Portside

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states and local governments with a history of discrimination no longer needed to submit new voting laws for federal approval. Now, voting rights advocates are trying to put them back under oversight using the courts and Congress.

Japanese children can now be exposed to 20 times more radiation than was previously allowed, a level comparable to the yearly limit for German workers.

Last spring the non-profit Advocates for Children of New Jersey reported that in 19 of the state's 21 counties poverty was on the upswing, spreading well beyond places like the urban core of Camden and Essex to rural and suburban communities.

The case of Police Officer Howard Morgan in Chicago has put the whole criminal justice system on trial.

Inequality, Dignity of Work, West Bank

Contrary to cultural assumptions that boys are stronger and sturdier, basic biological weaknesses are built into the male of our species. These frailties leave them more vulnerable than girls to life’s hazards, including environmental pollutants such as insecticides, lead and plasticizers

'His ascent to power had meaning, but now his interventions are too rare and too piecemeal to constitute a narrative'

If the Supreme Court is willing to embrace the almost oxymoronic notion that corporations can be people of faith, then there could be little end to business owners’ ability to immunize themselves from the law — so long as they cover their objections to those laws in a religious wrapper.

'Then comes the Christopher Columbus Syndrome. You can’t discover this! We been here.'

Beethoven in Hong Kong. Big Chill Caused by Polar Vortex. World Science U — Special Relativity Trailer. Whoopi Goldberg Presents Moms Mabley.