At the Prospect, I consider how confrontation helped Occupy Wall Street take off where many other left actions haven’t:

Tensions at Zuccotti Park in lower Manhattan mounted last week after New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced that Occupy Wall Street activists would need to vacate the premises temporarily for cleaning. In response to the threat, occupiers cleaned the park themselves and said that, come morning, they would hold brooms, link arms, and peacefully refuse to leave. Bloomberg backed down, and once more, Occupy Wall Street confirmed that it could endure in the face of resistance from politicians and police. A better question is whether the movement could have endured without the attention and momentum it’s gained from confrontation.

Check it out.

For this slideshow at The Nation, I did a quick report on Occupy Philly:

Mayor Nutter’s office has been vocal in claiming that the city supports many aims of Occupy Philly and wants to coordinate smoothly with the action. On their first night in City Hall, Occupy Philly participants held a lengthy debate over whether to apply for a demonstration permit, as urged by city officials; the decision was tabled for lack of consensus. Tensions with the city may rise soon. A mayoral spokesperson warned Wednesday that Dilworth will need to be cleared and cordoned off for renovations in November. Snyder says that while Occupy Philly is still formulating a response, “We’re going to keep it up one way or another.”

Read the rest here.

During Wednesday night’s march from Foley Park to Zucotti Park, I talked to several students and teachers about why they were there, and what make of each other’s participation. Here’s what some of them had to say:

If my students even get their GED or certificate, where are they gonna work? They ask me for job advice and it’s very frustrating. I have nothing to tell them. We used to have a job counselor a few years ago, but they were laid off too.

Check it out.

For The Nation‘s site, I interviewed the author of the AFL-CIO Youth Summit’s resolution backing Occupy Wall Street:

Clinton faults New York unions for not working more closely with community groups to avert cuts in the recent budget fight. “We all need to be banding together,” she says, “and demanding that we’re not going to have cuts, we’re not going to have layoffs, and we’re not going to compromise.”

Here’s my new piece for the Prospect on how companies use RICO suits to chill organizing – and speech:

But to apply mafia law to union campaigns just emboldens management lawlessness. Corporate campaigns are a private-sector remedy to the government’s refusal to make good on the promise of the National Labor Relations Act: Workers should be able to organize without losing their jobs.

Check it out.

I wrote a short report on Catholics challenging the female ordination ban for this week’s issue of The Nation:

Upon its arrival in Rome in October, the delegation will seek an audience with the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the faith (the body formerly known as the inquisition), which oversees church doctrine. “Change in the church always comes from the bottom,” says Daley. “Many of the excommunicated historically became saints.”

It’s in the Noted (news briefs) section. Subscribers can read the issue here.

The David Pakman show just aired an interview David did with me on the Boeing NLRB complaint, the GOP pushback, and what Americans can do about it. You can see the video here, or download the audio here.