Portside

Understanding the turbulent, complicated beginning of the “Labor Day” holiday can help us to rethink the significance of this holiday today.

The time has come for a balanced and dispassionate discussion that must include difficult questions, such as whether there are experiments that should not be undertaken because of disproportionately high risk.

It's a relatively new invention—is it time to shave another day off?

The Ebola outbreak, which is the largest in history that we know about, is merely a reflection of the public health crisis in Africa, and it’s about the lack of staff, stuff and systems that could protect populations, particularly those living in poverty, from outbreaks like this or other public health threats.

Demonstrators massed in Clayton, Missouri Thursday, August 21st, to demand a Special Prosecutor investigate the police killing of Ferguson teenager Mike Brown. They charged St. Louis County Prosecutor Robert McCulloch has a long-standing and personal bias in favor of the police and should be removed from the investigation. Also on Thursday, NAACP President Cornell William Brooks said, "It is impossible to believe" McCulloch can be "unbiased in this case."

The information given the U.S. public on the exact scope and objective of the increased U.S. military role in Iraq is very "thin." Critics warn the increased air attacks could not only presage a wider war, but contradict other stated U.S. policies in the region and deepen the humanitarian crisis there as well.

On August 21st Bank of America agreed to pay a record $16.65 billion in fines for selling "toxic" mortgage securities. Critics charge the settlement will do little to help struggling homeowners victimized by the banks' illegal practices. And that portion of the settlement designated to go to public agencies and the states may be tax deductible. Bank of America's stock shares "surged" 4% following the announcement of the settlement.

For the first time, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) may require oil refineries to regularly measure the air quality at their perimeters. These fence line measurements will give surrounding communities, largely low-income communities of color, data on the level of pollution they are exposed to each day. The new EPA rulemaking is in response to a lawsuit filed against the EPA for failing to adequately protect residents living near oil and chemical plants.

Portside Labor Readers Comments on, Without Tenure; International Support Enables Victory of Egyptian Union; Ruling Says McDonald's Is Liable for Workers; Article Interview With Cleo Silvers (When the Union's the Enemy: An Interview with Cleo Silvers)

In its public appeal to the American Jewish community, Israelis For a Sustainable Future (IFSF), a new organization of Israelis living in the U.S., says "maintaining the occupation is what this war is all about." The IFSF appeals to American Jews to oppose the current policies of the Israeli government, and support Israeli voices for peace. "Israel needs your support to break out of the cycle of violence," the IFSF Open Letter says.