Reclaiming History

Jobs, Journalism, Justice

Articles by R.V. Murphy

City Council candidates speak out on homelessness at social justice forum

By R.V. Murphy | October 19, 2011

Candidates for Seattle City Council said they support housing levies and think the city can play a role in ending homelessness. At the Seattle City Council Candidates Forum on Social Justice Issues at Christ Our Hope Church Sunday afternoon, they disagreed only slightly in how to do that.

Position 9 incumbent Sally Clark was the only candidate to get more than polite applause when, in a moment of candor she said, "There's probably not a helluva lot the City Council can do to create jobs.'' ...

Rachel Corrie trial delayed in Israel

By R.V. Murphy | October 14, 2010

An Israeli trial investigating charges that Israel played a role in the 2003 death of Evergreen College activist Rachel Corrie has been postponed as the Israeli Supreme Court mulls an appeal by Corrie family lawyers. The postponement stems from a disagreement over whether witnesses could obscure their identities. ...

Cadillac Man tells tales of a city’s mean streets

By R.V. Murphy | September 15, 2010

BOOK REVIEW: Land Of The Lost Souls: My Life On The Streets By Cadillac Man, Bloomsbury, 2010, Paperback, 304 pages, $15 ...

Marijuana advocates have their say

By R.V. Murphy | September 15, 2010

Local author and travel expert Rick Steves feels it's his Constitutional right to smoke marijuana. State Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles (D-36) wants to regulate those dispensing medical marijuana, but admits that taxes garnered from selling cannabis legally would cut into the state deficit. ...

Rivet by rivet, a barrier approaches

By R.V. Murphy | August 24, 2010

People who've driven on the Aurora Bridge the past two Sundays, and experienced longer weekend commutes than usual due to lane closures, can expect more of the same on Sun., Aug. 29 and Sept. 2. Residents living in Fremont and Queen Anne who've heard the rat-a-tat sound of a rivet buster -- a device that removes the square, metal rivets on the bridge -- can expect to hear more as well. ...

The Eliminationists: How Hate Talk Radicalized the American Right

By R.V. Murphy | February 10, 2010

The Eliminationists: How Hate Talk Radicalized the American Right By David Neiwert, PoliPoint Press, soft cover, 2009, 249 pages, $16.95

There's a great irony to David Neiwert's new book "The Eliminationists: How Hate Talk Radicalized the American Right." While a lot of the book reads like columns culled from Neiwert's blog, "Orcinus" (going all the way back to the Bill Clinton administration), it's more topical than ever. ...

The truth about the Trench Coat Mafia?

By R.V. Murphy | September 3, 2009

Columbine By Dave Cullen, 2009, Hatchett Book Group, Hardcover, 402 pages, $26.99

Let's get one thing straight: Dave Cullen knows more about the Columbine Massacre than you do. Or I do. Even more than some of the people who went to Columbine High or lived in Littleton, Colo. And most probably more than the Jefferson County Police who botched the case and went into serious cover-your-ass mode, and those in the evangelical movement who used the tragedy for its own advantage. ...

Finding a cup of coffee, and salvation

By R.V. Murphy | April 8, 2009

When I was first handed the book, "Breakfast at Sally's," I was afraid it was going to be about panhandling. Because of my own experiences with panhandlers when I sold "Real Change" eons ago and because of my own aversion about asking people for things, it wasn't a topic that appealed to me. But in fact, author Richard LeMieux writes the most accurate and complete view of the homeless -- and the experience of being homeless -- that I've read. ...

Change Agent: Mike Jung

By R.V. Murphy | March 18, 2009

When the Washington State Labor Council adopted an immigrant rights resolution last year, some credit was due to a progressive organization that only began in the fall of 2006.

Organized Workers for Labor Solidarity is a multiracial, multicultural group of labor activists working to strengthen collective action among unions. "We support the rank and file; we're not appointed by union bureaucrats," says OWLS co-leader Mike Jung, a member of Office and Professional Employees International Union Local 8. "We say no to wage decreases and back contracts." ...