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Tidbits - October 29, 2015 - Sanders Ignites Popular Movement; How Should He Talk About Socialism; Hillary and Labor; Cuba Solidarity and more...

Portside
Reader Comments: Sanders Ignites a Populist Movement; How Sanders Should Talk About Democratic Socialism - readers offer differing views; Clinton and Labor Support; Argentina; Indonesia and the Act of Killing; Vera B. Williams and Children's Literature; A Progressive Song To Tap Your Feet To! from Kristin Lems; Announcements: Paul Robeson Play - More Performances - Hackettstown, NJ; Cuba Speaks for Itself - New York- Nov 4; Washington, DC- Nov 7; Bay Area- Nov. 13

Walter Benjamin, the First Pop Philosopher

Ray Monk The New Statesman
Walter Benjamin found his calling after accepting he would never get a job as an academic, so he junked hitherto unfathomable reflections on language to cover contemporary culture, with an emphasis on its more popular forms, for newspapers and general publishers. His radio broadcasts, many aimed at children, show writing that is engaging, vivid and, above all, understandable. Conclusion: the best thing that ever happened to the man was his failure to land a lectureship

Connecting the Dots Between the “Identity Politics” of Black Lives Matter and Class Politics

Ethan Corey In These Times
“There is space for us to fight along multiple dimension at once. We don’t have to pick one. I don’t have to be a worker today, a queer person tomorrow, a woman tonight. I can be all of those things, all at once, hallelujah.“ It’s not about identity politics. It’s about our lives. The very sanctity of our lives is at stake. We have nothing to lose and everything to gain.”

Harry Belafonte on Activism, Unrest and the Importance of Making People Squirm

Cambria Roth Crosscut
If the state says you go to bed by 10 o'clock, then you should make sure that by 11, the streets of our cities are filled with human protest and bodies! The fact that some might have a restless night with the noise downstairs or find it inconvenient because people blocked traffic, well that's the point - to snap you out of your indifference! So those who are turned off by radical thinking, or radical behavior, well, as a matter of fact, in many ways, you are our target.

"Broken Window Policies" are Discriminatory and Should be Opposed in U.S., Israel

M. Dove Kent, Donna Nevel, Rebecca Vilkomerson Tikkun
As Jewish New Yorkers, we firmly believe that no community can ever be safe through the oppression of another. Your advocacy of broken windows policing while in Israel reinforces the Israeli government's ongoing policies of discrimination against Palestinians. The military occupation of Palestinian communities, political and economic exclusion ...and discriminatory and violent policing by the military and police do not increase the safety of the Jewish people.

The U.S. Ought to Un-Swivel Its China Pivot

Buddy Bell Portside
The U.S. has Beijing surrounded by 200 bases lining the East China Sea, it has already caused the beginning of an arms race. For the first time in many years, China is increasing its military budget at the same time the U.S. continues to spend more than China and the next 11 highest-spending countries. The U.S. is depriving its own people of money that could be used to fund scientific research, healthcare, education; it is also backing China into a corner.

Socialism: No Longer a Dirty Word; Making a Comeback Around the World

Michael Steven Smith; Van Gosse
The word socialism is in the air these days. Socialism of many varieties has been enjoying a comeback in Latin America for some time. Evo Morales, Rafael Correa, Lula da Silva, the late Hugo Chavez have been the region's dominant leaders in this century. And now there is a remarkable resurgence of European socialism. And, and, the candidate everyone is talking about is...Bernie Sanders, democratic socialist.

Targeted Surveillance, Civil Rights, and the Fight for Democracy

Malkia Cyril Center for Media Justice
On October 13th 2015, Malkia Cyril, co-founder and Executive Director of the Center for Media Justice, gave a lunch speakers series keynote address, at the Computers, Freedom and Privacy Conference. Below is the transcript of her speech.

The Primary Route: How the 99% Take on the Military Industrial Complex by Tom Gallagher

Peter Olney The Stansbury Forum
Democratic socialist, longtime political activist and past Massachusetts state legislator, Tom Gallagher has written a stunningly clear and concise book about American politics. It is self-published and he calls it a “pamphlet” in the tradition of George Orwell, “It is written because there is something that one wants to say now, and because one believes that there is no other way of getting a hearing”(1).

New 2015 Wealth Data: US Inequality at Its Ugliest

Paul Buchheit BuzzFlash
Bernie Sanders showed his outrage about inequality at the Democratic Debate, and more and more Americans are understanding his message. Indignation is likely to grow with new data from the Credit Suisse Global Wealth Databook, which reveals the wealthy elite's continuing disdain for the poor, for the middle class, and for people all around the world.