Tidbits – Jan. 11, 2024 – Reader Comments: Enough IS Enough!; Seizing Russia’s Frozen Assets – Readers Ask: What About Israel?; Supreme Ballot; Chicken Soup; Forums: What Should Progressives Do About Biden?; Protect the Squad & Block the Right;
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Enough IS Enough -- Senator Bernie Sanders (SolidarityINFOService)
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Re: Seizing Russia’s Frozen Assets Is the Right Move (Nancy Fey; Mike Liston; Ted Pearson; Jesus M. Figueroa Vigo; Bernard Sampson)
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Journalists Killed .. in Gaza in 93 days, in all of World War II
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Re: We Deserve Medicare for All, but What We Get Is Medicare for Wall Street (Daniel Millstone)
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Supreme Ballot -- Cartoon by Rob Rogers
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Re: $8.5 Trillion in Untaxed Assets: Data Shows Why ‘We Need a Billionaire Income Tax’ (Robert Laite; Norm Littlejohn)
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Telsa Recall: Racist Autopilot -- Cartoon by Clay Jones
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Re: Tidbits – Jan. 4, 2024 (Ethan Young; Moderator)
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Re: Does Chicken Soup Really Help When You’re Sick? A nutrition specialist explains what’s behind the beloved comfort food (Leonard J. Lehrman; Tim Sheard)
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Texas Abortion -- Cartoon by Mike Stanfill
Resources:
Announcements:
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Jan. 13 Labor Contingent - March on Washington for Gaza -- NOTE: UPDATED LOCATION (SEIU Local 500 Rank-and-File for Palestine)
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Reducing The Threat Of Nuclear War 2024 - Online Conference - January 13 (Campaign for Peace, Disarmament and Common Security)
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Free Virtual Screening of 'Gumbo Coalition' In Honor of MLK, Jr. Day (Workers Unite Film Festival)
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“What Should Progressives Do About Biden?” - A Virtual Panel Discussion -- January 16 (Roots Action)
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From the Primaries to the General Election: Protect the Squad & Block the Right in 2024 -- Virtual Meeting -- January 17 (Seed the Vote)
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Webinar: Art Shields: The People’s Scribe -- January 25 (Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives - ALBA)
Enough IS Enough -- Senator Bernie Sanders
Re: Seizing Russia’s Frozen Assets Is the Right Move
The same should be done with Israel. Why no mention of that as it is at least as relevant? Ukraine is NOT more important than Gaza.
Nancy Fey
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This is the first time I've heard J. Stiglitz for something stupid. He must be slipping into his dotage. That or he's eager to see both the dollar and the euro kneecap each other,
Mike Liston
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So I suppose the U. S. should freeze Israeli assets as long as they wage genocidal wat against Gaza Palestinians.
Ted Pearson
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It's an illegal move, the nations in Europe aren't at war with Russia to take their resources. It's like accepting England stealing Venezuelan gold or the USA stealing Citgo. If the USA has no more funds for their proxy war they shouldn't have started it. That's a bad precedent, if Europe doesn't like a nation sovereign foreign policy they will take that nations assets.
Jesus M. Figueroa Vigo
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
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Its illegal and the wrong move, but the US has never been concerned about being legal. Look at Gaza. Its sickening that this writer is pushing this narrative supporting a fascist state .
Bernard Sampson
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
Journalists Killed .. in Gaza in 93 days, in all of World War II
Re: We Deserve Medicare for All, but What We Get Is Medicare for Wall Street
Changing our health care system so that all of us get care is a tall order. Here, via Portside, Les Leopold, looks at how finance capital has moved into the health care industry in newer ways. Big Pharma, private insurance and medical equipment makers have long drained cash from care. Now hedge funders are buying up hospitals and doctors' practices. Medicare (dis)advantage plans increase the opportunities for private profit. We can fix this but it will be difficult as many of those invested in the status quo have clout.
Daniel Millstone
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
Supreme Ballot -- Cartoon by Rob Rogers
Rob Rogers
January 9, 2024
robrogers.com
Re: $8.5 Trillion in Untaxed Assets: Data Shows Why ‘We Need a Billionaire Income Tax’
I don't have a problem with people making lots and lots of money. What I have a problem with is people working for not much more than the minimum wage paying a higher percentage of their income in taxes than billionaires! The rich can't get rich without the worker. They should pay their fair share!
Robert Laite
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
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While most Americans predominantly live off the income they earn from a job—income that is taxed all year, every year—the very richest households live lavishly off capital gains that may never be taxed.
Norm Littlejohn
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
Telsa Recall: Racist Autopilot -- Cartoon by Clay Jones
Tesla, which is owned by Elon Musk, is recalling over two million cars for a safety update to its autopilot. The update will add warnings to improve drivers’ attention while using the autopilot, but auto safety experts and lawmakers say that recalling every Tesla in the country won’t solve the autopilot’s fundamental flaw, that Tesla doesn’t limit where drivers can turn it on in the first place.
Tesla’s autopilot seems to like plowing into parked emergency vehicles. Considering it’s racist antisemite Elon’s company, we’re lucky it’s not redirecting to hate rallies.
Clay Jones
December 24, 2023
Claytoonz
I have to kvetch about a cartoon in Tidbits 1/4/24, "There's No Room at the Inn." The sentiment seems right - Because of Israel's war on Gaza, if the Christ child were born there today, there wouldn't even be a stable, let alone an inn. But the caption says "it got demolished by the people of Israel." The IDF is not the people. This kind of collective guilt is interpreted as anti-Semitism, and even if that's not the intention, that's the message.
Ethan Young
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
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Agree with your criticism.
Portside Moderator
(posting on Portside Culture)
This is a fine article on chicken soup, but I believe it leaves out one very important element: Chicken fat, I read recently, has been found to be, of all known organic substances, the very best in reducing nasal congestion. And of course good chicken soup will contain, in varying amounts, at least some chicken fat! We've always referred to chicken soup as "Jewish penicillin" - and for good reason!
Leonard J. Lehrman
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Thank so much, enjoyed the chicken soup article, nice change.
Tim Sheard
Texas Abortion -- Cartoon by Mike Stanfill
Mike Stanfill
January 5, 2024
Raging Pencils
Sharing this awesome resource for youth activists with financial need and enrolled in higher ed/post-secondary level programs from our friends at Davis-Putter Scholarship Fund.
"Davis-Putter Scholarship Fund provides financial support for students who are active and emerging organizers in progressive movements for liberation, self-determination and social and economic justice in their communities. Grantees are doing work that does/can potentially undermine US empire, characterized by an opposition to capitalism, racism/white supremacy, hetero patriarchy and gender-based violence, environmental exploitation and/or other forms of systemic harm and oppression."
Davis-Putter scholarship opens in January and applications are due April 1. Visit their website to apply & learn more:
Davis-Putter Scholarship Fund
Post Office Box 7307
New York, NY 10116-7307
Join the Labor Contingent
at the March on Washington for Gaza Saturday!
Join fellow union members and staff for the March on Washington for Gaza https://march4gaza.org/ THIS SATURDAY, January 13th in Washington, DC as we demand an immediate, permanent ceasefire and a free Palestine.
SEIU Local 500 Rank-and-File for Palestine is coordinating a labor contingent, which will gather at the Navy Memorial at 701 Pennsylvania Ave. NW at 12:00 PM, and march together to the main rally by 1:00 PM.
We call on all union members, staff, and leadership to march with us on Saturday.
Contact Ryan Harvey if you have any questions: ryanharvey@riseup.net.
Online Conference
Saturday, January 13, 2:00 – 5:30 pm (Eastern)
We are in a period of unusual danger and difficulty: The Russia/Ukraine conflict has sharply increased the danger of nuclear war; The tragic Israel/Gaza Conflict threatens to expand; The Pentagon budget is higher than ever and still going up; Cold Warriors in high places are beating the drums of war toward Russia and China; Within the US right wing forces are working to weaken voting rights and representative democracy.
This annual Conference is an effort to find social, economic and political paths away from the war economy and toward peace and nuclear disarmament. The Breakouts provide small focused working groups to plan steps forward.
Agenda
2:00: Welcome: MLK Jr and our tasks- Jonathan King (MIT and Mass Peace Action)
2:05 Dangers: Chair Susan Mirsky (Mass Peace Action)
- Nuclear Winter – Alan Robock (Rutgers University)
- Folly of Replacing ICBMs- David Borris (Chicago Area Peace Action)
- Dangers from Ukraine/Russia Conflict – Medea Benjamin (CODEPINK)
- Dangers from Israel/Gaza Conflict – Trita Parsi (Quincy Institute)
3:00 Unsustainable Costs: Chair Dave Pack – (PeaceWorks Kansas City)
- Nuclear Weapons Budgets – Lindsay Koshgarian (Institute for Policy Studies)
- Human Costs of the War Economy – Shailly Gupta Barnes (Kairos Center & Poor Peoples Campaign)
3:30 Congressional Battlegrounds:
- Supporting the Congressional Progressive Caucus – Larry Cohen (Our Revolution national Chair)
- Prospects for Change in the House – Rep. Ro Khanna
4:00 Breakouts: [List Below]
5:00 Major Grassroots Campaigns: Chair Cole Harrison (Mass Peace Action)
- Poor Peoples Campaign 40 Weeks of Moral/Political Action – Rev. Savina Martin (Mass Poor Peoples Campaign)
- Back from the Brink – Dr. Ira Helfand (Physicians for Social Responsibility)
- Fund HealthCare Not Warfare – Jonathan King (Mass Peace Action)
- Ceasefire Now! – Marcy Winograd (CODEPINK).
Breakouts
A). Building Local Back from the Brink Campaigns – Dave Pack (Kansas City Peaceworks); Jeremy Love (PSR); Jackie Cabasso (Mayors for Peace).
B). Building Progressive State Political Coalitions – Martha Karchere (Our Revolution MA); Russell Freedman (Progressive Dems of America); State Rep. Mike Connolly (Massachusetts); Roger Quindell (Milwaukee Veterans for Peace); Cynthia Silva Parker (M-APoor Peoples Campaign).
C). Campus Organizing and Nuclear Disarmament Curricula – Prof. Steve Slaner (Northern Essex Community College); Prof. Gary Goldstein (Tufts Univ); Prof. Stewart Prager (Physicists Coalition); Prof. ?Ceasar McDowell (MIT Urban Studies); Lynne Hall (Mass Peace Action).
D). Defending the Squad and Building the Progressive Caucus – Amanda Nichols (Our Revolution); Larry Cohen (Our Revolution); Andrew King (Citizens for Public Schools).
E). Opposing Militarism At Home – Nancy Goldner (Racial Justice Actin Group, Mass Peace Action); Keith Harvey (AFSC); Gerry Gorman (Chicago Area Peace Action).
F). Direct Actions including Divestment –Susan Mirsky, Peter Bergel (Salem, Oregon); David Swanson (World Beyond War).
G). Following up on the TPNW Conference – Joe Gerson (CPPDCS); Cherrill Spencer (WILPF); Kevin Martin (National Peace Action); State Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa (Mass).
H). Joining the Ceasefire Now Movement – Raytheon, Gaza, and Nuclear Weapons – Paul Shannon (AFSC); Jasmine Owens (Win Without War); Hayat Imam (MAPA); Glen Cote (Mass Peace Action); Aaron Shakow (Harvard Medical School)
I). New Dangers from Tactical Nuclear Weapons – Richard Krushnic (Mass Peace Action), Dan Shaw (Newton Dialogues on Peace and War); Elaine Scarry (Harvard Univ).
J). Pressing for Ceasefire in Ukraine – Medea Benjamin (CodePINK); Jackie Dee King (Mass Peace Action); John Ratliff (Mass Senior Action); Brian Garvey (Mass Peace Action).
K). Promoting State Legislation: Bonnie Gorman (Veterans for Peace, MAPA), State Rep Carol Doherty (Massachusetts); Kathleen Hamill (Warheads to Windmills).
L). Relations with Catholic Organizations – Peter Metz (Mass Peace Action); Mike Moran (Pax Christi); Claire Schaeffer-Duffy (Catholic Worker).
M). Rotary Clubs and Related Civic Organizations – Fran Jeffries (Rotary International); Ann Frisch (Rotary International); Kathie Malley-Morrison (Mass Peace Action).
N). Warheads to Windmills– Timmon Wallis (Nuclear Ban, US); Vickie Elson (Nuclear Ban, US); John MacDougall (350.org).
O). Working with Communities of Faith –John Bach (Cambridge Quakers), Rev. Savina Martin (Poor Peoples Campaign); Nicholas Colluras (MIT Chaplains); Cathy Murphy (Minnesota Peace Project).
P). Working with Nurses and Public Health orgs; Sandy Eaton (MassCARE); Catherine DeLorey (Fund Healthcare not Warfare); Dr. Bob Gould (Am Public Health Assn Peace Caucus); Jonathan King (Mass Peace Action); Mateo Krumholz (University of Minnesota).
Co-sponsors: Campaign for Peace, Disarmament and Common Security; Chicago Area Peace Action; CodePINK; Institute for People’s Engagement; Kansas City Peaceworks; Massachusetts Peace Action; MIT Faculty Newsletter; MIT Radius; National Our Revolution; Peace Action Maine; Warheads to Windmills.
Massachusetts Peace Action
11 Garden Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
617-354-2169
info@masspeaceaction.org
Free Virtual Screening of 'Gumbo Coalition' In Honor of MLK, Jr. Day (Workers Unite Film Festival)
On Demand Jan 14-17th (starts Sun 6pm)
Gumbo Coalition follows two visionary civil rights leaders, Marc Morial and Janet Murguía, as they work to empower Black and Latino communities through four turbulent years in America. Directed by two-time Academy Award-winning filmmaker Barbara Kopple, Gumbo Coalition takes us on an intimate — and sometimes humorous — journey into their lives, homes, and the family histories that motivate their united mission to create a more just and equitable country. At a dramatic crossroads in American history, these leaders face some of their biggest challenges: the global pandemic, the murder of George Floyd, and the 2020 presidential election and its aftermath. (2022, 1 hr 53 min, Director: Barbara Kopple) (Trailer)
Also: Join us for a Q&A on Zoom with Director Barbara Kopple and special guests on January 19th at 6:30pm EST (Zoom Link).
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The Workers Unite Film Festival brings together activists, academics, and filmmakers of all ages and backgrounds for a celebration of social justice and the arts. Through dozens of documentary screenings, community forums, and interactive events across New York City, the festival provides working people with a platform to tell their stories while leading a movement for meaningful change. In recent years, we've incorporated theater production, live music, and poetry/spoken word nights.
We are the largest worker solidarity themed film festival in the nation and the only one in NYC with the full support of NYC Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, NYC Central Labor Council, National & NY State AFL-CIO, IBEW Local 3, IAMAW, PEF, 1199SEIU, the NY Labor History Association, UFT, RWDSU Local 338, SAG-AFTRA, and many more. Join us!
Workers Unite Film Festival, Inc
322 West 52nd St - Box 1525
New York, NY 10019
Contact: andrew@workersuniteff.org
646-455-2225
Workers Unite Film Festival, Inc. is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit entity.
“What Should Progressives Do About Biden?” - A Virtual Panel Discussion -- January 16 (Roots Action)
https://rootsaction.salsalabs.org/youre-invited-online-panel-event-what…
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Wednesday, January 17 -- 5 – 6:30pm PST
Virtual event
Join from anywhere
In 2024, the stakes couldn’t be higher. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and other conservative super PACs have pledged to spend over $100 million to unseat the members of the Squad in their spring and summer primary races. And Trump continues to lead his Republican opponents by a wide margin.
But remember: together, we beat Trump in 2020. And we know that by coming together in 2024, we can do it again. Join Seed the Vote and three of our partner organizations to hear about how you can get involved in the 2024 primary and general elections. Together, we can protect our most progressive representatives and block the MAGA right from gaining power.
You’ll hear speakers from the Working Families Party, Pennsylvania United, and Living United for Change in Arizona (LUCHA), and we'll have concrete ways you can get involved right away. See you there!
WHO WE ARE
A PROJECT OF EVERYDAY PEOPLE PAC
Everyday People PAC is a grassroots, social justice political fund mobilizing volunteers to defeat Trumpism. EPP supports the electoral work of grassroots organizations in swing states who are working to build the long term power of working class communities and communities of color.
Webinar: Art Shields: The People’s Scribe -- January 25 (Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives - ALBA)
Presentation and Discussion on Labor Journalist and Honorary Lincoln Brigade Member Art Shields
Join Us!
Thursday, January 25, 4 PM ET / 1 PM PT
Art Shields covered it all, as a reporter for the Daily Worker on the front lines in Spain, as a labor journalist, and organizer himself. He covered many key events for the left including the defense of Sacco & Vanzetti, the Battle of Blair Mountain, the organizing drives in Harlan County, the sit-down strike in Flint, Michigan, and many more. Art believed that strong unions were one of the best defenses against fascism, and covered the defense of those trade union leaders under attack during McCarthyism.
Luckily, he left us an account of his amazing life in which he worked with such figures as Mother Jones, Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, Illinois poet laureate and Pulitzer Prize Winner Carl Sandburg, Bill Foster, author Mike Gold, Big Bill Haywood, and Harlan County’s Florence Reece, the author of Which Side Are You On?
ALBA Board Members and daughters of veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, Josie Yurek and Nancy Wallach, will share excerpts and analysis on his fascinating autobiography On the Battle Lines, 1919-1939. They will continue the story of the Lincoln Brigade by putting a spotlight on this key figure in the history of the American labor movement and journalism.
This presentation will help to highlight VALB’s own roots in the labor movement and strengthen ALBA’s own support for and connection to today’s resurgence of union activity. Nancy and Josie will add their own reflections and recollections of Art to ALBA’s own repository of historical memory.
Made an honorary member of the Lincoln Brigade for his reporting in Spain in 1982, Art is one of the many VALB participants whose contributions to our country’s history should be more widely known. Through making Art Shields' story available, Josie and Nancy hope to reclaim some of labor’s history, such an important part of the SCW history ALBA seeks to restore.
Nancy Wallach is the daughter of Abraham Lincoln Brigade Veteran Hy Wallach. She is a retired NYC public school teacher with a background in art education and professional development and support. She has been a recipient of the NYC Schools and Culture Award, the Lincoln Center Institute's Creative Teaching Award, NYCATA/UFT's Art Educator of the Year and received many other grants in the area of arts education. She has been proud to represent ALBA at International Brigade and anti-fascist commemorations in Spain, England, Ireland, and France, and has delivered several presentations in Belfast, Dublin, and Dun Laoghaire, Ireland, on the life and work of Paul Robeson and his support for the International Brigades where he is a much-beloved figure among the Irish people.
Josephine Nelson-Yurek is a founding member of the Bronx National Organization for Women and of the Cinnamon Tree Day Care Center. Member of the board of directors of Lehman College Performing Arts Center for ten years. Retired as a high school administrator from the New York City public school system, Josie is the daughter of Steve Nelson, a veteran of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade.
Moderated by Richard Bermack
Richard Bermack has worked for labor organizations for over 40 years as a photographer, journalist, and graphic artist, including the Service Employees International Union, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, the United Auto Workers, and the San Francisco Building Trades Council. He produced the SEIU Local 535 Dragon newspaper from 1995-2003, which received numerous awards from the AFL-CIO International Communications Workers Association, including its prestigious Max Steinbock Award. He co-produced a television documentary about children’s protective services workers for the PBS show We do the Work. His photographs appeared in the Berlin exhibit The Other America, Art and the Labour Movement in the United States. He has worked with ALBA and the VALB from the 1980s to the present.
The Perry Rosenstein Cultural Series
In honor of philanthropist and visionary Perry Rosenstein, whose Puffin Foundation has made so many ALBA programs possible, ALBA presents an interactive series of events, bringing together diverse progressive voices to enhance understanding and awareness of progressive traditions in America and beyond, and to put those traditions in the context of today’s troubling political and social climate.
Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives (ALBA)
PO Box 1245
New York, NY 10113
Email: info@alba-valb.org
Phone: +1 (212) 674-5398
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