Portside

Private creditors have replaced the public sector as lead borrower to developing countries, which has contributed to a new borrowing and lending boom.

Government spying is a problem for everyone. But people of color, religious minorities, and political dissidents are far more likely to be victims of unwarranted monitoring.

Data released by the Department of Defense on August 1st shows the military administered its 3-hour enlistment exam to nearly 700,000 students in 12,000 high schools during the 2013-14 school year, a 2% increase over the prior year.

The subtle mechanics of densely packed cells may help explain why some cancerous tumors stay put while others break off and spread through the body.

The basic approach undertaken in this country for the storage and disposal of spent nuclear fuel needs to be fundamentally revamped. Instead of waiting for problems to arise, the NRC and the Energy Department need to develop a transparent and comprehensive road map identifying the key elements of—and especially the unknowns associated with—interim storage, transportation, repackaging, and final disposal of all nuclear fuel.

"Reproductive justice is my world view and my outlook," says Dr. Willie Parker, who left a successful career in obstetrics to provide abortions to mostly low-income women of color in the Deep South.

Worldwide, 90 percent of domestic workers—the vast majority of whom are women—do not have access to any kind of social security coverage, according to the International Labour Organization. In the United States, an estimated 95 percent of domestic workers are female, foreign born and/ or persons of color. They frequently lack protections and face near constant adversity.

There is a reason why 70 percent of black teenagers, like those who died in Shreveport, and 60 percent of Hispanic teenagers can’t swim. But it isn’t due to some genetic disorder, as some actually believe. It is because of abject irrational racism and Jim Crow and its vestiges.

The Southern Workers Assembly has been building the Southern Workers School as an important institution to train and develop rank-and-file workers to organize the South. The school has held eight sessions since March tackling issues and basic organizing skills such as learning how to map your workplace and tips for one-on-one discussions with co-workers.

Hip-hop has always been queer. Some of its very first hitmakers were part of, if not closely adjacent to, queer communities, and some of its first musical and technical innovations premiered at gay clubs. But it's not the history fans usually read.