Portside

Coded switches to prevent the unauthorized use of nuclear weapons were finally added to the control systems of American missiles and bombers in the early 1970s. The Air Force was not pleased, and considered the new security measures to be an insult, a lack of confidence in personnel. Although the Air Force now denies this claim, according to more than one source I contacted, the code necessary to launch a missile was set to be the same at every Minuteman site: 00000000.

The number of union members rose 162,000 in 2013, reflecting a drop of 118,000 in the public sector that was offset by a rise of 281,000 in the private sector. Expressed as a share of the workforce, the union membership rate was unchanged in 2013, at 11.3 percent. For the first time since 2008, the total number of union members in the private sector (7.3 million) was higher than the total number of workers in the public sector (7.2 million).

How Obama can save USPS and ding check-cashing joints.

Two more recollections of Pete.

Fears over economic downturn suggest the need for a new global system

The fact that the Canadian government and the oil industry were reportedly briefed on today’s news before Congress was given the courtesy of a heads-up speaks volumes. It encourages the already widely held impression that the fix was in from the beginning. If the administration expects to avoid the lasting stink of having ignored every red flag in the book, it needs to explain itself.

Davos, Minimum Wage, Pete Seeger, Goldman Sachs, Chris Christie and the Superbowl

Obama's Wage Promise Answers Calls of Growing Movement