BRAVE NEW FILMS – In The Media

By Ross Frasier for Press TV

Los Angeles is known as the wage theft capital of America. A study from the University of California at Los Angeles shows that employers steal more from workers in Los Angeles than in New York or Chicago. And each year, more employers decide to take advantage of workers, most of whom are immigrants. There are an estimated 750,000 low wage workers in Los Angeles.

By Emily Alpert Reyes for the Los Angeles Times

Two Los Angeles City Council members began a push Tuesday for a new city ordinance that would crack down on businesses that cheat workers of their pay.

"If you steal from a store, you go to jail," said Councilman Paul Koretz, who was joined by Councilman Gil Cedillo in moving to draft a proposal. "But employers who cheat their workers out of their hard-earned wages usually get away with it."

By Carl Hulse for the New York Times 

WICHITA, Kan. — In national politics, playing in Charles Koch’s arena can mean saturation advertising against vulnerable Democrats, calls for tax cuts, demands to roll back government regulation and bitter clashes over climate change.

By Clyde Weiss for AFSCME

Billionaire brothers David and Charles Koch, whose vast wealth as head of Koch Industries enabled them to finance the tea party, are now documentary film stars, and this film is one we encourage you to watch.

Jerry Ryberg for the Galesburg Register

Editor, Register-Mail: Our screening of Brave New Films’ “Koch Brothers Exposed: 2014 Edition” Tuesday evening upstairs at the Galesburg Public Library, drew 21 people. That was more than I expected. I’m sure that none of them knew the full extent of how and how fast Charles and David Koch are taking us to a complete oligarchy. “Gasps of dismay” were heard during the screening.

By Sarah Solon for ACLU 

Welcome to Alabama, the state of the never-ending seat belt ticket. Hali Wood is 17. She's applied to work at several grocery stores in her home town of Columbiana, but none are hiring. A few months back, cops ticketed Hali for not wearing a seat belt. The fine: $41. Hali has paid $41 and then some, but she's still hundreds of dollars in debt. Why? Because the court contracts with JCS, a for-profit probation company that forces Hali to choose between paying their exorbitant fees and going to jail.

By Daniel Ross for AlterNet

Kathleen Hucks was almost a model probationer. In 2006 she was convicted of driving under the influence, possession of marijuana, and driving with a suspended license in Columbia County, Georgia. She successfully completed her probation and paid all of her court-issued fines.

By Daniel Ross for AlterNet

Kathleen Hucks was almost a model probationer. In 2006 she was convicted of driving under the influence, possession of marijuana, and driving with a suspended license in Columbia County, Georgia. She successfully completed her probation and paid all of her court-issued fines.

By Allegra Kirkland for AlterNet.

hink back to the heady days of July 2004. Presidential campaign season was in full swing, with John Kerry and John Edwards joining forces against the Bush ticket. The media obsession of the summer was Kerry’s uneven voting record, with new headlines emerging almost weekly even as George Bush quietly continued setting the county on fire. In the midst of this mayhem, director Robert Greenwald and his team at Brave New Films released Outfoxed, a documentary that exposed the concerted efforts of Fox News to promote a partisan Republican agenda through the guise of a traditional news service. It’s been 10 years since that seminal film was released. AlterNet caught up with Greenwald to chat about how American politics has evolved—or devolved—over the last decade.

For The Register-Mail

Our screening of Brave New Films’ “Koch Brothers Exposed: 2014 Edition” Tuesday evening upstairs at the Galesburg Public Library, drew 21 people. That was more than I expected. I’m sure that none of them knew the full extent of how and how fast Charles and David Koch are taking us to a complete oligarchy. “Gasps of dismay” were heard during the screening.