Portside

McConnell has so exaggerated the filibuster power that it has effectively allowed him to thwart not just Senate votes but the operations of federal agencies such as the National Labor Relations Board. He and his allies have gone so far as to block the confirmation of nominees for cabinet posts, such as Department of Labor nominee Tom Perez.

The mass movements starting in June 2013 were the largest and most significant protests in Brazil in a generation, and they have shaken up the country's political system. Their explosive growth, size and extraordinary reach caught everyone – the left, the right, and the government – by surprise. This article examines these movements in light of the achievements and shortcomings of the democratic transition, in the mid-1980s, and the experience of the administration.

The NLRA would not be powerless if it were interpreted as written and as Congress intended. The law still has the power to transform labor relations and give employees fair treatment, if only we will defend that power. The erosion of NLRA rights through past and current "interpretations" continues to deprive workers of their rights and weaken unions.

BART strike aftermath: Arrogant techies channel Russian aristocracy and declare class warfare.

Amid the ruckus over its voting rights and gay marriage rulings, the justices quietly accepted a pair of cases that could make it nearly impossible for private sector unions to organize new members.

The hope reformers once had that risky trades made overseas by American banks might be regulated were crushed on Friday. Democrats cozy with Wall Street are just fine with that.

Researchers are coming to understand just how individualized human physiology and human pathology really are. That’s one reason that, despite the rigorous monitoring of clinical trials, 16 novel medicines were withdrawn from the market from 2000 through 2010, a figure equal to 6 percent of the total approved during the period. The pharmacogenomics of each of us — the way our genes influence our response to drugs — is unique.

The struggle for justice continues now outside the Florida courtroom. The NAACP is petitioning the United States Department of Justice to seek justice for slain teenager Trayvon Martin by filing civil rights charges against Zimmerman. Within three hours of the online posting of the petition late Saturday evening, more than 100,000 Americans had signed it. The response was so intense that the group’s website crashed Sunday morning.