Tidbits - December 14, 2017 - Reader Comments: Alabama Black Voters Key; GOP Tax Bill; Jerusalem; Jeremy Corbyn; Red Cross; Genocide and Hitler; Nobel Peace Prize Award; Why contribute to Portside; Announcements; and more....

Reader Comments: Alabama Grassroots and Black Voters key to Defeating Trumpite Racist Sex Offender; GOP Tax Bill is Class War Against the People; Jerusalem; Jeremy Corbyn; Holiday contributions to charity other than Red Cross; Genocide and Hitler; Nobel Peace Prize Award; Why contribute to Portside; Resources; Announcements: Los Angeles, New York, Washington, DC, Houston; and more....

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Tidbits - Reader Comments, Resources and Announcements - December 14, 2017,Portside

Resources:

Announcements:

 

Re: The Grassroots Won Alabama’s Senate Race

The mobilization for Jones was just the latest chapter in “decades and generations of groundbreaking work to win voting rights” and “deep, proud movement building.” 

Democrat Doug Jones won his bid for a U.S. Senate seat in Alabama Tuesday night against Republican Roy Moore in one of the most closely watched elections of the year. But the real winners of this election are the thousands of voters who came together into a movement to meet the challenge of keeping a homophobe, racist and accused pedophile out of the U.S. Senate.

Read full post by Isaiah J. Poole here.

Fred Niles
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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(One summary e-mail a day, you can change anytime, and Portside is always free.)

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We cannot always count on pervs being on the R ticket (often but not always), We cannot always count on a large and conscious Black vote either. So time to field and support better candidates. For example, not war mongers or attached to Goldman Sachs.

Sonia Collins
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

 

Re: Advocates: GOP Tax Bill `Devastating' for Marginalized Groups

Compromises, concessions, negotiations and countermeasures are characteristics of the democratic model and aren't decorations or excesses. When the Twitterer restores Meals-on-Wheels, CHIPs, Medicaid, Medicare, WIC food assistance and Pell grants, we will have a government interested in the people and not fixated on the top !%. Legitimacy doesn't come out of nowhere. The state should represent the public interest. Otherwise we have an autocracy according to Humpty Dumpty "words mean what I say they mean"! 

Marc Batko

 

Re: We Didn’t Start the Fire

Sanders is a socialist so he sees the world as it is. He is openly using the language of class warfare because the politics of the day are so dire. The growing opposition movement needs to be united and active about unjust laws. Given the pro capitalist rhetoric in the country and its politics it is probably better not to use terms often like class war, because they will be misunderstood and will fire up the opposition currently in power. It is a true description of what is happening, but it should be put in terms of unfairness, injustice, and lack of democracy.

Laurel MacDowell

 

Senate GOP - cartoon by Jack Ziegler

Jack Ziegler
New Yorker
(Reddit Political Humor)

 

Re: Don't Let The Alt-Right Hijack #MeToo For Their Agenda

Consider the experience of writer Ijeoma Oluo, who last week said that USA Today asked her to write a piece arguing a feminist position against due process.

She says an editor there told her, “[...] They want a piece that says that you don’t believe in due process and that if a few innocent men lose their jobs it’s worth it to protect women. Is that something you can do?”

They were asking her to say feminists are happy to harm individual men for the good of the cause, and not interested in distinguishing innocence from guilt. She refused. That’s not who she is and not who feminists are.

Marlena Santoyo 
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

 

Sex Offender - cartoon by Rob Rogers

It's bad enough that we have a president in the White House who has done far worse in terms of sexual assault than some of those being asked to resign from Congress, now he is endorsing a pedophile for Senate. Where is the moral outrage from the right?


Rob Rogers
December 10, 2017
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

 

Re: Jewish Studies Statement on Jerusalem Declaration

Two from the University of Denver, one from C.U. Boulder are amongst those who signed this decent statement

Rob Prince
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

 

Re: The Dream of a Historic Peace Deal Is Dead

Despite the title's death certification, many will insist on continuing dreaming of their favorite "historic deal," their formulae miscalled "solutions."  Hard to blame them, with reality so grim.

What is needed is that attention and efforts be focused on improving the daily human rights conditions, and relieving people of the raids, dispossession, imprisonment, sieges, resource theft, rocket attacks/bombings (by whomever conducted and against whomever directed).

Joe Maizlish, Los Angeles

 

Re: Jeremy Corbyn's Geneva Speech in Full

"The UN has a pivotal role to play, in advancing a new consensus and common ground based on solidarity, respect for human rights and international regulation and co-operation. That includes as a platform for democratic leaders to speak truth about unaccountable power.

"One such moment took place on 4 December 1972, when President Salvador Allende of Chile, elected despite huge opposition and US interference, took the rostrum of the UN General Assembly in New York. He called for global action against the threat from transnational corporations, that do not answer to any state, any parliament or any organisation representing the common interest. Nine months later, Allende was killed in General Augusto Pinochet’s coup, which ushered in a brutal 17-year dictatorship and turned Chile into a laboratory of free market fundamentalism.

"But 44 years on, all over the world people are standing up and saying enough to the unchained power of multinational companies to dodge taxes, grab land and resources on the cheap and rip the heart out of workforces and communities."

Richard Rosa
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

 

Re: Red Cross Is Instructing Truckers to Draw Blood and Nurses to Load Trucks

The Red Cross has been a fundraising organization for some time. It gives sinecures to upper crust people. They simply did not show up for Hurricane Sandy. Contribute elsewhere.

Sonia Collins
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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Nothing personal, it's just business. The Red Cross lost its cachet a long time ago, in my eyes.

Kit Phipps-Winfrey
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

 

Is This What Hell Is Like ...

Yesterday, of 193 nations of the World, one nation, presided by Donald Trump ... unilaterally ... made the determination that Jerusalem is now the capital of Israel.   Maybe I am alone in being shocked by such decision, and maybe I'm ignorant of the facts, but I did not know that Israel and Palestine had somehow and suddenly become colonial territories of the US.  What Gaul !!!

More, altho I've not yet visited the place, I cannot imagine an existence more like Hell than the present past 11 months under 'The Donald' administration ... then to be conked into reality that three times plus a month of calendar still remains -- with more escalation each coming day of the unimaginable Hell already rained upon us and the World.  Also, acknowledging that I live in California which often differs from some parts of the country -- and though the popular vote nationally almost split -- about 51% to 49% -- I have yet to encounter a single person who admits to voting for '45."  (I don't mention racial disparity because it is beyond my comprehension that even one Black person voted for Trump.  [Psst ... if you know of one, please send me (confidentially) his address].)

Yes ... Yes, I know Clinton would have been horrible ... and we would be in the streets every other week protesting ... some of which would be heard.  Horrible, we can survive ... but indomitable Hell, NOT !   A greater truth is the fact that Republican turnout was essentially flat as typically expected, while Democratic turnout was significantly below normal.   In other worlds, Republicans did not "win" in 2016, the election of '45,' and the Senate, and the House, and two-thirds of state governments were "GIFTED" to the maniacal Republicans by Democrats who voluntarily chose not to vote.

Perhaps it is that voting in the US has a special essence for Blacks (and hopefully many many others).  I, therefore, declare here and now that I have no time nor tolerance for false ideologues who preach the absence of any difference between the parties, and who advocate the "futility" of voting in major US elections ... In future, please just don't ...

James E Vann
Political, Housing, Homeless Activist
Oakland, CA

 

Re: Too Young to Vote, But Not Too Young to Care AND Pre-register to Vote!

Kids, you'll need to do this. Or the government will destroy you.

Elimar Alicia Chardón Sierra
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

 

Re: Friday Nite Videos | December 8, 2017

Sad that you're buying into the MSM/ Hillary Clinton hysteria about Russia. The American people and the American way of presidential voting put Trump in power--not the Russians.

Mike Munk

 

Re: Why Are US Farmers Killing Themselves at a Record Rate

so, farmers are white? what are the suicide rates by race/ethnicity? why this herrenvolk--white people's--stories in a country as diverse as the US?

Johnnie Lewis

 

Genocide...Why Hitler Has Special Place, Unglue Condemnation - Response to Tidbits Comment - Dec. 7
[Response to Bruce Walker comment in Tidbits - Dec. 7, 2017]

6 mil dead Jews, 50+ mil dead Russians (and add more of Slavs in general), hundreds of thousands not millions dead African and Arabs in North Africa, millions dead Romanis, millions dead Jehovah’s Witnesses and Orthodox Christians. Countless millions dead Communists, Socialists, Anarchists etc. Countless Millions dead via combat all over Europe and Africa. Hundreds thousands homosexuals killed. Similar number dead mentally challenged. Those are just the famous examples.

Don’t get me wrong as a Afro-Native myself (mostly Native Taino and Blackfoot) 100 mil dead Natives and 250 dead Africans during those times is horrible and still effects the globe today. But that was over centuries and goal wasn’t annihilation but domination. Hitler purposely had all those killed both in and out of war. He did it all in a few years. 5+ centuries of horror or a few years of hell on earth with totally deaths of whole ethnic groups, religious groups etc. Worse not even “white people” (I hate colorist nonsense) were spared. All those dead French. And hell Nazis nuked Britain several times with V1-2 and bombed them nonstop for a long time with their bombers. Colonials are monsters. But there is a reason Hitler sits on a chair few can match in regards to horrors unleashed. Only ones I can think of is Mussolini and Tojo and most horrible but little insulted is King Leopold II of Belgium. Other than them I can imagine few others as horrible as Nazis.

...then again Hitler got a lot of his ideas from what happened to Natives and Africans mostly Natives in Americas especially what the USA did so hey maybe you’re right and they should be places with Nazis. But to say which is worse is a debate still going on now.

Aaron Williams
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

 

Re: Insights on China's 19th Communist Party Congress

I congratulate you on a degree of self-delusion not seen since the Moscow show trials of the late 1930s, or of the Soviet anti-semitic campaigns of the late 1940s-early 1950s.

Peter Filardo

 

The Nobel Peace Prize Award Ceremony, Dec. 10th 2017

Dear Portside,

Thank you for all you do.

Boycotted by our country and all our Reps, You well know the most important issue for us all today:

The Nobel Peace Prize Award Ceremony, Dec. 10th 2017
the issue perfectly put:

Listen/watch here.

Anthony Donovan
NYC
www.GoodThinkingTheDocumentary.net

 

Portside's Annual Fund Appeal - Information is Power

I really like what these people do. So I give. You should at least check them out, and give if you can.

Marshall Mayer
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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Every year I share a similar post with my Facebook friends - the annual fund appeal of Portside. Portside posts material every day that you might not see elsewhere, or might not see the combination of posts on politics and struggle, repression and resistance, labor struggles and campaigns; posts from our country and throughout the world; along with poetry, science, book reviews, television, films, and cooking. What a combination - I am passionate about this, having helped start Portside back in 2000, and watching it grow and change, and I think get better. Won't you consider contributing?

Jay Schaffner
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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Your daily choice of articles...

I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciated your work. In general, I really like your choice of articles. This is often the first thing I read before I start my day.. Thank you. And keep it going. I just contributed in a small way

Denise

 

Get 50% Off All Books, eBooks, CDs, and DVDs @ PM Press

 

To get your 50% discount at checkout type in the coupon code: GIFT

To take advantage of this offer, click on the links below and add any item(s) into your shopping cart. There is no minimum (or maximum) order.

Click on the title or image of each book to see more information and a preview online. If you are more of the adventurous type and want to explore more than just these titles, click HERE and browse our webstore.

 

I know why the caged bird sings - Winter Book Sale & Prisoner Solidarity Event - Los Angeles - December 16

 

Southern California Library Book Sale + Critical Resistance Prisoner Solidarity Postcard Writing

Saturday, December 16 - 11:00am - 5:00pm

Southern California Library
6120 S. Vermont Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90044

11 a.m.-5 p.m. Book Sale

2-5 p.m. Prisoner Solidarity Postcards

1-3 p.m. Live Music: No Standards Jazz Ensemble
Musicians from the World Stage

Throughout the day: Dublab DJs T-Kay, Dia, Soul Children, Frosty, and Linda Tovar (Chulita Vinyl Club) play wax from SCL's vinyl collection

 

Southern California Library
6120 S. Vermont Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90044
(323) 759-6063

 

Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right's Stealth Plan for America - Book Talk events in Washington, DC with the author - December 18 - 19

 

An explosive exposé of the right’s relentless campaign to eliminate unions, suppress voting, privatize public education, and change the Constitution.

Behind today’s headlines of billionaires taking over our government is a secretive political establishment with long, deep, and troubling roots. The capitalist radical right has been working not simply to change who rules, but to fundamentally alter the rules of democratic governance. But billionaires did not launch this movement; a white intellectual in the embattled Jim Crow South did. Democracy in Chains names its true architect—the Nobel Prize-winning political economist James McGill Buchanan—and dissects the operation he and his colleagues designed over six decades to alter every branch of government to disempower the majority.

Monday, December 18, 5pm – 7pm

Busboys And Poets
4251 Campbell Ave
Arlington, VA 22206

Tuesday, December 19, 12pm – 2pm

AFL-CIO
815 16th St NW
Washington, DC 20005

RSVP here

Tuesday, December 19, 6pm – 8pm

Busboys and Poets
235 Carroll St NW
Washington, DC 20012

 

Three Months After Hurricane Maria - Stop Assaults on Puerto Ricans - New York - December 20

 

Wednesday Dec 20, 11am 

TPG Headquarters
888 7th Ave
Manhattan

As millions of families continue to struggle to rebuild their lives #AfterMaria, Puerto Ricans keep having to defend themselves from assaults on all sides.

TPG Capital mortgage servicing companies are FORECLOSING on Puerto Rican families on the island and in the states while so many have been displaced from their homes by the storm

This while Congress drags its feet on providing sufficient aid for the island with no strings attached, and while the Junta continues to favor Wall Street over the Puerto Rican people.

TELL TPG TO STOP IMMORAL ASSAULTS ON PUERTO RICANS!

VAMOS4PR is a network of labor, community, cultural and human rights organizations and individuals who live and work in the US mainland and fight for a fair economy for all Puerto Ricans. For more information, go to vamos4pr.org

 

The Future of Health Care Reform in America - Washington, DC - January 11

Health Reform 2020: Towards Affordable, Quality Care for All Americans

 

Join leading experts from across the country on January 11, 2018, in Washington, D.C., to discuss the path forward for health care reform, leading into the 2020 presidential election. The full-day event, co-hosted by The Century Foundation and The American Prospect, will explore options to improve affordable, accessible health coverage for all Americans—from expanding Medicare to building on the Affordable Care Act.  

Thursday, January 11, 2018
8:30AM-3:00PM

Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, Barbara Jordan Conference Center
1330 G Street Northwest
Washington, D.C. 20005

REGISTER

Hear from the "who's who" of health policy, including:

  • Georges Benjamin, MD, American Public Health Association;
  • Anita Dunn, SKDKnickerbocker;
  • Dr. Rebekah Gee, Louisiana Department of Health;
  • Sherry Glied, NYU’s Wagner Graduate School;
  • Anna Greenberg, Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research;
  • John Holahan, Urban Institute;
  • Cathy Hurwit, office of Rep. Schakowsky (D-IL);
  • Jeanne Lambrew, The Century Foundation;
  • Peter V. Lee, California's marketplace, “Covered California”;
  • Noam Levey, Los Angeles Times;
  • Larry Levitt, Kaiser Family Foundation;
  • Hannah Neprash, University of Minnesota's School of Public Health;
  • Kevin Patterson, Colorado’s marketplace, “Connect for Health Colorado”;
  • Harold Pollack, University of Chicago;
  • Julie Rovner, Kaiser Health News;
  • Margot Sanger-Katz, New York Times;
  • Michael Sparer, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health;
  • Paul Starr, The American Prospect

 

    RSVP Now to Reclaim Dr. King’s Dream for Working Families - Houston - January 12 - 15    

Each year, the AFL-CIO’s annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. celebration serves as a gathering point for union leaders and activists to recognize Dr. King’s contributions. We also take this time to learn from each other’s victories and losses and to sharpen our tools for change.

I’m inviting you to join us in Houston, Jan. 12–15, for the 2018 AFL-CIO Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Civil and Human Rights Conference. Our theme this year is—Reclaiming the Dream: Strategize, Organize, Mobilize!

Click here to register for the conference.

It’s no secret that the union movement is under attack. And many working people, particularly women and people of color, are disproportionately impacted when anti-union measures are taken. That’s why this conference—an extension of Dr. King’s very dream—is so important to us and the growing list of annual attendees.

Click here to register for the conference.

The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Civil and Human Rights Conference is packed with speakers, workshops and sessions designed to explore strategies and tactics the union movement is uniquely poised to use that can help us win the big victories we’ll need to build momentum toward leveling the playing field for working people.

When Dr. King shared his dream with the American people, it was not because he thought we all could use a good story. It was a charge to act so that what was once a dream may be the reality of future generations of America’s working families. Join us in Houston in January as we work toward that realization.

Reclaim the Dream. Register for the conference here.

In Solidarity,

Richard Trumka
President, AFL-CIO

P.S. Visit https://mlk2018.aflcio.org/ for more info about the 2018 AFL-CIO Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Civil and Human Rights Conference.