Justice

The eviction of 87-year-old María del Carmen Abascal Martín in Madrid, after an investment fund bought her apartment building and more than tripled her rent, has become a symbol of Spain’s rising cost of living and sparked nationwide protests against corporate greed and wealth inequality. Over 600 protesters are now camped outside Madrid’s regional government headquarters demanding new tenant protections. “What we have is a lot of furious people, enraged people, that are demanding from the government and from the public institutions that they give us give us some sort of solution,” says Sabina Carrau, a spokesperson for the Madrid Tenants’ Union, which is supporting the “Maricarmen decree” named after Abascal, set to be debated by Spain’s government this week. Housing in Spain, as in much of the world, “is really connected to tourism, really connected to having and buying a house to make a speculation,” says socialist parliamentarian Tesh Sidi, who is calling instead for the guaranteed right to housing and “the right to have an affordable life.” Sidi, the only Sahrawi member of the Spanish parliament, also comments on Spain’s colonial relationship to Western Sahara and the state of Sahrawi rights and self-determination.

Robert Reich makes the case for bringing back the old practice of corporations sharing profits with their workers.

If we find indiscriminate state violence in our streets appalling, we should feel similarly about state violence abroad, and call for divesting from both police and the Pentagon, and reinvesting those taxpayer dollars to rebuild communities at home and abroad.

Activists in Atlanta are working with the homeless to produce healthy organic food instead of expecting donations.

Donald Trump expressed this week that he would support forcing American Muslims to carry special identification showing their faith. The presidential candidate also supports forcing Muslim Americans to be registered in a database.

Kate Cox's legal battle highlights the struggle against restrictive abortion laws in Texas.

Human rights are critical. But they are being used to target and exploit minorities in a power grab, while ignoring the real facts.

Progressives hail Sanders’ pledge to end the use of this out-dated act.

"The US government is disgracing itself by threatening and even prosecuting its own citizens for their vital work to save the lives of people in a desperate situation at the border.”

Without consequences for those who encouraged what happened on Wednesday, up to and including the outgoing president, such lawlessness could become a normal feature of American political life.