Archive for the ‘ Social Justice ’ Category

Forty months for revealing banking fraud

Next week Bradley Birkenfeld, a former UBS banker, begins a forty month sentence, a punitive vengeance by the rich men and women whose illegal Swiss bank accounts he revealed to the US government. Fourteen thousand multimillionaires and, we know, billionaires had illegal accounts for years. They hold positions of authority in the United States. And the [ READ MORE ]

GIS Advocacy

A short example of a couple of fellows using GIS as an advocacy tool. [ READ MORE ]

City Council Rejects Kingsbridge Armory Plan

Straight from WNYC: City Council Rejects Kingsbridge Armory Plan by Matthew Schuerman NEW YORK, NY December 14, 2009 —The City Council has rejected the Bloomberg administration’s proposal to convert a former national guard armory in the Bronx into a shopping mall. It was the first time, city council members said, that an economic development initiative spearheaded by Mayor Bloomberg [ READ MORE ]

America’s hungry

The Agricultural Department has released a report that roughly 15% of American households have trouble putting food on the table at some time during the year. Fifteen percent! In one of the richest nations history has ever seen. And that just counts the poverty generated here! [ READ MORE ]

Pfizer to leave New London

And now after winning its eminent domain case, destroying a neighborhood, and exacting tax concessions, Pfizer has decided to abandon its New London campus and move 1400 jobs across the river to Groton. “I’m sure that there are people that are waiting out there to say, ‘I told you so,’ ” Mr. Pero said. “I don’t know [ READ MORE ]

UN Special Rapporteur criticizes US on homelessness

The link. And a contextual comment from another contributor: Just wanted to pass this along to situate the article in the movement that brought the UN Rapporteur and the way the tour was used as a movement building tool. Here’s a link to the movement’s mission blog http://restorehousingrights.org, The civil society portion of the tour was [ READ MORE ]

Piven on Beck

So Glenn Beck’s conspiracy theories now position Frances Fox Piven as the conduit from Woodrow Wilson and the Progressives to Obama and the liberal left…uh…sorry, the “radical left fringe”. [ READ MORE ]

Saint versus communist

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Florida’s honeymoon is over

The Star has an article reporting on the increasing challenges to Richard Florida’s ideas in Toronto. I’m on vacation, but a couple of good quotes: “Richard Florida’s exotic city, his creative city, depends on ghost people, working behind the scenes. Immigrants, people of colour. You want to know what his version of creative is? He’s the [ READ MORE ]

The high cost of poverty

The Washington Post has an interesting article on the price poor people pay in time and dollars because of the disadvantages of their situation. [ READ MORE ]

Injustice in LA hit and runs

This won’t surprise anyone, but it’s a story worth spreading anyway. On March 29th, two individuals were killed in independent hit-and-run incidents within hours of each other. One was a hot, 18-year-old coed at UCLA. The other was a hard working, 55-year-old Guatemalan construction worker. Guess which one wound up with twelve detectives, a $235K [ READ MORE ]

Japanese Worker’s Paradise

The NYTimes has this article about the island of Hime. [ READ MORE ]

Left Forum forward

I spent the weekend at the Left Forum. It was my first time, and it turned out to be a most curious developmental experience. After an exhausting Saturday, I felt lost and out of place. I’d been to panels on dialectical thinking (with Bertell Ollman, who was delightful), prison reform (with Robert Hillary King, one [ READ MORE ]

Webb on criminal justice reform

Sen. Jim Webb takes on the real third rail in American politics, the entire criminal justice system. (from Metafilter) Even though I am not a constituent, I sent a letter of solidarity through his website. You should, too. [ READ MORE ]

HOMELESS PEOPLE TAKE OVER VACANT BUILDING IN EAST HARLEM/EL BARRIO

Claim property for low-income neighbors, demand action from city government From Picture the Homeless: El Barrio/East Harlem, NYC. —Homeless people have taken over an empty building in East Harlem, as part of a coordinated push-back against city policies that let buildings stay empty. The building, which is owned by the city, has been completely vacant for decades. Deborah [ READ MORE ]