Portside

For now, Bill de Blasio is a populist hero of our times, at least for now. Is a revived Populism blowing in that wind? Maybe so. Signs of a change in the weather have been sprouting here and there. There was the occupation of the State House in Madison. And then there was the occupation of Wall Street. Mini uprisings of the most abused and intimidated workers at fast food outlets, car washes, even at Wal-mart register not so much desperation as bravery, a will to resist

Reader Comments - Pardon for Snowden; BDS and Israel; Turkey; NAFTA; North Carolina; Bill de Blasio; John Handcox; Philadelphia schools; Art Spiegelman; Obamacare; Announcements - Memorial for Steve Kindred -NYC -Feb.8; Pete Seeger gets first Woody Guthrie Award -NYC - Feb.22; Student activists scholarships available; Preserve Mother Jones monument in Illinois; Save the Village photo exhibit -NYC; This week in history - largest slave revolt in U.S. history

In a bleak year filled with bad news, people from Edward Snowden to Elizabeth Warren were brave enough to shake up the establishment. "Fighting the power," as people used to say, is no easy task. Victories are hard to come by and can quickly slide away because the power establishment of money, lobbying, lawyers, PR machines and out-and-out corruption are like Neil Young's rust: they never sleep.

Reader Comments - Flashmob for Mandela; The Progressive 'Left"; War and Christmas Truce of 1914; Socialist Origins of the Pledge; Radicals in City Hall; Fidel Castro on Mandela's Death and Who Supported Apartheid; Korea; MSNBC; Announcements - "No Separate Justice" Launch in New York City Jan. 7; Esperanza Spalding Protest Song & Video Calling For Guantanamo Bay

Mayor Bloomberg pushed through re-zoning of nearly 40 percent of New York City. Bill de Blasio campaigned against urban gentrification. Can the new mayor reverse the trend? Can big-city electoral coalitions buck the trend of the real estate and financial speculators? Author Michael Hirsch reviews the new book about Chicago's mayor Rahm Emanuel - the mayor of the 1% in the second largest city of the country.

Reader Comments: Capitalism and Unemployment; New York and Seattle elections; more. Announcements: Human Rights Film Screenings New York City -Nov 20 26; Breaking the Silence-Oakland-Nov 23: Fighting Back Against Wall Street -NYC-Nov 25; Chanukah Message from Jewish Voice for Peace; The National Labor College; New Day New York Dec 5 Day of Action; 50% Off PM Press for the Holidays; Pvt Chelsea Manning-4th birthday in prison-Dec 17; Faith Petric Memorial -Berkeley-Jan 15