Portside

Polls show it and commentators of all political stripes often cite the figures: Killer drone attacks by the U.S. military and the CIA in the Greater Middle East and Africa have strong U.S. public support. Yet major media ignore four former Air Force drone-war personnel who went public with an open letter to President Obama urging the President to reconsider a program that kills “innocent civilians,” and which “only fueled the feelings of hatred that ignited terrorism.

A civil lawsuit alleges that the former Oklahoma City police officer, who has been found guilty of rape, was allowed to remain on duty after investigation began

The likelihood of a Trump nomination and the possibility of a Republican convention in which no candidate has a clearcut majority are both rising. Now, Republican party leaders are actively planning how they could block a Trump nomination if he doesn't have the nomination locked down. Here's how they might do it.

Reporting from public sources over the last year, the Washington Post has identified more than 900 fatal shootings by police — an average of nearly three deaths a day. By contrast, the FBI has recorded about 400 deaths a year over the past decade, or just over one death a day — less than half the rate recorded by The Post. The FBI is now unveiling an attempt to compile a more complete record.

James Scruton dedicates this poem about his own white-collar labors to the late Philip Levine, the poet who celebrated working-class people who spent their lives “digging or pounding…wrenching or drilling.”

The Bangladesh Accord negotIated by global labor and lnternational human rights groups after the Rana Plaza building collapse in 2013 contains important protections for workers. Nonetheless, its effectiveness is limited by the weakness of unions on the ground in Bangladesh and by the pro-corporate global regulatory framework.

Union organizing victories across the country from Phoenix Airport Fueling Agents to Barnard College Adjuncts is good news for the labor movement.

Trump's proposal taps into a reservoir of racism that is part of American history. FDR ordered American-born and immigrant Japanese people into prison camps at the outset of World War II, one of the worst violations of the Constitution. From the moment the first slave was taken off a ship in colonial America, African-Americans have been subjected to violent racism. So have Latino immigrants, another Trump target. Anti-Islam feeling is rampant...all it needs is a leader.

Portside thinks we can do better than capitalism -- and had better do better, if we and our children are going to have a future -- without proposing a neat blueprint for the future or a well-drawn roadmap to it. We are a community of people on the left and an alternative medium of communication. Every year at this time, Portside asks all our readers for help, for support. Here's why we are asking for your support.