Portside

It seems that if you are a distinguished citizen of the most exceptional country on the planet, even war crimes have their rewards. Consider, for instance, the millions of dollars that were paid for memoirs by top Bush administration officials responsible for creating an American offshore torture regime at CIA “black sites” around the world. Must-reads all! Rebecca Gordon considers what “justice” for such figures might look like in a different and better world.

The Democratic establishment wants Sanders and his supporters to report for duty and line up behind Clinton — to put aside their dreams and enlist. Sanders and his supporters are building a political movement both inside and outside the Democratic Party. They have their own agenda. But while this country needs change far more profound than anything Clinton champions, defeating Trump is essential to the progress of that movement.

As Clinton’s speech recognized, a Trump presidency promises an unprepared, dangerous foreign policy. But her refusal to engage with the real, robust alternative offered by Sanders may say more about her own war-driven foreign policy than anything else.

The District’s move is the latest in a series of unexpected and rapid-fire victories for the $15-minimum-wage movement. What began as an audacious push by fast-food workers just a few years ago is evolving into a new labor standard, with state lawmakers in California and New York agreeing to implement a $15 minimum wage by 2022 and legislatures in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Jersey weighing similar measures.

Republicans have created immense obstacles to registration - reduced the number of days for early voting, eliminated same-day registration - all with the clear and unadulterated aim of sinking, if not eliminating the Democratic electorate. What is striking is that, not very far behind their bogus arguments regarding alleged voter fraud, Republicans are close to admitting, or will outright admit, that their aim is to get potential Democratic voters to remain home.

Perhaps it would be better to see Donald Trump as a symptom, not the problem itself, to think of him not as the Zika Virus but as the first infectious mosquito to hit the shores of this country. If you need proof that he’s at worst a potential aider and abettor of authoritarianism, just take a look at the rest of our world, where the mosquitoes are many and the virus of right-wing authoritarianism spreading rapidly with the rise of a new nationalism...

There is a more important question than whether or not Clinton has officially emerged bloody but victorious. If in fact Sanders has lost, than what have the Democrats won? And what does this mean for the future prospects of the country and world?

Media displaces voters; Deadly president; The gift that keeps on taking; Rahm's emails (and everybody's); Tech, work and organizing; Radio vs on-demand

From sufism to reggae, from construction work to driving taxis, it has been a colorful ride for one of the co-founders of a taxi drivers union in New York.

Ken Loach just became the first British director to win the Palme d’Or at Cannes twice, when his welfare state polemic I, Daniel Blake picked up the prize. The 79-year-old film-maker had previously announced he was finished with directing but became so infuriated by the plight of the poor under the current Conservative government that he came out of retirement to make a new film, addressing the human cost of their policies. ‘Hunger is being used as a weapon.'