Tidbits - July 5, 2011

* Re: Reviving the Strike: Where Do We Go From Here? and on
  the Huffington Post Strike (Martin Morand)
* Re: The New War of Independence - Against Corporate
  Politics (Charles)
* Re: Obama: His Words and His Deeds (Robert Whealey)
* Portland Announcement - Christian Parenti Book Reading -  
  July 11
* Witness for Peace demo against the Free Trade Agreement -
  July 11 - Washington, DC
* Marx in Soho (in Vancouver)

==========

* Re: Reviving the Strike: Where Do We Go From Here? and on
the Huffington Post Strike

"the one unifying factor that can achieve the myriad goals
of the labor movement is the revival of the effective,
production-halting strike"

I could not agree more.  But, ""one employer, one union." I
trust that the author will deal with the problem of a
"production-halting strike" when the "one employer" is a
multinational while the unions, despite the word
"International" in so many of their titles, are still
nationals. It took the entire nineteenth century for local
unions in the U.S. to create a national - and that's in one
nation with one language and one legal/political system.

Today we see in Greece (and elsewhere in a non-United
Europe) evidences of the dilemma: A single currency but 27
nations/politics. In other words, a globalized capital with
only nation states to contain it. "...the left wing of the
labor movement lacks a common agenda, as it advances a
hodge-podge of ideas of what it will take to save unionism
in this country..."


Please identify the "left wing" and share with us their
"ideas of what it will take to save unionism in this
country..."

---

"We think that because of the values that Arianna stands
for: She is progressive, she does care about social justice,
we thought she was someone who would actually listen to us
and help us," Lunzer said, adding, "I still firmly believe
that."

In its early months, the strike caught headlines with a
provocative let-them-eat-cake response from Arianna
Huffington, who said, "Go ahead, go on strike," and
dismissed "the idea of going on strike when no one really
notices."

I worked for David Dubinsky who committed multiple ULPs when
the staff attempted to unionize.  He summed it up as, "If
you are a union then I am a boss.  I am not a boss.  I
refuse to be a boss. Therefore, you cannot be a union."

In the Atlanta office of ILG when I arrived one AM to see a
picket line of office staff I was outraged and dismayed.
(The background had been a personal/political dispute with
Tony Zivalich of the Atlanta Teamsters over support for
Maynard Jackson's candidacy.) The naivete and
misapprehension of true self-interest being displayed amazed
me.

"Ingratitude, more strong than traitors' arms, Quite
vanquish'd him: then burst his mighty heart." was
approximately my feeling.

 The reaction of "leftist" union leaders to unions of their
 employees has been well nigh universally hostile.

When Leo Gerard spoke at SEIU 32BJ in 2005 after meeting
Roger Toussaint, newly released from jail, he said: "The
Taylor Law, any law which punishes workers for striking and
jails their leaders -- is Stalinist."  The audience was
Shocked into silence. One idiot asked, "Why are you
redbaiting."


Ariana's comment echoes. "Suppose they gave a war and nobody
came?" The capacity to conflate self-interest with the
common good has been the norm for tribal chieftains,
monarchs, slave owners and all "benevolent dictators."


Martin Morand

===========

* Re: The New War of Independence - Against Corporate
Politics


    "This is the age of corporatized politics"


I would slightly disagree with the statement above, in that
the term "corporatized politics" is a bit of an
understatement.


This is the age of corporations having the legal status of
"personhood", as defined by the current supreme court.


This is the age of lobbyists who can dispense money and
influence, at the behest of the aforementioned corporations,
who have now become "persons".


This is the age of the largest Ponzi scheme ever perpetrated
in human history, engineered by the banking and financial
services cartels of Wall Street, with no oversight or
regulation.


This is the age of wars being initiated and fought, without
"declaring war", and being enhanced with legions of
mercenaries and privatized paramilitary "services".


There are more such examples which could be added to this
list, but this is enough to convey the basic concept.


I make no claims of US constitutional and related historical
wisdom, but I would defy anyone who can claim to indicate
where any of the aforementioned aspects of current American
governance was intended to be the consequence of our
"independence", as celebrated on July 4.
 
Charles
Berkeley   CA
 
===========

* Re: Obama: His Words and His Deeds


This is an incisive article.  I recommend it to all my
friends.


Robert Whealey
Historian.
Ohio University
Athens, Ohio

==========

* Portland Announcement - Christian Parenti Book Reading


Tropic of Chaos Reading and Q & A at Powell's in Portland!


    Tropic of Chaos: Climate Change and the New Geography of
    Violence by Christian Parenti (Nation Books, July 2011)


Nation Books author and Institute Fellow Christian Parenti
will read from his new book, Tropic of Chaos: Climate Wars
and the New Geography of Violence (Nation Books), and answer
questions at Powell's Bookstore in Portland, Oregon on
Monday, July 11! Book signing to follow reading.

July 11, 2011 -- 7:30 PM

Powell's Books
1005 W Burnside St.
Portland, OR 97209

The new era of climate war is upon us. Extreme weather
brought on by global warming is unleashing cascades of
unrest and violence across the globe, from Africa to Asia to
the Americas. In Tropic of Chaos, award-winning writer
Christian Parenti reports from the front lines of this
gathering social and environmental catastrophe. Combining
historical insight with on-the-ground reporting, Parenti
shows how environmental crisis is colliding with the twin
legacies of Cold War militarism and unbridled free market
economics to cause fragile nations to disintegrate into
failed states. Tropic of Chaos is a survey of a world in
peril and an urgent call to action: Those living in the
privileged Global North must recognize that our own future
security is inextricably linked to the fate of the
struggling nations of the Global South.


http://tinyurl.com/3sjcvfl

==========

* Witness for Peace demo against the Free Trade Agreement -
July 11 - Washington, DC


I write to send you information about a protest against the
Free Trade Agreement which Witness for Peace and other
organizations are organizing in Washington, DC. The protest
will take place on July 11 at 12pm at Lafayette Park in
front of the White House. For more information go to the
Witness' Facebook page


https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=158616390875600/


You can help by informing your acquaintances in Washington,
DC. If you have any questions please direct them to Jess
Hunter-Bowman, Associate Director, Witness for Peace at
[log in to unmask]


Thank you, 
Gilbert Gonzalez

==========

After one sold-out show in Vancouver this past November, Karl
Marx is coming back to Vancouver...

July 13 and 14th at Vancouver's Rio Theatre ...1660 East
Broadway (at Commercial Drive)

Doors open:   7pm Show starts:  7:30pm

Tickets: $20 or $10 low income (Available soon at
http://riotheatre.ca/)

Posters and flyers available at People's Coop Bookstore (1391
Commercial Dr). List of endorsing organizations will be added
to this call-out soon.

About the Play

"Don't you wonder: why is it necessary to declare me dead
again and again?"

Marx is back! The premise of this witty and insightful "play
on history" is that Karl Marx has agitated with the
authorities of the afterlife for a chance to clear his name.
Through a bureaucratic error, though, Marx is sent to Soho in
New York, rather than his old stomping ground in London, to
make his case.

Howard Zinn, best known for his book, 'A Peoples History of
the United States', introduces us to Marx's wife, Jenny, his
children, the anarchist Mikhail Bakunin, and a host of other
characters.

Marx in Soho is a brilliant introduction to Marx's life, his
analysis of society, and his passion for radical change. Zinn
also shows how Marx's ideas are relevant in today's world.

Brian Jones, an African American actor and activist, has been
performing this engaging one-man show across the country
since 1999. Marx in Soho is a brilliant introduction to
Marx's life, his analysis of society, and his passion for
radical change.

http://www.marxinsoho.com/

===========

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