Portside

. The author of this iconic anthem of American patriotism was Katharine Lee Bates. In a brilliant lampoon of the bigots' backlash against the Coke commercial, Stephen Colbert pointed out that Bates was a lesbian. He could also have added that she was also a Christian socialist and an ardent foe of American imperialism.

The birth of continent’s newest nation was largely an American endeavor, brought about by a polyglot coalition of Christian evangelicals, U.S. corporations, the Bush and Obama administrations, the Congressional Black Caucus, and human rights supporters. But in many ways the current crisis goes back to November 1884, when some 14 countries came together in Berlin and sliced up a continent.

About 40 people gathered in the wind and snow Wednesday morning outside Whole Foods’ Midwest regional headquarters in Chicago, supporting single mother Rhiannon Broschat, who said she was fired last week after choosing to stay home with her “special needs” child instead of going to work during the bitter cold on Jan. 28.

Thailand's Deep Divide by Walden Bello (January 27 in Foreign Policy in Focus) Thailand's Protests and the Global Economy by Layne Hartsell (February 4 in Foreign Policy in Focus)

1600 Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga, Tennessee to vote on unionization February 12 through 14. It appears that both Volkswagen and the UAW are supporting unionization. This is bringing howls of outrage from right-wing southern politicians. A yes vote would have be seen as a tremendous victory for all those trying to organize in the south.

Doesn't the NFL Pay Taxes?; Haven't the Redskins Changed their Name Yet?; Scarlett Johansson Turns Her Back on Human Rights, Takes the $$ Instead; Irish Should Defend Undocumented Latinos; Bronco chooses Chomsky over NFL; Cheerios Family in New Ad

Forming a union is one of the only ways that workers in home-care jobs have been able to have a voice and a pathway out of poverty. Limiting the ability of a state to collaborate directly with home care workers on common sense solutions to meet their own growing workforce needs--which could be the outcome of a right-wing lawsuit before the U.S. Supreme Court-- sets a terrible precedent for both workers and consumers.

* The Pipeline and U.S. Unions* * LIUNA On Keystone XL Pipeline Final Environmental Analysis* * Nurses Warn of Escalating Effects of Climate Change on Public Health*