Portside

Oscar show lays an egg; The song and the snub; Arquette’s gaffe; Snowden laughs it off; Clint and the Crusade

It’s been a harsh several weeks in Madison, Wisconsin for demonstrators against the governor and legislature, worse for the Progressive Era reforms being swiftly eliminated, one after the other. For those who aren’t following life in the Flyover regions, Right To Work passed the state Senate and is moving on to the Assembly, this coming week. With Republicans in charge, passage is all but certain.

Netanyahu's main mission was to advance his extremist stance—and undermine Obama's attempt to reach an agreement with Iran. He contended that Iran is bent on destroying Israel and "the Jewish people."

Can a dedicated socialist have a significant impact upon American life? Lauren Coodley’s biography of prominent socialist novelist and agitator Upton Sinclair shows that, with a lot of talent and fortitude, that kind of influence is possible.

The Justice Department will issue findings Wednesday that accuse the police department in Ferguson, Mo., of racial bias. “If the report of the Department of Justice findings are accurate, then it will confirm what Michael Brown’s family has believed all along, and that is that the tragic killing of their unarmed teenage son was part of a systemic pattern of policing of African American citizens in Ferguson,” said Benjamin Crump, the attorney for Brown’s family.

The subtext is that unions are on their way out, and that taking actions like agitating for pay and benefits will only hasten their disappearance. Recent events, however, are pointing in the opposite direction. Labor organizations are starting to show new creativity and militancy in attaining their goals.

Palestinian children dying of hypothermia, 90% of water undrinkable and other daily realities resulting from Israeli criminal occupation and blockade are reviewed by Chris Gunness, spokesman for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), as he discusses the causes and consequences of the fact that only about 5% of pledged donations have reached Gaza.

As of last week we lifted the ban on selling drones to foreign countries. Arms merchants have neither allies nor enemies. They have only customers. We are a country locked in a permanent war economy. To feed that economy we must have permanent war. And we have never been more successful at securing that combination than we are right now. Our endless wars with Iraq and Afghanistan destabilized the entire region.

Social justice activist Ruth Gilmore challenges four opportunist tendencies within the criminal justice movement - with lessons for ALL progressive movements.

Radical science fiction written by organizers, change makers and visionaries is collected and co-edited by Walidah Imarisha into an anthology Octavia's Brood: Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements. Imarisha links her editing efforts to her work as a prison abolitionist and larger social movements' on-going need for envisioning our revolutionary futures.