Portside

Protests expanded across the country this week in reminiscence of the Arab Spring. Unemployment is high, and citizens are unhappy with the pace and direction of reform.

Shortly after turning 90, Hedy was arrested in a demonstration over the police killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson. She has also visited the Israeli-Occupied West Bank five times, and been turned away from visiting Gaza the same amount of times by Israeli authorities. “It’s part and parcel of my entire political philosophy, when there is something wrong being done I can’t stand idly by … I have to be out there.”

The people stuck in Calais are caught between two major colonial powers which must bear responsibility for much of the violence and destruction which has driven refugees from their homes in the Middle East and beyond. Their awful situation is relevant in trying to understand the colonial legacy and Europe's obsession with borders and fear of the immense efforts by civil society to help, even as they are curbed by Europe's governments. Why is Europe so scared these days?

With a million new refugees expected in Europe this year, Greece faces a diplomatic onslaught and an existential crisis

Historical blindness has been much on display in the primary season. On the Republican side, candidates promised to “kick ass” in Iraq, make the “sand glow” in Syria, and face down the Russians in Europe. While the Democratic aspirants were a little more measured, they generally share the pervasive ideology that binds together all but “cranks” like Ron Paul: America has the right, indeed the duty, to order the world’s affairs.

The Iowa results demonstrate how polarised and volatile American politics has become – from left to right, old certainties have been swept aside.

Now the pace accelerates: New Hampshire next week, followed by South Carolina, Nevada and the Super Tuesday states, as more and more Americans discover that a presidential campaign has begun. Iowa will be dissected over the next days, but here are five quick takeaways the morning after.

Ta-ta, Twitter; Faux News war pig; Megyn Kelly without tears; Kochs spook Jane Meyer; Drug ad backlash; The new Birth of a Nation

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On the plane to Hanoi last December, I opened my copy of the NYT to find an article by Dave Philipps: "After 60 Years, B-52's Still Dominate the U.S. Fleet." The piece stuck with me as I traveled through north Vietnam, trying to unravel U.S. amnesia towards the people of this country and what they call "the American war." Philipps ends with a quote from a former South Vietnamese Navy officer, Phuoc Luong. "In Vietnam we didn't use it (B-52s) enough. That's why we lost."