7 Reproductive Rights Issues to Watch in 2015

Nina Martin ProPublica
In the states, where the 2014 elections gave Republicans control of two-thirds of state legislative chambers, incoming lawmakers also have supersized their abortion agendas. But abortion is just one issue on the minds of activists focused on reproductive rights. There's also birth control, conscience clauses and personhood. Here are seven key trends and themes to watch for this year.

Why We Need to End the War on Drugs

Is the war on drugs doing more harm than good? In a bold talk, drug policy reformist Ethan Nadelmann makes an impassioned plea to end this "backward, heartless, disastrous" policy. He gives two big reasons we should focus on intelligent regulation instead.

Movie: Spare Parts

Four Hispanic high school students form a robotics club. With no experience, 800 bucks, used car parts and a dream, this rag tag team goes up against the country's reigning robotics champion, MIT.

2014: Hottest Year on Record

2014 now ranks as the warmest on record since 1880, according to an analysis by NASA scientists. Nine of the 10 warmest years have occurred since 2000. This continues a long-term trend. The warming trend is largely driven by the increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, caused by human emissions.
 

Tidbits - January 15, 2015 - NAACP Bombing, Charlie Hebdo, Ferguson, NYPD, Selma and U.S. history and more...

Portside
Reader Comments - NAACP Bombing; Ferguson Grand Jury; Charlie Hebdo and the Religious Right; Ukraine, Russia and Nazi Revival; TPP Power Grab; 2014 Worker Victories; NYPD Insubordination = Drop in Crime; Thomas Piketty; Selma,Martin Luther King, LBJ and Reality; Gap Between Productivity and Pay; BDS, Palestine and Israel; Cheap Gas; Announcements - Cuba Five Book Signing; New Resource - Greece, Golden Dawn and Fascism

Mosque Controversy in Georgia

Azadeh Shahshahani Jurist
An ACLU map of anti-Muslim activity shows, Muslims across the country, from California to New York, to Texas to Ohio, have faced vandalism or other criminal acts targeting their places of worship or refusals by local officials to issue necessary zoning permits. Preventing Muslims or any other group from practicing their faith is unAmerican. Religious freedom is one of America's most fundamental liberties and a central principle upon which this country was founded.

What's Next? - All Peoples' Movement for #BlackLivesMatter; From Occupy to Ferguson

Jessica Stites; Nicholas Powers
Cities and the federal government have already offered a slew of concessions: civil rights investigations, body cameras, civilian review boards, increased diversity in police departments. These reforms are not likely to fulfill protesters' demand for a transformation of policing in the United States. Where the protests are headed .. 'If we recognize the system doesn't work for us . then you're talking about getting rid of capitalism.'