Portside

Scientists begin going rogue, create alt Twitter account and plan march on D.C.

The story behind the Wisconsin Uprising in 2011—the struggle of class forces--has been told in some detail in several books, but a new film, Divided We Fall, supplies the crucial elements of drama that few of us in the marching crowds understood at the time. It is also a wonderful re-enactment of the whole scene, bringing to life the drama and months’ long glory of a fightback that mirrored and mirrors so many anti-austerity struggles across the world.

Women lead; What’s next?; Leader Muslim-bashed; Men; World has its say; Trump pro and anti; Best signs

Kick off; Suing Trump; The laugh track; Kosher/not kosher?; Davos

Two professors—Jeremy Pressman from the University of Connecticut and Erica Chenoweth from the University of Denver—conducted a detailed accounting of press and other reports from rallies in over 500 cities and towns across the country. Their conclusion so far: between 3.3 and 4.6 million Americans took to the streets. Despite the remarkable turnout, the question remains whether it heralds the beginning of a new “resistance” movement that can thwart Trump’s agenda . . .

The old establishment seems sidelined and the “deep state” appears bewildered in the face of Trump's agenda.

In an email sent Monday and obtained by the news outlet, Sharon Drumm, chief of staff for the USDA's primary in-house research arm, the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), told the department: "Starting immediately and until further notice, ARS will not release any public-facing documents... Is this the 'war on Science' or is it the start of the war on the people's access to science, or both?

That states can pass laws banning mandatory union dues is not new. Congress amended labor law in 1947 to allow individual states to pass right-to-work laws. “How it affects the workforce is really simple: It lowers wages,” said Stephen Herzenberg, executive director of the Keystone Research Center. “If you strip it to its core, this is about reducing the power of workers to bargain for a decent living.”

“We don’t win anymore. As a country, we don’t win.” “We don’t want to use our military, honestly. We don’t want to use our military. But we’re being scoffed at right now and we never fight to win.” “It will change. We will have so much winning if I get elected that you may get bored with winning. Believe me.” Donald Trump on the state of America

The Syrian tragedy is a key moral and political question today. Yet it has not been easy for leftists around the world to decide where they stand on Syria.To illuminate the history and nature of the Syrian conflict, Yusef Khalil for Jacobin conducted an extensive interview with Yasser Munif, a Syrian scholar who studies grassroots movements in the country.