Joe Burns’ incredibly important new book seems to me much larger than the labor movement. I hope he will share with us today some insights into his view of U.S. labor history and the potential for a U.S. labor future, but also his perspective on how this impacts our society as a whole. Are we right to look to the labor movement as a possible ally in the struggle for justice and maybe even peace?

Another step towards smaller, less intrusive government, courtesy of the libertarian-minded teabagger-dominated House majority: Internal Revenue Service agents will be required to determine whether your abortion was paid for with tax dollars. Even more horrifying, income tax return filing forms may need to ask if you’d had an abortion and how you paid for it.

Computer models project that oil from the BP disaster in the Gulf will hit loop currents by June, bringing oil up most of the Atlantic coast by the end of this month. According to this model, oil will shoot up Florida all the way to Virginia before it heads out to the middle of the Atlantic Ocean (and international waters). Strands of oil look to make their way towards the Chesapeake Bay and other points north as time goes on. Watch the video here.

With all the concern about the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, I thought it would be helpful to put the corporate citizenship of BP, Transocean, and Halliburton into perspective. This isn’t the first disaster with corporate sponsorship, after all.