[ Reader Comments: Trumps Armed Right Militias; Failed State;
Ahmaud Arbery Murdered; Trump-GOP Fascism; COVID-19, Capitalism,
Socialism; Planet of the Humans, Bill McKibben, Michael Moore; Denis
Goldberg R.I.P.; Frida Kahlo; Puerto Rico food crisis]
[[link removed]]

TIDBITS - MAY 7, 2020 - READER COMMENTS: TRUMP'S ARMED RIGHT
MILITIAS; FAILED STATE; AHMAUD ARBERY MURDERED; TRUMP-GOP FASCISM;
COVID-19; PLANET OF THE HUMANS, BILL MCKIBBEN, MICHAEL MOORE; DENIS
GOLDBERG; FRIDA KAHLO; PUERTO RICO FOOD CRISIS; MORE  
[[link removed]]

 

May 7, 2020
xxxxxx

*
[[link removed]]
*
[[link removed]]
*
* [[link removed]]

_ Reader Comments: Trump's Armed Right Militias; Failed State; Ahmaud
Arbery Murdered; Trump-GOP Fascism; COVID-19, Capitalism, Socialism;
Planet of the Humans, Bill McKibben, Michael Moore; Denis Goldberg
R.I.P.; Frida Kahlo; Puerto Rico food crisis _

Tidbits - Reader Comments, Resources, Announcements, AND cartoons -
May 7, 2020, xxxxxx

 

Re: Trump and the Militias Consummate Their Marriage (Zvi Baranoff;
Clare Lark; Zaida Silva Reyes; Fernando Anavitate; Julia Mills; Nancy
Kramer; Victor M.carreras Roena; Charles McPherson; John Benson; Aimee
Loiselle)
Re: We Are Living in a Failed State (James McGinnis; Sandi Parker
Konkel; Eddie Martin Jr; Gabriel Berrios; Santiago Ramos Collado; Tim
Boo Boshaw)
Re: Ahmaud Arbery: Anger Mounts Over Killing of Black Jogger Caught on
Video (Judyth Hollub; Glenn Kellis; James Williams; Aida Rivera; Marc
Major)
Economic Warriers  --  cartoon by Mike Luckovich
Re: Half of World's Workers `at Immediate Risk of Losing Livelihood
Due To Coronavirus (Nancy MacLean)
Huntington Beach Open  --  cartoon by Lalo Alcaraz
Re: Some Progressives Are in Denial About Trump's Fascist Momentum
(Sheila Blackman; Robert Supansic; Felice Sage)
Re: Echo Chamber Could Hand Win to Trump. Again (Gabriel Andres Ramos
Serrano)
Re: Californians in Long-Term Care Remain at Risk Under Newsom (Joy
Ann Grune)
Re: COVID-19, Capitalism, and Socialism (Disraelly Gutierrez Jaime;
Joe Harris)
MAGA-Donalds  --  carton by Mike Stanfill (Raging Pencils)
Re: `A Bomb in the Center of the Climate Movement': Michael Moore
Damages Our Most Important Goal (David Alman; Laurel MacDowell; Steve
Krug; Ellen Birrell; Maggie Rodriguez)
Re: Skepticism Is Healthy, but Planet of the Humans Is Toxic - A
Critical Review (David Schwartzman; Margaret)
Re: Our Revolution Failed to Live Up to Its Potential. But the Bernie
Movement Needs a Mass Organization Now. (Ted Cloak; Jose Felipe
Gonzalez Pabon; Rand Wilson)
Re: 'A Dangerous Idea': Public School Advocates Denounce Cuomo-Gates
Plan Seizing on Pandemic to 'Reimagine' New York's Education System
(Sonia Collins; Amiel Summers; Micheal Crockford; Harry Targ)
Re: Andrew Cuomo's Power Grab is Off Camera (Marta Schmidt; Leslie A.
Mariani)
Re: South Africa: Nelson Mandela Ally Denis Goldberg Dies (Professor
Raymond Suttner; Jay Schaffner; Marilyn Albert; Ike Nahem; Alan
Barnes; Laura Friedman; Ramon Capois; Paul Buhle; Carolyn Toll
Oppenheim; Alvin Burroughs)
Re: Defeat of a Dirty Military Incursion into Venezuela on a Sunday
Morning (Omar Hunter)
Re: Feet, What Do I Need You For?' How Lockdown Fired Up Frida Kahlo
(The Love Lives of the Artists; Jim Pearson)
Re: Lovecraft Country's First Trailer Teems With Monsters, Genre
Subversion, and Social Allegory (Robert Daniel Pearce)
xxxxxx - doing a great service (Paul Leavin)
Puerto Rico: Governor Wanda Vázquez - grant us food to distribute
directly to the people. 
Gobernadora Wanda Vázquez-Otórguenos alimentos para distribuir
directamente de mano a mano (Puerto Rico Rises)
 

RESOURCES:

RACE AND DEMOCRACY - APPLE PODCASTS
 

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Celebrate Mother's Day with Women's Activism - May 9 Mother's Day Eve
Digital Storytelling Workshop (NYC Department of Records and
Information Services)
Join the Everybody's Got a Right to Live Cultural Day of Action on May
20th (Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival)
The Pandemic, the Economic Crisis and Just Transition - May 27 - Zoom
meeting (Labor Network for Sustainability)

 

RE: TRUMP AND THE MILITIAS CONSUMMATE THEIR MARRIAGE
 

"It's the new normal: armed fascists intimidate elected officials who
oppose the President as Republicans either stay silent or - like Trump
himself - egg them on."

Zvi Baranoff
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

     =====

I realize now this has been in the works a long time. His father was
in the KKK. His first wife said he read Hitler's speeches in bed.
These armed gangs were actually paid to be there and came from other
areas.

It's being orchestrated and he has known about it. He even has hinted
in months past. This is how Nazism win. Everyone else moans and groans
but is too nice to prepare for violence.

Clare Lark
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

     =====

Is that the great America of Trump followers. Violence, intimidation,
racism and silence .

Zaida Silva Reyes
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

     =====

Time to take them on .. police do your thing !!!

Fernando Anavitate
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

     =====

He is really making America great for some people.

Julia Mills
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

     =====

I said the same thing. Just imagine the response if people of color
went to the Capitol armed with assault weapons!

Nancy Kramer
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

     =====

This signals the collapse of what used to be a democratic country with
an active, valid constitution.

Victor M.carreras Roena
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

     =====

We should all protest by staying home if they force businesses to
open. Help our essential workers and not overwhelm the hospitals. The
economy can't restart without workers. And we shouldn't go back to
making money for the rich until they make sure.

1 Everyone can be tested and treated for covid-19
2 Everyone has farepay (UBI)
3 Everyone has health care
4 We have environmentally friendly energy production being funded
instead of big oil and coal
5 We have a tax system that makes the rich pay there fair share
6 We have a vote by mail preferential voting system
7 A bailout for the USPS
8 The resignation of Donald J Trump* and everyone he has appointed
9 Donald J Trump* needs to be investigated for treason and crimes
against humanity along with all co-conspirators

This maybe the last true chance we have to stand up to our corrupt
government. Our president has forgotten that this is supposed to be a
government for the people by the people. He shows all signs trying to
make himself the first king of the United States( no matter the title
he would hold). Within the last week he has had armed followers with
no opposition terrorizing several state governments because those
States governors do not praise him like his followers. These
terrorists have entered state capitals armed like they are prepared to
take them over from elected officials. Carrying military-style weapons
and they face no opposition even from the police department's who's
job it is to secure those buildings. Well their terrorist gatherings
only serve to make it harder for these governors to do the jobs
they're doing helping save our lives while our president tries to
claim responsibility for their actions when it benefits him and blames
them and everyone he can for his numerous shortcomings. We need to
shut this country down without violence, Stay Safe Protest in Place.

Please pass this on I know if my name gets out with it I will probably
get death threats from his cult of followers given that I never use
messenger on Facebook they will have to do it publicly if they want me
to see them I really don't care what they say. I know a lot of US
citizens are tired this mockery of the office he holds.

Charles McPherson
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

     =====

Straight out of the Nazi playbook.

John Benson
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

     =====

ALEC Leading Right-Wing Campaign to Reopen the Economy Despite
COVID-19
[[link removed]]
By David Armiak and Alex Kotch
April 30th, 2020
Exposed by CMD
[[link removed]]

Aimee Loiselle
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

 

RE: WE ARE LIVING IN A FAILED STATE
 

The legacy of "small government" and "trickle down" policies and their
role in the Trump administration's botched response to Covid-19!

James McGinnis
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

     =====

This is true but his supporters will never believe it.

Sandi Parker Konkel
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

     =====

This is very very sad. Supposedly the greatest country in the world is
only concerned about the rich. If we can't see that all of
us(BLACK,WHITE) or any other race are not important (only to make the
rich more rich) then we are all ASLEEP

Eddie Martin Jr
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

     =====

Russia, Taiwan, and the United Nations sent humanitarian aid to the
world's richest power-a beggar nation in utter chaos.

Gabriel Berrios
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

     =====

Wrong. This is NOT a failed state. It operates flawlessly, as per
design. Just like a land mine, for instance.

Santiago Ramos Collado
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

     =====

At what point to we fly the flag upside-down ? A distress signal that
we're in such a mess we can't save ourselves.

Tim Boo Boshaw
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

 

RE: AHMAUD ARBERY: ANGER MOUNTS OVER KILLING OF BLACK JOGGER CAUGHT ON
VIDEO
 

And the a**hole who shot him is an ex-cop who worked with the
prosecutor's office.

Judyth Hollub
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

     =====

Finally this tragedy is getting some traction!

Glenn Kellis
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

     =====

 

Ahmaud Arbery in an undated photo provided by his family.  //  The
New York Times
The Killing of Ahmaud Arbery
[[link removed]]
Another black man falsely assumed to be a criminal is dead.

By Charles M. Blow, Opinion Columnist
May 6, 2020
The New York Times
[[link removed]]

James Williams
posting on Facebook

     =====

He did not deserve to die the way he did at the hands of two white
hillbillies who thought they were cowboys! They interfered with him
for no valid reason. What they did is called murder and they must face
justice for it.

Aida Rivera
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

     =====

True, very true. But those two "hillbillies" are more of a symptom
than the actual disease, their facing justice serves little in the
long run and the justice they face has a great chance of being no
justice at all.

In these cases, we ignore so much of the evil that hides in the
shadows, behind desks or in plain sight.
Will we see charges laid of accessory after the fact, for those who
made the decision not to investigate? How about the their superiors
who are responsible for them.
How about officers, tasked with upholding the law, who chose to do
nothing, but knew that a murder was being swept under the rug, are
they guilty of professional negligence?
Absolutely every single individual who was directly or even indirectly
complicit in avoid the investigation of this crime must face justice
this time and every time. Only then, will careers in law enforcement
cease being attractive to individuals who are violent, racists,
narcissists, and immoral.

Change will come when we hold responsible not only the person who
chose to pull the trigger, but also all the people in the system who
allow the aforementioned choice to have little or even no legal
consequences for the shooter.

Marc Major
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

     =====

Marc Major You are hoping for too much right now although what you
wish for is indeed true justice. Racism has been recently spurred and
brought back to front row by our own government. Changes must be made
from way up the pyramid of local and federal government.

Aida Rivera
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

 

ECONOMIC WARRIERS  --  CARTOON BY MIKE LUCKOVICH
 

Mike Luckovich
May 7, 2020
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
[[link removed]]

 

RE: HALF OF WORLD'S WORKERS `AT IMMEDIATE RISK OF LOSING LIVELIHOOD
DUE TO CORONAVIRUS'
 

Does anyone know organizations who are helping? Would it be Oxfam?

Nancy MacLean
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

 

HUNTINGTON BEACH OPEN  --  CARTOON BY LALO ALCARAZ
 

Lalo Alcaraz
May 4, 2020

 

RE: SOME PROGRESSIVES ARE IN DENIAL ABOUT TRUMP'S FASCIST MOMENTUM
 

Listen, trump is taking this country to fascism. Don't believe it?
Because he hasn't announced openly on TV the groups, (people of color,
LQBTQ, poor, disabled, old, non-christian, and anyone else he doesn't
like) that he and his functionaries plan to get rid of? So you don't
see it coming? Well that's because he does his work under cover,
quietly appointing people to head agencies who are transforming the
structures of government into obedient groups who will follow his
orders unquestioningly.

Sheila Blackman
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

     =====

I must differ.  In spite of extensive media coverage of events such
as the armed protest in Michigan, I think it important to not
exaggerate their significance.  Trump has been playing footsie with
these fascist wannabees of the right for years.  Now, after more than
three years of his Presidency, he has successfully used his great
power to convert these fringe groups into fringe groups.

Robert Supansic

     =====

Really ? Which progressives would those be? I don't know any.

Felice Sage
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

 

RE: ECHO CHAMBER COULD HAND WIN TO TRUMP. AGAIN
 

This intentional strategy uses racism to keep white voters aligned
with the Republican Party and diverts the blame of Trump, American
corporations and the ruling elite.

All with the " dogwhistles " (hints) like, " Both sides have good and
bad " (comparing so-called radicals with non-bad intentions with
Fascist Racists) and the " Chinese Virus ".

Gabriel Andres Ramos Serrano
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

 

RE: CALIFORNIANS IN LONG-TERM CARE REMAIN AT RISK UNDER NEWSOM
 

When deadly actions like this are described, why can't we be given
actions to take?

Joy Ann Grune

 

RE: COVID-19, CAPITALISM, AND SOCIALISM
 

Capitalism is the virus. 

"The pandemic has triggered an economic depression. It should lead a
lot of people to reconsider assumptions they may have held about the
permanence of capitalism. Certainly it underscores the incapacity of
the most world's most powerful capitalist government to respond to
human need. While many individuals in the US are risking their own
health to serve the rest of society, their efforts are more thwarted
than aided by the dominant institutions. Corporations as well as key
agencies of government prioritize profits and accumulation over public
health. As a huge sign recently displayed by a group of New York
workers put it, "Capitalism is the virus."

Disraelly Gutierrez Jaime
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

     =====

Coronavirus reveals the divide between the socialist principal of
using health care to meet human needs and the capitalist practice of
treating health care as a commodity.

Joe Harris
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

 

MAGA-DONALDS  --  CARTON BY MIKE STANFILL (RAGING PENCILS)
 

Mike Stanfill
April 28, 2020
Raging Pencils
[[link removed]]

 

RE: `A BOMB IN THE CENTER OF THE CLIMATE MOVEMENT': MICHAEL MOORE
DAMAGES OUR MOST IMPORTANT GOAL
 

Dear Bill McKibben,

I have followed your writings on the need to face the damage coming to
us from hundreds of years of fossil fuels. I'm an educated man, just
past 100 years old, and I can tell the difference between the honest
truth and deceit. Your work is honest truth, and Moore's and the
fossil fuel corporation, now with Moore's help, is deceit. I live in
Alaska, where we are doing our best, with insufficient success, to
shut off the fossil fuel tap and replace it with nature's wind and the
sunlight's rays. The day will come when you are remembered and Moore
is forgotten.

David Alman

     =====

Dear Bill McKibben,

You have done an enormous amount of good with your life. We all thank
you. Don't let the bastards get you down. Shame on Michael Moore! I
have seen his earlier films and thought he was a reformer. Maybe the
oil barons paid him off. Anyway if he has a conscience it will make
him squirm.

Keep up the good work and thank you for your efforts to make a better
world. This pandemic we are living through may help people to think of
each other and the health of the planet more.

Best,

Laurel MacDowell

     =====

I agree with McKibben that the movie got things wrong. The info it was
based on was dated and/or misinterpreted. 

BUT: Those of us who were involved with Alternate Energy (AE) from the
beginning (my spouse and I, starting in 1976, built off grid houses
for ourselves and started a company that sold/installed/serviced AE
systems) always talked about the need to change the economic structure
was every bit as important as changing our energy sources. We talked
about the need to simplify. Pretty quickly the movement was co-opted
by green capitalists (an oxymoron if i ever heard one) who basically
said you don't want to preach simplicity and socialism, you want to
sell large systems and leave politics out of it. They wanted to play
the game with corporate sponsors and the nature of movement changed
from grass roots to glossy. It was the part of the movie that spoke to
me, seeing the corporate logos on an event promoting environmentalism,
it made me cringe.

If we truly want a sustainable future, with AE, it will not come from
an economic system built on constant growth and concentration of power
(both the economic and energy sort!), it can only be based on system
that can be democratically controlled and owned.

Steve Krug

     =====

I can understand some of McKibben's complaints but I do not think
"Planet of the Humans" is "a sewer" as McKibben called it. Making sure
that we don't allow good intentions and ideas (i.e. fossil fuel
alternative energy sources) to become overrun with "the old ways" of
'heavier, bigger, petroleum dependent is necessary' is worth
contemplating. I see the movie as a wake-up call instead of a complete
condemnation of all things green.

Ellen Birrell
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

     =====

Moore is always ahead of the curve. He thinks everything thru and is a
certified genius and....he's fearless.

Maggie Rodriguez
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

 

RE: SKEPTICISM IS HEALTHY, BUT PLANET OF THE HUMANS IS TOXIC - A
CRITICAL REVIEW
 

Good review
[[link removed]],
but doesn't address the most toxic part of the film's message, arguing
that scientists all agree that overpopulation of humans is at root of
our environmental crisis. 

Well, I am a scientist like many others who strongly disagree with
this conclusion, rather that the "cancerous form of capitalism"
identified in this film is the root cause. This cancerous form is
militarized fossil capital driving perpetual wars for the control of
oil. See my review at:
[link removed] 
[[link removed] ]

Too bad Jeff Gibbs and Michael Moore didn't read Ian Angus and Simon
Butler's powerful critique of the overpopulation message in their book
Too Many People? before they completed this film instead of promoting
this user-friendly explanation on behalf of the capitalist ruling
class.

David Schwartzman

     =====

the trashing of Planet of the Humans

I have been a long time reader and supporter of xxxxxx until I read
the latest post including the Films for Action review of "Planet of
the Humans."  The reviewer trashed a very important eye-opening film
and missed the point completely. 

Yes transitions are messy but we cannot maintain the faith based
approach to alternative energy sources that do not admit the current
fundamental inadequacies of these sources.  That's how we got into
the biomass fiasco in Vermont and other places. The reviewer also
ignored the basic point of the film--that unless we reject unchecked
capitalism, consumerism, and population growth--we are not going to
survive. If you want to apply the word reckless to anything, it should
be applied to this review. 

I agree that Bill McKibben, an environmental hero, was ambushed in the
Michael Moore style in the film. Nevertheless I think his open-minded
approach was illustrated by his admission of error about biomass. I
thought xxxxxx meant when it claimed to take a "left" approach to
the news of the day. It certainly did not do that when it published
the trashing of a film that so clearly exposed that there is no
environmental alternative to controlling capitalism.

Margaret

 

RE: OUR REVOLUTION FAILED TO LIVE UP TO ITS POTENTIAL. BUT THE BERNIE
MOVEMENT NEEDS A MASS ORGANIZATION NOW.
 

This is all well and good, but I think it's high time for Bernie to
unsuspend his campaign.

Ted Cloak

     =====

Again, portraying Bernie's candidacy and leadership anyhow you want
without taking into account the enormous sabotaging and torpedoing by
establishment democrats and the
wealthy republican political machinery of his person and ideas is
naive. 

If Bernie's momentum is going to survive as a powerful factor in
shaping the future of US citizens and encouraging a commitment to
change the structural, systemic elements that inhibit democrats from
shifting their views to concrete radical actions, the USA is in for a
deceptive four years with Biden. Let's face it. 

The USA is still run by its neoliberal capitalism, free-market
oligarchs who have a free, unobstructed road to do as they please as
long as Citizen's United is in place. Otherwise, centrism will remain
as the main force behind an obsolete democratic party that will
continue giving their lip service to those citizens that need
protection from the hatred of capitalism.

Jose Felipe Gonzalez Pabon
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

     =====

see: Our Revolution Is Already the "Post-Bernie" Organization We Need
[[link removed]]

by Bob Muehlenkamp in Jacobin

Rand Wilson

 

RE: 'A DANGEROUS IDEA': PUBLIC SCHOOL ADVOCATES DENOUNCE CUOMO-GATES
PLAN SEIZING ON PANDEMIC TO 'REIMAGINE' NEW YORK'S EDUCATION SYSTEM
 

NY teachers are fed up with being forced to repeatedly change
direction for the sake of consultants' untested schemes. Enough. How
about fully funding schools, smaller classes and gradual introduction
of methods that are proven to work with actual children? No more herky
jerky to make inexperienced men feel important and to divert attention
from under funding.

Sonia Collins
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

     =====

No. Cuomo's remarks were not an Executive order , neither was it a
piece of proposed legislation. It was an offer to imaginative minded
people to capitalize on the opportunity to offer/ suggest improvements
to a less perfect system.

Cannot understand how your interpretation of his remarks leaves you
with the impression that it is somehow 'bad'.

I notice how these 'progressive' Facebook accounts are slipping in
counter revolutionary stuff as we are no size months from the
election.

Your post is intended to score political points against a proven
politician. And it is glaringly obvious.

If I were Trumps campaign manager, I wouldn't create new Facebook
accounts for Trumps propaganda, I'd just offer large sums of money to
existing ones to reach the very audiences I wished to ...mislead.

Amiel Summers
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

     =====

"If you're looking for a bold new idea for New York public schools,"
wrote congressional candidate Jamaal Bowman, "how about you just try
fully funding them for once?"

Micheal Crockford
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

     =====

This is precisely the shock doctrine that Naomi Klein has been talking
about. The school privatizers, just like the post office privatizers
are using the pandemic crisis to subvert the public institutions that
working people have struggled for years to achieve. We need to defend
our public institutions, our workers, and oppose shifting our most
vital institutions to the market.

Harry Targ
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

 

RE: ANDREW CUOMO'S POWER GRAB IS OFF CAMERA
 

And also sneakily giving us absentee ballots with one hand, having
given the Bd of Elections the ability to cancel the Dem Presidential
primary with the other.

Marta Schmidt
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

     =====

Look he's a politician. He is also human. Yes, he probably plays the
politicians game; they all do. And honestly, neither the right nor the
left can claim innocence, honesty or truthfulness. Right now the
governor is a whole lot better than what governs the country. So he's
part of the system. He's informing not bullshitting... explaining,
again not bullshitting... Making some very good sense, again not
bullshitting.

Leslie A. Mariani
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

 

RE: SOUTH AFRICA: NELSON MANDELA ALLY DENIS GOLDBERG DIES
 

The Al Jazeera article on xxxxxx is not accurate in saying that
Goldberg is the only white to be convicted for MK activities. There
are more, but at very least Marion Sparg, Damian de Lange.

I have not done a proper breakdown but there are more.  People like
the late Harold `Jock' Strachan was not directly convicted for MK
activities but he was making explosives, so that it requires more
work.

Professor Raymond Suttner, PhD
Visiting Professor University of Johannesburg, 
Senior Research Associate, Centre for Change, 
Emeritus Professor, University of South Africa, Pretoria

     =====

A real inspiration in the fight against apartheid and racism. So glad
I had the opportunity to meet him when he was in the United States,
representing the new government of South Africa at the United Nations.
Farewell comrade.

Jay Schaffner
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

     =====

By a weird coincidence, I had rented a film from Netflix yesterday. It
is "Escape from Pretoria", about the escape in 1979 from the Pretoria
prison where white political activists were sent to serve long
sentences. A major character in the film is Denis Goldberg.

Marilyn Albert
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

     =====

I doubt if the comrade, a revolutionary Marxist freedom fighter to the
marrow of his bones, would have considered himself "white" maybe of
"European" origin, certainly Jewish, but above all a fighter for the
liberation of the working class and oppressed humanity.

Ike Nahem
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

     =====

"A member of the ANC's military wing, Denis Goldberg was sentenced
with Mandela and spent 22 years in a whites-only prison - the only
white member of Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), to be arrested and sentenced
for armed resistance to white-minority rule."

Alan Barnes
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

     =====

Such a good guy. A true revolutionary and mensch.

Laura Friedman
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

     =====

Some white people are on the side of what is right.

Ramon Capois
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

     =====

a story that must be told and retold.

Paul Buhle
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

     =====

"Another hero gone, another South African Jew ignored or despised by
the Jewish establishment during the years of struggle." 

Not many Jews know about the generations-long allyship of
anti-apartheid Jews in S. Africa .....

Carolyn Toll Oppenheim
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

     =====

A giant was he. He was in the trenches with the ANC. May his soul rest
in peace.

Alvin Burroughs
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

 

RE: DEFEAT OF A DIRTY MILITARY INCURSION INTO VENEZUELA ON A SUNDAY
MORNING
 

"What happened today," he said, "is an example of the desperation of
the United States and its allies."

Vladimir Padrino López, the minister of defense of Venezuela, said
that the government and the people had defeated this attack and would
remain vigilant against other such plots. One of the characteristic
features of the Bolivarian process has been the mobilization of the
population to defend itself; "We declare ourselves in rebellion,"
Padrino said, adding that Venezuela is now under a state of "permanent
vigilance."

Omar Hunter
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

 

RE: FEET, WHAT DO I NEED YOU FOR?' HOW LOCKDOWN FIRED UP FRIDA KAHLO

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

"Kahlo's life story, a triumph of creativity against the odds, makes
her a role model for an artist in quarantine. "

The Love Lives of the Artists
[[link removed]]
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

     =====

Her life is an amazing story. I have two of her biographies (only read
one). It didn't mention the Noguchi (his Sky Viewing sculpture stands
in Western's Red Square) affair. I've seen numerous miscarriage
paintings and severe injury paintings after the accident. She makes
one feel her pain. Now I'm psyched to read the other book.

Jim Pearson
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

 

RE: LOVECRAFT COUNTRY'S FIRST TRAILER TEEMS WITH MONSTERS, GENRE
SUBVERSION, AND SOCIAL ALLEGORY

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

An interesting way to handle the problematic part of Lovecraft while
also presenting the good stuff. Will reserve judgement until I see it,
but I have hopes. It is better than just ignoring the racist stuff on
the one hand, or rejecting the whole cannon because of it, on the
other. And Peele is producing? That is a good sign.

Robert Daniel Pearce
Posted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
[[link removed]]

 

xxxxxx - DOING A GREAT SERVICE
 

I am both old and a remnant of the Old Left, and initially, I knew
most of the individuals posting comments on xxxxxx.

Now I recognize 1 in 20 names!

Congratulations to you all, you have really achieved something
wonderful, in creating a forum for the Left that is wide-ranging,
smart and deep, with a wider readership and participants.

If I had a million dollars, I'd contribute half....maybe not half,
1/3. 

But since I don't and won't, it's moot.

But that doesn't matter, you are doing a great service.

"God's work" I'd say if I were religious.

Keep on truckin'

Paul Leavin

 

Puerto Rico: Governor Wanda Vázquez - grant us food to distribute
directly to the people.
Gobernadora Wanda Vázquez-Otórguenos alimentos para distribuir
directamente de mano a mano (Puerto Rico Rises)

Honorable Governor,

Our people in Puerto Rico are hungry. The level of unemployment has
reached record figures as a result of the COVID-19. Let's add to this,
the prevailing need that existed as a result of the scourge of
Hurricane Maria, then due to the earthquakes that continue to occur
today.

Our organization Puerto Rico Rises
[[link removed]] together with 68 other
organizations successfully rescued the food from 213 school canteens,
with which we have impacted over 25,000 people at the island level. We
demonstrate our high level of transparency, coordination, logistics,
and commitment beyond a reasonable doubt. We threw ourselves into the
street taking the necessary security measures, but without thinking
much about the possible consequences since our goal was clear, that
food had to go from the dining room to your table.

With the opening of the school canteens, the food chain towards our
organizations stopped. However, the hunger of the sectors we serve, of
single mothers who do not have a car, of children who are victims of
violence who will have no one to take them to the dining room, of the
bedridden elder person who does not drive, of the father who lost his
Employment, or of those families diagnosed with the virus that remain
in isolation and cannot leave their homes, will not be solved with
this opening.

After over 12 million pounds of supplies distributed and more than
150,000 people impacted since our inception almost three years ago, we
are convinced and it is evident in our record that we have the ability
to continue supporting as we have done so far autonomously and with
the conviction that we are moved by the need of our people and not by
partisan political interests, the efforts aimed at providing food for
our own, without distinction of the skin or political colors, creeds,
gender, sexual preference or any label. We have the physical space and
volunteers to receive it, sort it out, and distribute it directly,
hand in hand, to whoever needs it the most.

Our request is simple Governor. With respect, the only thing that
Puerto Rico Rises and its alliance of organizations are requesting
with this petition is FOOD. This mission sets the precedent for the
third sector to serve as direct and immediate support assisting in the
food chain at the island level, without interfering with the efforts
of the State or Municipal Government, which can be effectively
implemented for future events.

We are organized and ready to immediately bring it to the table of all
those who cannot get to the school and that tonight, and every night
that we do not gain access to it, they will go to bed without eating.

Waiting on your prompt response

Sara Lopez, Founder President

Sign petition here
[[link removed]].

 

RACE AND DEMOCRACY - APPLE PODCASTS
 

Dr. Peniel Joseph, Founding Director of the UT Center for the Study of
Race and Democracy and Professor of History, discusses issues of race,
democracy, public policy, and social justice with expert guests. "Race
and Democracy" questions who is America? Where have we been, where do
we want to go, and how can we get there? Tune in to learn about
American history, race and democracy, and the outlook for the future.

37 episodes

More information here
[[link removed]]

 

CELEBRATE MOTHER'S DAY WITH WOMEN'S ACTIVISM - MAY 9 MOTHER'S DAY EVE
DIGITAL STORYTELLING WORKSHOP (NYC DEPARTMENT OF RECORDS AND
INFORMATION SERVICES)
 

It’s said that it takes a village to raise a child, and often there
is more than one actual mother who shapes our lives. A grandmother, a
sister, a foster mother, an aunt, a mentor, or a community matriarch:
women who inspired us and helped make us who we are. Now, at the
WomensActivism.NYC's Mother’s Day Eve digital storytelling workshop,
you’ll have the opportunity to put your gratitude and admiration for
these women into your own words.

_HONOR A MOTHER’S IMMEASURABLE GIFT WITH A TIMELESS ONE. WRITE THEM
INTO HISTORY AT THIS FREE DIGITAL EVENT ._

Join us for a memorable and unique celebration of the mothers and
other inspiring women in our lives. Gather virtually in a welcoming
community to write the stories of the women who made a difference in
your life. Your stories will be maintained in New York City’s
Municipal Archives forever, becoming a part of history.

_WOMENSACTIVISM.NYC_ is an open, crowd-sourced digital archive
commemorating the anniversary of women’s suffrage in the U.S. by
gathering stories and making them available for future generations. We
hope to collect 20,000 stories by the close of 2020. Your
participation will bring us closer to this goal.

The Pre-Mother’s Day workshop will be offered twice, as follows:

DATE: SATURDAY MAY 9, 2020

TIME: 11:00 AM-12:30 PM AND/OR 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM (EST)

RSVP: [link removed]
[[link removed]]

TO PARTICIPATE IN THE EVENT:

To attend the event, you will need a computer or phone. THE WORKSHOP
WILL TAKE PLACE VIA WEBEX. DIRECTIONS ON HOW TO ACCESS THE EVENT WILL
BE EMAILED TO EVERYONE WHO RSVPS THROUGH THE EVENTBRITE LINK ABOVE.

In order to add stories to womensactivismnyc, you will need an
internet connection.

For questions, comments, or information on how to host a
story-gathering event, contact: [email protected].
WE VALUE YOUR FEEDBACK. 

NYC Department of Records and Information Services 
31 Chambers Street
New York, NY 10007

 

JOIN THE EVERYBODY'S GOT A RIGHT TO LIVE CULTURAL DAY OF ACTION ON MAY
20TH (POOR PEOPLE'S CAMPAIGN: A NATIONAL CALL FOR MORAL REVIVAL)
 

Trump and other extremists are again calling to “reopen the
country.” Over the past week, many states have begun to ease
restrictions on stay in place orders. These plans to reopen the
economy show no regard for human life and are prioritizing the greed
and profit of the few over the health of the majority. We cannot be
silent as poor and marginalized people are disproportionately hurt by
these policies.

This moment calls for all people of conscience to come together to
call for moral noncooperation, to stay in place, stay alive and
ORGANIZE, ORGANIZE, ORGANIZE!

We need each of you to get involved in the 50 Days of Action leading
up to the Mass Poor People’s Assembly and Moral March on Washington
Digital Justice Gathering
[[link removed]] on
June 20, 2020. 

Get involved, get organized for June 20, 2020:

Participate in the National Phone Bank

It is more important than ever to get deeply connected with members of
the Poor People's Campaign. Folks are having an amazing time talking
with people all over the country about June 20th, the critical moment
we are in as a nation, and our demands as a campaign. Sign up to get
trained, then hit the phones with other phone bankers! 

SIGN UP TO PHONEBANK
[[link removed]]!

Join the Everybody's Got a Right to Live Cultural Day of Action on May
20th

Everybody's Got a Right to Live - Song Share + Art Build Toolkit

Click here to download
[[link removed]]

The Virtual Art Build Toolkit includes an art-making guide, designs
you can use, art-making how-to guides, songs, music tips, and more to
participate in an Everybody’s Got a Right to Live Cultural Day of
Action on May 20, 2020.  

We are asking people to sign up to make a Virtual Letter Sign Group
Banner and we will need your photos by Sunday May 10th. See p.6-10 in
the toolkit for more details and SIGN UP TO MAKE A LETTER HERE
[[link removed]]!!
Also, see the toolkit for instructions to record your version of the
Everybody’s Got a Right to Live song, video frames and Canva
instructions (Songs are due Friday May 15th!)

 

THE PANDEMIC, THE ECONOMIC CRISIS AND JUST TRANSITION - MAY 27 - ZOOM
MEETING (LABOR NETWORK FOR SUSTAINABILITY)
 

The Pandemic, the Economic Crisis and Just Transition

Join us for the Launch of the Just Transition Listening Project!

REGISTER TO JOIN THE ZOOM MEETING
[[link removed]]


Wednesday, May 27, 2020
8pm ET/7pm CT/6pm MT/5pm PT

Featured Speakers:

* Noam Chomsky [[link removed]], Linguist, historian,
philosopher
* Thea Lee [[link removed]], President,
Economic Policy Institute
* Robert Pollin
[[link removed]], Co-Director,
Political Economy Research Institute

On May 27, 2020 the Labor Network for Sustainability and partners will
launch the Just Transition Listening Project. Over the course of the
next four months we will gather the stories of workers and community
members they experience extreme changes in their local economy-the
impact of plant closures, jobs lost to automation, company downsizing
and market changes, industries impacted by climate change.

The need for a large-scale Just Transition for workers and communities
has never been more urgent as more than 30 million workers have
applied for unemployment in the past month. Many face the likelihood
that they will never go back to their previous jobs. The Coronavirus
pandemic and the economic crisis developing as a result offer an
important barometer of whether and how we are prepared socially,
politically and economically for massive changes to our economy. The
shift to the green economy we need in order to confront the climate
crisis will require economic shifts on a similar scale.  

The Just Transition Listening Project will offer us important lessons,
shared through the experience of workers and community members who
have been through such transitions, are going through them now and who
face them in the near future. 

We will learn what is in place and what is lacking in government,
private sector and community support . We will learn how people
adjusted or are adjusting to the changes in their life and work,
aspirations for their community and the vision for their local and our
global economy. 

These stories will be made available online, through social media and
summarized in a published report for policy makers with our findings
and recommendations. 

The JTLP will launch on May 27 with a webinar: The Pandemic, the
Economic Crisis and Just Transition. An amazing panel that will
include renowned linguist, historian and philosopher Noam Chomsky and
economic experts Thea Lee, President of the Economic Policy Institute
and Robert Pollin, Co-Director of the Political Economy Research
Institute will offer their perspectives and projections of how the
economic crisis will unfold in the months and years to come and what
we must do about it. 

A series of webinars will follow every four weeks after addressing
different questions related to Just Transition, including perspectives
from workers, the environmental justice movement, indigenous peoples
and international movements. 

Please join us for this important national conversation
[[link removed]].

Labor Network for Sustainability
[[link removed]]
P.O. Box #5780
6909 Laurel Avenue
Takoma Park, MD 20913

CONTACT VIA EMAIL AT [email protected]

*
[[link removed]]
*
[[link removed]]
*
* [[link removed]]

 

 

 

INTERPRET THE WORLD AND CHANGE IT

 

 

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