Portside

Mexican leftists have flocked to support teachers’ unions in their protests against proposed education reforms. But by overlooking the unions’ undemocratic features and lack of popular support, the left weakens the fight against neoliberalism.

Those of us on the far left (particularly those of us with well-worn armchairs) should cast off the cynical approach of simply waiting for these campaigns to collapse due to the “inevitable” betrayal of the labor bureaucracy. . . Our go-to slogan shouldn’t be “I told you so,” but “organize or die”--because that’s the reality of the labor movement in the US today.

The billionaire conservatives join the ranks of business interests trying to rein in the GOP's base, but it has turned into an unstoppable force.

Federal Data Sources Lock-Out; NSA Holds Data Files for a Year; Twitter Diplomacy; Inner-City Kids Sophisticated Understanding of Social Media; Allende's Socialist Internet; Obamacare Glitches Shared on Democracy Now! The Shutdown is Now Clogging Up the Data Economy. Thanks,

There is a growing impatience with austerity among public-sector workers, as the government prepares a budget for 2014 that will inflict a seventh year of spending cuts and tax increases. Irish governments have sought to control costs in response to the country's worst-ever property and banking crisis that started over five years ago. The country is obliged by its bailout with the European Union and International Monetary Fund to public sector spending and jobs cuts.

There's a growing movement in Europe against pay inequality and the right for a basic income.

March draws biggest turnout since wave of protests during Confederations Cup in June, and anarchist groups clash with police.

The privatization of social services has in the past resulted in some spectacular failures.