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TIDBITS-JAN. 15- READER COMMENTS: SHOOT FIRST, LIE LATER; U.S. ATTACK
ON VENEZUELA; RESOURCES – POSTERS YOU CAN REPRINT; MINNEAPOLIS MASS
STRIKE JANUARY 23; BUILDING TOWARDS MAY DAY 2026 – FROM NO KINGS TO
MASS ACTION; CONFERENCE ON THE JEWISH LEFT;  
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January 15, 2026
xxxxxx

*
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*
*
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_ Reader Comments: Shoot First, Lie Later; U.S. Attack on Venezuela;
Resources - Posters You Can Reprint; Minneapolis Mass Strike January
23; Building towards May Day 2026 - From No Kings to Mass Action;
Conference on the Jewish Left; Cartoons; more... _

Tidbits - Reader Comments, Resources, Announcements, AND cartoons -
Jan. 15, 2026, xxxxxx

 

* SHOOT FIRST, LIE LATER  --  CARTOON BY JACK OHMAN
* RE: DOJ RESIGNATIONS OVER THE RENEE GOOD SHOOTING CONFIRM OUR
WORST FEARS  (ROBERT LAITE)
* DOMESTIC TERRORIST  --  CARTOON AND COMMENTARY BY ROB ROGERS
* ORPHANED  --  CARTOON BY NICK ANDERSON
* HOW TO HANDLE DANGEROUS ICE  --  CARTOON BY JOE HELLER
* U.S. ATTACK ON VENEZUELA  (MILITARY FAMILIES SPEAK OUT)
* RE: ISRAEL, FROM GENOCIDE TO SELF-DESTRUCTION  (FELICE SAGE)
* RE: A MOVEMENT-BUILDING STRATEGY FOR ALL WORKERS  (JOE BERRY)
* WASHINGTON NATIONAL OPERA LEAVES KENNEDY CENTER  --  CARTOON BY
ANN TELNAES
* RE: SABRINA CARPENTER AND THE CRUEL AUTHORITARIANISM OF TRUMP
 (CATHY DEPPE; xxxxxx MODERATOR RESPONDS)
* MURDERED BY ICE  --  CARTOON BY JESSE DUQUETTE
* RE: WITH VENEZUELA, TRUMP HAS ACHIEVED HIS DREAM OF MAKING HIS OWN
80S ACTION MOVIE  (ROBERT)

.

RESOURCES:

* GOOD/EVIL: CONTRAST AND COMPARE  --  CARTOON - POSTER BY LALO
ALCARAZ
* NO BLOOD FOR OIL! - POSTER OF THE WEEK  (CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF
POLITICAL GRAPHICS)

 

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

* MINNEAPOLIS MASS STRIKE JANUARY 23
* WEBINARS: BUILDING TOWARDS MAY DAY 2026 - FROM NO KINGS TO MASS
ACTION: WHY MAY DAY MATTERS - NEW YORK - FEBRUARY 5 AND 12
* CONFERENCE ON THE JEWISH LEFT - BOSTON - FEBRUARY 12

.SHOOT FIRST, LIE LATER  --  CARTOON BY JACK OHMAN

Jack OhmanJanuary 14, 2026Jack Ohman’s You Betcha!
[[link removed]] 

 

RE: DOJ RESIGNATIONS OVER THE RENEE GOOD SHOOTING CONFIRM OUR WORST
FEARS 

The corruption goes all the way to the top. I hope America can do
something before Trump dissolves their democracy and assumes total
control.

Robert LaitePosted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

 

DOMESTIC TERRORIST  --  CARTOON AND COMMENTARY BY ROB ROGERS 

AG Pam Bondi called the victim shot by an ICE agent in Minneapolis a
domestic terrorist. despite having no information about the woman.
Trump agreed, of course.

Rob RogersJanuary 8, 2026TinyView
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ORPHANED  --  CARTOON BY NICK ANDERSON 

Nick AndersonJanuary 9, 2026Pen Strokes
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HOW TO HANDLE DANGEROUS ICE  --  CARTOON BY JOE HELLER 

Joe HellerJanuary 9, 2026Chicago Tribune
[[link removed]] 

U.S. ATTACK ON VENEZUELA 

Military Families Speak Out Opposes U.S. Attack on Venezuela

Military families across the country are once again devastated by our
loved ones being used as pawns in a military operation that has
nothing to do with their oath to protect country and Constitution and
everything to do with oil markets and asserting dominance in the
Western Hemisphere.

Military Families Speak Out (MFSO) condemns the latest actions
involving Venezuela by President Trump. To violate a country's
airspace, bomb their airports, kill over 80 civilian and military
personnel and kidnap their head of state is a declaration of war, a
criminal kidnapping, and a blatant violation of international law
These actions occurred without Congressional authorization. The
Constitution clearly assigns these powers to Congress. No debate took
place. No vote occurred. The American people were denied a voice.
Untold harm has and will come to the people of Venezuela, and to our
loved ones in uniform.

Two decades ago, the US invaded Iraq, lying about weapons of mass
destruction, and putting our loved ones and the people of Iraq in
harm's way. Today the lies are different but the horrific results will
be the same.

"We military families know firsthand the true cost of war," said MFSO
member Alissa M. "My husband lost a lot of his battle buddies in
Afghanistan and afterward. Some lost limbs, many suffer from PTSD, and
far too many have been lost to suicide. Back then we were told the
mission was to capture terrorists. I can't even imagine the carnage
and moral injury our troops will suffer as a result of being given
orders to invade another country, which is no threat to us, and
control another country's oil."

Military Families Speak Out demands an end to this attempt to overturn
the government of a sovereign nation, using our loved ones as cannon
fodder and threatening the lives of the people of Venezuela. We
demand, and our troops and the American people deserve, lawful orders
grounded in the Constitution and respect for international law.

Congress must immediately reassert its authority over unlawful
military acts and halt military action against Venezuela or any other
sovereign nation. Our troops are not expendable. Their lives and their
sacrifice demand lawful leadership rather than the misuse and abuse
they will suffer being deployed to an unlawful military misadventure.
We've seen this playbook before. We know how this will end. We simply
cannot allow a new generation of service members and the people of
Venezuela to be sacrificed for another illegal, immoral war for oil.

###

Military Families Speak Out (MFSO) is a national organization of
post-9/11 military families founded in 2002, speaking out to prevent
and end the forever wars in the Middle East. MFSO welcomes the voices
of military families speaking out against the misuse and abuse of
service members in today's military misadventures including deploying
the military to U.S. cities and towns, and currently to Venezuela.

Long Beach, CA. January 9, 2026Contact: Pat Alviso, 562-833-8035,
[email protected]

 

RE: ISRAEL, FROM GENOCIDE TO SELF-DESTRUCTION 

Zionism has clearly reached its foreseeable dead end.

Felice SagePosted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]] 

 

RE: A MOVEMENT-BUILDING STRATEGY FOR ALL WORKERS 

David and Peter,

Wonderful article. Thanks so much for doing it.

I wish you had included at least a sentence about the US government's
, usually with AFL and AFL-CIO support, actions in most of the
countries migrants have come from that have made their migration
necessary for them and their families. As socialist unionists, we need
to link the immigration issue with US foreign actions (imperialist
intervention usually) as much as we can, especially at this moment.

Thanks again for writing this.

In solidarity,

Joe Berry

 

WASHINGTON NATIONAL OPERA LEAVES KENNEDY CENTER  --  CARTOON BY ANN
TELNAES 

Another exit from the iconic national arts & culture institution

Ann TelnaesJanuary 12, 2026Open Windows- Ann Telnaes
[[link removed]] 

 

 

RE: SABRINA CARPENTER AND THE CRUEL AUTHORITARIANISM OF TRUMP 

Please share the information about the song and singer on today's
Hartman Report.It was "A Shot They Didn't Have to Take" and so
excellent, but I don't know how tofind it again.

Cathy Deppe

     =====

xxxxxx moderator responds:

Sabrina Carpenter condemns Trump administration's use of lyrics after
Franklin the turtle backlash

Singer responds to ICE post: 'Do not ever involve me or my music to
benefit your inhumane agenda'

Fatima HusseinDecember 2, 2025The Associated Press
[[link removed]] 
Musician Sabrina Carpenter took issue Tuesday with a video montage
depicting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids that used her
music.  (Photo credit:  Jordan Strauss/Invision/The Associated Press
 //  CBC)
Pop singer Sabrina Carpenter and the publisher of the beloved
Canadian children's character Franklin the turtle are disavowing the
Trump administration's use of their music and imagery to support its
agenda.

Responding to the use of her song _Juno_ in a video montage depicting
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids, Carpenter tweeted
Tuesday: "This video is evil and disgusting. Do not ever involve me or
my music to benefit your inhumane agenda."

In the caption for the clip, the White House quoted Carpenter's lyrics
"Have you ever tried this one? Bye-bye."

 

MURDERED BY ICE  --  CARTOON BY JESSE DUQUETTE 

It should be obvious by now that they won’t rest until we’re all
imprisoned or interred.

Jesse DuquetteJanuary 9, 2026misterjesseduquette
[[link removed]] 

 

RE: WITH VENEZUELA, TRUMP HAS ACHIEVED HIS DREAM OF MAKING HIS OWN 80S
ACTION MOVIE

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

I'm more worried he's trying to make his own 1984. If he's got
Venezuela to the south, might as well take Mexico to join everything
up. If he takes Greenland, might as well take Canada. If he takes
Greenland, that's the end of NATO and there will be no way to stop
Putin who won't stop at Ukraine. China will see this and take Taiwan
and both Koreas and probably Australia. If you aren't scared, you
aren't paying attention.

Robert

 

 

 

 

GOOD/EVIL: CONTRAST AND COMPARE  --  CARTOON - POSTER BY LALO
ALCARAZ 

 

Click here for high-resolution big printable versions of these images
available for download.
[[link removed]]

 

NO BLOOD FOR OIL! - POSTER OF THE WEEK  (CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF
POLITICAL GRAPHICS) 

Blood for OilOffset, Circa 2000United States80233

Over the weekend, The Trump administration invaded Caracas, seized
President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores, and killed at
least 80 people in the process. Maduro and Flores are currently
imprisoned in New York charged with “narco-terrorism.” Since the
abduction of Maduro, Trump has announced the U.S. will run Venezuela
and take over its nationalized oil industry.

The hypocrisies and lies are endless:

* In the past, Trump promised an end to an “era of endless
wars,” yet he has launched military strikes on Iran, Nigeria, Yemen,
Iraq, Syria, and Somalia
[[link removed]],
provided aide to Israel’s carpet bombing of Gaza, and has now
performed a regime change in Venezuela, with additional hints that
countries like Colombia, Mexico, Cuba
[[link removed]],
and Greenland
[[link removed]]are
next.
* Since last September, the U.S. government has been bombing boats
in the Caribbean, claiming they were fentanyl-carrying drug boats from
Venezuela. The Trump administration never provided proof to the public
of these claims. Further, though genuine efforts of restorative
justice should be praised, his administration has contradicted its
tough-on-drug-traffickers stance by freeing multiple drug traffickers
[[link removed]],
including:

○ Ross Ulbricht, creator of a “dark web” site used by drug
traffickers called Silk Road;

○ Garnett Gilbert Smith, a Baltimore drug kingpin responsible for
distributing more than 1,000 kg of cocaine in less than two years;

○ Cesar Humberto Lopez-Lario, a high-ranking leader of MS-13;

○ Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, convicted in New
York of narcotrafficking, and sentenced to 45 years in prison before
being pardoned by Trump last month.

* The Trump administration has tried to justify its permission to
“run” Venezuela by arguing that Maduro, as a dictator, doesn’t
align with American values. American values are supposed to include
self-sovereignty and democracy, but this weekend’s acts included
neither. Instead, the Trump administration told oil company executives
about the plan to depose Maduro before it happened
[[link removed]],
while Congress knew nothing about it. Moreover, Trump actively
supports and befriends other dictators, like Vladimir Putin, Viktor
Orbán, Javier Milei, and Mohammed bin Salman. Like the Bush
administration’s invasion of Iraq, this is not about democracy or
justice, it’s about controlling foreign oil for profit.

The administration’s focus on narco-terrorism, deflects from a
bigger issue. China is currently doing more trade with Latin American
than the U.S. Trump’s attack on Venezuela sends a warning message to
China to stay out of “our” backyard. There is a also a domestic
intent: deflect attention from released Epstein files which tie the
president to Jeffrey Epstein, a human trafficker, child sex offender,
and serial rapist.PG's Poster of the Week, made during the invasion of
Iraq, reminds us of what happens when the U.S. government pretends to
“fix” other countries while profiting off their oil reserves. The
peoples of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya continue to suffer from
American warfare in the name of oil.

_NO MORE BLOOD FOR OIL!_

_NO MORE U.S. IMPERIALISM!_

References

* A Timeline of the US Military's buildup and strikes against
Venezuela leading to Maduro's Capture | Associated Press
[[link removed]] 
* SPECIAL REPORT ON VENEZUELA: U.S. KIDNAPS MADURO, TRUMP SAYS "WE
ARE GOING TO RUN" OIL-RICH NATION | DEMOCRACY NOW
[[link removed]] 
* TRUMP'S MOVE FOR REGIME CHANGE IN VENEZUELA THREATENS A NEW MAGA
RIFT | THE NEW YORK TIMES
[[link removed]] 
* MADURO FACES DRUG CHARGES IN U.S. EVEN AS TRUMP FREED OTHERS
CONVICTED OF TRAFFICKING | NPR
[[link removed]] 
* 7 TAKEAWAYS FROM TRUMP'S INCURSION INTO VENEZUELA | OPB
[[link removed]] 
* TRUMP SPOKE WITH 'BASICALLY' ALL OIL COMPANIES BEFORE MADURO'S
ARREST | ABC
[[link removed]] 
* LATIN AMERICA SILENT AS TRUMP MENACES CUBA, COLOMBIA AND MEXICO |
POLITICO
[[link removed]] 
* AFTER VENEZUELA OPERATION, TRUMP SAYS THE WHOLE HEMISPHERE IS IN
PLAY | POLITICO
[[link removed]] 
* TRUMP SUGGESTS U.S. COULD TAKE ACTION AGAINST MORE COUNTRIES | THE
NEW YORK TIMES
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* PRESIDENT TRUMP COMMUTES SENTENCE OF BALTIMORE DRUG TRAFFICKER |
WBAI
[[link removed]] 
* DONALD TRUMP'S OTHER GOAL IN THE VENEZUELA STRIKE WAS TO GET CHINA
OUT OF LATIN AMERICA | ABC
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* MADURO'S CAPTURE THREATENS CHINA'S AMBITIONS IN LATIN AMERICA |
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
[[link removed]] 

CLICK HERE TO SUPPORT CSPG WITH A FINANCIAL DONATION
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CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF POLITICAL GRAPHICS
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103/104CULVER CITY, CA 90230

 

MINNEAPOLIS MASS STRIKE JANUARY 23 

 

WEBINARS: BUILDING TOWARDS MAY DAY 2026 - FROM NO KINGS TO MASS
ACTION: WHY MAY DAY MATTERS - NEW YORK - FEBRUARY 5 AND 12

 

Feb 5 webinar: "From No Kings to Mass Action: Why May Day Matters"

 

Feb 12 webinar: "Tax the Rich! Fund the Affordability Agenda!"

Billionaires are stealing from working families, destroying our
democracy, and building private armies to attack our towns and cities.

Just like any bad boss, the way we stop the takeover is with
continued, escalating collective action. May Day Strong is a national
network of labor, community and tenant organizations working together
to rise up and stop the billionaire takeover–not just through the
ballot box or the courts, but through building a bigger and stronger
movement.

May Day Strong is holding schools in 30+ cities around the country
over the next few months to plan for May Day 2026 actions and beyond.

 

 

 

CONFERENCE ON THE JEWISH LEFT - BOSTON - FEBRUARY 12 

 

Founded in 2024, Boston University’s annual “Conference on the
Jewish Left” gathers together scholars, students, and global
partners of the Jewish left. At a time when foundational principles of
justice and democracy are under attack, the conference provides an
educational space to bridge the academic-community divide, and to
explore the Jewish left’s values, institutions, and impact. The
conference aims to tackle pressing public questions and to empower the
next generation of leaders to make a real-world difference in the
critical challenges facing humanity and the earth today.

_Date: Thursday, February 12, 2026_

_Location (unless otherwise noted): George Sherman Union • Boston
University • 775 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston._

_Attendees can register to attend the conference in-person or via
livestream._

Schedule

9 – 9:10 • Welcoming Remarks by Jeremy Menchik

9:10 – 10:00 • Keynote AddressSpeaker: Peter BeinartDiscussant:
Marjorie Feld

10:20 – 11:10 • Morning Workshops (online or in-person)

11:30 – 12:20Speaker: Dove KentDiscussant: Ian Lustick

12:20 – 1:30 • Lunch_A prayer by Rabbi Greg Hersh will be followed
by lunch and an organizational showcase._

1:30 – 2:20Speaker: Arielle AngelDiscussant: Liana Krupp

2:40 – 3:30 • Afternoon Workshops (online or on-person)

3:50 – 4:40Speaker: Fadi QuranDiscussant: Michael Zank

4:40 – 5:00 • Closing Plenary led by Shaul Magid

5:15 – 7:00 PM • Closing Reception_Join us at the Howard Thurman
Center, 808 Commonwealth Ave, Brookline, for live music and light
appetizers. A cash bar will be available. _

REGISTER
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SPEAKER AND WORKSHOP LEADER BIOS
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WORKSHOPS
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For updates, subscribe to the Conference newsletter:

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Sponsors: 

_Anonymous Donor_

_Boston University Center for the Humanities_
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_BU Center on Forced Displacement_ [[link removed]]

_BU Middle East and North Africa Initiative_
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_Center for Critical Research on Religion_
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_Concerned Jewish Faculty & Staff_
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_GRALTA Foundation_ [[link removed]]

_Krupp Family Foundation_ [[link removed]]

_Sobelstein Giving_ 

* Reader Comments
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