Portside

The birth of continent’s newest nation was largely an American endeavor, brought about by a polyglot coalition of Christian evangelicals, U.S. corporations, the Bush and Obama administrations, the Congressional Black Caucus, and human rights supporters. But in many ways the current crisis goes back to November 1884, when some 14 countries came together in Berlin and sliced up a continent.

. The author of this iconic anthem of American patriotism was Katharine Lee Bates. In a brilliant lampoon of the bigots' backlash against the Coke commercial, Stephen Colbert pointed out that Bates was a lesbian. He could also have added that she was also a Christian socialist and an ardent foe of American imperialism.

Across the country, local delegations visited Staples stores in January to threaten a boycott unless the retailer's new "postal units" are staffed by actual postal employees.The APWU is in support of making postal services available in more places and for longer hours, as long as they are staffed by postal union members.

Corruption is endemic to the capitalist system and has not been successfully regulated away. Perhaps a system change is warranted?

* The Pipeline and U.S. Unions* * LIUNA On Keystone XL Pipeline Final Environmental Analysis* * Nurses Warn of Escalating Effects of Climate Change on Public Health*

Doesn't the NFL Pay Taxes?; Haven't the Redskins Changed their Name Yet?; Scarlett Johansson Turns Her Back on Human Rights, Takes the $$ Instead; Irish Should Defend Undocumented Latinos; Bronco chooses Chomsky over NFL; Cheerios Family in New Ad

“The Wars of Reconstruction” defies current trends in Reconstruction scholarship. Reconstruction’s central story, Egerton insists, takes place in the South, in the struggle of former slaves to breathe substantive meaning into the freedom they had acquired.

Since 2011, an unexpected wave of collective activity, involving workers and their allies, inside and outside of unions, has become a beacon of hope for saving our unions. In all its diverse manifestations, this multi-front struggle has been a revolt, from below, against “the right to work for less money.” In both the public and private sector, older forms of protest—were recast by a new generation of activists searching for effective ways to resist corporate domination.

The United States has become so corrupt that the basic principle of the law applying to all equally has long since became a quaint relic. We are back to a system of aristocratic privilege. If we had a rule of law and not of men, Edward Snowden would be given a medal and the following officials would be on the lam to avoid serious jail time.

As long as this commerce is illegal, it is totally unregulated. Since we know that addicts will continue to buy drugs on the street, we also know that some will die from drugs that are either too potent or adulterated with other substances that could make them lethal. Is this really the intent of our drug policy? To invite users to kill themselves?