Portside

David Brooks, Harry Belafonte, unemployed, voting rights, Raiderettes

Athletes are going into the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics knowing that protesting homophobia may entail a sacrifice. It’s a stunning comment on our times that so many seem not only willing but eager to make it.

We’ve always been told that “crime doesn’t pay.” Jamie Dimon and the Board of Directors of JPMorgan Chase beg to differ.

What the reaction to Richard Sherman showed me is that rooting is a fan’s privilege. And it’s a benefit players will never get to see.

People should instead be asking colleges and universities why they think it's OK to pay so little for such important work.

Sarah Silverman Is Visited by Jesus Christ. 'War' by Edwin Starr. NASA | Earthrise: The 45th Anniversary. Old South vs. New South: The 3rd Reconstruction. Documentary: 'Dancing In Jaffa.'

Fast track or not, TPP is a bad deal for the country. You'll hear a lot in the coming days about free trade creating jobs. Never mind the rhetoric. The first question you should ask is, "Who's going to get rich?" The short answer is: not you. This "deal" is just the latest example of corporate interests stacking the deck against working families. It's happened before, and it's happening again under our noses.

New poem from Marge Piercy, how the rich and the rich in Congress despise and hate the poor..."If they could push a button, if they could war on the poor here at home as they do abroad directly with bombs instead of legislation, think they'd hesitate?"

Once again our readers have come through in support of Portside.

Actress Scarlett Johansson is an Oxfam Goodwill Ambassador and the new Global Brand Ambassador for SodaStream - the Israeli manufacturer. Their main production facility is in the industrial zone of Mishor Edomin, an illegal settlement in the occupied West Bank. An international boycott is being waged by The Interfaith Boycott Coalition - a group of individuals from faith-based organizations and institutions who share a common goal of bringing justice to the Palestinians.