Portside

The fact that journalists assigned to cover this story could fail to remember that political violence has been part of the United States landscape for the past decade and more is testament to a narrow definition that dismisses right-wing domestic violence as not really terrorism–and to a will to believe, for partisan or psychological reasons, that George W. Bush "kept us safe" after 9/11. The reality is not so comforting.

Henry Kissinger's quote recently released by Wikileaks, "the illegal we do immediately; the unconstitutional takes a little longer," likely brought a smile to his legions of elite media, government, corporate and high society admirers. Oh that Henry! That rapier wit! That trademark insouciance! That naughtiness! It is unlikely, however, that the descendants of his more than 6 million victims in Indochina share in the amusement.

Daniel McGowan is now serving the last six months of his seven-year sentence for an environmentally motivated arson at a halfway house in Brooklyn. The Bureau of Prisons has retaliated against McGowan for writing constitutionally protected political blogs by placing him in a special prison unit and then after he was released, re-imprisoned him when he exercised his free speech rights by writing an article complaining about it. Kafka is twirling in his grave.

At least 27 human species have walked the Earth, but only our lineage survived. Our ancestors may have crossed a cerebral Rubicon that led to babies being born “early”

Universities need to recognize that they are being targeted because of what they represent, not because of what they’ve failed to do, and resist accordingly.

It took an American president unbound by traditional domestic constraints to get this done and provide the parties with what they could accept

A coalition of civil rights groups expects the turnout on Oct. 18 will be even bigger than the first nationwide protest held in June, which by some counts was the largest in U.S. history.

The insatiable demands of the military industrial complex are a barrier to human flourishing on a livable planet.

The state is setting a powerful example with its first-in-the-nation plan. But the policy has support across the US

"This offer looked like an invitation, but it wasn't," said Ariel White, vice president of MIT's American Association of University Professors chapter. "It was a ransom note."