Portside

Journalists from 45 countries have unearthed secret bank accounts that reveal the global banking giant HSBC profited from doing business with arms dealers who channeled mortar bombs to child soldiers in Africa, bag men for Third World dictators, traffickers in blood diamonds and other international outlaws. These disclosures shine a light on the intersection of international crime and so-called legitimate business at one of the world’s largest banks.

Private U.S. corporations, taking advantage of lucrative opportunities created by the intentionally crippled tax base of local governments, are grabbing public assets and resources, particularly water. But water is not a commodity; it is a human right. And in the U.S., as around the world, the onslaught of corporate privatization is being countered by a powerful backlash to reclaim that precious resource for the public sphere.

Edward Snowden’s 2013 revelations about the NSA’s global surveillance practices sparked outrage around the world, but nowhere more than in Latin America. Now that the dust has settled, we should ask: Did the Latin American response to the NSA disclosures represent a historic break in hemispheric relations? Or was this just business as usual, another insult added to the ongoing injury of U.S. hegemony in the Americas?

The aftermath of the murder of the three American students in Chapel Hill reconfirms the truth that Muslim lives matter only when they're villains not victims. But the responsibility extends beyond the media. Government-run programs targeting Muslims as "enemy combatants", "national security risks", and "unassimilable", affix the state seal of approval on the vilification of Muslim Americans, stirring Islamophobia and spurring violence.

The truth is that Stewart was often at his most exciting when he got down in the dirt, instead of remaining decent and high-minded, your twinkly-eyed smartest friend. That kind of digging, of disrespecting authority, was a model for reinventing journalism, not comedy.

The latest findings from the FBI provide further evidence that states can reduce incarceration rates without compromising public safety.

A new study points to the influential role played by teachers’ unconscious biases, but it also highlights how powerful a little encouragement can be for children.

The political calculation by House Speaker John Boehner and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu that they would reap dividends from a speech to a joint session of Congress is getting an unprecedented rebuff from both representatives and senators.

A Friday Nite Videos special edition featuring Jon Stewart and Daily Show spin-offs, offspring and talents.

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