Portside

It wasn’t until almost a century after Boole’s pioneering work that the world caught up. Both Victor Shestakov at Moscow State University in 1935 and Claude Shannon at MIT in 1937 proposed using Boolean logic to design electrical switches, the latter’s work paving the way for a major shift in electrical engineering in the USA. By late 1948, Shannon had introduced what we now know as information theory, and digital computers soon followed.

The widespread burning of tropical rainforests and peatlands to develop pulpwood and palm oil plantations is one of the largest sources of carbon pollution occurring in the world today. The fires are due to a broken system of international commodity production that will take all of us at both ends of the supply chain to fix. This will necessitate holding Western companies accountable for the consequences of their global operations.

By Bordne's account, at the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis, Air Force crews on Okinawa were ordered to launch 32 missiles, each carrying a large nuclear warhead. Only caution and the common sense and decisive action of the line personnel receiving those orders prevented the launches—and averted the nuclear war that most likely would have ensued.

Rosa Luxemburg was at the center of revolutionary politics from 1898-1919, a very complex political time. Connecting her perspectives to the many now obscure movements of the pre-WWI era can get confusing for those who have not much studied the period. That’s why the graphic novel format used by Evans is so vital to understanding Luxemburg’s role.

Black Lives Matter activists are concerned about intra-racial violence. But they don’t see police and prisons as the solution.

Steven Soderbergh's period medical drama, The Knick, which kicked off its second season on Oct. 16, has been praised for its vivid characterization, realism, historical accuracy, and visual style.

A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge has issued a temporary restraining order against Alliance College-Ready Public schools that prohibits the charter group from interfering with unionization efforts.

Since Obama first announced the bombing campaign in Iraq and Syria in 2014, critics have warned that such tactics would likely lead to "mission creep" in the two countries. As the number of troops in Iraq has steadily grown over the last year and a half, this will be the first acknowledged presence of U.S. soldiers in Syria—a country against which the U.S. has not officially declared war.

This may be the most relevant legacy of Franz Kafka’s tale. It is a reminder that in a world dominated by capital, terror is so commonplace as to be almost hidden in plain sight. And in so being, it is capable of turning the human condition into something unspeakable.

Bidhya Devi Bhandari is deputy leader of the ruling Communist party and campaigned to secure women's rights under the new constitution.