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Debt Slavery

Student Debt Slavery: Bankrolling Financiers On The Backs Of The Young

Archives for December 2017

When It Comes to Defending Rights, LeBron Takes Michael Jordan to School

For all his athletic accomplishments, Michael Jordan has never inspired the same kind of emotional response that LeBron James does today.

Jon Jeter
By Jon Jeter
LeBron James wears a T-shirt reading "I Can't Breathe," during warms up before an NBA basketball game against the Brooklyn Nets in New York. (AP/Frank Franklin II)

For Sunday’s game against the Washington Wizards in the nation’s capital, Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James took the floor wearing a pair of mismatched sneakers -- one white, the other black -- each bearing the word “Equality” inscribed in gold stitching. We all know where we are right now, and we know who is at the helm here,” James

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Puerto Rico: 1M Without Power 100 Days After Hurricane Maria

Forty four public schools remain closed due to hurricane damage. The Secretary of Education recently announced that 179 education centers will remain closed, a move some suspect is intended to save the island’s administration US$7.7 million. Prior to Hurricane Maria’s landfall, the island’s debt reached US$74 billion.

teleSUR
By teleSUR
People try to recover their belongings and start rebuilding their house that was destroyed by Hurricane Maria, in Morovis, Puerto Rico, Saturday, Oct. 14, 2017. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Puerto Rico is now in its 100th day since Category 4 Hurricane Maria struck the island, damaging vast amounts of infrastructure and nearly eliminating its electrical and running water systems. Though some of these basic necessities have returned to the island, residents who have electricity say that "blackouts are part of life" and are angry

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The ICC Has Announced It Will Finally Treat War as a Crime

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) could try the United States for attacking a country if (1) that country brought a case, and (2) the United States agreed to the process, and (3) the United States chose not to block any judgment by using its veto power at the U.N. Security Council.

David Swanson
By David Swanson
Bandar bin Sultan (left) has been close to multiple US administrations spannig decades with direct involvement in events ranging from Reagan's Nicaraguan Contra program (including being named in the Iran-Contra scandal), to making the case for the Iraq War as a trusted friend of Bush and Cheney, to directing Obama-era covert operations to arm jihadists in Syria.

War is a crime. The International Criminal Court has just announced that it will finally treat it as a crime, sort-of, kind-of. But how can war’s status as a crime effectively deter the world’s leading war-maker from threatening and launching more wars, large and small? How can laws against war actually be put to use? How can the ICC’s announcement

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Indiana Bill Would Force Colts To Refund Fans Offended By Anthem Protests

State Rep. Milo Smith (R) reportedly introduced the bill in Indiana’s legislature this week. It would require the Colts to offer refunds until the end of the first quarter during home games in which Colts players protest during the national anthem, the Star reported.

The Hill
By The Hill
Buffalo Bills players kneel during the national anthem prior to an NFL football game against the Denver Broncos, Sunday, Sept. 24, 2017, in Orchard Park, N.Y. (AP Photo/Jeffrey T. Barnes)

A proposed law in Indiana would force the Indianapolis Colts to reimburse fans who request a refund over players kneeling during the national anthem, the Indianapolis Star reported on Thursday. State Rep. Milo Smith (R) reportedly introduced the bill in Indiana's legislature this week. It would require the Colts to offer refunds until the end of

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ISIS Militants & Israel Effectively Join Forces In Besieging Gaza

Islamic State militants are wreaking havoc near the Sinai peninsula where they are doing Israel’s work of terrorizing Palestinians and preventing goods from reaching Gaza.

Electronic Intifada
By Electronic Intifada
Relatives of Palestinian Muhammed al-Aqraa, who was killed in an explosion in a smuggling tunnel at the border between Gaza and Egypt, mourn over his body in his family house during his funeral, Thursday, Feb. 9, 2017. Palestinian officials say an Israeli pre-dawn airstrike has killed several Gaza residents and wounded five others in a smuggling tunnel along the border with Egypt. The bombing appears to be the first to target smuggling tunnels since the 2014 war between Israel and Gaza's Hamas rulers. (AP Photo/ Khalil Hamra)

When Rami Fawda heard that the Rafah crossing was finally due to open, his reaction was one of relief mixed with anxiety. The relief was because the 44-year-old engineer lives in Ankara, Turkey, where he has worked for 13 years and needed to get back. He had come to Gaza in the summer to see his family, for only the second time since he first

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“Sellouts in the Room:” Éric Toussaint on the Greek Debt Crisis and SYRIZA Betrayals

SYRIZA gained popular support and came in with a program that was really radical. They said we will socialize or nationalize the Greek banks and put in practice a very radical fiscal policy and increase the taxes on the rich, the Orthodox Church, and the oligarchs. They wound up doing just the opposite.

Dr. Michael Nevradakis
By Dr. Michael Nevradakis

ATHENS, GREECE – For years, throughout the severe economic crisis that has plagued Greece over much of the past decade, the international media and financial press have held Greece up as a striking example of financial folly and mismanagement. Greece’s debt, we have been told, is the product of fiscal irresponsibility, of “lazy” and “unproductive”

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