Portside

Activism brought changes in gay rights, marijuana laws, but guns, immigration, inequality and more stay unchanged. America’s ability to repair and renew itself rests, as ever, on the democratic spirit that burns within its citizenry.

Buy less. Give five per cent of your earnings to others fostering change.

The Republican Party last week quietly declared war on itself, in the process essentially confessing to a generation of failed governance and dumbed-down politics.

The individual mandate was not necessary - the insurance companies like it because it does bring young, healthy people who aren't likely to get sick into the system.

In recent years Eastern Europe has witnessed a push, in many cases driven by socially dominant Churches, to reinforce or tighten abortion legislation and deter access to them.

Organizer: 'When you are hurting, you need to be around some people who still believe in the possibility of us being one people'.

Why is it so easy for both parties to play games with the lives of the one in seven Americans—including nearly one in three children—who are in need of food assistance? And what can be done to change this dynamic?

Commentators questioned the wisdom of inflicting further austerity on a nation where more than 1.3 million are out of work, salaries have been cut by an average 25%, and poverty has been imposed on more than a third of the entire population.