Wisconsin Jobs Now (flickr)A Silicon Valley multimillionaire and conservative pundit wants to give his state’s poorest workers a raise. Huh?Entrepreneur , known for his reactionary views on immigration (along with controversial , ), is campaigning for a state ballot measure to —well above the $10 minimum currently set to take effect in 2016 (and a giant step above the federal wage floor of $7.25).Some progressives might be puzzled that Unz, who in the late 1990s famously pushed a ballot measure to scrap bilingual education programs in California, has taken on this...…Wisconsin Jobs Now (flickr)A Silicon Valley multimillionaire and conservative pundit wants to give his state’s poorest workers a raise. Huh?Entrepreneur , known for his reactionary views on immigration (along with controversial , ), is campaigning for a state ballot measure to —well above the $10 minimum currently set to take effect in 2016 (and a giant step above the federal wage floor of $7.25).Some progressives might be puzzled that Unz, who in the late 1990s famously pushed a ballot measure to scrap bilingual education programs in California, has taken on this...WW…

Subscribe now for as little as $2 a month!Fridays. The best of the week. EmailYou can read our here.Thank you for signing up for The Nation’s weekly newsletter.EmailYou can read our here.Thank you for signing up. For more from The Nation, check out our .Subscribe now for as little as $2 a month!The Nation is reader supported: Chip in $10 or more to help us continue to write about the issues that matter.Imagine an economy without bosses. It’s not a utopian vision but a growing daily reality for many enterprises. A close analysis of the performance of worker-owned cooperative...…Subscribe now for as little as $2 a month!Fridays. The best of the week. EmailYou can read our here.Thank you for signing up for The Nation’s weekly newsletter.EmailYou can read our here.Thank you for signing up. For more from The Nation, check out our .Subscribe now for as little as $2 a month!The Nation is reader supported: Chip in $10 or more to help us continue to write about the issues that matter.Imagine an economy without bosses. It’s not a utopian vision but a growing daily reality for many enterprises. A close analysis of the performance of worker-owned cooperative...WW…

(Union of Concerned Scientists)Originally posted onTo environmentalists, King Coal is headed for ruin, and the country’s old, dirty coal-powered plants symbolize the industry’s last dying gasps. But in an uncertain economy, coal is the only thing many working-class communities can cling to for stability.That’s why when environmentalist tout the vision of a renewable energy future–lush with solar panels and wind turbines–regions that have long depended on the coal economy see only a dark cloud on the horizon. A  (UCS), which makes a convincing economic and ecological case for...…(Union of Concerned Scientists)Originally posted onTo environmentalists, King Coal is headed for ruin, and the country’s old, dirty coal-powered plants symbolize the industry’s last dying gasps. But in an uncertain economy, coal is the only thing many working-class communities can cling to for stability.That’s why when environmentalist tout the vision of a renewable energy future–lush with solar panels and wind turbines–regions that have long depended on the coal economy see only a dark cloud on the horizon. A  (UCS), which makes a convincing economic and ecological case for...WW…

(Public Services International via Facebook)This year’s , a transnational gathering of social activists, took place in Tunis, a city  as it struggles to shake off a legacy of authoritarian rule while navigating tensions over women’s rights, labor and nationalism. At the gates of the gathering last week, these faultlines became starkly apparent when a caravan of trade unionists and rights advocates found themselves unexpectedly blockaded. Border police, under official orders,  to a delegation of 96 Algerian activists that included members of the , known for...…(Public Services International via Facebook)This year’s , a transnational gathering of social activists, took place in Tunis, a city  as it struggles to shake off a legacy of authoritarian rule while navigating tensions over women’s rights, labor and nationalism. At the gates of the gathering last week, these faultlines became starkly apparent when a caravan of trade unionists and rights advocates found themselves unexpectedly blockaded. Border police, under official orders,  to a delegation of 96 Algerian activists that included members of the , known for...WW…

SharePrisons & PolicingPolitics & ElectionsRacial JusticePolitics & ElectionsEnvironment & HealthPolitics & ElectionsPart of the SeriesPart of the SeriesLorry Sullivan was a regular visitor at the Our Lady of Consolation Nursing and Rehabilitative Care Center in West Islip, Long Island, New York, where her 89-year-old mother had been placed to recover from a fall earlier this year. But in March, the facility suddenly barred all visitors. And around the last week of that month, Sullivan said, phone calls went unanswered for several days. When she finally did get through...…SharePrisons & PolicingPolitics & ElectionsRacial JusticePolitics & ElectionsEnvironment & HealthPolitics & ElectionsPart of the SeriesPart of the SeriesLorry Sullivan was a regular visitor at the Our Lady of Consolation Nursing and Rehabilitative Care Center in West Islip, Long Island, New York, where her 89-year-old mother had been placed to recover from a fall earlier this year. But in March, the facility suddenly barred all visitors. And around the last week of that month, Sullivan said, phone calls went unanswered for several days. When she finally did get through...WW…

Look, ma! Americans!Their slogan is “Never Stop Improving,” but lately, “Never Stop Denying” seems more fitting. Lowe’s has rebuffed a 200,000-signature petition to reinstate ads on the new reality television series All-American Muslim on The Learning Channel.The retail giant stepped into a big political hubbub once word got out that the company decided abruptly to pull its advertising from the show, which depicts daily life in the Muslim American community, shortly after receiving some nasty backlash from a hardline evangelical group, the Florida Family Association. Apparently showing...…Look, ma! Americans!Their slogan is “Never Stop Improving,” but lately, “Never Stop Denying” seems more fitting. Lowe’s has rebuffed a 200,000-signature petition to reinstate ads on the new reality television series All-American Muslim on The Learning Channel.The retail giant stepped into a big political hubbub once word got out that the company decided abruptly to pull its advertising from the show, which depicts daily life in the Muslim American community, shortly after receiving some nasty backlash from a hardline evangelical group, the Florida Family Association. Apparently showing...WW…

Pew Center on the StatesIt’s a common refrain in local papers: State faces pension funding crisis! Retiree benefits out of control! Public pensions bog down taxpayers!  seem to  like a , a dark reminder of Big Government’s tyrannical profligacy.Should we panic? Well, according to a , 61 cities face a collective fiscal retirement burden of more than $210 billion, in part because consistent underfunding of benefits leaves yawning gaps in long-term cost projections. The report surveyed all U.S. cities with populations over 500,000, along with the most populous...…Pew Center on the StatesIt’s a common refrain in local papers: State faces pension funding crisis! Retiree benefits out of control! Public pensions bog down taxpayers!  seem to  like a , a dark reminder of Big Government’s tyrannical profligacy.Should we panic? Well, according to a , 61 cities face a collective fiscal retirement burden of more than $210 billion, in part because consistent underfunding of benefits leaves yawning gaps in long-term cost projections. The report surveyed all U.S. cities with populations over 500,000, along with the most populous...WW…

Though some protesters at an ‘Unemployment Olympics’ event in Tompkins Square Park, N.Y. blamed joblessness on ‘the boss,’ a new report suggests that the economic climate is more at fault. (Clementine Gallot / Flickr / Creative Commons)Guided by the mythology of the “American dream”—the idea that, given the opportunity, the deserving will excel and rise above their peers—politicians often  If people can’t find a job, the logic goes, they clearly weren’t fit to be hired. As a consequence, many legislators tout specialized training programs or education reforms as possible solutions...…Though some protesters at an ‘Unemployment Olympics’ event in Tompkins Square Park, N.Y. blamed joblessness on ‘the boss,’ a new report suggests that the economic climate is more at fault. (Clementine Gallot / Flickr / Creative Commons)Guided by the mythology of the “American dream”—the idea that, given the opportunity, the deserving will excel and rise above their peers—politicians often  If people can’t find a job, the logic goes, they clearly weren’t fit to be hired. As a consequence, many legislators tout specialized training programs or education reforms as possible solutions...WW…