Portside

The Zika virus, and responses to it, have shone a light on the inadequacies of abortion and family planning laws in Latin America. Nevertheless, the Zika outbreak represents an opportunity for Latin America to review its sexual health policies and address long overdue issues, from access to contraception and abortion to a machismo culture that fosters sexual violence and discrimination.

Today’s terrorist attack in Brussels is an unspeakable tragedy, and the victims should never be forgotten. However, seeking vengeance through a militarized response will only create more terrorists.

Unlike Clinton, and all the Republican presidential candidates who spoke at AIPAC, Sanders called attention to Palestinian human rights issues. He said security meant “achieving self-determination, civil rights, and economic wellbeing for the Palestinian people.” Sanders also said peace meant ending the “occupation of Palestinian territory.”

While the battle rages for the soul of the Republican Party, Frank sees Democrats in the throes of their own identity crisis. The one-time party of the working class has been co-opted by a hyper-educated elite, he argues in his just-published Listen Liberal.

It’s a hundred years since some 750 men and women threw up barricades and seized key locations in downtown Dublin. They would be joined by maybe 1,000 more. In six days it would be over, the post office in flames, the streets blackened by shell fire, and the rebellion’s leaders on their way to face firing squads against the walls of Kilmainham Jail. Yet this “failure” that would reverberate worldwide and be mirrored by colonial uprisings almost half a century later.

The savior; The gangster; The conservatives' nightmare; Facing the base; Speech rights defeat; Voting rights victory

The war on terror’s methods of mass surveillance and remote warfare are not unique. The US is also addicted to covert tools in its ‘war on drugs’, with disastrous consequences.

In advance of President Barack Obama’s historic visit to Cuba on March 20, there was speculation about whether he can pressure Cuba to improve its human rights. But a comparison of Cuba’s human rights record with that of the United States shows that the US should be taking lessons from Cuba.

Mike Davis, Marxist sociologist, on the Trump phenomenon and why young people are so open to socialism. In this interview, Maria Christina Vogkli, a London School of Economics sociology alumnus, and George Souvlis, a PhD candidate in history at the European University Institute in Florence, speak with Davis about the roots of his political identity, the pernicious effects of Clintonite policies, and the importance of this year’s presidential primaries.

Workers of the Chinese Daily News just won a $7.8 million settlement against the company for wage theft and work place violations. The settlement also includes funds to support legal clinics for workers to obtain information about their labor rights. This is one of the largest wage justice settlements in Asian American labor history. APALA, Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, supported the workers of the Chinese Daily News for years.