Tidbits – May 8- Reader Comments: 50 Years After Vietnam War End; Largest May Day in US; Birth Rates Falling; Israel War Cabinet Approved Plan To Seize Entire Gaza Strip; “It’s Time” People’s Peace Summit of Palestinians and Jews in Jerusalem; More

Reader Comments: 50 Years After Vietnam War' End; Largest May Day in US; Birth Rates Falling; Israel War Cabinet approved plan to seize entire Gaza Strip; “It’s Time” People’s Peace Summit of Palestinians and Jews in Jerusalem and 15 cities worldwide

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Tidbits - Reader Comments, Announcements, Shorts, AND cartoons - May 8, 2025,Portside

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I Don't Know About Due Process  --  Cartoon by Dr. James MacLeod

 

Dr. James MacLeod
May 5, 2025
MacLeodCartoons

 

Re: May Day 2025: The Current Installment of an Annual Remembrance

(posting on Portside Labor)
 

If you like this article, please sign up for Snapshot, Portside's daily summary.

(One summary e-mail a day, you can change anytime, and Portside is always free.)

High time the US Labor movement joined the rest of the world (without anti-communist bans).

Dan Morgan
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

 

Re: The Best Signs of This Year’s May Day Protests
 

Comrades, the writer of this article made a very serious mistake. A mistake no leftist should make. When referring to the massive demonstration at Foley Square in New York City, They wrote:

    "New York City, protesters congregated in Manhattan's Union Square and Foley Square for rallies organized by The People's Forum and the American Civil Liberties Union, respectively."

1) The earlier event, at Union Square, was indeed organized by the ACLU and The People's Forum.

2) The larger event, at Foley Square, was referred to by the participants as a demonstration and march, not a "congregat." The demonstration began about 5:00 followed by a march down to the brass bull just below Wall Street at 5:45. 

3) Most important: Th e event, attended by about 50,000 people, was organized by the Central Labor Council, New York City's largest labor organization. This was, as far as I know, the first protest openly sponsored and led by a labor group.

4) This represents, within the first 100 days of Trumpism, already a significant advance over the wonderful, but scattered protests so far.

In Solidarity,

David Berger

 

Re: Labor Goes All In for Abrego Garcia

(posting on Portside Labor)
 

#FreeKilmar and all deportees!

Bill Rogers
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

 

Inflation  --  Cartoon and Commentary by Nick Anderson

 

 

The Federal Reserve has once again hit the “snooze” button on interest rates, keeping them unchanged at 4.25%–4.50% while nervously eyeing the growing risks of both inflation and unemployment—because apparently, the economy has decided to try multitasking misery. The culprit behind this financial anxiety attack? Surprise! It’s Trump’s tariff-palooza, which triggered a tsunami of imports as Americans panic-bought before prices jump, turning Q1 into a bargain-hunting bonanza.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell tried to sound calm while essentially admitting the central bank is flying blind through Trump’s trade fog.

In short: the Fed is staying put, crossing its fingers, and hoping it doesn’t have to choose between fighting inflation and saving jobs. Meanwhile, Wall Street had a brief sugar high from the announcement before remembering, oh yeah, the economy might spiral. Stay tuned—monetary whiplash may be just a tweet or tariff away.

Nick Anderson
May 7, 2025
Pen Strokes

 

Re: A Vietnam Story: From Othering to Solidarity
 

Deep gratitude to Portside for picking up this fine recollection https://portside.org/2025-05-02/vietnam-story-othering-solidarity by a writer deserving of recognition for this act of integrity and courage so long ago. 

Hamilton Fish
Editor, The Washington Spectator
Like us on FB

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Thanks for sharing J. J. Johnson's reflections on his life and anti-war efforts as part of the Fort Hood Three. J.J. has always been a hero of mine for his early and courageous stand against the Vietnam War. He was soon joined by countless other young people, inspired by the activism of these three soldiers, who would also refuse to fight in an unjust colonial war. There is a direct line from the Fort Hood Three to the growing number of Israeli citizens refusing to fight in the genocidal conflict in Gaza.

Bill D.

 

Re: Why April 30th Should Be a National Holiday
 

The forgotten genocide the US military committed in Southeast Asia

The Filipino Genocide
Andrew Clem

Daniel Chenkin
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

 

Re: US Defeat in Vietnam
 

Please do not try to soften the language to hide truth, as the imperialist media do. The regime in the south was not 'US-backed'. It was US created, a puppet regime.

Dan Morgan
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

 

Papal Considerations  --  Cartoon by Randy Bish

 

Randy Bish
May 5, 2025
Bishtoons

 

Re: Learning From the 1990s Labor Party

(posting on Portside Labor)
 

Not even mentioned that Mazzocchi early on decided that the LP would not run candidates in elections, a fatal mistake of course...

which meant the whole project was a stillbirth.

Fred Whitehead
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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LPA shut down chapters, like the one in NYC, to prevent them from standing candidates in elections. In reality, LPA refused to confront the Democrats & instead wanted to focus on legislative advocacy. Once it became clear that the leadership wasn’t interested in tolerating descent, it lost momentum. By the time Mazzocchi passed, the LPA was already moribund

Mark Patterson
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

 

Elmo Not Elon  --  Doodle by Meg

 


 

Doodle By Meg
March 7, 2025
@doodlebymeg.bsky.social‬

 

Re: Birth Rates Are Falling. Here Are Real Solutions.
 

Please allow me a comment: whatever the negative reasons for the falling birthrate, falling birthrates are a positive trend.  The world is overpopulated which is one of the causes for the depletion of natural resources, increased climate change and decrease of ecosystems, i.e. destruction of the environment, and huge shantytowns where people live miserably.

Marina Coblentz

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Whereas the solutions proposed should be enacted, it should also be noted that there are already over 8,000,000,000 people on this planet. Not increasing but rather lowering that number is desirable.

Steven Ault

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There is a serious error in  "Birthrates are falling."  The author claims that insurance coverage for infertility treatments increased births by 32%. That is not what the article she linked to says.  It said it increased births by 32% in white women over 35, not all women. 

There are other errors also.  Russia's birth rate is falling not rising, for example.  Indeed, most of the strategies she claims boost birthrates don't do much. 

I don't think you should use the author's work.  it seems awfully slapdash.

Katha Pollitt

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Moderator's Response:

Thanks for your careful reading of the article. We do aim to be reliable, and in this case the author stepped outside her domain of expertise.

Re: SCOTUS Thinks Church-State Separation Is Anti-Religious Bigotry
 

Yep. Can't have christofascism without the churches.

Cass Lynch
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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If Catholic schools teach the basics and make separate religious classes that are optional for students that might be okay.

Greg Anderson
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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Establishment clause, says who they are!!! but people are not going to pay taxes to a minority group who thinks they can rule over the masses and trample our rights, and I’m sure the founders are rolling in their graves, they were adamant about it! Equal protection under the law means EVERYONE regardless of race, sex, or RELIGIOUS belief, and if they teach Christianity get ready for every other religion to be taught too! It’s not the governments place to dictate BELIEF systems

Dell Stromei
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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Tax churches then

William Cutlip
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

 

Trump Trash  --  Cartoon by Rob Rogers

 

Rob Rogers
May 6, 2025
robrogers.com

 

Re: Ryan Coogler's Road to "Sinners"
 

"Sinners" is reactionary, degenerate, racialist trash regardless of the technical skills of its director,  the artistry of its actors or the allure of its soundtrack.

John Woodford

 

Israel’s War Cabinet approved a plan to seize the entire Gaza Strip  (American Friends Service Committee)

 

Last night, Israel’s War Cabinet approved a plan to seize the entire Gaza Strip. The plan would forcibly transfer hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who are already in extreme hunger and crisis because of Israel’s systematic refusal to allow any lifesaving supplies to enter Gaza. Israel plans to shut down all existing humanitarian infrastructure and replace it with highly surveilled and militarized zones overseen by a U.S.-based private security company where only a limited amount of aid will be distributed. UN agencies, international humanitarian organizations, and the Palestinian NGO Network have all condemned the plan as a egregious violation of basic humanitarian principles.

As an organization providing humanitarian relief in Gaza, AFSC stands with our partners in opposing this plan and any weaponization of aid, which is legally and morally reprehensible. We are calling on the U.S. and the international community to take immediate steps to stop the seizure of additional land in Gaza, reject the militarization of aid and the internment of those seeking it, and end the ongoing genocide.

American Friends Service Committee
post on Facebook
May 5, 2025

 

Medical Journals Need To Fight Back Against Trump Attacks
 

By Jerome P. Kassirer and Robert Steinbrook

May 3, 2025
Boston Globe
 

As physicians who have spent much of our careers as medical journal editors, we urge leading journals to take on the administration  (H. Hopp-Bruce/Globe Staff; Adobe)

Dr. Jerome P. Kassirer is a professor at Tufts University School of Medicine and a former editor-in-chief of the New England Journal of Medicine. Dr. Robert Steinbrook is director of the Health Research Group at Public Citizen and a former editor at the New England Journal of Medicine and JAMA Internal Medicine.

Strong-arm tactics by the Trump administration brought Columbia University and distinguished law firms to their knees. Medicine — its science, its practice, its educational efforts, and its control over its own agenda — is similarly under extreme threat. Expertise and experience throughout the Department of Health and Human Services have been replaced with conspiracy theorists, nonscientists, and nonphysicians, leading to mass layoffs and targeted firings, the hollowing out of entire agencies, and billions of dollars in canceled grants and contracts.

Promising clinical research and programs to prevent infectious diseases have been eliminated, replaced by bizarre recommendations for unproven and potentially dangerous drugs and anti-scientific attacks on the safety of long-proven vaccinations. The assault on the nation’s medical and public health infrastructure is already having profound negative effects on the health, welfare, and medical care of millions of people.

Given that the Trump administration punishes its perceived enemies and withholds funding, it is no surprise that many leaders and organizations in the medical community have hesitated to openly push back against Trump’s attacks on medicine.

Even editors of the leading United States medical journals, such as the New England Journal of Medicine and JAMA, have not thoroughly assailed the radical changes affecting the medical profession. Instead, they have offered rather tepid critiques of what we see as a dire emergency. The muted responses did not deter the interim US attorney for the District of Columbia from sending menacing letters to the NEJM, CHEST, Obstetrics and Gynecology, and at least two other journals, questioning their content.

As physicians who have spent much of our careers as medical journal editors, we urge leading journals to take on the administration.

A few are leading the fight. The executive director of the American Public Health Association called on Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to resign or be fired, citing multiple examples of “implicit and explicit bias and complete disregard for science.” The Lancet, an international medical journal, also called for Kennedy’s resignation, noting that “science and medicine in the USA are being violently dismembered while the world watches.” It is obvious that Kennedy is unqualified for his position so where are the other medical journals in pointing that out?

We acknowledge the desire of medical journals to remain above the fray whenever possible. Yet leading medical journals have great credibility and a proud history of speaking truth to power. They have a special stake in advocating for the best medical care for patients, advancing medical knowledge, and protecting the profession. In 1980, Dr. Arnold S. Relman, then the editor-in-chief of the New England Journal of Medicine, famously warned about “the medical-industrial complex,” a “huge new industry that supplies health-care services for profit,” and the necessity of ensuring that the interests of the public come before those of stockholders. Nearly 50 years later, in the era of private equity investment in health care, that warning has never been more prescient.

There have been senseless cuts in federal health personnel and programs and on efforts to reduce health disparities and programs that advance diversity, equity, and inclusion. The research reports and other types of articles that medical journals typically publish go only so far. Responding to these unexpected circumstances requires that medical journals have a trusted and compelling editorial voice, for the profession and the wider audience of patients and the public.

After weeks of silence, more university leaders, emboldened by Harvard University’s stand against the Trump administration, are organizing in opposition. Medical journals should show courage, individually and collectively. Silence only encourages more bullying.

If medical journals and some of our leading medical schools and professional organizations are unwilling or unable to passionately speak out, who will advocate for patients and the profession? Doctors, nurses, and other health care professionals should use our collective voices to try to convince medical associations and societies of medical specialists to speak up and influence change and side with others against the mess that has been foisted upon medicine.

Standing up for patients and the profession is public service, not a partisan political activity. Our patients need better care, not flawed theories, further fragmentation, or continued shredding and disruption of federal health programs.

 

They Just Promised More Occupation – Here’s Our Answer  --  May 9  (Standing Together)

 

This is madness. Just a few days ago, Israel approved plans to expand the war and occupy the Gaza Strip. This is happening as Palestinians are killed in daily airstrikes, as trucks of food aid wait at the border since Israel barred entry two months ago, and as dozens of hostages are still captive. The government has shown us – again – that it doesn’t care about the safety of anyone living here and that it prefers territory over human life. But we can’t accept that. That’s why we’re taking action to build an alternative to this unbearable reality.

We’re proud to be a senior partner in bringing thousands of Palestinians and Jews together for an urgent conference on transforming our society and creating the political will to demand, and achieve, peace. The “It’s Time” People’s Peace Summit will take place on Thursday and Friday in Jerusalem as an unprecedented gathering of 60 peace organizations and civil society groups committed to building a peaceful and prosperous future for everyone on this land.

Register to watch the conference via livestream on Friday, May 9th, or join an international solidarity action in your city. We’re so proud of our Friends of Standing Together groups which have already organized actions in 15 cities worldwide, and we can’t wait to see the upcoming events planned.

We’re fighting hard everyday, but we’re not doing it alone. Friends of Standing Together support our movement by donating whatever amount they wish each month and get exclusive content, meetings with our movement leaders, and join global solidarity networks raising a voice for peace. They enable us to make a lasting difference on the ground. Our fight for long-term change simply wouldn’t be possible without them.

Sign Up - Click here

 

Labor Can't Fight MAGA, Without Fighting Racism"  --  New York City  --  May 14  (The Left Labor Project and 1199 SEIU-United Health Care Workers East)

 

The Left Labor Project and 1199 SEIU-United Health Care Workers East, are co-sponsoring a forum entitled "Labor Can't Fight MAGA, Without Fighting Racism". Keynote speaker will be former SEIU Executive V.P. Gerald Hudson, with panelists Hae-Lin Choi, Area Director, Legislative & Political Department, Communications Workers of America,District1; and Christopher Dols, President, Federal Union Network. 

The event will be on Wednesday May 14 at 6:30 at the 1199 auditorium 498 7th Ave, [37th St.]

RSVPs requested but not required.

 

OctoGenarian Poetry Tour - Featuring Ketu Olawadu  --  Suitland (Prince George's County) MD  --  May 18  (Metro DC Abolition Task Force and Prince George's DSA)

 

 

Heal This Sick Country: ‘Hands Up’ for the National Day of Action for Single Payer  --  May 31
 

Over 70 local and national organizations have endorsed the National Day of Action. On May 31, focus the outrage to move the engine of change and put single payer on the nation’s agenda and remove profit from healthcare.

 

An advocate holds a sign during a news conference on Medicare Advantage plans in front of the U.S. Capitol on July 25, 2023 in Washington, D.C.  (Photo: Alex Wong  //  Common Dreams)

By Judy Albert, Ed Grystar, Ana Malinow, Kay Tillow, Claire M. Cohen
April 27, 2025
Common Dreams

On Jan 17, 2025, on the heels of the shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, we wrote about the failed system of our corporate controlled healthcare and the outrage against the health insurance industry the shooting spawned. We mentioned the possibility of setting a National Day of Action in 2025 to demand freeing healthcare from profit and covering everyone under a national single payer plan.

Today, we call on people across the country to gather on May 31, 2025, to put their “Hands Up” for:

  • The recognition by our government that healthcare is a human right;
  • The elimination of private health insurance and the banning of for-profit delivery of care;
  • The enactment of a publicly financed, national single-payer program that would provide comprehensive coverage to everyone; and
  • The transformation of care delivery from profit-seeking ventures into services organized to serve the people of our country, a system in which all caregivers are freed from corporate control.

President Donald Trump’s inauguration has introduced the prospect of severe hardships to working class and low-income people, people with disabilities, the elderly, and children with proposed cuts to Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security necessary to fund tax cuts for the wealthy. This moment demands more than the protection of our public programs; it demands a national, single-payer healthcare program, free from profit, for everyone. One people, one plan.

The complicity of our government in the profit-making enterprise of health insurance has been exposed once again when, on Monday April 7, the Trump administration raised payment rates for Medicare Advantage insurers by 5.1%, significantly more than the Biden administration’s proposed increase of 2.2%, which was bad enough. This rate increase has the potential to increase payments to MA by $25 billion next year. However, the final sum will be closer to $60 billion, when the impact of gaming the system through risk scoring is included.

As predicted, Medicare Advantage continues to gain enrollment because they offer lower premiums compared to Traditional Medicare. Now they can expect payment from the Medicare trust fund at a higher rate as they have almost every year under Democrat and Republican administrations since 2016. Early this month, while the rest of the market spun out of control due to the announcement of tariffs, insurance stocks soared after the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) announced the Medicare Advantage rate hike.

Despite rate increases, Medicare Advantage will continue to operate within narrow networks that often don’t include specialty care, such as Cancer Centers of Excellence. Unlike Traditional Medicare, beneficiaries in Medicare Advantage must accept pre-authorization requirements to receive care that create the delays and denials of care. Many seniors are unaware that in all but four states, once they have enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan, they cannot change to Traditional Medicare without being subjected to underwriting and the potential of very high premiums if they have preexisting conditions. Paying health insurance premiums to a for-profit company that has been given permission to restrict and withhold necessary care is the great scam of modern U.S. healthcare.

Medicare is only one part of the privatization of government sponsored health insurance: Medicaid is now largely privatized in 42 states, subjecting children from low-income families and low-income adults to the delays and denials that are the mainstay of cost controls in managed care private insurance plans. Seventy five percent of all Medicaid beneficiaries now are enrolled in a Medicaid Managed Care Organization (MCO), and Medicaid MCO denials are twice as high as denials in Medicare Advantage. Five Fortune 500 health insurance companies enroll 50% of all Medicaid beneficiaries, all publicly traded and high performing profit makers.

Over 90 million Americans eligible for government supported healthcare, both Medicaid and Medicare, are now captives of private insurance managed care schemes that control their access to healthcare. Many more millions on Traditional Medicare are being “aligned” by CMS into profit-seeking Accountable Care Organizations. The underlying profit extraction inherent in these schemes prevents critical services from reaching the right people at the right time.

The same can be said for employer-based insurance where workers are paying excessive premiums to health insurance companies to be given the privilege of paying deductibles and coinsurance that make accessing care so expensive that many forgo needed services. According to the Commonwealth Fund, premiums and deductibles consume 10% of the median household income in the U.S. This means that every household with employer health insurance making $80,610 per year or less is underinsured. Employers are faced with increasing insurance premiums for their employees that challenge their ability to stay in business, or in the case of public schools, the ability to keep schools open.

Enough is enough! Over 70 local and national organizations have endorsed the National Day of Action. On May 31, join an action or plan an action in your community. Focus the outrage to move the engine of change and put single payer on the nation’s agenda and remove profit from healthcare. On May 31, put your “Hands Up” for National Single Payer—an Improved Medicare for All free from profit with everybody in and nobody out. Nothing less can heal the nation.

[Dr. Judy Albert is a retired reproductive endocrinologist and medical director of the Reproductive Health Specialists. Her experience includes practicing and teaching at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center's Magee-Womens Hospital, where she served as medical director of the in-vitro fertilization program and as a medical executive committee member. She is a founding member of the Physicians for a National Health Program Pittsburgh chapter and sits on the Board of Physicians for a National Health Program.

Ed Grystar has decades of experience organizing and negotiating contracts for healthcare employees. He is co-founder and current chair of the Western Pennsylvania Coalition for Single Payer Healthcare. Served as the President of the Butler County (PA) United Labor Council for 15 years.

Dr. Ana Malinow is a retired pediatrician living in San Francisco. She is one of the lead organizers for National Single Payer, an organization that works locally for national single payer health care.

Kay Tillow is the coordinator of the All Unions Committee for Single Payer Health Care, which builds union support for national single payer healthcare. She is also a member of the steering committee of National Single Payer. She lives in Louisville, Kentucky.

Claire M. Cohen is a child psychiatrist in Pittsburgh, PA who is a member of National Single Payer, PNHP and the Western PA Coalition for Single Payer Healthcare. You can contact her at cmcmd80@gmail.com ]

 

No Kings  --  Nationwide Day of Defiance  --  June 14  (Indivisible)

 

 

Join our nationwide day of defiance to show that organized people power is stronger than Trump’s authoritarian aspirations.

Click here to sign the pledge

On June 14—Flag Day—Donald Trump wants tanks in the street and a made-for-TV display of dominance for his birthday. A spectacle meant to look like strength. But real power isn’t staged in Washington. It rises up everywhere else.

No Kings is a nationwide day of defiance. From city blocks to small towns, from courthouse steps to community parks, we’re taking action to reject authoritarianism—and show the world what democracy really looks like.

We’re not gathering to feed his ego. We’re building a movement that leaves him behind.

The flag doesn’t belong to Donald Trump. It belongs to us. We’re not watching history happen. We’re making it.

On June 14th, we’re showing up everywhere he isn’t—to say no thrones, no crowns, no kings.

No Kings