Public Education in America: Or what the Chicago Public Schools Strikes is really about

What Chicago Public School teachers are striking for are things that are affecting public school kids all over the U.S., not just in Chicago. They’re striking for their city’s schools, but honestly, they’re striking for my city’s schools, too.

In These Times picked up a post over on Occupied Chicago Tribune, which lists four reasons the teachers are striking — not specific bargaining points, but broad areas of difference, which, if ignored in this contract, sets this district on a course that will be difficult to reverse.

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To learn more about the Annual International Social Uprising Resistance and Grassroots Encouragement (S.U.R.G.E.!) Film Festival please visit: www.WeSurge.org

Pro-Sports becoming more gay-friendly thanks to athletes speaking out

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - NFL punters are only seen on fourth down and heard from less than that. But with Minnesota voters weighing whether to ban gay marriage this fall, Vikings punter Chris Kluwe has emerged as a high-profile gay rights champion - and a symbol of changing attitudes toward homosexuality in the sports world.

"I'd like to win some votes against the amendment," Kluwe told The Associated Press. "It would permanently change the state constitution. Who are we to say we should decide what our children should do on this subject? If we're not the generation to make gay marriage legal, why should we prevent our children having a say on the matter?"

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To learn more about the Annual International Social Uprising Resistance and Grassroots Encouragement (S.U.R.G.E.!) Film Festival please visit: www.WeSurge.org

Social Justice Bus Tour planned by COA

Members of Chattanooga Organized for Action are hoping interested residents will "get on the bus" for an event geared toward highlighting the history of social activism in the city.

The event, called the Social Justice Bus Tour, will take place along the CARTA No. 1 bus route Monday afternoon. The group plans to ride on two buses, which leave from the stop in front of the downtown EPB building at 5:30 and 6 p.m.

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To learn more about the Annual International Social Uprising Resistance and Grassroots Encouragement (S.U.R.G.E.!) Film Festival please visit: www.WeSurge.org

Singapore sets up anti-littering cameras in over 100 locations

SINGAPORE - Surveillance cameras will be set up at 100 locations in the next three months to catch culprits who throw items from high-rise housing blocks.

The National Environment Agency (NEA) said it is first targeting at the housing estates in Bukit Panjang, Pasir Ris, West Coast, Hong Kah and Sembawang.

These housing estates have more serious littering issues, involving faeces, urine or food waste, and have also registered a high number of feedback cases from residents.

NEA said those caught littering on camera will be charged in court and have their cases publicised.

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To learn more about the Annual International Social Uprising Resistance and Grassroots Encouragement (S.U.R.G.E.!) Film Festival please visit: www.WeSurge.org

Facebook Peace Activists from the Middle East finally meet face-to-face

Young peace activists from across the Middle East – who until now have only interacted virtually via a Facebook group – finally met each other face-to-face in Berlin this past weekend, vowing to bring normalcy to the region and stand up to all critics of peace.

Part of the Yala Young Leadership initiative, which was set up just over a year ago by Israelis and Palestinians, the conference brought together 18 of the most active of the 162,000 Facebook members in the group. Participants came from Israel, the Palestinian territories, Tunisia, Algeria, Lebanon, Egypt, Sudan, Iraq and Kuwait.

“It was our first chance to bring people from across the region to meet each other in person,” Israeli Nimrod Ben- Zeev, who helped to found the group online, told The Jerusalem Post Tuesday.

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To learn more about the Annual International Social Uprising Resistance and Grassroots Encouragement (S.U.R.G.E.!) Film Festival please visit: www.WeSurge.org

PAK-India talks outcome welcomed by Peace Activists

KARACHI - The human right activists from Pakistan and India, in a joint statement, on Sunday welcomed the positive outcome of the just-concluded Pakistan-India foreign ministers’ talks in Islamabad, especially with regards to the newly-announced liberalised and relaxed visa regime.The proposed new visa regime for the time being benefits only certain selected categories of visitors. But, we are conscious of the fact that while assessing the outcome of the talks, one cannot ignore the related backdrop of an inter-state relationship, which has been marred for decades by bitterness and an acute trust deficit, preventing the people of our two countries from living as friendly neighbours and prospering in a climate of peace and harmony through mutual cooperation and collaboration.

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To learn more about the Annual International Social Uprising Resistance and Grassroots Encouragement (S.U.R.G.E.!) Film Festival please visit: www.WeSurge.org

Javier Sicilia leads peace protest on Wall Street

NEW YORK — The most dramatic actions to date took place in downtown Manhattan yesterday in the month-long Caravan for Peace with Justice and Dignity headed by writer Javier Sicilia. The group is on a 27-city journey through the United States, coming from Mexico, to call attention to U.S. responsibilities for the War on Drugs. It is reported that over 200 organizations around the country now support the Caravan for Peace.

Yet, though Sicilia’s intentions are drawing widespread praise, his presence makes some city officials uncomfortable. At a mid-morning press conference, Scilia reported that Mayor Michael Bloomberg was not rejecting an interview with him, just not having it now. It was not yes, not no, as Sicilia said to the dozens of reporters and cameras.

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To learn more about the Annual International Social Uprising Resistance and Grassroots Encouragement (S.U.R.G.E.!) Film Festival please visit: www.WeSurge.org

Migrant Workers from India get new help

DUBAI — A new program introduced by India’s Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs aims to encourage the country’s migrant workers in the Gulf to put aside savings for their inevitable return instead of sending all their earnings home to their families.

Five million Indians live and work in the Gulf on temporary employment or contract visas, mostly on construction sites, in hospitals and as household servants. Remittances by migrant workers to India totaled $64 billion in 2011, according to the World Bank, making India the leading receiver of remittances in the world, and Indians in the Gulf accounted for about 30 percent of that. But most of the money that they periodically send back is spent by their parents, wives and children; little gets saved.

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To learn more about the Annual International Social Uprising Resistance and Grassroots Encouragement (S.U.R.G.E.!) Film Festival please visit: www.WeSurge.org

Anti-racism protesters show opposition to English Defense League March

HUNDREDS of anti-racism protesters have gathered in Walthamstow town centre to show their opposition to English Defence League (EDL) marchers.

The demonstration, organised by We Are Waltham Forest, began at 11am this morning in protest at EDL members' intentions to march from Blackhorse Road underground station down Forest Road to the Magistrates Court for a rally.

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To learn more about the Annual International Social Uprising Resistance and Grassroots Encouragement (S.U.R.G.E.!) Film Festival please visit: www.WeSurge.org

Foriegn Workers push for public assembly rights

Taipei, Sept. 12 (CNA) Around 50 foreign workers from Southeast Asia and activists protested in front of the Taipei Railway Station on Sunday, demanding the right to gather in public places after a controversial move by the station to close parts of its lobby.

Protesters held placards reading "anti-racism" and shouted "If Hong Kong can, why can't Taiwan?" in front of the station.

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To learn more about the Annual International Social Uprising Resistance and Grassroots Encouragement (S.U.R.G.E.!) Film Festival please visit: www.WeSurge.org

Ancient Diatoms could be the answer to making biofuels truly cost-effective

Diatoms, tiny marine life forms that have been around since the dinosaurs, could finally make biofuel production from algae truly cost-effective – because they can simultaneously produce other valuable products such as semiconductors, biomedical products and even health foods. Engineers at Oregon State University concede that such technology is pushing the envelope a bit. But it’s not science fiction – many of the needed advances have already been made, and the National Science Foundation just provided a four-year, $2 million grant to help make it a working reality.

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To learn more about the Annual International Social Uprising Resistance and Grassroots Encouragement (S.U.R.G.E.!) Film Festival please visit: www.WeSurge.org

California considering Death Penalty ban

It's the nightmare of capital punishment, for supporters and opponents alike - an innocent person condemned to death and executed.

As Californians prepare to vote in November on Proposition 34, which would reduce all death sentences to life in prison without parole, both sides on the issue agree that the state has never executed a prisoner who was later proved to be innocent.

Still, doubts persist about the guilt of an inmate who was put to death in 1998. And five men sentenced to death under current California law were later cleared of the murder charges that put them on Death Row.

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To learn more about the Annual International Social Uprising Resistance and Grassroots Encouragement (S.U.R.G.E.!) Film Festival please visit: www.WeSurge.org