Portside

Malta's prime minister, Joseph Muscat, exclaimed to journalist Gwynne Dyer that "we are building a cemetery within our Mediterranean Sea.” An NGO, Fortress Europe, says 6,450 died in the channel between Sicily and North Africa between 1994 and 2012. This figure is similar to the 5,570 people found dead in the desert between Mexico and the United States from 1998 to 2012, and has earned the Mediterranean the nickname “sea of death.”

Blocks from the U.S. Capitol, five religious and labor leaders launched the “Fast for Families” on Tuesday, committing to fast from food and drink until Congress passes immigration reform. Along with the long-term fasters, people are joining as “solidarity fasters,” fasting for a shorter period of time both in D.C. and across the country. Officials and members of Congress have gone to the tent to hear from the fasters about their mission.

Five Terrifying Truths About the Telecom Giants; One-Stop Shopping for FOIA; Adbusters Creepy Ideology; Hackers for Immigrant Rights; Suarez Gets Pushed Out of PBS

One of the most important parts of the Senate's bill, and of all the "comprehensive immigration reform" proposals, is a big increase in guestworker programs. Employers demand them as a price for supporting legalization of the undocumented. But our history tells us that this is a very high price. Especially for farmworkers, guestworker programs have been a terrible idea.

Back in Brown with Aasif Mandvi. Why Are American Health Care Costs So High? The Black NRA. After Tiller: Documentary. Copenhagen Metro Peer Gynt Flash Mob. NFL: League of Denial.

Reader Comments - U.S. Support Military Rule in Honduras; the New New Left; Stephen Colbert and Vladimir Putin; Income Inequality; Still more - GMO labeling; Occupy Wall Street and NYPD police tactics; Announcements - Welcome to Hebron - Bay Area-Sept 25; Lopsided Crisis: Ongoing Impact of the Great Recession - New York-Sept 27; Immigration Reform Concert & March - Oct 8- Washington, DC; Jobs with Justice-San Francisco - Bridging Solidarity and Power Together -Oct. 10