September 12, 2020 |
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White House hopeful Sen. Bernie Sanders distinguished himself from Sen. Elizabeth Warren—another top competitor in the Democratic presidential primary—by highlighting their different beliefs on economic policy during an interview with ABC News chief White House correspondent Jonathan Karl that aired Sunday.
After ABC‘s Karl suggested that Sanders (I-Vt.) and Warren (D-Mass.) have “pretty close to identical positions” on major issues, Sanders said that “Elizabeth Warren has been a friend of mine for some 25 years and I think she is a very, very good senator, but there are differences between Elizabeth and myself. Elizabeth, I think, as you know, has said that she is a capitalist [to] her bones. I’m not.”
Sanders, a democratic socialist, went on to detail his concerns about “the situation today that we face in this country.” Specifically, he called out major pharmaceutical companies for price fixing as well as the fossil fuel industry for profiting off of “destroying the planet.” The senator, a champion of Medicare for All, also pointed out that the United States fails to guarantee healthcare to all people in the country, unlike other developed nations.
“I think business as usual and doing it the old-fashioned way is not good enough,” Sanders said. “What we need is, in fact—I don’t want to get people too nervous—we need a political revolution. I am, I believe, the only candidate who’s going to say to the ruling class of this country, the corporate elite: Enough, enough with your greed and with your corruption. We need real change in this country.”
Reiterating a key distinction between him and Warren on economic grounds, he said that “Elizabeth considers herself—if I got the quote correctly—to be a capitalist to her bones. I don’t. And the reason I am not is because I will not tolerate for one second the kind of greed and corruption and income and wealth inequality and so much suffering that is going on in this country today, which is unnecessary.”
Warren’s quote which Sanders repeatedly referenced is from a July 2018 event hosted by the New England Council. The Massachusetts Democrat was quoted as saying, “I am a capitalist to my bones.” During an interview about a week later, CNBC editor at large John Harwood asked Warren, “You don’t think capitalists are bad people?”
“I am a capitalist. Come on. I believe in markets,” Warren responded. “What I don’t believe in is theft, what I don’t believe in is cheating. That’s where the difference is. I love what markets can do, I love what functioning economies can do. They are what make us rich, they are what create opportunity. But only fair markets, markets with rules. Markets without rules is about the rich take it all, it’s about the powerful get all of it. And that’s what’s gone wrong in America.”
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Sanders is currently third in national polls for the crowded 2020 primary race, behind Warren and former Vice President Joe Biden, who is back in the top spot after Warren briefly took the lead earlier this week, according to RealClearPolitics.
Reporters and political observers noted that Sanders’ comments during the ABC interview were “the biggest contrast” he has made with Warren in the race so far.
The interview comes as Sanders has temporarily suspended campaign events to recover from a minor heart attack, which he also addressed Sunday.
“‘Heart attack’ is a scary word,” he told Karl. “What I had is a 45 to 50 minute procedure, two stents were placed in my heart, because I had a blocked artery. This is a procedure, as I understand it, done many, many hundreds of thousands of times a year. It’s a fairly common procedure, and people are back on their feet pretty soon, as is the case with me.”
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Sanders’ campaign has said that he will participate in the upcoming Democratic primary debate co-hosted by CNN and The New York Times at Otterbein University in Westerville, Ohio, which will air at 8 pm Tuesday. The campaign announced Saturday that Sanders will host a public “Bernie’s Back” rally at Queensbridge Park in New York City on the afternoon of Oct. 19.
Amid an emerging corporate media narrative that the heart attack dealt a devastating blow to Sanders’ chances of winning the White House, Common Dreams reported Thursday that “prominent campaign surrogates, advisers, and supporters in recent days have forcefully pushed back against that notion and argued Sanders—with his grassroots army as enthusiastic and motivated as ever—is well-positioned to compete for and ultimately win the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.”
As RoseAnn DeMoro, former executive director of National Nurses United and prominent Sanders backer, told The Associated Press, “Heaven help the opposition.”
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West Virginia state Sen. Richard Ojeda (D) ended his 2020 presidential campaign Friday, saying it would be difficult to continue to ask people to donate to a campaign with little chance of success.
“I don’t want to see people send money to a campaign that’s probably not going to get off the ground,” Ojeda said in a video posted by the Young Turks.
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“I want you to know though that my fight does not end,” he continued. “I may not have the money to make the media pay attention but I will continue raising my voice and highlighting the issues the working class, the sick and the elderly face in this nation. I expect to have an announcement very soon about what my next steps will be.”
Ojeda, a former Army paratrooper who led the state’s teachers’ strike last year, had declared his intention to run for president in November.
Ojeda drew criticism for voting for Donald TrumpDonald John TrumpSenate advances public lands bill in late-night vote Warren, Democrats urge Trump to back down from veto threat over changing Confederate-named bases Esper orders ‘After Action Review’ of National Guard’s role in protests MORE for president in 2016 then repeatedly criticizing him.
He ran for Congress in 2018, but lost his bid to represent West Virginia’s 3rd Congressional District to Republican Carol MillerCarol Devine MillerShelley Moore Capito wins Senate primary Hillicon Valley: Trump threatens Michigan, Nevada over mail-in voting | Officials call for broadband expansion during pandemic | Democrats call for investigation into Uber-Grubhub deal Republicans introduce bill to create legal ‘safe harbor’ for gig companies during the pandemic MORE.
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Former Vice President Joe BidenJoe BidenHillicon Valley: Biden calls on Facebook to change political speech rules | Dems demand hearings after Georgia election chaos | Microsoft stops selling facial recognition tech to police Trump finalizing executive order calling on police to use ‘force with compassion’ The Hill’s Campaign Report: Biden campaign goes on offensive against Facebook MORE leads the field of potential Democratic presidential candidates by double digits among likely Iowa caucusgoers, according to a new poll.
An Emerson College poll published Saturday found that Biden has the support of 29 percent of the planned caucusgoers surveyed, well ahead of Sen. Kamala HarrisKamala Devi HarrisRand Paul introduces bill to end no-knock warrants The Hill’s Campaign Report: Biden campaign goes on offensive against Facebook McEnany says Juneteenth is a very ‘meaningful’ day to Trump MORE (D-Calif.), who has the backing of 18 percent of likely caucusgoers polled.
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Biden has not yet announced a bid for president but has said he is likely to make the decision shortly.
The poll was based on interviews with 260 likely caucusgoers and has a margin of error of plus or minus 6 percentage points. The interviews were conducted Jan. 30-Feb. 2.
Following Biden and Harris in the poll is Sen. Bernie SandersBernie SandersThe Hill’s 12:30 Report: Milley apologizes for church photo-op Harris grapples with defund the police movement amid veep talk Biden courts younger voters — who have been a weakness MORE (I-Vt.) with 15 percent and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) with 11 percent. No other candidate received more than 6 percent of support.
Sanders, who ran against Hillary ClintonHillary Diane Rodham ClintonWhite House accuses Biden of pushing ‘conspiracy theories’ with Trump election claim Biden courts younger voters — who have been a weakness Trayvon Martin’s mother Sybrina Fulton qualifies to run for county commissioner in Florida MORE in the 2016 Democratic Primary, also has not yet announced a White House bid.
Harris announced last month that she is running for the Democratic nomination, while Warren launched an exploratory committee in December and is expected to soon formally launch her campaign.
The Emerson College poll also found that Biden is the only Democratic front-runner who would defeat President TrumpDonald John TrumpSenate advances public lands bill in late-night vote Warren, Democrats urge Trump to back down from veto threat over changing Confederate-named bases Esper orders ‘After Action Review’ of National Guard’s role in protests MORE in a head-to-head match-up among Iowa voters.
The poll shows 51 percent of respondents backing Biden and 49 percent supporting Trump.
That subset of the poll was based on interviews with 831 registered voters Jan. 30-Feb. 2 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.
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Rep. Tim RyanTimothy (Tim) RyanMinnesota AG Keith Ellison says racism is a bigger problem than police behavior; 21 states see uptick in cases amid efforts to reopen Congress must fill the leadership void Pelosi pushes to unite party on coronavirus bill despite grumbling from left MORE (D-Ohio), a high-profile House moderate, said Wednesday evening he is “seriously considering” a presidential run in 2020.
“I don’t feel any pressure for any timeline for this point, but I am seriously considering it,” he told CNN host Erin Burnett.
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“The country is divided, we can’t get anything done because of these huge divisions that we have and people in communities like the one I represent, Erin, are suffering because of this division. You can’t win the future divided, a divided country is a weak country, and I’m concerned about that. I don’t feel any pressure to make any particular announcement anytime soon, but it is something I’m really worried about.”
Ryan rose to prominence after challenging then-House Minority Leader Nancy PelosiNancy PelosiTrump on collision course with Congress over bases with Confederate names Black lawmakers unveil bill to remove Confederate statues from Capitol Pelosi: Georgia primary ‘disgrace’ could preview an election debacle in November MORE (D-Calif.) for her post in 2016. He garnered about a third of the Democratic conference’s support in the unsuccessful effort, underlining significant divisions within the caucus.
Since then, he has opposed President TrumpDonald John TrumpSenate advances public lands bill in late-night vote Warren, Democrats urge Trump to back down from veto threat over changing Confederate-named bases Esper orders ‘After Action Review’ of National Guard’s role in protests MORE and touted moderate policies he would like to see pushed through Congress.
He first raised eyebrows among 2020 prognosticators after making trips to Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, three states that will hold crucial primary races in the Democratic nomination contest.
Democratic Sens. Kamala HarrisKamala Devi HarrisRand Paul introduces bill to end no-knock warrants The Hill’s Campaign Report: Biden campaign goes on offensive against Facebook McEnany says Juneteenth is a very ‘meaningful’ day to Trump MORE (Calif.), Elizabeth WarrenElizabeth WarrenWarren, Democrats urge Trump to back down from veto threat over changing Confederate-named bases OVERNIGHT DEFENSE: Joint Chiefs chairman says he regrets participating in Trump photo-op | GOP senators back Joint Chiefs chairman who voiced regret over Trump photo-op | Senate panel approves 0B defense policy bill Trump on collision course with Congress over bases with Confederate names MORE (Mass.), Kirsten GillibrandKirsten GillibrandWarren, Democrats urge Trump to back down from veto threat over changing Confederate-named bases Warren, Pressley introduce bill to make it a crime for police officers to deny medical care to people in custody Senate Dems press DOJ over coronavirus safety precautions in juvenile detention centers MORE (N.Y.), Cory BookerCory Anthony BookerRand Paul introduces bill to end no-knock warrants Black lawmakers unveil bill to remove Confederate statues from Capitol Harris grapples with defund the police movement amid veep talk MORE (N.J.) and Amy KlobucharAmy KlobucharHillicon Valley: Biden calls on Facebook to change political speech rules | Dems demand hearings after Georgia election chaos | Microsoft stops selling facial recognition tech to police Democrats demand Republican leaders examine election challenges after Georgia voting chaos Harris grapples with defund the police movement amid veep talk MORE (Minn.) have already announced 2020 bids, and heavyweights such as former Vice President Joe BidenJoe BidenHillicon Valley: Biden calls on Facebook to change political speech rules | Dems demand hearings after Georgia election chaos | Microsoft stops selling facial recognition tech to police Trump finalizing executive order calling on police to use ‘force with compassion’ The Hill’s Campaign Report: Biden campaign goes on offensive against Facebook MORE and Sen. Bernie SandersBernie SandersThe Hill’s 12:30 Report: Milley apologizes for church photo-op Harris grapples with defund the police movement amid veep talk Biden courts younger voters — who have been a weakness MORE (I-Vt.) waiting in the wings.
Should Ryan throw his hat into the ring, he would likely run in the same lane as Klobuchar, Biden and possibly Sen. Sherrod BrownSherrod Campbell BrownHillicon Valley: Senators raise concerns over government surveillance of protests | Amazon pauses police use of its facial recognition tech | FBI warns hackers are targeting mobile banking apps Democratic senators raise concerns over government surveillance of protests Some realistic solutions for income inequality MORE (D-Ohio), seeking to appeal to both their moderate base and blue-collar workers with progressive economic policies on trade and labor.
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Sen. Kamala HarrisKamala Devi HarrisRand Paul introduces bill to end no-knock warrants The Hill’s Campaign Report: Biden campaign goes on offensive against Facebook McEnany says Juneteenth is a very ‘meaningful’ day to Trump MORE (D-Calif.) on Thursday received some added home-state support for her presidential bid with the endorsements of six Democratic mayors from across California.
The endorsements of San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, San Francisco Mayor London Breed, Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg, Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf and Compton Mayor Aja Brown were announced in a press release.
Many praised Harris for working on issues impacting the working class.
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“I couldn’t be more enthusiastic to endorse my fellow Bay Area sister, Kamala Harris, and her candidacy for President,” Breed said. “Kamala’s groundbreaking campaigns for district attorney, attorney general and the United States Senate paved the way for me and many women who have sought elected office in this state. She is acutely aware of the work that needs to be done on behalf of this nation and is prepared to lead and lift up hard-working men and women across this nation.”
Schaaf added, “There is no one better I can think of to lead our nation in these times than Oakland’s very own Kamala Harris. She is a fighter, a proven leader and champion for progressive ideals.”
The six mayors represent nearly 3.5 million Californians.
Harris has already garnered the endorsements of Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.); Rep. Barbara LeeBarbara Jean LeeBlack lawmakers unveil bill to remove Confederate statues from Capitol McCarthy says states have power on removing Confederate statues from Capitol Pelosi calls for removal of Confederate statues in Capitol complex MORE (D-Calif.), the former head of the Congressional Black Caucus; and civil rights leader Dolores Huerta. The three will serve as co-chairs for Harris’s campaign in California.
Harris is running in a Democratic primary field that is already packed with other high-profile candidates, including Sens. Bernie SandersBernie SandersThe Hill’s 12:30 Report: Milley apologizes for church photo-op Harris grapples with defund the police movement amid veep talk Biden courts younger voters — who have been a weakness MORE (I-Vt.), Elizabeth WarrenElizabeth WarrenWarren, Democrats urge Trump to back down from veto threat over changing Confederate-named bases OVERNIGHT DEFENSE: Joint Chiefs chairman says he regrets participating in Trump photo-op | GOP senators back Joint Chiefs chairman who voiced regret over Trump photo-op | Senate panel approves 0B defense policy bill Trump on collision course with Congress over bases with Confederate names MORE (D-Mass.) and Cory BookerCory Anthony BookerRand Paul introduces bill to end no-knock warrants Black lawmakers unveil bill to remove Confederate statues from Capitol Harris grapples with defund the police movement amid veep talk MORE (D-N.J.), with heavy hitters like former Vice President Joe BidenJoe BidenHillicon Valley: Biden calls on Facebook to change political speech rules | Dems demand hearings after Georgia election chaos | Microsoft stops selling facial recognition tech to police Trump finalizing executive order calling on police to use ‘force with compassion’ The Hill’s Campaign Report: Biden campaign goes on offensive against Facebook MORE and former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) also considering a jump into the White House race.
Booker last month won the endorsements of New Jersey’s entire Democratic congressional delegation as well as the state’s governor and lieutenant governor. No other 2020 candidate has yet solidified as much home state support as the Garden State’s junior senator.
September 11, 2020 |
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Demonstrators with the Jewish activist group Never Again Action on Thursday shut down a Cambridge, Massachusetts Amazon office in protest of the tech giant’s coordination and cooperation with President Donald Trump’s war on immigrants.
“As a Jewish person, we’ve seen this before,” Ben Lorber, one of the protesters for the action, told The Boston Globe. “I had ancestors killed in the Holocaust. We feel this in our bones. We need to mobilize.”
Amazon’s work with the White House on immigration detention has been a controversial flashpoint for the world’s largest online retailer. As Common Dreams reported in July, the company’s work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has drawn protests from both the company’s opponents and workers.
Never Again marched from Boston’s New England Holocaust Memorial to Cambridge on Thursday, temporarily snarling traffic on a number of city streets.
The group occupied the Amazon office until 12 of the demonstrators were arrested.
In a dispatch from his column Hell World, Boston-based writer Luke O’Neil noted the current climate in the city’s courtrooms, including, as Common Dreams reported Wednesday, Judge Richard Sinnott’s refusal to allow Suffolk County DA Rachel Roillins’ office decline to prosecute demonstrators from last weekend’s so-called “Straight Pride Parade.”
“You would think they will be let off easy with a warning like others have in similar recent arrests,” wrote O’Neil, “but considering how bad the situation involving the people arrested at the protest last weekend has gone under the fascist watch of Judge Sinnott—who refused DA Rachael Rollins’ request to dismiss charges against many of the protestors leading to a whole fucking thing—who is to say what will happen.”
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A GoFundMe page has been set up for the arrested protesters.
Protesters at the Cambridge offices reminded Amazon that their cooperation with ICE was not unique; after all, “technology companies have been enabling racist state violence for centuries,” as the group’s Twitter account pointed out in a tweet featuring a video of a demonstrator laying out the connections between the Nazis and IBM.
Democracy Now! quoted one of the protesters making that connection during the Thursday action:
Amazon did not provide comment to reporters about the demonstration—but, as The Boston Globe reported, Amazon has been a target for anti-ICE protests for over a year:
Protest actions against the Trump administration’s war on immigrants can be dangerous. On August 14, Captain Thomas Woodworth of the Wyatt Detention Facility in Central Falls, Rhode Island used his truck as a battering ram, driving into a group of Never Again protesters.
Watch Thursday’s action, via Never Again’s Facebook page:
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A casual announcement made Wednesday by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos that his company is writing facial recognition regulations for legislators to enact is exactly what “digital rights activists have been warning” would emerge from Silicon Valley unless lawmakers pass a full ban on facial recognition surveillance.
Bezos told reporters at a product launch event that the company’s “public policy team is actually working on facial recognition regulations.”
“It makes a lot of sense to regulate that,” Bezos said. “It’s a perfect example of something that has really positive uses so you don’t want to put the breaks on it. At the same time there’s lots of potential for abuses with that kind of technology and so you do want regulations.”
For a form of technology that digital rights advocates call “uniquely dangerous,” regulations—especially those that Amazon lobbyists have a hand in developing—are not sufficient to keep Americans safe from the privacy violations facial recognition can cause, said Fight for the Future.
“This is why we need to ban facial recognition,” the group tweeted.
“Amazon wants to write the laws governing facial recognition to make sure they’re friendly to their surveillance driven business model,” said Evan Greer, deputy director of Fight for the Future, in a statement. “But this type of technology…poses a profound threat to the future of human liberty that can’t be mitigated by industry-friendly regulations. We need to draw a line in the sand and ban governments from using this technology before it’s too late.”
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“Silicon Valley’s calls to ‘regulate’ facial recognition are a trap, designed to hasten the widespread adoption of this invasive and harmful technology by implementing weak regulations that assuage public concern without putting a dent in corporate profits.”
—Fight for the Future
Fight for the Future launched a campaign in July aimed at pushing Congress to pass a full ban on facial recognition, following the lead of Somerville, Massachusetts; San Francisco; and Oakland, California, which have barred government use of the technology in recent months.
Fight for the Future and other civil liberties advocates warn that the use of facial recognition technology by federal, state, and local agencies increases the risk of discrimination, police harassment, and false arrests and deportations. Women and people of color are particularly likely to be misidentified by the programs, U.K. government data showed last year.
“Silicon Valley’s calls to ‘regulate’ facial recognition are a trap, designed to hasten the widespread adoption of this invasive and harmful technology by implementing weak regulations that assuage public concern without putting a dent in corporate profits,” Fight for the Future said Wednesday.
Matt Cagle, a civil liberties attorney at the ACLU of Northern California, tweeted that the organization would be on alert for “weak corporate proposals seeking to undermine” the efforts of cities which have passed facial recognition bans and lawmakers in states including New York, Michigan, and California who are pushing for state-wide bans.
In the United Kingdom, Labour politician Darren Jones said statements like that of Bezos should push his members of Parliament to fight for a ban on facial recognition surveillance.
“We can’t outsource thought leadership and now even the drafting of our laws to private companies,” tweeted Jones.
“We know that members of Congress are currently drafting legislation related to facial recognition,” said Greer, “and we hope they know that the public will not accept trojan horse regulations that line Jeff Bezos’ pockets at the expense of all of our basic human rights.”
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In a move critics said exposes both the particular cruelty of General Motors executives and the systemic inhumanity of the American healthcare system, GM on Tuesday stopped covering health insurance premiums for the nearly 50,000 auto workers striking for fair wages and decent benefits.
The move shifts healthcare costs to the United Auto Workers (UAW), which will be forced to reach into its strike fund to pay the bills. As HuffPost reported, UAW negotiators on Monday sought to confirm with GM that workers’ benefits would be covered through the end of the month. Hours later, GM said the benefits have been terminated.
“A note to anyone who wants to use union members as a wedge to oppose Medicare for All: UAW has one of the best plans in the country, but management can still use it to hold workers hostage. M4A puts power back in our hands.”
—Sara Nelson, Association of Flight Attendants
“GM’s decision to yank healthcare coverage away from their dedicated employees with no warning is heartless and unconscionable,” said Mary Kay Henry, president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). “GM’s actions could put people’s lives at risk, from the factory worker who needs treatment for their asthma to the child who relies on their parents’ insurance for chemotherapy.”
“The UAW workers on the strike lines are showing immense bravery in the face of intimidation,” added Henry.
The auto workers’ nationwide strike, described as the largest in more than a decade, began just before midnight on Sunday after negotiations between UAW and GM broke down, with union leaders and members accusing management of proposing insulting wage increases and paltry benefits.
As the New York Times reported, GM is pushing for “employees to pay a greater portion of their healthcare costs” even as the company rakes in record-level profits and massive gains from the GOP tax bill.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, said in a statement Tuesday night that GM’s decision to stop healthcare payments “is the type of corporate greed that the American people are sick and tired of.”
“At a time when the CEO of General Motors has received a $22 million compensation package and top of the line benefits, it is cruel and outrageous that GM has cut off the healthcare benefits from their employees in a blatant attempt to force the union into submission,” said Sanders. “I say to General Motors: Restore the healthcare benefits that your workers have earned and deserve.”
Speaking to CNN, Sanders said GM’s move spotlights the urgent need for a healthcare system under which workers’ insurance cannot be yanked away at the whim of corporate executives.
“Under Medicare for All,” said the Vermont senator, “every American—whether you’re working, whether you’re not working, when you are going from one job to another job—it’s there with you.”
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Others echoed Sanders’ condemnation of America’s privatized healthcare system and call for Medicare for All in the wake of GM’s decision:
GM’s move comes as the impasse between the union and management shows few signs of ending.
Steve Frisque, a full-time union steward and committee lead at the GM parts plant in Hudson, Wisconsin, told In These Times that by cutting off workers’ healthcare, the automobile giant is “using scare tactics, making people worried about how they’re going to make it” through the strike.
“We are also hearing that at big plants like in Flint and Arlington,” said Frisque, “GM is planning on busing in what we call scabs into the building to try and do the work. It does look like almost a union-busting type of plan at this point.”
“We sacrificed for GM, and now it’s time for GM to share the wealth,” Frisque added. “They paid essentially no taxes last year, and they act like they’re broke. They have made record profits for the last four or five years. When their CEO Mary Barra is making over $20 million and they say they don’t have enough money to pay their employees on the floor, then I have an issue with that and I think all of us do.”
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President Donald Trump on Monday added to a catalog of head-scratching tweets with a post declaring that he has “great and unmatched wisdom” and threatening to “totally destroy and obliterate the Economy of Turkey.”
The late Monday morning tweet comes after Trump announced Sunday he is taking U.S. forces out of northern Syria and endorsed a Turkey military operation in the area, leaving in a precarious position the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF)—which includes Kurdish fighters whom the U.S. has heavily relied on to defeat ISIS and whom Turkey sees as a terrorist group.
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Critics pounced on the tweet as evidence Trump is “unhinged,” “delusional,” channeling the Great Wizard of Oz, and called it possibly the “dumbest moment of the Trump presidency.”
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Seven anti-nuclear activists face up to 20 years in prison after a jury in Georgia on Thursday found the activists guilty of four counts of destruction and depredation of government property in excess of $1,000, trespassing, and conspiracy, charges that could land each member of the group in prison for up to 20 years.
“I really think that the verdict was, frankly, reactionary,” defendant Carmen Trotta said in a statement.
Trotta and Steve Kelly, Mark Colville, Clare Grady, Patrick O’Neill, Elizabeth McAlister, and Martha Hennessy on the night of April 4, 2018 entered the U.S. Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay in Georgia and took part in a symbolic closure of the facility in protest of its housing of the base’s Trident nuclear program and then “split into three groups and prayed, poured blood, spray-painted messages against nuclear weapons, hammered on parts of a shrine to nuclear missiles, hung banners, and waited to be arrested.”
The Kings Bay Plowshares Seven hoped to use a necessity defense, claiming the omnicidal potential of the Trident program—that the weapons could end all life on the planet—made their actions a moral imperative. On October 18, Judge Lisa Wood rejected the defense and in her ruling (pdf) barred the defendants from using it or calling on expert witnesses like Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg to address the jury.
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As Common Dreams reported, Ellsberg on October 19 said he supported the group’s actions and saw the activism in Georgia as essential to stopping the potential of nuclear war wiping out life as we know it.
“I believe that omnicide, the end of civilization and most of humanity, will not be averted without a moral transformation and political mobilization that requires actions of civil disobedience—including that of the Kings Bay Plowshares 7—to inspire,” said Ellsberg.
A jury fund the group guilty within hours of closing testimony on Thursday.
“The Pentagon has many installations—and we just walked out of one of them,” defendant Colville said after the verdict was read. “It’s a place where they weaponize the law.”
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After the verdict, the group’s lawyer Bill Quigley expressed his frustration that the necessity defense was ruled out for trial.
“As the jury was not allowed to hear, the submarines, nuclear weapons submarines, that are at Kings Bay have 3,800 times as much destructive power as the weapons that were used on Hiroshima, enough power to destroy life on Earth as we know it,” said Quigley. “After two years of prayer and action and practice, they came together and took action to go onto Kings Bay and preach the word—preach the word of love, preach the word of life, preach the word of peace,
and they are paying a huge price for that as you all know.”
The trial also included edited video, as activist Marianne Grady-Flores, sister of defendant Clare Grady, told journalist Luke O’Neil Thursday:
The group have not yet decided whether they will appeal the verdict. In her comments, defendant Trotta said that the seven activists saw themselves as one part of an ongoing activist struggle.
“We all know which way the wind is blowing,” said Trotta. “There’s the Black Lives Matter movement. There’s the Extinction Rebellion. There’s the Me Too movement.”
“There’s an activist community waiting just behind us,” she said.
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