- Alan Jenkins' new piece is up on TomPaine.com. Writing about this past Saturday's Heartland Presidential Forum, Jenkins asserts:
"The forum was revolutionary in at least two ways. First, it was
organized not isolated issues, but around shared values and a
progressive vision. And second, it featured real people—grassroots
leaders from around the country—sharing their stories and asking the
candidates pointed questions.The grassroots leaders who took the stage voiced again and again the
ideas that embody Community Values—that "we are all in this together,"
that "we are all connected" and "share responsibility for each other,"
that we "love our neighbors as we love ourselves," and that it's time
to reject the "politics of isolation" and embrace the "politics of
connection."But it was their diverse and compelling personal stories that brought that message home in vivid color."
- Various blogs posted yesterday about the impending demolition of public housing in New Orleans, a travesty given the lack of affordable housing in the Gulf zone. The DMI Blog quoted a New York Times article on the slow pace of housing recovery in the region. The Facing South blog published 'HUD Sends New Orleans Bulldozers and $400,000 Apartments for the Holidays,' concluding that such government policies ignore the common good and abandon the vulnerable in our communities:
"Poor and working people in New Orleans and across the globe are living
on property that has become valuable for corporations. Accommodating
governments are pushing the poor away and turning public property to
private. HUD is giving private developers hundreds of millions of
public dollars, scores of acres of valuable land, and thousands of
public apartments. Happy holidays for them for sure.For the
poor, the holidays are scheduled to bring bulldozers. The demolition is
poised to start in New Orleans any day now. Attempts at demolition will
be met with just resistance. Whether that resistance is successful or
not will determine not only the future of the working poor in New
Orleans, but of working poor communities nationally and globally. If
the US government is allowed to demolish thousands of much-needed
affordable apartments of Katrina victims, what chance do others have?"
- Rather than stand trial, Mychal Bell of the Jena Six has elected plead guilty to a juvenile charge of second-degree battery. Skeptical Brotha
has explained that Bell will serve eight more months in prison, as the
eighteen month sentence will honor the ten months he has already spent
in jail.
- The last couple days have seen a few stories on human trafficking in the US. Angry Asian Man has reported on a trafficking ring just busted in Vermont, and the New York Times has written about a newly-surfaced case of modern-day slavery on Long Island.
- Finally, a number of immigration blogs have commented on the upcoming reality TV-show called "Who Wants to Marry a US Citizen." With a new take on reality television, programming which blends contemporary political issues with the classic dating series, the show "aims to show love knows no borders. Besides, that is what America is about: a multi-cultural nation." The Unapologetic Mexican has cited our 'national obsession with immigration' as pointing to the need for comprehensive reform of immigration policies.
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