Portside

An up-close-and-personal report on the new Israel and its grim domestic policies when it comes to who owns the land -- Max Blumenthal, “The Desert of Israeli Democracy, A Trip Through the Negev Desert Leads to the Heart of Israel’s National Nightmare”

After decades of exclusion, home care workers are finally covered by federal minimum wage laws. Anyone who works for social change can learn from how they did it.

In the past year, the Austin Heights congregation has found itself in the thick of the intense fight over the Keystone XL pipeline, specifically the southern leg of it—running from Cushing, Oklahoma, through East Texas (within twenty miles of Nacogdoches) to Gulf Coast refineries in Port Arthur and Houston—which was fast-tracked by President Obama in March 2012 and is now nearing completion, according to TransCanada, the Canadian corporation building it.

Research with very young babies suggests that the roots of compassion, empathy and moral reasoning might be in place from birth.

There are more than 80,000 people, including thousands of juveniles 14 and 15 years old, being held in solitary confinement in this country right now. Hopefully this film will draw even more activists to the cause of ending this inhumane and harsh punishment.

A Supreme Court decision striking aggregate campaign contribution limits would allow wealthy donors to buy as many politicians as they can; those politicians could then move legislation suppressing the votes of those who might object.

The Institute for Policy Studies, an invaluable fount of progressive ideas and action, marks its fiftieth anniversary this month. The roll of its past and present scholars and associates reflects the richness of America’s independent left.

This evidence suggests that cuts to programs for seniors may be unlikely to end up benefitting our kids. Rather such cuts may be associated with reduced spending on kids as well. If the public does not trust the government to provide good care for seniors, it may also not trust the government to provide good care for children.

Today the fight is against the education reform law, but also over the broader political agenda of Pena Nieto, and neither side seems prepared to back down.

All of this could be avoided with legislative action but there seems be little likelihood that the current Tea Party strangled Congress will do anything that might relieved the economic pressure on the nation’s working people.