William Rivers Pitt | The Internet Is Freedom, and It Is Under Attack

[t]   Thursday, November 30, 2017 [t r u t h o u t] [View Recent Newsletters]( [Tell a friend about Truthout!]( [Donate Today!](   Truthout is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization; donations are tax deductible.   BuzzFlash Jim Hightower: Why So Many Americans Hate Trump's Tax Reform [Read the Article at BuzzFlash](   Secretary of State Rex Tillerson Could Be Replaced by CIA's Mike Pompeo [Read the Article at Roll Call](   A Secret Group of Investors Bought LA Weekly, Then Fired Most of Its Writers and Editors [Read the Article at The Week](   UK Ambassador Conveys Concern Over Trump Retweet to White House [Read the Article at the Guardian](   Rediscovering the Art of Peace [Read the Article at BuzzFlash](   Trump Administration Dangles Family Planning Cash for Anti-Choice Priorities [Read the Article at Rewire](   Jared Kushner Met With Special Counsel to Talk About Michael Flynn and Russia [Read the Article at HuffPost](     Truthout is funded by readers -- not by corporations, advertisers or lobbyists. To support our independent reporting and analysis, make a tax-deductible donation. [Donate Now]( [The Internet Is Freedom, and It Is Under Attack]( William Rivers Pitt, Truthout: Today, the internet stands at the apex of the technology used to share and store information. Within its wires, motherboards and towering servers is the literal sum of all human knowledge. This is an intolerable threat to the powerful. The attack on net neutrality is a blow to not only individual freedoms, but to human progress itself. [Read the Article]( [Putting the GOP Promise to the Test: Union Wants Income and Job Guarantees for Its Members if Tax Bill Passes]( Sarah Jaffe, Truthout: The Communications Workers of America (CWA) is taking Trump and the GOP at their word if the new tax bill passes: The union is demanding that a $4,000 wage increase be guaranteed for workers it represents, and a promise from employers not to offshore jobs. Jody Calemine, general counsel for the CWA, discusses the union's strategy and the thinking behind it. [Read the Interview and Listen to the Audio]( [Fighting for Freedom From Surveillance: Redefining "Sanctuary" for Trans, Queer and Immigrant Communities]( Laura Flanders, Truthout: Since Trump's election, several cities around the US have declared themselves sanctuaries. But can a city really call itself a "sanctuary" if it has regressive policing tactics and a surveillance apparatus that disproportionately targets certain communities -- especially queer, trans and poor people of color? Jennicet Gutiérrez of Familia: Trans Queer Liberation Movement and Hamid Khan of the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition weigh in. [Read the Interview and Watch the Video]( [Without a Hearing and Amid Protests, Senate Budget Panel Passes Tax Bill]( Sam Sacks, The District Sentinel: Senate Republicans' $1.4 trillion tax bill was narrowly passed out of the Budget Committee in a party-line vote, clearing its final hurdle before what will likely be a contentious debate in the full upper chamber. The legislation was approved by the Senate budget panel on Tuesday in a 12-11 vote, without first holding a hearing on its impact. It could be on the Senate floor as early as next week. [Read the Article]( [Will Trump's Latest Islamophobic Tweets Impact Court Rulings on His Mostly Muslim Travel Ban?]( Amy Goodman and Nermeen Shaikh, Democracy Now!: Oral arguments are scheduled for next week in both federal appeals court cases of President Trump's proposed travel ban, which blocks various people from eight countries, six of them with Muslim majorities, from entering the United States. Mehdi Hasan, award-winning British journalist and broadcaster at Al Jazeera English, discusses the impact Trump's recent retweets of Islamophobic messages and videos could have on the cases. [Watch the Video and Read the Transcript]( [How Three Generations Experienced Segregated American Education]( Noliwe Rooks, The New Press: In this excerpt from her book, Cutting School, Noliwe Rooks describes her family history and three generations' experience of racial, economic and educational inequality in the United States. That history, together with her own experiences growing up in two different school systems, has led Rooks to understand "the tremendous influence of the segregated history of American education on our educational present." [Read the Book Excerpt]( [UnFounding Father: Why We Need to Stare at You Know Who]( Tom Engelhardt, TomDispatch: It's time to think of Donald J. Trump in a different light. We must not look away from President Trump, the unbelievable figure now in the White House, because how else will you know where we are? Until we understand that he isn't an aberration but the zeitgeist of this moment in US history -- and that simply removing him from the Oval Office won't solve our problems -- we aren't going to get anywhere at all. [Read the Article]( [House Tax Bill Would Roll Back Ban on Politicking From the Pulpit]( Susannah Jacob, Moyers & Company: Tucked inside the enormous House tax proposal is a provision that would roll back a 63-year-old ban on tax-exempt organizations, including churches, from making explicit political endorsements. House Republicans are threatening to upend the rule. If the tax plan passes, it would allow churches and charities to raise money for political candidates and work around campaign disclosure rules. [Read the Article]( [Puerto Rico: Island of Light, Island of Shadow]( Nicholas Powers, The Indypendent: Hurricane Maria blew human lives off course. People have stumbled into a quiet morning of devastation and face life or death. Modern civilization has turned the Earth against us. Death is here now. Death is chasing us inland. Death is forcing us from home. Life means a revolution against a system that has been embedded in us for hundreds of years. We now have to make a choice. [Read the Article]( [Want to strengthen Truthout and help us plan for the future? Click here to become a monthly sustainer.]( [The Newspaper Guild] Please add messenger@truthout.org to ensure you receive our messages Truthout is a proud member of the Newspaper Guild/CWA, Local 36047 [Subscribe]( | [Unsubscribe]( [Privacy Policy](