Portside

“Every society has its radical fringes. But today we need to ask ourselves: What is it in the public atmosphere that allows extremism and extremists to walk freely in broad daylight?” asked Israeli President Reuven Rivlin at an Aug. 1 protest rally in Jerusalem, following the July 30 stabbing murder of a teenage girl, Shira Banki, at the Gay Pride parade, and the July 31 torching of the Dawabsheh family’s West Bank home and the murder of their toddler son, Ali.

In the wake of the Charleston massacre and 70 years after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, a scholar argues it is important the textbooks reflect the historic role of African American civil rights leaders as advocates for peace and strong opponents of nuclear weapons. The scarring of war, poverty, and racism that Malcolm X spoke of continues to this day, and the history books should reflect how Black activism has challenged these deadly triplets.

Colorado poet Pamela Uschuk, longtime activist, lovingly depicts how McCarthyist teachers and neighbors confused her Russian background with subversive activities, firmly defending her cultural roots.

Verizon in 2005 was nearly 70 percent union. Today it's about 27 percent. "We cannot allow them to do what they are doing--and neither can the public," said newly elected CWA President Chris Shelton on the town hall call. "Because if they get away with it with us, they'll get away with it with everybody else, and there will be no more middle class in this country."

As we approach the one year mark of the tragic police killing of Michael Brown and the Ferguson uprising that sparked a growing movement, Hughes' words remain painfully true today. Meanwhile, The hate site Stormfront and other racist groups have raked in hundreds of new members and tens of thousands of dollars since Dylann Storm Roof’s brutal June 17 killing spree in Charleston, S.C.

Under adverse conditions and with a difficult balance of forces within Europe and the world, we tried to assert the point of view of a people and the possibility of an alternative path. Ultimately, even if the powerful were able to impose their will, what remains is the absolute confirmation on the international level that austerity is a dead end.

The progressive favorite has views on foreign affairs but has avoided articulating them to voters.

On a 70th anniversary in which the madness shows no sign of ending, it’s good to turn to Susan Southard’s monumental new book, Nagasaki: Life After Nuclear War, which offers a riveting, if chilling plunge into nuclear realities. Nuclear destruction of an almost unimaginable sort was the initial reality of the atomic age, with such weaponry actually used on two utterly defenseless cities. -- Tom Engelhardt

Portside readers may have noticed that our website has been intermittently off line for the past week. May First/People Link, which hosts Portside also hosts several pro-choice sites and those sites have been subjected to a massive attack. Women's health/pro-choice sites have been under ruthless, relentless attack for decades and the cyber front of those attacks has now expanded significantly.

The study of comic books has emerged in the last decade or so as a serious academic discipline. And it's about time. It's not news to many people that the stories and art found in these little magazines are not only entertaining; they also contain interesting, and sometimes profound, social content. Kent Worcester looks at three new books on Wonder Woman, the comic that emerged during World War II and was an early harbinger of feminist ideas.