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So, that happened. This week, the fight over President Barack Obama's immigration policy returns to the halls of Congress, with opponents of the president's executive actions threatening to cease funding for the Department of Homeland Security. Is this a smart idea? Of course not. But we'll talk about it as if it might make sense to someone.

Listen to this week's "So, That Happened" below:




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Some highlights from this week:

"Ultimately the borders aren't going to be open if DHS shuts down. People are not going to be getting on planes without being checked. Immigration is not going to stop deporting people." -- Elise Foley

Meanwhile, potential Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush went through the ancient campaign ritual of giving a foreign policy philosophy speech, to prove that he cares about foreign policy, and ancient rituals. Did you notice that Jeb Bush has the same last name as another president with a foreign policy? Because this was the week that every political reporter finally noticed that.

"It's weird because we come to this point and then we start talking about 'Oh, it's the so-and-so doctrine.' I was looking for signs of a 'Jeb Doctrine' and not a 'Bush Doctrine,' and I didn't see much distinctions." -- Jason Linkins

Finally, Sen. Elizabeth Warren has been having what we are told are world-historical chitchats with people like former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and current Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen. What do these meetings augur? Well, none of us was present at the meetings, so we'll do what media experts call "guessing."

"I think that sometimes Clinton's people will say, 'Look, they aren't that far away on most policy issues,' and to some extent that's true, but actually the rhetoric kind of does matter in a political campaign. ... Hillary Clinton is just not that good at talking populist." -- Zach Carter

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"So, That Happened" is available on iTunes. We've been working to create an eclectic and informative panel show that's constantly evolving, a show that's as in touch with the top stories of the week as it is with important stories that go underreported. We'll be here on a weekly basis, bringing you the goods.

Never miss an episode: Subscribe to "So, That Happened" on iTunes, and if you like what you hear, please leave a review. We also encourage you to check out other HuffPost Podcasts: HuffPost Comedy's "Too Long; Didn't Listen," the HuffPost Weird News Podcast, HuffPost Politics' "Drinking and Talking," HuffPost Live's "Fine Print" and HuffPost Entertainment's Podcast.

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Opponents of President Nicolas Maduro poured into the streets Friday to condemn the surprise arrest of Caracas' mayor for allegedly participating in a U.S.-backed plot to overthrow his government.

The protests came a day after an armed commando unit dressed in camouflage raided Mayor Antonio Ledezma's office and hauled him away. The detention, recorded by security cameras, set off a wave of spontaneous demonstrations in middle-class neighborhoods loyal to the opposition and on Friday a few hundred supporters gathered peacefully to denounce Ledezma's "kidnapping." The mayor was charged with conspiracy, a crime punishable by 8 to 16 years in jail, and sent Friday night to a military prison outside Caracas where other prominent government foes are being held.

The arrest of the 59-year-old mayor, one of Maduro's fiercest critics, comes as the government struggles to avert a crisis years in the making but made worse by a recent tumble in oil prices. The president's approval rating was hovering around 22 percent in January, the lowest in 16 years of socialist rule, as Venezuelans are forced to cope with widespread shortages, runaway inflation and a plunge in the currency that shows little sign of abating.

Maduro has taken to the airwaves in recent days to rail against his opponents, accusing them of conspiring with the United States to sabotage the oil-dependent economy, sowing chaos and carry out a coup timed to coincide with the anniversary this month of 2014 anti-government protests that left more than 40 dead.

As part of the crackdown, he's also seized control of a major retail chain, jailed several executives and handed more power to the military to control protests and smoke out saboteurs.

However, the dire situation hasn't translated into support for the frequently out-maneuvered opposition.

Turnout at Friday's demonstration was the largest for an anti-government rally in months but nowhere near the throngs that rocked cities a year ago, a sign of the steep challenge the opposition still faces connecting with mistrustful voters ahead of legislative elections later this year.

The government's case against Ledezma appeared to stem from a public letter he wrote with two other hardliners calling for a transitional government. Maduro said the letter, published in an anti-government newspaper, was the green light for a secretly hatched putsch and on Friday said that next week he would present videos and recordings detailing U.S. Embassy involvement in the plot.

The U.S. called the accusations "baseless and false."

While Ledezma's arrest may be the boldest action against his rivals, it's unlikely to rattle Maduro's core base, which is better organized and more at ease in the throes of the crisis than the opposition, according to David Smilde, a Venezuelan researcher and senior fellow at the Washington Office on Latin America.

"The 20 percent that are left (supporting Maduro) are pretty hardcore and Ledezma is not a likable character," Smilde said.

The embattled president could also be gambling that the allegations of a coup will enable him to distract attention from the mounting woes and weaken the opposition enough to allow him to prevail in legislative elections slated for later this year.

But the growing crackdown is not without risks. Opponents, who seemed lifeless in recent weeks even as the country's problems have worsened, are enraged and international condemnation of Maduro's human rights record is likely to rise.

On Friday, the Obama administration said it is considering additional actions to pressure the government after it expanded this month a travel ban on individuals accused of corruption and abuses. It also called on regional governments to ensure Venezuela lives up to its commitments to democracy.

"Venezuela's problems cannot be solved by criminalizing dissent," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporter.

So far reaction has been muted, with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, the U.S.'s top ally in the region, urging that Ledezma's due process rights be respected but stopping short of calling for the mayor's release. Brazil, whose Workers Party government is close to Maduro and a major investor in Venezuela, expressed concern and called on both sides to "work for peace and the maintenance of democracy."

Foreign ministers from the two countries and Ecuador are expected to arrive in Caracas in the coming days to try and open a channel of dialogue between the government and opposition.

Ledezma has been a thorn in the side of the ruling party since he was elected mayor in 2008, beating out a member of the socialist party led by the late President Hugo Chavez. The government subsequently transferred most of his powers to a newly created office run by a loyalist.

He was re-elected in 2013 and has been on the attack ever since alongside Leopoldo Lopez, a former mayor whom he'll now join in jail. Lopez was arrested a year ago for allegedly inciting violence at anti-government protests.

Despite Ledezma's reputation as a rabble-rouser he's rare among opposition leaders in having family ties to the ruling elite by way of his stepdaughter, who is married to Tourism Minister Andres Izarra, a top government spokesman.

Government critics say that as the administration loses strength, it is becoming more dangerous.

"The mayor of the capital arrested just like that? That never happens. It's too ugly," said Maria Fernandez, who lives in the shadow of the presidential palace and makes her living selling loose cigarettes, candy and pirated movies. "I'm worried we're going to see more repression."

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Associated Press writers Luis Alonso Lugo in Washington, Jacobo G. Garcia in Bogota, Colombia, and Bradley Brooks in Rio de Janeiro contributed to this report.

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BAUCHI, Nigeria, Feb 22 (Reuters) - A young girl with explosives strapped to her killed five people and wounded dozens at a security checkpoint outside a market in the northeast Nigerian town of Potiskum on Sunday, witnesses said.
"(She) refused to be checked at the gate to the market and an argument ensued," witness Ibrahim Maishago told Reuters by telephone. "She let off the bomb, killing herself and five others, while many were injured."
No one claimed responsibility for the bombing, which bore the hallmarks of Islamist militant group Boko Haram. The insurgents have suffered a string of defeats in a military offensive by Nigeria and neighbors Cameroon, Niger and Chad.
Resident Bala Potiskum said he saw dozens of wounded being rushed to hospital after the blast.
Both witnesses described the bomber as a "small girl," estimating that she could not have been more than eight years old.
The Islamist fighters appear to be on the run in many parts of Nigeria and regions near its borders, after being subjected to a major offensive on all sides, but retain the ability to mount deadly surprise attacks.
The use of female suicide bombers, sometimes young girls, has been a common tactic of Boko Haram since last year, as have revenge attacks on civilians when the group is under pressure.
Nigerian forces backed by air strikes seized the northeastern border town of Baga from Boko Haram on Saturday, the military said, a significant victory and one of a string of recent successes.
President Goodluck Jonathan, who has been strongly criticized for not taking tougher action against Boko Haram, faces an election on March 28 in which security is a key issue. (Reporting by Ardo Abdallah; writing by Tim Cocks; editing by Rosalind Russell)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's new campaign ad compares the leader's defiance in seeking to address the U.S. Congress despite White House opposition with legendary Israeli leader David Ben Gurion's refusal to bow to U.S. State Department opposition when he helped create the state of Israel. (Watch above.)

The ad, which is in Hebrew and features grainy, black-and-white graphics, flashes back to 1948 as a voiceover intones the following, per a Haaretz translation: "In 1948, Ben-Gurion stood before a fateful decision: The creation of the State of Israel. The U.S. secretary of state firmly objected. Ben-Gurion - contrary to the State Department's position - announced the establishment of the state. Would we be here today had Ben-Gurion not done the right thing?"

The ad was posted on Netanyahu's Facebook page, accompanied by text declaring his commitment to addressing Congress. "Congress is the only place where a bad deal can be stopped. It is the right and essential thing to do to safeguard Israel's security and existence," Netanyahu wrote, according to a translation by the Times of Israel.

Netanyahu is expected to address Congress on March 3 on the issue of Iran's nuclear program, of which he has been a fierce critic. He was invited by Speaker of the House John Boehner -- not President Barack Obama -- and the episode has significantly widened the already-wide rift between the American president and the Israeli prime minister. The White House is reportedly considering options to undercut Netanyahu's message according to the Associated Press.

Israel goes to the polls on March 17. Recent polling shows Netanyahu's Likud in a tight race with the center-left Zionist Union.

The Times of Israel notes that while Secretary of State George C. Marshall did indeed oppose recognizing Israel at the time, President Harry Truman was a firm supporter, "making the US the first country to provide Israel with de facto recognition moments after it declared independence."

(Adds comment from Ledezma's daughter; Unasur details)
By Alexandra Ulmer
CARACAS, Feb 21 (Reuters) - The mayor of Venezuela's capital Caracas will fight charges of plotting violence against the socialist government, his lawyer said on Saturday, denouncing the accusations as baseless.
Intelligence agents seized 59-year-old Antonio Ledezma, a trained lawyer, at his office on Thursday night.
He was indicted the next day on conspiracy charges against President Nicolas Maduro and is held at the Ramo Verde military prison, where fellow hardline opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez has been jailed for a year.
The opposition said Ledezma's arrest indicated an increasingly unpopular Maduro was cracking down on dissent to hold on to power and distract citizens from chronic shortages of basic goods, the region's highest inflation, a recession, and sky-high crime.
But Ledezma's lawyer Omar Estacio says he believes in Venezuela's justice system and he planned to lodge a first appeal as early as Monday or Tuesday.
"We're going to appeal the judge's decision," he said. "I feel very confident that the Venezuelan justice will rectify this because these charges are truly unfounded."
Officials have said a public document signed by Ledezma and two other opposition leaders urging a transition is a roadmap for an uprising. They also said he was among various politicians supporting a new plot with dissident military officers to topple the president via air strikes.
Ledezma is the highest-profile Maduro opponent arrested after Lopez, who was detained for his role in last year's protests that brought four months of violence and led to 43 deaths.
The mayor's arrest prompted isolated demonstrations in the capital and fresh violence in the opposition stronghold of San Cristobal in western Venezuela, witnesses said.
"This is when people need to take to the street to defend democracy, without succumbing to violence, which would only benefit the government," Luis Pulido, a former member of Ledezma's media team, said on Friday at a small rally in Caracas.
Ledezma's daughter Antonietta on Saturday urged Venezuelans to take to the streets amid what she termed a "critical moment" for the country.
But while Ledezma's arrest brought condemnation from the United States and rights groups, it has so far failed to ignite major protests in deeply polarized Venezuela.
Many Maduro supporters loathe Ledezma, whom they call "The Vampire," and say he is part of an undemocratic, elitist clan intent on recouping power in oil-rich Venezuela.
Separately, Uruguay, which currently holds the presidency of South American bloc Unasur, said it was coordinating an imminent trip by foreign ministers of regional powerhouse Brazil, Colombia and Ecuador to meet with Maduro in Caracas. (Additional reporting by Diego Ore in Caracas and Esteban Farat in Montevideo; Editing by Stephen Powell and Franklin Paul)

Fierce debate continues in Washington over the proposed trade agreement known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), between the United States and 11 Asia-Pacific nations, including Japan. Hundreds of members of Congress (from both parties!) are joining economists left and right to include an enforceable provision on currency manipulation in the TPP, but there are still some who argue that this rule isn't needed.

That's why we put together this handy list of the top 10 facts you need to know about currency and the TPP. (Hint: It's about middle-class jobs).

1. Japan, a potential TPP partner, is gaming the United States, and it's getting worse. The country's currency, the yen, is down by over 50 percent over the past three years. Meanwhile, Japan's export growth is way up. Example: Japan ships 1.5 million cars to the U.S. every year -- while we ship 20,000 to Japan.



2. History tells us that Japan responds to pressure on currency. Back in the 1980s, the Reagan administration compelled Japan via the Plaza Accord to raise the value of the yen and shift some production to the U.S. or lose some access to the U.S. market. And, wouldn't you know it, Japan complied.



3. If we want to ensure that China doesn't write the rules of trade in Asia, then the TPP must include currency, because China will be the prime beneficiary of the TPP if we don't apply pressure on currency, both inside and outside the trade agreement. China spent much of 2014 manipulating its currency, the yuan, to boost its exports. Partly as a consequence, the U.S. trade-in-goods deficit with China grew from $226.9 billion in 2009 to a record $342.6 billion in 2014. The yuan essentially hasn't increased in value since President Obama and 2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney stopped talking about it on the 2012 campaign trail.



4. We also know that China responds to pressure. The only significant movements in the yuan over the past 14 years have occurred when:
   a. Congress voted to put pressure on China (see 2005, 2010, 2011);
   b. The Obama administration made a credible threat (see 2010);
   c. When China's currency cheating was part of the national political conversation (see 2012).



5. Defining currency manipulation isn't rocket science. Clear guidelines have been in place for decades, through organizations such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Trade Organization (WTO), along with the Treasury Department's semi-annual exchange rate report.



6. The United States is not a currency manipulator (despite what some misguided pundits have argued), nor would it ever be considered one. We don't have persistent current account surpluses, and we don't accumulate massive quantities of foreign currency reserves -- two things you need to be defined as a currency manipulator by the IMF and any other credible source.



7. Even if you don't believe Japan is currently manipulating its currency, having a deterrent in place through the TPP simply makes sense. Establishing clear consequences for currency cheating right from the start ensures a level playing field for all parties involved.



8. The TPP doesn't stand a chance of passage without currency in it. Large, bipartisan majorities of the House and Senate have weighed in. So have a significant group of domestic manufacturers and economists.



9. Ignore the naysayers. A currency provision for the TPP is not a poison pill for the agreement. That's why traditional free-trade proponents such as Reagan administration veteran and economist Art Laffer and former Bush administration U.S. Trade Representative and current Ohio Sen. Rob Portman feel so strongly about it.



10. Above everything else, this isn't an academic debate. It's about American jobs. More than 900,000 U.S. jobs -- 466,000 of them in manufacturing -- were lost in 2013 due to the trade deficit with Japan (which was driven by Japan's currency manipulation). China's currency manipulation displaced 3.2 million U.S. jobs between 2001 and 2013.

But projections show that ending currency manipulation would create 5.8 million jobs over three years. And that effort starts by making sure there is a strong, enforceable rule against currency cheating in the TPP.

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — A video purported to be by Somalia's al-Qaida-linked rebel group al-Shabab urged Muslims to attack shopping malls in the U.S., Canada, Britain and other Western countries.

In the video, released late Saturday, the extremist group again said its September 2013 attack on the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya, was in reprisal for Kenyan military involvement in Somalia. Sixty-seven people died in the attack. The video, using footage from major news organizations, showed the assault on the mall. The masked narrator of the 76-minute video warned of more attacks in Kenya and concluded by calling on Muslims to attack shopping malls, specifically mentioning the Mall of America in Minnesota, the West Edmonton Mall in Canada and the Westfield mall in Stratford, England.

The authenticity of the video could not be immediately verified by The Associated Press.

The narrator, his face wrapped in a black-and-white kaffiyeh-type scarf and wearing a camouflage jacket, spoke with a British accent and appeared to be of Somali origin. He accused Kenyan troops in Somalia of committing abuses against Somali Muslims.

He ended the video by calling on Muslim men to attack other shopping malls in Western countries.

"What if such an attack were to occur in the Mall of America in Minnesota? Or the West Edmonton Mall in Canada? Or in London's Oxford Street?" the masked man said, then called for Britain's Westfield mall to be targeted.

Speaking on morning talks shows in the U.S., Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, called the video "the new phase" of the global terrorist threat and said the U.S. took such threats seriously.

"These groups are relying more and more on independent actors to become inspired, drawn to the cause and they'll attack on their own," Johnson said, speaking on CNN's "State of the Union."

"I am very concerned about serious potential threats of independent actors here in the United States. We've seen this now in Europe, we've seen this in Canada."

Asked specifically about the Mall of America, Johnson said: "Any time a terrorist organization calls for an attack on a specific place we've got to take that seriously. What we're telling the public is you've got to be vigilant. ... There will be enhanced security there that will be apparent ... but public vigilance, public awareness and public caution in situations like this is particularly important. It's the environment we're in."

The Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, and the Edmonton Mall both issued statements saying they have increased security.

Minnesota is home to the largest Somali population in the U.S., and the Twin Cities have been the target of terror recruiters. Since 2007, more than 22 young Somali men from Minnesota have traveled to Somalia to join al-Shabab, and a handful of Minnesota residents have also traveled to Syria to fight with militants within the last year, authorities say. At least one Minnesotan has died while fighting for the Islamic State.

On Thursday, a 19-year-old Minneapolis man who was stopped at a New York City airport in November as he and three others were allegedly attempting to travel to Syria was indicted on charges associated with supporting the Islamic State group.

Last week U.S. Attorney Andy Luger led a Minnesota delegation, including law enforcement officials and Somali community leaders, to a White House summit on countering extremism and radicalization. In his remarks, Vice President Joe Biden held up Boston, Los Angeles and Minneapolis as examples of communities moving ahead with programs to counter extremism locally.

In Kenya, the government dismissed the al-Shabab video.

"They're using propaganda to legitimize what cannot be legitimized. When you lead a group to go and attack a shopping mall and kill innocent shoppers that cannot be legitimized, those were not soldiers," Interior Ministry spokesman Mwenda Njoka said.

"Muslims also died in the Westgate attack. It's in our interest to ensure Somalia is stabilized because the instability affects us. The video is cheap propaganda trying to re-write history and to get more support from those support them."

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AP writers Tom Odula in Nairobi, Kenya; Jeff Baenen in Minneapolis and Thomas Strong in Washington, DC, contributed to this report.

One peace ring begets another.

A group of Norwegians plans to link hands and encircle a mosque in Oslo, Norway, next Saturday, offering the symbolic peace gesture as a "thank you" to the city's Muslim population, more than 1,000 of whom formed their own "peace circle" around Oslo's synagogue this weekend.

Tonight Norwegian muslims formed a human shield in front of the Oslo synagogue. Historic. #ringOfPeaceOslo #Norway pic.twitter.com/iCQxJrQSrt
— Oda Leraan Skjetne (@oSkjetne) February 21, 2015

1300 Muslims link hands in a Ring of Peace around Jewish synagogue in Oslo. Best news from Europe all year. pic.twitter.com/CnsrbC3o1c
— ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) February 21, 2015

Organizers of the event say they want the human shield to be a seen as an endorsement of peace, tolerance and respect for Muslims, who they say are "a vulnerable minority in Norwegian society."

"We want to stand shoulder to shoulder with our Muslim fellow citizens to show disgust towards increasing Muslim hate and xenophobia in society," the organizers say, according to a translation of the event's Facebook page.

"In this time of fear and polarization we feel it is more important than ever to stand together and show solidarity," the organizers continue. "We believe in and will highlight [the] human will to live together in peace and in [respect] for each other regardless of religion [and] ethnicity."

This past Saturday, members of Oslo's Muslim population encircled a synagogue there. The gesture came a week after a Danish-born man, reportedly of Arab origins, killed two people at a free speech event and a synagogue in Copenhagen, Denmark.

"Humanity is one and we are here to demonstrate that," Zeeshan Abdullah, one of the organizers of the synagogue event, told Reuters. "There are many more peace mongers than warmongers ... There's still hope for humanity, for peace and love, across religious differences and backgrounds."

JERUSALEM, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Israel's mayor of Jerusalem and his security guard wrestled a Palestinian attacker to the ground near city hall on Sunday after an ultra-Orthodox Jew was stabbed with a knife at a busy intersection.
Security camera footage showed mayor Nir Barkat, in a white shirt, walk towards the suspect together with his bodyguard and lunge at him, pinning him down on a pedestrian crossing before others took charge and detained the man.
Before Barkat intervened, the distant but distinct black-and-white footage showed a man waving his arm in a stabbing motion and making contact with one individual and attempting to stab others as they waited to cross the road. When they realized what had happened, the pedestrians ran clear.
The stab victim was rushed to hospital but was not seriously hurt, medical officials said. Police said the suspect, an 18-year-old Palestinian, did not have authorisation to reside in Israel.
"My bodyguard took out his weapon and when he aimed at the terrorist, the terrorist dropped his knife and we immediately tackled him on the ground to make sure that he cannot continue with the terror attack," Barkat told reporters shortly afterwards.
Barkat, 55, served as an officer in the paratroopers' brigade. A former high-tech entrepreneur, he was elected as Israel's mayor of Jerusalem in 2008.
Jerusalem has been the scene of many attacks in recent years. Most recently, late last year tensions rose again over access to a holy site in an Israeli-annexed part of the city where al-Aqsa mosque now stands and Biblical Jewish temples once stood.
Eleven Israelis have been killed, including four rabbis and a policeman stabbed and shot by Palestinians in a Jerusalem synagogue. Twelve Palestinians have also been killed, including several of those who carried out the attacks.
Israel annexed East Jerusalem, in whose walled Old City the compound is located, as part of its capital. This status is not recognized abroad. Many world powers support the Palestinians' goal of setting up their own future capital in East Jerusalem. (Writing by Ori Lewis; Editing by Stephen Powell)

GM is worth around $60 billion, and has over 200,000 employees. Its front-line workers earn from $19 to $28.50 an hour, with benefits.

Uber is estimated to be worth some $40 billion, and has 850 employees. Uber also has over 163,000 drivers (as of December -- the number is expected to double by June), who average $17 an hour in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., and $23 an hour in San Francisco and New York.

But Uber doesn't count these drivers as employees. Uber says they're "independent contractors."

What difference does it make?

For one thing, GM workers don't have to pay for the machines they use. But Uber drivers pay for their cars -- not just buying them but also their maintenance, insurance, gas, oil changes, tires, and cleaning. Subtract these costs and Uber drivers' hourly pay drops considerably.

For another, GM's employees get all the nation's labor protections.

These include Social Security, a 40-hour workweek with time-and-a-half for overtime, worker health and safety, worker's compensation if injured on the job, family and medical leave, minimum wage, pension protection, unemployment insurance, protection against racial or gender discrimination, and the right to bargain collectively.

Not to forget Obamacare's mandate of employer-provided health care.

Uber workers don't get any of these things. They're outside the labor laws.

Uber workers aren't alone. There are millions like just them, also outside the labor laws -- and their ranks are growing. Most aren't even part of the new Uberized "sharing" economy.

They're franchisees, consultants, and free lancers.

They're also construction workers, restaurant workers, truck drivers, office technicians, even workers in hair salons.

What they all have in common is they're not considered "employees" of the companies they work for. They're "independent contractors" -- which puts all of them outside the labor laws, too.

The rise of "independent contractors" is the most significant legal trend in the American workforce -- contributing directly to low pay, irregular hours, and job insecurity.

What makes them "independent contractors" is the mainly that the companies they work for say they are. So those companies don't have to pick up the costs of having full-time employees.

But are they really "independent"? Companies can manipulate their hours and expenses to make them seem so.

It's become a race to the bottom. Once one business cuts costs by making its workers "independent contractors," every other business in that industry has to do the same -- or face shrinking profits and a dwindling share of the market

Some workers prefer to be independent contractors because that way they get paid in cash. Or they like deciding what hours they'll work.

Mostly, though, they take these jobs because they can't find better ones. And as the race to the bottom accelerates, they have fewer and fewer alternatives.

Fortunately, there are laws against this. Unfortunately, the laws are way too vague and not well-enforced.

For example, FedEx calls its drivers independent contractors.

Yet FedEx requires them to pay for the FedEx-branded trucks they drive, as well as the FedEx uniforms they wear, and FedEx scanners they use -- along with insurance, fuel, tires, oil changes, meals on the road, maintenance, and workers compensation insurance. If they get sick or need a vacation, they have to hire their own replacements. They're even required to groom themselves according to FedEx standards.

FedEx doesn't tell its drivers what hours to work, but it tells them what packages to deliver and organizes their workloads to ensure they work between 9.5 and 11 hours every working day.

If this isn't "employment," I don't know what the word means.

In 2005, thousands of FedEx drivers in California sued the company, alleging they were in fact employees and that FedEx owed them the money they shelled out, as well as wages for all the overtime work they put in.

Last summer, a federal appeals court agreed, finding that under California law -- which looks at whether a company "controls" how a job is done along with a variety of other criteria to determine the real employment relationship -- the FedEx drivers were indeed employees, not independent contractors.

Does that mean Uber drivers in California are also "employees"? That case is being considered right now.

What about FedEx drivers and Uber drivers in other states? Other truck drivers? Construction workers? Hair salon workers? The list goes on.

The law is still up in the air. Which means the race to the bottom is still on.

It's absurd to wait for the courts to decide all this case-by-case. We need a simpler test for determining who's an employer and employee.

I suggest this one: Any corporation that accounts for at least 80 percent or more of the pay someone gets, or receives from that worker at least 20 percent of his or her earnings, should be presumed to be that person's "employer."

Congress doesn't have to pass a new law to make this the test of employment. Federal agencies such as the Labor Department and the IRS have the power to do this on their own, through their rule making authority.

They should do so. Now.

ROBERT B. REICH's film "Inequality for All" is now available on DVD and blu-ray, and on Netflix. Watch the trailer below:

Once in a while in the U.S. we hear about a bill or a law that seems like it must be a joke. For example, in Florida it is illegal for a single woman to parachute or skydive on a Sunday. This week in Montana, a legislator explained that he seriously wants to make it illegal for women to wear yoga pants in public.

These examples might seem silly and inconsequential, but even so, at their core, they speak to very discriminatory ideas about gender, authority and rights that manifest themselves in much more dangerous ways all over the world, including in the United States. Last year in California, an appeals court overturned a rapist's conviction after a judge cited a standing 1872 law stating only married women could legally be raped.  Last December, a legislator in Missouri proposed a bill reading, "No abortion shall be performed or induced unless and until the father of the unborn child provides written, notarized consent to the abortion." And, because I promised myself I'd repeat this every single chance I have until it's not true, it is still legal in more than 30 states in the United States for a rapist to sue his rape victim for child visitation and custody if his forcible insemination resulted in a pregnancy.

As ridiculous as these sound to some of us, they were not included in a top 10 list of misogynistic laws compiled in a report released today by women's rights advocacy group Equality Now. The report describes laws maintained by more than 50 governments. Many reflect the institutionalization of men's entitlement to rape or beat wives and to "own" children. Others limit women's movements and ability to work based on what husband's want. Here are the top 10:

1. Saudi Arabia maintains its 1990 Fatwa prohibiting "women's driving of automobiles" as "a source of undeniable vices".

Last week, in a TV talk show, an historian defending this prohibition suggested that foreign female drivers be imported wholesale to avoid the shame that the rape ("not a big deal" for a woman) would bring to the family.  Of course, Saudi Arabia is only one of a handful of countries, including The Vatican, where women cannot vote. Saudi women are also, effectively, electronically tagged... if they try to travel out of the country their guardians are automatically contacted.

2. A 2013 Indian act confirmed the legality of marital rape... "Sexual intercourse or sexual acts by a man with his own wife, the wife not being under fifteen years of age, is not rape."

India has the world's highest number of early marriages and while fewer girls younger than 15 are being married (18.2 percent), the rates for girls ages 15-18 has increased to 29.2 percent. Waiting a year eliminates "rape."

3. In the U.S., a child born outside of marriage can only be granted citizenship in certain cases relating to the father.

For example, when "a blood relationship between the person and the father is established by clear and convincing evidence" or "the father (unless dead) agreed, in writing, to provide financially for the person until they reach age of eighteen. Somehow, I doubt that millennials, for whom out-of-wedlock births are the norm, know that this might be the case where they live.

4. Likewise, Yemen's 1992 act says that a wife "must permit [her husband] to have legitimate intercourse with her when she is fit to do so."

No age limit. Fourteen percent of girls in Yemen are married to adult men before they are 15. Periodically, the news cycle is interrupted by a sad and enraging story about girls and women assaulted, sometimes to death, by their husbands. While efforts are underway to change the legal age of marriage to 18, marital rape is a separate issue. In either case, Yemen is in the process of falling apart as I type.

5. In Malta, a kidnapper "after abducting a person, shall marry such person, he shall not be liable to prosecution."

This may seem like a strange law to some, however is a real problem in many countries and common in certain cultures.

6. In Nigeria, violence "by a husband for the purpose of correcting his wife" is just fine.

It is difficult for some, however, to live in a country where this is true and then move to another where it is not. Two weeks ago, Sahara Reporters' Abidodun Ladepo wrote about multiple cases of Nigerian men killing beating and killing their wives in the U.S. These women are among the three who die each day here at the hands of their spouses.

7. Women in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where during the war an estimated 48 women were raped per hour and where rape, including rape tied to intimate partner violence, continues at horrific rates, "is obliged to live with her husband and follow him wherever he sees fit to reside."

Marital rape is not a punishable offense.

8. In Guinea women are not allowed to have "a separate profession from that of her husband" if he objects.

9. Kenya's 2014 Marriage Act legitimizes polygamy.

"A marriage celebrated under customary law or Islamic law is presumed to be polygamous or potentially polygamous." This law is one thread in a very thick cloth and complicated cloth. Women's rights groups in the country seemed torn. Some applauded the law because polygamy is so widely practice and the law extended vital protections to all wives that were previously denied.

10. A Bahamian act dating from 1991, two years before the last U.S. state outlawed marital rape, defines rape as anyone older than 14 "having sexual intercourse with another person who is not his spouse."

In addition, married Bahamian women cannot pass their nationality to children, with foreign fathers, born outside of the country. This is not true for children born to Bahamian men. It's also easier for men to get citizenship for spouses.


Rape laws, laws governing movement or work or children's nationality are reflections of deeply held and rooted ideas about women being men's property.  The common law history of rape laws in particular show that rape was, and in many cases still is, not about a woman's human rights being violated, but about a man -- her father, brother, husband -- having his property stolen.  They were never meant to actually protect the raped, but rather defend these property rights. Rape, domestic violence, control of movement -- these are, by many men and the countries they govern, understood as entitlements. Men surveyed in the largest global study of gender-based violence cited "entitlement" as the "primary reason" that they sexually assaulted women.

Women living in countries where they face multiple forms of legal discrimination are rendered exceptionally vulnerable to both spousal and state abuse.  If they marry foreigners, or bear their children abroad, they constantly fear deportation of their families if they "get out of line." Because they are women, their families are economically disadvantaged in terms of property ownership and access to financial tools. When women cannot pass nationality on to children or their spouses it also frequently means their families have no access to public services.  Their children have no automatic and equal right to be educated in public schools, and their families might not have access to national heath care. If they are in abusive relationships they are much more likely to fear the loss of their children, who can be used to extort and control them. The inability to pass nationality on to male spouses and to children puts women at risk. Combined with other discriminatory laws, it hurts them and their families every day.

Equality Now has, for several years, led a global campaign to end sexism in laws governing nationality.  In the wake of the newly released report, they are pursing  country-by-country #unsexylaws campaigns, which include opportunities for interested people and organizations to support grass-roots activists.

PARIS (AP) — Hundreds of graves have been vandalized at a Jewish cemetery in eastern France, in what the president called an "odious and barbaric" anti-Semitic act against French values.

The vandalism comes at a time of growing insecurity among French Jews and amid general religious tensions in Europe, after Islamic radicals attacked a kosher market and a satirical newspaper in Paris last month and similar attacks hit Denmark this weekend.

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said in a statement Sunday that a criminal investigation team is at the damaged cemetery in Sarre-Union, near the German border, and authorities will do "everything" to pursue the vandals.

Jewish and Muslim gravesites and places of worship in France see sporadic but frequent vandalism. The incident this weekend was of an unusually large scale, and hit a cemetery that has been vandalized in the past. Local media reported that about 200 grave stones were knocked down, and a monument to Holocaust victims was damaged.

French President Francois Hollande said in a statement that "France is determined to fight relentlessly against anti-Semitism and those who want to attack the nation's values."

Hollande visited the Danish Embassy in Paris on Sunday, and a crowd waving candles gathered to show solidarity with the victims of the Copenhagen attacks.

"We need stand together in Europe and in all the world wherever jihadis try to threaten democracy," said Sacha Reingewirtz, president of the Union of Jewish Students of France.

Many French Jews feel increasingly worried about anti-Semitism, particularly coming from young Muslims who embrace radical ideology propagated online.

France has Europe's largest Jewish population, about half a million. More than 7,000 emigrated to Israel last year.

France's leading Muslim groups denounced the attacks in Paris and Copenhagen, and are frustrated that Islam is often associated with terrorism.