Portside

As many as 400 workers at more than 60 fast food restaurants in the Detroit metro area walked off the job on Friday. The fast food strike in Detroit is the second major labor action to hit an American city’s fast food industry this week: On Wednesday and Thursday, more than 100 workers in St. Louis walked off the job at roughly 30 different restaurants. These rolling walkouts followed similar actions in New York, central Pennsylvania, and Chicago.

Miles O'Brien reports from Guatemala on forensic science used to document charges of a genocide against thousands of indigenous Mayans in the 80s. From Boing Boing's Xeni Jardin, who co-produced the piece, here's a look at their reporting.

Flash mobs strive to overcome the chasm between the two opposite meanings of 'actor' -- one who acts, or one who performs while others watch. In a flash mob, ordinary people act, momentarily seizing and transforming a public space with their actions. As they catch the spirit of the moment, the audience become actors too. Also, Muhammed Ali, Plan B, Ry Cooder, and a Black/white prom in Wilcox Co, Georgia.

There is a long tradition in this country of children—primarily in rural areas—learning to shoot at a young age. But there is a point where all reasonable people need to admit that a kid is too young to own and/or shoot a real rifle that shoots real bullets. Four years old—the age the Kentucky boy who shot his 2-year-old sister apparently was when he received a Crickett rifle as a gift—is way, way too young.

The Life and Death of Words, People, and Even Nature: From Walking Libraries and a God Named “Word” to What Sherlock Holmes Never Said. Passages excerpted from Eduardo Galeano’s new book, Children of the Days: A Calendar of Human History (Nation Books).

Most pundits are careful about not advocating for direct U.S. military intervention in Syria (that is left to the Republican politicians who appear on the Sunday shows). But their message boils down to a concern over the credibility of the president's threats of violence more important than the credibility of his evidence. The White House has been saying their reticence is informed by the Iraq debacle; many pundits don't seem to have learned a similar lesson.

The U.S. was wrong to use health workers to target Osama bin Laden.

The Campaign for America’s Future is joining 100 other organizations in delivering a message to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and his Republican counterpart, Mitch McConnell: Enough is enough. End the obstruction. Stop the constant abuse of the filibuster.

When a phony Associated Press tweet reported explosions in the White House, Wall Street's computers reacted as if it were real.

The Venezuelan election was nearly stolen – by the US-backed anti-Chávistas. How? That’s what Chávez wanted Maduro to find out from me: how could US operatives jerk with Venezuela’s voter rolls? It wasn’t a mere policy question: they knew Chávez wouldn't be allowed to survive through another coup. My answer: They could steal the vote the same way Bush did it in Florida – in fact, using the very same contractor. Take a look at these documents.