Portside

A bill proposed in the Republican controlled state legislature in Iowa will make it illegal for all public employees except “public safety employees” (police and fire) to negotiate over health care, transfers, job evaluations, procedures for workforce reductions, subcontracting, or anything related to seniority.

In its sixth and final season, the HBO show seems to be considering its deeper purpose.

The president has cultivated a relationship with the building trades unions. But early hires at the Department of Labor are opponents of wage standards for construction contracts.

The exploitation of Black convict labor by the penal system and industrialists was central to southern politics and economics of the era. It was a carefully crafted answer to Black progress during Reconstruction – highly visible and widely known.

The prospect that the president won't make it through his term is big business for bookmakers.

Once you discover that you can, then you must. And it's not easy. You have to take direct steps. You really have to count your blessings and you have to make a decided effort to not get seduced by the blues. -- Al Jarreau

Membership in the Democratic Socialists of America is way up – now, can the group become a major force against Trump?

Today is Darwin Day (Charles Darwin was born February 12, 1809). A new book explores Darwin's public and private views on women. Apparently his views on women had not evolved as far as his views on the origin and development of life.

In April, Turkish voters will vote in a national referendum designed to deliver unprecedented power to President Recip Erdogan. Yet, the most articulate opponent of this “executive presidency” is in custody facing an indictment on “terrorism” and a 143-year jail term. And the trial of Selahattin Demirtas, Turkey’s premier Kurdish politician and leader of the progressive opposition to the increasingly authoritarian Erdogan won’t be held until after the referendum.

FCCPR, a grass-roots effort that morphed out of the Pioneer Valley for Bernie (Sanders) organization last summer, turned its emphasis from "get out the vote" to long-range issues. "We said, 'We'll stick together and work on issues long-term,'" said Cohen. Seven task forces have been meeting every couple of weeks to actively advance their seven areas of concern, including civil rights, education, electoral politics and workers' rights.