Portside

Federal watchdog report "calls into question" US efforts to stamp out opium production.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's Scathing Dissent Offers 12 Reasons Why Texas' New Voter ID Law Is Racist. Ginsburg dissent calls out thinly veiled GOP voter suppression.

"Most workers were interested in forming a union before, but there was trepidation," said Anthony Reynolds, who cleans airplanes flown by American Airlines and US Airways, Lufthansa and others. "I think now this might be what puts us over the hump to get everyone on board."

The report, "Election Spending 2014: 9 Toss-Up Senate Races", found that outside spending by undisclosed "dark money" groups is on track to "shatter previous records."

The U.S.has sent soldiers to West Africa while Cuba has sent emergency health care workers. The difference is fundamental: Cuba sees both public purpose and moral imperative to help those stricken with Ebola and the U.S. sees a threat to profits at ‘home’ and a military exercise to ‘contain’ the spread of Ebola abroad.

Stereotypes about German history and about the German Democratic Republic distort history. Simplifications of the past inhibit our ability to understand the nature of fascism and anti-fascism, to understand the complexities of socialism.

Attacking allies does not move immigration reform forward. And, an argument from a position of moral correctness does not change policy. We need to be on the morally correct side but that is not enough to change policy because political and economic power largely controls this country. We have a political oligarchy- our government is dominated by corporations. We need to understand neoliberal capitalism, then, work to change it.

There is no silver bullet in this fight for economic justice. Not one public official, nor one economist, nor one President will solve our mess. A return to democratic principles and a deepening of participatory process is what it will take to uplift the working class.

Hundreds of current and former drivers are suing a FedEx subsidiary, seeking back pay for overtime worked and for paycheck deductions.

The confidential memo from a former pollster for President Obama contained a blunt warning for Democrats. Written this month with an eye toward Election Day, it predicted “crushing Democratic losses across the country” if the party did not do more to get black voters to the polls.