Tidbits and Announcements - July 12, 2012 

* Limerick 2 - for the 2012 election (Seymour Joseph)
* Re: Victor Grossman (Mike Fahey)
* Greek Unions, Greek Elections, and the European Economic
  Crisis - Forum July 23, 2012 - New York City
* Documentary - #YoSoy132 and the Mexican Elections
* Help Stop American Airlines From Unionbusting (American 
  Rights at Work)
* WE WON! Hakim's visa approved (FOR - Fellowship of 
  Reconciliation)
* Chris Hedges and Joe Sacco: drawing America's invisible poor
  - audio slideshow

==========

* Limerick 2 - for the 2012 election

I'm quite a job creator,
And quite a taxation hater.
The jobs I create
Are not in your state,
They're mostly around the equator.

Seymour Joseph

==========

* Re: Victor Grossman

I'd like to express my appreciation to Victor Grossman for
his informative dispatches from Berlin, and to recommend his
book `Crossing the River - A Memoir of the American Left,
the Cold War, and Life in East Germany', which answers the
question: `What could possibly impel a relatively privileged
twenty-four-year-old American - serving in the U.S. Army in
Germany in 1952 - to swim across the Danube River to what
was then referred to as the Soviet Zone?'

Mike Fahey,
NYC

==========

* Greek Unions, Greek Elections, and the European Economic
Crisis - Forum July 23, 2012 - New York City

The Murphy Institute invites you to a forum hosted by Arthur
Cheliotes, President of CWA, Local 1180, and moderated by Ed
Ott,  Distinguished Lecturer at the Murphy Institute

featuring

George Mavrikos - General Secretary of the World Federation
of Trade Unions, member of the Greek Parliament,  and former
General Secretary of the Greek General Confederation of
Labor

Commentary by
Cristina R. Vazquez, International Vice President, Workers'
United, SEIU

Monday, July 23, 2012, 8:30 to 10:30 am

The Murphy Institute-CUNY, 25 W. 43rd St. 18th Floor


RSVP to Eloiza Morales at 212-642-2029 or
[log in to unmask]

The Murphy Institute is a part of the School of Professional
Studies and The Graduate School, CUNY.

==========

* Documentary - #YoSoy132 and the Mexican Elections

VICE News (Mexic0)

	"This is a documentary about how #YoSoy132 started,
	told from the perspective of the Ibero students who
	lit the spark of the movement."

http://www.vice.com/vice-news/yo-soy-132

This coming Sunday, Mexico will elect a new president. The
options are Josefina Vazquez Mota, a candidate from the
ruling center-right party (PAN) that for the past six years
has waged a bitter drug war against the cartels, resulting
in up to 70,000 deaths. Then there's Andres Manuel Lopez
Obrador (also known as AMLO), a left wing candidate (PRD),
and former mayor of Mexico City, branded as divisive by some
but also loved by the poor and disenfranchised. Finally,
there's the expected winner, Enrique Pena Nieto, young and
boyish looking, with an unmovable hairdo and a soap-opera-
star wife, running for the PRI, the authoritarian party that
ruled Mexico for over 72 years.

Even before the campaigns started, Pena Nieto seemed cherry-
picked as the winner. He had the full support from the two
biggest TV stations and many of the national newspapers. At
the same time, Mexican youth, the biggest voting bloc,
seemed apathetic.

On May 11, Pena Nieto came to speak at Ibero-American
University, one of Mexico City's most elite private
colleges. Pena Nieto probably expected standing ovations and
an adoring crowd. But instead he got a mob of angry
students, holding banners and protesting the way he handled
an indigenous uprising in Atenco when he was governor of the
state--many people were murdered and women were raped by the
police.

After his speech, a mob of students ran after him. After
videos went up on Youtube, an Ibero professor went on the
radio and said that the protesters weren't students, but
rather hired thugs who were paid to protest. This enraged
the students. In response, they organized to make videos of
themselves showing their university IDs and giving their
names to prove that they had been smeared. They received
videos from 131 students. Demonstrations followed, and other
universities rose up in support. It went viral. A movement
was born with the name #YoSoy132 (I am 132).

No one saw this coming. Not the politicians, not the media.
What makes this movement different than the Occupy movement,
or the Indignados in Spain or the Arab Spring, is that their
main demand is media transparency. Their anger against Pena
Nieto comes from the fact that he is a candidate made and
manufactured by the mainstream media. Even if the PAN or PRD
are able to pull off a wild upset this Sunday, #YoSoy132
wants to keep up the fight against the duopoly of Televisa
and TV Azteca, which represent the status quo in Mexico -
all neatly symbolized by Pena and the PRI.

This is a documentary about how #YoSoy132 started, told from
the perspective of the Ibero students who lit the spark of
the movement.

==========

* Help Stop American Airlines From Unionbusting

American Rights at Work

http://act.americanrightsatwork.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=4670&track=20120709_adv_american_rem

Already 9,908 of you have urged American Airlines to quit
unionbusting and stop blocking its employees from voting to
form a union.

But the longer the company can delay the election, the
better chance the airline has of killing jobs as it moves
ahead in its bankruptcy proceedings. That's why American
shamelessly filed an injunction, hoping the slow-moving
courts would delay the election even more. Thankfully, the
Department of Justice saw through American's maneuvers and
on Tuesday filed an appeal to make the case move faster.

But the clock is still ticking for the 10,000 passenger
service agents who are stranded without a voice to protect
themselves as the airline attempts to gut their jobs,
benefits, and working conditions.

Before American Airlines tries any new stalling tactics, the
company needs to hear from as many consumers as possible so
it gets the message that the public won't stand for its
undemocratic, unjust, and unAmerican behavior.

Please drop what you're doing and take one minute to help
keep the pressure on American.

Demand American Airlines stop the outrageous delays and let
workers vote TODAY.
http://act.americanrightsatwork.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=4670&track=20120709_adv_american_rem

In Solidarity,

Jeanette Mauk
Field Director, Ohio AFL-CIO

==========

* WE WON! Hakim's visa approved

"Every hand of friendship is a hand for freedom."

That's what Hakim wrote to us when he found out that, after
pressure from supporters in the United States, his visa to
visit our country had been granted!

We learned yesterday, shortly after we sent out our last
update on Hakim's situation. He wrote:

"Your support letters to me and to the U.S. Embassies in
support of my U.S. visa re-application encourage me deeply
in my wish and work for global peace. Your acts of love show
me that without extending our hand to one another, neither
simple nor difficult steps towards a better, non-violent
world could be taken successfully.

"I ask that you would join me in hoping the same for Ali and
Abdulhai, two core members of the Afghan Peace Volunteers,
as they apply for their U.S. visas in Kabul, Afghanistan, to
participate in the Caravan of Peace too.

"In Afghanistan, where peace has become a `disappointing
word', Ali, Abdulhai and I have been dreaming about our `2
Million Friends' Campaign. I can affirm and share with them
my warm experience of your friendship.

"Every hand of friendship is a hand for freedom!"

You can read more on our blog about Hakim and this
successful campaign to bring him to the United States.

We will keep you informed if further steps are needed to
help secure visas for Ali and Abdulhai to bring them here
for the Peace Caravan. To learn more about Hakim, visit the
Afghan Peace Volunteers. http://ourjourneytosmile.com/blog/
And please stay tuned in coming weeks for reports on the
U.S.-Mexico Peace Caravan
http://forusa.org/blogs/john-lindsay-poland/mexican-us-caravan-for-peace-justice-dignity-2012/10644 
and Afghan Peace Volunteers' 2 Million Friends Campaign.

FOR is proud to undertake campaigns like this one, on our
own and alongside partner organizations, in support of
justice, nonviolence and reconciliation in Afghanistan,
Mexico, the United States and around the world.

But we can't do it without your help. Will you consider
making a special donation to support our ongoing
participation in support of the U.S. Mexico-Peace Caravan
and Afghan Peace Volunteers?

Make a tax deductible donation to FOR and help support
active nonviolence worldwide.

In peace and with thanksgiving,

Mark C. Johnson, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Fellowship of Reconciliation

Fellowship of Reconciliation  
P.O. Box 271, Nyack, NY 10960
[log in to unmask]  -- www.forusa.org -- (845) 358-4601

==========

* Chris Hedges and Joe Sacco: drawing America's invisible poor
- audio slideshow

For his latest book, Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt, out
this month in paperback, Pulitzer prize winning author Chris
Hedges collaborated with award winning cartoonist and
journalist Joe Sacco to produce a heartfelt, harrowing picture
of post-capitalist America. Together they explore the
country's 'sacrifice zones' - areas that have been offered up
for exploitation in the name of profit, progress, and
technological advancement - and show in words and images what
life looks like in places where the marketplace rules without
constraints

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/audioslideshow/2012/jul/12/joe-sacco-chris-hedges-destruction

[thanks to Ron Blum for sharing this with Portside readers]

==========

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