Portside

A lot of gold and a lot of money

Does anyone still believe that the massive surveillance operations revealed by Edward Snowden were really geared toward protecting us from terrorists?

The chief of the armed forces, General Abdel-Fatah al-Sisi, announced that he had suspended the constitution and would nominate the head of the constitutional court, Adli Mansour, as interim president on Thursday. While secular Egyptians blame Morsi for autocratic policies that have failed to build consensus, Islamists are furious that Egypt's first democratically elected president should have been deposed after just a year in office.

Walmart just Fired 10 Strikers; Reader Comments - Rosenberg Case; North Carolina 'Moral Monday' Protests; NSA Spying; FBI's License to Kill; Syria; James Gandolfini; Summer Reading - what we missed; Population Decline and Climate Change; Message from Berlin Demonstration for Bradley Manning; March on Washington 50th Anniversary - Unfinished March Symposium - Washington DC - July 22; 60th Anniversary of Rosenberg's Execution - Carry it Forward - event report

A broad coalition of South African organizations, including COSATU, has called for mass demonstrations against President Obama's visit to Johannesburg. Coalition is in opposition to the University of Johannesburg plan to award Obama with an honorary doctorate for his contributions to the international community. Among the coalition demands are freedom for Bradley Manning, support for the Cuban Five, and the closing of Guantanamo.

Week by week, Monday by Monday, since April 29, a growing coalition assembled by the N.A.A.C.P. has challenged the newly conservative Republican leadership in North Carolina, raising its voice against the loss of the state’s centrist government and what they see as diminished recognition of the poor and minorities.

Reader Comments: Alice Walker Open Letter to Alicia Keys; Mideast; Israel; Palestine; Turkey; Bradley Manning; Electoral Strategy; Working Class, Racism; Trade Unions; Labor Movement; North Carolina Civil Rights Today; Fluoridation; Chinese Investment in the U.S.; Announcements - Left Forum, June 7 - 9; Iraqi Workers After the War - new video; Ruby Dee Documentary - June 26; Commie Camp - new film on Camp Kinderland - additional show - June 29

Last month, thousands of people protested in Rome against austerity policies and high unemployment, urging the new government to focus on creating jobs to help pull the country out of recession. The sea of protesters waving red flags and calling for more workers' rights and better contracts. Italy is in a recession and unemployment has skyrocketed with youth unemployment at around 38 percent. "We can't wait anymore" and "We need money to live" were among slogans.

Thousands take to streets to highlight pro-reform demands skirmish with security forces ahead of Formula One car race.

Bahraini police fired tear gas and sound bombs to disperse hundreds of youth protesting in several Shiite villages over Saudi-backed deployment that has lasted three years since uprising.