Portside

President-elect Donald Trump’s decision to elevate ex-generals to the highest civilian offices in America’s national security state represents a de facto military coup against civilian oversight of the world’s largest military machine. Former generals Michael Flynn, a warrior-crusader against Islam, will be Trump’s national security adviser; James “Mad Dog” Mattis, will be the nation’s secretary of defense; and John Kelley will head the Department of Homeland Security.

A Two Minute Guide to Swamp Creatures. Patti Smith | A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall. Merry Christmas Never Left the White House. Top Science Breakthroughs of 2016. The US Nuclear Arsenal Is a Gigantic Accident Waiting to Happen.

Bringing white voters who defected to Donald Trump into the fold would make the Democratic Party a formidable force, but not if it means marginalizing the concerns of people of color.

New mothers show evidence of neural remodeling up to two years after giving birth

Across the Americas, stories abound of enslaved peoples utilizing the small window of “a little restricted liberty” afforded by the Christmas season to escape bondage.

Looking for a job sometimes seems a little like trying to join a secret society whose rules and requirements are not discernible to the naked eye, as Lee Rossi shows in his mordant poem “Interview.”

Off the Charts -- The thousands of U.S. locales where lead poisoning is worse than in Flint. A Reuters examination of lead testing results across the country found almost 3,000 areas with poisoning rates far higher than in the tainted Michigan city. Yet many of these lead hotspots are receiving little attention or funding.