Published on Portside (https://portside.org/)

Tidbits-Sept. 3: Reader Comments: Oil Imperialism; Trump Lies on Medicare for All; Rev. James Lawson; Dolly Parton; NYC-DSA’s Socialist Sweep Volunteers; the Strait of “Horn-Moos”; What Goes On Inside Israel’s Prison System; Lots of Events;

https://portside.org/2026-09-03/tidbits-sept-3-reader-comments-oil-imperialism-trump-lies-medicare-all-rev-james-lawson
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Oil by stars  --  Cartoon by OSVAL (Osvaldo Gutiérrez Gómez)

 

The President of the United States, Donald Trump, announced on August 29, 2026 that his country has reached the "largest oil agreement in history" with Venezuela, which grants the US. U.S. majority control over more than 65 billion barrels of proven crude oil reserves.

OSVAL (Osvaldo Gutiérrez Gómez)
August 31, 2026
Cartoon Movement
 


[OSVAL (Osvaldo Gutiérrez Gómez) 26 de September 1971. A graduate of Social Communication. Currently collaborating with Cuban publications as Dedeté, Melaito, Pallas and the Picúa. Some awards:: Political Satire Prize, National Salon XII graphic humor San Antonio de los Baños, Museo del Humor. Cartoon Award, organized by the publication humorous greeting Palante in its 45th anniversary. Third Prize XIX International Biennial of Humor, Havana, 2015. Popularity Award at the San A. de los Baños Biennial, Havana, 2017.]



 

Lake America  --  Cartoon by Nick Anderson
 

 

Trump’s petty insults and juvenile renaming stunts do nothing but diminish both himself and the office he holds. With nearly every outburst, he lowers the tone of our political culture and cheapens America’s image abroad.

Nick Anderson
August 31, 2026
Pen Strokes
 



 

Re: Trump Lies That Medicare for All Would Cost ‘Entire Budget of the Whole
 

This is, of course, perjury, and I CAN PROVE IT. A lot of people are commenting on the recent study. I, personally, did something no one else, including the media has done: here are the actual numbers.

Around 2016, I  looked it up, choosing to look at Medicaid numbers, since that would be the majority of the population. Medicaid was then paying about $7300/yr for men, and about $8400/yr for women. At the same time, my company was paying over $12,000/yr per employee, and most of us put in several thousand more, to get to "gold"... which is what Medicaid, and Medicare, provide.

Tell me there's one company out there that would not instantly want to save around $4000/yr per employee. Now add in that with Medicare for all, the payments would go to the doctors, and so NO MORE "Oh, you're insured, but they were out of plan".

mark



 

Re: James Lawson Was the Civil Rights Movement’s Drill Sergeant
 

The autobiography of Jim Lawson, of blessed memory, a key mover and shaker of the Nashville Movement is reviewed here by Chris Maisano

Daniel Millstone
Post on Facebook

     =====

the phrase Drill Sergeant is unneeded and unwanted, as anyone subjected to a drill s would know.

Paul Buhle
Post on Facebook




 

People will always love Dolly Parton; Donald Trump, not so much  --  Cartoon by Bruce MacKinnon
 

 


Bruce MacKinnon
August 27, 2026
The ChronicleHerald (Toronto)
 




 

DHS Morality  --  Cartoon and Commentary by Jesse Duquette
 

 

DHS has no moral bottom, so it was with precisely zero surprise that we learned of plans to provide ICE agents with electrically charged gloves with which to shock people. Ostensibly this is because they can’t seem to stop murdering people in the streets, but I think they’re just excited to try out new ways to be even more hated than they already are.

Jesse Duquette
August 13, 2026
Jesse Duquette
 



 

Re: The Corporate Dem Asking Super PACs To Call Him a Progressive
 

Seth Moulton is a vile corporate Dem currently sniveling that he's a progressive, trying to take down  our true-blue progressive senator, Ed Markey.  He has tried this before.

Mary Porter
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
 



 

Re: Volunteers Were the Key to NYC-DSA’s Socialist Sweep
 

The Establishment Democrats use a consultant-profiteering driven campaigning featuring what are now are irrelevant methods - such as buying big television ads. The Donor-Consultant predominance over the centrist Democrats may be the end of the Dem Party as we know it.

Marilyn Albert
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

 


 

Presidential Venn Diagram

 




 

The Strait of "Horn-Moos"  --  Cartoon by Joe Heller

 

Dilemma time ...

Joe Heller
August 29, 2026
Bozeman Daily Chronicle (MT)
 



 

I'm Hitting You With Tariffs and Renaming Your Lake - Take That  --  Cartoon by Monte Wolverton
 

 


Monte Wolverton
August 28, 2026
Monte Wolverton
 



 

Re: Masters of War

(posting on Portside Culture)
 

Hey friends

Dylan actually moved to Madison, and then to NYC.

Ben Manski
http://www.BenManski.com


 

 

 

What Goes On Inside Israel’s Prison System

Alaa Salama interviews Sahar Francis

August 31, 2026
The +972 Podcast
 

I’m terrified of prison. I grew up between Syria and Palestine — both places where people are constantly disappeared into facilities notorious for torture and abuse, and where prisoners waste away for months, years, and sometimes even decades with little to no legal oversight. The brutality, the humiliation, and the randomness of it all is the stuff of nightmares. Anyone can find themselves being abducted and locked away simply for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

It’s no secret that since October 2023, Israel’s abuse of Palestinian prisoners has reached unprecedented levels of cruelty. It is impossible to forget the images from Gaza of hundreds of women, men, and children stripped naked between the ruins of their destroyed neighborhoods, rounded up and hauled into trucks to god-knows-where The reports that began surfacing soon after — of secret military facilities, torture, sexual abuse, starvation, and killings — were bone-chilling. 

At the same time, Israel ramped up its detention of journalists, activists, and ordinary people all across the West Bank, imprisoning them for months or even years without charge. Those who came out are often unrecognizable: emaciated, traumatized, and bearing physical marks of torture and medical neglect.

The faces of those detainees, especially the ones we saw being rounded up in Gaza, still haunt me, along with the simple question that in many cases remains impossible to answer: What happened to them?
 



Listen here: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube


That is why sitting down with human rights lawyer Sahar Francis for the latest episode of The +972 Podcast was both essential and profoundly heavy. Sahar has spent decades defending Palestinians in Israeli prisons. She has dedicated her life to helping those whom the Israeli authorities are doing everything possible to isolate and erase. The Gazans we saw being rounded up? Sahar has met some of them. The widespread reports of sexual abuse we’ve read? Sahar has listened to firsthand accounts from survivors, and pursued their cases against a judicial system that does not recognize their basic humanity.

This is the precedent Israel is setting for the world: a reality in which anyone can be snatched from their home, thrown into a military vehicle, and disappeared into a desert facility without charge or trial. And it should terrify all of us. As Sahar explains, Israeli and American efforts to shield Israel from accountability are dismantling the very international legal framework meant to protect civilians everywhere. 

This was not an easy episode to record, and it will not be easy to listen to. But it is vital for understanding the reality Palestinians face today, and the decades of systemic brutality that led us here.


Listen Now
Listen here: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube

+972 Magazine is an independent, non-profit media initiative, supported largely by our readers.

If you believe these stories are important, become a +972 member today to make sure we can keep telling them.

For those who care deeply about the people living between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, this is your opportunity to move from despair into action. 

The effects of Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza are still being felt: much of the Strip lies in ruins, millions remain displaced with nowhere to return to, tens of thousands have been killed, and many more are believed to be buried beneath the rubble.

In the West Bank, the Israeli army has displaced tens of thousands of Palestinians from refugee camps, while state-sponsored settler violence is wiping rural communities off the map on a weekly basis. At the same time, Israel’s ever-escalating regional aggression threatens to drag the entire Middle East into the inferno.

We are here on the ground — from Gaza to Tel Aviv to Masafer Yatta — exposing the crimes, reporting the horrors, and amplifying the voices of those resisting injustice to an audience of millions around the world. If there was ever a time the world needed +972 Magazine, it is now.

As a binational team based in Israel-Palestine, we are best placed to cover this pivotal moment in a way that no other outlet can — but we need your help to do it. Join us as a member to become part of our mission, and support independent journalism that really makes a difference.



 

Global Virtual Public Event: Russian Neofascism: Imperialism Abroard, Repression At Home - September 6  (Boris Kagarlitsky International Solidarity Campaign)
 

 


Panel, Socialism 2026

Russian Neofascism: Imperialism Abroad, Repression at Home

DATE: Sunday, September 6, 2026

 

TIMES: Los Angeles 08:00 | Chicago 10:00 | New York, Montreal, Vermont 11:00 | Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires 12:00 | England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland 16:00 | Central European Time 17:00 | Ukraine 18:00 | Moscow 18:00 | Tbilisi 19:00 | Karachi 20:00 | New Delhi 20:30 | Taipei, Hong Kong 23:00 | Tokyo 24:00| Sydney 01:00 Monday | Auckland 03:00

Join Zoom Meeting

https://stmarys-ca.zoom.us/j/98753615148?pwd=qS20DZjbnSX1uajdOmPNUbahyHBpVW.1
 

Meeting ID: 987 5361 5148

Passcode: 020808

Join instructions
https://stmarys-ca.zoom.us/meetings/98753615148/invitations?signature=PUXtC4Y5l5eoYLs7OiomRsGqPxMebm5wlJtz17LMoUM

Vladimir Putin responded to democratic uprising in Russia’s former empire by repressing domestic dissent and launching an imperialist war on Ukraine. In a discussion of their new book, Russia’s New Imperialism, Ilya Budraitskis and Ilya Matveev will be joined by Robert Brenner and Yulia Yurchenko to examine Putin’s neofascist project, Ukraine’s struggle for self-determination, and today’s inter-imperial rivalries.

Speakers:


Boris Kagarlitsky International Solidarity Campaign · Kamenovo, Vijesno br 5 · Budva 85310 · Montenegro




 

Songs in the Key of Resistance Album Release and Sing Out! - New York - September 7
 

 


 

St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery
New York, NY

Monday, September 7  •  6 PM - 8 PM

Join us for an evening of music, community, and collective action as we celebrate the new Songs in the Key of Resistance album.

Throughout the evening, we'll teach songs that inspire courage and solidarity, strengthen our efforts to defend voting rights, stand with immigrant communities facing attacks, and equip us to protect one another through the power of collective song. This celebration is free and open to all, but registration is strongly encouraged. Capacity is limited to 300 people,

We are grateful to our partners for this event:

  • St Marks Church in-the-Bowery
  • Interfaith Center of NY
  • La Iglesia del Pueblo
  • The New York Immigration Coalition
  • GreenFaith
  • Sing In Solidairty
  • Gaia
  • Mothers On The Move / Madres En Movimiento
  • Judson Memorial Church
  • Riverside Church NYC

 


 

Global event - Cuba and Africa: A Shared History of Struggle Against Imperialism  -  Virtual - New York, Lagos, Nairobi - September 13  (Coalition for the Elimination of Imperialism in Africa)

 


Sep 13, 2026 01:00 PM  in  
Eastern Time (US and Canada)


Register here 


Join us for a discussion about the longstanding revolutionary solidarity between Cuba and the African continent. Cuba remains a shining example of internationalism and holds a special place in the history of people’s struggles against imperialism. While many African countries were fighting colonialism, foreign domination, and the apartheid regime, Cuba provided significant support to several national liberation movements. Thousands of Cuban internationalists contributed to decisive battles for independence, while fostering cooperation in the fields of health, education, and training.

Today, American imperialism has heightened its attacks against Cuba by strengthening its energy blockade and threatening a military intervention. African people cannot continue to be mere witnesses--we must act in defense of Cuba, the same way Cuba once acted in our defense.




 

Resolving the U.S. Provoked Crisis in Cuba — Normalizing Relations with Our Neighbor  - In-Person and Streamed - Washington, DC - September 16  (The Institute of the Black World 21st Century)

 



 

A crucial national forum in conjunction with the 55th Annual Congressional Black Caucus Legislative Conference to intensify the collective effort to end the devastating fuel embargo and stranglehold of the U.S. on the self-determination of the sovereign nation of Cuba and its people.

Event Details

Wednesday, September 16, 2026 · 7 PM ET
The Historic New York Avenue Presbyterian Church
1313 New York Avenue, Washington, D.C. 20005

Join us in person or watch via livestream.
Livestream details will follow.

Special Guest and Keynote Speaker

Dr. Ralph Gonsalves
Former Prime Minister, St. Vincent and the Grenadines


 

Dr. Ralph Gonsalves

Additional Participants

Plus, members of the Congressional Black Caucus, Black professionals, civil rights and faith organizations.

Hosted by: Institute of the Black World 21st Century’s Pan African Unity Dialogue, Dr. Ron Daniels, Convener.

Share the First Call

Download and share the Cuba Forum First Call flyer | Download JPG


About IBW21
IBW21 (The Institute of the Black World 21st Century) is committed to enhancing the capacity of Black communities in the U.S. and globally to achieve cultural, social, economic and political equality and an enhanced quality of life for all marginalized people.




 

“What is Democratic Socialism”  - shifted to September 17  (Socialist Majority Caucus of DSA)
 


Because the original date for this event fell on Rosh Hashanah, we rescheduled it for Thursday, Sept. 17. We hope you will be able to join us on this new date

What is Democratic Socialism? Explore the answer with leading organizers and thinkers. Moderated by Susan Kang, the panel will feature Chris Maisano, Bill Fletcher, Jr., Barbara Smith, and New York Assemblymember Diana Moreno. Discussants will include Alex Caputo-Pearl, Jeremy Cohan, Jose Alejandro La Luz, Kristian Hernandez, and Jana Silverman.

Register at https://go.socmaj.org/demsoc

Thursday Sep 17, 2026 ? 8pm – 9:30pm (Eastern Time - New York)


Organizer: 
SMC Leadership - socmajleadership@gmail.com

Source URL: https://portside.org/2026-09-03/tidbits-sept-3-reader-comments-oil-imperialism-trump-lies-medicare-all-rev-james-lawson