Portside

Although the great red scare of the 1950s almost erased the anti-lynching song Strange Fruit from the public arena, the strange fruit allusion - lynched bodies hanging from trees – was one of genius. It had gotten under our culture’s skin, and as time went on, it seeped out of its pores.

Vermont is the home of Ben and Jerry’s, maple syrup, Bernie Sanders and the first state to pass marriage equality. Now, Vermont will be known for something that will impact every resident in the state -- a single payer health care system.

Do dogs "listen in" to interactions among human beings, and learn who it is best to beg from? Yup.

1,500 demonstrations were held across the country today at Walmart stores. As reports are coming in, 110 people have been arrested.

It was the night before Thanksgiving. Walmart's top brass had assembled in the executive boardroom for a last celebration before heading home to their families. ...Meanwhile, "Black Friday" would begin on Thursday evening, leaving many of its workers unable to spend the holiday with family or friends.

It was Abraham Lincoln who used the theme of Pilgrims and Indians eating happily together. He was trying to calm things down during the Civil War when people were divided. It was like a nice unity story. So what really happened? We made a treaty. They couldn't make a treaty for a boatload of people so they made a treaty between two nations - England and the Wampanoag Nation.