Portside

OurFuture.org interviews author Peter Dreier about his latest book, The 100 Greatest Americans of the 20th Century: A Social Justice Hall of Fame, in advance of a talk Feb. 1 before the AFL-CIO in Washington. The book looks at the impact of 100 progressive leaders on America and the lives of ordinary people. The talk was co-sponsored by the Campaign for America's Future.

From a Pulitzer Prize--winning investigative reporter at The New York Times comes the explosive story of the rise of the processed food industry and its link to the emerging obesity epidemic. Michael Moss reveals how companies use salt, sugar, and fat to addict us and, more important, how we can fight back. Based on the book Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us.

On Earthday, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling rig sank creating the worst oil spill in history. According to the global media, the story ended when the well was capped – but that’s when the real story began. By exposing the root causes of the oil spill and what really happened after the news cameras left the Gulf states, filmmakers Josh and Rebecca Tickell uncover a vast network of corruption. Movie home page is here.

Speech by President Obama in Israel on March 21, 2013. The full transcript can be read here.

In the week marking the 10th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Democracy Now! looks at the remarkable life and imminent death of Iraq War veteran Tomas Young. Citing his overwhelming physical pain from wounds that left him paralyzed in Iraq, Young recently announced he has decided to end his life by discontinuing his medicine and nourishment.

Featuring the work of Northeastern University School of Law's Civil Rights and Restorative Justice Project (CRRJ), "The Trouble I've Seen" follows the investigations of three harrowing civil rights cold cases. Founded by Professor Margaret Burnham, CRRJ takes on cases that both horrify us and beg us to correct the record, to search for reconciliation and remediation for families and communities that even decades later shudder in the shadows of bigotry and injustice. "The Trouble I've Seen" is narrated by Julian Bond, former chairman of the NAACP. (Thanks to Linda Burnham for this link -- video moderator.)

Now is the time for an Arms Trade Treaty. A massive and poorly regulated global trade in weapons feeds armed conflict that threatens the security and rights of people around the world on a daily basis. Get the facts. And tell President Obama to support a strong international Arms Trade Treaty. Take action: http://www.oxfamamerica.org/ATTaction

As the Supreme Court prepares to address marriage equality, one 12-year-old asked the chief judge to consider his own family when making the final decision. Daniel Martinez-Leffew, the adopted son of two gay dads, wrote to a letter to Chief Justice John Roberts–himself the father of two adopted kids — urging him to embrace marriage equality by striking down the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and California’s Proposition 8.

This satirical song by Maine artist Alan Magee comments on the escalation of mass gun violence in the United States. Its message is that the proliferation of guns will only increase the number of shooting victims. [Thanks to Natasha Mayers for submitting this -- video moderator.]

Wow, it’s like being back in 2008 again. Or at least back in 2012, watching that scene from Game Change when Julianne Moore does an impression of Sarah Palin watching Tina Fey also do an impression of Sarah Palin. (The Observer.)