Going Clear: Scientology & the Prison of Belief

Alex Gibney's documentary film (from HBO) casts a scathing eye on "the religion of the stars," which claims such prominent members as John Travolta and Tom Cruise. Gibney digs into the roots of Scientology's creation by scifi writer L. Ron Hubbard and recounts many reports of abusive Church practices.

Jimmy Kimmel: A Message for the Anti-Vaccine Movement

Jimmy feels that all of this anti-vaccination silliness is starting to snowball, so he invited some real doctors to address it. These are actual medical professionals so hear them out and then decide for yourself.

Anita Sarkeesian: What I Couldn't Say

Anita Sarkeesian has been the subject of a relentless misogynist campaign since she called for improved images of women in video games. Here she speaks about that experience at the All About Women 2015 conference.
 

John Oliver: Guess Who Can't Vote?

A set of Supreme Court decisions made over 100 years ago has left U.S. territories without meaningful representation. That’s weird, right?

Friday Nite Videos -- March 13, 2015

Portside
John Oliver: Guess Who Can't Vote? Anita Sarkeesian: What I Couldn't Say. Jimmy Kimmel: Message for the Anti-Vaccine Movement. Going Clear: Scientology & the Prison of Belief. Netanyahu Remix: Sit! Stand! Iran, Iran, Iran! .

Book Review: We Came, We Saw, He Died - Reviewing Hillary Clinton

Jackson Lears London Review of Books
The inevitability of the presidential candidacy of Hillary Rodham Clinton often focuses on her gender and her twenty years as a Washington insider. Two books under review, Hard Choices, by Clinton herself, and HRC: State Secrets and the Rebirth of Hillary Clinton by Jonathan Allen, Amie Parnes, give insight into both the 2016 elections and what a Clinton presidency would mean.

Tidbits - March 12, 2015 - Ferguson, Selma, Voting Suppression, Racism, Venezuela, Netanyahu, Israel, Iran, Palestine and more...

Portside
Reader Comments - Ferguson and Racism; Venezuela - New Coup, Made in USA; Selma, Voting Rights and Today; International Women's Day, Wonder Woman; Netanyahu, Israel, GOP and Iran; Wisconsin Attack on Unions; Ukraine; Death Penalty, 'Justice', Incarceration; Leonard Nimoy; Books on Upton Sinclair, Michael Harrington; Announcement - Triangle Shirtwaist Fire commemoration; Today in History

The Truth About the Measles - The return of the world's most contagious disease.

Annie Sparrow The Nation
Measles, like polio and smallpox, is a horrible disease - it's still a major killer of young children in the developing world. The creation of a vaccine was widely welcomed. Measles is so contagious that it is used as the indicator disease to show deficits in immunization coverage of all vaccine-preventable diseases-which means the problem goes well beyond measles. We are now seeing outbreaks of whooping cough in the US, mumps in Britain and tuberculosis more widely.

Reader Responses to Eight-Point Platform for Making a Major Breakthrough on 'Left Unity'

Portside
Previously Portside posted the 'Draft Proposal' - Think Paper by Bill Fletcher, Carl Davidson and Pat Fry. This has generated some discussion in progressive, left and socialist circles in our country. Here are some of the comments made by Portside readers. At the bottom are links to the related posts that have appeared on Portside in the past.