Portside

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

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

Just Cause: A Union Guide to Winning Disciplinary Cases is no exception. Based on more than four years of research into 15,000 arbitration awards and the author’s long experience representing unions, the book presents a new method to analyze and present disciplinary cases.

Chris Kromm and Sue Sturgis at the Institute for Southern Studies argue in the latest issue of The American Prospect that a state can become both more progressive and more conservative at the same time, and that is actually happening in North Carolina -- creating an especially turbulent moment in the state's political history.

We now live in a world where public servants informing the public about government behavior or wrongdoing must practice the tradecraft of drug dealers and spies. Otherwise, these informants could get caught in the web of administrations that view George Orwell’s 1984 as an operations manual.

As the war on terror becomes a war on our privacy, Salon's former CEO launches project to encourage whistle-blowers

Springsteen, Fogarty: Fortunate Son. Landfill Harmonic Orchestra. Movie: We Steal Secrets. Michele Bachmann's Last Term. Ice Age Art. A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall

In an example of "things getting worse quickly", the stunning Prism revelations actually eclipsed a story released Wednesday about the NSA collecting the phone records of tens of millions of Americans. Progressive movements have also been reluctant to take this privacy issue on as a priority. It's not clear what we've been waiting for but it's clear we can wait no longer. We need to take back what we've lost, before it becomes impossible to do so.

A building collapse in Philadelphia kills 6 - a non-union contractor with a shady history faces scrutiny - see 2 articles below. The factory collapse in Bangladesh that killed more than 1,100 workers is another glaring example of workers without union protection at the mercy of greedy employers and corrupt politicians. But this cycle can finally be broken if demands for change start to focus on workers’ right to form trade unions - see opinion column below.