Tidbits - March 23, 2017 - Reader Comments: U.S. Wants Cambodia to Pay for U.S. War; Trump, Russian Hacking; Democratic Party - Which Way; Bernie Sanders; MLK Vietnam Speech; Incredible Resource List (with links); Announcements; and more...

https://portside.org/2017-03-23/tidbits-march-23-2017-reader-comments-us-wants-cambodia-pay-us-war-trump-russian-hacking
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Re: Fury in Cambodia as US Asks to be Paid Back Hundreds of Millions in War Debts
 
What an outrageous demand. I thought I initially either misread the title of the article or it contained an error. And I did not know that Vietnam had to assume the debt of the former southern regime prior to normalization of relations. Equally outrageous.
 
Michael Arney
 
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We never should have gone into Vietnam. Killing several Million Lives just wasn't worth it.
 
Jon Adams
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
 
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How dare they!!!
 
Helen Caldicott
Twitter post
 
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Cambodia was bombed back into the stone ages worst than Vietnam. The rate of birth defects was horrible. Trump feels like every post war period owe the US something. The involvement in Vietnam was a disaster and the US pulled out in defeat. It was one of the most unpopular wars, now Trump wants reparations; he even asked Merkel the other day for compensation for the US war efforts in protecting Germany doing World War 2 or NATO assistance. You know I'm going to write President Donald Trump a letter and tell him that my ancestors built the 'capital' in Washington, DC and for all that labor I seek 13.8 billion, cash on the barrel head.
 
Edwin Wilson
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
 
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The height of our Empire's insanity. Next we will take action against Cambodia, begin to ratchet it down just like Greece and Puerto Rico. This should be an embarrassment for every American.
 
Dan Jordan
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
 
 
 
 
Re: 'There’s a Smell of Treason in the Air'
 
Since the USA is not at war with Russia, the word treason cannot be used in this case. That is the language of McCarthyism and the John Birch Society, and progressives should have none of it. The US Constitution very carefully defines treason, the only crime defined in that document. The purpose was to restrict its application to wartime so that it could not be used, as it had been in England, to punish opposition to government policies. I enjoy the schadenfreude of Republicans squirming about Trump peoples' connections to Russians as much as anyone, but it is really becoming a paranoid and dangerous hysteria. Stealing John Podesta's unflattering emails about Clinton is an "act of war"? Let's get a grip. Portside should more carefully vet articles about this. This hysteria is going to become a big argument for gutting every progressive program of the federal government to feed the Pentagon, and having signed onto the hysteria, the liberals in Congress will look like hypocrites (which they are) if they don't sign onto a new round of arms and regional wars.
 
David Worley
 
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How low have the Democrats and the Liberals sunk!  Those of us who have lived through McCarthyism, led by Right-wing Republicans, are now witness to a party role-reversal.  While the Democrats are obviously acting for partisan advantage, it should be remembered that McCarthyism was part of the Cold War in which the very survival of humanity hung in the balance.  As it will again if the Democrats, along with the McCain Republicans, in order to discredit Trump, paint the Russians as our mortal enemies and act accordingly.   Progressives should not allow themselves, out of legitimate disgust with Trump to become part of an effort leading to a disastrous conflagration.
 
Joseph Kaye
 
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Will we get to the truth big question I gave my doubts
 
Frank Stallard
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
 
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Why is this on Portside? Give me a break. People saying unkind things about Hillary Clinton was hardly the Sanders' campaign's biggest news problem. The biggest problem was the corporate media pretending the Sanders campaign didn't exist.
 
...
 
Is this why we have Portside, to help the National Security State stoke up the New Cold War?
 
Alan Hart
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
 
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There must be an independent investigation of Trump and the Russians
 
Ed Wells
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
 
 
 
 
Woody sez: How our previous spasm of Russophobia defanged the union movement
 
Ron Briley writes in "What Would Woody Do?::
 
"Seeking to roll back the gains made by unions during the New Deal and World War II, big business and reactionary politicians discredited labor leaders by preying upon the American public’s fears of the Cold War, Soviet Russia, and communism. Amid the climate of McCarthyism, the FBI and Congressional Committees such as the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) violated the civil liberties of American citizens, as labor leaders who supported reforms, racial unity, and collectivist solutions to the nation’s economic concerns were dismissed as communists. Labor’s gains were curtailed by repressive legislation such as the Taft-Hartley Act, and labor leaders with radical agendas were purged, while the union movement abandoned Woody’s dream of forging a more egalitarian society in favor of the bread and butter unionism of pensions, wages, hours, and working conditions for their members."
 
Read it all here
 
Michael Munk
 
 
 
 
Re: Neil Gorsuch Helped Defend Bush Torture Policies
 
A DEFENDER OF TORTURE on the Supreme Court-----talk about a step BACKWARDS
 
Lydia Howell
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
 
 
 
 
Re: The Actor and the Anarchist
 
Might be worth mentioning Big Jim Larkin was the leader of the Dublin General Strike of 1912, was I believe active with Connally in the forming of the Irish Citizen Army, he was also a founder of both the American and Irish Communist Parties.  Not precisely an anarchist...
 
Jack Radey
 
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Irish Men Were Known Troublemakers.. back then.
 
John G. Mason
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
 
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Charlie Chaplin & Jim Larkin....
 
Daniel M. Rosenblum
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
 
 
 
 
Re: Tidbits - March 16, 2017 - Reader Comments
 
Love all the reader discussion and input! Really miss Tidbits when it is "on break". The mix of reader ideas as well as resources and events makes a powerful combination.
 
Leanna Noble
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Re: Communing with Dr. King on the 50th Anniversary of his Beyond Vietnam Speech
 
Here, via Portside, is a close read of MLK's speech by Howie Machtinger, with whom many of us militated years ago: 
 
Martin Luther King's speech "It's Time to Break the Silence" opposing the war in Vietnam was delivered almost 50 years ago. The National Council of Elders (people even older than I am) calls for us to read and use the speech especially on April 4, 2017, the anniversary date. Can we use the resources of their website in out efforts?
 
Daniel Millstone
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
 
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We are having a big anti-war march in Northampton MA on April 17th (the legal tax day)......your reminder about the speech is very helpful.
 
Carolyn Toll Oppenheim
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
 
 
 
 
Re: Union Power: The United Electrical Workers in Erie, Pennsylvania
(posting on Portside Culture)
 
 
Recording History Before It Disappears: Union Power reviewed by Portside
 
Monthly Review Press
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
 
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I look forward to this book. Local 506 and Local 618 withstood the hands of time for many decades. For a long time, Local 506 was the largest manufacturing local in UE and one of linchpin of UE's long eroding beached in the GE empire.
 
Mike Harris
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
 
 
 
 
Environmental Science - Rob Rogers cartoon
 
 
 
 
Rob Rogers
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
March 14, 2017
 
 
 
 
2 Federal Judges Rule Against Trump's Latest Travel Ban
 
no matter how they try to fool the world ,if its unconstitutional its wrongful
 
Edwin Ruiz
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
 
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Dear Quote Investigator: Civil rights champion Martin Luther King, Jr. once delivered a powerful speech with this resonant line:
 
The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.
 
Liz Torres
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
 
 
 
 
Re: Bernie Sanders’ Campaign Faced A Fake News Tsunami. Where Did It Come From?
 
For the many of us who get news, views and community out of social media, this very long article by Ryan Grim and Jason Cherkis [Russian Trolls Fooled Sanders Voters With Anti-Clinton Fake News] is worth reflecting on. How do we keep open to new connections and closed to the bots (foreign or domestic)? Many of us have seen this on sites we visit and even on sites we operate. How do we control this? I read this article first on Portside, a curated site where many useful items are published. Curation by hand is very labor intensive though and slows down the communication process.
 
Daniel Millstone
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
 
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Bull-fucking-shit!
 
Nobody was "fooled."
 
The Bern-o-bots happily, eagerly and delightedly endorsed, and spread, any and every spurious slander, every specious factoid about HRC that the Rooskis and their minions could manufacture.
 
They still spew that shit, on demand
 
John Konopak
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
 
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it wasn't crap that she voted for the Iraq War... for starters.
 
Jon Adams
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
 
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or pushed The airwar that destroyed Libya to make her seem strong for her presidency bid.
 
Andrew Taylor
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
 
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Some of us just disliked and mistrusted Hillary from the get go. Bernie is, in fact, a very plain speaking, consistent and smart guy.
 
Erica Rapport Gringle
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
 
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The more democrats keep blaming the Russians for their loss, the more likely we are to have 8 years of trump. It means they aren't reflecting on why they are so deeply unpopular and choosing to blame everyone else...
 
And Hilary did nothing wrong? She ran a good campaign and was a fine candidate?
 
If you think that, welcome to republican led country for the foreseeable future. The democrats are wildly unpopular. They refuse to acknowledge actual existing material conditions of people who want radical change towards a different kind of society. They are choosing to stay in their center right neoliberal position and will continue to lose.
 
Kristin Lee
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
 
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Three million more votes for Hillary than trump. Massive white backlash against the first Black president. Well timed interference from Russia; the nothing-burger bomb thrown by Comey just days before the election. A press that focused on the "horse race" instead of issues; focused on trump's chaos instead of the issues, talked about "emails" every day for over 300 consecutive days instead of on the issues.
 
Joyce Graves
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
 
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Y'all Bernie Bros got played by the most obvious con man in the world, all because you cared more about free college than civil rights. Now we have neither. Great job!
 
 
Kevin Hernandez
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
 
 
 
 
Re: How Democrats Lost Union Workers
 
I have a lot of sympathy for this argument, as it makes more sense than the Paul Krugman, Ezra Klein *"give up on white workers, universal benefits, Sanders, inequality, no raises for 40 years, etc, etc....until they deal with their 'white identity'".*
 
At the same time, how does Sanders, or Sanders-like politics really turn the American austerity regime around? The truth is, I suspect, is that we really don't know. We mainly KNOW that the alternatives, the Republican fascist threat, and/or liberalism with no wage increases and increasingly dysfunctional and failing institutions, are NOT working. And the failures are killing us.
 
African American and Latino voters did not express their frustrations in the same ways electorally. When everyone is scrambling for crumbs, the race, nationality, religion, and other "identities" play out in numerous divisive and splitting narratives
 
The power shifts necessary -- in class terms -- to have a modern social-democratic (call it socialist, if you wish) regime that rolls back the half century of austerity are frankly mind-bending. Comparisons to the abolition of slavery, or the rise of the New Deal, or the American revolution itself, come immediately to mind.
 
Plus, having put together a sufficiently strong coalition, progressives have to bring to the table a lot more than manufacturing--where technology is pointing to more intensive robotics -- to sustain a credible return of a "middle class". Do we really want a return to the middle class, where the "lower" class remains mired in poverty? If we focused on abolishing any "lower class", the middle might continue to disappear, but no one would notice or suffer.
 
John Case
 
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The labor movement in Indiana tells the Democratic Party why they lost- will they listen?
 
Friends of South Bend Labor Studies
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
 
 
 
 
Re: The Democratic Party Seems to Have No Earthly Idea Why it is so Damn Unpopular
 
The cabal that has held power in the Democratic Party for the last 34 years have been an unmitigated disaster, losing historic numbers of seats at every level of government. Despite this group's stranglehold over the party and it's willingness to kneecap any rising star that actually stands for something and energizes voters, they routinely blame their growing unpopularity and failure at the polls on progressives (all those tree hugging-socialist-lesbians running for school board in Alabama and their ilk, I suppose). This game of standing for nothing while eternally collapsing toward some mythical center where elections (in their failed judgement) are won or lost has been the incessant drumbeat and conventional wisdom of the Dems and their apologists for most of my adult life. This article is on the nose, but the brain dead brain trust at the DLC cares only about holding on the tattered remains of their ever eroding power over an increasingly irrelevant party. Winning elections is a secondary or maybe even a tertiary concern.
 
Bryan K. Bevell
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
 
 
 
 
Re: Everyone Loves Bernie Sanders. Except, It Seems, the Democratic Party
 
Try to email Pelosi. She won't accept unless one  is from her district!
 
Brad Smith
 
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Bruce Archibald
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
 
 
 
 
Re: 5 Remarkable Moments from Bernie Sanders' Town Hall in the Heart of Coal Country
 
Yes, his Bernie or Bust strategy Elected Trump
 
Vee Bierens
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
 
 
 
 
Re: What Would Mark Twain Think of Donald Trump?
 
A truly wonderful great man. A national treasure!!
 
Jack LaSalle
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
 
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In religion and politics people's beliefs and convictions are in almost every case gotten at second-hand, and without examination, from authorities who have not themselves examined the questions at issue but have taken them at second-hand from other non-examiners, whose opinions about them were not worth a brass farthing.
 
- Autobiographical dictation, 10 July 1908. Published in Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume 3
 
Richard H. Schaefer
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
 
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As Mark Twain once remarked about politicians in general: "diapers and politicians must be changed often, for the same reason" another one has to do with a "horse's ass." Trump fits both.
 
Victor Clough
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
 
 
==========
 
Austrian Political Education Today
 
Teachers in a high school in Linz, Upper Austria (where the far right Freedom Party is a junior partner in the State government along with the Conservatives), had a leading expert on political extremism give a talk on the subject for 70 8th graders. One of the pupils at the lecture is the son of a Freedom Party member of the national parliament and he complained (texted) to his father during the talk. His father then contacted the school principal — who then went to the classroom and shut down the class and sent the speaker packing. The speaker hadn’t said much about the Freedom Party itself, but he had described the far right and neo-Nazi activities and history of the German Nationalist fraternities in Austria and added an offhand remark that they that have provided much of the leadership for the Freedom Party in recent decades — which is true. That is how “academic freedom” works in Austria when the Freedom Party is in power.
 
Stan Nadel
 
 
 
 
Re: Defunding Police -- How Antiracist Organizers Got Seattle to Listen
 
People can and do make a difference when they want to!
 
Daniel LeBlanc
 
 
 
 
Re: New Anti-Protesting Legislation: A Deeper Look
 
Anti protesting laws will not stop the protest or demonstrations, they didn't before and they will not do it now.
 
Sonia Martinez
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
 
 
 
 
 
Re: Will the Gig Economy Make the Office Obsolete?
(posting on Portside Labor)
 
 
Not exactly an article i expected to find in Portside.
 
When have unions been able to organize when 100% of the workers are telecommuting all of the time?
 
And in such an environment, workers can often be terminated quickly without a grievance process. 
 
Eddie
 
 
 
 
The Stansbury Forum Resource List 01
 
By Robert Gumpert
March 19, 2017
The Stansbury Forum
 
With times being what they are we at the Stansbury Forum thought a resource list might be useful. This list is neither definitive nor singular: we, with your help, will update the list periodically.
 

Political Action
Swing Left
Knock Every Door
Town Hall Project
The Resurgent Left
Run for Something
Our Revolution
flippable
Sister District Project
Indivisible

Training
Know Your Rights
ORGANIZE Training Center
UC Labor Center
The Worker Institute
Highlander Research and Education Center

General Interest
Democracy Now
The Texas Observer
ProPublica
The Pew Research Center
Portside
The Pump Handle
The Intercept
Yes! Magazine

 
..... and lots more. Check out the full list here.
 
 
 
 
Research needed: Strike Threats
 
I am doing a study of strike threats over the past 5 years with Dr. Helena Worthen. We are looking for people who have been involved in them to interview. Would it be possible to post a notice on your website that we are looking for people to self-report?
 
Thank you,
 
Robert Ovetz, Ph.D.
Lecturer, San Jose State University
rfovetz@riseup.net
 
 
 
 
Rally and Conference for Normalization of US-Cuba Relations - New York - March 25
 
 
 
 
For registration and more information
 
 
 
 
 
The Graphic Idealism of the 1970s US Radical Left - New York - until May 14
 
An exhibition at the Interference Archive creates the feeling of wandering around an old curiosity shop where the stock is radical politics.
 
 
 
Visitors at the Finally Got The News: The Printed Legacy of the U.S. Radical Left, 1970–1979 exhibition at Interference Archive 
photograph by Bradley Duncan and courtesy the Interference Archive
 
 
Finally Got The News: The Printed Legacy of the U.S. Radical Left, 1970–1979 
at the Interference Archive 
131 8th Street, No. 4, 
Gowanus, Brooklyn) 
 
...until May 14.
 
 
In these days of protest and protest culture, the Interference Archive is making its own contribution in order to keep us going. Titled Finally Got The News: The Printed Legacy of the U.S. Radical Left, 1970–1979, their new exhibition focuses on the legacy of US radical left movements during the 1970s. The archive regards this as their most ambitious exhibition so far, and in their small gallery space they showcase a truly rich collection of pamphlets, posters, and flyers. The exhibition brings back to life the culture of social movements that fought racism, imperialism, patriarchy, and capitalism throughout the 1970s.
 
Read more here
 
 
 
 
‘A Europe for the People and by the People’ -- Rome, Italy - March 23 - 25
 
A broad coalition of social movements, trade unions, social and political actors and organizations is committed to build up together, from 23 to 25 March in Rome a huge European mobilization, when the EU leaders will gather to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rome.
 
transform! europe and the Party of the European Left are part of the coalition and stage an event on 23 March in Rome.

 
 
‘A Europe for the People and by the People’
 
23 March 2017, 17:30
With:
  • Alexis Tsipras, PM of Greece
  • Gregor Gysi, President of the Party of the European Left
  • Walter Baier, transform! europe
  • Francesca Chiavacci, President of ARCI
  • Monica di Sisto, Campaign Stop TTIP/CETA
  • Marga Ferré, Programme coordinator of Izquierda Unida
  • Paolo Ferrero, Rinfondazione Comunista, Vice-President of the EL
  • Maurizio Landini, General Secretary of FIOM
  • Lorenzo Marsili, DiEM 25
  • Roberto Musacchio, L’Altra Europa con Tsipras
  • Messaoud Romdhani, Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights
 
More information here
 
 
 
 
The 106th Anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire - Official Commemoration - New York - March 24
 
 
 
 
 
Friday, March 24th, 11:30am- 1:00pm
Washington Place and Greene Street, Manhattan
 
On Friday, March 24 we will gather to remember the lives lost 106 years ago. We will gather together to recommit to the fight to protect all workers. Whether your workplace is a garment factory, a non-union construction site, a nail salon, a classroom or anywhere in between, let us remember the lessons of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. Worker protection cannot be passive. Worker protection takes action, and we must stand together as a movement that relies on determination, solidarity, and hope for a better future.? See you in the streets!
 
More information here.
 
 
 
 
Remember the Triangle Fire (Performance/Screening/Presentation) - New York - March 24
 
On the eve of the 106th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, which killed 146 people (123 of whom were young female immigrant workers), various forms of artistic expression—a theatrical performance, a documentary film, a memorial project—keep alive the memory of what happened in 1911 and of its significance for the history of the US labor movement. Art also reminds contemporary audiences of the symbolic and political value of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire in generating a discourse about workers’ rights and dignity, and about illegal situations of the exploitation of labor in the US and abroad.
 
Program:
  • Theatrical performance by playwright and actor LuLu LoLo Pascale of an excerpt from her play, Soliloquy for a Seamstress: The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire
  • Screening of Costanza Quatriglio’s Triangle (2014). This documentary deals with the collapse of a building in Barletta in Apulia in 2011, in which five women were killed: four workers working without a contract in a clothing factory and the owner’s daughter. These deaths in the workplace are put into dialogue with those of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire.
  • The Chair of the Remember the Triangle Fire Coalition, Professor Mary Anne Trasciatti, will present the work of the Coalition and the project of a permanent memorial at the site of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire. The memorial is designed to engage passers-by both from close up and from farther away by means of steel panels reflecting the sky and the surroundings.
 
In ENGLISH.
 
Organized by Valeria G. Castelli in partnership with the Remember the Triangle Fire Coalition
 
Co-sponsored with Humanities New York, Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò, Italian American Writers Association, National Organization of Italian American Women, NYU Center for the Humanities, John D. Calandra Italian American Institute
 
This is a general RSVP. IT DOES NOT GUARANTEE A SEAT. The event is open to the general public on a first-come first-serve basis. 
 
Friday, March 24, 2017 at 6:00 PM
 
NYU Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò
24 West 12th Street
New York, NY 10011
 
 
Contact:  
 
New York University, Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimo
For additional info, call: 212-998-8739
 
 
 
 
City of Refuge: 24 Hour Action for Refugees - New York - March 28 & 29
 
 
African Communities Together is taking the lead to draw attention to the refugee ban issued by the president's executive action.
 
The African continent houses 26% of the worldwide refugee population and represents 37% of refugees that were resettled in the United States in 2016. Join us in our City of Refuge and make sure that African voices are heard in protest of the refugee ban.
 
The demonstration will be over the course of 24-hours on March 28-29 and there are several ways you can show your support. RSVP to join us
 
 
 
 
March 28 at 12:30 PM to Mar 29 at 1 PM
 
Trinity Church, Broadway at Wall Street
89 Broadway, New York, New York
 
City of Refuge: 24 Hours of Action for Refugees
 
Stop the Refugee Ban - Defend Asylum- Save Temporary Protected Status
 
12:30 pm: Rally at 40 Wall Street- The Trump Building
 
1:30 pm: March to Trinity Church, 75 Broadway
 
2 pm- 9 pm: Trinity Church, Know Your Rights, Arts, Take Action for Refugees Programs
 
WEDNESDAY March 29
 
10 am: March from Trinity Church to Federal Plaza
 
12 pm: Rally at Foley Square
 
Hosted by African Communities Together (view on Facebook)
 
 
 
 
 
Labor and Trump - And the Fight for Economic Justice - New York - March 29
 
Join us for a panel discussion about the future of economic justice movements, with Pam Galpern, Bhairavi Desai, and Rabyaah Althaibani, hosted by the Belabored podcast’s Sarah Jaffe and Michelle Chen.
 
Wednesday, March 29, 6:00–8:00 p.m. (doors open at 5:30 p.m.)
 
The Moot Courtroom, Fordham Law
55 W. 13th Street, Room I-202
New York, NY 10011
 
 
 
 
  • Pam Galpern is a Verizon field technician and the Mobilization Coordinator for CWA Local 1101.
  • Bhairavi Desai is co-founder of the NY Taxi Workers Alliance and organized the taxi strike at JFK airport.
  • Rabyaah Althaibani is an organizer with the Yemeni Bodega Strike.
  • Moderated by Sarah Jaffe and Michelle Chen, co-hosts of Dissent‘s Belabored.
 
Co-hosted by Fordham Law Coalition of Concerned Students and Workers’ Rights Advocates at Fordham Law.
 
RSVP on Facebook.

Source URL: https://portside.org/2017-03-23/tidbits-march-23-2017-reader-comments-us-wants-cambodia-pay-us-war-trump-russian-hacking