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Tidbits - July 28, 2016 - Reader Comments: Sanders and the Democrats; #BlackLivesMatter; Trump - Whiff of Fascism; Black Athletes Speak Out; Women's Boat to Gaza; and more...

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Reader Comments: Sanders and the Democrats - Inside and Outside; #BlackLivesMatter - Baltimore, Freddie Gray, Police Incitement; Trump - the Myth of Working Class Support, Whiff of Fascism; Turkey and Nuclear Weapons; Black Athletes Speak Out; Zika; Israel; Announcing - Women's Boat to Gaza is Now a Reality; and more...

This Is What Progressives—Especially Labor—Can Learn From Bernie Sanders’ Campaign

David Moberg In These Times
If unions find better strategic partners outside the labor movement on a particular issue, they should proceed on the basis of their analysis of what is needed, not hold back and wait for labor unity. Too often a particular union’s political stance may reflect a private employer’s growth plans, not the general good for working people.

Union Leader Calls Rauner a 'Jackass,' Vows to 'Take Him Out' in 2018

Kim Geiger Chicago Tribune
Lee Saunders, President of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, along with other trade union leaders addressed the Illinois delegation to the Democratic Party Convention and pledged support to Council 31, AFSCME who has threatened to go out on strike.

Fire and Blood: The European Civil War, 1914-1945

Alan Wald Solidarity
This new book by Enzo Traverso is "a master class in historical analysis," writes reviewer Alan Wald. This "full-on riveting reconceptualization of 1914-1945 as a 'European Civil War,"' he adds, "is a benchmark achievement in the flowering of socialist scholarship by the generation identifying with May 1968."

Aging People in Prison Face Continual Denial of Compassionate Release

Victoria Law Truthout
Between 2009 and 2013, the number of people ages 50 and older in federal prisons increased by 25 percent, making them the fastest-growing segment. Compassionate release has been granted infrequently. From August 12, 2013, to September 12, 2014,2,621 federal prisoners applied for compassionate release.Of those, only 85 people were ultimately released.

Sanders’ Campaign in the Balance

Victor Wallis spectrezine
How – and how far – the “political revolution” will continue remains to be seen. What has already occurred is a surge of support for the Green party. Many of Sanders’ delegates will be pressing the campaign’s radical demands within the Convention. This activity will draw its participants beyond what they could hope to achieve within the constraints of Sanders’ candidacy. Yet it was the vast reach of that candidacy which made possible these steps to go beyond it.

Interview: Busting the Myths of a Workerless Future

Chris Brooks, Kim Moody Labor Notes
Where’s our economy headed? Soon every factory worker will have to start driving for Uber, and the trucks will drive themselves—at least so the business press tells us. But Kim Moody, co-founder of this magazine and the author of many books on U.S. labor, paints a different picture. Chris Brooks asked him to cut through the hype and describe what’s coming for working people and the opportunities for unions. This is Part 1 of an interview with Kim Moody.

Israel/Palestine: Bad Policy, Bad Politics

James Zogby LobeLog
The bottom line is that both platforms are bad policy. If the GOP platform were followed, it would produce policies resulting in disaster, not only for Palestinians and US interests in the Middle East, but for Israel, as well. On the other hand, if the Democrat’s platform were followed, it would result in continuing the region’s depressing and dangerous downward spiral of oppression and violence.