Portside

Over the past decade, however, the study of ancient DNA, recovered from fossils up to around 400,000 years old, has revealed startling new twists and turns in the story of human history.

Cattle barons carved up Texas with barbed wire in the late 19th century, separating poor farmers and landless cowboys from vital resources for their struggling cattle herds. So the cowboys formed fence-cutting gangs to preserve the open range.

With this summer’s strike, the country’s powerful Indigenous movement united two agendas long in tension: resistance to austerity and opposition to natural resource extraction.

While industrial capitalism got rid of the landlord class, capitalism still had economic rent, but instead of being paid to the landlord class, it is now paid to the banks in the form of interest.

Celebrity chef José Andrés, owner of 31 restaurants, has made a name for himself as a philanthropic restaurateur. But while he generates headlines with displays of generosity, his company is quietly trying to block restaurant workers from receiving better pay.

The new series Fire Country revolves around an incarcerated California firefighter. Based on a real program, the drama is made possible by California’s budget priorities: few resources for climate protection or fire services and abundant investment in prisons.

Throughout the United States, racial separation remains a common feature of collective life. The consequences are significant for left political organizing aimed at building a multiracial working-class majority.

The results were overwhelming. With 100 of the 103 precincts where the issue was on the ballot reporting, 87 percent of voters were backing the $15-an-hour wage. Just 13 percent voted against the advisory referendum. That huge level of support will strengthen the hand of activists who are encouraging the city council to consider a major wage hike.

This new Cold War is not about communism taking over the world. It is more about returning to 19th century balance of power interests, borrowing the phrase John Kerry has used against Putin. It is about dividing up the spoils of the first Cold War among the triumphal capitalist democracies, as if Russia is defeated and short-lived. Pushing Western capitalism and NATO towards Russia was sure to touch off the current escalation, and worse may come.

The banning of Students for Justice in Palestine at Northeastern University, replicates sanctions being imposed against numerous student Palestinian rights groups across the country. Israel's heavy-handed reaction to these campus organizations is symptomatic of its increasing isolation and concern about waning American support and have alienated traditional supporters of Israel, including many young American Jews.