PORTSIDE List

Media Bits & Bytes – Tech Sector Barrels Along

Portside moderator — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:25:25 -0400

Media Bits & Bytes – Tech Sector Barrels Along

June 18, 2013
By
Portside (June 18, 2013)

Tech Companies have been in bed with the Pentagon for a long time; Feds Swap Data with Thousands of Firms; Balloon-powered Internet on the Horizon; Emotional Data Tugs at Internet Heartstrings; Uncertain Funding for Nonprofit News Sites; Who Needs Reporters Anyway? [...]

60 Years On: The Rosenberg Case and Constructive Revenge

Portside moderator — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 21:55:29 -0400

60 Years On: The Rosenberg Case and Constructive Revenge

June 18, 2013
By Robert Meeropol & Jenn Meeropol
Rosenberg Fund for Children (June 19, 2013)

Today, the issues raised by the Rosenberg case resonate from the Oval Office of the White House to Bradley Manning, who is being tried under the Espionage Act of 1917, as were Ethel and Julius. [...]

Bank of America lied to homeowners and rewarded foreclosures, former employees say

Portside moderator — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 22:09:24 -0400

Bank of America lied to homeowners and rewarded foreclosures, former employees say

June 18, 2013
By Paul Kiel, ProPublica
ProPublica (June 14, 2013)

Bank of America employees regularly lied to homeowners seeking loan modifications, denied their applications for made-up reasons, and were rewarded for sending homeowners to foreclosure.

Bank of America employees regularly lied to homeowners seeking loan modifications, denied their applications for made-up reasons, and were rewarded for sending homeowners to foreclosure, according to sworn statements by former bank employees.
The employee statements were filed late last week in federal court in Boston as part of a multi-state class [...]

America Feeds the Rich

Portside moderator — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 21:40:23 -0400

America Feeds the Rich

June 18, 2013
By Leo Gerard
Campaign for America's Future (June 18, 2013)

The Farm Bill that is expected to pass the U.S. House this week explains income inequality in America.

The Farm Bill that is expected to pass the U.S. House this week explains income inequality in America.
The Republican-sponsored proposal slashes food stamps for poor children and pads farm subsidies for wealthy agri-businessmen.
This comes just a week after Senate Republicans refused to protect the poorest students from doubled college loan interest rates because that required closing tax loopholes that benefit big corporations. It [...]

Thousands Gather for Protests in Brazil’s Largest Cities

Portside moderator — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 21:30:10 -0400

Thousands Gather for Protests in Brazil’s Largest Cities

June 18, 2013
By Simon Romero
The New York Times (June 17, 2013)

The growing protests rank among the largest and most resonant since the nation’s military dictatorship ended in 1985, with demonstrators numbering into the tens of thousands.

SÃO PAULO, Brazil — Protesters showed up by the thousands in Brazil’s largest cities on Monday night in a remarkable display of strength for an agitation that had begun with small protests against bus-fare increases, then evolved into a broader movement by groups and individuals irate over a range of issues including the [...]

From Ike to “The Matrix”: Welcome to the American dystopia

Portside moderator — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 22:31:12 -0400

From Ike to “The Matrix”: Welcome to the American dystopia

June 17, 2013
By Andrew O'Hehir
Salon (June 16, 2013)

We live in a country that embodies three different dystopian archetypes at once: America is partly a panopticon surveillance-and-security state, as in Orwell, partly an anesthetic and amoral consumer wonderland, as in Huxley, and partly a grand rhetorical delusion or “spectacle,” as in Dick or “The Matrix” or certain currents of French philosophy. [...]

They Can't Stop Beethoven, Can They? Orchestral Workers Fight For Dignity

Portside moderator — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 22:05:28 -0400

They Can't Stop Beethoven, Can They? Orchestral Workers Fight For Dignity

June 17, 2013
By Sam Pizzigati
Too Much - A commentary on excess and inequality (June 9, 2013)

Richard Davis chairs the negotiating committee at the nonprofit responsible for the Minnesota Orchestra. Last October 1, Davis and his fellow corporate managers who run the nonprofit "locked out" the orchestra's musicians after they refused to accept a contract offer that would have cut musician pay by up to 50 percent and jumped annual health care premiums by up to $8,000. These musicians are not striking. Quite the contrary. [...]

David Brooks, Tom Friedman, Bill Keller Wish Snowden Had Just Followed Orders

Portside moderator — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 21:51:32 -0400

David Brooks, Tom Friedman, Bill Keller Wish Snowden Had Just Followed Orders

June 17, 2013
By Norman Solomon
Nation of Change Human Rights (June 17, 2013)

This month, not only with words but also with actions, Edward Snowden is transcending the moral limits of authority and insisting that we can fully defend the Bill of Rights, emphatically including the Fourth
Amendment. What a contrast with New York Times columnists David Brooks, Thomas Friedman and Bill Keller, who have responded to Snowden’s revelations by siding with the violators of civil liberties at the top of the U.S. government. [...]

Iran to send 4,000 troops to aid President Assad

Portside moderator — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 22:22:39 -0400

Iran to send 4,000 troops to aid President Assad

June 17, 2013
By Robert Fisk
The Independent (June 16, 2013)

Washington’s decision to arm Syria’s Sunni Muslim rebels has plunged America into the great Sunni-Shia conflict of the Islamic Middle East. Breaking all President Barack Obama’s rules of disengagement, the US is now fully engaged on the side of armed groups which include the most extreme Sunni Islamist movements in the Middle East. For the first time, all of America’s ‘friends’ in the region are Sunni Muslims and all of its enemies are Shiites. [...]

Undercounting the Poor,The U.S.'s New, but Only Marginally Improved, Poverty Measure.

Portside moderator — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 21:36:49 -0400

Undercounting the Poor,The U.S.'s New, but Only Marginally Improved, Poverty Measure.

June 17, 2013
By Jeannette Wicks-Lim
Dollars & Sense May/June Issue (June 17, 2013)

The 2011 official poverty rate is 15.1%. The new poverty measure presented—and missed by a wide margin—the opportunity to bring into public view how widespread the problem of poverty is for American families. If what we mean by poverty is the inability to meet one’s basic needs a more reasonable poverty line would tell us that 34% of Americans—more than one in three—are poor. [...]

Even Our Ancestors Never Really Ate the “Paleo Diet”

Portside moderator — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 02:58:40 -0400

Even Our Ancestors Never Really Ate the “Paleo Diet”

June 17, 2013
By Carrie Arnold
Discover (June 3, 2013)

The Paleo Diet is a new food trend. There is little doubt that many modern humans eat too much sugar and processed foods. However, recent studies show that identifying a particular “paleo” diet is impossible. Researchers are just beginning to understand what ancient humans ate, and these recent studies show that grasses and grains have been part of the human diet for millions of years. [...]

Minimum Wage: Catching up to Productivity

Portside moderator — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 01:36:50 -0400

Minimum Wage: Catching up to Productivity

June 17, 2013
By John Schmitt
Democracy (June 12, 2013)

Between 1979 and 2012, after accounting for inflation, the productivity of the average American worker increased about 85 percent. Over the same period, the inflation-adjusted wage of the median worker rose only about 6 percent, and the value of the minimum wage fell 21 percent. As a country, we got richer, but workers in the middle saw little of the gains, and workers at the bottom actually fell behind. [...]

Protests in North Carolina Challenge Conservative Shift in State Politics

Portside moderator — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 02:00:49 -0400

Protests in North Carolina Challenge Conservative Shift in State Politics

June 16, 2013
By Kim Severson
New York Times (June 11, 2013)

Week by week, Monday by Monday, since April 29, a growing coalition assembled by the N.A.A.C.P. has challenged the newly conservative Republican leadership in North Carolina, raising its voice against the loss of the state’s centrist government and what they see as diminished recognition of the poor and minorities. [...]

Farmed Fish Production Overtakes Beef

Portside moderator — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 00:39:48 -0400

Farmed Fish Production Overtakes Beef

June 17, 2013
By Janet Larsen and J. Matthew Roney
Earth Policy Institute (June 12, 2013)

The world quietly reached a milestone in the evolution of the human diet in 2011. For the first time in modern history, world farmed fish production topped beef production. The gap widened in 2012, with output from fish farming—also called aquaculture—reaching a record 66 million tons, compared with production of beef at 63 million tons. And 2013 may well be the first year that people eat more fish raised on farms than caught in the wild. [...]

Man of Steel: Does Hollywood Need Saving From Superheroes?

Portside moderator — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 00:12:38 -0400

Man of Steel: Does Hollywood Need Saving From Superheroes?

June 16, 2013
By Joe Queenan
The Guardian (June 11, 2013)

Twenty years ago, after appearing in two phenomenally successful, visually opulent and generally brilliant Batman movies, Michael Keaton decided he didn't want to make any more Caped Crusader films. So he walked away. It was a disastrous move that effectively ended Keaton's career as a leading man, the actor learning the hard way that the only unforgivable crime in Hollywood is to walk away from a phenomenally successful franchise. [...]

Sacramento Shutters Seven Schools Filled with Poor and Minority Kids

Portside moderator — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 16:40:53 -0400

Sacramento Shutters Seven Schools Filled with Poor and Minority Kids

June 15, 2013
By Steven Hsieh
Alternet (June 13, 2013)

A history of ntergenerational poverty and racial segregation

Sacramento District Ignores Report Suggesting Closing Schools for Affluent White Kids, Instead Shutters Seven Schools Filled with Poor and Minority Kids
The Sacramento city school district is poised to close seven elementary schools, disproportionately hurting students in low-income and predominantly minority neighborhoods.
In response, twelve students and their parents filed a civil rights lawsuit, asking a federal court to block the closures. The suit claims that the Sacramento City Unified District’s decision [...]

Just the Tip of the Iceberg

Portside moderator — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 16:59:05 -0400

Just the Tip of the Iceberg

June 15, 2013
By Glenn Greenwald
The Guardian (UK) (June 14, 2013)

Addressing many of the issues arising from last week's NSA stories

I haven't been able to write this week here because I've been participating in the debate over the fallout from last week's NSA stories, and because we are very busy working on and writing the next series of stories that will begin appearing very shortly. I did, though, want to note a few points, and particularly highlight what Democratic Rep. Loretta Sanchez said after Congress on Wednesday was given a classified [...]

Brussels Failed to Act Against US Surveillance of EU Citizens

Portside moderator — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 17:39:06 -0400

Brussels Failed to Act Against US Surveillance of EU Citizens

June 15, 2013
By Nina Haase
Deutsche Welle (Germany) (June 11, 2013)

"The telecommunications providers have been forced to set up an electronic interface for the authorities so that IP addresses can be retrieved.. These trends also exist in Europe."

European authorities have known since mid-2011 that the US could conduct surveillance on EU citizens. But experts say that European countries had little interest in picking a fight with their ally in Washington.
There has been widespread outrage in Europe over the scope of the National Security Agency's PRISM surveillance [...]

REWIND - A Week of Quotes and Cartoons

Portside moderator — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 16:12:28 -0400

REWIND - A Week of Quotes and Cartoons

June 15, 2013
By Portside
(June 15, 2013)

NSA, Syria, Iran, Occupy, surveillance and more ...

REWIND - A Week of Quotes and Cartoons
SUNDAY
Quote of the Day
June 9, 2013
'I wouldn't rely on Congress to keep things under
control. It's really up to the president. As a
candidate, Obama looked as if he would be great at
riding herd on the N.S.A.'s excesses. But if he has ever
seriously pushed back on the spy set, it's been kept a
secret. Meanwhile, the administration scarfs up
reporters' e-mails and phone [...]

Where is the Skepticism About Chemical Weapons?

Portside moderator — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 14:12:59 -0400

Where is the Skepticism About Chemical Weapons?

June 15, 2013
By Patrick Cockburn
Democracy Now! (June 14, 2013)

The media’s lack of skepticism about White House claims

Patrick Cockburn on U.S. Plans to Arm Syrian Rebels: Where is the Skepticism About Chemical Weapons?
Veteran foreign correspondent Patrick Cockburn of The Independent joins us to discuss the Obama administration’s decision to begin directly arming Syrian rebels after concluding the regime of President Bashar al-Assad has used chemical weapons. "There must be some doubts about this," Cockburn says, adding that it "reminds me of what they were saying in 2002 and 2003 [...]

Edward Snowden's Worst Fear Has Not Been Realised – Thankfully

Portside moderator — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 01:57:34 -0400

Edward Snowden's Worst Fear Has Not Been Realised – Thankfully

June 14, 2013
By Glen Greenwald
The Guardian (June 14, 2013)

In my first substantive discussion with Edward Snowden, which took place via encrypted online chat, he told me he had only one fear -that the disclosures he was making, momentous though they were, would fail to trigger a worldwide debate because the public had already been taught to accept that they have no right to privacy in the digital age. Snowden, at least in that regard, can rest easy. The fallout from the Guardian's first week of revelations is [...]

The Sword Drops on Food Stamps

Portside moderator — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 01:40:51 -0400

The Sword Drops on Food Stamps

June 14, 2013
By George Zornick
The Nation (June 11, 2013)

Congress is about to slash food stamp funding in the midst of a deep economic recession, when more people rely on food stamps than ever before. The only hope now to at least moderate the cuts is a band of House Democrats who have pledged to fight the food stamp cuts ferociously. [...]

Real-Life True Blood: Synthetic Blood Is Coming

Portside moderator — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 01:25:04 -0400

Real-Life True Blood: Synthetic Blood Is Coming

June 14, 2013
By Devon Maloney
Wired (June 14, 2013)

Season 6 of HBO’s vampire drama True Blood premieres on Sunday night, presumably following up on last year’s cliffhanger where the factory that produces Tru-Blood — the bottled synthetic blood that allows vampires go “vegetarian” — was burned to the ground, destroying the product that made it possible for vampires to non-violently co-exist with people. But out here in the real world, the future of synthetic blood is just beginning. [...]

Reading Marx in Tehran

Portside moderator — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 01:12:13 -0400

Reading Marx in Tehran

June 14, 2013
By Mansour Osanloo
New York Times (June 13, 2013)

In the face of Iran's economic crisis and declining living conditions, none of the current candidates on the ballot has put forward a tangible economic plan that addresses workers’ concerns. They have made references to difficulties and criticized the Ahmadinejad administration’s mismanagement and corruption, but they have not proposed or discussed any solutions to the workers’ plight. [...]

Friday Nite Videos -- June 14, 2013

Portside moderator — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 01:00:29 -0400

Friday Nite Videos -- June 14, 2013

June 14, 2013
By
Portside (June 14, 2013)

Conservatives applaud President Obama's PRISM program. Mavis Staples' One True Vine released. The Rap Guide to Evolution. Maurice Sendak Google Doodle. Lewis Black's Future Tech. Richie Havens opens Woodstock.

Conservatives applaud Obama for imitating George W. Bush, and The Guardian wants a Pulitzer for printing Edward Snowden's NSA revelations. [...]

Sightseeing in the Apartheid State: From Ben Gurion to the West Bank

Portside moderator — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 23:32:36 -0400

Sightseeing in the Apartheid State: From Ben Gurion to the West Bank

June 13, 2013
By Cynthia Franklin
Portside (June 13, 2013)

Eyewitness to the still-unfolding history of ethnic cleansing and Occupation. Report from East Jerusalem and the West Bank. this land, together with Gaza, is referred to by the United Nations and other international bodies as the Occupied Palestinian Territories, or oPt - Palestinian land under Israeli Occupation. We met with students and faculty members from five different Palestinian universities, toured towns and refugee camps in the West Bank. [...]

Women Fighting For Their Homes Face Jail, While Bankers Go Free

Portside moderator — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 23:24:11 -0400

Women Fighting For Their Homes Face Jail, While Bankers Go Free

June 13, 2013
By Richard Long
Campaign for America's Future (June 12, 2013)

Five years after Wall Street crashed the economy, not one banker has been prosecuted for the reckless and fraudulent practices that cost millions of Americans their jobs, threw our cities and schools into crisis, and left families and communities ravaged by a foreclosure crisis and epidemic of underwater mortgages. [...]

Tidbits - June 13, 2013

Portside moderator — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 23:17:26 -0400

Tidbits - June 13, 2013

June 13, 2013
By
Portside (June 13, 2013)

Reader Comments - Dirty Wars and Jeremy Scahill,; Alice Walker's open letter to Alicia Keys; Syrian proxy war; False economic recovery; NSA spying; It's the Corporations; We Steal Secrets; Baseball and drugs; Spain and the International Brigades - today; Berlin demonstrations against Obama visit;
Announcement - Milton Rogovin DVD now available on sale [...]

For Radical Freedom - Angela Davis' New Book

Portside moderator — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 23:01:36 -0400

For Radical Freedom - Angela Davis' New Book

June 13, 2013
By Shelley Walia
Frontline (India) (May 31, 2013)

Angela Davis' lectures take the reader towards a serious reconsideration of ideology and the state apparatus and the deplorable question of oppression on the basis of race, gender, class and sexual orientation. The wholesale criminalisation of young black men cannot be permitted and the concept of rehabilitation has to find some ground. The Meaning of Freedom articulates a bold vision of the society we need to build and the path to get there. [...]

Fletcher Calls for Urgency and New Approaches to Organizing in Book Talk

Portside moderator — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 22:55:37 -0400

Fletcher Calls for Urgency and New Approaches to Organizing in Book Talk

June 13, 2013
By Keith Quinnell
AFL-CIO Blog (June 12, 2013)

Many in the labor movement recognize some of the problems that working people face, however there isn't enough urgency and there isn't a recognition that fundamental change is necessary. The opposition sees this as a tremendous moment to eliminate unions as a viable force for working people. [...]

Wal-Mart's Low Wages Cost Taxpayers

Portside moderator — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 14:39:28 -0400

Wal-Mart's Low Wages Cost Taxpayers

June 12, 2013
By By Emily Jane Fox
CNN Money (June 5, 2013)

The cost of low wages at Wal-Mart (WMT, Fortune 500) are at the center of a new report released last week by the Democratic staff of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. Low wages are an issue across the economy, but Wal-Mart, as the country's largest private employer, has long faced closer scrutiny than other companies. [...]

Unlikely Alliances: Idle No More and Building Bridges Through Native Sovereignty

Portside moderator — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 16:02:32 -0400

Unlikely Alliances: Idle No More and Building Bridges Through Native Sovereignty

June 12, 2013
By By Zoltan Grossman
CounterPunch (June 12, 2013)

The Idle No More movement connects First Nations’ sovereignty to the protection of the Earth for all people—Native and non-Native alike.

“The natural resources we all depend upon must be protected for future generations….to bring us to a place where there is a quality of life, and where Indians and non-Indians are to understand one another and work together.” [...]

Can Unions Prevent Austerity from Killing Off the Middle Class?

Portside moderator — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 15:45:56 -0400

Can Unions Prevent Austerity from Killing Off the Middle Class?

June 12, 2013
By By Gregory N. Heires
The New Crossroads (June 9, 2013)

If the September convention lives up to the spirit of today’s internal debate and AFL-CIO pursues policies recommended by the white paper, it stands to be the most significant convention since the 1995, when John J. Sweeny and his backers ousted the old guard Cold War warriors. [...]

86 Civil Liberties Groups and Internet Companies Demand an End to NSA Spying

Portside moderator — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 15:36:58 -0400

86 Civil Liberties Groups and Internet Companies Demand an End to NSA Spying

June 12, 2013
By By Rainey Reitman
Electronic Frontier Foundation (June 10, 2013)

"This type of blanket data collection by the government strikes at bedrock American values of freedom and privacy. This dragnet surveillance violates the First and Fourth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution, which protect citizens’ right to speak and associate anonymously and guard against unreasonable searches and seizures..." [...]

Revenue Blues: The Case for Higher Taxes

Portside moderator — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 14:33:08 -0400

Revenue Blues: The Case for Higher Taxes

June 12, 2013
By By Colin Gordon
Dissent: A Quarterly of Politics and Culture (June 11, 2013)

There is no conceivable benchmark—in our past, or in comparison to our international peers—by which one could sustain the argument that we are taxed too much, or “taxed enough already.” [...]

Spanish Unions to Protest Against Austerity Measures

Portside moderator — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 22:58:01 -0400

Spanish Unions to Protest Against Austerity Measures

June 11, 2013
By
Prensa Latina (June 11, 2013)

The objective of the protests is to push institutions in the European Union to change radically their policies of social and labor cuts and to fulfil the commitments of promoting economy and employment.

Madrid
The main labor unions in Spain will develop a series of protests from next Thursday to reject austerity plans imposed by the European Union (EU) and abided by governments of the continent.
Organized by the European Confederation of Unions the campaign, under the theme: For a More Social and Democratic [...]

ACLU Sues Obama Administration Over NSA 'Dragnet' Surveillance Revealed in Historic Leaks

Portside moderator — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 23:10:13 -0400

ACLU Sues Obama Administration Over NSA 'Dragnet' Surveillance Revealed in Historic Leaks

June 11, 2013
By Jacob Chamberlain, staff writer
Common Dreams (June 11, 2013)

NSA phone surveillance will have 'chilling effect' on ACLU'.

Following this past week's groundbreaking NSA leaks, the ACLU has now filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the agency's vast phone spying practices—a move that could pose an eventual Supreme Court challenge to the NSA's now exposed "dragnet" surveillance network.
As a Verizon customer, the ACLU—who is known as an active critic and opponent of U.S. government secrecy and overreach—was targeted by the NSA, and [...]

Brussels Failed to Act Against US Surveillance of EU Citizens

Portside moderator — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 22:37:54 -0400

Brussels Failed to Act Against US Surveillance of EU Citizens

June 11, 2013
By
Deutsche Welle (Germany) (June 11, 2013)

There has been widespread outrage in Europe over the scope of the National Security Agency's PRISM surveillance program. European experts, however, are not surprised by American whistleblower Edward Snowden's revelations.

European authorities have known since mid-2011 that the US could conduct surveillance on EU citizens. But experts say that European countries had little interest in picking a fight with their ally in Washington.
There has been widespread outrage in Europe over the scope of the National Security Agency's PRISM [...]

Everything is Secret, No Rule of Law at Guantanamo

Portside moderator — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 22:16:56 -0400

Everything is Secret, No Rule of Law at Guantanamo

June 11, 2013
By Carol Rosenberg
The Miami Herald (June 10, 2013)

New Layer of Secrecy at Guantánamo Court

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVY BASE, Cuba -- When the war court reconvenes this week, pre-trial hearings in the case of an alleged al-Qaida bomber will be tackling a government motion that's so secret the public can't know its name.
It's listed as the 92nd court filing in the death-penalty case against a Saudi man, Abd al Rahim al Nashiri, who was waterboarded by CIA agents.
And in place of its name, the Pentagon [...]

Dispatches from the Culture Wars – Tip of the Iceberg Data Collection Edition

Portside moderator — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 22:15:27 -0400

Dispatches from the Culture Wars – Tip of the Iceberg Data Collection Edition

June 11, 2013
By
Portside (June 11, 2013)

Personalizing Google Maps; Mapping Istanbul’s Protests; National DNA Database; Biometrics and Consumer Behavior

The Potential Problem With Personalized Google Maps – Emily Badger (The Atlantic Cities)

My Map or Yours? – Evgeny Morozov (Slate.com)

Big Pic: How Turkish Protesters Use Google Maps To Track Police – Kelsey D. Atherton (Popsci.com) [...]

Guilty in Guatemala

Portside moderator — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 22:09:12 -0400

Guilty in Guatemala

June 10, 2013
By Noam Chomsky
In These Times (June 6, 2013)

The U.S. owes more than empty apologies in Central America.

On Mother's Day, May 12, The Boston Globe featured a photo of a young woman with her toddler son sleeping in her arms.
The woman, of Mayan Indian heritage, had crossed the U.S. border seven times while pregnant, only to be caught and shipped back across the border on six of those attempts. She braved many miles, enduring blisteringly hot days and freezing nights, with no water or shelter, amid roaming gunmen. The last time [...]

The Quiet Closing of Washington

Portside moderator — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 21:58:14 -0400

The Quiet Closing of Washington

June 10, 2013
By Robert Reich
(June 8, 2013)

Conservative Republicans in our nation’s capital have managed to accomplish something they only dreamed of when Tea Partiers streamed into Congress at the start of 2011: They’ve basically shut Congress down. Meanwhile, the nation's political work has shifted to the states, and the political division among them is widening. [...]

It's the Corporations, Stupid

Portside moderator — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 21:40:06 -0400

It's the Corporations, Stupid

June 10, 2013
By Juan Cole
Informed Consent (June 10, 2013)

I am genuinely puzzled as to why the Fourth Amendment is no longer taken seriously, much less literally, by any significant faction in American politics. My hypothesis is that whereas the gun manufacturers clearly make big bucks off their weird absolutist interpretation of the 2nd Amendment, there is no set of corporations that would lose billions of dollars if the government snoops into your phone records or email traffic. [...]

Edward Snowden: The Whistleblower Behind Revelations of NSA Surveillance

Portside moderator — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 21:29:06 -0400

Edward Snowden: The Whistleblower Behind Revelations of NSA Surveillance

June 10, 2013
By Glenn Greenwald, Ewen MacAskill, Laura Poitras
Guardian UK (June 10, 2013)

The individual responsible for one of the most significant leaks in US political history is Edward Snowden, a 29-year-old former technical assistant for the CIA and current employee of the defence contractor Booz Allen Hamilton. Snowden has been working at the National Security Agency for the last four years as an employee of various outside contractors, including Booz Allen and Dell. [...]

Reform Rekindled

Portside moderator — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 21:16:38 -0400

Reform Rekindled

June 10, 2013
By Mark Brenner
Labor Notes (June 10, 2013)

Changes are happening. Despite the challenges, more unionists are taking on the job of reform, pushed by the desire to save their unions and keep employers from implementing their unfettered agenda. In the process they are bucking the conventional wisdom that workers should live with less than previous generations. [...]

From ‘Mississippi Goddam’ to ‘Jackson Hell Yes’: Chokwe Lumumba is the New Mayor of Jackson

Portside moderator — Sun, 9 Jun 2013 22:07:11 -0400

From ‘Mississippi Goddam’ to ‘Jackson Hell Yes’: Chokwe Lumumba is the New Mayor of Jackson

June 9, 2013
By Bob Wing
Chicago NAARPR Listserve (June 5, 2013)

Lumumba’s victory gives impetus for progressives to rededicate to the crucial importance of the battle for the South. The South is the historic home of racism, poverty and militarism and the base of the rightwing. The defeat of the personhood amendment and the election of Lumumba give renewed impulse and energy to recent motion of social justice forces throughout the country to make electoral work a key part of our struggle for freedom. [...]

Waiting for the Revolution

Portside moderator — Sun, 9 Jun 2013 22:45:13 -0400

Waiting for the Revolution

June 9, 2013
By
(May 25, 2013)

The Standard Model is a physical theory of a spectacularly successful sort. It is built on beautiful and deep mathematics, covers almost all known physical phenomena, and agrees precisely with the result of every single experiment ever done to test it. It leaves open a very small number of questions: why this specific combination of groups? What determines the parameters of the model? What about gravity? Does it need to be extended to account for dark matter? [...]

As Bradley Manning Trial Begins, Press Predictably Misses the Point

Portside moderator — Sun, 9 Jun 2013 23:27:21 -0400

As Bradley Manning Trial Begins, Press Predictably Misses the Point

June 9, 2013
By Matt Taibbi
Rolling Stone (June 6, 2013)

Manning, by whatever means, stumbled into a massive archive of evidence of state-sponsored murder and torture, and for whatever reason, he released it. The debate we should be having is over whether as a people we approve of the acts he uncovered that were being done in our names. [...]

Union Membership Decline Boosts Corporate Profit At Workers' Expense

Portside moderator — Sun, 9 Jun 2013 23:05:11 -0400

Union Membership Decline Boosts Corporate Profit At Workers' Expense

June 9, 2013
By Jillian Berman
Huffington Post (May 30, 2013)

Corporate profit has been soaring for years at workers' expense and a decline in union membership is to blame -- not a rise in technology, a new study found.

Corporate profit has been soaring for years at workers' expense and a decline in union membership is to blame -- not a rise in technology, a new study found.
The jump in corporate profit over the past few decades can be explained largely by a decline in union membership over the [...]

When More is Not Better

Portside moderator — Sun, 9 Jun 2013 21:41:34 -0400

When More is Not Better

June 9, 2013
By
(June 9, 2013)

Government spying on millions of innocent Americans is undermining our democracy, destroying our privacy, and quite likely unconstitutional. It is also counterproductive and does not make us safer. But the seeming need for government to collect more and more information keeps on expanding. [...]

REWIND - A Week of Quotes and Cartoons

Portside moderator — Fri, 7 Jun 2013 20:35:25 -0400

REWIND - A Week of Quotes and Cartoons

June 8, 2013
By Portside
(June 8, 2013)

Working women, Trans Pacific Partnership, Afghanistan, surveillance and more

REWIMD - A Week of Quotes and Cartoons
SUNDAY
Quote of the Day
June 2, 2013
'So while [Betty] Friedan was right in her counterintuitive claim that maternal employment could be good for women and families, she failed to foresee that the United States, which pioneered public education for all and was on the verge of establishing a comprehensive child care system in 1971 (before President Richard M. Nixon vetoed the bill), would by the [...]

San Francisco Giants Pitcher Records Video Supporting Immigration Reform

Portside moderator — Fri, 7 Jun 2013 17:41:27 -0400

San Francisco Giants Pitcher Records Video Supporting Immigration Reform

June 7, 2013
By Travis Waldron
Think Progress (June 4, 2013)

"They deserve a chance to live their dream, and we all win if they do."

San Francisco Giants pitcher Sergio Romo, a first-generation Mexican-American who played an instrumental role in helping the Giants win the 2012 World Series, last week released a video on Major League Baseball’s YouTube page announcing his support for the Dream Is Now campaign that is pushing Congress to pass the DREAM Act, which would provide a path to citizenship for roughly 2 million undocumented students, [...]

Decriminalize the Game: A Solution to Baseball’s Drug Wars

Portside moderator — Fri, 7 Jun 2013 17:31:18 -0400

Decriminalize the Game: A Solution to Baseball’s Drug Wars

June 7, 2013
By Dave Zirin
The Nation (June 5, 2013)

The only thing “rattling” in future generations will be the skeletons of what once comprised the fan-base of this sport.

Edge of Sports
If you want to know what’s wrong with Major League Baseball, look no further than today's top headlines. Described as “the largest [Performance Enhancing Drug scandal] in American sports history,” at least 20 Major League Baseball players now face significant suspensions for PED use. Included in the guilty-until-proven-innocent public parade are Yankee albatross Alex Rodriguez and the [...]

Dangers Associated With The Syrian Proxy War

Portside moderator — Fri, 7 Jun 2013 17:23:24 -0400

Dangers Associated With The Syrian Proxy War

June 7, 2013
By By Bill Fletcher, Jr
Black Commentator (June 6, 2013)

The USA should have learned from its experiences in Iraq, and later Libya, that fishing in troubled waters can bring with it very profound consequences.

The African World
While it is positive that the USA and Russia have been discussing a peaceful resolution to the Syrian civil war, the reality is that this conflict may grow and spread. Although the US media speaks about this conflict in religious terms, i.e., Sunni vs. Shia, such a description is far too simplistic [...]

Time for a Raise in the Minimum Wage

Portside moderator — Fri, 7 Jun 2013 16:55:26 -0400

Time for a Raise in the Minimum Wage

June 7, 2013
By Amy Goodman
TruthDig (June 6, 2013)

a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work

The 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech is rapidly approaching, commemorating the historic Aug. 28, 1963, March on Washington.
But 45 years ago, 1968, the year of his assassination, King was waging the Poor People’s Campaign to eradicate poverty. He addressed the congregation at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., saying: “We are challenged to rid our nation and the world of poverty. Like a monstrous octopus, [...]