[ Reader Comments: Trump Ethics; Labor and Medicare Privatization;
Franco Harris and the Anti-Vietnam War Movement; 9 to 5 and Organizing
Woman Workers; GOPs "Santos Clause"; 2023 AFL-CIO Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr. Civil and Human Rights Conference]
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TIDBITS – DEC. 29, 2022 – READER COMMENTS: TRUMP ETHICS;
LABOR’S MEDICARE PRIVATIZATION; FRANCO HARRIS AND VIETNAM PEACE
MOVEMENT; 9 TO 5, ORGANIZING WOMAN WORKERS; GOP’S SANTOS CLAUSE;
AFL-CIO DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. CIVIL AND HUMAN RIGHTS CONF  
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December 29, 2022
xxxxxx
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*
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*
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*
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_ Reader Comments: Trump Ethics; Labor and Medicare Privatization;
Franco Harris and the Anti-Vietnam War Movement; 9 to 5 and Organizing
Woman Workers; GOP's "Santos Clause"; 2023 AFL-CIO Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr. Civil and Human Rights Conference _

Tidbits - Reader Comments, Announcements AND cartoons - Dec. 29,
2022, xxxxxx

 

* RE: TRUMP'S WHITE HOUSE 'ETHICS' LAWYER IS IN VERY BIG TROUBLE
(KRISTIN LEMS)
* A CHRISTMAS WISH
* RE: LABOR LEADERS PROVIDE COVER FOR PRIVATIZATION OF MEDICARE
(ELEANOR ROOSEVELT)
* RE: NEW YORK ENACTS WAREHOUSE WORKER PROTECTIONS TARGETING AMAZON
(CELESTE SULIIN BURRIS)
* RE: BUILDING A COLLECTIVE MOVEMENT FOR PUBLIC TRANSIT (NORM
LITTLEJOHN)

OUR PEOPLE'S HISTORY REMEMBERED:

* FRANCO HARRIS AND THE ANTI-VIETNAM WAR MOVEMENT (DANIEL ROSENBERG)

* RE: THE 9 TO 5 MOVEMENT: HOW WOMEN GOT ANGRY, GOT ORGANIZED AND
MADE LABOR HISTORY (ELEANOR ROOSEVELT; NOREEN CONNELL; NORA LAPIN;
RACHELLE KIVANOSKI)

* NEW YORK'S GOP CONGRESSMAN GEORGE SANTOS: CATCH HIM IF YOU CAN  --
CARTOON BY LALO ALCARAZ
* "I AM NOT A CRIMINAL, I AM A REPUBLICAN"
* RE: NETANYAHU CONSISTENTLY PROMISED VOTERS A “FULL-FLEDGED
RIGHT-WING GOVERNMENT” (BRANDON MOUSER; DAN TEIGEN)
* RE: STUDY TIES ABORTION RESTRICTIONS TO ‘SIGNIFICANT’ JUMP IN
SUICIDE RATES FOR YOUNG WOMEN (CHARLES)
* RE: HOW DANGEROUS ARE THE REICHSBÜRGER? (DAVID BERGER)
* RE: GUINEA-BISSAU’S LIBERATION STRUGGLE TRANSFORMED THE FACE OF
WORLD POLITICS (BILL HANSEN)
* RE: FUSION ENERGY: THE NUCLEAR WEAPONS CONNECTION (DAN MORGAN)
* RE: MUSSOLINI IN MYTH AND MEMORY (JEFF KERR-RITCHIE)
* RE: CAN THE LEFT DISAGREE WITHOUT BEING DISAGREEABLE? (ETHAN
YOUNG)
* TRAGIC DELAYS  -- CARTOON BY ROB ROGERS
* RE: A WORKING-CLASS CHRISTMAS STORY CHRISTMAS (KIPP DAWSON; GINNY
ANTRIM; MIKE DOVER)
* RE: xxxxxx MODERATORS’ CRYSTAL BALL 2023 (SANDY EATON)
* RE: A GROUP OF RATS IS REFERRED TO AS A MISCHIEF (BARBARA FOLEY)
* LET IT SNOW  --  CARTOON BY MIKE STANFILL

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

* 2023 AFL-CIO DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. CIVIL AND HUMAN RIGHTS
CONFERENCE - WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 13 - 16

 

RE: TRUMP'S WHITE HOUSE 'ETHICS' LAWYER IS IN VERY BIG TROUBLE
 

(posted on Friday Nite Videos
[[link removed]])

In case we think that our effect is limited or short term, look at
what 26 year old  is limited or short term, look at what Cassidy
Hutchinson did, reading a book that was 50 years old, three times, and
contacting its author, as she decided what was the right thing to do.
This is so moving!!!

[[link removed]]

Kristin Lems

 

A CHRISTMAS WISH

 

 

RE: LABOR LEADERS PROVIDE COVER FOR PRIVATIZATION OF MEDICARE
 

Name anything that has ever been improved by "privatization."

Eleanor Roosevelt
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

 

RE: NEW YORK ENACTS WAREHOUSE WORKER PROTECTIONS TARGETING AMAZON

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

Well, if Amazon says they don’t have quotas, why would they have a
problem with a law regulating quotas?

Celeste Suliin Burris
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

RE: BUILDING A COLLECTIVE MOVEMENT FOR PUBLIC TRANSIT

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

“Free Transit Ottawa (FTO) had its first meeting in February 2020,
bringing together transit users and workers, union members, students,
and climate activists. Their goal, at the time, was to get people to
sign a petition supporting both free transit and adding members of the
public to the board of the OC Transpo transit agency.

“... what they accomplished offers interesting lessons for folks
trying to build strong movements to improve transit in their own
communities.”

Norm Littlejohn
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

 

FRANCO HARRIS AND THE ANTI-VIETNAM WAR MOVEMENT

 

Daniel Rosenberg

December 25, 2022

Famed Pittsburgh Steelers football running back Franco Harris died
recently. Among his other noteworthy activities may be counted his
staunch support of the professional players’ union. We were fellow
students at Pennsylvania State University in the early 70s. Penn State
was then an “independent” within the National Collegiate Athletic
Association: it did not belong to a league, like the Atlantic Coast
Conference, the Big 10, or others. Its coach was the well-known Joe
Paterno (a Brooklynite like me), later notorious for turning a blind
eye to sexual abuse on the team. Its schedule tended to be lopsided,
regularly playing weak teams like the University of Maryland and the
Naval Academy. The “Nittany Lions" would shamelessly run up the
score against them, scoring 70 or more points at times. The Lion
mascot would run onto the field after every touchdown and do as many
push-ups as Penn State had points. Harris belonged to a trio of stars
on the offensive side of the ball, which included the then better
known halfback Lydell Mitchell and quarterback John Hufnagel. Harris
was often hurt, and missed a good number of games. As a pro however,
he greatly exceeded the achievements of Hufnagel and Mitchell.

In May 1972, President Richard Nixon ordered new bombings of the
Vietnamese capital Hanoi, as well as a blockade of all ports in the
Socialist Republic of Vietnam. This precipitated numerous
demonstrations. I was part of one that turned into a peace march. It
began fairly early in the morning with a vigil outside the building
where the university conduced military research. The march gathered
and grew spontaneously. In the very front of it was a burly man on
crutches wearing a red sweatshirt. Thousands of students joined the
march. The state police came out with teargas. The demonstrators in
the front took the brunt, including the man in the red sweatshirt. I
was further back, but inhaled my share as well. There were arrests.

Perhaps a thousand students and faculty straggled into the student
union building to take stock. Suddenly a student came running into the
hall carrying a note, which made its way to the stage. The presiding
student read it out to the crowd: an assassination attempt had been
made on presidential candidate George C. Wallace, racist pro-war
governor of Alabama. A cheer arose, then died in mid-stream. The man
with the sweatshirt, who had been sitting in a corner table diagonally
across the room from me, rose to his feet, crutches in hand. Someone
handed him a microphone. He began to speak. He was indignant. It was
foolish, he shouted, to applaud this assault on Wallace’s life. He
continued: this was just what the rightwingers wanted, a provocation,
another excuse to libel and slander the peace movement. Get it
together, he said to the students: focus. Concentrate on protesting
the escalation of the war.

I turned to a student standing next to me. I asked, “who is this
guy?” “Him?” he replied. That’s Franco Harris. I asked: Franco
Harris, the fullback. Yes it was.

 

RE: THE 9 TO 5 MOVEMENT: HOW WOMEN GOT ANGRY, GOT ORGANIZED AND MADE
LABOR HISTORY

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

Let's not forget that working-class women were in the workforce far
more than half a century ago -- thousands of female factory workers in
the food processing and manufacturing fields were very active in the
labor movement long before the 1970s. If you want a female labor hero,
look up the story of Genora Johnson Dollinger and the UAW Women's
Emergency Battalion of 1937. They fought in the streets with clubs and
blackjacks, and won.

Eleanor Roosevelt
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

      =====

Enjoyed Ellen Cassidy’s history of women advocacy for rights in the
work place. But sex segregated job ads didn’t just “disappear.”
The National Organization for Women sued the New York Times and other
papers about this practice and pressured the EEOC to take action. Also
not mentioned was NOW’s multi-year involvement in challenging Sears
practice of paying commissions to its sales staff based on gender.

Noreen Connell

      =====

Back in the 70s I wrote one of the first articles about 9 to 5 for a
magazine called Working Mother

Nora Lapin
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
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      =====

This is a good article, but I am surprised there was no mention of the
decades long drive to organize nurses, a clearly women dominated
workforce. Some unions like 1199 and UFT have focused resources on
recruiting nurses, while the predominant approach has been separate
organizations like National Nurses United or NYState Nurses
association (NYSNA) and many other local associations. Despite most
being afflicted with a separatist notion of “professionalism”,
they have not only advanced wages and benefits for nurses but also
fought and even went on strike for issues that profoundly affect the
quality of patient care such as staffing ratios. Some nurses also
address the glaring class and racial inequities in health care. These
are critical issues for society and unionizing nurses should not be
overlooked.

Rachelle Kivanoski
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

 

NEW YORK'S GOP CONGRESSMAN GEORGE SANTOS: CATCH HIM IF YOU CAN  --
CARTOON BY LALO ALCARAZ

 

Lalo Alcaraz
[[link removed]]
December 28, 2022

 

"I AM NOT A CRIMINAL, I AM A REPUBLICAN"

 

KaiKai
December 28, 2022
Retweeted by Lalo Alcaraz
[[link removed]]

 

RE: NETANYAHU CONSISTENTLY PROMISED VOTERS A “FULL-FLEDGED
RIGHT-WING GOVERNMENT”
 

Any society that lets a leader like Netanyahu remain in power this
long has explicitly lost its way. The fact that most Israelis
celebrate this guy and he faces hardly any opposition is horrifying.

Brandon Mouser
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
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      =====

Everyone loves Banksy, until bodies pile up from charging headlong
into a concrete surf scene…

Dan Teigen
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
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RE: STUDY TIES ABORTION RESTRICTIONS TO ‘SIGNIFICANT’ JUMP IN
SUICIDE RATES FOR YOUNG WOMEN
 

Seems rather obvious.  More than a few predicted this would actually
happen, but no, the anti-abortion / "pro-life" nutcase fanatics can't
process anything outside their rigid, tiny little box that their
thoughts (such as they are) are confined to.  

Never confuse people with the facts . . .

Charles
Sebastopol  CA

 

RE: HOW DANGEROUS ARE THE REICHSBÜRGER?
 

The only good nazi is in the ER, the ICU or the grave.

David Berger
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

 

RE: GUINEA-BISSAU’S LIBERATION STRUGGLE TRANSFORMED THE FACE OF
WORLD POLITICS
 

The essay by Rui Lopes and Vic Barros is a weak example of what I can
only refer to as revolutionary romanticism. Amilcar Cabral was,
indeed, a remarkable example of revolutionary heroism and theoretical
brilliance. I am 83 years old and I clearly remember his influence
that radiated far beyond his small redoubt on Africa's West Coast.

However, this essay begins with the following statement: Today,
Western media reports frequently present Guinea-Bissau as a “failed
state” with a “narco-economy.” These disparaging labels strip
the country out of its context in the global economic system and erase
the legacy of European colonialism and the Cold War, giving the false
impression that its problems are self-generated.

By referring to Cabral's heroism and brilliance and concentrating on
the period prior to his assassination in 1973, it does nothing to
refute the above quote. GB is, in fact, a failed state. That simple
fact neither detracts from Cabral's memory nor should it obscure the
fact that GB is, a half century later, run by a bunch of parasites and
predators. The fact that these scumbags are aided in their endeavors
by various international agents, should not detract from the essential
fact that they remain parasites, predators and scumbags.

Bill Hansen

 

RE: FUSION ENERGY: THE NUCLEAR WEAPONS CONNECTION
 

Beware of writers with an agenda who miss out important details. Yes,
tritium is radioactive - but it has a half-life of only 12 years,
Wikipedia tells me. So it has no comparison with the pŕoducts of
nuclear fission technology, with half-lives of thousands of years.

Dan Morgan
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

 

RE: MUSSOLINI IN MYTH AND MEMORY
 

I think some historians are more fascinated by dictators and
authoritarian regimes than the masses. Look at 2022. The French voters
delivered their usual rebuke to Maria Le Pen’s sugar-coated bigotry.
A leftist ex-convict defeated the massive state apparatus of the
rightist ex-military man in Rio de Janeiro. Voters in the US mid-terms
showed disdain, largely, for the alt vision of demagoguery and armed
violence in thousands of local elections. Even the new Italian
president’s embrace of a fierce Italian nationalism reminiscent of
Il Duce does not square with her quiet whispers to Brussels (Italy
needs economic support) as well as louder embrace of NATO over
Putin’s invasion. Indeed, what is striking is that regimes in
Budapest, Moscow, Tehran, and elsewhere seem less powerful internally,
and more isolated internationally, now that twelve months ago. 

Jeff Kerr-Ritchie,
Durham, NC 

 

RE: CAN THE LEFT DISAGREE WITHOUT BEING DISAGREEABLE?
 

Brother Vijay wants leftys to get along, but he has his banner, which
he waves hard. Fair enough. He is a drum major for the tendency that
sees the invasion of Ukraine; the suppression of Uyghurs, and
Hongkongers who don't identify with Xi's direction; whether Syria's
Assad regime has murdered masses of people, etc., as secondary to
supporting a bloc of governments that challenge US/Western European
hegemony. The left is split over this, and IMO the most hostile,
irresponsible takedowns are coming from his side, aimed at those who
actively point out the concurrent corruption and authoritarianism in
US/NATO and BRICS. I hope his comment here reaches the ears of the
individuals, coalitions and groups who pounce on leftys who argue that
Putin Russia is the primary culprit in a devastating attack on
sovereignty and world peace.

Ethan Young
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

 

TRAGIC DELAYS  -- CARTOON BY ROB ROGERS

 

Rob Rogers
December 28, 2022
robrogers.com [[link removed]]

 

RE: A WORKING-CLASS CHRISTMAS STORY CHRISTMAS
 

Wow. When I finally got through erasing all of the fund appeals that
clogged my email over the last three days, I found that the wonderful
people at xxxxxx [link removed]
[[link removed]]
had sent me some important ones, and this one grabbed me from three
days ago. From the inimitable Kathleen M. Newman
 [link removed] (actually published a
couple weeks ago). Yes!!!

Fun to read it all. From it
[[link removed]]:

"For one season, for one, silent night, American capitalism lies to us
about what it values. Sandwiched between ads on television or for sale
on the latest streaming platform, the American Christmas Movie
promises us that love matters more than money, that cruel bosses are
bad but also lonely, that family togetherness is more important than
the perfect dinner — and that BB guns cause actual harm. The
Christmas Movie business might exploit our desire to believe all this,
but we do – and we should.

"As a radical activist who also loves Christmas, this can be a
confusing time of year. I don’t love economic exploitation, but I do
love Christmas. I love Christmas movies, too. They work to sell me
stuff and ideology, but they also critique commercialism and
exploitation. See what subversive messages you can find in a holiday
classic. I triple dog dare you!"

Kipp Dawson
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

      =====

How true.

Ginny Antrim
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

      =====

Daily Presents from xxxxxx. Today I got my daily set of five
important emails, which magically appeared, including this fine story
about the film A Christmas Story Christmas
[[link removed]],
one on From Bowling Alone to Posting Alone, one on Nuclear Weapons,
and one on homelessness in NYC.   I highly recommend a free
subscription and a consideration of supporting this important 30 year
old service on the left, xxxxxx of the spectrum.

Mike Dover
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

 

RE: xxxxxx MODERATORS’ CRYSTAL BALL 2023

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

The contradiction between “democracy and authoritarianism” is not
our species’ main contradiction. That would be the one between
imperialism - the highest (and hopefully the last) stage of capitalism
- and the vast global mass of laboring humanity, concentrated in the
Global South. If we as a species survive the escalating threats of
nuclear winter or climate collapse, there’s hope for a socialist
synthesis. The working class and its allies must muster the collective
strength to overthrow the old order if we are to survive.

Sandy Eaton, RN

 

RE: A GROUP OF RATS IS REFERRED TO AS A MISCHIEF

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

a great poem...and what a commentary on the world as it is that it
takes an imperialist war to engender feelings of human solidarity.

 one comment, though: shouldn't it be "we miss being unified" rather
than "we miss not being unified"? the latter is i think truer to the
sentiment of the poem; the former is confusing with its double
negative.

barbara foley

 

LET IT SNOW  --  CARTOON BY MIKE STANFILL

 

Mike Stanfill
December 23, 2022
Raging Pencils
[[link removed]]

 

2023 AFL-CIO DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. CIVIL AND HUMAN RIGHTS
CONFERENCE - WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 13 - 16

 

We will gather Jan. 13-16 in Washington, D.C. for the 2023 AFL-CIO Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr. Civil and Human Rights Conference.

REGISTER NOW
[[link removed]]

We will build on our victories and strategize about the continued
fight for economic and racial justice with—and also within—the
labor movement.

The theme of January’s conference is “Claiming our Power,
Protecting Our Democracy.”

Our democracy is in a state of emergency.  Across the country,
extremist politicians, far-right judges and corrupt corporate
interests have aligned to take away the rights of workers. They are
moving to strip us of our fundamental freedoms including the freedom
to vote and to collectively bargain for a voice on the job.

The labor movement has always been a force for progress and we will
continue that legacy by standing in our power and fighting back
against these attacks. We will step into the year with purpose and
make it clear that working people will determine the direction of this
country.  Together, we will build an economy and a society that works
for everyone and ensures that all workers, no matter who they are, can
live a life of dignity and respect.

During the conference we will host timely discussions led by experts
about the most pressing issues facing our movement, determine how we
can address these challenges, share best practices and provide
attendees with the cutting-edge tools and knowledge they need to
affect change.

Mail Payments to:
AFL-CIO
C/O Secretary-Treasurer's Office
815 Black Lives Matter Plaza
Washington, DC 20006

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