Tidbits – Apr 11 – Reader Comments: Arizona Abortion Ruling-Make America ‘Great’ Again; Gaza Killings; Lavender AI Machine; Dental Health; Bob Dylan: With God 0n Our Side; Teach Palestine; Deborah Meier; Legacies of War on Terror; Wagner Act, NLRB

Reader Comments: Arizona Abortion Ruling-Make America 'Great' Again; Gaza Killings; Lavender AI Machine; Dental Health; Rural America; Bob Dylan: With God 0n Our Side; Teach Palestine; Deborah Meier; Legacies of the War on Terror; Wagner Act and NLRB

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Tidbits - Reader Comments, Resources, Announcements, AND cartoons - Apr. 11, 2024,Portside

 

Resources:

 

Announcements:

 

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Forced Birth - Arizona  --  Cartoon by Nick Anderson

Nick Anderson
April 9, 2024
Reform Austin

 

What GOP Means by 'Make America Great Again'  --  Cartoon by Dr. James MacLeod

 

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Dr. James MacLeod
April 9, 2024
MacLeodCartoons FB.COM

 

Re: ‘Very Best of Humanity’: The Seven Aid Workers Killed in Israeli Airstrike
 

Murdered.

Spicer Blount
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

 

Re: ‘Lavender’: The AI Machine Directing Israel’s Bombing Spree in Gaza
 

Calling something AI lets people off the hook, oh the machine told me to kill you. AI mostly doesn't exist. Just writing a computer algorithm and labeling it AI doesn't make it so. It's a marketing gimmick for bad programming and design to hide behind. And often wrong? Imagine my surprise! (I worked in IT from the mid 1970s until 2002). How about this, Garbage In Garbage Out (GIGO), a common expression we used. Since most of this AI Cr99p uses every thing on the Internet without the ability to make critical judgments as fact, we get GIGO. Which it how I learned that Portside is the left side of a boat from the front, not the rear? Umm, how does that work? Poorly designed systems, bad management, poor programming and almost non existent QA (Quality Assurance) leads to tens of thousand of dead people and a long list for assassination. Sigh, is it possible we will approach AI someday? Sure, but slowly and carefully with open source peer reviewed algorithms, not people looking to make a quick buck, and deaths be damned.

This is a good article, well researched and written, and scary as hell. Frankly if the IDF had purposefully designed a system to destroy it's own credibility, it could not have done a better job. Stupid stupid Israeli military leaders. This is a good example of why you need civilian control of the military, people who don't see their primary jobs as killing, to be in charge. OH, and BTW, is HAMAS destroyed? Looks like not. We are all Bozos on this Bus. Very disheartening.

Charles Patrick Lynch
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

 

Aid To Gaza  --  Cartoon by Rob Rogers

 

Rob Rogers
April 5, 2024
robrogers.com

 

Re: Israel Pays a Political Price for Killing Aid Workers – When They’re Not Palestinians
 

George Galloway in England makes an interesting comment: the three English former soldiers killed worked for the same British intelligence company. Thus they might have had a dual role - providing security for the humanitarian organization and also collecting information - spying - for the UK state. Pre-empting any possible change in UK policy could have been a motive for killing them.

Dan Morgan
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

 

Trump Eclipse  --  Cartoon by Christopher Weyant

 

Christopher Weyant
April 3, 2024
Boston Globe

 

Thinking of your family  --  Cartoon by Mike Luckovich

 

Mike Luckovich
April 4, 2024
Atlanta Journal-Constitution

 

Our language is nuts  --  Poem by Seymour Joseph
 

A river's a flower,
A rose is a flower.
A barge is a tower,
And Eiffel's a tower.
No ifs, ands or buts,
Our language is nuts.

Seymour Joseph
April 6, 2024

 

Re: Why Isn’t Dental Health Considered Primary Medical Care?
 

This issue shows just how primitive the USA is. Free dentistry was part of the British National Health Service since 1947. It is now almost non-existent, thanks to neoliberal decline there, moving towards a private system as in the USA. While in Chile, a middle income country and still under neoliberal policies, we have a state health sector catering for 80% of the population. It is under severe strain in most cities but where I live the state health center has doctors and dentists, and it is not difficult to see either, free of charge.

Dan Morgan
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

      =====

Only here in the US

Felice Sage
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

 

Re: An Utterly Misleading Book About Rural America
 

Rural to these people = anybody who didn't go to Haaaaaaaaavud.

Eleanor Roosevelt
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

      =====

Please make your publication of this critique more accessible to ordinary readers.  I can see this book being used by a Steven Miller, for example, of Trump's proposed dictatorship to substantiate his pronouncement of anti-white discrimination from which many ugly social policies will flow and all hard-won civil rights legislation, now in place, will be unraveled and distorted to end any affirmative efforts by various institutions to address racism toward people of color during a Trump administration.

Velva Spriggs

 

Re: Americans Borrowing To Cover Daily Expenses
 

Democrats need to read this and wake up. What is going on may defeat their election chances if they don't react properly. People are scared and hurting, and telling them that everything is fine and not to worry, umm, not very bright.

Charles

 

Life Guard  --  Cartoon by Pat Bagley

 

By Pat Bagley
April 9, 2024
The Salt Lake Tribune

 

Re: Global Left Midweek – April 10, 2024
 

My latest for Portside. The article on working class environmentalism is long but thought-provoking. And we have some small progress in Switzerland.

Ethan Young
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

 

Re: Tidbits – Apr4 2024 – Reader Comments
 

Can you get to Pittsburgh for May Day? Consider this celebration of the life in song and revolution of Anne Feeney. If I can get there, I will. Thanks to Portside for the hedzup. Anne sings in the comments.

Daniel Millstone

 

 

On Bob Dylan on the Friday Night Videos - WITH GOD ON OUR SIDE

(posting on Friday Night Videos)
 

Thanks for that wonderful glimpse of the young and radical Bob Dylan singing "With God on Our Side", though two-thirds of the song —  the part that speaks most to the present day — is missing. It left me wondering if this was censorship on the part of the BBC or....??? Here are the complete lyrics:

Carol Hanisch

WITH GOD ON OUR SIDE
By Bob Dylan

Oh, my name, it ain't nothin', my age, it means less
The country I come from is called the Midwest
I's taught and brought up there, the laws to abide
And that the land that I live in has God on its side

Oh, the history books tell it, they tell it so well
The cavalries charged, the Indians fell
The cavalries charged, the Indians died
Oh, the country was young with God on its side

The Spanish-American War had its day
And the Civil War too was soon laid away
And the names of the heroes I was made to memorize
With guns in their hands and God on their side

The First World War, boys, it came and it went
The reason for fighting' I never did get
But I learned to accept it, accept it with pride
For you don't count the dead when God's on your side

The Second World War came to an end
We forgave the Germans, and then we were friends
Though they murdered six million, in the ovens they fried
The Germans now too have God on their side

I learned to hate the Russians all through my whole life
If another war comes, it's them we must fight
To hate them and fear them, to run and to hide
And accept it all bravely with God on my side

But now we've got weapons of chemical dust
If fire them we're forced to, then fire them we must
One push of the button and they shot the world wide
And you never ask questions when God's on your side

Through many dark hour I been thinkin' about this
That Jesus Christ was betrayed by a kiss
But I can't think for you, you'll have to decide
Whether Judas Iscariot had God on his side

So now as I'm leavin', I'm weary as hell
The confusion I'm feelin' ain't no tongue can tell
The words fill my head, and they fall to the floor
That if God's on our side, he'll stop the next war

Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Bob Dylan
With God on Our Side lyrics © Special Rider Music, Universal Tunes

 

Teach Palestine: New Issue of Rethinking Schools

 


 

The spring issue of Rethinking Schools focuses on Israel’s war on Gaza and the war on teaching about Palestine.

The editorial discusses how the attack on social justice teaching has expanded as part of the crackdown on dissent against U.S. support for Israel. Bill Bigelow draws on his Zinn Education Project “Teaching the Seeds of Violence” activity to argue that anti-Zionism is not automatically antisemitism. Jesse Hagopian traces connections between the war on history, education, and children in both countries. Oakland educators detail the story of what happened when they organized a teach-in for Palestine. A Palestinian student shares her experiences in the aftermath of Oct. 7, and the issue includes Naomi Shihab Nye’s poem, “Before I Was a Gazan.”

This issue also includes Cierra Kaler-Jones’ reflections on how to replace a pedagogy of control in teaching dance with one that encourages creativity and liberation. A Chicago educator discusses a new curriculum on the Young Lords. And more. Subscribe to Rethinking Schools.

Read More

Teaching for Change
PO Box 73038
Washington, DC 20056

 

If Louisiana librarians join the American Library Association they could be arrested and spend two years in jail.

 

April 2, 2024
EveryLibrary

EveryLibrary strongly opposes Louisiana House Bill 777.

This legislation undermines the fundamental American principles of free association and the right to assemble and violates the constitutional rights guaranteed to every citizen. It aims to prohibit public officials and employees from using public funds in any dealings with the American Library Association (ALA), thereby restricting opportunities for professional development and access to a vital network of resources and support. Additionally, it proposes severe punitive measures, including fines and imprisonment, for those seeking to engage with or benefit from the ALA's offerings, which are disproportionate and a violation of our fundamental freedoms.

Legislating against a membership organization based on viewpoint is unconstitutional and unacceptable. It violates the principle of free association, a cherished and protected right in our democracy. Penalizing individuals for joining or participating in the activities of a professional organization like the ALA, which enhances the professional growth of librarians and improves the services libraries provide to the public, goes against the values of free thought, inquiry, and the collective improvement of our society.

The proposed methods of enforcement in the bill, like imposing fines and jail time for engaging in professional development activities, are draconian and unprecedented in the context of professional association membership. EveryLibrary urges the Louisiana Legislature to recognize the severe implications of the proposed Louisiana House Bill 777 and reject it outright. Legislation that threatens the professional development of librarians, the operational excellence of libraries, and, most importantly, the constitutional rights of individuals has no place in our legal system or society.

EveryLibrary has no association with ALA nor is EveryLibrary an Affiliate of ALA. But we cannot stand by as our colleagues in the library ecosystem are targeted by activist legislators. Our mission compels us to advocate for the rights and professional development of all library and information professionals, regardless of their affiliations. The attack on the profession of librarianship in HB777 is an attack on the foundational principles that allow all professional organizations to function and contribute to the growth and betterment of their communities. In standing against this bill, we stand in solidarity with our colleagues, affirming our commitment to a free, inclusive, and unimpeded pursuit of professional excellence and public service.

Sign the petition against Louisiana HB777

 

Honor Deborah Meier, founder of the Central Park East schools, on Friday, April 12th  --  New York City  (Progressive Educators Network New York)

 

Our evening Session, Friday, April 12th, is titled "Honoring Deborah Meier’s 50 years of Impact on NYC". This event will be attended by many founders and leaders of progressive public and independent schools in NYC.

This session will be hosted at LREI, Little Red Schoolhouse & Elisabeth Irwin High School, 272 Sixth Ave. | 40 Charlton St.

Hors d'oeuvres and drinks will be provided

Register Now - Click here

PENNY, Progressive Education Network New York, connects public, independent, charter, and teacher education schools and individuals of the greater metropolitan area to advance progressive pedagogy and promote equity, access, and social justice.

Through collaboration, advocacy and action, our driving purpose is to strengthen and broaden the impact of progressive education in the face of increasing challenges to full access to quality inclusive schooling.​

With the increasing visibility of racial injustice, the rise of high-stakes standardized testing, and the ever-increasing gap between wealthy and poor communities, the democratic principles of progressive education have never felt more important and critical to families and students today. Community, voice, play, choice, observation, learning by doing – these beliefs within the context of our world and society are some of the principles the original progressive thinkers espoused.  With this network, we hope to build a shared understanding of these principles and what they look like in practice in our classrooms today.

 

Online - Shattering Justice & Re-Making the Muslim Threat: Legacies of the War on Terror  --  May 2

 


 

Approaching the twenty third year of the War on Terror, the United States continues to subject Muslim communities domestically and globally to its refined practices of state violence. US State terror continues largely unabated, and in fact has been enhanced by new technologies of surveillance and violence on Muslim communities.  Join Muslim Counterpublics Lab for a critical conversation on not only the archive and legacy of US state violence, but how it continues to shape  collective memory.  Panelists will share how Muslims have experienced, narrated, and embodied the War on Terror over two decades.  Panelists will also share their tool-kit of interventions and tactics to resist in the face of ongoing violence against Muslims.  Finally, the panelists will reflect on and articulate what justice and accountability might look like for Muslims - amidst ongoing violence and dehumanization.  

Muslim Counterpublics Lab is hosting this panel discussion on the occasion of the launch of our digital exhibition,  “Shattering Justice & Re-Making the Muslim Threat.”  The digital exhibition compliments the physical exhibit, and is a robust political education tool that includes in-depth explanations of each of the events, laws, and policies that are featured on the images throughout. 

RSVP Here

MCL's digital exhibition is a labor of love and one that was curated over several years.  We hope you to see you all there for what is sure to be a powerful event and where you will leave with an incredible political education tool.   political education tool.

Dr. Maha Hilal (she/her/hers)
Executive Director
Muslim Counterpublics Lab
www.muslimcounterpublicslab.org

 

Online - An Overview of the Wagner Act and the NLRB  --  May 9  (The New York Labor History Association)

 

E-mail NLRB@newyorklaborhistory.org to register for An Overview of the Wagner Act and the NLRB. After e-mailing, you’ll receive a Zoom link to the May 9 program.

The New York Labor History Association (NYLHA) was founded in 1976 by trade unionists, academics, students, archivists, educators, labor editors, attorneys, and retirees, mostly from New York State. NYLHA encourages the study of workers and their organizations and serves as a bridge between past and present labor unionists and academics.

https://newyorklaborhistory.org/