Skip to main content

Drones and Discrimination: Kick the Habit

Kathy Kelly Portside
A group of Afghan friends had entrusted me with a simple message, their grievance, which they couldn’t personally deliver: please stop killing us.

The Ominous ‘Cromnibus,’ A Budget Bill That Should Have Died

Isaiah J. Poole Campaign for America's Future
Given the acute need for jobs and rising incomes, what passes for “bolstering job creation” in a summary of the budget bill released by the House Appropriations Committee is scandalous. Incredibly, a provision that allows banks to engage in high-risk derivatives trading under the shield of federal insurance is listed as a measure to “bolster job creation.”

Tidbits - December 11, 2014

Portside
Reader Comments - CIA Lied About Torture; A New Civil Rights Movement?; Grand Jury Injustice - Justice Demanded; Members of Congress (and staffers) join protest; Illegal Cop Murders; Police Reform? - Bolder Steps Needed; Low Wage Workers: 'We Can't Breathe'; Slavery, Founding Fathers and Torture; Congress Plots against Pensions; Pardon Snowden, Manning and Leonard Peltier; Israel Lobby and Ukraine; War on Terror; Israel, U.S. and space weapons; New Republic; Correction

They Fear and They Kill

Marge Piercy MRzine
Official government statistics document that African American young men are killed by the police at a rate quadruple that of the whole population. In the period 1999 through 2011, police officers killed 4,531 people. Marge Piercy, in poem, captures that reality of being young, African American, Hispanic, Asian or Native American Indian, and a police victim.

What Does it Take to Have an Open and Honest Conversation About Torture?

Shayna Plaut, Contributing Editor, Human Rights Praxis Center - Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership
One thing that I wanted to learn in talking to a torturer - I guess every person is different - but I wanted to see: did this destroy him? Did this destroy his soul? Is he like a broken man wracked with guilt? And he wasn't.

Progressive Caucus, Labor, Activist Groups Urge 'No' Vote on Spending Bill

Seung Min Kim; Jordan Fabian; Lindsay Koshgarian
Congressional Progressive Caucus urged members to reject the so-called Cromnibus if a provision which helps big banks trade derivatives in units backstopped by a government guarantee remained in the spending measure. This kind of activity was a cause of the 2008 crisis - it a giveaway to wealthy campaign donors and Wall Street banks. Analysis for more information about key takeaways from the proposed spending bill, as well as a few controversial surprises.

#BlackLivesMatter Takes the Field: A Weekend of Athletes Speaking Out

Dave Zirin TheNation.com Blog
This movement is not only explicitly about the right to live a life with more opportunity, but the right to simply live. As Howard Zinn said, "You can't be neutral on a moving train." The train is leaving the station, even in the world of sports. The marches in the streets are not done. The die-ins disrupting traffic are not done. And, as part of this moment, athletes are speaking out, with African American sports stars in the lead.

Sen. McCain's Full Statement On CIA Torture Report

USA Today
Sen. John McCain spoke Tuesday on the Senate floor following the release of the CIA torture report. The Arizona Republican was a Navy pilot whose plane was shot down in enemy territory during the Vietnam War; he was tortured by the North Vietnamese as a prisoner of war.