Portside

Commentator George Monbiot writes Saturday of the draft agreement, "By comparison to what it could have been, it’s a miracle. By comparison to what it should have been, it’s a disaster."

Labor activists and other progressive folks in the South have four new reasons to cheer: a United Auto Workers victory in Chattanooga, the rare criminal conviction of a coal mining boss in connection with the death of miners who worked for him, the victory of a populist Democrat in Louisiana's gubernatorial race, and a union victory in Laurel, Mississippi.

Public Health Counting of US Law-Enforcement-Related Deaths Could Help Reduce Violence.

Moderators' Note: The following is a response to Barbara Ehrenrich' article, What Happened to the White Working Class? The Great Die-Off of America's Blue Collar Whites, posted by Portside on Dec. 10. https://portside.org/2015-12-10/what-happened-white-working-class-great-die-americas-blue-collar-whites

Through technological fixes and greater collaboration, the U.S.-Mexico border prepares for a smoother interchange of goods, while becoming an even more dangerous barrier for everyday people.

Desperate to stem the “blackening” of the white homeland, the European Union last month offered billions in bribes to African governments to keep their citizens at home. “The goal of the ‘cash on the table’ deal was to place the responsibility for denying Africans refugee status in Europe on the shoulders of African countries.”

James Scruton dedicates this poem about his own white-collar labors to the late Philip Levine, the poet who celebrated working-class people who spent their lives “digging or pounding…wrenching or drilling.”

Reporting from public sources over the last year, the Washington Post has identified more than 900 fatal shootings by police — an average of nearly three deaths a day. By contrast, the FBI has recorded about 400 deaths a year over the past decade, or just over one death a day — less than half the rate recorded by The Post. The FBI is now unveiling an attempt to compile a more complete record.

The likelihood of a Trump nomination and the possibility of a Republican convention in which no candidate has a clearcut majority are both rising. Now, Republican party leaders are actively planning how they could block a Trump nomination if he doesn't have the nomination locked down. Here's how they might do it.

A civil lawsuit alleges that the former Oklahoma City police officer, who has been found guilty of rape, was allowed to remain on duty after investigation began