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Tidbits - April 2, 2015 - Mexican Farmworkers Strike; Death Penalty; Water Privatization; Elizabeth Warren; Cesar Chavez; and more

https://portside.org/2015-04-02/tidbits-april-2-2015-mexican-farmworkers-strike-death-penalty-water-privatization
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Re: Why Mexico's Farmworkers Who Harvest Our Food Are on Strike

Great! our own Madiba - "The people who work the land, shall benefit from the wealth of it" - This is what they must claim - 50% of the PROFITS!

Hilda April Adams
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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Minimum wage in Mexico is $8 dollars a day, they need to double the minimum wage so that the workers get a fair share of the proceeds.

Keith Miller
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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Sounds reasonable to me. Protection from the pest control chemicals used would be nice, too.

Suzanne Miles
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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Please publish how we can send money or supplies to help strikers!

David Newby

[Moderator's Note: Portside is trying to find this information, so that we can share with our readers.]

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Bigger picture: #adjunct have it bad, but we are only 1 small slice in falling world of #labor ! ALL #workers must stand together if we are to stand tall! Thanks @Portside, for reporting!

Adjunct Justice: Fores' Forum
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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No one who works full time should live in poverty. No one.

Dagny SanMiguel
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

Re: Mexican Farmworkers Strike over Low Wages, Blocking Harvest
(Posting on Portside Labor)

I saw a video about this strike and it showed a box of Driscoll strawberries with a "Product of USA" on its label. Anyone know how this can be legal?

Kevin Lynch
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

Re: Movement to Increase McDonald's Minimum Wage Broadens Its Tactics
(Posting on Portside Labor)

If a living wage can be paid to every working person the less crime and violence will occur. Productivity must play a role

Johann Beukes
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

Re: Prosecutor Apologizes for Sending Innocent Man to Death Row

"The clear reality is that the death penalty is an anathema to any society that purports to call itself civilized. It is an abomination that continues to scar the fibers of this society and it will continue to do so until this barbaric penalty is outlawed. Until then, we will live in a land that condones state assisted revenge and that is not justice in any form or fashion. I end with the hope that providence will have more mercy for me than I showed Glenn Ford. But, I am also sobered by the realization that I certainly am not deserving of it."

Furaha Youngblood
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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Talk about an apology ... Wow, I can only begin to comprehend what this prosecutor went thru to get to this place.

Alberta Maged
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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powerful ... seems quite genuine and heartful

Heidi Sinclair
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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This is such a moving video - I have no doubt of his sincerity. He's like the Velveteen Rabbit - he's become human.

Shawna McKellar
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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Hmmm. He's still a pretty good lawyer. He makes sure that his apology is for moral lapses, not legal ones for which he can be held accountable. I wonder if he's offered any of his pension money to make the life of his victim a bit easier at this point. (No I don't.)

But it still is a very important read -- thanks for posting

David Arnow
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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This apology illustrates why the death penalty should be abolished everywhere.

Andrea Jacobs Talbutt
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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This is a must read for anyone who doesn't understand the capriciousness and frailty of the capital punishment system, and it is also a testament to those who persevere to seek justice, and also to those who can humbly admit their own failures.

Marc Simon
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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how many others have been wrongly sent to jail? how many others have died? how many other prosecutors will admit to a corrupted judicial system?

Jonathan Rivin
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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Yeah, apologies really don't make up for stolen years.

Tammy Wolfgram
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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Wow! This is amazing

Ann Gael
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

Re: Thirteen Angry Men

This is important--it means that a lot of the French hostility towards and discrimination against immigrants, which some attribute to Islamophobia, has very little to do with religion--the problem is simple old fashioned racism, particularly in the police.

Meredith Tax
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

Re: Grabbing Africa's Seeds: The New Commercialization Agenda

Gates and Monsanto - Pure Evil! Pure Greed! Pure Ignorance!! Pure Insanity!!

Grace Lourenco
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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Unfuckingbelieveable.

Linda Read
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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This may be the most terrifying piece any of us will read this month or year.

Margaret White
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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Monsanto is after world dominance in the production of the world's food. They have convinced many of the leaders of programs that want to end world poverty like Gates (and many others) that seed modification is the only way to achieve the aim of eliminating hunger. Since they are the only capitalistic company who engages in drastic seed modification research, they will own, literally, all food production. This is dangerous even if seed modification itself were not. But this method has been proved unsafe and potentially harmful to the health of millions. Plus the idea of one company owning all food production .. Gates and his peers need to look at other methods.

Gayle Neville Muskus
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

Re: 100,000 Irish March Through Dublin to Protest Against Water Charges

Water privatization... it's not that far away.

Vash Boddie
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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Coverage of the recent right2water demo from our union comrades in the US

Trade Union Left Forum
Ireland
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

Re: Grassroots Movement Blocks Mexican Water Privatization Scheme

Fast track is a tactic that the right wing extremists are using everywhere. They intend to surprise us and ram things through with brute force. Kudos to the Mexican people for defeating this.

    "The fact is that faced with this imminent heist of public goods, the citizenry reacted immediately. The Union of Concerned Scientists in Mexico demanded a public discussion of the initiative and issued a statement that in a few hours garnered over ten thousand signatures.

    The scientists denounced the lack of transparency in the approval process for the initiative and affirmed that the contents violate Article 4 of the Mexican Constitution, which reads, "Everyone has the right to access, provision and sanitation of water for personal and domestic consumption as sufficient, safe, acceptable and affordable. The State guarantees this right."

    The organization identified four serious problems in the bill.
    1) It promotes the privatization of water, considered primarily as an economic good and not a cultural and social good. It accentuates inequality in access to water by raising tariffs and compromises availability for the functioning of ecosystems.
    2) It promotes the displacement and death of rivers by legalizing the practice of transferring water by moving large volumes from one basin to another.
    3) It broadens margins to pollute water by establishing a limited list of contaminants that would be constantly outdated.
    4) It restricts, conditions and sanctions studies, scientific research and social monitoring."

Patricia Dowling
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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To think that the PRI was shaped as a progressive party under Lázaro Cárdenas!

Daniel M. Rosenblum
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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Didn't they learn from the Bolivians? I'm sure their US corporate overlords are not pleased. Hey keep voting for that PRI... We do the same here and keep voting Republican.

Ken Boddy
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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I knew Nestle hoped to control our water, but I had no idea this was going on in Mexico. Thanks for enlightening me! I also signed up for PORTSIDE.

Lu La Fontaine
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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Now if we could take back California water from Nestle!

Carol Mitchell Fehner
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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Mexico beats back attempt to privatize the nations water resources, maintaining public control and access of citizens to water.

John Jernegan
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

Re: Boston Globe editorial - Democrats Need Elizabeth Warren's Voice in 2016 Presidential Race

Let's all stop talking about adding to the debate and scoring a moral victory, whatever that is. Let's only talk about how Warren can win in the Electoral College. I for one am not going to ask her to give up a perch in the Senate without having a realistic chance of winning the presidency.

Kevin M. Lynch
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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Excellent analysis Kevin. Totally agree.

Another point: Warren met privately with Hillary a few weeks ago - not a good omen. Warren will lose any credibility she has gained if she begins to make deals with Clinton - especially if she concedes to run on the same ticket.

Jerry Steele
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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The TPP is poisonous. Warren should run she would easily defeat Clinton and have Sandets as VP. I think they scare the GOP.

Gary Hiltz
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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She can and will set the agenda and the topics of the debates. And she will get a high powered assignment in the Hillary Administration.

Orville Bruce Jones
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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Elisabeth, most certainly. No one is being forced to vote for the Clinton Corporation. Silly to vote against your own interests

William Stribling
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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There's a Reason the Big Banks Aren't Mad with Hillary
by John Atcheson
March 30, 2015
Common Dreams

    "And the record on that is pretty abysmal (email disclosure and strength of personal convictions). She's an economic conservative who's supported job-killing trade agreements; a hawkish neocon who supported the Iraq invasion; and a Senator with a be-kind-to-Wall Street economic policy."

Quite true and THAT is why any attempts to dress her up as a Progressive (or Feminist, for that matter) are deceptive and dangerously misplaced.

As I've suggested before: voters should have a 20-point list of subject criteria such as raising the minimum wage. They should vote on THE issues and then their tally should be tied to the candidate who commits to those positions.

The way things are, the candidates LIE and in this corporate-controlled era, nothing ends up put into law or operation that benefits ordinary people. The labels are used to "sell product," but all of the ones advertised stink!

Thomas Naught
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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If Elizabeth Warren doesn't run, write her in during the primary!~

Elaine Rose
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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Then Bernie is the next choice along with Alan Grayson.

Cheryl Sue McKendry
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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It usually comes down to the lesser of two evils. We can't let a Republican win.

Linda Turner
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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even if she doesn't run, her insights and passion will force a discussion on the more important issues....

Richard Fox
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

Re: The Jewish Establishment has Banned these Four Valiant Jews. Why?

BRAVO. Please, my friends who disagree with me on Israel, read this important article. I remember those days when many thought the USSR could do no wrong. Blind obedience to ANY "ideal," is simply blindness. My love for my country, the USA, makes me want to change it for the better. If Israel is your lodestar, maybe you should think about this too.

Mike Glick
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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They are heroes, still fighting for justice! They took many personal risks to support the Civil Rights movement in the US in the 1960s. Now they are standing up for Palestinian rights. Totally consistent to my point of view. They make me proud!

Alisa Aronson
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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Right now we need their example.

Maggie Meehan
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

Victory at Pitzer College! Thank you for taking action!

On Tuesday, we alerted you that members of the Students for Justice in Palestine at Pitzer College in California were under attack. College administrators had banned the construction of an apartheid wall for Israel Apartheid Week.

Hundreds of you responded to our action alert by sending the Pitzer College president an email to ask her to protect the SJP's free speech rights.

Your efforts paid off! We are happy to report the students were able to erect the wall without fear of punishment or administrative censorship.

Action works! Thank you for taking the time to make a difference for Palestine!

American Muslims for Palestine
10101 S. Roberts Road
Palos Hills, IL 60465
708.598.4267
info@ampalestine.org

Re: The Jim Crow Holy Land

JIM CROW is alive and well in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem in 2015. Time for Radicals and progressive to stop acting like bystanders.

"In the past few years, we've seen Israel continue to act in violation of human rights, in violation of international law, and in direct contravention of the very values that it claims to share with the United States - unless those values happen to concern a continuing legacy of racism toward indigenous peoples and others outside the majority demographic.

Unfortunately, those violations were just ratified - again - by Israeli voters.

Obama's challenge, then, is to craft an entirely new approach to dealing with Tel Aviv. It's time to rethink the old assumptions, driven by pro-Israel lobbies and by outdated Cold War strategies, that called for providing Israel with uncritical support, diplomatic impunity, guaranteed military protection, and billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars in military aid."

Larry Aaronson
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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I have witnessed it myself and it is inhuman. Rachel Corrie a USA peace activist killed by Israel with a bulldozer when she tried to protect a Palestinian home left a legacy for billions of humans around the world. So did Nelson Mandela - "We know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians."
-Nelson Mandela
( He was close to Jews, resolutely loyal to Palestinians ) .

Dalia L Tapia
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

Re: Open Letter to `60 Minutes' on Its Africa Reporting

It's about time that CBS and all the other networks are called out for their ignorant and simplistic coverage of "Mother Africa". It is shameful and serves only the interest of who continue to view Africa as a former colonialist holding for western interests.

Sam Mahone
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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Africa , which is the site of the emergence of humans , is also the area that has spared the greatest collection of non-human animals! Talk about ecology !

Aaron Libson

Re: Cesar Chavez, the UFW, and Why Unions are Needed
(posting on Portside Labor)

While Campbell's review of the significant, ever-changing/escalating systemic role of the power structure assault is important, seems to me Campbell misses one of the main messages of critiques of UFW's development.  To successfully confront systemic racism, capital and other anti-worker assaults we must have participatory, evolving and power-based ORGANIZATION based on progressively-defined and strategic self-interest.  Not just movements/mobilizations, not just charismatic or personal leaders, not just imaginative tactics.  

Yes, we workers need allies and an inclusive definition of the working class (that evolves as capitalism evolves), but workers must have our OWN organization(s) working for POWER in which workers develop politically, utilize new skills and ACT COLLECTIVELY to fight and create the justice and peace we deserve.  There is much to learn from the heroic work of the UFW -- what to seize and apply and what to NOT apply, hopefully not in a mechanistic way.  We're responsible to learn from our history as we continue to organize -- that's a part of utilizing dialectics.  

Leanna Noble

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I don't agree with your assessment, at least of the Bardacke book.  I didn't read Pawell or Neuberger so I can't comment on those books.  But Bardacke was not at all minimizing the power of corporate ag to destroy unions.  The point of his book was to help organizers understand the importance of control from below, grassroots organizing, and supporting the power of the masses, not the power of the leaders.  He paints a beautifully detailed picture of the skilled nature of farm work and the potential of farmworkers to control their own union.  I think one of the most damning parts of Bardacke's book is exposing the anti-Mexican immigrant position and behavior of the UFW.  That was appalling.  

Chavez could not see an alliance with "illegals" and that was certainly a short coming.  Finally, Bardacke warns about the responsibility of the people around the leader, the "seconds in command":  they have the duty to confront the leader when they see that the leader is dangerously veering off course.  We need to correct each other early enough to insure that democratic unionism, class struggle from below wins out.  I think you did not characterize Bardacke's book accurately.  He didn't "blame" the UFW for the failures.  He recognized the viscous role of Big Ag.  But he does point out how our organizing can strengthen the working people's movement as much as possible.

Nancy Romer

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DEMAND a MINIMUM WAGE FOR ALL CHINESE WORKERS who make things to be Sold in the United States!!

NO IMPORTS of ANY GOODS Made in China - Which are made by Chinese Workers Who Are Not Paid A MINIMUM WAGE!!

Jim DeMaegt

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Most of those who'll support the celebration will have no idea that this was about unionizing Hispanic workers. Its a pretty big deal here in ABQ...

Doug Richardson
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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I am and have been totally sickened by the treatment of migrant works and agro-farm workers, in general. These human souls work in the most horrendous of conditions, are not afforded breaks or shade from the sun and no facilities...many have died in the circumstances, overcome by heat, exhaustion and dehydration.

I have always been supportive of the efforts created by Cesar Chavez, and the UFW. These are human beings, for gawd's sake...and these dear souls are the ones who put food on our tables, day in and day out, year in and year out and are treated like so much "fodder"...just as our military is treated.

One thing you can say about corporations...they really, really know how to exploit human beings...this is how and why such a nefarious so-called trade agreement as the TPP felt completely confident in the creation of the TPP. More, the fact that we have war criminals running around the country, free as a bird (at least in this country) has, in remarkable measure, been, in part, responsible for letting "the horse out of the barn." What we have done to human beings, domestically, and with our illegal wars, internationally, is just about beyond human belief and, yet, it is so.!

B El Murphy
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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If anyone is entitled to $15.00 an hour.....................

William Poole
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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Chavez's view of undocumented immigrants changed and his statements should be viewed in context, even if they are still distasteful. Towards the later years of his life he was pro-amnesty and spoke of undocumented workers as "brothers and sisters". His initial hostility towards undocumented Mexican workers stemmed from their use as scabs and strikebreakers. This is just a conservative trope that gets pulled out in any conversation about the UFW and Chavez and it doesn't really demonstrate anything, Chavez got a lot of pushback on his position from inside the UFW and evolved in his thinking over time.

Autumn Gonzalez
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

Re: Adjuncts Struggle to Unionize at a Liberal College
(posting on Portside Labor)

I guess it takes someone with a background in "working class studies" to "get it."

Martin Morand, Professor Emeritus
Industrial and Labor Relations, Indiana University of PA

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Good for them - like the many temporary or soft-funded staff at many South African Universities

Di Cooper
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

Re: Feminist Heroes to Teach Kids Their ABCs in Badass New Picturebook

A is for Angela. E is for Ella ... This looks like a wonderful way to introduce kids -- and everyone -- to activist women in U.S. history. Posted at Portside

Rethinking Schools
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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Children can learn feminist history & their ABC's-simultaneously. Great way to empower little girls, & impress upon boys (at that crucial early age) the importance of respecting woman.

David E. Mynott II
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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... cool idea... what is needed now is one about all those women in past history that people don't know about... ie.) suffragettes, etc... need to know the history as well as the present... X)

Kim Mahler
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

Re: Non-Profits Demand Museums Oust Koch For Funding Misinformation on Climate Science

Hello, Lincoln Center? Get with this program!

Melodie Bryant
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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His name is also on PBS - need to get him away from them!

Pat Mitchell
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
 

Re: Cuba Eradicates Syphilis, HIV Transmission to Babies

At the risk of having rocks thrown at me, I must point out that much has been accomplished in Cuba by universal vaccination.

Nora Staffanell
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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excellent public health in Cuba.

Ellen Zaltzberg
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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A place with excellent public health and the most advanced herbal medical science in the Americas.

Lynn DeWeese Parkinson
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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No other country has accomplished this! Cuba Si!

Georgia Wever
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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Damn! Another world IS possible

Kathe Karlson
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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For a country that has gotten the bad rap for so many decades as totalitarian, Communist, etc., it sure has got a lot of things right!

Genevieve Lim
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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Cuba's health service is terrific. When I was there a man in our group became ill, and a doctor and two nurses came to our hotel, took some tests, put in an IV and stayed with him all night. We saw squads of kids patrolling the streets checking peoples yards to ensure there was no standing water (a dengue fever prevention measure). And of course they help other countries enormously.

Alison Flood
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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Caravan leaving NYC for Cuba in early July; please go see for yourself.

Jim Price
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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Independent Cuba Travel Guide: The Essential Vacation for US Citizens

Download PDF here.

Charles Spencer King
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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Cuba accomplished these laudable goals because they have a functioning public health system with no vaccination 'op outs' designed to pander to gullible parents frightened by crock healthcare talking heads.

JL Morris
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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This has nothing to do with vaccines, but with healthcare for profit vs for people.

Benay Blend
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

Re: Annus Mirabilis

Please spare us the historical writings of anyone ignorant enough to write "By the beginning of 1915 the Allied and Axis lines..."  This is the terminology of WWII, not WWI and displays a vast ignorance about the history the author presumes to be explicating.  He knows his own field, Geology, but he is out of his depth when he tries to play historian.

Stan Nadel
 

Re: Banking on Slavery

Wonderful book! I found it one of those more-than-I-wanted-to-know books as I was reading it. Now, I'm glad to have been exposed to every tidbit he added. So much information, so well presented.

Sue Tretter
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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Please read this post, and if/when you can - this remarkable book as well, entitled: The Half Has Never Been Told.

Mildred Williamson
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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That was an interesting and good read. Seems like not much has changed...

Steven Landis Nobles
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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I think people are starting to understand that slavery isn't over, hasn't been over. I wasn't really clear on that myself until the Ferguson report kind of connected the dots.

Jonathan Snow
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

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Another very good book is "Empire of Cotton" by Sven Becker which revealed to me how crucial cotton and slavery were to the development of american technology, industry, wealth....

M Page Baldwin
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

Re: Communists for Austerity
(Posting on Portside Culture)

Knew in the first 5 minutes it was a piece of crap not worth watching.
You can add "Dig" to that also.

It's difficult to decide between the crap and the junk on TV but I'll stick with the junk of Law and Order, Criminal Minds, etc.  They're silly but at least they're entertaining, not infuriating and kill the dead time between dinner and bed time - after, of course, Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy.

Claire Carsman

Re: Billie Holiday and Ethel Rosenberg at 100: Strange Convergence

A short recital (7 selections) honoring the 75th birthday of Ethel Rosenberg, in Sept. 1990, is now posted on youtube.

Helene Williams & I (Leonard Lehrman) were introduced by Al Kutzik, editor of JEWISH AFFAIRS, the magazine for which this was a benefit concert. Richard Corey did the videotaping.

Leonard J. Lehrman

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Thank you PORTSIDE and Robert Meeropol!  I was at the Union Square protest when "we" waited for  Eisenhower  to halt the executions ....and then was a passenger in the sad funeral procession of cars on Queens highways, too clogged for us to reach the grave site.

Some years ago I read Robert Meeropol's book and I also recall meeting him during his speaking visits to Philadelphia.  Meeropol's life work is a tribute to his parents.

Ruth Balter

Resources for Passover from Jewish Voice for Peace

...I wanted to wish  everyone a joyous and liberating Pesach, and pass along a few resources you might want to make use of!

The 2015 JVP Haggadah

The #BlackLivesMatter Haggadah supplement, just put out by Jews for Racial and Economic Justice

Rabbi Brant Rosen's Nakba-themed Haggadah supplement

Rabbi Alissa Wise
Co-Director of Organizing, Jewish Voice for Peace
1611 Telegraph Ave., Suite 1020
Oakland, California 94612 USA
ph: 510-465-1777 x 301

Resource - What's Next for Greece? Debating Syriza's Options

by Joanne Landy and Thomas Harrison
March 24, 2015
The Nation

As the crisis in Greece unfolds, the Campaign for Peace and Democracy (CPD) has prepared forThe Nation magazine a discussion of the options facing Syriza today.

In the weeks following its historic victory in the Greek elections on January 25, 2015, Syriza has been engaged in a bitter struggle. Syriza wants to implement the anti-austerity program it proposed to the Greek people during the election campaign; European elites have declared this to be impossible, and have thrown roadblocks in the way of even the most minimal of the party's promised reforms - going so far as to challenge Syriza's right to give food and restore electricity to the poorest sector of the population in the midst of the country's profound humanitarian crisis.
 
As the conflict between Greece and the International Monetary Fund, European Commission and European Central Bank (the three formerly known as The Troika, now renamed "the institutions") has deepened, Syriza's popularity within Greece has soared. At the same time, however, an intense debate is emerging among Syriza members and supporters as to what strategy to follow in light of the relentless pressure from European leaders, with no immediate prospect of a positive change. The New York-based Campaign for Peace and Democracy, which has been actively engaged in support for the Greek anti-austerity struggle since 2012, organized a public forum held on February 6, 2015 entitled "After the Greek Elections: The Future of Austerity in Greece, Europe and Beyond," with speakers debating different perspectives.
 
CPD now follows the forum with further discussion of Greece's options, beginning with Syriza's 2014 Thessaloniki Program, the basis on which the party campaigned for the January 25th elections, and an overview by Sarah Leonard that provides context for the policy debate, plus nine selected articles representing differing viewpoints. The first by Tom Walker is followed by interviews conducted by Sebastien Budgeon with Stathis Kouvelakis and Costas Lapavitsas. Next are articles by Michael Roberts, Kouvelakis, Barry Finger, James K. Galbraith, and Maria Margaronis. Each article is preceded by a brief introduction and summary. We are grateful to Barry Finger for preparing this introductory material. The articles are followed by links to the report of the Hellenic League for Human Rights documenting the horrific human rights abuses produced by the austerity crisis, and to an extensive ongoing reference list on the Greek situation provided by the Canadian Socialist Project.
 
Readers may find it helpful in understanding the array of technical terms and references to consult a glossary provided here that was featured in the Wall Street Journal.

Read full article here.

The Corporate University & Its Discontents - April 10 - New York

The Law Students for Economic Justice at NYU and the National Lawyers Guild New York City Chapter Labor and Employment Committee cordially invite organizers, scholars, and progressives from around NYC to attend a day-long symposium.

"The Corporate University & Its Discontents"

Friday, April 10, 2015  - noon -- 8:00pm

Vanderbilt 220.-- New York University
40 Washington Square South
New York, NY 10012

The event is free and open to the public.
 
Join attorneys, organizers, students, and workers for a day on the state of higher education and the struggles and successes of campus workers. The discussion will include organizing adjuncts, graduate students, student athletes, and faculty; international-student worker rights; the rights of interns; as well as student debt, university governance, gentrification, and international expansion.

The conference will feature United Steelworkers organizer Dr. Robin Sowards; Saerom Park '11, law fellow at the Service Employees International Union; GSOC-UAW organizer Daniel Aldana Cohen; NYU professors Andrew Ross, Mark Crispin Miller, and Vasuki Nesiah; Debt Collective organizer and writer Ann Larson' Tsedeye Gebreselassie '07, senior staff attorney at the National Employment Law Project; chair of Yale's Graduate Employees and Students Organization Aaron Greenberg; Sean Kennedy, coordinator of advocacy & education at the CUNY Adjunct Project; Outten & Golden partner Juno Turner; and Robert Hiltonsmith, senior policy analyst at Demos, among others.

Registration: Please register ahead of time for the CLE panel by visiting here.

We look forward to seeing you there!

The Climate Ahead in Western New Jersey - April 22 - Earth Day

Anthony J. Broccoli of Rutgers University will be speaking on "The Climate Ahead: Global Changes, Local Impacts"

April 22 - 2:00 pm

Centenary College
Ferry Building - Room 12
Hackettstown, New Jersey

His talk "focuses on the science of climate change, and includes a discussion of the basic physics, global observations of climate change and model projections of future climate. The talk will also discuss some of the potential impacts of the changing climate on our region and will close with a brief discussion of society's options for dealing with change. Members of the community are invited to learn more about this topic and participate in a discussion after the presentation."

The event is free and open to the public. For further information, visit.

Glenn Branch
Deputy Director
National Center for Science Education, Inc.

Source URL: https://portside.org/2015-04-02/tidbits-april-2-2015-mexican-farmworkers-strike-death-penalty-water-privatization