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Tidbits - November 19, 2015 - Paris, Beirut, Yemen, Turkey, Syria, Palestine; Sanders and Labor; Reader Exchange with Author; Democratic Campaigns To Join Black Lives Matter Forum...

Portside
Reader Comments: Paris, Beirut, Yemen, Turkey, Syria, Palestine; Postal Workers Endorse Bernie Sanders; Left Activists and Popular Opinion; Southwest Airlines - Reader Strong Criticism; Saudis Stumbling - Reader Exchange with Author; Young Adults Love Walking, Biking, and Buses Need for consideration of older population, those with disabilities, children; Democratic Campaigns To Join Black Lives Matter Forum

OFL Statement on the Paris Attacks, Refugees and the Path to Peace

Sid Ryan Ontario Federation of Labor
There can be no justification or excuse for the mass killings of innocent people of Paris. The horror experienced in Paris last week is not isolated, it has been played out with ruthless regularity in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Palestine and many other countries, sometimes at the hands of Western forces. While Western hearts have been choked by the anguish of Parisians, we must also extend our horror and concern for millions of innocents throughout the world.

Labor Unions Close Ranks Around Hillary

Tim Devaney The Hill
The 2 million member Service International Union (SEIU) endorses Senator Hillary Clinton. "In addition to the SEIU, Clinton has won the backing of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents 1.6 million public sector workers, as well as the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association."

Okinawa delegation in Washington to Challenge Construction of U.S. Marine Air Base Runway

Ann Wright World Beyond War
A 26 person delegation from the All Okinawa Council visited Washington, DC November 19 and 20 to ask members of the U.S. Congress to use their power to stop the construction of runway for the U.S. Marine base at Henoko into the pristine waters of the South China Sea. The delegation is concerned about the environmental impact of the new facilities and the continued militarization of their island.

HangOut on Strategy for Liberation

LeftRoots LeftRoots
Please join us for our next national HangOut, which is being jointly hosted by LeftRoots with the former Left Strategies network. Featuring special guests M Adams and Biju Mathew on left strategies for liberation! Together we will discuss what we mean by ‘transformational strategy’, why it is crucial and how we can move forward together to build a movement that wins!

TEDxHavana Speech 2015 by Tom Hayden

Tom Hayden Democracy
Speech broadcast Saturday, Nov. 14, to the TEDxHavana conference on the Cuba-United States normalization process. More than two thousand attended.

Paradise Burned: How Climate Change Is Scorching California

Gary Cohn Capital and Main
California is facing the gravest threat to its natural beauty on record but many of us view the state’s expanded fire season as a cyclical anomaly – a belief sometimes spread by the mainstream media. To climate and environmental scientists, a new kind of fire and the expanded fire season are evidence that global warming is creating a new and vastly expanded fire danger to the West.

Equity, Growth and Community

Chris Benner and Manuel Pastor LAANE
Equity, Growth and Community, a new book by Chris Benner and Manuel Pastor

Chicago Votes to Welcome Refugees, Challenges Governor's Authority

Organized Communities Organized Communities
On Wednesday, the Chicago City Council voted on a resolution to reaffirm the City's "status as a sanctuary city, and its commitment to remain a place of sanctuary and refuge for refugees from all around the world."

For the Sake of Another

Ashley Karllin Los Angeles Review of Books
Is contemporary altruism the new activism? Or is it what writer Teju Cole once called an iteration of a "White Savior Industrial Complex"? Ashley Karlin takes up these complicated questions in this review of Altruism: The Power of Compassion to Change Yourself and the World, by scientist-turned-Buddhist philosopher Matthieu Ricard. The answers, she suggests, may have as much to do with questions of power as with the desire to do good.