[[link removed]]

TIDBITS- JUNE 5-READER COMMENTS: FREEDOM FLOTILLA SETS SAIL; THAT’S
ANTISEMITISM; WHAT WOULD RECOGNIZING PALESTINE REALLY MEAN; RFK JR.
BROKE 60 YEARS OF VACCINE DECISION-MAKING; THE UPSIDE-DOWN PRIORITIES
OF HOUSE BUDGET – THE BLACK LEFT & LABOR…  
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June 12, 2025
xxxxxx

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_ Reader Comments: Freedom Flotilla Sets Sail; That's Antisemitism;
What Would Recognizing Palestine Really Mean; RFK Jr. Broke 60 Years
of Vaccine Decision-Making; The Upside-Down Priorities of House Budget
- The Black Left & Labor: What are we doing _

June 5, 2025-Reader Comments, Resources, Announcements, Cartoons,
xxxxxx

 

* THAT'S ANTISEMITISM  --  CARTOON BY DR. JAMES MACLEOD
* TACO  --  CARTOON AND COMMENTARY BY ROB ROGERS
* FREEDOM FLOTILLA SETS SAIL FOR GAZA CARRYING AID AND DEMANDS:
‘END BLOCKADE. END GENOCIDE’  (ROB PRINCE)
* WHAT WOULD RECOGNIZING PALESTINE REALLY MEAN?  (DANIEL MILLSTONE;
NORA LAPIN; SARITO CAROL NEIMAN)
* CASH ONLY  --  CARTOON BY MIKE LUCKOVICH
* HOW RFK JR. BROKE 60 YEARS OF VACCINE DECISION-MAKING PROCESS
 (AARON STEPHENS)
* DEPOSIT BRIBE, CHOOSE GRIFT! IT’S THAT EASY WITH MAGA’S NEW
CORRUPT-O-MATIC®  --  CARTOON BY LALO ALCARAZ
* TRUMP’S NEW ‘GOLD STANDARD’ RULE WILL DESTROY AMERICAN
SCIENCE AS WE KNOW IT  (ELEANOR ROOSEVELT)
* LINDA MCMAHON UNSURE IF TEACHING BLACK HISTORY FLOUTS TRUMP’S
ANTI-DEI POLICY  (GAYLE MATTHEWS MARTZ)
* WORD GETS AROUND  --  CARTOON BY DAVID COHEN
* TRUMP PARDONS DRUG KINGPINS EVEN AS HE ESCALATES U.S. DRUG WAR
RHETORIC  (KAREN LEE WALD)
* ELIZABETH GURLEY FLYNN REMINDS US HOW CIVIL LIBERTIES AND
COLLECTIVE ACTION GO HAND IN HAND  (ELAINE HARGER)
* SEEKING NEW FOODS, SCIENTISTS LOOK TO BACTERIA, ALGAE, AND MORE
 (HELEN FINKELSTEIN)

.
 

RESOURCES:

* THE UPSIDE-DOWN PRIORITIES OF HOUSE BUDGET: ADDING SIGNIFICANTLY
TO DEBT WHILE REDUCING INCOMES FOR BOTTOM 40% - AN OPEN LETTER FROM
SIX NOBEL LAUREATE ECONOMISTS  (DARON ACEMOGLU; PETER DIAMOND; OLIVER
HART; SIMON JOHNSON; PAUL KRUGMAN; JOSEPH STIGLITZ / ECONOMIC POLICY
INSTITUTE)

.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:

*
THE BLACK LEFT & LABOR: WHAT ARE WE DOING?  --  WEBINAR  --  
(M4BL | NBWC | EAT | LNS)

*
WHAT'S NEXT FOR ROJAVA AND KURDISH FREEDOM MOVEMENT?  --  WEBINAR
 --   (EMERGENCY COMMITTEE FOR ROJAVA)

*

 

THAT'S ANTISEMITISM  --  CARTOON BY DR. JAMES MACLEOD

Dr. James MacLeod
June 2, 2025
MacLeodCartoons 
[[link removed]]

 

 

TACO  --  CARTOON AND COMMENTARY BY ROB ROGERS

 

Trump was offended when a reporter asked him about his new
tariff/trade nickname, "TACO". It stands for Trump Always Chickens Out
(when it comes to trade). For a guy who regularly gives people cruel
and offensive nicknames, Trump sure has a thin skin. Or is that a soft
shell?

Rob Rogers
June 3, 2025
TinyView [[link removed]]

 

FREEDOM FLOTILLA SETS SAIL FOR GAZA CARRYING AID AND DEMANDS: ‘END
BLOCKADE. END GENOCIDE’

Here is an example of principle, courage, and concern for fate of
earth, fate of humanity all rapped up in one young woman who has
proven she's a lot more than a media icon.

Rob Prince

 

WHAT WOULD RECOGNIZING PALESTINE REALLY MEAN?
 

IMO, obviously, there are but two solutions to Israeli-Palestinian
conflict. A single, binational state with liberty and justice for all
or two states. Will either emerge from current carnage? Judging by
past? No. Here, via xxxxxx, an essay laying out what a two-state
solution might look like.

Daniel Millstone
Post on Facebook

      =====

I admire Peter Beinhart who calls for a one state solution. But you
would obviously need to get rid of Netanyahu to do that.

Nora Lapin
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

      =====

It's a bit late for all that, apparently.

Poll: 82% of Israelis want to expel Palestinians from Gaza; 47% want
to kill every man, woman, child

A poll found 82% of full citizens of Israel want to expel Palestinians
from Gaza. 47% want to kill every single man, woman, and child. Ex PM
Ehud Olmert said Israel is waging a "war of extermination".

  
 [link removed]

Sarito Carol Neiman

 

CASH ONLY  --  CARTOON BY MIKE LUCKOVICH

 

Mike Luckovich
May 29, 2025
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
[[link removed]]

 

HOW RFK JR. BROKE 60 YEARS OF VACCINE DECISION-MAKING PROCESS

 

Mr. Death. Angel of Death.

Aaron Stephens
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

 

DEPOSIT BRIBE, CHOOSE GRIFT! IT’S THAT EASY WITH MAGA’S NEW
CORRUPT-O-MATIC®  --  CARTOON BY LALO ALCARAZ

 

Lalo Alcaraz
May 31, 2025
[link removed]
[[link removed]]

 

TRUMP’S NEW ‘GOLD STANDARD’ RULE WILL DESTROY AMERICAN SCIENCE
AS WE KNOW IT
 

Remember "Aryan science?" Same deal. Call them what they are.

Eleanor Roosevelt

 

LINDA MCMAHON UNSURE IF TEACHING BLACK HISTORY FLOUTS TRUMP’S
ANTI-DEI POLICY
 

McMahon has no clue about education. She's just another worthless
appointee from Trump administration.

Gayle Matthews Martz

 

WORD GETS AROUND  --  CARTOON BY DAVID COHEN

 

David Cohen
June 1, 2025
David Cohen  [[link removed]]

 

TRUMP PARDONS DRUG KINGPINS EVEN AS HE ESCALATES U.S. DRUG WAR
RHETORIC
 

Does it occur to anyone else that reason drug kingpins and big time
dealers are getting released at a greater rate than other prisoners is
that they have more money— lots more— to spend  paying lobbyists
and others??

Karen Lee Wald

 

ELIZABETH GURLEY FLYNN REMINDS US HOW CIVIL LIBERTIES AND COLLECTIVE
ACTION GO HAND IN HAND
 

EGF makes a cameo appearance in _The Cold Millions_ by Jess Walter, a
Spokane author. She's not forgotten here!

Elaine Harger

 

SEEKING NEW FOODS, SCIENTISTS LOOK TO BACTERIA, ALGAE, AND MORE

(posting on xxxxxx Culture
[[link removed]])
 

The new foods described in article all require machinery running on a
power source. That would put them out of reach for poorest people, and
also contribute to climate crisis. But a field of grain or a pasture
for livestock are solar-powered.

Helen Finkelstein

 

THE UPSIDE-DOWN PRIORITIES OF HOUSE BUDGET: ADDING SIGNIFICANTLY TO
DEBT WHILE REDUCING INCOMES FOR BOTTOM 40% - AN OPEN LETTER FROM SIX
NOBEL LAUREATE ECONOMISTS

 

Economic Policy Institute
[[link removed]]

As economists who have devoted our careers to researching how
economies can grow and how the benefits of this growth can be
translated into broadly shared prosperity and security, we have grave
concerns about the budget reconciliation bill passed by the U.S. House
of Representatives on May 22, 2025.

The most acute and immediate damage stemming from this bill would be
felt by the millions of American families losing key safety net
protections like Medicaid and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program (SNAP) benefits. The Medicaid cuts constitute a sad step
backward in the nation’s commitment to providing access to health
care for all. Proponents of the House bill often claim that these
Medicaid cuts can be achieved simply by imposing work reporting
requirements on healthy, working-age adults. But healthy, working-age
adults are by definition not heavy consumers of health spending, so
achieving the budgeted Medicaid cuts will obviously harm others as
well.

Medicaid provides health insurance coverage for low-income Americans,
but this includes paying out-of-pocket health costs for low-income
retired Medicare recipients and providing nursing home and in-home
care services for elderly Americans. Medicaid also covers 41% of all
births
[[link removed]] in
the United States, including over 50% of all births in Louisiana,
Mississippi, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. Work reporting requirements
will obviously yield no savings from these Medicaid functions.

Besides providing affordable health care to families, Medicaid is also
crucial to state budgets and hospital systems throughout the
country—particularly in rural areas. In 2023, the federal
government sent $615 billion
[[link removed]] to
state governments to cover Medicaid spending; this federal
contribution accounted for over 75% of total state Medicaid spending
[[link removed]] in
more than 19 states. Rural hospitals in states that accepted the
Medicaid expansion that was part of the Affordable Care Act were 62%
less likely to close
[[link removed]] than
rural hospitals in non-expansion states.

In addition to Medicaid, the House bill also significantly cuts SNAP.
These steep cuts to the social safety net are being undertaken to
defray the staggering cost of the tax cuts included in the House bill,
including the hidden cost of preserving the large corporate income
tax cut [[link removed]] passed in
the 2017 tax law. But even these sharp spending cuts will pay for far
less than half
[[link removed]] of the
tax cuts (not even including the cost of maintaining the corporate
income tax cuts of the 2017 law).

U.S. structural deficits are already too high, with real debt service
payments approaching their historic highs in the past year. The House
bill layers $3.8 trillion in additional tax cuts ($5.3 trillion if all
provisions are made permanent
[[link removed]]) on top
of these existing fiscal gaps—and these tax cuts are
overwhelmingly tilted toward the highest-income households
[[link removed]].
Even with the safety net cuts, the House bill leads to public debt
rising by over $3 trillion in coming years (and over $5 trillion over
the next decade if provisions are made permanent rather than phasing
out). The higher debt and deficits will put noticeable upward pressure
on both inflation and interest rates in coming years.

The combination of cuts to key safety net programs like Medicaid and
SNAP and tax cuts disproportionately benefiting higher-income
households means that the House budget constitutes an extremely large
upward redistribution of income
[[link removed]].
Given how much this bill adds to the U.S. debt, it is shocking that it
still imposes absolute losses on the bottom 40% of U.S households
[[link removed]] (if
some of the fiscal cost is absorbed in future bills with extremely
high and broad tariffs, the share of households seeing absolute
losses
[[link removed]] will
increase rapidly).

The United States has a number of pressing economic challenges to
address, many of which require a greater level of state capacity to
navigate—capacity that will be eroded by large tax cuts. The House
bill addresses none of the nation’s key economic challenges usefully
and exacerbates many of them. The Senate should refuse to pass this
bill and start over from scratch on the budget.

Join EPI's open letter from economists rejecting destructive
reconciliation bill [[link removed]]

Please note: This letter is intended to be exclusively for individual
economists to lend their name to opposing this bill. In form below, we
ask for some identifying details in order to help verify your
identity. Thanks for your patience with extra steps - it's important
to try to avoid anyone signing on using your public email without your
permission!

 

THE BLACK LEFT & LABOR: WHAT ARE WE DOING?  --  WEBINAR  --  
(M4BL | NBWC | EAT | LNS)

 

JUN 12, 2025 06:00 PM EDT

Join us as we create a space to name tensions in our movement,
confront our conditions, and get clear on how we fight, escalate, and
organize in a time of deep political and economic upheaval.

We’re not just reflecting—we’re strategizing.

Let’s identify gaps—and turn them into action.

 

WHAT'S NEXT FOR ROJAVA AND KURDISH FREEDOM MOVEMENT?  --  WEBINAR
 --   (EMERGENCY COMMITTEE FOR ROJAVA)

 

Recent events throughout Kurdistan have opened up dramatic new
possibilities for the future of Rojava and the broader Kurdish freedom
movement. Between the fall of Assad, inter-Kurdish unity talks, the
formal dissolution of the PKK, and direct political negotiations in
both Syria and Turkey, the future remains uncertain as the regional
balance of forces shifts, and all parties come to the negotiating
table.

Will the DAANES solidify its gains and secure its autonomy in
negotiations with Damascus? Will Kurds finally win political rights
within Turkey? Will fragile ceasefires hold?

To discuss these questions, and much more, we are hosting a
conversation with Meghan Bodette, Director of Research at the Kurdish
Peace Institute, who will be joining us on the ground in Kurdistan to
offer updates and answer questions.

RSVP here to attend!
[[link removed]]

If you'd like to support Emergency Committee for Rojava or learn more
about Rojava, visit our website, defendrojava.org
[[link removed]], or email us at [email protected].

* Freedom Flotilla
[[link removed]]
* Gaza
[[link removed]]
* Israel
[[link removed]]
* Palestine
[[link removed]]
* Israel-Gaza War
[[link removed]]
* Israel-Palestine
[[link removed]]
* Genocide
[[link removed]]
* war crimes
[[link removed]]
* Humanitarian Aid
[[link removed]]
* Antisemitism
[[link removed]]
* Donald Trump
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* Trump 2.0
[[link removed]]
* RFK jr.
[[link removed]]
* House Budget
[[link removed]]
* GOP Budget
[[link removed]]
* Trump Budget
[[link removed]]
* Reconciliation Bill
[[link removed]]
* black labor movement
[[link removed]]
* Elizabeth Gurley Flynn
[[link removed]]
* Rojava
[[link removed]]
* Kurdistan
[[link removed]]
* Turkey
[[link removed]]
* Cartoons
[[link removed]]
* resources
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* economists
[[link removed]]
* Announcements
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*
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INTERPRET THE WORLD AND CHANGE IT

 

 

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