# IMPORTANT READS ## [ Blowing Smoke](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13778-blowing-smoke-2 "Blowing Smoke") Details Michael Cohen [IMPORTANT READS](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads) August 10 2017 [ ![](https://www.citywatchla.com/images/stories/Aug-2017/064j.png) ](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13778-blowing-smoke-2) THE COHEN COLUMN--The Nuts with Nukes has a new member. Now North Korea doesn't feel so alone. [ Read more … ](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13778-blowing-smoke-2) ## [ Has Jeff Sessions Rendered Crime Scene Science Useless?](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13774-has-jeff-sessions-rendered-crime-scene-science-useless "Has Jeff Sessions Rendered Crime Scene Science Useless?") Details Stephen Cooper [IMPORTANT READS](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads) August 10 2017 [ ![](https://www.citywatchla.com/images/stories/Aug-2017/064o.png) ](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13774-has-jeff-sessions-rendered-crime-scene-science-useless) CRIME POLITICS-In January 2016, bemoaning that "the more people talk about improving the use of forensic science in the courtroom, the more things stay the same," I [blogged](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/dc-judge-rejects-junk-sci_b_9063476.html) in bold in *The* *Huffington Post*: [ Read more … ](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13774-has-jeff-sessions-rendered-crime-scene-science-useless) ## [ Making America Cruel Again … to Unionized Workers](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13771-making-america-cruel-again-to-unionized-workers "Making America Cruel Again …  to Unionized Workers") Details Ian Millhiser [IMPORTANT READS](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads) August 10 2017 [ ![](https://www.citywatchla.com/images/stories/Aug-2017/064r.png) ](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13771-making-america-cruel-again-to-unionized-workers) UNION BUSTING-Since Election Day, unions have lived on borrowed time. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which has exclusive authority over many key questions of labor law, is [still controlled by Democrats](https://www.nlrb.gov/who-we-are/board) — thus shielding workers and their unions from attacks that became far likelier the moment Donald Trump was declared the winner of the 2016 election. [ Read more … ](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13771-making-america-cruel-again-to-unionized-workers) ## [ 'Slippery Slope to Dictatorship': Majority of GOP Would Back Trump Postponing 2020 Elections](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13768-slippery-slope-to-dictatorship-majority-of-gop-would-back-trump-postponing-2020-elections "'Slippery Slope to Dictatorship': Majority of GOP Would Back Trump Postponing 2020 Elections") Details Julia Conley [IMPORTANT READS](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads) August 10 2017 [ ![](https://www.citywatchla.com/images/stories/Aug-2017/064u.png) ](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13768-slippery-slope-to-dictatorship-majority-of-gop-would-back-trump-postponing-2020-elections) LIES MATTER--Identifying it as part of the "slippery slope to dictatorship," critics are pointing to a new poll as evidence that Trump's base would likely support him even if he were to propose postponing the 2020 elections. [ Read more … ](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13768-slippery-slope-to-dictatorship-majority-of-gop-would-back-trump-postponing-2020-elections) ## [ The Truth Behind Spiraling Drug Costs … From the Front Lines](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13767-the-truth-behind-spiraling-drug-costs-from-the-front-lines "The Truth Behind Spiraling Drug Costs … From the Front Lines") Details Kenneth S. Alpern [IMPORTANT READS](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads) August 10 2017 [ ![](https://www.citywatchla.com/images/stories/Aug-2017/064v.png) ](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13767-the-truth-behind-spiraling-drug-costs-from-the-front-lines) HEALTH CARE POLITICS--I've heard it all, whether it's from the social justice warriors (who don't know a thing about economics and medicine, although they sure think they know it all) to the capitalist overlords of medicine (who think they have all the power, although they're in for some very rude awakenings): the cost of health care is going up, and the front-line doctors/providers are really not being talked to on this issue. [ Read more … ](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13767-the-truth-behind-spiraling-drug-costs-from-the-front-lines) ## [ Whiting Out Black Lives Matter](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13764-whiting-out-black-lives-matter "Whiting Out Black Lives Matter") Details Dr. Melina Abdullah [IMPORTANT READS](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads) August 10 2017 [ ![](https://www.citywatchla.com/images/stories/Aug-2017/064z.png) ](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13764-whiting-out-black-lives-matter) GUEST WORDS--Until Nov. 9, 2016, the night of the presidential election, [Black Lives Matter (BLM)](http://blacklivesmatter.com) was a force that not only demonstrated in the streets, disrupted business as usual and organized in black communities. [ Read more … ](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13764-whiting-out-black-lives-matter) ## [ I’d Really Love to be Against Affirmative Action - Just Tell Me How](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13743-i-d-really-love-to-be-against-affirmative-action-just-tell-me-how "I’d Really Love to be Against Affirmative Action - Just Tell Me How") Details Leonard Isenberg [IMPORTANT READS](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads) August 07 2017 [ ![](https://www.citywatchla.com/images/stories/Aug-2017/063r.png) ](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13743-i-d-really-love-to-be-against-affirmative-action-just-tell-me-how) REDRESSING RACISM-Since the founding of this country there has been what we might accurately call an affirmative action program that has given exclusive advantages to whites, while denying them to minorities. Be it initially *de jure* or now only *de facto,* what remains ensconced in this country is our still segregated political, economic, and social system that functions as a white affirmative action and entitlement program. [ Read more … ](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13743-i-d-really-love-to-be-against-affirmative-action-just-tell-me-how) ## [ Trump Will Win In 2020](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13742-trump-will-win-in-2020 "Trump Will Win In 2020") Details Pierre Tristam [IMPORTANT READS](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads) August 07 2017 [ ![](https://www.citywatchla.com/images/stories/Aug-2017/063s.png) ](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13742-trump-will-win-in-2020) THE CLUE: RICHARD NIXON, 1968--Almost a year into his presidency in 1969 Richard Nixon looked like he would not finish his first term. Nothing was working, abroad or at home. [ Read more … ](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13742-trump-will-win-in-2020) ## [ Rethinking Russian Hacking: Who Profits from that Narrative?](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13727-rethinking-russian-hacking-who-profits-from-that-narrative "Rethinking Russian Hacking: Who Profits from that Narrative?") Details Leonard Isenberg [IMPORTANT READS](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads) August 03 2017 [ ![](https://www.citywatchla.com/images/stories/Aug-2017/062r.png) ](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13727-rethinking-russian-hacking-who-profits-from-that-narrative) CORPORATE MEDIA CALLED OUT-Last night I spent an unexpectedly insightful evening with filmmaker Oliver Stone who was being interviewed by [*Truth Dig's*](http://www.truthdig.com/) own Robert Scheer. The occasion was a fundraising event at Immanuel Presbyterian Church for the progressive and perpetually under financial siege radio station *KPFK,* to celebrate the station's 58th anniversary. The audience seemed pleasantly surprised by an increasingly rare phenomenon: real journalism, documented with primary sources, as opposed to the all too pervasive spin and general obfuscation of truth practiced by corporate-dominated public commercial media. [ Read more … ](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13727-rethinking-russian-hacking-who-profits-from-that-narrative) ## [ The Godfather and the Don](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13726-the-godfather-and-the-don "The Godfather and the Don") Details Michael Cohen [IMPORTANT READS](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads) August 03 2017 [ ![](https://www.citywatchla.com/images/stories/Aug-2017/062t.png) ](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13726-the-godfather-and-the-don) THE COHEN PAPERS--And to think, we could have had Lyin' Ted instead. But according to Donald Trump, "Oh dear, mercy me, Cruz might not have been entirely truthful about something, sometime, can't vote for him." [ Read more … ](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13726-the-godfather-and-the-don) ## [ Health Care Alert: Be Careful What You Wish For ... You Just Might Get It!](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13707-health-care-alert-be-careful-what-you-wish-for-you-just-might-get-it "Health Care Alert: Be Careful What You Wish For ... You Just Might Get It!") Details Kenneth S. Alpern [IMPORTANT READS](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads) July 31 2017 [ ![](https://www.citywatchla.com/images/stories/Aug-2017/061i.png) ](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13707-health-care-alert-be-careful-what-you-wish-for-you-just-might-get-it) HEALTH POLITICS--For decades, Democrats and liberal Americans campaigned on universal health coverage ... and after the taking of the Presidency and Congress, they passed it--and lost power in both Congress and the Presidency. [ Read more … ](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13707-health-care-alert-be-careful-what-you-wish-for-you-just-might-get-it) ## [ Border Agency to Kick Off Building Trump's Wall Through a National Wildlife Refuge in Texas](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13706-border-agency-to-kick-off-building-trump-s-wall-through-a-national-wildlife-refuge-in-texas "Border Agency to Kick Off Building Trump's Wall Through a National Wildlife Refuge in Texas") Details Christian Miller & Kiah Collier [IMPORTANT READS](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads) July 31 2017 [ ![](https://www.citywatchla.com/images/stories/Aug-2017/061y.png) ](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13706-border-agency-to-kick-off-building-trump-s-wall-through-a-national-wildlife-refuge-in-texas) THE WALL--United States Customs and Border Protection will begin constructing the first segment of President Donald Trump's border wall in November through a national wildlife refuge, using money it's already received from Congress. [ Read more … ](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13706-border-agency-to-kick-off-building-trump-s-wall-through-a-national-wildlife-refuge-in-texas) ## [ Is There a Future for the Beleaguered Fossil Fuels Industry?](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13704-is-there-a-future-for-the-beleaguered-fossil-fuels-industry "Is There a Future for the Beleaguered Fossil Fuels Industry?") Details Joel Kotkin [IMPORTANT READS](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads) July 31 2017 [ ![](https://www.citywatchla.com/images/stories/Aug-2017/061j.png) ](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13704-is-there-a-future-for-the-beleaguered-fossil-fuels-industry) NEW GEOGRAPHY-Perhaps no economic issue — even trade — is as divisive as the energy industry. Once a standard driver of economic progress, the conventional energy industry has become increasingly vilified by the national media, sued by blue state attorneys general and denounced throughout academia. Some suggest that the industry should be demonized and hounded much as occurred in the case of tobacco. [ Read more … ](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13704-is-there-a-future-for-the-beleaguered-fossil-fuels-industry) ## [ Nuclear! Now!](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13698-nuclear-now "Nuclear! Now!") Details Tom H. Hastings [IMPORTANT READS](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads) July 31 2017 [ ![](https://www.citywatchla.com/images/stories/Aug-2017/061q.png) ](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13698-nuclear-now) GUEST WORDS--We have been living with nuclear weapons for 72 years, so that must make them safe and sustainable, right? [ Read more … ](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13698-nuclear-now) ## [ Women Owe Two Thirds of $1.2 Trillion Ed Debt … Republicans are Right, Going to College Hurts](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13686-women-owe-two-thirds-of-1-2-trillion-ed-debt-republicans-are-right-going-to-college-hurts "Women Owe Two Thirds of $1.2 Trillion Ed Debt … Republicans are Right, Going to College Hurts") Details Jessicah Pierre [IMPORTANT READS](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads) July 27 2017 [ ![](https://www.citywatchla.com/images/stories/July-2017/060z4.png) ](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13686-women-owe-two-thirds-of-1-2-trillion-ed-debt-republicans-are-right-going-to-college-hurts) EDUCATION POLITICS--Going to college is a good thing, right? That’s at least what I was told as a kid, and what led me to get a college degree. I was the first one in my family to do so. [ Read more … ](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13686-women-owe-two-thirds-of-1-2-trillion-ed-debt-republicans-are-right-going-to-college-hurts) ## [ Klunk. Klunk. Klunk. Shoes Keep Dropping on Our Way to the American Apocalypse!](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13677-klunk-klunk-klunk-shoes-keep-dropping-on-our-way-to-the-american-apocalypse "Klunk. Klunk. Klunk. Shoes Keep Dropping on Our Way to the American Apocalypse!") Details Ellen Lubic [IMPORTANT READS](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads) July 27 2017 [ ![](https://www.citywatchla.com/images/stories/July-2017/060o.png) ](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13677-klunk-klunk-klunk-shoes-keep-dropping-on-our-way-to-the-american-apocalypse) VOICES--On July 25, the highlight of the Senate discussion and vote to study and repeal/replace Obamacare or do something, *anything,* to form a new healthcare bill (probably building on the punitive Congressional bill) was the brave Senator John McCain. Even while facing a diagnosis of gioblastoma brain cancer, he made a statement directed at how the Senate should behave, recalling a history of cooperation on both sides of the aisle. It was a welcomed theme and there was raucous applause for some of his strongly enunciated comments. His most important statement seemed to stun this august body, yet it was clearly vital – a remark that was the bravest and most truthful of any that have been made during the disaster of the Donald Trump presidency. [ Read more … ](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13677-klunk-klunk-klunk-shoes-keep-dropping-on-our-way-to-the-american-apocalypse) ## [ Jamboree Travesty](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13676-jamboree-travesty "Jamboree Travesty") Details Robert J. Byers [IMPORTANT READS](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads) July 27 2017 [ ![](https://www.citywatchla.com/images/stories/July-2017/060p.png) ](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13676-jamboree-travesty) BRANDING THE TRUMPSTER--I don’t blame the Boy Scouts for President Donald Trump’s bizarre speech at the National Jamboree in West Virginia on Monday. [ Read more … ](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13676-jamboree-travesty) ## [ Giuliani In, Sessions Out? Trump Thinking about It](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13655-giuliani-in-sessions-out-trump-thinking-about-it "Giuliani In, Sessions Out? Trump Thinking about It") Details Kate Wheeling [IMPORTANT READS](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads) July 24 2017 [ ![](https://www.citywatchla.com/images/stories/July-2017/059k.png) ](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13655-giuliani-in-sessions-out-trump-thinking-about-it) REPLACING SESSIONS--President Donald Trump is considering appointing Rudolph Giuliani, a former New York City mayor, to replace Attorney General Jeff Sessions as head of the Department of Justice (DOJ), White House officials [told](https://www.axios.com/exclusive-trump-ponders-rudy-giuliani-for-attorney-general-2464579234.html) Axios. [ Read more … ](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13655-giuliani-in-sessions-out-trump-thinking-about-it) ## [ I Mourn Justine Damond Just Like I Mourned Michael Brown](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13652-i-mourn-justine-damond-just-like-i-mourned-michael-brown "I Mourn Justine Damond Just Like I Mourned Michael Brown") Details Earl Ofari Hutchinson [IMPORTANT READS](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads) July 24 2017 [ ![](https://www.citywatchla.com/images/stories/July-2017/059m.png) ](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13652-i-mourn-justine-damond-just-like-i-mourned-michael-brown) URBAN PERSPECTIVE-I have heard all the arguments about why the slaying of Justine Damond is not the same as the slaying of Michael Brown and police slayings of countless other unarmed blacks. They all come down to race. [ Read more … ](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13652-i-mourn-justine-damond-just-like-i-mourned-michael-brown) ## [ Right to Work Laws … Here for the Wrong Reasons](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13648-right-to-work-laws-here-for-the-wrong-reasons "Right to Work Laws … Here for the Wrong Reasons") Details Roxana Tynan [IMPORTANT READS](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads) July 24 2017 [ ![](https://www.citywatchla.com/images/stories/July-2017/059s.png) ](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13648-right-to-work-laws-here-for-the-wrong-reasons) LABOR WATCH--Working families in the U.S. are facing a new set of threats from right-wing corporate interests that are more harmful than anything we have seen in generations. A key part of this very deliberate strategy is the weakening of unions through the passage of so-called Right to Work laws. These laws limit the ability of unions to fund themselves by making it more difficult to collect union dues from members, which are used to fight for fair working conditions, elect progressive candidates, and push for policies that benefit working people. [ Read more … ](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13648-right-to-work-laws-here-for-the-wrong-reasons) ## [ The Night of the Living Dead … Voters](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13647-the-night-of-the-living-dead-voters "The Night of the Living Dead … Voters") Details Michael Cohen [IMPORTANT READS](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads) July 24 2017 [ ![](https://www.citywatchla.com/images/stories/July-2017/059t.png) ](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13647-the-night-of-the-living-dead-voters) **THE COHEN COLUMN**--This is a resource to give you a reliable voice of political truth and hopefully will productive activism. [ Read more … ](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13647-the-night-of-the-living-dead-voters) 1. [ Why the Greens Lost, and Trump Won](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13643-why-the-greens-lost-and-trump-won) 2. [ Gov. Kasich: “Amazing Grace” Starts with You!](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13641-gov-kasich-amazing-grace-starts-with-you) 3. [ How Republicans Can Save Themselves on Health Care](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13633-how-republicans-can-save-themselves-on-health-care) 4. [ Bernie and the Nyets](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13616-bernie-and-the-nyets) 5. [ US Paying for Canadian and European Health Care!](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13602-us-paying-for-canadian-and-european-health-care) 6. [ Smoking gun?](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13585-gun) 7. [ Total BS Stops Here](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13580-total-bs-stops-here) 8. [ Why I’m Suing the President](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13576-why-i-m-suing-the-president) 9. [ Let’s Stop Talking Insurance and Start Talking Medical Care](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13564-let-s-stop-talking-insurance-and-start-talking-medical-care) 10. [ The Double-Edged Sword of Queer Visibility: Violence Against LGBTQ Americans is Growing](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/13559-the-double-edged-sword-of-queer-visibility-violence-against-lgbtq-americans-is-growing) Page 85 of 116 - [Start](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads "Start") - [Prev](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads?start=1743 "Prev") - [80](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads?start=1659 "80") - [81](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads?start=1680 "81") - [82](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads?start=1701 "82") - [83](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads?start=1722 "83") - [84](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads?start=1743 "84") - 85 - [86](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads?start=1785 "86") - [87](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads?start=1806 "87") - [88](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads?start=1827 "88") - [89](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads?start=1848 "89") - [Next](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads?start=1785 "Next") - [End](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads?start=2415 "End")