Portside

Puerto Rico has been sacked by colonial powers for half a millennium. Is it any wonder it is in dire straits? Today, it is $73 billion in debt. As a point of comparison: Greece recently asked for about $82 billion from the European Union. The German finance minister thought it was funny when he proposed to U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew that the Eurozone exchange Greece for Puerto Rico.

Blackstone is one of the world's largest private equity firms. Blackstone made big money in the last housing bubble and now is cashing in again to make lots more. It is buying up housing and real estate all over the world and quickly becoming one of the largest landlord's in our cities. They are raking in the profits. But at the expense of our families and communities.

The Yiddish/Jewish element increases the feelings of isolation and societal pressure in Willie and his family in a way that seems both inherent, yet also novel. The job of art is to make familiar things new and new things familiar; this rendition does both, in its own mysterious way.

Europe's left needs a Plan B at its disposal, which will allow any future left government in Europe to face down the blackmail from the European establishment — including threats of expulsion from the eurozone.

Despite my criticisms and questions, Socialist Imperative is a must-read for revolutionaries. Compared to others who look for imaginary revolutionary subjects, Lebowitz remains animated with the belief that the working class “makes itself a revolutionary subject through its struggles -- it transforms itself .... which is the simultaneous changing of circumstances and self-change. It makes itself fit to create the new world" (p. 243).

“The report the Intercept story references is an internal classified document,” said Pentagon spokeswoman Linda Rojas. “As a matter of policy we don’t comment on the details of classified reports.”

“Revolution soon come” seems like a fantasy. But Sanders’ view that nothing will change unless people rise up, demand change, go to the polls in large numbers and hold their representatives accountable is compelling. By not raising money from billionaires, not setting up a super PAC, by raising stunning sums in small donations (nearly $2 million after the Democratic debate), he isn’t just calling for a popular movement, he is helping to build it.

A new study has shown that people who live traditional lifestyles in Namibia, Tanzania, and Bolivia don’t fit with any of the common notions about pre-industrial dozing. “People like to complain that modern life is ruining sleep, but they’re just saying: Kids today!” Much like the Paleo diet, these ideas are based on unsubstantiated assumptions about how humans used to live.

SNL has scheduled Donald Trump as host on Nov. 7, shocking Latino leaders. "It's hypocritical of them to go back and put Donald Trump on as the face of the program, given that NBC said it would terminate its relationship with Trump over his comments about Mexican immigrants," says Juan Escalante, a Venezuelan immigrant who has launched a petition urging the network to drop Trump.

There is only one group in Israel that is strong enough, cohesive enough, determined enough to take over the state: the settlers. The process is already well advanced. The new police chief is a kippah-wearing former settler. So is the chief of the Secret Service. More and more of the army and police officers are settlers. In the government and in the Knesset, the settlers wield a huge influence.