Portside

In the midst of a historic drought, Californians have no way of knowing who is guzzling the most water. That’s not an accident. It’s by design, thanks to an obscure 1997 measure that weakened one of the state’s chief open government laws, the California Public Records Act. For the source of this legislation, look no further than Silicon Valley, where the city of Palo Alto decided it needed to do more to protect the privacy of the tech elite.

It must have seemed a very good idea at the time. The young, ambitious son of an aged king launching a war against a rebellion in a troubled country to the south. However, the Saudi-led bombing campaign, which was supposed to break the Houthis resistance and drive them from the cities, has failed miserably. The Houthis remain in control of the capital Sanaa and much of the key southern city of Aden. And the only beneficiary of the Saudi air war may be al-Qaeda.

The recent anti-immigrant violence that erupted this month in parts of Johannesburg and the coastal city of Durban has left at least seven people dead. It is the greatest explosion of xenophobic violence against foreign nationals in South Africa since 62 immigrants were killed in 2008. This article, written in January of 2015, provides some background and insight into the recent violence against migrants in South Africa that has shaken the continent.

Social Security surfaced in the very first days of the campaign, thanks to New Jersey Governor Chris Christie going after the program with the zeal of a born huckster, demanding to raise the retirement age. In 2010 equivocation and deficit-reduction obsession from President Obama squandered Democrats' good will on the subject. But this year anything less than an embrace of expansion this time is likely to leave the base unsatisfied.

Are European leaders making impossible demands of the current Greek government as part of a strategy to get rid of it? The European Central Bank not only trained its guns on the new government but started firing on Feb. 4, just nine days after the election, when they cut off the main line of credit to the Greek government.

The FBI's practice of falsely testifying to guilt based on pseudo scientific "hair comparisons" has lead to a mass disaster of false convictions – at least hundreds of cases. Now begins the "herculean effort to right the wrongs."

Federal authorities are treating an 85-year-old Catholic nun like a nuclear saboteur.

Videos: Fraud city: Atlanta & Wall Street. Football Town Nights. Battle for the Internet. Greece: Austerity Isn't Working. Willie Nelson & Trigger.

Previously Portside published Michael Brie's, The Tragedy of Party Communism and responses from three socialist activists - what lessons there may be to draw on, and which to forget. Here are additional responses from Nina Udovicki, Gilberto de Leon, Dynamite Hallinan and Scott Tucker. Those responding see capitalism as a system that needs to be abolished and socialism as an alternative - A socialism that is different from the past, and democratic.

The blockade is still in place. Travel restrictions still exist. Guantánamo Bay is still illegally occupied by the U.S. military and used for imprisonment and torture. The U.S. government still funds USAID projects aimed at undermining the Cuban government. Today, it is still critical that the Venceremos Brigade, IFCO, and all friends of Cuba are persistent in defending Cuba's national sovereignty and right to self-determination.