Portside

Social media made it happen; Federal workers encrypt; New online resources; Techies hit the bricks on Pi Day; CNN on the barricades; Daily Show-ization of cable news

The winner in the fight between keeping Obamacare and rolling it back might be something else entirely. In the turmoil over the fate of Obamacare, the idea of universal health care has emerged as a third way among voters in both parties.

About that wall: if the Mexican economy had just continued to grow post-1980, as it did for the two decades prior, Mexicans would have an average income at European levels today. Extremely few Mexicans would take big risks to live or work in the US.

Workers at Boeing’s aircraft plant in South Carolina are voting Wednesday on whether to join a union, capping a multi-year campaign. The road to victory will not be easy.

“I think things have tightened up very fast; we have at most a year to defend the republic, perhaps less,” Snyder stated in an interview with German outlet Süddeutsche Zeitung. “What happens in the next few weeks is very important.” Snyder, whose multiple books include On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century, points out that Americans must dispense with wishful thinking about institutions helping to curb Trump’s power.

The problem with Flint, and the problem with many water delivery systems throughout the United States, is that lead pipes are time bombs.

The South's progressive cities have a target on their back.

Trump's extremely effective at dividing and conquering his opponents. What would it take for progressives to divide his supporters?

Gendered beliefs about food choices affect men and women’s health habits, including the types of foods they actually eat. Socially influenced eating patterns could in part help explain why men are at a higher risk of heart disease and some cancers. Are our ideas about masculinity and femininity negatively affecting our health?

In this roiling environment, it may seem that debate over “identity politics” is of relatively little consequence. But it is, in fact, central to how the Democratic Party and progressives approach 2018 and 2020, and to whether and how the party regroups to become an effective shield against the far-right onslaught. It is of enormous importance to a left that must focus its influence on shaping the political frameworks and strategies most capable of defeating Trumpism.