Readers Comments: Trump Screwing Country, World, Climate, Gaza, Now Ready to Make Deal with Sex Trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell; McCarthyism and Its Victims: Here We Go Again; Keep ICE Out of MLB Stadiums; Israelis Call for Crippling Sanctions on Israel
Tidbits - Reader Comments, Take Action, Resources, Announcements AND cartoons - July 31, 2025, xxxxxx
Thank you for this article. Please consider not referring to these financiers as elites; they are clearly scumbags, regardless of the amount of money they possess. Their social status, when involved in illegal, noxious behavior, is reason enough to lose the title of "elite". There ain't nothing elite about their alleged behavior. How about just calling them financiers?
If you think that this program has anything to do with socialism, I suggest you look up the meaning of the word. This is a very moderate program which focus on administration and coalition building as opposed to the class politics that characterize socialist, as opposed to social democratic, democratic socialist of liberal politics.
I've been a socialist for more than 65 years. I know that of which I speak.
"....a “barrage of attacks on workers,” the U.S. Department of Labor under President Donald Trump is planning to overhaul dozens of rules that protect workers from exploitation and wage theft."
Thanks--many useful insights. I'll look into these two books.
Alan Wald
Post on Facebook
=====
In a sense, Paul Buhle's review here of two books by friends which focus on the CPUSA, US Communism (and anti communism) is of interest to people like me: leftist activists and red-diaper babies. 1) Mary Anne Trasciatti's biography of Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, a leading figure in the Industrial Workers of the World, The American Civil Liberties Union, and the Communist Party. 2) Menace of Our Time; The Long War Against American Communism by Aaron Leonard.
IMO, obviously, these books are timely. The repression encountered by Flynn during the 20s and McCarthy period terror has been recurring in the US albeit in somewhat different forms. People are seized off the streets by masked ICE agents, placed in vile detention. People are fired, expelled, deported because of their views on (fill in the blank) socialism, Gaza, etc. How can we best resist the fascist tide?
Daniel Millstone
Post on Facebook
=====
The history of US organizing and political repression in two new Rutgers University Press books, reviewed by Paul Buhle in Portside.
In the late 70s I worked as a paralegal on a class action suit against the Chicago PD's Red Squad, who spied on everybody from Weathermen to Republicans. I learned something from the files: the difference between machine boss Dick Daley and J. Edgar Hoover. The Red Squad, patronage workers, had no idea what they were spying on as they sat through endless boring meetings. The FBI was ideologically fascist, making note of Jewish presence and interracial couples
Our democracy isn’t on autopilot. The machinery will not repair itself. Judges, executives, university presidents, media and tech leaders, donors, lawyers—those with some power—must join the work of defending the legal frameworks that protect us all.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article incorrectly credited The Washington Examiner as the publisher. We regret the error.
Millions of undocumented Americans have lived and contributed to our country for decades. Multigenerational families with children born in the US have paid taxes and contributed to social security for years.
According to the PEW research center, in 2022 11 million undocumented immigrants lived in the US. 4 million from Mexico and 3.1 million from central and south America, making brown-Latino people the largest segment. There are 1.7 million undocumented Asians, 750,000 Africans, and 180,000 middle easterners. 775,000 undocumented mostly white immigrants are from Europe of Canada.
Now under the Trump administration the government is acting in pure meanness towards these long-term immigrants with a special focus on brown people. ICE's engagement in mass arrests, hunt-down strategies, and wholescale detentions is nothing other than gestapo-like racist acts of pure hatred. Trump's mean strategies are focused on brown-Latino people with some limited aggression towards blacks and Asians as well. Mostly absent from ICE raids are those focusing on the hundreds of thousands of white European or Canadian undocumented people living and working in the US.
Americans do not see our nation as a mean country. Many of us have friends and associates who are undocumented. This is how is the country has evolved over the past several decades, especially in California. As a nation we must put human rights before immigrant status and allow most all undocumented people a chance to remain in the US and provide them with a full path to citizenship.
[Peter Phillips is a professor emeritus of political sociology from Sonoma State University]
TELL Major League Baseball: Trump has sent ICE to terrorize cities, especially Los Angeles. Violent ICE raids in LA led to mass protests and Trump’s decision to deploy the National Guard against civilians. ICE then tried to gain access to Dodger Stadium, but the Dodgers said NO. Sign the petition: Urge all of Major League Baseball to keep ICE out of their stadiums!
Los Angeles has become a flashpoint of Trump's mass deportations. Communities across LA are responding with mass protests to the violent ICE raids terrorizing their city. ICE tried to gain access to the parking lot at Dodger Stadium, but the Dodgers denied ICE access.1
ICE is rounding up innocent people in their workplaces, schools, places of worship, homes, and right off the street. Major League Baseball (MLB) owners and executives have the power to prevent stadiums from being added to this list. The rest of the MLB must follow the Dodgers’ lead now.
ICE is using increased funding from Trump's big budget bill to expand its horrific mass detentions and deportations.2 It’s also building new dangerous makeshift immigrant prisons while working to meet Trump advisor Stephen Miller’s unattainable daily arrest quotas.3
In what's become a calling card of Trump's immigration crackdown, ICE agents are wearing masks and hiding their identities, acting as Trump's secret police.4
Major League Baseball has a duty to their workers and their fans to keep baseball stadiums free of ICE’s terror.
1. Reuters, "LA Dodgers say they denied immigration agents access to Dodger Stadium parking lot,” June 19, 2025.
2. The Wall Street Journal, “Newly Flush With Cash, ICE Races to Build Migrant Tent Camps,” July 19, 2025.
3. Forbes, “Stephen Miller Pushes For Even More Surprise ICE Raids—His Deportation Quotas, Explained,” June 9, 2025.
4. CNN US, “Masked ICE officers: The new calling card of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown,” June 21, 2025.
Thirty-one Israeli signatories express their shame, rage and agony over the plight of Palestinians and call for action from the international community
‘Our country is starving the people of Gaza to death.’ (Photograph: APA Images/Shutterstock / The Guardian)
We, Israelis dedicated to a peaceful future for our country and our Palestinian neighbours, write this with grave shame, in rage and in agony. Our country is starving the people of Gaza to death and contemplating the forced removal of millions of Palestinians from the Strip. The international community must impose crippling sanctions on Israel until it ends this brutal campaign and implements a permanent ceasefire.
Yuval AbrahamJournalist; Academy Award recipient (2025) Ra’anan AlexandrowiczDocumentary film-maker; Sundance world cinema jury prize recipient (2012) Udi AloniFilm-maker; Tribeca film festival best international narrative feature recipient (2016) Liran AtzmorDocumentary film-maker; Peabody Award recipient (2014) Prof Tali BitanUniversity of Haifa Michael Ben-YairFormer attorney general of Israel; former acting supreme court judge Nir BergmanScreenwriter and film director; Ophir award recipient (2020) Avraham BurgFormer speaker of the Knesset; former head of the Jewish Agency Peter ColePoet and translator; MacArthur Fellow Guy DavidiDocumentary film-maker; International Emmy Award recipient (2013) Ari FolmanScreenwriter and film director; Golden Globe recipient (2009) Shira GeffenActor and screenwriter; Camera d’Or recipient (2007) Prof Emeritus Amiram GoldblumHebrew University of Jerusalem Prof Oded GoldreichWeizmann Institute of Science;Israel prize recipient (2021) Tamar GozanskyFormer Knesset member Prof Uri HadarTel Aviv University Prof Moty HeiblumWolf prize in physics recipient (2025) Adina HoffmanWriter; Windham Campbell prize recipient (2013) Eran KolirinScreenwriter and film director; Ophir Award recipient (2021) Nadav LapidScreenwriter and film director; Golden Bear recipient (2019) Alex LevacIsrael prize recipient (2005) Hagai LeviTelevision writer and director; Golden Globe recipient (2015) Samuel MaozFilm director; Golden Lion recipient (2009) Dr Adi MorenoTel Aviv-Yafo Academic College Prof Michal Na’amanPainter; Israel prize recipient (2014) Ohad NaharinChoreographer; Israel prize recipient (2005) Daniella NowitzCinematographer; Academy Award recipient (2023) Prof Adi OphirTel Aviv University Inbal PintoChoreographer and dancer; Israeli ministry of culture award recipient (2011) Aharon ShabtaiPoet and translator; Israeli prime minister’s prize recipient (1993) Eyal WeizmanArchitect; director of Forensic Architecture
Please check out and promote the American Labor Studies Center whose mission is to promote the teaching and learning about the American labor movement and its history in K-12 schools nationwide. It also owns and has restored the Kate Mullany House in Troy, New York who formed America's first bona fide all-female union in the United States in Troy, the Troy Collar Laundry Union
Click HERE to watch a video of the musical about Kate Mullany and the 1964 Troy Collar Laundry Union strike.
Censorship in libraries is not slowing down or hitting a plateau. It’s actually speeding up as we move into the first year of the second Trump Administration. In "The Censorship Acceleration", author and researcher Marianne Wood Forrest provides an in-depth analysis of how coordinated political, ideological, and religious forces have transformed the censorship landscape in America since 2020.
Drawing on original research, expert analysis, and the latest data, this report highlights how book bans have evolved from isolated parental concerns into a comprehensive political strategy aimed at undermining public education, silencing marginalized voices, and promoting a national agenda of school privatization.
The report examines the rise of well-funded “parental rights” groups, such as Moms for Liberty, and the use of censorship as a tactic in the broader culture war. It charts the shifting strategies, language, and power dynamics associated with this new wave of book bans. Additionally, it discusses the concerning impact of Project 2025 policies on federal education and library funding, emphasizing that the struggle for intellectual freedom is now closely linked to the fight for democracy itself.
Key Takeaways in the Report:
Book bans are increasingly motivated by powerful political and religious groups rather than by local parental concerns.
Censorship campaigns are closely connected to school privatization and efforts against diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).
Coordinated campaigns are nationalizing what were previously local conflicts within school boards.
Resistance is growing, particularly from student-led movements and states passing right-to-read legislation.
The future of libraries, education, and civil liberties is at a critical juncture and requires urgent advocacy.
The Censorship Acceleration Report reframes the narrative surrounding book bans by linking the culture war to the privatization of public education and the erosion of essential democratic institutions. Whether you are a librarian, educator, journalist, policymaker, or concerned citizen, this report provides the necessary context and clarity to understand and respond to these escalating threats.
NYC: Join us Monday, August 4 at 6:30pm by Trump Hotel in Columbus Circle.
We need to keep up the pressure and get more food and aid into Gaza NOW before more Palestinians die of starvation.
This event is a mass mobilization of American Jews who object to our government's continued support for the policy of starvation and refusal to leverage its immense power to compel the admission of humanitarian aid.
*Please do not bring flags.*
T’ruah brings the Torah’s ideals to life by empowering rabbis and cantors to be human rights leaders.
