Portside

Reader Comments: For the Victims in Las Vegas, Puerto Rico and Yemen; Puerto Rico; Vietnam - More than Burns and Novick film; Attack on Organized Labor - What it Means for African Americans; Tom Petty; Socialist Writing; The Russians Are Coming - Are They?; Fake Olive Oil - Bertolli Responds; Dag Hammarskjold; Star Wars; How Much Did Your Congressional Representatives Get from the NRA; Prosecuting ISIS Crimes against Women and LGBTIQ Persons; and more .....

Listening to the testimonies of the aging A-bomb survivors (Hibakusha) and nuclear testing victims from the Marshall Islands and Australia, witnessing the emergence of new groups of in-vitro and 2 nd and 3 rd generation Hibakusha who are experiencing high levels of radiation-related health issues, one realizes with horror, that the 1945 atomic bombings are not a thing of the past, but an ongoing, still unfolding event.

Reader Comments: White House Explains the Holocaust - Just in time for Passover and Easter; Trump and Syria - What We Know...and Don't - Take Action Now; A Nation Made By War - A Veteran's commentary; the Frayed Alliance Between Unions and Progressives; Sanders Bill To Make Public Colleges Tuition-Free - San Francisco's Example; Free Resources - Resources: Mapping the Left in EU, Canada and USA from Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung - New York Office; Announcements; and more...

The response required at this late, desperate stage is neither anti-Assad nor anti-ISIS nor even anti-imperialist — it is antiwar.

Donald Trump just ordered the launch of dozens of Tomahawk missiles to strike Syria. It's an illegal and unauthorized escalation that could have devastating consequences, killing innocent Syrians and U.S. service members. Escalation against Syria will not help the victims of this heinous chemical attack, it will not bring the devastating war in Syria to a quicker end, it will not bring back the dead children. It will not defeat ISIS or end terrorism.

Beginning this week, on April 4, peace-loving people around the country are participating in actions honoring Dr. King and readings of this speech, in a campaign to rebuild our movement. There's still time to join or host an event in your community. UFPJ has created a page with resources for you and your organization to host a reading. You can also sign-up right now to participate in a Thunderclap social media campaign with our partners from Veterans for Peace.

The most influential large-scale political action of the '60s was actually in 1971, and you've never heard of it. It was called the Mayday action, and it provides invaluable lessons for today.

Achieving disarmament will probably take more than volunteers sailing into town to host a potluck picnic for yachters and stand-up paddlers. It will probably take more than “people who have never thought about war and peace,” as Jaccard calls them, spotting a sailboat with a peace symbol and wondering what it’s all about. Sometimes it takes something brave and brazen to catch a nation’s attention.