Archive | Portside

July 20, 2014

The Carbon Tax is Dead and There is Nothing Credible to Take Its Place

Lenore Taylor The Guardian

Almost a decade of bruising debate has led to the absence of any serious policy alternative and paralysis over the way forward

July 20, 2014

Iron Dome: the Public Relations Weapon

John Mecklin Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

We can tell, for sure, from video images and even photographs that the Iron Dome system is not working very well at all. It hits a targeted missile maybe 5 percent of the time—could be even lower. ... Meanwhile, the Israeli government presents Iron Dome's performance as part of a sophisticated public relations effort.

July 20, 2014

The Big Sort

Linda Lutton and Brendan Metzger WBEZ

How Chicago's school choice system is tracking kids into separate high schools based on achievement (and race).

July 20, 2014

Charter School Teachers Trying to Unionize

Kim Wheeler WKYC Cleveland Channel 3

There will be a mail-in vote for union representation from July 21 to Aug. 4 for teachers at the "I Can" charter school in Northeastern Ohio. The American Federation of Teachers plans to file Unfair Labor Practice Charges for alleged retaliation against nine teachers whose contracts were not renewed. Teachers are concerned over class sizes as large as 40, and special needs students not having their needs met. Click the link at the bottom to watch the video.

July 18, 2014

Friday Nite Videos -- July 18, 2014

Portside

Spike Jonze Presents: Lil Buck and Yo-Yo Ma. If Latinos Said the Stuff White People Say. Johnny Winter: Live at the Fillmore East. Reggae Got Soul. Murder on Abortion Row.

Spike Jonze Presents: Lil Buck and Yo-Yo Ma

July 18, 2014

An amazing collaboration between Yo-Yo Ma and a young dancer in LA, Lil Buck. Someone who knows Yo-Yo Ma had seen Lil Buck on YouTube and put them together. The dancing is Lil Buck's own creation and unlike anything I've seen. Hope you enjoy. -- Spike Jonze

If Latinos Said the Stuff White People Say

July 18, 2014

"You're just not what I picture when I think of a white person."

Johnny Winter: Live at the Fillmore East

July 18, 2014

Johnny Winter (Feb 23, 1944-July 16, 2014) was one of the guitar greats. Here is his haunting, soulful 1971 performance at the Fillmore East (Be Careful With a Fool).

Reggae Got Soul

July 18, 2014

Reggae Got Soul | Playing For Change from Playing For Change on Vimeo.

Toots Hibbert, Taj Mahal, Ernest Ranglin and many many more musicians to contribute to this worldwide reggae anthem. As Toots sings, "listen to the beat, move your dancing feet..." Turn it up, spread it around and support Playing For Change by purchasing the new album, "PFC 3: Songs Around The World", and sharing it with everyone you can!

Murder on Abortion Row

July 18, 2014

In 1994, John Salvi, a radical young Catholic abortion opponent, opened fire on two clinics in Brookline, Mass., just outside Boston, and killed two women: Shannon Lowney, a 25-year-old receptionist at Planned Parenthood, and Lee Ann Nichols, who worked as a receptionist at PreTerm, the clinic down the street.

The killings ignited a fierce debate about the intersection of free speech, abortion and religion, a debate reignited by the recent Supreme Court decision overturning a buffer space around clinics in Massachusetts. For the first time, the 1996 Frontline documentary Murder on Abortion Row is streaming online.