Portside

A librarian in Kansas City, Missouri was arrested for standing up for a library patron's free speech rights. The right to read, to think, to discuss and listen to ideas in a public forum is essential to an open society, as is our individual privacy. One hopes that the Kansas City case-only the most recent of many-will be resolved, and that librarians there and everywhere will be able to do their jobs without taking on the added burden of battling for our freedom.

Our country's greatest failing, the true disaster, of our time: the scourge of growing inequality, economic and political. It is despicable as the very wealthy convert their financial might into political power to guard that wealth while exacerbating inequality further. This is the vast difference between a society whose arrangements serve all its citizens or one whose institutions have been converted into a stupendous fraud - democracy in name only.

As historians and election experts have catalogued, there is a long history in this country of racially suppressive voting measures including poll taxes and all - white primaries put in place under the guise of stopping voter fraud that wasn’t actually occurring in the first place. The surest way toward voting that is truly free, fair, and accessible is to know the facts in the face of such rhetoric.

Breaking with historic tradition, both Clinton and Trump do no allow reporters to travel with them. This is about something much bigger than eyewitness accounts and plane rides. It's about how much we want to know about each candidate's plans for the White House, and how open and accessible we want them to be as president. And ultimately, it's about whether we truly believe in the premise that transparency is vital for democracy.

The worst-performing eurozone countries are mired in depression or deep recession; their condition is worse in many ways than what economies suffered during the Great Depression of the 1930s. The best-performing eurozone members look good, but only in comparison.This system cannot and will not work in the long run: democratic politics ensures its failure. Only by changing the eurozone’s rules and institutions can the euro be made to work.

The grounds for it are baseless, and many of the legislators pushing it are themselves under indictment for serious crimes.

Climate disruption is inextricably linked to economic inequality. Serious climate solutions must be, too.