VIEW ONLINE: http://dev.portside.org/2012-08-22/tidbits-reader-comments-announcements-august-20-2012 SUBSCRIBE: http://portside.org/subscribe VISIT PORTSIDE.ORG: http://portside.org -------------------------------------------------------------------- Tidbits, Reader Comments, Announcements - August 20, 2012 <span class="date-display-single" property="dc:date" datatype="xsd:dateTime" content="2012-08-20T00:00:00-05:00">August 20, 2012</span> By [node:field-author] Portside (Mon, 2012-08-20 00:00) <p>Tidbits, Reader Comments, Announcements - August 20, 2012</p> <ul> <li> <strong><a href="#Friday nite videos">* Re: Friday Nite Videos (Eda Hallinan)</a></strong></li> <li> <a href="#AFL 2nd bill for rights"><strong>* Re: AFL-CIO Demands `Second Bill of Rights' (Paul Krehbiel) </strong></a></li> <li> <strong><a href="#South Africa">* Re: South African Massacre (Sandra Blakely)</a></strong></li> <li> <strong><a href="#Nader on Ryan">* Re: Ralph Nader on 'Paul Ryan's Vicious Budget' (Sherwood Ross, Jolivette Anderson, Laurel MacDowell)</a></strong></li> <li> <a href="#moral drones"><strong>* Re: Moral Drones and the New York Times (Leonard J. Lehrman) </strong></a></li> <li> <strong><a href="#Hounduras">* Re: The US and Honduras (Jean Damu)</a></strong></li> <li> <strong><a href="#sex">* Re: Neanderthal sex (John Allison)</a></strong></li> <li> <strong><a href="#CTU">* Chicago and the Fight for the Future of Education - They need your help (LaborNotes)</a></strong></li> <li> <strong><a href="#SOA">* 2012 November Vigil: Close the SOA - School of the Americas November 16 - 18, 2012</a></strong></li> <li> <a href="#French CP"><strong>* French CP audio-visual documents now available to all</strong></a></li> </ul> <p><br /> ==========<br /> <a name="Friday nite videos"><br /> <strong>* Re: Friday Nite Videos</strong></a><br /> <br /> Being busy all the time (sigh, I don't know why), I have never watched and did not quite understand what Friday Nite videos were....in spite of the great title.<br /> <br /> Practicing avoidance on doing something I don't want to do....I decided to clic on this weeks offerings.....watched every one of them and will never miss it again. It is a great idea.<br /> <br /> I will be sending this to everyone I know.<br /> <br /> Eda Hallinan<br /> <br /> ==========<br /> <br /> <a name="AFL 2nd bill for rights"><strong>* Re: AFL-CIO Demands `Second Bill of Rights'</strong></a><br /> <br /> Why are you posting news from CNS News? Its a far-right organization. In this article about an important labor initiative, CNS News uses the right's code words, such as "Big Labor." And since CNS News readers are right-wingers, the comments are a steady stream of the most vicious anti-labor slanders and attacks on labor. For Portside readers who aren't familiar with CNS News they will be getting this right- wing stuff on the Portside site. The AFL-CIO's 2nd Bill of Rights is an important initiative that deserves wide publicity, but not on the CNS News site. Can you find something on this initiative from the AFL-CIO, or other labor or progressive organization, or even the mainstream media that gives a straight-forward accounting? Thanks much.<br /> <br /> Paul Krehbiel<br /> <br /> ==========<br /> <br /> <a name="South Africa"><strong>* Re: South African Massacre</strong></a><br /> <br /> The Platinum industry walks hand in hand down the aisle with the diamond industry. What did the world expect? Oppression of Africans by colonizers of the vast land and mineral resources of the continent never stopped, it just changed the way the game is played.<br /> <br /> Sandra Blakely<br /> <br /> ==========<br /> <a name="Nader on Ryan"><br /> <strong>* Re: Ralph Nader on 'Paul Ryan's Vicious Budget'</strong></a><br /> <br /> Congratulations, Ralph Nader! This is far and away the best analysis written yet on the Ryan Budget. Thanks!!<br /> <br /> Sherwood Ross<br /> <br /> ===<br /> <br /> What's left of the donkey is its ass with a foot rising up to kick it!</p> <p><br /> Jolivette Anderson,<br /> Born-and-Raised Democrat<br /> <br /> ===<br /> <br /> I completely agree with Nader. In another era, people would have called Ryan's corporatist philosophy fascism. The Democratic Party needs to make it clear to the electorate how destructive this approach is to the vast majority of the people (the 99%), to American democracy, and to the future of the nation.Such hard-hitting articles are useful but critics need to take to the air waves and use social media to get the warning across.<br /> <br /> Laurel MacDowell<br /> <br /> ==========<br /> <br /> <a name="moral drones"><strong>* Re: Moral Drones and the New York Times</strong></a><br /> <br /> Partly in response to this excellent, perceptive article, Joel Shatzky and I have written a song called "The Man Who Controls the Drones." A performance is viewable on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8cgrzXeFfw&feature=youtu.be The text is included in the notes.<br /> <br /> Admiringly and respectfully submitted -<br /> <br /> Leonard J. Lehrman<br /> <br /> ==========<br /> <br /> <a name="Hounduras"><strong>* Re: The US and Honduras</strong></a><br /> <br /> "Is the US lending financial support to a police force and army linked to a campaign of extra-judicial killings?"<br /> <br /> Shocking, I say to you. Just shocking. Who ever could have imagined such a thing?<br /> <br /> Jean Damu<br /> <br /> ==========<br /> <br /> <a name="sex"><strong>* Re: Neanderthal sex</strong></a><br /> <br /> Judging from the current crop of Republican presidential candidates; Paul Ruinn and Mutt Wrongski, I'd say there are still considerable presence among us of hybrids of humans and Neanderthals.<br /> <br /> John Allison, Anthropologist, Eureka! Northwest Coast of North America.<br /> <br /> ==========<br /> <a name="CTU"><br /> <strong>* Chicago and the Fight for the Future of Education - They need your help</strong></a><br /> <br /> The Chicago Teachers Union is battling Mayor 1% Rahm Emanuel over the future of public education, not just in the city but across the country.<br /> <br /> They need your help.<br /> <br /> The Chicago teachers are fighting for high-quality education for students in all zip codes in the Windy City. They're advocating for smaller classes, nurses and social workers in schools, a relevant and rounded curriculum, and a contract that respects the 58 hours of work they put in every week.<br /> <br /> Emanuel and his unelected school board, on the other hand, have continued to cut funding for much-needed programs and services while giving out millions in tax breaks to corporations and cronies. They push standardized testing and charter schools.<br /> <br /> As students head back to school, the Chicago Teachers Union is gearing up for a potential strike. The outcome of this fight will set the tone for struggles over public education to come.<br /> <br /> Labor Notes is helping sponsor solidarity events where you can hear from Chicago teachers and build support for them. Here's how to join in:<br /> <br /> <strong>1. Come to a solidarity event. CTU members will be explaining why their fight is so important for the future of education and how supporters can help.</strong><br /> <br /> <strong>Madison Wednesday, August 22</strong> at 7 p.m. Labor Temple, Room 201B 1602 S. Park Street<br /> <br /> <strong>New York Thursday, August 23</strong> at 6:30 p.m. Joseph S. Murphy Institute, Room 18 C/D 25 W. 43rd Street, Manhattan<br /> <br /> <strong>Oakland Thursday, August 23</strong> at 6:30pm Francesco's Restaurant, 8520 Pardee Dr.<br /> <br /> <strong>Milwaukee Monday, August 27</strong> at 4:30 p.m. Milwaukee Teachers Education Association office 5130 West Vliet Street<br /> <br /> <strong>2. Get your local to pass a resolution in support of the CTU. Email Theresa Moran at [log in to unmask] for sample text or more information.</strong><br /> <br /> <strong>3. Donate to the Chicago Teachers Union Solidarity Fund</strong>.</p> <p>The CTU is asking both unions and individuals to contribute. The money will help the CTU print educational materials, coordinate rallies, send members to speaking events, and distribute information on the union's fight for quality public education in Chicago.</p> <p><span style="color:#0000ff;"><u><strong>https://afl.salsalabs.com/o/4013/c/468/p/salsa/donation/common/public/?donate_page_KEY=7204</strong></u></span><br /> <br /> Read more at Labor Notes about the battle Chicago teachers are waging to provide basic services and defend a rounded curriculum, push back against the billionaires' agenda for schools, and mobilize members, parents, and community allies.<br /> <br /> ==========<br /> <br /> <strong><a name="SOA">* 2012 November Vigil: Close the SOA - School of the Americas</a><br /> <br /> November 16 - 18, 2012 http://soaw.org/</strong><br /> <br /> Join the SOA Watch movement at the gates of Fort Benning in Columbus, Georgia, this November 16-18, as we continue to speak truth to power and demand a real change in US foreign policy!<br /> <br /> As we converge each year at the gates of Fort Benning, Georgia, we are creating a strong community and a powerful force that will close the SOA, end U.S. militarization in the Americas and dismantle the broader system of oppression of which the SOA is a part. Our movement unites vast sectors of society, including union workers, immigrants, people of faith, anarchists, pacifists, students, torture survivors, and many others. We recognize the existence of the School of the Americas as an example of the pervasive culture of militarization. We stand together with many justice movements in our joint struggle for social change.<br /> <br /> We stand with the prison abolitionists, as so many of our own prisoners of conscience have come to understand the criminal injustice system through harsh prison sentences. We stand with immigrants fighting deportation, many of whom have fled the repression in their own countries. For 520 years, the indigenous peoples of the Americas have resisted the many manifestations of economic and military violence perpetrated against their communities.<br /> <br /> The SOA, repressive police forces, coups and economic slavery are the continuations of those policies - in Latin America and right here at home. This year, as we demand money for human needs and not for military repression, we converge at Fort Benning in the largest demonstration following the November elections. We know that not politicians but only continuous and consistent grassroots organizing will bring about the change we need in the world.<br /> <br /> <span style="color:#0000ff;"><u><strong>http://soaw.org/</strong></u></span><br /> <br /> ==========<br /> <br /> <a name="French CP"><strong>* French CP audio-visual documents now available to all</strong></a><br /> <br /> Precious Documents Available to All French Communist Party Films<br /> <br /> Translated Friday 17 August 2012, by Gene Zbikowski and reviewed by Bill Scoble<br /> <br /> <span style="color:#0000ff;"><u><strong>http://www.humaniteinenglish.com/spip.php?article2119</strong></u></span><br /> <br /> The audio-visual collections of the French Communist Party and of the democratic and labor movements have been put together on the cinearchives.org website. This precious data base, which is open to everyone, has now been updated to provide better and clearer access.<br /> <br /> The website's mission is simple: to preserve and promote these archives. With over 1200 audiovisual sources, Cin‚-Archives is a goldmine for historians and people who are interested in a wide range of topics. Do you want to learn about the Second World War? The archives contain exceptional films about the mobilization of Resistance fighters and the Liberation of France. The same goes for the May 1968 events - audio-visual documents are an obvious choice for eye-witness accounts of the worker and student ferment in that month of May, and allow younger generations to understand for themselves the effervescence of that unique situation.<br /> <br /> Since 1928, the French Communist Party has been producing and collecting many films and audio-visual documentaries. They were made for different reasons - to reinforce social movements, to communicate the Party's theories and explain the measures it wanted to realize, but above all out of cultural motivations, and more generally as a contribution to History. Indeed, these documents are essential historical sources. The archives allow the visitor to undertake a veritable voyage in time.<br /> <br /> The oldest film documents the Fˆte de Garches, the festival that replaced the Fˆte de l'Humanit‚ between 1925 and 1932. The prefect of Paris, having refused to allow the French Communist Party to use the parks under his control, the Union of Paris Trade Unions (C.G.T.U.) organized the event. Nevertheless, l'Humanit‚ had a stand which you can see at the very beginning of the excerpt that is on-line. The film then documents all of the activities on offer at the festival and proves the success of the event by showing the large number of participants.<br /> <br /> The Internet site offers a great many films produced between 1928 and the present day. Some are grouped together by theme. Each of the thematic collections, such as "the Popular Front," "The Spanish Civil War," and "May 1968," offers, in addition to the films, an explanation of the historical context, precise chronological dates, and a document composed of photographs and short biographies of the personalities seen in the excerpts. The Internet user has all the information necessary to understand the chosen video document, both in the political and in the wider context. The thematic grouping "Fˆte de l'Humanit‚" will be available from September 2012.<br /> <br /> These eyewitness documents on values not only allow the viewer to learn about the great political events, but also to understand the "counter-cultural" role played by the French Communist Party in large-scale mobilizations such as strikes or anti-war struggles, notably against the Vietnam War.<br /> <br /> Everyone will find what he or she is looking for on this new website and will be able to spend hours going through this fraction of our contemporary history from an angle that was long inaccessible to the general public.<br /> <br /> <em>[thanks to James H. Williams for sending this to Portside to share with our readers.]</em><br /> <br /> ==========<br /> </p> -------------------------------------------------------------------- Portside aims to provide material of interest to people on the left that will help them to interpret the world and to change it. 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