Portside

Karl Marx is often thought of as a purely economic thinker. But the famed socialist was a committed democrat — and his writings offer potential remedies for democratizing our undemocratic political system.

Scientists have grown the coronavirus in the lab for the first time. This is good news, and will advance the search for a vaccine. Meanwhile, what should you do to stay safe?

Staffers at the New York City Council began a card campaign in late November, a key step in the process that involves collecting signatures to show support for forming a union. They now have more than enough support to be formally recognized.

The southern California poet Gail Wronsky writes with pride (and pleasure and dignity) about her child who no longer passes as a binary daughter.

Alan Dershowitz’s claim that abuse of power is not an impeachable offense flies in the face of constitutional law. He told senators that abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, for which Trump was impeached, are not grounds for impeachment.

Australia was once actually poised to lead on climate politics. Perhaps the most brutal irony of all has been the Australian government’s response to the crisis. The scope of the fires is unprecedented.

The cases against Julian Assange and Glenn Greenwald may be models for a crackdown. The Trump administration and the right-wing Brazilian government of President Jair Bolsonaro seem to have decided to experiment with such draconian anti-press tactics

Friday Portside posted An Open Letter to the Green Party About 2020 Election Strategy, by Noam Chomsky, Barbara Ehrenreich, Bill Fletcher, Leslie Cagan, Ron Daniels, Kathy Kelly, Norman Solomon, Cynthia Peters, and Michael Albert.

Reader Comments: Impeachment; 'Deal of the Century; Socialist History of Martin Luther King Jr; Anti-Semitism on Rise; Germany; Chicago, Israel - Living by Occupation and the Sword; Charlie Chaplin and Flint Sit-Down Strike; Resources; Announcements

I’m a coal miner who’s an environmentalist. But I can see the mistakes in both the coal industry and in the environmental industry. Every time you take somebody’s job, there’s a face behind that, there’s a family behind that.