Tidbits – Aug.17, 2023 – Reader Comments: A Criminal Enterprise Conspiracy; King Coal; Take Action – Here’s How You Can Help Maui; West Virginia University Walkout Against Cuts; Cartoons; More…

Reader Comments: A Criminal Enterprise Conspiracy; King Coal; Take Action -- Here's How You Can Help Maui; West Virginia University Walkout Against Cuts; Cartoons; more....

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Tidbits - Reader Comments, Take Action, Announcements AND cartoons - Aug.17, 2023,Portside

A Criminal Enterprise:

Take Action  -- Looking to help people in Maui

Announcements:

Arraigny Night in Georgia (and a Trial for the Country)

Career Criminal  --  Meme

SolidarityINFOService

The Republican Front Runner  --  Meme

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Brave New Films

More Indictments  --  Cartoon by Nick Anderson

Nick Anderson
August 15, 2023
Pen Strokes

Trump and the Four Horsemen of The Apocalypse  --  Cartoon by Bill Bramhall

Bill Bramhall
August 16, 2023
New York Daily News

The Georgia Rico Indictment  --   Required Reading: District Attorney Fani Willis Has The Goods On Trump  (New York Daily News Editorial Board Op-Ed)

Read 98 page Indictment here (pdf) https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23909543-23sc188947-criminal-indictment

We stayed up well past our bedtime to read the fourth, and longest, indictment against Donald Trump after the Superior Court of Fulton County in Atlanta late Monday night published the charging instrument that District Attorney Fani Willis and a Grand Jury of 23 citizens issued. Everyone in the country should read it also (although we don’t recommend doing so after midnight as we did.)

After being arrested and charged with crimes in Manhattan (34 state felony counts related to hush payments), Miami (40 federal counts for purloined classified records) and Washington (four federal counts for trying to steal the 2020 election), another 13 felony counts on a state level against Trump might seem like old hat. Trump and his 18 co-defendants have until next Friday to appear before a judge.

While the Georgia indictment is also about Trump’s frantic and hopeless efforts to overturn the 2020 vote (in the Peach State), it lays out the conspiracy in far greater detail after detail than Special Counsel Jack Smith’s Jan. 6 charges.

Willis and the Grand Jury say that Trump and his motley gang of kooks and crackpots (including our once upstanding U.S. attorney and mayor, Rudy Giuliani) constituted “a criminal organization” that engaged in “racketeering.” And as Rudy the racket-buster knows well, an important tool in such cases is the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. As the Manhattan U.S. prosecutor, Rudy used the federal RICO statute and now Willis is using the Georgia version of the law.

Read the full editorial here  

Re: The World Is Burning. Here's How We Stop It.  

Bernie's article spends most of its space teaching the deniers and doubters and fence-sitters what others have long known: climate change due to human activity (CO2 and CH4 emissions from producing and  burning fossil fuels) is real and its harms are no longer only in the future but are here today, abundantly and frighteningly. In my opinion, its harms are increasing year by year and can be ignored only by idiots, by ideologically persuaded know-nothings, and by those -- such as oil companies -- who profit from avoiding a massive change in human behavior.

Having made his case, sadly but not surprisingly, Bernie repeats the old, and no longer correct, "consensus" recipe for action to reverse climate change, namely, that humankind must act, solely, to cut emissions by use of solar and wind energy. In 1970, even 1990, that action alone might have been sufficient to reverse climate change. Today it is not enough.

What is needed, today, in addition, is refreezing the arctic.

Arctic waters covered by ice are white and reflect away sunlight and cool the planet. Arctic waters free of ice (due to melting due to climate change) are black and absorb sunlight, heating the planet. Refreezing the arctic requires new and deliberate human action, often called 'geoengineering". It can be done, even cheaply.

However, a new crop of deniers and doubters have raised their voices to warn against "geoengineering" saying it is dangerous and untested and might harm the earth-system. But what they ignore is that burning fossil fuels, as we continue to do, even increasingly, despite knowing that it causes climate change, is that burning fossil fuels is itself a well-tested and harmful example of geoengineering, a human activity threatening and harming the planet.

So, Bernie and PORTSIDE readers, think about this: do we sit back and allow the earth to burn up because we are afraid to take a chance on "geoengineering", or do we start the experiments ASAP to see if we can preserve the possibility of large-animal (and human) life of earth for more than the next 30-50 years?

That is the question.

Peter Belmont

Re: Service & Solidarity Spotlight: Ohio Labor Drives Victory Against Attack on Democracy

(posting on Portside Labor)

Labor Comes through in Ohio

David Newby
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

      =====

My thanks to all who helped bring about this victory.

Lynn Shoemaker
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

Re: King Coal Is a Powerful Requiem

(posting on Portside Labor)

"So if we are not a coal miner, who are we?” The kids of coal miners, steel workers, factory workers and other dried up industries are looking for an identity. Right now, the most available path to identity, a paycheck and respect is in the military. The most available political path is... just not available. I know this is considered dreaming, but we really need to build a green jobs program, both for them and for future generations.

Sonia Cobbins
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

Re: Public Pharma Is the Best Solution  

And we are the greatest Empire in the world - really?

S Jenika

Re: What the Supreme Court’s Decision To Hear the Purdue Pharma Case Means  

None of this deals with the biggest problem of Corporate responsibility. It makes sense for individual owners in Corporations not be held responsible when the Corporate decision-makers make honest mistakes and unforeseen risks occur. However, once a risk is known, whether it's pharmaceutical, a train carrying toxic chemicals, a toy that can be dangerous, a decision to create a dangerous road condition, or any other known danger, the individual decision-maker should be held liable and criminally liable, as appropriate. If I get into a car with a known defect, that's my own decision for myself weighing the known risks; you should not have the right to weigh the known risks for my safety and decide that it's worth the risk. There must be criminal responsibility for the risks you are willing to take for my and my children's safety and lives. The Corporate laws on these issues must be changed.

Arlene Halfon

Contradiction - Hypocrisy - Lunacy  --  Meme

Post on Facebook

Re: Tidbits – Aug.10, 2023 – Reader Comments  

Portside today offers two very well written arguments by two esteemed comrades who happen to be distinguished warriors in the army of labor. They each take a different position on the current division in the global left - the peace movement in particular. I recommend reading both, whichever side you take. The better we know both sides, the better we can move into the next stage. So click here, and take it down to the comments from Michael Eisenscher and Bill Shortell.

Ethan Young
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

Re: Gustavo Petro’s First Year: Social and Environmental Justice and Regional Integration  

COLOMBIA: Petro’s inaugural year was characterized by guaranteeing free higher education, agrarian reform, reopening of relations with Venezuela, and an attempt to reform health care, labor regulations, and pensions

Norm Littlejohn
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

      =====

Speaking truth to power while in the grasp of evil is the ultimate act of a human being.

John Leahy

Re: Navalny: ‘Everyone Has To Make Some Kind of Sacrifice’  

Wise advice for all Americans in this current political climate of lies, deceit, and gangsterism.

It speaks to the power in his sacrificial protest.  Putin fears Navalny's hold on the Russian people.  He represents every despot's greatest nightmare.

Well worth reading.

Paul F. McCarthy

Re: EU for the Few  

<The right to safety and pursuit of happiness belongs to every human being. This can be reached only through freedom of movement as a universal right. Until then, Mediterranea will continue to exist.> sounds great.  But how could any social state survive in any relatively wealthy country if unlimited migration was available from poor countries?  The spectre of "welfare migration" is just a scare theme now, but with unlimited free migration why wouldn't tens of millions of migrants from poor countries seek to gain the social benefits available in rich countries? Nation states with border controls are in fact the only current basis for maintaining progressive social welfare states. There are no historical or current examples of progressive welfare states with completely open borders -- and that's for good reasons.

Stan Nadel
Salzburg, Austria

Take Action  -- Looking to help people in Maui --  Hawaiʻi People’s Fund

Hawaiʻi People’s Fund is mobilizing to help provide immediate relief to those directly impacted by the wildfires on Maui Island.

"Hawaiʻi People’s Fund stands in solidarity and full support with those individuals and organizations who have been working to upend and heal systems of oppression for over 50 years. Working in tandem with foundations and individual donors, Maui Aloha: The People's Response is dedicated to moving crucial financial support to those directly impacted by the wildfires on Maui Island, providing a safe and trusted conduit to move kōkua quickly.

Funds raised through this effort will move critical resources to past, present, and future community partners committed to seeing our beloved community through this storm."

Founded in 1972, Hawai'i People's Fund supports, funds, and amplifies the work of Hawaiʻi-based grassroots organizations challenging systems of oppression.

Working in tandem with foundations and individual donors, Maui Aloha: The Peopleʻs Response is dedicated to moving crucial financial support to those directly impacted by the wildfires on Maui Island, providing a safe and trusted conduit to move kōkua quickly.

MAHALO for your kōkua to make this happen, allowing us to expand our collective reach during this critical time!!

Donate

Hawaiʻi People’s Fund  
P.O. Box 4163
Honolulu, HI  96812

808-593-9969

Tax ID/EIN 23-7250803

Take Action  -- Looking to help people in Maui  --  Hawaiʻi Workers Center and Maui Tenants & Workers Association

 

 

Aloha,

The Hawaiʻi Workers Center (HWC) is a resource for information, training and organizing of low- wage workers. Launched on May 1st 2020, HWC is engaged in crucial campaigns to help workers advance their rights and welfare.  Please support the work of the Hawaiʻi Workers Center.

Would you prefer to mail in your donation to the Hawaiʻi Workers Center? No problem- please send all checks to 2252 Puna Street, Honolulu, HI 96817-1539

August 15, 2023

This last week has been a difficult time for the people of Hawaiʻi. This time last week, the lives of thousands of people would be changed forever. From losing homes, livelihoods, and loved ones, our hearts remain heavy as people continue to grieve. As we continue to process the devastation and mourn the loss of life, the Hawaiʻi Workers Center stands in solidarity with those impacted by this disaster, especially our working class and most vulnerable communities.

We are grateful to our volunteer organizer on Maui, Alan Lloyd, as he continues to hear directly from the members of our Maui Tenants & Workers Association. It was through his organizing that we helped keep affordable housing options available in Lāhainā.

There are no silver linings to a disaster such as this. We thank the many hands that have provided direct relief and services through the outpouring of support. A core principle at the Hawaiʻi Workers Center is that those directly impacted should be able to exercise their right to organize for their own social, economic, and political well-being. Even more so as the community begins to rebuild.

Yet, the work in rebuilding on Maui will remain long afterwards. In rebuilding an economy that works for all of us, not just for those at the top. In rebuilding a society in which working class people are respected and valued for their worth and not just for their labor. As Maui rebuilds, may real justice and mutual prosperity replace the exploitation and greed that the land and her people have long experienced.

Our organizing efforts on Maui include pushing for a long-term rent increase moratorium and protections for existing affordable housing. Developers are now attempting to buy properties in order to benefit from this disaster. We are providing emergency kōkua grants to those in urgent need who may not be eligible for some assistance such as migrant workers from the Compact of Free Association (COFA) nations. We are also pressing for responsive access to assistance, including language access and a reasonable grace period for workers to recover or replace lost documents while receiving FEMA aid or unemployment insurance. In the coming weeks, please continue to support this important work. You can directly support our organizing efforts on Maui by donating through the Hawaiʻi Workers Center donate page.

We remain steadfast in our belief that the life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness,

“Ua Mau ke Ea o ka ʻĀina i ka Pono.”

In solidarity,

Sergio Alcubilla,
Executive Director

Donate here  https://www.hawaiiworkerscenter.org/donate/

Stop the Cuts - Save Our School - Student Walkout  -- West Virginia University - Moorgantown, WV - Monday, August 21  (West Virginia United)

All of us who support the West Virginia University students, staff, faculty and WVU itself are welcome (and needed) in solidarity now. This is happening this Monday.

#WVU #wvumistake #westvirginiauniversity #almostheaven #greenrollinghills #educationmatters #solidarity #worldlanguages #englishasasecondlanguage