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..Re: How To Spread the General Strike Beyond the Twin Cities
(posting on xxxxxx Labor)
Strikes are difficult. I was a union organizer/administrator/negotiator for 20+ years, and a local union executive board member. How to prepare, how to mobilize - both the membership and the public, these aren't easy.
I admire the nurses - the rank-and-file and the leadership - three weeks is a long time.
Here is a thought provoking article by a friend of mine, Stephanie Luce, on the call for a general strike, "A strike is one of the best forms of muscle we have, but pulling off any strike is hard, let alone a general one. Our task now is to build up our muscles for non-cooperation."
Jay SchaffnerPosted on xxxxxx's Facebook page
Trump pulling guns on Fifth Ave -- Cartoon by Bill Bramhall
Bill BramhallApril 26, 2024New York Daily News
Re: Trump’s New “Prison Camp” Threat Unleashes Fury Even in MAGA Country
Stop calling them "Detention Camps " they are " CONCENTRATION CAMPS" by every historical definition of that term.
Nicholas Fici
Re: Olga Cherevko Showed the World What’s Happening in Gaza. Israel Won’t Let Her Return
Maybe I missed it, but what's the point of writing that great article if you don't provide a call to Action to get her out of Israel and out of Gaza??!! such journalism does more harm than good by narcotic people to evil depressing people even more
Gary Krane
Groundhog Day -- Cartoon by Nick Anderson
Nick AndersonFebruary 2, 2026Pen Strokes
Stolen Votes -- Cartoon by Rob Rogers
[Stolen Votes] "Trump's self-fulfilling prophecy ..."
Rob RogersFebruary 3, 2026TinyView
Re: Special Address by Mark Carney, Prime Minister of Canada at World Economic Forum
From Canada, the missing critique of the Carney speech at Davos
David Frank
What Mark Carney gets wrong about the end of the ‘rules-based order’
Carney diagnoses a rupture in the global order while leaving intact the economic framework that helped produce it
Muneeb Javaid January 21, 2026 Canadian Dimension
Arc d'Trumpism -- Cartoon by Jack Ohman
Jack OhmanFebruary 2, 2026Jack Ohman's You Betcha!
Domestic Terrorism is the MAGA Way! -- Cartoon by Mr. Fish
Mr. FishJanuary 27, 2026Mr. Fish - Clowncrack
Melania -- Cartoon and Commentary by Dr. Keith F. Knight
I wonder if Brett Ratner will end up being considered the Leni Reifenstahl of this administration.
Dr. Keith F. KnightFebruary 2, 2026(th)ink: Keith Knight
At least the Nazis showed their faces... -- Cartoon by DC Cartoonist
DC CartoonistFebruary 2, 2026r/PoliticalHumor
Body cameras are a hands-free killing tool for ICE. Coalition urges NO vote on funding ICE package (Fight for the Future)
Fight for the FutureJanuary 28, 2026
A coalition of nearly 30 tech and justice organizations has issued an urgent letter rejecting Democrats’ harmful and weak reform proposals, such as body cameras for ICE agents. Ahead of a critical funding bill that includes funds for the Department of Homeland Security and ICE, Democratic lawmakers should not be considering compromises like body cameras that will only cause further harm and endanger people by increasing ICE’s surveillance capacity. Following the horrific murders of Alex Pretti, Keith Porter, and Renee Good, and dozens lost in 2025 at the hands of ICE, the groups urge Congress to vote NO and indefinitely reject all funding for the Department of Homeland Security and ICE –including efforts that supposedly serve to hold ICE accountable but in fact just increase ICE surveillance capacity and power.
The full letter and signatory list is available at: https://www.fightforthefuture.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/FFTF-Sign-On-Defund-ICE-bodycam-surveillance-letter.pdf
The letter reads in part:
“There is virtually no evidence that body cameras statistically reduce violence. A critical ProPublica investigation concluded that any potential benefits of such cameras are completely undermined by the fact police departments routinely refuse to release footage, including in instances where cops shoot people. Case in point Alex Pretti’s murder was recorded on multiple ICE agent body cameras, and Renee Good’s murderer was filming as he shot her. Meanwhile federal agents have blocked Minnesota state officials from reviewing evidence and conducting their own investigation. Body cameras have not and will not tame the aggression and unfathomable brutality unfolding in Minneapolis. Thus, what Democrats are demanding equates to a chest mounted phone case so that ICE agents can brutalize while filming hands-free.”
Signatories to the letter include a broad selection of tech justice, racial justice, and human rights organizations, including Access Now, several Indivisible chapters, Muslims Advocates, Secure Justice, Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, UltraViolet Action, and the Yale Privacy Lab.
Reem Suleiman (she/her), Senior Campaigns Director at Fight For The Future, which organized the letter, said: “Bodycams will not stop ICE terror. How many more people need to be violently abducted, jailed and murdered before Congress has the guts to cut off funding for ICE and its dangerous surveillance apparatus. This agency has no place in our country, let alone on our taxpayer payroll. A funding renewal in any form only legitimizes ICE’s actions and sends the message it’s ok for them to hurt and kill our community.”
“At all levels of government, there is a correlation between the increasing use of bodyworn cameras and increasing levels of police violence. The murders of Mr. Pretti and Ms. Good were recorded. We do not need more video footage of ICE’s evil behavior. We need accountability, and if Congress continues to fund such behavior, it will be seen as an endorsement of the Trump Administration’s policies,” said Brian Hofer, Executive Director of Secure Justice. “This country has survived for hundreds of years without ICE. Abolish the agency.”
“It’s never been more clear: Congress must stop funding abusive, lawless and deadly immigration and border patrol agencies. We urge decision makers to reject mass detention and deportation, invasive surveillance technologies, and all attempts to silence and punish dissent.” said Sumayyah Waheed, senior policy counsel at Muslim Advocates.
“ICE is designed for cruelty. At this point, there is no way to reform the agency, and particularly not with bandaid interventions like body cameras that only put our communities further at risk. ICE’s terror hurts women and families in particular: they are already killing mothers in broad daylight, they are using toddlers as bait, and they are deporting postpartum, nursing mothers. This is an opportunity for Democrats to show bravery in the face of anti-family violence and cowardice.” said Jenna Sherman, Campaign Director at UltraViolet Action.
Fight for the Future
[email protected]
Trump is pushing to include risky assets like crypto and private equity in 401(k)s: Why this endangers retirement savers and the economy (Economic Policy Institute)
Why this endangers retirement savers and the economy
By Monique MorrisseyFebruary 2, 2026Economic Policy Institute
President Trump has veered away from the path that previous administrations have taken on 401(k) and other retirement plans. Instead of protecting the millions of workers with retirement accounts, his administration is trying to knock down guardrails that protect retirement Trump is proposing to make risky investments more widely available to ordinary savers and make it harder to sue the retirement plan sponsors and advisers who encourage these types of What kinds of problems could these changes cause?
Key takeaways
President Trump has veered away from the path that previous administrations have taken on 401(k) and other retirement plans. Instead of protecting the millions of workers with retirement accounts, his administration is trying to knock down guardrails that protect retirement savers.
Trump is proposing to make risky investments more widely available to ordinary savers and make it harder to sue the retirement plan sponsors and advisers who encourage these types of investments.
What kinds of problems could these changes cause?
- Some retirement savers might experience life-altering losses if retirement plan sponsors and advisers steer them into risky and hard-to-value investments like private equity and cryptocurrencies.
- Investment options that Trump is promoting include privately traded investments that may be difficult to sell when workers are ready for retirement and digital collectibles that have no intrinsic value but are simply a gamble that someone will pay more for them later.
- Marketing risky investments to millions of retirement plan participants is a way to bail out billionaires at the expense of ordinary savers at a time when pension funds and other sophisticated investors are souring on some of these investments.
- A speculative bubble like the one in the roaring 1920s might grow and lead to a crash with economywide repercussions.
The Trump family has seen enormous profits from cryptocurrencies in 2025. The crypto-based businesses they set up last year may be worth as much as $2 billion.
In an executive order dated August 7, 2025, President Trump called for a reexamination of regulations and guidance for retirement plans. Trump asked regulators to encourage retirement plan administrators to include risky options like alternative assets (or “alts”) in 401(k) and similar retirement plans. Alternative assets could be funds invested in private equity and cryptocurrencies, assets that lack strict regulation and whose value and risk can be hard to assess compared with other types of investments. Because of this, many consider alts to be unsuitable for retirement plans. Trump’s executive order listed direct and indirect interests in private market investments, real estate, digital assets, commodities, infrastructure, and longevity risk-sharing pools.
Currently there are no explicit bans on offering these types of investments in participant-directed retirement plans, but employers and advisers who serve as retirement plan fiduciaries can be sued for including inappropriately risky and costly assets among investment options. (Fiduciaries are required by law to act in the best interests of retirement plan participants.) Outside of retirement plans, marketing private equity and other largely unregulated alternative assets to small investors is mostly prohibited by securities laws, regulations, and agency guidance—though cryptocurrencies and other digital assets can be sold to anyone.
Whether due to fiduciaries’ litigation fear or common sense, alts like private equity have so far made little headway in the 401(k) space, though some major players began marketing managed funds with alternative asset components to 401(k) plan sponsors even before Trump issued his executive order.
Read full report here
Economic Policy Institute 1225 Eye St. NW, Suite 600Washington, DC xxxxxxPhone: 202-775-8810 • [email protected]
Two Soldiers Who Refused Orders - A viewing of the Talk Vietnam production "Bob Chenoweth- A Dissenting POW Redefines Patriotism" with a book signing for "Waging Peace in Vietnam." - Washington, DC - February 8 (Institute for Policy Studies & Veterans for Peace)
Sunday, February 08
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm EST
Busboys & Poets – 14th & V2021 14th Street NWWashington, DC 20009
Please RSVP
On February 8, 1968, Bob Chenoweth's helicopter was shot down partway through his second tour of duty in Vietnam. During his five years as a POW, he turned against the war. In the face of threats of prosecution for treason from superior officers, Bob refused orders to quit making public antiwar statements from a POW prison in Hanoi.
Months later, Susan Schnall refused an order prohibiting her from addressing an antiwar march while in uniform. To promote the march, she had dropped 20,000 flyers from a small plane over five California military bases and an aircraft carrier. Susan was court-martialed and sentenced to six months' hard labor.
Join us to meet these heroes and view a special episode of Talk Vietnam, entitled "A Dissenting POW Redefines Patriotism" (40 min run time) about why Bob Chenoweth still celebrates the day he was captured in Vietnam. The book Waging Peace in Vietnam: U.S. Soldiers and Veterans who Opposed the War, that includes essays by both speakers, will be available for purchase and signing at the event. (Published by New Village Press and Distributed by NYU Press, September 2019).
View video trailer
Please RSVP
