NEW YORK TIMES: …Far from becoming irrelevant in the digital age, libraries in New York City and around the nation are thriving: adding weekend and evening hours; hiring more librarians and staff; and expanding their catalog of classes and services to include things like job counseling, coding classes and knitting groups… Nationally, public libraries […]
Leo Gerard’s obsession
By Dick Miller WE.CONNECT.DOTS: No one is more focused on fair trade than Leo W. Gerard, president of United Steelworkers of America. If the United States ever gets weaned off trade agreements where we lose more jobs than we gain, Gerard should get credit. That is unlikely to happen in the near future. […]
Tragedy in a Russian summer camp
By Slava Tsukerman Last week a tragic event at a summer camp for children from Moscow, located in Russia’s northwestern Karelia region, was the center of attention of Russian media. On the evening of June 18, in spite of the predictions of upcoming storm, 47 teenagers under supervision of four camp instructors boarded two boats […]
It’s Official — California Will Vote on Legalizing Marijuana in November by Phil Smith, psmith DRUG WAR CHRONICLE: A broadly-backed initiative to legalize marijuana in the country’s most populous state will be on the California ballot in November. The secretary of state’s office made it official Tuesday afternoon, certifying that a random sample of more than 600,000 […]
LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Re “Lancaster City to create land bank…”
So Lanc City officials shakes down a developer for $1M under the guise of traffic and stormwater issues, but then use that $1M to fund efforts to buy targeted commercial and commercial corridors properties (with priority over other bidders) instead of blighted properties as the land bank program was designed. Amazing! Happy Independence Day! Lancaster […]
By not raising minimum wage, Pa. lawmakers tell workers: tough luck
LEHGH VALLEY MORNING CALL COLUMN: …I am not going to go into the facts about the merits of the increase and the opponents’ claims that it will cost jobs, the world will come to an end, blah, blah, blah. The facts are all there and they overwhelmingly support the increase. But this isn’t about the […]
KEISLING: Will PA politicians heed angry British vote?
Overheated rhetoric and false promises on issues like property taxes and the PA budget lay the groundwork for voter revolt here. The Pennsylvania horse racing industry gets about a third of the proceeds from casino revenue promised to homeowners. So are your property taxes too high? Blame your state representative and senator — they’re giving […]
Lawmakers ignore us
By Dick Miller WE.CONNECT.DOTS: – Do the lawmakers we pay to represent us in Washington thumb their noses at us? Here is proof of one example which fits for every Congressional District represented by a Republican. If you are mad that assault weapons are within reach of the nuts and terrorists who slaughter our […]
LNP editors say sitting babies facing back seat is a good idea. We aren’t sure.
According to an LNP editorial : “Pennsylvania Legislature taking proper steps to ensure childrens’ safety”: “In late May, Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf signed Senate Bill 1152, which requires drivers to place children under 2 years old in a rear-facing car seat. The law will take effect Aug. 12. The current law requires children under […]
Gay Parade in Kiev
By Slava Tsukerman On June 12, the Gay Parade took place in the Ukrainian capital. The march was advertised as an action to protect not only members of LGBT community, but also all the discriminated against categories of citizens. Its main slogan was “Human Rights are the country’s security.” It had official name “Equality March.” […]
Newsletter: Brexit Backlash Against EU, A Revolt Against Elites
Brexit Backlash Against EU, A Revolt Against Elites Above: Protest supporting the Brexit by Associate Press. By Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese POPULAR RESISTANCE: The globalized economy is not working for most people of the world. International trade agreements and new government structures like the European Union serve corporate power and put the people and planet […]
Brexit: Zeitgeist should not rule, and U. S. Constitution assures that it doesn’t
Here is an excerpt from today’s New York Times: “The decisive win by the ‘Leave’ campaign exposed deep divides: young versus old, urban versus rural, Scotland versus England. The recriminations flew fast, not least at Mr. Cameron, who had made the decision to call the referendum on membership in the bloc to manage a […]
Supreme Court Opens Door for More Lawless Police Searches
by psmith This article was produced in collaboration with AlterNet and first appeared here. In a pair of decisions released Monday, the US Supreme Court again demonstrated its deference to law enforcement priorities, in one case by expanding an exception to the long-standing ruling requiring that unlawfully gathered evidence be discarded and in another by holding that […]
PA House signals it’s not serious about school or property tax reform
Pennsylvania has a political leadership problem, not just a school or tax problem A Russian space satellite brought the greatest reform to Pennsylvania schools in the 20th century by Bill Keisling Though many Pennsylvanians are unhappy with the rising cost of their property taxes and the declining quality of our public schools, they can probably […]