Portside

Harold Schaitberger, general president of the International Association of Fire Fighters based in Washington, said, "Going forward, this is as much about politics and the priorities of public officials as it is about bankruptcy and the court." Schaitberger said that elected officials in the United States are expected to continue to "push for austerity no matter the cost to the lives of workers and public safety."

• Rightwing lobby group appealing to major donors to return • Internal documents reveal so-called 'Prodigal Son Project' • Network lost almost 400 state legislators over past two years

'We want to say to everyone that enough is enough' - 200 people took part in the "reverse flotilla" which set off from Gaza City where a portion of the boats crossed the six-mile maritime boarder, which is enforced by Israeli Defense Forces, before returning to shore.

The city is being steered into a wrenching process of restructuring that—by all appearances—will be based on flawed math, flawed priorities and an exceptionally flawed understanding of how democracy is supposed to work.

Florida Congressman questions Obama's praise for Wal-Mart: "What has Wal-Mart given the president in return?" "Even people who are employed now, many of them are not making enough money to survive," said Grayson. "And the outlet more and more for people that they see is this kind of civil disobedience, because the political system has become completely unresponsive to their genuine concerns and their physical needs."

What is behind Francois Hollande’s assertiveness on the world stage? Is the decline of the United States’ effective power on the world scene what is permitting France’s return to aggressiveness ?

The parts of the border that take the form of an actual, physical barrier are an intrusion on the landscape, an eyesore to many — and to millions, a deadly obstacle to overcome. Just as immigrant rights activists see the border as a violent social barrier, environmentalists see the border fence as an assault on the integrity of regional ecologies.

Condemning the “new tyranny” of unfettered capitalism and the “idolatry of money,” Pope Francis argues in a newly circulated apostolic exhortation that “as long as the problems of the poor are not radically resolved by rejecting the absolute autonomy of markets and financial speculation and by attacking the structural causes of inequality, no solution will be found for the world’s problems or, for that matter, to any problems.”