Portside

We should anticipate more progress toward rational drug policies in 2014. Here are three key developments.

The outlook for Mayor de Blasio’s signature initiative just got a whole lot brighter.

The New York Times and The Guardian (London) published major editorial statements on New Year's Day, reviewing the evidence that Edward Snowden's whistleblowing on NSA spying has largely been vindicated. They call for the creation of conditions that will allow Snowden to return home with dignity.

Bill Moyers on North Carolina: Battleground State. Auld Lang Syne, with lyrics. The inner workings of the $50 billion divorce industry. How Gollum, star hobbit, was brought to life. Bobby 'Blue' Bland's Stormy Monday.

"The chief executive officer of a state university has the authority to suspend, dismiss or terminate from employment any faculty or staff member who makes improper use of social media...including but not limited to blogs, wikis, and social networking sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Flickr, and YouTube. `Improper use of social media' means making a communication through social media" that directly incites violence or some other "immediate breach of the peace,"

Reader Comments - Pope Francis, Catholic Church and The Sound of Music; Year in Review, 2014 and Bernie Sanders for President; Inside Llewyn Davis and Dave Van Ronk; Duck Dynasty; Universal Healthcare; Corporate Greed and Financial Speculators; Fast Food Workers; Hollywood and McCarthyism; Facebook is Dead? Niilo Koponen - R.I.P.; Seeking memories of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade

The university presidents denouncing boycotts have largely been silent regarding Israel's abuses of Palestinian academics and Palestinian human rights in general. Those presidents may oppose our principled stance, they should at least have the decency to acknowledge those abuses. The recent passing of Nelson Mandela has reminded us of a time when people bravely stood up to apartheid by initiating boycotts and other proactive measures to isolate the South African regime.

Obamacare was conceived at the Heritage Foundation, and birthed in Massachusetts by Mitt Romney. Obama took Romneycare, a program designed to keep the private insurance industry intact, and improved some of its provisions. In deciding what course, the question for the new administration, which successfully ran a campaign with a large plank to make major changes to the health care delivery system, try to go around the existing insurance industry or through it?

In a bleak year filled with bad news, people from Edward Snowden to Elizabeth Warren were brave enough to shake up the establishment. "Fighting the power," as people used to say, is no easy task. Victories are hard to come by and can quickly slide away because the power establishment of money, lobbying, lawyers, PR machines and out-and-out corruption are like Neil Young's rust: they never sleep.

The individual mandate was not necessary - the insurance companies like it because it does bring young, healthy people who aren't likely to get sick into the system.