In the midst of so much bad news in the media, it is always good to be alert to rays of sunlight that civic action can build upon. First, let’s start with the sun, which is receiving increased respect these days by Earthlings. Various forms of solar energy – thermal, photovoltaic, wind, and passive (architecture) […]
“The Republican Party is the most dangerous organization in human history,” says Noam Chomsky. It seems like a ridiculous statement. “Has there ever been an organization in human history that is dedicated, with such commitment, to the destruction of organized human life on Earth? Not that I’m aware of.” He has a point. Even the […]
[The] barbarous gold barons do not find the gold, they do not mine the gold, they do not mill the gold, but by some weird alchemy all the gold belongs to them. — Big Bill Haywood, addressing commencement of miners’ strike, Colorado, 1903. Work taught him of injustice early and converted him to socialism. His […]
Ironic how so many who say they worship Jesus as their Lord and Savior forget all that he taught: If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. But those who want to get rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin […]
This week’s News on China. • BRI investments increase, prioritizing smaller projects • Historic drop in FDI in China • Gig workers face lower wages • Movies from China aimed at Chinese audiences
With over 20 million inhabitants each, Shanghai and Beijing are among the “hypercities” of the Global South, including Delhi, São Paulo, Dhaka, Cairo, and Mexico City, far surpassing the “megacities” of the Global North like London, Paris, or New York. Walking the streets in China’s cities, you will however, quickly notice one marked difference – […]
Since the end of the Covid-19 pandemic, headlines have focused on union organizing victories at Starbucks and Amazon. But a recent New York Times story declaring “New York Delivery Workers Are Getting a Bump in Pay” reminds us that workers outside the union movement are part of the labor movement too. However important, unions are […]
Despite endless disinformation from charter school promoters that charter schools are public schools, they differ profoundly—legally, organizationally, fiscally, and philosophically—from public schools. They are not the same. The dissimilarities are numerous by design. Calling them “public” 50 times a day does not spontaneously make charter schools public. Nor does receiving public funds automatically make charter […]
This week’s News on China in 2 minutes. • China suspends sales of U.S. company Micron • China’s food security faces the challenge of an aging rural workforce • Two Ming Dynasty ships found in South China Sea • Tibetan village turned into a large Buddhist art factory
Photo: Ludd, drawn here in 1812, was the fictitious leader of numerous real protests. Granger Collection, New York. The question is, To be or not to be or not to be … (from Hamlet, spoken by Hamlet) To be, or not to be, that is the question: Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer The […]
