Portside

Drug company sales representatives, using data from companies that sweep up information from pharmacies, can know before entering a doctor’s office if he or she favors their products or those of a competitor.

Text messages turned over to investigators raise the possibility that months before the disclosure this week of Christie aide's bombshell email—"Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee"—other senior Christie aides knew the traffic study excuse wasn't true

1. A civil liberties coalition calls for a day of protest against NSA abuses on Feb. 11. 2. Daniel Ellsberg debunks the "oath of secrecy" myth.

Sister Simone Campbell on Pope Francis. Bonobos -- our closest relatives. Roy Zimmerman: 'Abstinence Only.'

John and Bonnie Raines played an active role in the Media action that uncovered the FBI Cointelpro files. That they were willing to take this risk even with their responsibilities as parents of three young children is very moving, very inspiring. They were clearly about a much higher responsibility to their children, the responsibility of providing an example of someone who is willing to take reasonable risks for justice, peace and the common good.

Debate over Israeli policy on settlements in the occupied lands;, the on-going discrimination against Palestinians and Jews of color within Israel; negotiations with the Palestinian state; and peace with Iran are now hot items on campuses, in academic organizations and within the Jewish community. While there are disagreements on the tactics of BDS, this debate and discussion should be welcomed. Here Portside presents four different views of the BDS campaign.

Reader Comments - Pardon for Snowden; BDS and Israel; Turkey; NAFTA; North Carolina; Bill de Blasio; John Handcox; Philadelphia schools; Art Spiegelman; Obamacare; Announcements - Memorial for Steve Kindred -NYC -Feb.8; Pete Seeger gets first Woody Guthrie Award -NYC - Feb.22; Student activists scholarships available; Preserve Mother Jones monument in Illinois; Save the Village photo exhibit -NYC; This week in history - largest slave revolt in U.S. history

The full text of the new Seattle city council member's inauguration speech. Despite recent talk of economic growth, it has only been a recovery for the richest 1%, while the rest of us are falling ever farther behind. To begin to change all of this, we need organized mass movements of workers and young people, relying on their own independent strength. That is how we won unions, civil rights and LGBTQ rights.

Rail strike raises the issue of privatization, paves way for general strike in on February 25.

Beginning in 1964 and stretching through today, conservative leaders systematically undermined the programs that shaped Johnson’s War on Poverty, frequently deploying racist and sexist arguments to take away public assistance from the poorest Americans. Their rhetoric didn’t directly undo these social programs, but it chipped away at their foundation and altered Americans’ perceptions about the proper role of government.