Portside

Noted journalist John Pilger talks about China, Okinawa, and U.S. policy in Asia.

The theme of Indiana poet Brian Brodeur's poem is the loss caused by the slave trade: lost history, lost identity, and the disbelief that follows its discovery.

AARP, the non-profit seniors organization that exists to promote the financial security, pensions and healthcare of those over 50, is secretly funding the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), an organization whose bills have acted against the interests of ordinary Americans, including retirees and their families. What can you do? -- sign the petition below.

Four out of every five - or more - have said the government makes them feel either angry or frustrated. These frustrated Americans may not fully realize it, but there's a strong case for more government - not less - as the most promising way to improve the nation's standard of living. The American government pretty much stopped growing when the civil rights movement forced whites to share public space with African Americans, then Latinos, Asians and Native Americans.

While Khan's speech was meant to tell everyone that Muslim Americans are proud and patriotic citizens, which is fine and true, there are also other ways to work for the good of the nation than fighting in its wars. To be a Muslim citizen of the United States, you don't have to die as a Muslim American. You can live as one, too.

If there is to be a political revolution - reactionary Republicans must be removed and cautious Democrats must be replaced with outside-inside activists who understand how to make the connection between movements and policies. Pramila Jayapal is an immigrant-rights advocate who blends movement ideals with legislative skills. She was one of the first congressional candidates this year to earn an endorsement from Bernie Sanders.

Reader Comments: 2016 Election Campaign - After the DNC, Hillary, Jill and the Donald; The Election and After - Strategy for this election AND going forward; Climate Change policy needs to be front and center; Campaign for Leonard Peltier's freedom; Ireland and Iceland set the example - jailing bankers that caused meltdown; Hiroshima and Nagasaki memorials at the UN and in New York; Letters to the Wall - What the Vietnam War was all about; and more . . . .

“Equity” is bracing, witty and suspenseful, a feminist thriller sharply attuned to the nuances of its chosen milieu. In setting and mood, it bears some resemblance to J. C. Chandor’s “Margin Call,” which similarly infused sleek and sterile corporate spaces with danger and dread. But unlike that film or Adam McKay’s “The Big Short,” Ms. Menon’s movie is not about the system in crisis. It’s about business as usual. Which is to say about corruption, deceit and treachery.

Bernie is building an infrastructure that will help encourage the growth of the political revolution. This will include a Sanders Institute to elevate issues and ideas, and two organization to recruit 100 candidates running for offices from Congress to school boards, as well as to help them campaign.

Democracy briskly and transparently recasts traditional world histories and world populations frequently left out of the narrative into a consideration of how different political alliances, including those of repressed and typically underrepresented groups, demand democracy through use of language and direct action. Democracy connects the local and the global, as well as the past and present, in understanding the complex and shifting notions of democracy.