One Year Later What Constitutes Normal Relations with Cuba?

Louis A. Pérez, Jr. NACLA
On December 17, 2014, the U.S. and Cuba announced the restoration of diplomatic relations, and the U.S. abandoned its 55-year effort at regime change through political isolation and economic sanctions. One year later, however, difficult questions regarding relations with Cuba remain unanswered and unaddressed. And how will relations be normalized when what has constituted “normal” for 200 years has been the presumption of U.S. entitlement to impose its will on Cuba?

Friday Nite Videos -- December 25, 2015

Portside
Black Voters Explain Why They Feel the Bern. Dr. John & Odetta: Brother Can You Spare a Dime. If Guys Said What Donald Trump Says. Rashad Robinson Dispels Myth of 'Ferguson Effect.' Why Alcohol Doesn't Come With Nutrition Facts.

Dr.John & Odetta: Brother Can You Spare a Dime

This oldie was originally written during the depression (1931) by Yip Harburg, who was later blacklisted during the McCathy era. This video updates its relevance to the poor and disenfranchised in our nation today.

Why Alcohol Doesn't Come With Nutrition Facts

Ever wonder why almost everything you buy has a nutrition label, but alcoholic beverages don't? It's all thanks to some crazy regulations and powerful industry lobbyists.

Martin Shkreli, Rotten Apples and Rotten Systems

Robert Reich Robert Reich
Unlike most other countries, the United States doesn’t control drug prices. It leaves pricing up to the market, which enables drug companies to charge as much as the market will bear. So what, exactly, did Martin Shkreli do wrong, by the standards of today’s capitalism? It’s easy to go after bad guys, much harder to go after bad systems.

Why Scientists Have Hope for the Climate

Brian Kahn Climate Central
There’s no getting around the fact that climate change is a bummer. The planet is warming, ice is melting, oceans are acidifying and, well, you get the point. While the bad news is important — it lets us know what we’re getting into with this whole climate change thing — it’s also worth remembering there’s reason for hope.

'Trumbo' and the Hidden Story of the Red Scare

James DiEugenio Consortium News
After World War II, the Red Scare built the careers of redbaiters like Joe McCarthy and Richard Nixon while undermining the legacy of Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal and stifling prospects for progressive politics in America, a tale touched on by the movie, “Trumbo.”

The Only Way to Save Your Beloved Bananas Might Be Genetic Engineering

Maddie Oatman Mother Jones
A nasty and incurable fungus has spread through the banana-producing countries around the world, and it could be making its way straight toward banana heartland: Latin America, which produces 80 percent of the world's exports, threatening to drive the most popular variety of banana to extinction. So scientists are focusing on building a better banana to withstand the fungal assault.