Portside

Unlike most other countries, the United States doesn’t control drug prices. It leaves pricing up to the market, which enables drug companies to charge as much as the market will bear. So what, exactly, did Martin Shkreli do wrong, by the standards of today’s capitalism? It’s easy to go after bad guys, much harder to go after bad systems.

Black Voters Explain Why They Feel the Bern. Dr. John & Odetta: Brother Can You Spare a Dime. If Guys Said What Donald Trump Says. Rashad Robinson Dispels Myth of 'Ferguson Effect.' Why Alcohol Doesn't Come With Nutrition Facts.

The water crisis in Flint, Michigan has been brewing for the past year. Now researchers have found lead in the drinking water. Flint mayor Karen W. Weaver has declared a state of emergency. This week a researcher alleged that government officials knew the water contained lead.

When Flint, Michigan Mayor Karen Weaver declared a state of emergency last week in light of a dramatic water crisis, it brought national attention to the current troubles facing that town. This report on Weaver's declaration also contains some historical background to this crisis.

A new party of the Left in Spain has surprised pundits by winning big in last Sunday's elections by running on an an-austerity program. Mark Weisbrot offers some background and an analysis of how these developments fit within the overall "post-recession" Eurozone crisis.

Conservative arguments make it seem like poverty is a puzzle. But, according to Philip N. Cohen, we've already figured out ways of reducing poverty among large sections of the population. We should just use what works to reduce poverty.

This year's annual report from the US Conference of Mayors details just how prevalent hunger and homelessness are in our cities.

Changes are happening and the Cubans are trying to figure out how to accommodate them within a socialist framework.

This essays calls attention to two crucial developments. First, the far right has taken dangerous steps further to the right, legitimizing the public expression of blatant racism and authoritarian policies toward Muslims and immigrants. And second, not for the first time, how crucial it is for a social justice strategy with intimate interconnections of war, terrorism, racism and inequality, and between peace and justice at home and abroad.

U.S. schools provide a great deal of useful information, but also leave out a great deal. Please see whether you can answer the following questions before scrolling down and clicking a link at the bottom for the answers. How many can your kids answer? Can your kids' teachers answer them? Can your parents answer them? Can your uncle who tells you whom to vote for and what to think answer them?