Portside

March Against Monsanto. Social justice in Sweden. Make a Wall Street banker squirm. Unemployment rates among the youth. Challenging Detroit’s creditors. The ugly, destructive war against food stamps. Pathway to citizenship.

On this fiftieth anniversary of The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, here are five songs from the album that have powerfully shaped both music and politics over these decades: Blowin' in the Wind; Masters of War; It's a Hard Rain That's A Gonna Fall; Don't Think Twice, It's Alright and Talking World War III Blues.

The people who speak now of the “one-state solution” for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are idealists. But they do a lot of harm. And not only because they remove themselves and others from the struggle for the only solution that is realistic. The two-state solution is not dead. It cannot die, because it is the only solution there is.

When you talk to your dog, consider that the words you speak might not carry the same meaning for both of you. Instead, other aspects of communication might be more relevant. Maybe the real lesson is that context, prosody and tone — rather than dictionary definitions of words — are vitally important for human communication, too.

Public policy is best informed by science. The Portland vote against water flouridation was not. Also, you don't want to miss these bizarrely relevant clips from Dr. Strangelove.

According to recent surveys by the Chronicle of Higher Education, thirty-five private university presidents and four public university presidents topped $1 million in total earnings during the 2011-2012 fiscal year. On university campuses, it seems, everyone is equal. But some are much more equal than others.

Companies want a massive expansion of visa holders so they can pay them less. This is about powerful companies pursuing lower wages. "Immigration helps America. People who come here to pursue their dreams and aspire to be citizens strengthen our country. America's unions embrace immigrants and new citizens. We worry about corporations firing or passing over qualified American workers in order to import temporary foreign workers at lower wages." (AFL-CIO)

Reader Comments: Terrorism, Drones, Afghanistan, Benghazi, Obama terrorism speech, Bradley Manning, Chicago Schools, Climate Change, Letter to "The Nation" from a Young Radical, Math, Malvina Reynolds, Africa, Asia, Hope Foye, Race & Biology, Peabody Coal, Bittorrent... Announcements - Gerald Horne keynote's Chicago Human Rights Awards - Jun 15; Film Premier - Camp Kinderland "Commie Camp" - New York - Jun 28; Jerry Tucker Memorial Conference, St. Louis - Oct 11-13

The deepening violence of the Syrian civil war is also in some measure a consequence of Libya: Qaddafi's disbanded army and unguarded weapons moved southward in Africa, but they also moved eastward to Asia. The state terror of the most "surgical" air war leaves in its wake many thousands of stateless terrorists.

Fast food workers strike in Seattle - 7th city in past 8 weeks. Workers say their wages are stagnant and want a living wage of $15, more opportunities to advance, and the right to organize without retaliation. "Personally I'm on food stamps, my hours have been cut back," Burger King worker Andrew Thomas said. "Being here for a year and half. I haven't gotten a raise."