(1) Nov/Dec Issue:We're still trying to get back on schedule with the magazine; we didn't make much progress toward that goal with the Nov/Dec issue, but I think we'll catch up some with the Jan/Feb issue. Anyhow, the Nov/Dec issue has been sent to e-subscribers, and it will ship out shortly to print subscribers. It's a great issue, I think. Here's the editorial note from p. 2; more than usual we were able to show how several of the articles are related to each other, and to what's in the news (the "fiscal cliff," the Grand Bargain/Betrayal, etc.):
The Grand Betrayal
A couple of articles from the issue are posted online: Alejandro Reuss's The Big Lie About the "Entitlement State", a satisfying take-down of David Brooks, and Arthur MacEwan's Structural Adjustment, Here and There. To read the whole issue, subscribe or order a back issue here.
(2) Adidas and Sweatshops: The most recent article I've posted is Sarah Blaskey and Phil Gasper's Campus Struggles Against Sweatshops Continue, an updated version of their article from our Sept/Oct annual labor issue. Read about what a scoundrel Barry Alvarez, the University of Wisconsin athletic director, is. He gripes about how much money the university will lose if they drop Adidas' sponsorship, while Adidas is refusing to pay back wages to sweatshop workers in Indonesia. At the top of the page there's a moving photo of some of those workers; we used the same photo on the cover of the new edition of our book Current Economic Issues.
(3) Co-opoly! Looking for holiday gift ideas? How about Co-opoly: The Game of Cooperatives, from Our friends at Toolbox for Education and Social Action (TESA)? Here's the scoop:
This is an exciting game of skill and solidarity, where everyone wins – or everybody loses. Will the Point Bank continue to dominate the players’ lives, or will they break free and take control by jump-starting the movement for a truly democratic and cooperative economy in their community?
By playing Co-opoly, players discover the unique benefits, challenges, and operations of the cooperative world – as well as the skills needed to participate in a co-op!
Co-opoly is the world's first and only board game that is sustainably and ethically produced in the spirit of Fair Trade.
Co-opoly is for teens and adults. Read more about how Co-opoly is played.
For a few more days (until 12/16) you can get their special holiday deal, so order now!
(4) Our holiday fundraiser: Another holiday gift idea: give $50 or more to D&S, receive one of three great gifts. Details here.
(5) Post-election analysis: I had a while bunch of links I wanted to pass on in a blog post, but in our frenzy to get the Nov/Dec issue out, I lost some of them, and some of them got stale. One that is still worth passing on is post-election analysis from Bill Fletcher, Jr. and Carl Davidson: How the Left Can Become a True Political Force to Be Reckoned With. I was ambivalent about their arguments for supporting Obama, but I thought this piece was valuable. I'd also wanted to post a couple of articles about the whole Hostess bankruptcy and why it was ridiculous to blame the striking workers. Here's a more recent article about management's shenanigans leading up to the bankruptcy: Hostess Took Workers' Pension Money to Fund Itself.
--Chris Sturr
And on Wednesdays we wear pink