Public interviews, speeches and writings are just that, they are
public. Particularly when written or stated by prominent figures in what
we call the movement, these are not private and personal conversations,
they are the collective property of the movement, available for us all
to agree or disagree with, to learn from or to dismiss.
Sure, I could have called Jesse or Ms. Garza or others and asked them
privately what they meant. But if one has to contact everybody one
quotes, presumably to give them a chance to review and re-interpret
privately for you what they wrote publicly, one sets up a situation in
which no public figure ever needs to mean what she says or say what she means.
-- Bruce A. Dixon, "How To Hold Prominent Movement Figures Accountable – With A Private Phone Call or a Public Discussion?" (Black Agenda Report).
Sunday, August 16, 2015
Truest statement of the week II
Classified NSA documents published by the New York Times and
ProPublica this weekend have further exposed the vast scale of
collaboration between the US National Security Agency (NSA) and the
major telecommunications giants in carrying out illegal and
unconstitutional spying operations.
The new documents, which come from NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, originate from between 2003 and 2013. The participation of at least nine major tech firms in joint projects with NSA Special Source Operations was already revealed in documents leaked by Snowden in 2013, but the identities and roles of the firms involved remained murky.
The NSA’s longest and most fruitful corporate partner, which goes by the codename “FAIRVIEW” in the leaked documents, is AT&T. Repairs made to a FAIRVIEW fiber optic cable near Japan directly coincided with the rupturing of AT&T lines in the same location caused by a 2011 earthquake, the reports found.
The scale of the data transferred to the US intelligence agencies makes a mockery of claims from the Obama administration that the spying has been “targeted” at alleged terrorists.
-- Thomas Gaist, "AT&T collaboration with the NSA reveals US corporate-intelligence nexus" (WSWS).
The new documents, which come from NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, originate from between 2003 and 2013. The participation of at least nine major tech firms in joint projects with NSA Special Source Operations was already revealed in documents leaked by Snowden in 2013, but the identities and roles of the firms involved remained murky.
The NSA’s longest and most fruitful corporate partner, which goes by the codename “FAIRVIEW” in the leaked documents, is AT&T. Repairs made to a FAIRVIEW fiber optic cable near Japan directly coincided with the rupturing of AT&T lines in the same location caused by a 2011 earthquake, the reports found.
The scale of the data transferred to the US intelligence agencies makes a mockery of claims from the Obama administration that the spying has been “targeted” at alleged terrorists.
-- Thomas Gaist, "AT&T collaboration with the NSA reveals US corporate-intelligence nexus" (WSWS).
A note to our readers
Hey --
Sunday.
First, we thank all who participated this edition which includes Dallas and the following:
The Third Estate Sunday Review's Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess and Ava,
Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude,
Betty of Thomas Friedman Is a Great Man,
C.I. of The Common Ills and The Third Estate Sunday Review,
Kat of Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills),
Mike of Mikey Likes It!,
Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz),
Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix,
Ruth of Ruth's Report,
Wally of The Daily Jot,
Trina of Trina's Kitchen,
Marcia of SICKOFITRDLZ,
Stan of Oh Boy It Never Ends,
Isaiah of The World Today Just Nuts,
and Ann of Ann's Mega Dub.
And what did we come up with?
And that's what we ended up with.
Peace.
-- Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess, Ava and C.I.
Sunday.
First, we thank all who participated this edition which includes Dallas and the following:
The Third Estate Sunday Review's Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess and Ava,
Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude,
Betty of Thomas Friedman Is a Great Man,
C.I. of The Common Ills and The Third Estate Sunday Review,
Kat of Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills),
Mike of Mikey Likes It!,
Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz),
Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix,
Ruth of Ruth's Report,
Wally of The Daily Jot,
Trina of Trina's Kitchen,
Marcia of SICKOFITRDLZ,
Stan of Oh Boy It Never Ends,
Isaiah of The World Today Just Nuts,
and Ann of Ann's Mega Dub.
And what did we come up with?
Bruce A. Dixon gets another truest.
As does Thomas Gaist.
The White House says nothing as the Iraqi army bombs a maternity hospital.
Ava and C.I. chart ABC's misguided show and Hulu finally getting it right.
We love Johnny and are deeply embarrassed for him.
We're going to try to make this a feature for at least 7 more installments.
Seriously, grow the hell up.
So important, we run it twice.
What we listened to while writing.
Video.
Repost of Great Britian's Socialist Worker.
Press release from Senator Tammy Baldwin.
Press release from Senator Johnny Isakson.And that's what we ended up with.
Peace.
-- Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess, Ava and C.I.
Editorial: War Crimes
If you missed it, a maternity hospital in Falluja was bombed last week.
"What!" you exclaim.
"How-how could the media ignore the Islamic State's latest crime!!!!"
Because it wasn't the Islamic State.
The bombing was carried out by the Iraqi military.
The bombing was part of the attacks carried out since January 2014.
The civilians of Falluja were first bombed under Nouri al-Maliki.
When Haider al-Abadi replaced him as prime minister, the bombings continued -- despite Haider swearing September 13, 2014 that they had ended.
These bombings continue.
They are War Crimes.
And they are largely ignored by the western media and completely ignored by the White House.
Repeating, these are War Crimes.
"What!" you exclaim.
"How-how could the media ignore the Islamic State's latest crime!!!!"
Because it wasn't the Islamic State.
The bombing was carried out by the Iraqi military.
#IRAQ شمرية العراق
The bombing was part of the attacks carried out since January 2014.
The civilians of Falluja were first bombed under Nouri al-Maliki.
When Haider al-Abadi replaced him as prime minister, the bombings continued -- despite Haider swearing September 13, 2014 that they had ended.
These bombings continue.
They are War Crimes.
And they are largely ignored by the western media and completely ignored by the White House.
Repeating, these are War Crimes.
TV: One finds its way, the other seeks a Razzie
Attempting to play a man on Revenge, Barry Sloane was an utter failure. On The Whispers, he can't even manage realistically portraying a human.
The balding 34-year-old manages to sink every episode of ABC's summer series about an alien, Drill, who moves via electricity and attempts to possess children.
On the most recent episode, Wes (Sloane) and Claire (Jill Clayburgh's daughter Lily Rabe) oversaw a plan to quarantine Drill by cutting off the power grids throughout DC -- are you following any of this? -- but Drill ends up in a school with a boy named Nicholas that he's arranged to be at the school -- which would appear to indicate that Drill understood the plan before it was set in motion or that really bad writers expect viewers to believe anything.
Drill has possessed other children -- including Minx, Wes's son with Lena (Kristen Connolly) and Claire's son Henry.
As the president of the United States orders various power grids to be shut down, Henry and his father Sean (Milo Ventimiglia) are in a car accident and Sean spends the bulk of the episode trying to rescue his son while Minx and Lena are attempting to leave the area via a cruise ship with the hope that being on the ocean -- away from power lines -- will keep Minx safe.
Drill wants Minx especially, apparently.
So all of this is done, plunging DC into a blackout, to save those children and the country, possibly the world.
It's hard to follow badly written storylines when they also poorly acted.
Lily Rabe and Barry Sloane chew the scenery as they demand the White House turn the power back on to save the boy Nicholas -- and allow Drill to escape.
One bad acting choice after another is executed including Sloane's soft to loud threat to Drill.
The only thing that may distract from the horrible acting is Rabe herself.
Her features are erratic at best and she resembles the Willy Wooly child's toy ("Draw whiskers, hair and eyebrows with this magic wand").
When Rabe's not around, there's nothing to distract from Barry Sloane's hideous acting.
It's a real shame because Milo is delivering an outstanding performance -- as he did previously on Heroes, the first season of Chosen and even in the otherwise hideous film That's My Boy. Had Milo been cast in the lead role, the show might have added up to something.
Julie Klausner's Difficult People has.
It's become Hulu's first series worth watching.
We'd love to tell you Hulu developed it but the reality is that the show was developed for the USA network which balked at the last minute and then got shopped to Hulu.
At least the online streamer had the good sense to grab it.
Klausner's created a show about Julie Kessler (the role she plays) and her best friend Billy Epstein (Billy Eichner). The two thirty-somethings are struggling to break through in the world of comedy at a time when, as they note, everyone they started out with has either made it already or given up comedy and started a family.
Marilyn Kessler (Andrea Martin) worries whether or not her daughter may have what it takes to make it (she explains to Billy that she finds Julie funny but none of her friends do). Julie's boyfriend Arthur (Jams Urbaniak) has no doubts about Julie's ability but just doesn't want her embarrassing him around his PBS boss Gaby. Billy waits tables at a cafe Denise (Gabourey Sidbe) and Nate (Derrick Baskin) own. It's a strong cast which includes he-thinks-he's-a-twink Matthew (Cole Escola) who can't stop rubbing in how much younger than Billy he is.
Julie tends to tick people off with Tweets (such as "I can't wait until Blue Ivy is old enough for R Kelly to piss on her") while Billy wrote something that offended Chelsea Handler so much that she gets him bounced from a talk show. Billy comes close to nailing a role in a remake of the 80s non-classic Vice Versa but he runs over David Byrne on the way to the audition and gets hauled away by the police.
If all the show did was finally find a way to successfully utilize Andrea Martin, that would be enough to hail it as a success.
The SCTV alumni should have spent the last decades starring in one hilarious sitcom after another.
But that didn't happen and no one seems to have been willing to give her the space she needed to create the first-rate comedy that first made her a star.
Until now.
Whether debating the merits of plastic surgery or convinced that she knows how to hypnotize people, Martin's off on the sort of high energy tangent that hasn't been seen since Bette Midler's 80s film comeback.
And, again, that alone makes the show worth watching.
But it's well written and well acted throughout and, as difficult as Julie and Billy are, you really do see them as real people and, more importantly, real people that you care about.
You care nothing for Barry Sloane's Wes. In fact, you only watch to see how much of a train wreck Sloane can create.
He delivered a Razzie worthy performance last week as he went over the top repeatedly culminating with the final scene where he arrives home to find his daughter Minx on the front porch (staring at a street lamp -- remember, alien Drill travels via power lines). When she won't respond to him, he runs into the house where he finds his wife Lena dead.
He cradles her, he whimpers, he moans, he rocks her, he begins screaming.
For fans of bad acting, Sloane delivers nirvana.
For those attempting to put some faith in the basic storyline, it's a freak show.
Repeating, Minx is on the front porch.
She can presumably hear all of this.
She's also, remember, staring at the lamp.
A great deal of care is taken to turn Difficult People into a first-rate sitcom. No care is taken with The Whispers which is why each week sees less and less viewers tuning in.
The balding 34-year-old manages to sink every episode of ABC's summer series about an alien, Drill, who moves via electricity and attempts to possess children.
On the most recent episode, Wes (Sloane) and Claire (Jill Clayburgh's daughter Lily Rabe) oversaw a plan to quarantine Drill by cutting off the power grids throughout DC -- are you following any of this? -- but Drill ends up in a school with a boy named Nicholas that he's arranged to be at the school -- which would appear to indicate that Drill understood the plan before it was set in motion or that really bad writers expect viewers to believe anything.
Drill has possessed other children -- including Minx, Wes's son with Lena (Kristen Connolly) and Claire's son Henry.
As the president of the United States orders various power grids to be shut down, Henry and his father Sean (Milo Ventimiglia) are in a car accident and Sean spends the bulk of the episode trying to rescue his son while Minx and Lena are attempting to leave the area via a cruise ship with the hope that being on the ocean -- away from power lines -- will keep Minx safe.
Drill wants Minx especially, apparently.
So all of this is done, plunging DC into a blackout, to save those children and the country, possibly the world.
It's hard to follow badly written storylines when they also poorly acted.
Lily Rabe and Barry Sloane chew the scenery as they demand the White House turn the power back on to save the boy Nicholas -- and allow Drill to escape.
One bad acting choice after another is executed including Sloane's soft to loud threat to Drill.
The only thing that may distract from the horrible acting is Rabe herself.
Her features are erratic at best and she resembles the Willy Wooly child's toy ("Draw whiskers, hair and eyebrows with this magic wand").
When Rabe's not around, there's nothing to distract from Barry Sloane's hideous acting.
It's a real shame because Milo is delivering an outstanding performance -- as he did previously on Heroes, the first season of Chosen and even in the otherwise hideous film That's My Boy. Had Milo been cast in the lead role, the show might have added up to something.
Julie Klausner's Difficult People has.
It's become Hulu's first series worth watching.
We'd love to tell you Hulu developed it but the reality is that the show was developed for the USA network which balked at the last minute and then got shopped to Hulu.
At least the online streamer had the good sense to grab it.
Klausner's created a show about Julie Kessler (the role she plays) and her best friend Billy Epstein (Billy Eichner). The two thirty-somethings are struggling to break through in the world of comedy at a time when, as they note, everyone they started out with has either made it already or given up comedy and started a family.
Marilyn Kessler (Andrea Martin) worries whether or not her daughter may have what it takes to make it (she explains to Billy that she finds Julie funny but none of her friends do). Julie's boyfriend Arthur (Jams Urbaniak) has no doubts about Julie's ability but just doesn't want her embarrassing him around his PBS boss Gaby. Billy waits tables at a cafe Denise (Gabourey Sidbe) and Nate (Derrick Baskin) own. It's a strong cast which includes he-thinks-he's-a-twink Matthew (Cole Escola) who can't stop rubbing in how much younger than Billy he is.
Julie tends to tick people off with Tweets (such as "I can't wait until Blue Ivy is old enough for R Kelly to piss on her") while Billy wrote something that offended Chelsea Handler so much that she gets him bounced from a talk show. Billy comes close to nailing a role in a remake of the 80s non-classic Vice Versa but he runs over David Byrne on the way to the audition and gets hauled away by the police.
If all the show did was finally find a way to successfully utilize Andrea Martin, that would be enough to hail it as a success.
The SCTV alumni should have spent the last decades starring in one hilarious sitcom after another.
But that didn't happen and no one seems to have been willing to give her the space she needed to create the first-rate comedy that first made her a star.
Until now.
Whether debating the merits of plastic surgery or convinced that she knows how to hypnotize people, Martin's off on the sort of high energy tangent that hasn't been seen since Bette Midler's 80s film comeback.
And, again, that alone makes the show worth watching.
But it's well written and well acted throughout and, as difficult as Julie and Billy are, you really do see them as real people and, more importantly, real people that you care about.
You care nothing for Barry Sloane's Wes. In fact, you only watch to see how much of a train wreck Sloane can create.
He delivered a Razzie worthy performance last week as he went over the top repeatedly culminating with the final scene where he arrives home to find his daughter Minx on the front porch (staring at a street lamp -- remember, alien Drill travels via power lines). When she won't respond to him, he runs into the house where he finds his wife Lena dead.
He cradles her, he whimpers, he moans, he rocks her, he begins screaming.
For fans of bad acting, Sloane delivers nirvana.
For those attempting to put some faith in the basic storyline, it's a freak show.
Repeating, Minx is on the front porch.
She can presumably hear all of this.
She's also, remember, staring at the lamp.
A great deal of care is taken to turn Difficult People into a first-rate sitcom. No care is taken with The Whispers which is why each week sees less and less viewers tuning in.
Johnny Depp is the new Harrison Ford
And that's not a good thing.
Harrison Ford was seen as grounded, down to earth, trust worthy.
And then he became the poster child for middle age crisis.
He left his wife of many years to take up with Calista Flockhart and he never had a hit again. His last hit, as he was leaving his first wife, was What Lies Beneath -- the film that he torments Michelle Pfeiffer in.
Audiences could suddenly buy Ford as a traitorous husband.
It's the only role they could buy him in.
Now he stars in one it's-going-to-be-a-comeback-film-honest bomb after another.
That's where Johnny Depp is now.
It doesn't help that his last inspired performance was in Ed Wood (1994) or that 52 is way too old to still being playing fey (what worked in Benny & Joon does not, clearly, work in Mortdecai).
But what's really hurting him is the 2012 dissolution of his partnership with Vanessa Paradis and taking up with 29-year-old Amber Heard (whom he married this year).
Twenty-three years his junior.
Johnny Depp's not supposed to be Mr. Mid-Life Crisis.
He's supposed to be the epitome of cool.
He's wrecked his own rep and he's not carried a hit film since leaving Paradis.
Harrison Ford was seen as grounded, down to earth, trust worthy.
And then he became the poster child for middle age crisis.
He left his wife of many years to take up with Calista Flockhart and he never had a hit again. His last hit, as he was leaving his first wife, was What Lies Beneath -- the film that he torments Michelle Pfeiffer in.
Audiences could suddenly buy Ford as a traitorous husband.
It's the only role they could buy him in.
Now he stars in one it's-going-to-be-a-comeback-film-honest bomb after another.
That's where Johnny Depp is now.
It doesn't help that his last inspired performance was in Ed Wood (1994) or that 52 is way too old to still being playing fey (what worked in Benny & Joon does not, clearly, work in Mortdecai).
But what's really hurting him is the 2012 dissolution of his partnership with Vanessa Paradis and taking up with 29-year-old Amber Heard (whom he married this year).
Twenty-three years his junior.
Johnny Depp's not supposed to be Mr. Mid-Life Crisis.
He's supposed to be the epitome of cool.
He's wrecked his own rep and he's not carried a hit film since leaving Paradis.
Real campaign songs
Steal a little and they throw you in jail
Steal a lot and they make you king
-- "Sweetheart Like You," written by Bob Dylan
photo from Donald Trump's campaign site.
Anita Little, grow the hell up
That's Anita Little, professional fan girl passing herself off as a feminist.
Most recently, she's offered the embarrassing post "We Heart: Beyonce’s History-Making Vogue Cover."
If Little wants to eat out Beyonce, have at it.
But stop passing off your sexual urges as feminism.
While Anita's panties may have gotten damp as she stared at Beyonce on the cover of Vogue, it wasn't an act of feminism.
And Ms. really needs to stop (a) acting as Beyonce's fan club and (b) lying.
Anita Little pants, "Whoever lands that all-important Vogue cover has basically sealed their status as the 'It-Woman' of that year, and who else could it have gone to but the unabashedly feminist Beyoncé?"
That goes to another Little post where Anita creams her panties over the fact that Beyonce's performing "Drunk In Love" -- where she calls her lover "Daddy" (that's feminism!) and the song is famous (infamous) for celebrating Ike Turner beating Tina Turner ("In '97 I bite, I'm Ike, Turner, turn up/ Baby no I don't play, now eat the cake, Anna Mae/ Said, 'Eat the cake, Anna Mae!'").
That's right, Ms. is yet again celebrating the battering of a woman, celebrating abuse, embracing terrorism.
And they're doing it so Anita (and Janelle before her) can flick their clits while moaning "Beyonce!"
They need to get a grip real damn quick.
Feminism is not about applauding the abuse of women -- ever.
Feminism is also not running a fan club for a tits and ass singer who let her daddy mold her and then turned her career over to her butt-ugly husband who is nothing but a thug more infamous for fighting with a woman in an elevator than for anything he's done musically.
Repeating
From last week, so it can sink in:
Leo Shane III (Military Times) reported Thursday, "About 3,500 U.S. troops are stationed in Iraq, and seven have lost their lives in connection to the new military operations there."
Leo Shane III (Military Times) reported Thursday, "About 3,500 U.S. troops are stationed in Iraq, and seven have lost their lives in connection to the new military operations there."
Leo Shane III (Military Times) reported Thursday, "About 3,500 U.S. troops are stationed in Iraq, and seven have lost their lives in connection to the new military operations there."
Leo Shane III (Military Times) reported Thursday, "About 3,500 U.S. troops are stationed in Iraq, and seven have lost their lives in connection to the new military operations there."
Leo Shane III (Military Times) reported Thursday, "About 3,500 U.S. troops are stationed in Iraq, and seven have lost their lives in connection to the new military operations there."
Leo Shane III (Military Times) reported Thursday, "About 3,500 U.S. troops are stationed in Iraq, and seven have lost their lives in connection to the new military operations there."
Leo Shane III (Military Times) reported Thursday, "About 3,500 U.S. troops are stationed in Iraq, and seven have lost their lives in connection to the new military operations there."
Leo Shane III (Military Times) reported Thursday, "About 3,500 U.S. troops are stationed in Iraq, and seven have lost their lives in connection to the new military operations there."
Leo Shane III (Military Times) reported Thursday, "About 3,500 U.S. troops are stationed in Iraq, and seven have lost their lives in connection to the new military operations there."
Leo Shane III (Military Times) reported Thursday, "About 3,500 U.S. troops are stationed in Iraq, and seven have lost their lives in connection to the new military operations there."
Leo Shane III (Military Times) reported Thursday, "About 3,500 U.S. troops are stationed in Iraq, and seven have lost their lives in connection to the new military operations there."
Leo Shane III (Military Times) reported Thursday, "About 3,500 U.S. troops are stationed in Iraq, and seven have lost their lives in connection to the new military operations there."
Leo Shane III (Military Times) reported Thursday, "About 3,500 U.S. troops are stationed in Iraq, and seven have lost their lives in connection to the new military operations there."
Leo Shane III (Military Times) reported Thursday, "About 3,500 U.S. troops are stationed in Iraq, and seven have lost their lives in connection to the new military operations there."
Leo Shane III (Military Times) reported Thursday, "About 3,500 U.S. troops are stationed in Iraq, and seven have lost their lives in connection to the new military operations there."
Editorial: How many US troops have died in the Iraq War in the last 12 months?
Leo Shane III (Military Times) reported Thursday, "About 3,500 U.S. troops are stationed in Iraq, and seven have lost their lives in connection to the new military operations there."
Leo Shane III (Military Times) reported Thursday, "About 3,500 U.S. troops are stationed in Iraq, and seven have lost their lives in connection to the new military operations there."
Leo Shane III (Military Times) reported Thursday, "About 3,500 U.S. troops are stationed in Iraq, and seven have lost their lives in connection to the new military operations there."
Leo Shane III (Military Times) reported Thursday, "About 3,500 U.S. troops are stationed in Iraq, and seven have lost their lives in connection to the new military operations there."
Leo Shane III (Military Times) reported Thursday, "About 3,500 U.S. troops are stationed in Iraq, and seven have lost their lives in connection to the new military operations there."
Leo Shane III (Military Times) reported Thursday, "About 3,500 U.S. troops are stationed in Iraq, and seven have lost their lives in connection to the new military operations there."
Leo Shane III (Military Times) reported Thursday, "About 3,500 U.S. troops are stationed in Iraq, and seven have lost their lives in connection to the new military operations there."
Leo Shane III (Military Times) reported Thursday, "About 3,500 U.S. troops are stationed in Iraq, and seven have lost their lives in connection to the new military operations there."
Leo Shane III (Military Times) reported Thursday, "About 3,500 U.S. troops are stationed in Iraq, and seven have lost their lives in connection to the new military operations there."
Leo Shane III (Military Times) reported Thursday, "About 3,500 U.S. troops are stationed in Iraq, and seven have lost their lives in connection to the new military operations there."
Leo Shane III (Military Times) reported Thursday, "About 3,500 U.S. troops are stationed in Iraq, and seven have lost their lives in connection to the new military operations there."
Leo Shane III (Military Times) reported Thursday, "About 3,500 U.S. troops are stationed in Iraq, and seven have lost their lives in connection to the new military operations there."
Leo Shane III (Military Times) reported Thursday, "About 3,500 U.S. troops are stationed in Iraq, and seven have lost their lives in connection to the new military operations there."
Leo Shane III (Military Times) reported Thursday, "About 3,500 U.S. troops are stationed in Iraq, and seven have lost their lives in connection to the new military operations there."
Leo Shane III (Military Times) reported Thursday, "About 3,500 U.S. troops are stationed in Iraq, and seven have lost their lives in connection to the new military operations there."
This edition's playlist
3) Ringo Starr's Postcards from Paradise.
4) Joni Mitchell's For The Roses.
4) Joni Mitchell's For The Roses.
Vets Against The Deal
Vets Against The Deal has released a video opposing Barack's proposed deal with Iran. The video features Iraq War veteran Staff Sgt Robert Bartlett.
Jeremy Corbyn's mass rallies are a focus for anger—let's turn it into resistance
Repost from Great Britain's Socialist Worker:
Jeremy Corbyn’s campaign showed no
signs of losing momentum as thousands turned out to his election rallies
across Britain last week.
Around 2,000 people filled the conference hall in Leeds last Saturday.
That morning, another 450 people came to a meeting organised by the Aslef train drivers’ union in Doncaster.
Trevor Jones, who was at the meeting, said, “It had a bit of a feeling of the Scottish referendum about it.
“People want to hear something that’s different from the bunkum that they’re used to hearing.”
A thousand people attended an outdoor rally at a cricket ground in Bradford last Friday—which had been relocated as the original indoor venue was far too small.
Many of those going to Corbyn meetings said he represents a challenge to austerity—and a refreshing change to mainstream politics.
Several hundred people turned out to see Corbyn speak at a Kurdish community centre in Haringey, north London, last Sunday.
Health worker Ciara told Socialist Worker the rally was her first political meeting.
She said, “I joined Labour to vote for Jeremy. Labour hasn’t really attracted young people like me. It didn’t inspire people to get involved in politics.
Hope
“But now Jeremy is willing to stand up for what he believes in it gives people hope.”
And Michelle told Socialist Worker, “I have always been Labour. But recently I have voted Green as I haven’t seen much difference between the Conservatives and Labour.
“Now Jeremy Corbyn is the only person I have seen who is really standing up against austerity. Everyone else want to make the economy recover by attacking the poorest.”
On Thursday of last week another 1,000 people went to a Corbyn meeting in Norwich, where there was an impromptu street meeting for the extra 100 people who couldn’t get in.
The size of the meetings shows the potential that exists to build a mass movement against austerity.
Activist Andy Bremmer, who was at the Leeds rally, told Socialist Worker, “We knew there was going to be a lightning rod for the movement. But no one expected it to be the Labour Party.
“Most people are just gobsmacked that Corbyn’s campaign has been as successful is it has. So people are thinking on their feet. It’s just ‘Let’s get Corbyn elected’.”
That potential can’t be allowed to simply dissipate inside the Labour Party. But we can argue to turn it towards the TUC demo outside the Tory Party conference on 4 October.
Ciara said, “It’s wonderful to see so many getting involved in the left like they are in other parts of Europe.”
Jeremy Corbyn's mass rallies are a focus for anger—let's turn it into resistance
by Nick Clark
Jeremy Corbyn meets supporters outside the rally in Leeds (Pic: Bob Peters/Flickr)
Around 2,000 people filled the conference hall in Leeds last Saturday.
That morning, another 450 people came to a meeting organised by the Aslef train drivers’ union in Doncaster.
Trevor Jones, who was at the meeting, said, “It had a bit of a feeling of the Scottish referendum about it.
“People want to hear something that’s different from the bunkum that they’re used to hearing.”
A thousand people attended an outdoor rally at a cricket ground in Bradford last Friday—which had been relocated as the original indoor venue was far too small.
Many of those going to Corbyn meetings said he represents a challenge to austerity—and a refreshing change to mainstream politics.
Several hundred people turned out to see Corbyn speak at a Kurdish community centre in Haringey, north London, last Sunday.
Health worker Ciara told Socialist Worker the rally was her first political meeting.
She said, “I joined Labour to vote for Jeremy. Labour hasn’t really attracted young people like me. It didn’t inspire people to get involved in politics.
Hope
“But now Jeremy is willing to stand up for what he believes in it gives people hope.”
And Michelle told Socialist Worker, “I have always been Labour. But recently I have voted Green as I haven’t seen much difference between the Conservatives and Labour.
“Now Jeremy Corbyn is the only person I have seen who is really standing up against austerity. Everyone else want to make the economy recover by attacking the poorest.”
On Thursday of last week another 1,000 people went to a Corbyn meeting in Norwich, where there was an impromptu street meeting for the extra 100 people who couldn’t get in.
The size of the meetings shows the potential that exists to build a mass movement against austerity.
Activist Andy Bremmer, who was at the Leeds rally, told Socialist Worker, “We knew there was going to be a lightning rod for the movement. But no one expected it to be the Labour Party.
“Most people are just gobsmacked that Corbyn’s campaign has been as successful is it has. So people are thinking on their feet. It’s just ‘Let’s get Corbyn elected’.”
That potential can’t be allowed to simply dissipate inside the Labour Party. But we can argue to turn it towards the TUC demo outside the Tory Party conference on 4 October.
Ciara said, “It’s wonderful to see so many getting involved in the left like they are in other parts of Europe.”
Thanks to Neil Terry, Trevor Jones and Tim Knight-Hughes
U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin Statement in response to VA Inspector General Report on the Death of Marine Corps Veteran Jason Simcakoski at the Tomah VA Medical Center
Senator Tammy Baldwin's office issued the following:
***MEDIA RELEASE***
For Immediate Release
Friday, August 07, 2015
Contact:
press@baldwin.senate.gov
(202) 224-6225
U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin Statement in response to VA Inspector General Report
on the Death of Marine Corps Veteran Jason Simcakoski at the Tomah VA Medical Center
“Those responsible for this tragic failure should never again serve our veterans and their families.”
WASHINGTON,
D.C. – U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin released the following statement
after the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General
Office released a healthcare
inspections report regarding the death of Marine Corps veteran Jason
Simcakoski at the Tomah VA Medical Center on August 30, 2014:
“This
report confirms that the Tomah VA physicians entrusted with Jason's
care failed to keep their promise to a Wisconsin Marine and his family.
I have all the evidence
I need to conclude that the VA prescribed Jason a deadly mix of drugs
that led to his death and that those responsible for this tragic failure
should never again serve our veterans and their families. The sacred
trust we have with those who faithfully serve
our country has been broken and it needs to be fixed.
“I
have introduced bipartisan legislation in Jason’s name that has earned
the support of his family and a number of veteran service organizations
to provide the VA
with the tools it needs to help prevent this type of tragedy from
occurring to other veterans and their families. This report highlights
the need for the reforms we have proposed to give veterans and their
families a stronger voice in their care and put in
place stronger oversight and accountability for the quality of care we
are providing our veterans. Change is possible and I will continue my
fight for it.”
Learn more about Senator Baldwin’s bipartisan legislation,
the Jason Simcakoski Memorial Opioid Safety Act
here.
View an online version of this release
here.
###
Isakson to Hold Field Hearing on Veterans Choice in Gainesville, Ga. “The Veterans Choice Program: Are Problems in Georgia Indicative of a National Problem?”
Senator Johnny Isakson is the Chair of the Senate Veterans Committee and his office issued the following Friday:
FOR PLANNING PURPOSES ONLY
| |
|
Friday, August 14, 2015
|
Lauren Gaydos,
202-224-9126
|
|
|
|
***MEDIA ADVISORY***
Isakson to Hold Field Hearing on Veterans Choice in Gainesville, Ga.
“The Veterans Choice Program: Are Problems in Georgia Indicative of a National Problem?”
WASHINGTON –
The
Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, chaired by U.S. Senator Johnny
Isakson, R-Ga., will hold an oversight field hearing on
Friday, August 21, 2015, to
examine the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) implementation of the
Veterans Choice Program and how issues Georgia veterans are experiencing
echo a larger, national problem.
At the beginning of this Congress, Isakson declared his top priority as chairman to be overseeing the implementation of the
Veterans’ Access to Care through Choice, Accountability and Transparency Act
to ensure the VA fully and efficiently utilizes the Veterans Choice
Program to improve the quality and timeliness of care. This hearing is
the third in a series of oversight
hearings on the program, which allows veterans to receive health care
outside the Department of Veterans Affairs if they meet certain
criteria.
The hearing is open to the public and
press are invited to attend. Isakson will hold a brief media
availability immediately following the hearing.
WHO:
Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs
Senator Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., Chairman
Congressman Doug Collins, R-Ga.
VA Secretary Robert McDonald
WHERE:
University of North Georgia, Gainesville Campus
Continuing Education/Performing Arts Center
Continuing Education Auditorium, Room 108
3820 Mundy Mill Rd.
Gainesville, GA 30566
WHEN:
2:00 PM
Friday, August 21, 2015
**Media availability to follow immediately after
conclusion of second panel**
See below for the witness list.
Panel I
Hon. Bob McDonald, Secretary, Department of Veterans Affairs
Accompanied by:
Dr. James Tuchschmidt, Acting Principal Deputy Under Secretary for Health, Department of Veterans Affairs
Panel II
Donna Hoffmeier, Vice President, VA Services and PCCC Program Manager, HealthNet Federal Services
Dr. Stephen Jarrard, provider and veteran
Dr. Waymon Duane Williams, Georgia State Leader of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, Inc.
Mr. Carlos Chacha, veteran
###
The Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs is chaired by U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., in the 114th Congress.
Isakson
is a veteran himself – having served in the Georgia Air National Guard
from 1966-1972 – and has been a member of the Senate VA Committee since
he joined the Senate in 2005. Isakson’s home
state of Georgia is home to more than a dozen military installations
representing each branch of the military as well as more than 750,000
veterans.
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