Portside

Nurses, philosophers, and UK trade unions have, over the past 12 months, all shared some fascinating ideas on how we can make our societies more equal — and much better — places to live.

Freedom Rider and long-time activist for justice, Bob Zellner, reaches out to one who sees the plight of African Americans during the pre-civil rights era differently.

In these times of widespread violence perpetrated by men, we may learn from Mandela's model of masculinity.

To single out Turing is to say all the other persecuted gay men are not so deserving of justice because they were less exceptional

Bryan Stevenson: We Need to Talk About Injustice. Leonard Cohen: Democracy Is Coming to the USA. What Does the PISA Report Tell Us About U.S. Education? Chiara de Blasio Tells Her Story. Merry Christmas: No More Unemployment Benefits. President Barack Obama - Drop It Like It's Hot.

Large new cooperative opens in Havana. The official view is that cooperatives are a more social form of production that private businesses and therefore will receive preferential treatment with respect to taxes and other fees. The government also is making credits available to cooperatives, credits denied private business owners.

Reader Comments - Flashmob for Mandela; The Progressive 'Left"; War and Christmas Truce of 1914; Socialist Origins of the Pledge; Radicals in City Hall; Fidel Castro on Mandela's Death and Who Supported Apartheid; Korea; MSNBC; Announcements - "No Separate Justice" Launch in New York City Jan. 7; Esperanza Spalding Protest Song & Video Calling For Guantanamo Bay

Dave Van Ronk's ex-wife, Terri Thal, reviews the film, Inside Llewyn Davis. Llewyn Davis differs from David. - there are so few similarities. The Coens say the movie isn't about Dave, and they are correct. Most of the acting is very good. Oscar Isaac is excellent -- he's real, and he brings pathos and anger to Llewyn Davis. His performances of David's songs are good. The music? It's done well, but the movie never shows how it comes about.

Pope Francis, in his messages and appointments, seems to be steering the Roman Catholic Church into more moderate terrain, away from some of the conservative ideological interpretations of the recent period. Jim Williams reviews The Radical Jesus. "Who was Jesus anyway? What did his life and teaching mean? There are so many views - from the Religious Right to Rev. Cornell West. My view is that Jesus is whoever you want him to be. You can find the quotes to fit."

Edward Snowden's Christmas message - together we can end mass surveillance, otherwise "'a child born today will grow up with no conception of privacy at all.' Listen to message broadcast on England's Channel 4; and Washington Post story, based on 14 hours of interviews conducted in Moscow. "All I wanted was for the public to be able to have a say in how they are governed," Snowden said.