Portside

Pope Francis broke with Catholic tradition Monday by declaring that the theories of evolution and the Big Bang are real, and remarking that God is not “a magician with a magic wand.” “When we read about Creation in Genesis, we run the risk of imagining God was a magician, with a magic wand able to do everything. But that is not so,” the pope said at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, during a plenary meeting dedicated to evolving concepts of nature.

Before launching headlong into a third Iraq War it’s important to step back and review the costs of the past 13 years of combat. Not surprisingly, the sacrifice of war, monetary and otherwise are disproportionately borne by people of color and the young.

From the margins where injustice shapes the landscape of everyday life, individuals like Jeremy Hammond and Mumia Abu-Jamal expose the lies of the government and hypocrisy of the criminal justice system. From the darkness inside, they cast a light on what those in power don’t want us to see.

The MAS’ response to protests has been to follow an approach of seeking dialogue and consensus, retreating where necessary, but always attempting to continue to drive the process forward towards its goal. Morales constantly sums up this approach using the Zapatista slogan “to govern by obeying”.

Russel Brand reminds us that all who grew up under Thatcher were taught that it is good to be selfish, that other people’s pain is not your problem, that pain is in fact a weakness and suffering is deserved and shameful.”

Free-market globalization is strengthening that which is barbaric and regressive and smashing what is beautiful,” Examples, are the death of traditional handicrafts, such as pottery, and the loss of languages. At the same time, horrible institutions such as caste-based village councils are being bolstered as a backlash against the rural displacement caused by globalization.

What will it take to reshape America’s police departments, and curtail the unprompted police killings that beset us still?

Open letter says claims made for brain games are not based on sound evidence and playing them may have the opposite effect

Does everyone deserve a second chance?

As “now it can be told” theater, TimeLine’s Chicago premiere, the second coming of this angry work, works equally well as an exercise in conspiracy-theory paranoia, journalistic sleuthing at its most dangerous, and a cumulative plea for transparency in foreign policy, banking, and law enforcement (Edward Snowden anyone?).