Portside

The Republican plan could dramatically roll back the federal role in education.

After 53 years the United States and Cuba have restored diplomatic relations, with the U.S. formally ending its unsuccessful attempts to isolate the socialist island republic. One commentator termed President Obama's decision to restore diplomatic relations his most positive foreign policy decision. Another said the accord proves "dignity wins battles." Many hope the Cuba decision will augur more realistic U.S. approaches to countries such as Iran and Venezuela.

At the end of 2014, President Obama announced the "responsible conclusion" of the longest war in U.S. history, leaving behind an Afghanistan that everyone acknowledges is still a very "dangerous place." Despite more than 130,000 U.S. and NATO troops, the effort to eliminate the Taliban has ended in total failure. Year 2014 was the worst of America’s 13-year war, and a weak, divided, and vulnerable government in Kabul faces severe challenges in 2015.

The author makes a radical case for cities to buy sports teams and not sports stadiums. Last month Washington D.C. approved the largest public subsidy ever for a Major League Soccer franchise, $183 million for D.C. United's stadium. And soccer stadiums have never been known to revitalize anything. Millionaire owners will resist any attempt to erode their monopoly power over team ownership, but cities need to explore radical alternatives to sports extortion.

Wage stagnation is putting the squeeze on working families even as corporate profits are at record levels. And 2014 continued the trend of suppressed wages while profits and the compensation of senior corporate managers skyrocket, with many CEOs making 350 times the average worker. The expanding wealth gap in this country is proof of a system that grossly favor the rich over ordinary working families, even when the economy is improving.

The major media, as if reading coal industry press releases, continues to refer to "clean coal" when describing the industry experiments with carbon capture and storage. "Clean coal" is an industry marketing term, but journalists in the major media continue to use it as if it were truthful reporting. Coal is dirty, costly, and deadly. And journalists that continue to use the energy companies PR-speak are enabling a deadly and outlaw industry.

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