Portside

Magicians have long taken advantage of obscure mathematical principles in creating interesting puzzles and illusions.

London’s Theatre Royal in the mid-1800s. Edmund Kean, the greatest Shakespearean actor of his age, collapses on stage while performing the lead in Othello. He is replaced by a young, black actor, Ira Aldridge—a first for the role on London’s West End. As a bill in Parliament promoting the abolition of slavery sends shock waves through the streets, how will London react to his performance?

On December 4, prominent faith leaders announced plans for one of the largest waves of civil disobedience in U.S. history. Dubbed the “Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival,” this effort will mark the 50th anniversary of a similar initiative in 1968 that was undercut by the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King.

Few know Ellsberg was also a Pentagon and White House consultant who drafted plans for nuclear war. His new book, published Tuesday, is titled “The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner.”

A lot of the good English language coverage of Honduras has stemmed from the murder of renowned environmental rights activist Berta Cáceres in May of 2016. Her assassination reverberated around the world and led to a tremendous amount of education about not only the corruption within the Honduran government, but also the role of Honduran military and elites in allegedly committing her assassination.

The suicide rate for US farmers is more than double that of military veterans, and according to a recent 17 state study, the suicide rate for people working in agriculture is nearly five times higher that in the general population. And that might be an underestimation. Since 2013, net farm income for US farmers has declined 50% and the 2017 median farm income is projected to be negative $1,325. Former farmer Debbie Weingarten gives an insider’s perspective on farm life.

Trump's declaration "adds insult to ongoing injury and is practically guaranteed to fan the flames of violence," argue scholars.

Not banned: “Mein Kampf” by Adolf Hitler and books by white nationalists, including David Duke, the former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard.

The committee’s vote comes a year after advocates pushed lawmakers to declare L.A. a sanctuary city amid concern that Trump would make good on his campaign promise to aggressively deport immigrants in the country illegally and build a border wall.

Jonathan Rosenblum lives in Seattle, Washington, and is a member of UAW 1981/National Writers Union. He is the author of Beyond $15: Immigrant Workers, Faith Activists, and the Revival of the Labor Movement (Beacon Press, 2017). More about him can be found at jonathanrosenblum.org. The interview was counducted by Yuri Lobunov, editor-in-chief of socialistalternative.ru, where this interview was published in Russian.