Portside

A special convention of Cosatu -- the Congress of South African Trade Unions -- concluded a special convention rejecting an appeal by the expelled metal workers union to rejoin the federation. The future of former Cosatu President Zwelinzima Vavi was also debated. Although the Federation's unity was preserved and its political orientation was, deep divisions remain.

“There was never really any solid evidence that she had been involved in any part of espionage,” said Ilene Philipson, author of Ethel Rosenberg: Beyond the Myths. “It just confirms this idea that the government was using her, imprisoning her to get at Julius Rosenberg to try and persuade him to confess.”

“The idea is pretty simple behind this one,” Senator Elizabeth Warren said a few days ago, explaining her bill to resurrect Glass-Steagall. “If banks want to engage in high-risk trading — they can go for it, but they can’t get access to ensured deposits and put the taxpayers on the hook for that reason.”

U.S.-based organizations including Just Foreign Policy, Win Without War, Peace Action, and Jewish Voice for Peace released calls to action Tuesday urging opponents of war to mobilize to protect the deal.

‘At first we dreamed of having a revolution and gaining our liberty,’ he said, ‘but unfortunately the popular movement was not well organised and was manipulated by neighbouring countries such as the Gulf states, so revolution turned into jihad.’ He says that to fight back against the regime the rebels had no choice but to turn to a religious movement that appealed to the conservative people of eastern Syria.

The frustration, depression and anger of the people who voted OXI with such pride and determination is palpable in Athens today. There is a real danger the party will split and that parts of the Syriza leadership will – reminiscent of the Ramsay Macdonald Labour Government in Britain in 1931 – kick the party away and join with the bourgeois elites in a national unity government.

The American Federation of Teachers executive council voted overwhelmingly to endorse Hillary Clinton in the Democratic Party primary for President of the United States on Saturday, July 11. The union has more than 1.6 million members. President Randi Weingarten said "Hillary Clinton is a tested leader who shares our values.

Ta Nehisi Coates is best known for his June, 2014 article in the Atlantic, "The Case for Reparations." Since then, he has emerged as one of today's most important commentators on racism and anti-racism. His new book has garnered both praise and push-back, placing it right at the center of our contemporary debates on the subject. Here, Josie Duffy calls it "an important book—perhaps the most important in a generation—on how race in this country functions."

Advice for the next generation of social movements: “Never protest the same way twice.” MW: What we learned from Occupy, and also with the Arab Spring, is that revolutions happen when people lose their fear. So I think the main trigger for the next revolutionary movement will be a contagious mood that spreads throughout the world and the human community.

In his first interview since resigning, Greece's former Finance Minister says the Eurogroup is “completely and utterly” controlled by Germany, Greece was “set up” and last week’s referendum was wasted.