Tidbits-Oct 16 -Readers Comments: Chicago Invaded-By ICE, Texas National Guard; Trump’s Labor Dept Says ICE Raids Causing Food Crisis; Boat Strikes Just the Beginning, Now CIA Missions Planned Against Venezuela; US Socialism Today; All-Out for Oct 18
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Shot in the Head With Pepper Spray -- Cartoon and Commentary by Ann Telnaes
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Hostage Crisis -- Cartoon and Commentary by Rob Rogers
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Re: A Shortlist of Federal Data the Trump Administration Has Tampered With or Destroyed (Doug Vaughan)
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Troop Deployment -- Cartoon by Adam Douglas Thompson
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Re: Trump Labor Department Says His Immigration Raids Are Causing a Food Crisis (Daniel Millstone)
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Re: New England Unions Lead the Way on Offshore Wind (Third Act Union)
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Re: The Boat Strikes Are Just the Beginning (Aaron Stephens; Roy Schulman)
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She's Armed...With a Torch -- Cartoon by John Deering
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Re: Ultra-Leftism Won’t Help Free Palestine (Elisa Reyna)
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Re: The Rift in American Socialism (Adam Azzalino; Dieter Sauerwald)
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Re: We Need More Than a Party — We Need a Movement (John Spitzberg; Neal)
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Party like it's 1965... -- Cartoon by Jack Ohman
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Resources:
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Working-Class Social and Economic Attitudes (The Center for Working-Class Politics)
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Announcements:
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SATURDAY, Oct. 18: Come Out for a No Kings Event Near You
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Webinar: The Federal Theater, Democracy and the Making of a Culture War - October 21 (Living New Deal)
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Shot in the Head With Pepper Spray -- Cartoon and Commentary by Ann Telnaes
This is Trump's America
“Video captured by Kelly Hayes shows Pastor David Black of the First Presbyterian Church of Chicago with his arms outstretched and looking up at a group of masked ICE agents standing on the roof of the building.”
Ann Telnaes
October 11, 2025
Open Windows- Ann Telnaes
Hostage Crisis -- Cartoon and Commentary by Rob Rogers
Trump may be scoring points in the Middle East but between his Big Ugly Bill and his occupation of American cities, his domestic policies are downright criminal.
Rob Rogers
October 11, 2025
Tiny View
Re: A Shortlist of Federal Data the Trump Administration Has Tampered With or Destroyed
Don't like reality? Easy: Invent your own:
Doug Vaughan
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
Troop Deployment -- Cartoon by Adam Douglas Thompson
Adam Douglas Thompson
October 6, 2025
The New Yorker
Re: Trump Labor Department Says His Immigration Raids Are Causing a Food Crisis
The criminal conspiracy ruining our country increases food prices by preventing immigrants from working in agriculture. Raising food prices, punishing hard working immigrants and enriching themselves is the point. Down with the tyrant.
Even More? David Dayen in The American Prospect via Portside:
Daniel Millstone
Post on Facebook
Re: New England Unions Lead the Way on Offshore Wind
(posting on Portside Labor)
Workers rights, renewable energy AND an improved economy ALL IN ONE?!? Check out this article https://portside.org/2025-10-12/new-england-unions-lead-way-offshore-wi… to find out how New England is doing it!
Third Act Union
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
Re: The Boat Strikes Are Just the Beginning
We will never know. They blew up whatever evidence there was. Totally unnecessary. Without justification.
Aaron Stephens
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
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Gunboat diplomacy
Roy Schulman
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
She's Armed...With a Torch -- Cartoon by John Deering
John Deering
October 8, 2025
Chicago Tribune
Re: Ultra-Leftism Won’t Help Free Palestine
The struggle of Palestinians is marked by decades of conflict, displacement, and longing for self-determination. They face ongoing challenges, including military occupation, economic hardships, and restricted freedoms. Despite these adversities, Palestinians continue to strive for justice, dignity, and the right to return to their homeland.
Elisa Reyna
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
Re: The Rift in American Socialism
"realists" is a very funny way to misspell soc-dem.
Adam Azzalino
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
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It was not Joschka Fischer from the Greens who caused that Germany not take place in the attack of the Iraq – it was the German chancellor Schröder from the Social Democratic Party. Fischer was for NATO-Bombing of Serbia and supports since then all centrist positions of the American Democratic party. And he supports the positions of subjection regarding that politics.
Dieter Sauerwald
Long time unionist and independent left
Germany
Re: We Need More Than a Party — We Need a Movement
(posting on Portside Labor)
Totally agree with Fain. But why wait for three years. I am 87 and may not be able to hit the bricks in 3 yrs.
John Spitzberg,
IWW. SEIU, NEA
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I haven't read this, and won't right now....when I heard him speak in Chicago during the strike, he was
promoting Democratic Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the New Deal for what is needed today.
Neal
Party like it's 1965... -- Cartoon by Jack Ohman
Jack Ohman
October 15, 2025
Jack Ohman's You Betcha!
Working-Class Social and Economic Attitudes (The Center for Working-Class Politics)
A new study reveals where working-class voters stand on key issues and how they differ from wealthier Americans.
The Center for Working-Class Politics is a research institution dedicated to projects including regular surveys of working-class voters, statistical analyses of elections and polling data, and the construction of a comprehensive database of progressive candidate demographics, strategy, and messaging.
https://www.workingclasspolitics.org/
SATURDAY, Oct. 18: Come Out for a No Kings Event Near You
Trump is trying to take complete control of our country and become a king. We’re joining hundreds of organizations and millions of people to hit the streets this Saturday to show Trump that there are No Kings in America.
By making this No Kings Day even bigger than the last one, we will loudly tell Trump that the people won’t let his authoritarian takeover succeed. We only have a few days left to turn this wave of grassroots energy into a mass mobilization. Can you join a No Kings event this Saturday, October 18th?
In June, millions of everyday Americans from every walk of life peacefully took to the streets and declared with one voice: No Kings. The world saw the power of the people, and President Trump’s attempt at a coronation collapsed under the strength of a movement rising against his abuses of power.
Now, he’s doubling down — sending militarized agents into our communities, silencing voters, and handing billionaires giveaways while families struggle. This isn’t just politics. It’s democracy versus dictatorship. And together, we’re choosing democracy.
Yes, I can sign up for an event this Saturday!
The Power Belongs to the people
A core principle behind all No Kings events is a commitment to nonviolent action. We expect all participants to seek to de-escalate any potential confrontation with those who disagree with our values and to act lawfully at these events. Weapons of any kind, including those legally permitted, should not be brought to events.
For inquiries, please contact info@nokings.org.
A conversation with James Shapiro and Susan Quinn
Tuesday, October 21, 2025, 5-6pm PDT
The Federal Theater Project brought live theater to thousands of ordinary Americans for the first time. At times controversial for its social commentary, the FTP became of target of the right wing. Shapiro’s award-winning book “The Playbook, A Story of the Theater, Democracy and the Making of a Culture War” chronicles the rise and demise of the Federal Theater and the parallels to our current reality. He is a professor at Columbia University and a Shakespeare Scholar-in-Residence at the Public Theater in New York City. Susan Quinn is author of “Furious Improvisation: How the WPA and a Cast of Thousands Made High Art Out of Desperate Times,” about the FTP director Hallie Flanagan and her battle against the House Un-American Activities Committee. Susan’s play, “It CAN Happen Here,” co-written with Dan Jacobs, premiered at New York's Culture Lab in March 2025. FREE.
The Living New Deal
P.O. Box 2148
Berkeley, CA 94702-0148
Fall of Freedom - November 21 & 22, 2025
Fall of Freedom is an urgent call to the arts community to unite in defiance of authoritarian forces sweeping the nation. Our Democracy is under attack. Threats to free expression are rising. Dissent is being criminalized. Institutions and media have been recast as mouthpieces of propaganda.
This Fall, we are activating a nationwide wave of creative resistance. Beginning November 21–22, 2025, galleries, museums, libraries, comedy clubs, theaters, and concert halls across the country will host exhibitions, performances, and public events that channel the urgency of this moment. Fall of Freedom is an open invitation to artists, creators, and communities to take part—and to celebrate the experiences, cultures, and identities that shape the fabric of our nation.
Art matters. Artists are a threat to American fascism.
What’s at Stake
Due process gutted. Universities threatened and defunded. Students kidnapped. Migrants deported. Troops deployed. Racism rampant. Cruelty celebrated. Political leaders arrested. Citizenship stripped. Health care shredded. Women’s rights rescinded. Wealth concentrated. Free speech eliminated. Genocide normalized. Science undermined. Arts assaulted. Journalism targeted. Departments shuttered. Grants rescinded. Trans banned. Lawyers capitulating. Coup makers pardoned. Budgets slashed. Abortion outlawed. Courts stacked. Boards replaced. Police unleashed. Nazis emboldened. Bombs dropped.
This is why we must resist.
National Call to Action
We want you to design and develop a happening in your own community. No effort is too big or too small, whether you’re running a 10,000 seat venue or a small high school library. What matters is our collective voice and unwavering solidarity.
We envision a wave of cultural events across the country under the Fall of Freedom banner, each independently organized, yet united by the shared value of standing against fascism. This is a decentralized, open-source initiative. Under this collective banner, our acts of creative defiance converge into a unified movement. In the coming days, a toolkit of resources—including media kits, graphic standards, and how-to’s—will be available for download to ensure support, consistency, and development across the effort.
- Organize your own event — from museums to classrooms, clubs to concert halls, wherever your community gathers. Events already in planning can be adapted to sit under this umbrella.. These could be storefront readings, pop-up performances, exhibitions, comedy shows, concerts - whatever you want to make happen.
- Apply the Fall of Freedom name and branding to signal your solidarity.
- Add your event to the national map to link your voice with others across the country.
No permission is needed—only the conviction to stand against oppression.
Fall of Freedom will be activated by a diverse group of artists and organizations across the U.S. Additional names will be announced in the coming weeks, learn more about how to participate here.
Initiated by Artists and Culture Workers: (list here)
Want to learn more?
Want to participate?
Want to stay updated?
Get in Touch
Write us with questions at info@falloffreedom.com.
For all media inquires please contact us at falloffreedom@orchestraco.com.