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Hobbit Histories: The Origins of Homo Floresiensis

The origins of the species known as 'the hobbit' - a human relative only a little over a metre tall - have been debated ever since its discovery in 2004. Now new fossils may reveal the ancestors of this strange species and help us to understand its history.

A Public Note to My Friend, Bernie Sanders

Robert Reich Robert Reich
You’ve inspired millions of us to get involved in politics – and to fight the most important and basic of all fights on which all else depends: to reclaim our economy and democracy from the moneyed interests. Thank you, Bernie.

Californians Now Have Right to ‘Aid In Dying’: How Did We Get Here?

David Orentlicher The Conversation
Just as usual end-of-life laws allow patients to bring an end to the dying process by declining chemotherapy, dialysis, and feeding tubes, so aid-in-dying laws allow patients to bring an end to the dying process by taking a lethal dose of drugs. But aid-in-dying laws do not extend their rights to people who might want to end their lives because of psychological distress.

The Greatest

Michael Castellano Portside
A requiem for a true heavyweight, Muhammad Ali, originally written by Michael Castellano in 1981.

With BDS Order, Cuomo Imports Anti-Democratic Spirit, from Israel and France

Jonathan Ofir Mondoweiss
Executive orders are meant to avert imminent or existential crises that cannot await legislation. It's as if we are being asked to believe that BDS is some deplorable enemy endangering our very existence as a free society, and that only those who really care, take action on behalf of the rest of us, who have not yet awoken to the grim reality. For Cuomo, fighting this fight on behalf of Israel is all about "freedom, liberty and democracy".

Another Reading of Milanovic: Worlds of Inequality - Globalization's Winners and Losers

Miles Corak The American Prospect
Branko Milanovic offers us not just a plethora of facts about income inequality but brings them into a sound and rigorous global perspective, showing that what are too often treated as isolated national issues are on a world scale income massively maldistributed. While some nations saw the growth of a middle strata (China, for one) the real increase in world income is owned by the unprecedented 50-percent rise in incomes for the top 1 percent globally.

Who Is Responsible for Puerto Rico's Debt?

Ed Morales The Nation
There's evidence some of it is illegal - and activists agree that Washington's colonial control over the island's economy helped create the crisis. We are urging members of Congress to put the people of Puerto Rico first and oppose H.R. 5278 as currently written, said SEIU 32BJ President Hector Figueroa. We need a real solution and Congress must get back to work immediately to provide a path forward that allows Puerto Rico to negotiate a feasible debt restructuring plan.