Portside

Since 2007, activists have risked arrests, imprisonment, heavy fines and massive police force to resist the desecration caused as mega-corporations like Samsung and Daelim to build a base to accommodate U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and submarines for their missions throughout Asia. The base fits the regional needs of the U.S. for a maritime military outpost that would enable it to continue developing its Asia Pivot strategy.

Luis Roberto Zamorra Bolaños was just a law student when he challenged the legality of his government’s support for George Bush’s invasion of Iraq. He took the case all the way up to the Costa Rican Supreme Court—and won.

Once again, R2P - responsibility to protect - is being used as a pretext for attacking Syria. The propaganda that continues to flourish for war on Syria shows many Americans fail to understand the problems posed by "US Empire-building" believing it to be an altruistic force, toppling other governments and starting wars for the good of all mankind.

What's needed in Syria is not military intervention, but a global peace offensive.

Injustice in Knoxville - Anti-war trio took part in plowshares action in 2012 at the Y-12 Highly-Enriched Uranium Manufacturing nuclear weapons production facility. An 84-year old nun and two others were just sentenced to up to five years in jail.

Debate over Israeli policy on settlements in the occupied lands;, the on-going discrimination against Palestinians and Jews of color within Israel; negotiations with the Palestinian state; and peace with Iran are now hot items on campuses, in academic organizations and within the Jewish community. While there are disagreements on the tactics of BDS, this debate and discussion should be welcomed. Here Portside presents four different views of the BDS campaign.

While Washington was stuck in the grip of the politics of obstruction, grass-roots activists did their part, scoring some major wins for economic justice, civil liberties and democracy. As we near the end of the year, here are some of the biggest progressive wins we saw.

Reader Comments - Flashmob for Mandela; The Progressive 'Left"; War and Christmas Truce of 1914; Socialist Origins of the Pledge; Radicals in City Hall; Fidel Castro on Mandela's Death and Who Supported Apartheid; Korea; MSNBC; Announcements - "No Separate Justice" Launch in New York City Jan. 7; Esperanza Spalding Protest Song & Video Calling For Guantanamo Bay

Military chaplains seem to be another cog in the apparatus of making war maximally effective. Christian chaplains seem to not pay much attention to the Ten Commandments either, especially the ones that say "thou shalt not kill" or "thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's oil". 99 years ago one of the most unusual aberrations in the bloody history of warfare - never allowed to be repeated again - occurred.