Portside

Supporters of this revamped weapon of mass destruction argue that, by ensuring greater precision in bombing “enemy” targets, reducing the yield of a nuclear blast, and making a nuclear attack more “thinkable,” the B61 Model 12 is actually a more humanitarian and credible weapon than older, bigger versions. Other specialists, such as the Federation of Atomic Scientists, were far more critical. . .

Clinton, the favorite, made a calculated decision to wrap herself tightly to Barack Obama. She praised his health care reforms and pledged to “defend and build on the Affordable Care Act” and to “make it work,” and while Sanders praised President Obama, whom he supported in 2008 and 2012, he made it clear he had differences with him – and that this country needed transformative change.

Once you are charged in America, whether you did the crime or not, you are almost always found guilty. Because of this, as many activists have discovered, the courts already are being used as a fundamental weapon of repression, and this abuse will explode in size should there be widespread unrest and dissent. Our civil liberties have been transformed into privileges...

Bitcoin goes the way of all capital; GOP SOTU message lost in translation; Al Jazeera America hits the wall; Surviving the Sony hack from the inside; Morozov muses

The outcry over the nomination of 20 white actors, and no black ones, for the Academy Awards gained momentum Monday — Martin Luther King’s Birthday — as director Spike Lee and actress Jada Pinkett Smith announced they would not be attending the ceremony on Feb. 28.

Science doesn't need another moonshot, and it really doesn't need another vaguely thought-out initiative dropped on it during a State of the Union address. What it needs is much more important—and probably much more difficult politically, because those needs are much less flashy. What science needs is stable, sustainable budget growth. Take the NIH budget and promise to grow it at a percent or two above inflation for a number of years. The number 10 would be good.

Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee were legendary actors and activists. “Life’s Essentials With Ruby Dee,” a new documentary about their remarkable partnership by their grandson Muta’Ali Muhammad, will premiere on Centric this Sunday.

Bernie’s plan will cover the entire continuum of health care, from inpatient to outpatient care; preventive to emergency care; primary care to specialty care, including long-term and palliative care; vision, hearing and oral health care; mental health and substance abuse services; as well as prescription medications, medical equipment, supplies, diagnostics and treatments. As a patient, all you need to do is go to the doctor and show your insurance card-you'll save $$$$$

New Yorker writer Jane Mayer examines the origins, rise and dominance of a billionaire class to whom money is no object when it comes to buying power

If you’re a woman over the age of 50, finding work has statistically gotten harder since 2008. Economics correspondent Paul Solman sat down with Teresa Ghilarducci, a labor economist and the author of the new book, “How to Retire with Enough Money,”to talk about how age discrimination and assumptions about the worth of women’s labor affect the job and retirement prospects of “older” women workers.