Tidbits – Nov. 28 – Reader Comments: Trump 2.0; Resistance 2.0; Thankful for Farmworkers; Another Woman Dies in Texas; U.S. Military Spending vs Other Top Countries; New Directions in Labor Politics; Cartoons; and More…

Reader Comments: Trump 2.0; Resistance 2.0; Thankful for Farmworkers; Another Woman Dies in Texas; U.S. Military Spending vs Other Top Countries; New Directions In Labor Politics; Cartoons; and more....

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Tidbits - Reader Comments, Resources, Announcements, AND cartoons - Nov.28, 2024,Portside

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Re: Understanding the Immigrant Swing Toward Trump

(Posting on Portside Labor)
 

“I found that the social networks where immigrants acquire knowledge about the American political system shape how they interpret their interests and subsequently how they vote. Most of them arrive in the United States as adults with views based on their lived experiences in their homelands. I discovered that those who are politically socialized through labor unions remain resistant to Trump’s appeal. In contrast, those who learned about US politics through other organizations are more likely to be receptive to right-wing messages and thus supportive of Trump.”

Van Caldwell
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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The Other Latinos  --  Cartoon by Clay Jones

 

Clay Jones
November 14, 2024
Coachella Valley Independent (CA)

 

Thankful for Farmworkers  --  Cartoon by Lalo Alcaraz

 

Lalo Alcaraz
November 2022
Lalo Alcaraz reposted United Farm Workers
@UFWupdates
November 23, 2023

 

America First  --  Cartoon by Rob Rogers

 

Texas has offered Trump 1,400 acres of land to build a camp to temporarily house all the immigrants he plans to deport. Ugh. Can we secede from Texas?

Rob Rogers
November 25, 2024
TinyView

 

Trump Carves  --  Cartoon by Nick Anderson

 

Nick Anderson
November 25, 2024
Pen Strokes

 

Re: Democratic Socialist Post-Election Musings
 

Much of the post-election Democratic Party fretting has appropriately centered on the degree to which it has lost the presumption of being the party of the working class.  One solution: "Maybe Democrats have to embrace a Sanders-style disruption."

Bernie Sanders unforgettably demonstrated how much the right presidential primary candidate can alter the national political debate — even when the Democratic Party establishment pulls out all the stops to block them; and even if succeeds in doing so. At the same time, the difficulty in winning and holding congressional seats shows that, while self evidently necessary in the long run, those campaigns do not have the same galvanizing potential. Who? At the moment, the only person whose career thus far suggests such potential is New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio Cortez. But then a lot can happen in four years. And Donald Trump’s reelection portends four years of American politics bizarre beyond anything we’ve seen before.

Jennifer Nouri
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

 

Another Woman Dies in Texas After Visiting the ER 4 Times During Her for Medical Care During Her Miscarriage

 

Pregnant Texas teen died after three ER visits due to impact of abortion ban

Neveah Crain died in October 2023 after doctor reportedly called for two ultrasounds to ‘confirm fetal demise’

Marina Dunbar
November 1, 2024
The Guardian
 

Candace Fails holds a photograph of her daughter, Nevaeh Crain.  (Photograph: Danielle Villasana for ProPublica  //  The Guardian)

Full story here  

 

Re: The State of Health Insurance Coverage in the U.S.
 

Nearly a quarter of working-age adults have insurance that leaves them underinsured.

TARA Houston Chapter 
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

 

Re: The Not-So-Secret History of Netanyahu’s Support for Hamas
 

From sabotaging Oslo to funneling Qatari cash into Gaza, Bibi has spent his career bolstering Hamas to help perpetuate the conflict. Even after Oct. 7, argues historian Adam Raz, he's still advancing the same strategy.

Dave Lott
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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My favorite is the idea bibi or biden had no clue Oct 7th was coming. Hamas is the most spied on organization in the world. There are probably more spies in Gaza than actual hamas members. And you are gonna tell me they had no clue that an operation that big was gonna happen? Hamas managed to keep it from all the spies somehow? All of them? Stretches credibility.

Ben Cupp
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

 

Re: Anti-Union Captive Meetings Are Now Illegal

(Posting on Portside Labor)
 

Captive audience meetings are a key tool for bosses to destroy union drives. With last week’s outlawing of such meetings by the National Labor Relations Board, labor has a window to take advantage before Donald Trump scales back worker rights.

Mary-Alice Strom
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

 

Re: Good Guys Don’t Finish Last—if They Have a Militant Union Behind Them

(posting on Portside Culture)
 

Children's book teaches role of unions, unity and struggle - just what we need for these times. Written by a labor attorney and author, for young readers aged 7-12, just in time for the holidays.

Michael Henry Starks
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

 

Re: U.N. Climate Summit Ends With a “Bad Deal” As Rich, Polluting Nations Refuse $1 Trillion Finance Plan
 

COP 29's final offer is “a drop in the ocean compared to what is needed” for developing countries to deal with the effects of climate change.

US Progressive Activists' Update
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

 

U.S. Military Spending vs Other Top Countries

 



 

By Avery Koop     Graphics/Design:  Pernia Jamshed

Visual Capitalist

The Briefing

  • U.S. military spending surpassed $778 billion in 2020.
  • The U.S. spends more on its military than the next nine highest spending countries combined.

U.S. Military Spending vs Other Top Countries

The U.S. is well known for its immense military and defense spending. In 2020, the nation ranked #1 in the world in terms of military spending at $778 billion outpacing the next nine highest spenders, which came out to $703.6 billion combined.

One factor is the military–industrial complex (MIC) which feeds into the U.S.’ defense dominance, with a longstanding tradition of the defense and weapons industries working closely with the U.S. government and armed forces.

A Breakdown of U.S. Military Spending

So what are these billions being spent on?

The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) laid out the spending plan when they made their 2020 budget proposal. It included a few main areas to invest in, including:

  • Air – $57.7 billion
  • Maritime – $34.7 billion
  • Ground systems – $14.6 billion
  • Space – $14.1 billion
  • Cyber – $6.9 billion

This is just the tip of the iceberg. The overall goal of the 2020 budget was to promote innovation and to strengthen competitive advantages to increase the military’s ‘readiness’ factor. Additionally, in an effort to sustain forces, a military pay raise of 3.1% was included.

Military Maintenance

Surprisingly, however, the U.S. actually does not have the largest military in the world in terms of personnel, and some of the other top 10 countries have larger or similarly sized militaries spread across different branches.

Russia is only the fourth highest spender, but they have the largest military size of any of the top 10, at around 5.9 million personnel.

All of these countries have militaries that number in the hundreds of thousands to millions, and many are a part of treaties and alliances that require them to upkeep their armies and weaponry — but none spend half as much as the U.S.

To this day, the U.S. is actively involved in a number of overseas conflicts and maintains a large military force with millions of personnel. Spending on areas such as weaponry and wages is significant in order to maintain jobs, as well as national defense.

Where does this data come from?

Source: SIPRI.

[The core work of the military expenditure project is to collect, analyse, process and publish data on military expenditure worldwide, and to monitor and analyse trends in military expenditure over time, looking at their economic, political and security drivers and their implications for global peace, security and development.

The military expenditure project is fundamentally data driven. At the heart of the project is SIPRI’s unique, freely available, Military Expenditure Database. The database is updated annually, both with new data for the most recent year and with revisions to past data to take account of new information and ensure consistency over time.

A second key aspect of the work of the military expenditure project is to study issues relating to transparency and accountability in military budgeting, spending and procurement. Such transparency is often quite weak, which can affect the reliability of data, but which more seriously can lead to wasteful and excessive spending, often unconnected to genuine security needs, and to widespread corruption.]

 

New Directions In Labor Politics  --  New York and Virtual  --  December 3  (CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies)

 

Tuesday, December 3

6:30pm - 8:30pm

Limited seating available for in-person attendees. All others can join virtually via Zoom webinar. 

Register now - Click here 

Featured Speakers: 

  • Maurice Mitchell - National Director, Working Families Party; 
  • Rosslyn Wuchinich - President, UNITE-HERE Local 274 in Philadelphia; 
  • Daniel Judt - PhD student, Yale University; previously Political Organizer, Los Angeles UNITE HERE Local 11; 
  • Jenna Fullmer - President, Blue Compass Strategies; 
  • Moderated by Bob Master - former Political Director, Communications Workers of America - District One.

In the aftermath of the November 5th election, how do we assess how the political parties can best serve the interests of a multiracial working class?  Although labor union membership remains at historic lows, unions are undoubtedly the largest organization of working class people in the USA.  They therefore have a critical role to play in building back the multiracial U.S. working class that rejects hateful divisions, supports democracy, and holds billionaires and corporations accountable.

Join us on December 3rd as leaders of labor and progressive organizations grapple with the challenges of reconstructing working class politics and explore new strategies and directions.  

Register for the Zoom link:  

slucuny.swoogo.com/3December2024/register