Portside

Pai gets by; DHS is watching; So is DOJ; Corpo media betray journalists; Community radio to the rescue; Comics too - of course

"Our islands can not pay debt until we've rebuilt and we see positive economic recovery. We need a debt payment moratorium, debts must be cancelled and reduced to sustainable payable levels," wrote González, Bevard, and Martínez in their statement. "When economies are already dealing with austerity policies and financial crisis, they are ill prepared to deal with natural disasters like Hurricanes Irma and Maria."

As a country, we should be more concerned with why the police are getting away with targeting black men and killing them for no reason. That's a bigger issue than the flag. Years from now, people will look back on today and say, 'You mean we privatized the prisons so there's no profit unless the prison is full?' You'd think someone in kindergarten could figure out how stupid that is. We're creating so many of our own problems.”

Of all the ways in which American democracy is showing symptoms of turning into a dysfunctional state, the inability to face down the gun lobby is surely one of the most egregious.

Suspicion and frustration grow as Hurricane Irma evacuees find themselves unable to return home to Barbuda, whilst a law protecting the island from private and foreign investment is dismantled.

The Mexican workers reached a settlement that obligates their employer to address complaints.

Americans are again being warned daily of the Russian menace, with persistent accusations of Russian aggression, lies, violations of international law, and cyberattacks on U.S. elections, as reported in leading liberal outlets like the New York Times and the Washington Post.

It’s illegal to run schools designed to keep out black students, but the Department of Justice is letting districts get away with it

Seven of the biggest olive oil manufacturers in the US have been cutting their products with cheaper, inferior oils (such as sunflower oil or canola oil) in order to minimize the cost of production. This prompted the University of California to carry out studies on 124 imported brands of extra virgin olive oil, and they found that over 70% of the samples failed the test.

A number of authors are writing about the coming end of capitalism. But how will the end come about, and what will post-capitalism look like? Paul Mason's optimistic view of the liberatory potential of info-tech may be misguided.