PORTSIDE List

Support Aristide's Return to Haiti

Portside Moderator — Wed, 1 Sep 2010 22:41:50 -0400

Support Aristide's Return to Haiti

HAITI ACTION COMMITTEE ALERT.

http://www.haitisolidarity.net/article.php?id=444

TO: President Barack Obama and Mrs. Michele Obama:

Jean-Bertrand Aristide, a former liberation theology
priest, was elected by the people of Haiti as their
president in 1990 and again in 2000 (by 60% and 92% of
the vote respectively). Both times he was overthrown by
military coups - in 2004 directly by the US with
backing from France and Canada. UN troops have occupied
Haiti ever since, and thousands of people have been
persecuted and even killed for demanding his return. [...]

August 28th Remembered

Portside Moderator — Wed, 1 Sep 2010 22:41:23 -0400

August 28th Remembered

by David McReynolds
Socialist Web Zine
August 31, 2010
http://www.socialistwebzine.org/2010/08/august-28th-remembered.html

What a difference money makes. Today, Saturday the 28th
of August, 2010, Glenn Beck rallied on the steps of the
Lincoln Memorial with all the majesty of Fox News
behind him. Day after day Fox News had trumpeted the
event, organizing for it, and if Beck doesn't get a
crowd it will be no fault of those who own Fox News and
fund Glenn Beck. (Fox News is one very good reason for
an estate tax which would guarantee that no one could
buy and own networks, [...]

Workers Rebuilding New Orleans Face Rampant Wage Theft

Portside Moderator — Wed, 1 Sep 2010 22:41:10 -0400

Workers Rebuilding New Orleans Face Rampant Wage Theft

Undocumented Workers Vital to Reconstruction Face Discrimination and Abuse

By Elise Foley
The Washington Independent
September 1, 2010
http://washingtonindependent.com/96411

Jacinta Gonzalez, an organizer with the Congress of Day
Laborers in New Orleans, tells a story about the abuse
of workers rebuilding the city after the devastation of
Hurricane Katrina. She once met a man who went to his
employer's house to demand payment for a his labor on a
construction site after the employer stiffed him of his
dues. The man's boss came at him, swinging a hammer.
The worker immediately called [...]

Anti-War Coalition: Complete Withdrawal from Iraq

Portside Moderator — Wed, 1 Sep 2010 22:40:57 -0400

National Anti-War Coalition Calls for Complete Withdrawal from Iraq

For Immediate Release: August 31, 2010
United for Peace and Justice
http://www.unitedforpeace.org/

Contact:
Michael McPhearson, UFPJ Co-Convenor, 973-666-4605, michaelvfp@gmail.com
Phyllis Bennis, UFPJ Steering Committee - 202-234-9382 ext 5206, PBennis@ips-dc.org

Any reduction in the number of US troops occupying Iraq
is a good thing. But the occupation is continuing, even
if on a somewhat smaller scale, with 50,000 troops.
Despite a commitment to withdraw "combat brigades,"
these 50,000 are indeed combat troops, "re-missioned"
by the Pentagon and assigned to "training and
assistance." But even Secretary of Defense Gates admits
they will have [...]

Stephen Hawking Says Universe Not Created by God

Portside Moderator — Wed, 1 Sep 2010 22:40:11 -0400

Stephen Hawking Says Universe Not Created by God

Physics, not creator, made Big Bang, new book claims
Professor had previously referred to 'mind of God'

The Guardian
September 2, 2010
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/sep/02/stephen-hawking-big-bang-creator

God did not create the universe, the man who is
arguably Britain's most famous living scientist says in
a forthcoming book.

In the new work, The Grand Design, Professor Stephen
Hawking argues that the Big Bang, rather than occurring
following the intervention of a divine being, was
inevitable due to the law of gravity. [...]

Populist Passion Is Antidote to Bankster Greed

Portside Moderator — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 20:56:29 -0400

Populist Passion Is Antidote to Bankster Greed

By John Nichols

Capitol Times

August 30, 2010

http://host.madison.com/ct/news/opinion/column/john_nichols/article_de5521a0-5a99-532f-bce0-060a69c4aa28.html

It is hard to imagine a better setting for Jim Hightower to
renew the populist call to action than Fighting Bob Fest, the
county-fair-style outdoor gathering of 10,000 progressives
where the agitator from Austin will appear Sept. 11.

And it is hard to imagine a better time. [...]

Is Glenn Beck mobilizing the religious right for November?

Portside Moderator — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 20:56:02 -0400

Is Glenn Beck mobilizing the religious right for November?

Beck's vacuous but pious rally may have served to
inaugurate a pre-election bid for power by the
evangelical right

By Joe Conason

August 30, 2010

http://www.salon.com/news/politics/2010_elections/index.html?story=/opinion/conason/2010/08/30/pray

If Glenn Beck's Washington extravaganza seemed strangely
empty of political content, filled with vacuous pieties and
fetishes rather than protest, then perhaps it should be seen
as the opening act in a renewed campaign to assert the power
of the religious right. A series of four mass prayer events,
featuring many of the most prominent figures in the
Republican Party's theocratic wing, will occur between [...]

Health Effects of the Gulf Oil Spill

Portside Moderator — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 20:55:30 -0400

Health Effects of the Gulf Oil Spill

By Gina M. Solomon, MD, MPH, and Sarah Janssen, MD, PhD, MPH

JAMA/Journal of the American Medical Association

August 16, 2010

http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/jama.2010.1254?eaf

The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico poses direct threats to
human health from inhalation or dermal contact with the oil
and dispersant chemicals, and indirect threats to seafood
safety and mental health. Physicians should be familiar with
health effects from oil spills to appropriately advise,
diagnose, and treat patients who live and work along the Gulf
Coast or wherever a major oil spill occurs. [...]

25 companies responsible for 700,000 lost jobs

Portside Moderator — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 20:55:01 -0400

25 companies responsible for 700,000 lost jobs

Submitted by Robert Oak on Wed, 08/18/2010

http://www.economicpopulist.org/content/25-companies-responsible-700000-lost-jobs

* Insourcing/Outsourcing * layoffs.labor arbitrage

Daily Finance has compiled a list, from Challenger and Gray
layoff data, of the top 25 companies with the biggest job
losses this recession.

From The Layoff Kings: The 25 Companies Responsible for
700,000 Lost Jobs author Douglas McIntyre, compiled the list
below. I've added whether or not that company is known for
offshore outsourcing jobs. The actual jobs offshore
outsourced is unknown, if some ambitious researcher wishes to
correlate layoffs with jobs created offshore, or offshore
outsourcing contracts written, [...]

A Crisis of Spiraling Tuition

Portside Moderator — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 20:54:16 -0400

A Crisis of Spiraling Tuition

Colleges must volunteer - or be forced - to address rising
costs

By Derrick Z. Jackson

The Boston Globe

August 31, 2010

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2010/08/31/a_crisis_of_spiraling_tuition/

In a speech to the Urban League in July, President Obama
bemoaned the nation's drop from first in the world to 12th in
measures of college completion. This situation is
"economically indefensible'' and "morally inexcusable,'' he
said, and "all of us are going to have to roll up our sleeves
to change it.'' [...]

American Democracy (the lack thereof)

Portside Moderator — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 20:56:55 -0400

American Democracy (the lack thereof)

by Van Gosse

On Huffington Post, August 26, 2010

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/van-gosse/american-democracy-the-la_b_693832.html

For more than two hundred years, the rest of the world
has listened to Americans boast about our "freedom,"
our "liberty," and, most of all, how we are the model
for a perfected democracy, which everyone else should
emulate.

This was always been a pretty rank claim -- even in
1775 the British man of letters, Dr. Samuel Johnson,
asked "How is it that we hear the loudest yelps for
liberty among the drivers of negroes?" But we have kept
it up, over the years, [...]

Catholics, Muslims, and the Mosque Controversy

Portside Moderator — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 20:56:35 -0400

Catholics, Muslims, and the Mosque Controversy

John T. McGreevy and R. Scott Appleby

The New York Review of Books

August 27, 2010

http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/

"The American River Ganges," Thomas Nast's 1875 cartoon
showing Catholic priests as crocodiles attacking the
United States to devour the nation's school children

As historians of American Catholicism, and Catholics,
we are concerned to see the revival of a strain of
nativism in the current controversy over the
establishment of an Islamic center some blocks from
Ground Zero in lower Manhattan. [...]

Honeywell Locks Out USW Local Over Health Care

Portside Moderator — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 20:56:14 -0400

Honeywell Locks Out USW Local Over Health Care
Sister Local in Canada Wins Contract

By Kay Tillow
Posted 8-29-10: http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/68146

On June 28, 2010, Honeywell locked out the 230 union workers at its
uranium hexafluoride plant in Metropolis, an Ohio River town of 6,500 at
the tip of southern Illinois 400 miles south of Chicago. A working class
town nestled amidst the corn, soybean and wheat fields, Metropolis is
known for its Superman statue on the court house square where most
Illinois candidates, including Barack Obama, have stopped by for a photo
op. [...]

Peace Movement Pushes for End to War on Iraq

Portside Moderator — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 20:55:47 -0400

Peace Movement Pushes for End to War on Iraq

By David Swanson

http://warisacrime.org/node/54599

As news stories are leading those still aware of the
war on Iraq to believe it's over, it was encouraging to
see Busboys and Poets restaurant in Washington, D.C.,
packed Sunday evening for a four-hour forum on actions
needed to actually end that war, make reparations, and
deter future wars of aggression. The event was
advertised with the following description: [...]

Wrestling with the Khmer Rouge Legacy

Portside Moderator — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 20:55:23 -0400

Wrestling with the Khmer Rouge Legacy

By Tom Fawthrop

8-30-10

History News Network

http://www.hnn.us/articles/130706.html

The Khmer Rouge Tribunal delivered its first verdict in
July against Kaing Guek Euv, alias "Duch," the director
of the notorious S-21 prison, a torture and
extermination center under the rule of Cambodian
dictator Pol Pot. After a 77-day trial, the five
judges--two international and three
Cambodian--unanimously convicted Duch of committing
crimes against humanity. He was sentenced to
thirty-five years in prison. [...]

90 Years After Suffrage, Impoverished Mothers Need Another Kind of Equality

Portside Moderator — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 23:01:23 -0400

90 Years After Suffrage, Impoverished Mothers
Need Another Kind of Equality
By Michelle Chen
In These Times
August 27, 2010
http://www.inthesetimes.com/working/entry/6376/impoverished_mothers_need_another_kind_of_womens_equality1/

Just in time for Women's Equality Day, a new study has
dampened the anniversary of women's suffrage 90 years
ago by highlighting the despair of women in poverty
today.

The study by the Washington, D.C.-based Urban Institute
decisively links depression, economic struggles, and
family well-being. The Washington Post explains,
"researchers reported that one in nine infants in
poverty had a mother with severe depression and that
such mothers typically breastfed their children for
shorter periods than other mothers who [...]

Staying Negative: How An Unexpected Antiretroviral Result Is Reshaping The Battle Against AIDS

Portside Moderator — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 23:00:52 -0400

Staying Negative: How An Unexpected Antiretroviral
Result Is Reshaping The Battle Against AIDS
Success Of A Vaginal Microbicide Gel Reveals How
HIV-Prevention Strategies Can Emerge From Progress
In Treatment
By Lynne Peeples
Scientific American
August 25, 2010
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=staying-negative

[moderator: to read this entire article
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=staying-negative]

The promising preventive gel, which cut infection rates
among participating women in the South African province
of KwaZulu-Natal by 39 percent, contained 1 percent of
the antiretroviral (ARV) medication tenofovir, the same
drug commonly taken in pill form as part of a standard
HIV-treatment regimen. Its apparent safety and success
also bodes well for other [...]

Banks' Self-Dealing Super-Charged Financial Crisis

Portside Moderator — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 22:59:07 -0400

Banks' Self-Dealing Super-Charged Financial Crisis
by Jake Bernstein and Jesse Eisinger
ProPublica
August 26, 2010
http://www.propublica.org/article/banks-self-dealing-super-charged-financial-crisis

Over the last two years of the housing bubble, Wall
Street bankers perpetrated one of the greatest episodes
of self-dealing in financial history.

Faced with increasing difficulty in selling the
mortgage-backed securities that had been among their
most lucrative products, the banks hit on a solution
that preserved their quarterly earnings and huge
bonuses: [...]

Obama's Silent Jewish Majority

Portside Moderator — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 22:58:29 -0400

Obama's Silent Jewish Majority
by Eric Alterman
The Daily Beast
August 22, 2010
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-08-22/obamas-silent-jewish-majority/

Times columnist Charles M. Blow was apparently light on
ideas for his weekly column the other day and so he
decided to wade into the "Is Obama Good for the Jews"
waters. He should have stayed on dry land.

The thing about Jews is that you can find one willing to
say just about anything. Do Jews support the Park51
Community center? Yes, they do. Do they oppose it? Sure.
Do they oppose Israel's settlement policy? Absolutely.
Do they support it? Damn straight they do. [...]

Crossing the Line

Portside Moderator — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 22:58:00 -0400

Crossing the Line
Laura Tillman
The Nation
August 26, 2010
http://www.thenation.com/article/154166/crossing-line

Brownsville, Texas

Diana, a slight, 30-year-old office manager wearing a
smart blouse and pencil skirt, has a tired note in her
voice. In the privacy of her office, she has spent the
afternoon discussing an event in her life that she
previously never recounted to anyone. She is talking
about her abortion. Or maybe her miscarriage. She's glad
she never has to know which. [...]

The Backlash Against Obama's Blackness

Carl Bloice — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 13:48:54 -0400

The Backlash Against Obama's Blackness

From Arizona to Ground Zero via birthers, the
Republicans are riding a wave of white
resentment. It's reckless and frightening

By Dan Kennedy
Guardian (UK)
August 24, 2020

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/aug/24/obama-backlash-us-racism

The August madness into which America has descended is
about several things. It's about the still-sputtering
economy, of course, and the fear it engenders. It's
about xenophobia, never far below the surface. And it's
about a rightwing media-political complex that plays on
the public's ignorance. [...]

The Billionaire Brothers Waging War Against Obama

Carl Bloice — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 13:23:25 -0400

From 'The billionaire brothers who are waging a war against
Obama':

'The Kochs are longtime libertarians who believe in
drastically lower personal and corporate taxes, minimal
social services for the needy, and much less oversight
of industry-especially environmental regulation. These
views dovetail with the brothers' corporate interests.
In a study released this spring, the University of
Massachusetts at Amherst's Political Economy Research
Institute named Koch Industries one of the top ten air
polluters in the United States. And Greenpeace issued a
report identifying the company as a "kingpin of climate
science denial." The report showed that, from 2005 to
2008, [...]

Badgers, Buses and Trains: Why We Need a National Rail System

Carl Bloice — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 13:19:59 -0400

Badgers, Buses and Trains: Why We Need a National Rail
System

By Billy Wharton
counterpunch
August 26, 2010

http://www.counterpunch.org/wharton08262010.html

Mention the name Amtrak and you might be on the
receiving end of some unexpected hostility. Tales of
delays or strange transfers or even outright anger at
high prices will likely ensue. In fact, for most people
in America, the idea of a national rail system is a
myth and like any good tall tale, everyone has a story.
I picked up my own after a recent trip to Madison,
Wisconsin. [...]

Nurses to Whitman: `Women Vote for Women Who Vote!'

Carl Bloice — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 13:11:47 -0400

Nurses to Whitman: `Women Vote for Women Who Vote!'

By Mike Hall
AFL-CIO Blog
August 27, 2010

http://blog.aflcio.org/2010/08/27/nurses-to-whitman-women-vote-for-women-who-vote/

More than 1,500 people, including many women in early
20th century fashion, marched and rallied in Sacramento
yesterday to mark the 90th anniversary of the 19th
amendment to the U.S. Constitution that gave women the
right to vote.

The rally, sponsored by the California Nurses
Association (CNA), also spotlighted how Republican
gubernatorial candidate, billionaire CEO Meg Whitman,
hasn't exercised that right during most of her adult
life. She has admitted her voting history is
"atrocious." [...]

Is the US Pulling the Plug on Iraqi Workers?

Carl Bloice — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 13:09:37 -0400

Is the US Pulling the Plug on Iraqi Workers?

By David Bacon, t r u t h o u t | Op-Ed
truthout
August 27, 2010

http://www.truth-out.org/is-us-pulling-plug-iraqi-workers62632

Early in the morning of July 21, police stormed the
offices of the Iraqi Electrical Utility Workers Union
in Basra, the poverty-stricken capital of Iraq's oil-
rich south. A shamefaced officer told Hashmeya Muhsin,
the first woman to head a national union in Iraq, that
they'd come to carry out the orders of Electricity
Minister Hussain al-Shahristani to shut the union down.
As more police arrived, they took the membership
records, the files [...]

tidbits -- August 27, 2010

<> — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 20:42:08 -0400

1 Re: Response to 'Why Is the Peace Movement Stalled?'
2 Re: 'Islam in Two Americas' Comment by Michael Meeropol
3 Re: Response on the Pullman Porters
4 Re: They Go or Obama Goes
5 Nine Years Later -- Where Has This Country Gone?
6 Re: urgent KPFA elections

=====
11111

From: Mark Stahl
Subject: Response from New England United to "Why is
the Peace Movement Stalled" [...]

On 'Friday Night Lights', Abortion Stigma Goes Primetime

<> — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 20:41:44 -0400

On 'Friday Night Lights', Abortion Stigma Goes
Primetime

Nancy Northup
The Nation
August 26, 2010
http://www.thenation.com/article/154177/friday-night-lights-abortion-stigma-goes-primetime

It's evident just how much of a taboo abortion has
become when a television show gets lauded as bold for
having a character go through with the procedure.
Friday Night Lights, NBC's gripping portrayal of life
in small-town Texas, is being deservedly praised for
the emotional realism with which it recently depicted a
teenager's decision to have an abortion-a decision
rarely made on television or film nowadays, even though
abortion is a common and legal medical procedure that
one-third of American women decide is [...]

Nine Justices and Ten Commandments

<> — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 20:41:25 -0400

Nine Justices and Ten Commandments

By LINDA GREENHOUSE
August 26, 2010
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/26/nine-justices-and-ten-commandments/

While the politically manipulated controversy over the
proposed Islamic center in Lower Manhattan will
eventually end, there is one dispute over religious
symbolism and identity that remains, apparently,
endless. I'm referring to the continuing effort by
state and local governments to post the Ten
Commandments in public places. [...]

Women Leaders Ask the President to Fire Alan Simpson

<> — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 20:41:06 -0400

Angering a Key Constituency: Women Leaders Ask the
President to Fire Alan Simpson

By Richard (RJ) Eskow
August 27, 2010 - 3:22pm ET
http://www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/2010083427/angering-key-constituency-women-leaders-ask-president-fire-alan-simpson

Four prominent leaders of women's organizations held a
conference call today, accompanied by Rep. Raul
Grijalva, to demand the resignation of retired Sen.
Alan Simpson as co-chair of the Deficit Commission.
Their comments, together with a number of private
conversations with women's leaders, indicate that
Simpson and his Commission could be an even greater
political liability among women voters than most
observers initially suspected. [...]

Friday Nite Videos -- August 27, 2010

<> — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 20:40:41 -0400

[Does Glenn Beck merit attention? The Glenn Beck who
imagines himself as the successor to Martin Luther
King, or maybe a messiah? He's just crazy, right?
Crazy, yes, but perhaps more than 'just.' Crazy is
different when it has the adulation of a right-wing
movement adrift from reality, a primetime home on a TV
network, a nationwide radio show and a cultlike
following. That's why Glenn Beck merits attention. And
yet, to take his semi-madness seriously also somehow
misses the point. Court jesters to the rescue: in
today's videos, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert show
that zaniness may be best [...]

Tidbits - August 26, 2010

<> — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 22:40:53 -0400

Tidbits - August 26, 2010

* Re: The Latest Bi-Partisan Attack on Social Security
(Thane Doss)
* Re: Forever Young: Staughton Lynd at 80 (Bob Mants)
* Urgent KPFA elections! (Jon and Mary Fromer)

==========

* Re: The Latest Bi-Partisan Attack on Social Security

Given Obama's tactics so far, hoping that the wealthy
will kick in a few crumbs through tax increases seems
likely to be in vain. Obama will agree to the gutting of
Social Security first, then when it comes time for tax
increases, he'll meet unified opposition and it'll never
even get a vote. Time and again, [...]

Re: First Black Labor Union Marks Milestone

<> — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 22:40:23 -0400

Re: First Black Labor Union Marks Milestone

by Jean Damu

I salute all the tributes and accolades conferred upon
our first mostly Black union (Phillipinos were also
members, as well as women-so, so much for
"brotherhood.") However, as a former member of the
Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters who worked in the
Colorado Division of the Santa Fe Railroad out of
Albuquerque, New Mexico, I have to admit it gets a
little tiresome reading constant and continual incorrect
references to the Pullman Porters Union and never any
holistic political assessment to the political stances
of A. Philip Randolph and the [...]

War Veterans/Military Family Members Successfully Blockade Fort Hood Deployment to Iraq

<> — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 22:39:54 -0400

War Veterans/Military Family Members Successfully
Blockade Fort Hood Deployment to Iraq

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 23, 2010

CONTACT: War Veterans/Military Family Members
347-613-8964 or forthooddisobeys@hushmail.com

http://forthooddisobeys.blogspot.com/

KILLEEN, Texas - August 23 - Five peace activists
successfully blockaded six buses carrying Fort Hood
Soldiers deploying to Iraq outside Fort Hood's Clarke
gate this morning at around 4 a.m. While the activists
took the width of Clarke Rd. and slowed the buses to a
halt, police made no arrests, but instead beat the
activists out of the streets using automatic weapons and
police dogs so the deploying Soldiers could proceed. [...]

They Go or Obama Goes

<> — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 22:39:13 -0400

They Go or Obama Goes

By Robert Scheer

TruthDig.com

August 25, 2010

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/they_go_or_obama_goe
s_20100825/

Barack Obama and the Democrats he led to a stunning
victory two years ago are going down hard in the face of
an economic crisis that he did nothing to create but
which he has failed to solve. That is somewhat unfair
because the basic blame belongs to his predecessors,
Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, who let the bulls of
Wall Street run wild in the streets where ordinary folks
lived. And there was universal Republican support in
Congress for the radical deregulation of the [...]

US Combat Ends in Iraq, But Covert Operations Begin

<> — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 22:38:43 -0400

US Combat Ends in Iraq, But Covert Operations Begin

By Tom Hayden

L.A. Progressive
August 26, 2010

http://www.laprogressive.com/the-middle-east/iraq-
covert-operations/

While the Obama administration struggles to keep its
pledge to end the Iraq war, a behind-the-scenes plan is
developing in which the Baghdad regime "invites" the
American military to stay.

While media attention focused this week on the last
combat brigade rolling out of Iraq, US diplomat Ryan
Crocker was saying that if the Iraqis "come to us later
on this year requesting that we jointly relook at the
post-2011 period, it is going to be in our strategic
interest to [...]

The Latest Bi-Partisan Attack on Social Security

<> — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 22:10:17 -0400

The Latest Bi-Partisan Attack on Social Security

Let Them Eat Cat Food

James Ridgeway
This Can't Be Happening
August 23, 2010
http://www.thiscantbehappening.net/node/178

President Obama's Deficit Commission is all smoke and
mirrors. Its members are making a big show of laboring
over "painful" choices and considering all options in
their quest to bring down the deficit. But inside the
Beltway everyone knows what's going to happen: The
commission will reduce the deficit on the backs of the
old and the poor, through cuts to Social Security,
Medicare, and Medicaid. Some opponents have taken to
calling it the Cat Food Commission, since [...]

Food Stamps, Latest Casualty of Senate Budget Slashing

<> — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 22:09:54 -0400

Food Stamps are Latest Casualty of Senate Budget
Slashing

By Dr. Wilmer J. Leon III
the grio
August 19, 2010

http://www.thegrio.com/politics/food-stamps-are-latest-casualty-of-spending-slashing-senate.php

People line up to talk with case workers at the
Illinois Department of Human Services in Champaign,
Ill. on Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2010. (AP Photo/David Mercer)

National priorities are determined by the manner in
which a nation allocates its limited resources; how and
where it spends its money. At the end of July Congress
passed a $33 billion supplemental war bill for
President Obama's troop surge in Afghanistan. This past
Tuesday the president signed a multibillion-dollar
bailout bill for [...]

Happy Women's Rights Day!

<> — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 22:08:59 -0400

Happy Women's Rights Day!

Radical Women
www.RadicalWomen.org

August 25, 2010

Dear Friend,

On this Women's Rights Day, Radical Women puts out the
call: It's time to reclaim and re-energize a fighting,
militant feminist movement!

August 26, Women's Rights Day, commemorates the day
U.S. women won the vote in 1920. The suffrage struggle
was deeply rooted in the battle to abolish slavery. In
its early days, equal passion was given to the demands
for female emancipation and Black freedom. Although the
movements later became tragically divided, there were
also principled feminist opponents of racism, including
African American leader Sojourner Truth, who [...]

Brazil's Census to Recognize Descendants Of Runaway Slaves

<> — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 22:08:37 -0400

Brazil's Census Offers Recognition At Last to Descendants Of Runaway Slaves

Interviewers plan to reach 190m people, including the long-ignored Kalunga, by motorbike, plane, canoe and donkey

By Tom Phillips in Engenho II, Kalunga territory
Guardian (UK)
August 25, 2010
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/25/brazil-2010-census-kalunga

When Jorge Moreira de Oliveira's great-great-great-
great-great-grandfather arrived in Brazil in the 18th
century he was counted off the slave-ship, branded and
dispatched to a goldmine deep in the country's arid
mid-west. After years of scrambling for gold that was
shipped to Europe, he fled and became one of the
founding fathers of the Kalunga quilombo, a remote
mountain-top [...]

Action Alerts: August 25, 2010

<> — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 22:07:51 -0400

Action Alerts: August 25, 2010

1. Take Action for Peace and Justice in October!
2. Teach in on Iraq (Washington, DC)
3. Support the National Museum of African American History and Culture
4. TurnOffFox campaign
5. Fight Tea Party Voters with Fresh Voters
6. Towards Full and Fair Employment and a New Economy
7. Floodlines: Community & Resistance from Katrina to the Jena 6 [...]

Forever Young: Staughton Lynd at 80

<> — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 21:26:22 -0400

Forever Young: Staughton Lynd at 80

By Andy Piascik

Center for Labor Renewal
Forging a New Consciousness of Solidarity and Struggle

August 22, 2010

http://www.centerforlaborrenewal.org/?P=A&Category_ID=
1&Article=247

[Note: A version of this article appeared in The
Connecticut Post
http://www.ctpost.com/opinion/article/Forever-young-
Staughton-Lynd-at-80-623779.php ]

Suddenly Staughton Lynd is all the rage. Again. In the
last 18 months, Lynd has published two new books, a
third that's a reprint of an earlier work, plus a memoir
co-authored with his wife Alice. In addition, a portrait
of his life as an activist through 1970 by Carl Mirra of
Adelphi University has been published, with another book
[...]

The Roma: Europe's favorite Scapegoat

<> — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 21:25:55 -0400

The Roma: Europe's favorite Scapegoat

Dispatches From The Edge

Conn Hallinan
submitted to Portside by the author

August 23, 2010

[Note: A version of this article appeared in The
Berkeley Daily Planet (The East Bay's Independent
Newspaper)
http://berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2010-08-24/article/
36127?headline=Dispatches-From-The-Edge-Roma-Europe-s-
Favorite-Scapegoat- ]

Peggy Hollinger and Chris Bryant of the Financial Times
put their fingers on what's behind the current uproar
over Europe's Roma population: the group is "an easy
target for politicians seeking to distract attention
from problems at home by playing on fears over
security." That strategy was stage center in early
August when France's conservative government shipped
several hundred [...]

Peace, Freedom and McCarthyism - Anticommunism and the African American Freedom Movement

<> — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 21:25:28 -0400

Peace, Freedom and McCarthyism - Anticommunism and the
African American Freedom Movement

Book Review

Anticommunism and the African American Freedom Movement:
"Another Side of the Story"
edited by Robbie Lieberman and Clarence Lang
Palgrave Macmillan. 251 pages, $85.00

Reviewed by Mark Solomon

Against the Current
Nbr. 147 - July - August 2010

http://www.solidarity-us.org/current/node/2942

The title of this volume is a bit misleading. It has
hardly anything to do with the ideological substance of
US anticommunism in its encounter with the African
American freedom movement. Rather, this collection of
essays, ably edited by Robbie Lieberman and Clarence
Lang, does something more [...]

Mass Marches to Expose Inequities

<> — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 21:24:39 -0400

Mass Marches to Expose Inequities

Mass Marches Across the Nation to Expose Vast Racial
Inequities

By Hazel Trice Edney,
NNPA Editor-in-Chief

NNPA
August 23, 2010
National Newspaper Publishers Association
(The NNPA has a Federation of more than 200 Black-owned
Newspapers)

http://www.blackvoicenews.com/news/news-wire/44888-mass-
marches-across-the-nation-to-expose-vast-racial-
inequities.html

WASHINGTON

According to civil rights veteran the Rev. Jesse
Jackson, Sr., an estimated 23,000 people were arrested
in civil rights protests across America between Feb. 1,
1960 and Aug. 28, 1963. On that day, 47 years ago,
people not only marched on Washington, but in cities and
towns around the nation. [...]

Israeli army's female recruits denounce treatment of Palestinians

<> — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 21:23:55 -0400

Israeli army's female recruits denounce treatment of
Palestinians

Facebook images of an Israeli servicewoman posing
with blindfolded Palestinians have caused a storm.
Now two former female conscripts have spoken out
about their own experiences

by Harriet Sherwood

The Observer (Guardian - UK)

August 22, 2010

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/22/israel-
female-soldiers-gaza-occupation

It was a single word scrawled on a wall at the Hebrew
University of Jerusalem that unlocked something deep
inside Inbar Michelzon, two years after she had
completed compulsory military service in the Israeli
Defence Force. [...]

First Black Labor Union Marks Milestone

<> — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 21:22:12 -0400

First Black Labor Union Marks Milestone

Black Radio Network August 22, 2010

http://www.blackradionetwork.com/page.php?storyID=16263

CHARLOTTESVILLE

On August 25th, 1925 the trajectory of African American
and American history was changed forever. On that date,
a group of Pullman porters formed the Brotherhood of
Sleeping Car Porters, America's first African American
labor union.

One of those porters, 99-year-old Linus Scott,
described the job as "miles of smiles, years of
struggle." This 85th anniversary celebrates the life
and work of this remarkable group of men. [...]

This Labor Day, Let's Salute All Union Stewards

<> — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 21:21:51 -0400

This Labor Day, Let's Salute All Union Stewards--and
Their Cutting Edge in California

Monday,August 23
http://www.inthesetimes.com/working/entry/6356/this_labor_day_lets_salute_all_union_stewards_and_their_cutting_edge_a/

By Steve Early

NUHW activists in Fresno, Calif. (Photo courtesy
Indybay.org)

The real heroes of what's left of the labor movement
are not people with full-time union jobs,
union-furnished cars and credit cards, and union
benefits that dues-paying members don't get anymore.

It's the men and women who take time out from their
regular jobs, under the baleful eye of their boss, to
be shop stewards. [...]

Spiegel: The Erosion of America's Middle Class

<> — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 21:21:24 -0400

On the Way Down The Erosion of America's Middle Class

By Thomas Schulz

Spiegel [Germany]
08/19/2010
SPIEGEL ONLINE
http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,712496,00.html

While America's super-rich congratulate themselves on
donating billions to charity, the rest of the country
is worse off than ever. Long-term unemployment is
rising and millions of Americans are struggling to
survive. The gap between rich and poor is wider than
ever and the middle class is disappearing. [...]

'Islam in Two Americas' Comment by Michael Meeropol

<> — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 21:20:46 -0400

'Islam in Two Americas':
Times piece reflects pernicious xenophobia

By Michael Meeropol / The Rag Blog / August 18, 2010
http://theragblog.blogspot.com/2010/08/michael-meeropol-islamaphobia-and-two.html

In The New York Times of Monday, August 16, 2010, op-ed
columnist Ross Douthat has a particularly pernicious
article entitled "Islam in Two Americas."

You can read it here.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/16/opinion/16douthat.html?_r=1&ref=rossdouthat

To cut to the chase, Mr. Douthat's argument is that
there are "two Americas" -- one that respects the idea
that we are a nation of many religions, cultures,
ethnicities, and beliefs and the Constitution permits
us all to enjoy the blessings of liberty without fear
of persecution. [...]

`Dancing with Dynamite': The Future of Latin America's Leftist Movements

<> — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 21:19:09 -0400

`Dancing with Dynamite': The Future of Latin America's
Leftist Movements

By Kari Lydersen

Working In These Times (In These Times)

August 23, 2010

http://www.inthesetimes.com/working/entry/6342/dancing_with_dynamite_ben_dangl_explores_struggle_and_state/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

What happens after you win?

That is, as fearless grassroots social movements have
brought leftist, pro -- worker parties to power in one
after another Latin American country during the past
decade, how do these movements maintain true democracy
and commitment to the rights of the marginalized once
faced with the challenge of a neoliberal global
economy? [...]

Crisis. What Crisis? Profits Soar!

<> — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 23:32:50 -0400

(1) Crisis. What Crisis? Profits Soar!
(2) Companies Unloading Cash On Mergers

(1)
Crisis. What Crisis? Profits Soar!
By James Petras
Al-Jazeerah, CCUN
August 19, 2010
http://www.aljazeerah.info/Opinion%20Editorials/2010/August/19%20o/Crisis,%20What%20Crisis,%20Profits%20Soar%20By%20James%20Petras.htm

While progressives and leftists write about the "crises
of capitalism", manufacturers, petroleum companies,
bankers and most other major corporations on both sides
of the Atlantic and Pacific coast are chuckling all the
way to the bank. [...]

'Immortal' Trees Can't Escape Aging

<> — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 23:32:11 -0400

'Immortal' Trees Can't Escape Aging
By Brandon Keim
Wired Science
August 17, 2010
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/08/aspen-immortality/#more-26937

[moderator: to read the entire article
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/08/aspen-immortality/#more-26937]

Because some quaking aspen trees can reproduce by
copying themselves, some people have wondered whether
they might live forever, at least theoretically. But
even if that's possible, they're still not immune from
the ravages of time.

As aspen clones grow older, a slow buildup of genetic
mutations impairs their pollen production. After a few
tens of thousands of years, they won't produce any
pollen at all. [...]

Workers Demands Are Legitimate!!

<> — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 23:31:30 -0400

Workers Demands Are Legitimate!!
SACP Media Statement
South African Communist Party
August 22, 2010
http://groups.google.com/group/SACP-Media/browse_thread/thread/954b7e757f879c8a

From the outset of the current public sector strike, the
SACP has consistently indicated its support for what we
regard as a legitimate struggle for a living wage in the
wider context of the struggle for decent work. The SACP
also fully agrees with our comrades in COSATU that the
wage gap between upper echelons, on the one hand, and
the majority of workers, on the other, in the public
sector (as in the private sector) is unjustified and
unjustifiable. [...]

The Next Redistricting Battle

<> — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 23:30:50 -0400

The Next Redistricting Battle
Paul Waldman
The American Prospect -- web only
August 17, 2010
http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=the_next_redistricting_battle

Were he around today, Elbridge Gerry would no doubt
complain that history has sullied his name. Following
the 1810 census, Gerry, as governor of Massachusetts,
signed off on a redistricting map including one district
that looked to a newspaper editor like a salamander. The
paper called it a "gerrymander," and the name stuck. But
the district in question was far less sinuous and
stretched than the districting modifications we
routinely see today, two centuries later. The increasing
sophistication of mapping software and the copious
[...]

Born in U.S.A. Is What Makes Someone an American

<> — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 23:29:48 -0400

Born in U.S.A. Is What Makes Someone an American
By Eric Foner
Bloomberg
August 17, 2010
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-08-18/born-in-u-s-a-is-what-makes-someone-an-american-commentary-by-eric-foner.html

[moderator: to read the entire acticle
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-08-18/born-in-u-s-a-is-what-makes-someone-an-american-commentary-by-eric-foner.html]

...

The Civil War transformed the debate over citizenship.
In a sense, the 14th Amendment wrote into the
Constitution the results of the Union's triumph and the
destruction of slavery. It begins by defining as
citizens all persons born or naturalized in the U.S.
"and subject to the jurisdiction thereof" -- language
meant to exclude Indians, deemed to be citizens of their
respective tribes, and American-born children of foreign
diplomats. It goes on to bar states [...]