Portside

Everything you wanted to know (this week) about the Digital Divide.

Who Will Fill the Political Void? Entering the third year of the revolt in Egypt, no amount of repression seems able to contain the swelling pressure exploding throughout the country the last several weeks. In fact, protests against the Muslim Brotherhood government of President Mohammed Morsi seem to be gaining support. The truth is, the revolution in Egypt is deeper and more profound than any of the other valiant examples of the Arab Spring.

Brooklyn College president stands firm, "Our commitment to the principles of academic freedom remains steadfast." At the same time, the New York City Council, has laid down a gauntlet: if this event goes forward, the Council will withdraw funds from CUNY and Brooklyn College. As Glenn Greenwald points out, this is about as raw an exercise of coercive political power - and simple a violation of academic freedom - as it gets.

Many activists rely on fiction for inspiration, new perspectives, and, of course, entertainment. For some of us, novels even helped start us down our paths of activism. Union density in United States has declined yet again - only 11.3% of American workers now belong to unions. Labor histories can play a key role in the education of a new generation of working people, and novels, can make the case for working people's rights.

The Center for Media and Democracy says the Pennsylvania effort is part of a nationwide campaign against unions by right-wing business groups, such as the Koch-backed Americans for Prosperity and the Tea Party organization FreedomWorks.

Many activists rely on fiction for inspiration, new perspectives, and, of course, entertainment. For some of us, novels even helped start us down our paths of activism. But—which novels? A survey of a handful of labor activists and educators revealed their favorite class-conscious novels.

Today, to honor the Feb. 4 centennial of the birth of Rosa Parks, the United States Postal Service has issued a Rosa Parks stamp. Yet these tributes to Rosa Parks rest on a narrow and distorted vision of her legacy. A more thorough accounting of Parks' political life offers a different set of reasons for the nation to honor her. A lifetime of steadfastness and outrage, tenacity and bravery, is what deserves national veneration.

The Pentagon and the White House focus on the core Defense budget, but that’s not the half of it. Much attention will focus on Social Security and Medicare, which have been flashpoints lately. Buy if coverage in years past is any guide, we can expect stories from many news outlets that will significantly understate a third huge slice of spending the real costs of military and other national defense spending.