Tidbits - February 15, 2018 - Reader Comments: Trump Budget - Military Spending Up, Social Safety Network Slashed; Iraq Wrong Then, Iran Wrong Now; Sustainability, Saving Our Earth; Announcements: Washington, DC, New York, and nationwide on Feb. 24 .....

Portside
Reader Comments: Trump Budget - Military Spending Goes Up, Social Safety Network Slashed; Taxation -Devotion to Privatization Will Cost Us; Iraq Wrong Then, Iran Wrong Now; If We Bring The Good Life To All, Will We Destroy The Planet?; Announcements: Feb. 20 - 24 in Washington, DC, New York, and in cities across the country .....

Khader El-Yateem, Man Vs. Machine

Peter Rugh The Indypendent
Palestinian-born democratic socialist Khader El-Yateem wants to be the first Arab American elected to City Council. There’s just one problem: the entirety of the Democratic establishment stands in his way.

labor

From the Supreme Court to a Constitutional Convention, Labor is on the Defensive

BY BOB HENNELLY City & State
“Millennials view unions favorably and are worried about their economic security and are appalled by the monstrous economic inequality that threatens to reduce the future of the American dream to rubble." said Henry Garrido, executive director of District Council 37, which represents roughly a third of New York City’s municipal workforce If we don’t focus on engaging the next generation of American workers, then ours may be the last generation of unionized workers.”

books

The Stubborn Optimist: Following the Persevering Example of the Writer and Activist Grace Paley

Nicholas Dames The Atlantic
Writer, poet, college teacher, political activist, peace agitator and feminist,Grace Paley was a well-known and highly respected commodity to those of us active in left protest during the 1960 and much later. This new collection of her writings should remind us of what we justifiably admired most, not just her talent as a writer but her commitment to the struggle and the long haul.

labor

NY is Most Unionized State, By Far

Joseph Spector Democrat & Chronicle
New York's unionized workforce has remained fairly steady over the past decade — giving the state by far the largest percentage of union members of any state and bucking national declines in union membership.

Harry Belafonte Knows a Thing or Two

John Leland The New York Times
The city native, about to turn 90, looks back at a glorious past and wonders what his next act will be. The rise of Donald J. Trump alarmed him, but not as much as the passion and numbers of Mr. Trump's supporters. 'I've never known this country to be so' - he paused before saying the word.' Though encouraged by the energy in the Black Lives Matter and Occupy movements, he felt that both lacked an ideology to make real change.

Defeating `Trumpism' - An Opportunity to Push the Nation - and Dems - Forward

Steve London Clarion
How we vote on November 8 will be the first step in a long process of building a new economic and political order in New York State and in the United States. It is an opportunity to push the nation - and Dems - forward. It is important to vote the Working Families Party (WFP) line for several reasons. The WFP is an independent progressive political party that in New York State can run progressive candidates who are endorsed by both the WFP and the Democratic Party.

With BDS Order, Cuomo Imports Anti-Democratic Spirit, from Israel and France

Jonathan Ofir Mondoweiss
Executive orders are meant to avert imminent or existential crises that cannot await legislation. It's as if we are being asked to believe that BDS is some deplorable enemy endangering our very existence as a free society, and that only those who really care, take action on behalf of the rest of us, who have not yet awoken to the grim reality. For Cuomo, fighting this fight on behalf of Israel is all about "freedom, liberty and democracy".
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