Portside

"MAP testing for five year olds does not test math and reading competency. At best it tests patience and computer literacy, which is more likely an indication of computer access at home. At worst it creates a culture of stress and frustration around standardized testing that may scar some of these children for the rest of their school careers.”

The book, which will be released Tuesday by Crown Archetype, compares the NFL's two decades of actions on health and safety to that of Big Tobacco -- the group of cigarette-making corporations whose executives for years covered up the fact that their products contained dangerous, addictive, potentially deadly and cancer-causing chemicals.

A conservative minority refused to fund the government unless the president gave them their agenda. Sound familiar?

Peace Activists Respond to Danny Postel's Critique of the Anti-War Movement

The Kristol memo; We! Are! The 1%!; 7 Craziest Obamacare Conspiracy Theories; Climate, chemtrails and conspiracy; Liberalism in the (think) tank

'Reforming' schools by giving tax money to corporations is a distraction from the system's real problems - poverty and racial segregation.

US Congress fails to pass budget legislation before midnight deadline, shuttering large portions of the government

When did America lose sight of the common good?

Government shutdown's consequences also rippled through food service and other non-federal industries as workers sent home.

At the top of the federal government, even a brief shutdown of “core NSA operations” is unthinkable. But at the grassroots, a permanent shutdown of the NSA should be more than thinkable; we should strive to make it achievable.