Portside

The shift of capital from housing, jobs, education, to profitable arenas has meant there are huge numbers of people everywhere in the world who are not able to sustain themselves. They are made surplus, and as a result they are often forced to engage in practices that are deemed criminal. And so prisons pop up all over the world, often with the assistance of private corporations who profit from these surplus populations.

When your reforms are getting negative attention from the SEC and FBI, perhaps you need another word to describe them.

An increasing number of people are realizing that the entrepreneurial hucksters promoting “sharing” are abusing the deeper meaning of “trust,” “collaboration” and the simple generosity of spirit that makes people human.

An evolutionary arms race keeps humans and bacteria right where they started.

Cotton is so ubiquitous as to be almost invisible, yet understanding its history is key to understanding the origins of modern capitalism.

At America’s court of last resort, a handful of lawyers now dominates the docket.

Op-Ed by food journalist and columnist Mark Bittman: "What makes this an exciting time is that we are beginning to see links among issues that we have overlooked for far too long."

The revelations in the Senate Committee's Torture Report make it the most disturbing scandal in recent U.S. history. The number of different crimes committed by the CIA and documented by Senator Dianne Feinstein’s committee is truly extraordinary. But, for the Obama Administration, the CIA torture scandal can't end fast enough. But torture is a war crime and the architects must be held accountable to ensure this rampant criminality never happens again.

The World Needs Doctors? Cuba Trains Them. Elizabeth Warren Rips Citibank. Movie: Selma. The Avian Tree of Life. The Cockroach.