Portside

Yet transparency is essential to democracy, so that citizens, rather than an elite, make decisions, especially when it comes to life-or-death issues.

Flame retardant,Walmart,Netanyahu,Black Friday,Afghanistan,pensions,Karzai

Do dogs "listen in" to interactions among human beings, and learn who it is best to beg from? Yup.

Vermont is the home of Ben and Jerry’s, maple syrup, Bernie Sanders and the first state to pass marriage equality. Now, Vermont will be known for something that will impact every resident in the state -- a single payer health care system.

Although the great red scare of the 1950s almost erased the anti-lynching song Strange Fruit from the public arena, the strange fruit allusion - lynched bodies hanging from trees – was one of genius. It had gotten under our culture’s skin, and as time went on, it seeped out of its pores.

Black Friday Wal-Mart protesters, including community members, demanded fair wages and better working conditions. As they reached the front of the store, their chants of "What do we want? Justice!" grew louder.

Way Down in the Hole (Tom Waits). Preachin' Blues (Son House). Stand Up, Stand Up for Judas (Leon Rosselson). Atheists Don't Have No Songs (Steve Martin). I'm on My Way to Canaan Land (Burt Lancaster as Elmer Gantry).

Reader Comments - Black Friday protests; Walmart and retail workers; Congress filibuster; Warren, Sanders - the 2016 elections; healthcare; Detroit; Climate Change; "Hunger Games;" Africa; Iran; Announcements - NC Music Love Army benefit album; New Books - What We Can Learn from the New Deal and JFK - The Cuba Files the untold story of the plot;; Performance-talk and jam - Nueva Canción - New York - Dec 6; PM Press - Holiday Sale and Upcoming Releases!

The ultra Right tastes blood in the snafu that threatens "Obamacare"; they are gleefully throwing everything into their last, best chance to overturn any expansion of health care. A "broader" coalition, both domestic and international, is feverishly doing its all to abort efforts at easing tensions with Iran.

On the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President Kennedy, many are focused on the political atmosphere in the country and the world - specifically the role of the ultra-right in whipping up hysteria, and the machinations and secret plots of the "hidden government," the spy agencies, the FBI and CIA. Now we have previously unreleased material (from the National Archives) about secret negotiations between JFK and Fidel Castro,. Was this the reason to kill?