sutton from the plant for her action.But her efforts ultimately succeeded, as the Amalgamated Clothing Workers won the right to represent the plant&#8217;s employees on Aug. 28, 1974. Sutton later became a paid organizer for the union, which through a series of mergers became part of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.unitehere.org\/\">UNITE HERE<\/a> before splitting off this year to form <a href=\"http:\/\/workersunitedunion.org\/\">Workers United<\/a>, which is affiliated with the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.seiu.org\/\">Service Employees International Union<\/a>.Several years ago, Sutton was diagnosed with meningioma, a type of cancer of the nervous system. While such cancers are typically slow-growing, Sutton&#8217;s was not &#8212; and she went two months without potentially life-saving medication because her insurance wouldn&#8217;t cover it initially. Sutton <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thetimesnews.com\/news\/rapids-15070-sutton-roanoke.html\">told the Burlington (N.C.) Times-News<\/a> last year that the insurer&#8217;s behavior was an example of abuse of the working poor:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;How in the world can it take so long to find out [whether they would cover the medicine or not] when it could be a matter of life or death,&#8221; she said. &#8220;It is almost like, in a way, committing murder.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Though Sutton eventually received the medication, the cancer had already taken hold. She passed away on Friday, Sept. 11 in a Burlington, N.C. hospice.\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.southernstudies.org\/2009\/09\/real-norma-rae-dies-of-cancer-after-insurer-delayed-treatment.html\" class=\"autohyperlink\" target=\"_blank\">www.southernstudies.org\/2009\/09\/real-norma-rae-dies-of-cancer-after-insurer-delayed-treatment.html<\/a><\/p>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>Dead Rat Chalabi\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"courtesy-of-the-resizer zoom-in\" src=\"https:\/\/img.washingtonpost.com\/rf\/image_1484w\/2010-2019\/WashingtonPost\/2015\/11\/03\/Foreign\/Images\/AP_6840485311681446562022.jpg?uuid=xnHIjoI5EeWL0mgP_4aDBg\" alt=\"\" data-hi-res-src=\"https:\/\/img.washingtonpost.com\/rf\/image_1484w\/2010-2019\/WashingtonPost\/2015\/11\/03\/Foreign\/Images\/AP_6840485311681446562022.jpg?uuid=xnHIjoI5EeWL0mgP_4aDBg\" data-low-res-src=\"https:\/\/img.washingtonpost.com\/rf\/image_400w\/2010-2019\/WashingtonPost\/2015\/11\/03\/Foreign\/Images\/AP_6840485311681446562022.jpg?uuid=xnHIjoI5EeWL0mgP_4aDBg\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We Say Fight Back! Students clash with police as tuition fee protest turns violent Some protesters burst through the police lines and were chased down Victoria Street by officers, while chanting: \u2018What do we want? Free education. When do we want it? Now.\u2019 Several young men appeared to be arrested and were taken by officers [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18471","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18471","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18471"}],"version-history":[{"count":40,"href":"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18471\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18518,"href":"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18471\/revisions\/18518"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}