Portside

Summary - Reader Comments - Big Lie about Mayor Bill de Blasio and Charters; Ukraine; Disgraceful Rejection of Debo Adegbile; Salt of the Earth - Sixty Years and Still So Vibrant; Attack on Public Schools; Member-to-Member Harassment; NAFTA Scorecard; Vermont Public Bank; Women in Labor History; 25th Anniversary of the Web; Today in History - Senate Approves Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty

Two months in office and the media sours on New York Mayor Bill de Blasio. Why? de Blasio did not anticipate that a Democratic Party Governor of a solid blue state would put cutting taxes for the rich ahead of funding universal pre-K in New York City.

A new Senate select committee is needed to investigate CIA-NSA-FBI wrong-doing - at home and abroad. Former chief counsel to the Church Committee calls for such a new committee and new investigation. As Senator Feinstein has revealed, the CIA will not only stall but even spy on Congress to impede its investigation of wrongdoing. The Church Committee found abuses and illegal acts going back to FDR's administration.

Many American Jewish organizations claim to be staunch supporters of civil and human rights as well as academic freedom. But when it comes to Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel, they make an exception. In their relentless opposition to BDS, they leave even core principles behind. In Israel this week, sixty young people sign open letter to Netanyahu announcing their resistance to the draft in biggest wave of refusal since 2008.

There are major problems at the Queens Borough Public Library which is one of the largest public libraries in the country. The President and CEO is paid $391,000 plus major perks. In the past 5 years he has reduced the staff by 130 positions through attrition and 44 layoffs. This has become major news in the New York City media as well as the national library press.

“We have come together to call upon our elected leaders to change your current, off-the-rails trajectory and make the interests of Tennessee working people your top priority. Our coalition's response is simple: put the people first.”

"Why destroy public education so that a handful of people can boast they have a charter school in addition to their yacht?"

Change won't come to America's broken immigration system from policymakers. It will come from organizers.