Professor Noam Chomsky explains why Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated.
From the Atlanta Blackstar.
Curated Links
Solidarity Forever Centennial
On a windblown, gray Chicago day 100 years ago, January 17, 1915, Ralph Chaplin left his home on the South Side for a raucous, poor person’s rally at the city’s famous women’s center, Hull House. He asked a visiting friend he’d met organizing coal miners with Mother Jones to listen to the lyrics of a new tune he had been working on. Here’s the story behind one of the most beloved Labor Hymns.
Read the article: ‘Solidarity Forever’ Written 100 Years Ago, Today | Labor Notes.
Record 346 Inmates Died in Florida Prisons in 2014
From Shaun King at Daily KOS:
“In 2014, Florida recorded at least 346 deaths inside of their prison system, an all-time high for the state in spite of the fact that its overall prison population has hovered around 100,000 people for the five previous years. Hundreds of these deaths from 2014 and from previous years are now under investigation by the DOJ because of the almost unimaginable role law enforcement officers are playing in them.”
Be prepared for anger and sorrow if you read this.
Here’s the article: Record 346 inmates die, dozens of guards fired in Florida prisons.
Conflating Bigotry and Blasphemy
In an email interview to Vidya Venkat of The Hindu, Professor Mahmood Mamdani, Herbert Lehman Professor of Government and Professor of Anthropology at Columbia University, author of Good Muslim, Bad Muslim: America, the Cold War, and the Roots of Terror, explained the difference between critiquing a religion and ridiculing it, and why it is one thing to oppose censorship and quite another thing to reprint Charlie Hebdo cartoons in solidarity.
“The problem with the ongoing discussion of Charlie Hebdo is that it tends to confuse bigotry with blasphemy. I am personally more favorable to blasphemy, but have no time for bigots or bigotry.”
Read the interview: ‘Charlie Hebdo cartoons are bigoted’ – The Hindu.
AnalyzeGreece!
The current class struggles in Greece may presage what is to come elsewhere. With elections happening on January 25th, and so much at stake, I’ve been looking for good sources of information.
Cutting through the clichés and the caricatures, AnalyzeGreece! reports to English-language readers from the frontline of the crisis.
Learn more: About Us | AnalyzeGreece! News and Left Politics.
Unpacking the War on Terror
Rory Fanning, author of Worth Fighting For: An Army Ranger’s Journey Out of the Military and Across America, writes a letter to a young Army Ranger.
Read it: Tomgram: Rory Fanning, Unpacking the War on Terror | TomDispatch.
The Year in Killer Drones
Charles Pierson reports.
“2014 was a good year for US killer drones. In October, the US celebrated (if that is the word) its 400th drone strike on Pakistan. Unable to attend the festivities were the 2,379 Pakistanis killed by US drones since 2004. Of these, only 12% of the victims who have been identified have been linked to militant organizations, this according to a report from the British-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism.”
Read the full article: The Year in Drones » CounterPunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names.
FBI Expands Domestic Spy Role
In response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit by The New York Times, the Justice Department has partially declassified a report about the F.B.I.’s involvement in administering the warrantless surveillance program authorized by the FISA Amendments Act. When the report was completed in September 2012, it was entirely classified and the department announced only that it existed.
Read the report here: Justice Department Declassifies 2012 Inspector General Report on FBI Activities Under the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 – NYTimes.com.
You can also read the Times’ story concerning the report here: F.B.I. is Broadening Surveillance Role, Report Shows – NYTimes.com.
A Muslim Reflects on Charlie
Food Blogger Sadia Jabeen writes about what it is like to be Muslim in the wake of the Paris attack.
“When I first heard the news about the events in Paris this week I felt a real sadness at the loss of life. Nobody should expect to be gunned down in their place of work. Again I felt that sense of dread and worry. Who was going to be made to pay for the crimes of the people they had never met or had anything to do with? Were we going to see a further rise of racism and Islamophobia? Where will it end? Unfortunately I wasn’t wrong…”
Read the full essay: I have been very quiet online since the attack on the Charlie Hebdo offices and here’s why | Make Tea & Cake, Not War.