Dallas Removes Statue of Robert E. Lee
Dallas removes Robert E. Lee's statue from city park. U.S. News & World Report: "Workers in Dallas removed a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee from a park on Thursday, with police on hand to provide protection after the mayor said the monument was a symbol of injustice and the city council voted to bring it down. The removal came a month after a rally where white nationalists angered at the planned removal of a Lee statue in Charlottesville, Virginia, clashed with counter-protesters. One woman was killed during the Aug. 12 protest, when a suspected white nationalist crashed a car into anti-racism demonstrators."
Trump Contradicts Himself on Race
Trump defends ‘Both Sides’ remark before signing anti-white supremacy resolution. New York Magazine: "This week, Congress unanimously passed a joint resolution that was meant to put Trump on the record as rejecting “white nationalism, white supremacy, and neo-Nazism as hateful expressions of intolerance that are contradictory to the values that define the people of the United States.” This was nearly the very least Congress could do to register its opposition to Trump’s Charlottesville stance, and on Thursday the president managed to find a way to undercut the resolution’s impact even further. During a press conference on Air Force One, in which Trump made incendiary remarks on a number of topics, he was asked about his meeting with Senator Tim Scott, the chamber’s only black Republican, a day earlier... 'I think especially in light of the advent of Antifa, if you look at what’s going on there. You have some pretty bad dudes on the other side also, and essentially that’s what I said. Now because of what’s happened since then with Antifa, when you look at really what’s happened since Charlottesville, a lot of people are saying, and people have actually written, ‘Gee, Trump may have a point.’ I said there’s some very bad people on the other side also.'"
Ethics Watchdog Allows Lobbyists to Anonymously Support Investigated Trump Aides
Trump ethics watchdog moves to allow anonymous gifts to legal defense funds. Politico: "The U.S. Office of Government Ethics has quietly reversed its own internal policy prohibiting anonymous donations from lobbyists to White House staffers who have legal defense funds. The little-noticed change could help President Donald Trump’s aides raise the money they need to pay attorneys as the Russia probe expands — but raises the potential for hidden conflicts of interest or other ethics trouble."
Chelsea Manning Invited, Disinvited to Harvard
Harvard withdraws fellowship invitation To Chelsea Manning. NPR: "The Institute of Politics at Harvard Kennedy School announced Wednesday that Chelsea Manning would be one of its visiting fellows, but less than two days later, the school's dean withdrew the invitation. Manning, a 29-year-old transgender woman, formerly known as Bradley Manning, was convicted of leaking classified information. Manning was released from a military prison in Fort Leavenworth, Kan., in May after serving seven years of a 35-year sentence, which was commuted by former President Obama. Before leaving office in January, Obama said he felt justice had been served. Early Thursday, Mike Morell, former deputy director and acting director of the CIA, resigned his senior fellowship post at Harvard over the school's decision to include Manning as a visiting fellow. Morell said he could not be part of an organization that 'honors a convicted felon and leaker of classified information.'"
Equifax Breach Includes Social Security Data
How badly did Equifax breach damage the Social Security system? Salon: "Millions of Americans are worried that their credit information and Social Security numbers may have been among the 143 million records breached in an unprecedented hack that attacked Equifax, the credit reporting company. But there’s more to the story. While Equifax and the Social Security Administration aren’t talking about it, Equifax was also hired a year ago, on a $10 million contract, to “help the SSA manage risk and mitigate fraud for the mySocialSecurity system, a personalized portal for customers to access some of SSA’s services such as the online statement.”
More from OurFuture.org:
‘Medicare For All’ Would Fully Fund Indian Health for First Time. Mark Trahant: "If Sanders’ proposal for universal care were enacted, every one of the 2.2 million patients in the Indian health system would have funding from insurance. That is what a Treaty Right fulfilled looks like. Finally."
Donald Trump Is Just the Latest Republican to Stoke Racial Division. Robert Borosage: "Trump’s actions and words are particularly noxious, but no one should be misled: His race-bait politics are an expression of the modern Republican Party, not a deviation from it. The battle for its soul has long since been decided."
Racial Inequality Is Hollowing Out America’s Middle Class. Dedrick Asante-Muhammad, Chuck Collins: "America’s middle class is under assault, with black and Latino households under siege. Their drop in wealth by more than half over three decades threatens the very survival of a middle class in this country."
The Sad Story of Public Education in St. Louis. Jeff Bryant: "Betsy DeVos says conversations about education should be about 'buildings and systems.' But the once grand, now crumbling school buildings St. Louis once built for its children remind us the permanency of schools as institutions is important."
