Portside

In 2010, more than half of all the people with science and engineering related jobs were White men. But—enough wallowing in disheartening numbers and bigoted language. Plenty of people are moving the conversation forward: writing, speaking, and tweeting intelligently about the lack of diversity in science.

London activists have found a creative way to subvert the proliferation of metal studs and other devices purposely designed to discourage homeless and other people from occupying public spaces. The collective, called Space, Not Spikes, is transforming them into cozy bedrooms, complete with tiny libraries. Anti-homeless spikes and an anti-loitering device that only teenagers can hear are part of a movement some have defined as “defensive architecture.”

On Thursday more than 100 prominent oncologists came out in support of a patient-driven initiative to lower the high price of cancer drugs, charging at least 20 percent of their patients can’t follow their cancer treatment because they can’t afford the drugs. In their article in Mayo Clinic Proceedings the physicians also called upon the federal government to, among other things, allow Medicare to negotiate directly with pharmaceutical companies to lower drug prices.

In a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) complaint filed last week against three U.S. government agencies, documentary film maker Laura Poitras charges she was subjected to intense rounds of detention and questioning on more than 50 occasions between 2006 and 2012. It’s an important story with profound implications for the press. Yet, her lawsuit also highlights a second threat to journalism in the U.S., the worrisome way the federal government handles FOIA requests.

Ten years after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast on August 29, 2005, the author looks at the pain index for those who were left behind. The population of New Orleans is noticeably smaller and noticeably whiter now and despite the tens of billions poured into Louisiana, the impact on poor and working people in New Orleans has been minimal. While not all the numbers are bad, they do illustrate who has benefited and who continues to suffer 10 years after Katrina.

Reflecting the growing influence of the Black Lives Matter movement, the progressive national network Democracy for America has made candidates’ proposals for addressing racism among the central criteria for its endorsements. DFA changed its endorsement process following the Black Lives Matter protest at Netroots Nation, where Democratic presidential candidates Martin O’Malley and Bernie Sanders “failed to empathize with and adequately respond” to protesters’ concerns.

Slavery to Mass Incarceration. Mess Within Texas - Sandra Bland's Arrest. Traffic Stop. Are We Really 99% Chimp? The First Openly Asshole President.

When fast-food workers started protesting just two years ago for a $15 minimum wage, they were mocked. This week, they secured their biggest victory yet.

In Jurassic World, Velociraptors are depicted as big, drab-coloured, scaly brutes. We've known for some time that wasn't true - Velociraptors had feathers. And now, thanks to a spectacular fossil of a new dinosaur, we know in detail what the real Velociraptor would have been like. Far from being a scaly-skinned reptilian monster, Velociraptor would have been a fluffy, feathered poodle from hell.

When mass shootings fit into Gov. Bobby Jindal’s view of “radical Islamic terrorists” he is quick to condemn the violence as terrorism. But when the incidents are results of lax gun control laws and radical right-wing shooters he simply calls the situation tragic and is quick to move on. The evidence already indicates that the shooter in the Lafayette Theater was a fan of David Duke, neo-Nazis, and antigovernment conspiracies.