Portside

It's not unusual for politicians to disagree; one would hope that journalism might intervene on the side of the facts.

"The church sometimes has locked itself up in small things, in small-minded rules," Francis says. "Ministers of the church must be ministers of mercy above all." In general, he seems to suggest he wants the church to come off as less judgmental and more pastoral, though without becoming morally "lax."

Religious conservatives in Texas are fighting to infuse textbooks with their agenda—and it won't just affect public school students in the Lone Star State.

Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU) has since become the longest-lived, most successful rank and file movement in U.S. labor history. Many labor historians have noted TDU’s role in winning rights, cutting mob influence in the Teamsters, and giving rank and file Teamsters a voice.

Democrats have reached a watershed. After two decades in which the party has moved leftward on social issues but has largely accepted the financial sector's economic preferences - the abject failures of the market economy are pushing the party leftward. The revolt against Summers was less about his positions on today's economic issues but his opposition to regulating derivatives. In Congress, in New York City and Chicago, Democrats are feeling the heat of the people.

Although Israel has refused to publicly acknowledge its chemical weapons program, the U.S. Office of Technology has identified Israel as a nation with likely offensive chemical weapons capabilities. In addition to Israel's controversial chemical weapons program, Israel is one of few nations not to ratify the nuclear non-proliferation agreement.

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