Tidbits – Dec. 21, 2023 – Reader Comments: Trump Embraces Fascism; Housing IS a Labor Issue; the “River to the Sea” Controversy; New York Retirees Fight City Hall and Medicare Advantage; New Deal Posters; Cartoons; More…

Reader Comments: Trump Embraces Fascism; Housing IS a Labor Issue; The "river to the sea" controversy; New York Retirees Fight City Hall and Medicare Advantage; New Deal posters; Cartoons; more....

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Tidbits - Reader Comments, Resources, Announcements, AND cartoons - Dec. 21, 2023,Portside

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Announcements:

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A Frightful Vision  --  Cartoon by Mike Luckovich

Mike Luckovich
December 10, 2023
Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Re: Make America Fascist Again (MAFA!) – The Future if Donald Trump Returns to the Oval Office  

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I remember a few years back, when I referred to the tea party and the republican base as fascist.  I was accused of spreading left wing hyperbole for saying America was deeply fascist in some ways.  Now the media is getting accustomed to describing obviously fascist moves by republicans and their wealthy backers as well as the Supreme Court.

'I told you so 'isn't bringing me any satisfaction.  It never will.......but it's true.....I did say so and often.

Dennis Schmunk
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

Re: George Conway Tears Apart ‘Logically Weak’ Dissents in Colorado Supreme Court’s Trump Ruling  

In this article Conway says US Supreme Court cannot over rule state Supreme Court decision. Is this true?

Pat Love

In the meadow we can build a snowman and pretend his name is Donald Trump  --  Cartoon by Lalo Alcaraz

Lalo Alcaraz
December 18, 2023
pocho.com

Re: Why Labor Unions Should Join the Housing Fight

(posting on Portside Labor)  

Putting creative housing demands on the bargaining table and engaging in public campaigns for tenant protections are essential first steps for all unions that can bargain on the offensive as they gain power. But because the marketization of housing operates as a direct threat to labor power, unions might also follow the lead of the most visionary labor and tenant unions and embrace a more radical stance for the long-term: that housing should be guaranteed for all.

Labor unions have often had the role of voicing radical visions about what does and does not belong in markets, even as they fight for their members’ survival pending systemic change: Local 11 and National Nurses United have called for universal health care, even as we press employers to pay into elaborate private health funds to meet our members’ medical needs in the meantime. Unions are well positioned to make other radical market-constitutive claims: that housing, like health care, does not belong in a consumer market. If workers were not beholden to paying rent every single month, how much longer could we strike? If housing were guaranteed for all, how much more could we win?

Norm Littlejohn
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

Re: The Rise and Fall of Moms for Liberty  

You can be sure that any organization that has the word "Moms", the word "Liberty," or any combination thereof in the name has nothing to do with either.

Eleanor Roosevelt
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

GOP List  --  Cartoon by Lalo Alcaraz

Lalo Alcaraz
November 29, 2021

Nothing Burger  --  Cartoon by Rob Rogers

Rob Rogers
December 18, 2023
robrogers.com

Re: Starbucks Ordered To Reopen 23 Stores

(posting on Portside Labor)  

Like its alleged intimidation tactics and firing of workers who have led unionization efforts, Starbucks' closure of at least 23 stores amid a nationwide workers' rights push last year did not go unnoticed by federal regulators, who ordered the global coffee chain to reopen the locations on Wednesday.

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a complaint saying that eight of the shuttered stores were among the more than 360 Starbucks locations that have voted to unionize, and that executives did not notify the union, Starbucks Workers United, about the closures ahead of time—robbing organizers of an opportunity to bargain over the decision.

Norm

On the "river to the sea" controversy  (James Zogby)

Re: Pro-Israel Billionaires Are Spending Big To Oust Socialists From Office  

Are we surprised?

Caryl Esteves
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

Re: Dear Human at the Edge of Time

(posting on Portside Culture)  

A young poet calls out to us. All of us. "Dear Human at the Edge of Time" (gratitude to Portside https://portside.org/2023-12-15/dear-human-edge-time for this; please support them)
It is even worse than they say. Do you remember that day?
Orange sky, like a bright tangerine. It’s not a cliché because this isn’t something you ever thought would happen… See more

Kipp Dawson
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

Retirees Like All of Us Deserve Traditional Medicare  (The Indypendent)

Click on the link below to view the special 4-page ad in this month's The Indypendent

Click here  --  Scroll down to pages 8-11

When viewing, readers can hit an arrow at the top of the PDF that allows them to blow up the size of the page so that the type is easier to read.

Add Your Name

After looking at the petition, readers can then look at and read other articles in the current issue of The Indypendent that might be of interest. You might then decide to become a regular reader of The Indypendent  

Posters of the New Deal  (Friday's Labor Folklore)

 


The Prints and Photographs Division at the Library of Congress features collections which document "the history of the United States and the lives, interests, and achievements of the American people." (video link). The collection includes over 900 posters produced by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) from 1936 to 1943.

The WPA was established in 1935 by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt as part of his New Deal program to put millions of unemployed Americans back to work. The posters depict various programs sponsored by the government: health and safety programs, cultural programs including art exhibits and theatrical and musical performances, travel and tourism, educational programs and community activities.

One of the most famous WPA projects was Federal Project Number One which provided funds for artists, musicians, actors, and writers. Under its direction were the Federal Art Project, the Federal Music Project, the Federal Theatre Project, and the Federal Writers' Project. The goal was to employ out-of-work artists and, as a result, millions of Americans were first introduced to the arts by participating in a WPA supported performance or exhibition or by reading.

The Federal Art Project employed more than 5,000 artists; its poster divisions were organized in 17 states and the District of Columbia. Many New Deal administrators believed that art could be a part of the daily lives of all people, not just the elite, and could enrich the lives of all who came in contact with it.

-- Prints & Photographs Division, Library of Congress webpage (edited).

Learn more about the New Deal at The Living New Deal.

Friday's Labor Folklore,
Saul Schniderman, Editor, Takoma Park , MD 20912
fridaysfolklore@gmail.com

Webinar: Our Healthcare System is Failing Us All - January 29  (Cross-union Retirees Organizing Committee)