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Portside aims to provide material of interest to people on the left that will help them to interpret the world and to change it.

How the Spanish Flu Helped Create Sweden's Modern Welfare State

Brian Melican The Guardian
The Swedish city of Östersund in 1918. When the Spanish flu hit the Swedish city of Östersund in 1918, the rampant social inequality ensured its devastating impact. But the legacy of the “capital of the Spanish flu” is a city and country better equipped to deal with current challenges.

The 1968 Democratic Convention Protests - 50 Years Ago

Joel Bleifuss, Marilyn Katz, Todd Gitlin, Don Rose, Rick Perlstein In These Times
50 years after the infamous demonstrations, participants and historians reflect. What lessons does the battle of Chicago have for us today? We asked three veterans of 1968 and one historian of the period to revisit this 50-year-old debate.

A Forgotten Hero Stopped the My Lai Massacre

Jon Wiener Los Angeles Times
Everybody's heard of the My Lai massacre, but not about the man who stopped it: Hugh Thompson, an Army helicopter pilot. He told the American troops, if they opened fire on the hiding Vietnamese civilians, he and his crew would open fire on them.

As Washington Vacillates, Asia’s Alliances Are Shifting

Conn Hallinan Foreign Policy in Focus
Alliances and rivalries are reshuffling as Asian countries try to make sense of the Trump administration's belligerent and erratic foreign policy. Increasingly a number of countries are charting a course of their own.

My $200,000 Debt Should Not Disqualify Me for Governor of Georgia

Stacey Abrams Fortune
I am in debt, but not alone. Debt is a millstone that weighs down more than three-quarters of us. It can determine if we are able to run for office, launch a business, or quit a job we hate. It should not—and cannot—be a disqualification for ambition

Tidbits - Aug. 30, 2018 - Reader Comments: Trump Above the Law?; Supporters Still Believers; Medicare for All, Free College Wildly Popular; Silent Sam Falls; David McReynolds; Puerto Rico; Far Right in Government-Reports from Europe; and more...

Portside
Reader Comments: Trump Above the Law?; Supporters Still Believers; Medicare for All, Free College Wildly Popular; Silent Sam Falls; David McReynolds; Puerto Rico; Spike Lee' BlacKkKlansman; Far Right in Government - Free Resource; Announcements;

Trump and the Rise of 21st Century Fascism

Adele M. Stan The American Prospect
I don’t pretend to know whether Trump could evolve into a leader anywhere near as murderous as Hitler. But I do know this: Trump is a neo-fascist, and it’s time we start saying so. Wishing the danger would go away won’t make it so.

Trump's Fake Trade Deal

Duane Campbell Choosing Democracy
Trump's "new" NAFTA is the old NAFTA. What we need are policies that benefits migrants, their home communities, and working people in the U.S.  And we need a national policy that limits U.S. military and economic interventions abroad.
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