The Digital Dispatch

From NOEBIE.net

Curated Links

Why We’re Marching Against NATO

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Stay safe out there, people.

Why we’re marching against NATO. [SocialistWorker.org] – Thousands of people – workers, students, antiwar veterans and activists, Occupiers and community organizers – will take to the streets of Chicago when more than 50 heads of state gather on May 20-21 for a summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

People of the world have come to understand through their own personal experience that war is not the answer, and veterans know that non-military solutions – non-NATO solutions – are essential in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere around the world where NATO imagines that force and violence will achieve its objectives.

– Ray Parrish, President of the Chicago Chapter of Veterans for Peace

They’re Gonna Have To Kick Me Out

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Quit the Church? Thanks, but no thanks. [E. J. Dionne, Jr. | Commonweal] – Recently, a group called the Freedom from Religion Foundation ran a full-page ad in the Washington Post cast as an “open letter to ‘liberal’ and ‘nominal’ Catholics.” Its headline commanded: “It’s Time to Quit the Catholic Church.” I’m sorry to inform the FFRF that I am declining its invitation to quit. They may not see the Gospel as a liberating document, but I do, and I can’t ignore the good done in the name of Christ by the sisters, priests, brothers and laypeople who have devoted their lives to the poor and the marginalized.

Brian’s Comment: I had much the same reaction as Dionne when I first saw the letter from the FFRF. Granted, it is sometimes hard to be a free-thinking Catholic these days, but the Faith is not merely the institutions and the Church is not merely the hierarchy. Our Catholic Faith belongs to me and to my family as much as it does to the bishops, to the Vatican or to any of the Right-Wing bigots to whom I may be offering the sign of peace this weekend.

Occupy’s Meme Warrior: Kalle Lasn Interview

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Occupy’s Meme Warrior. [In These Times] – Last July, Adbusters sent out an invitation: “On Sept. 17, flood into lower Manhattan, set up tents, kitchens, peaceful barricades and occupy Wall Street.” The invitation sparked a movement.

Estonian-born documentary filmmaker Kalle Lasn co-founded Adbusters in 1989. Lasn, who is 70, draws his inspiration from the Situationists, avant-garde European revolutionaries who believed corporate capitalism perverted the human spirit. The Situationists reached their zenith in 1968 Paris and disbanded in 1972, but their efforts to affirm what it means to be free live on in Adbusters.

In These Times spoke with Lasn in March to see what “the man behind the curtain” had to say for himself and the movement he helped ignite.

Read the full interview at In These Times.

Politics, Poverty, Full Employment and the Living Wage

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Poverty is Over—If We Want it. [Adam Lassila | The Occupied Wall Street Journal] – It’s unconscionable that more than 30 million full-time workers don’t earn enough to provide for their families. It’s also unacceptable that 22 million willing laborers don’t have access to full-time work. Every human being deserves a job that can provide for his or her family’s well-being. Full employment is possible, but the U.S. government has rejected it as a policy goal because it is not in the best interest of the elites who control Washington.

Read more.

ALEC’s Attack on Public Education

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What You Need To Know About ALEC. [Bridging Differences | Education Week] – Since the 2010 elections, when Republicans took control of many states, there has been an explosion of legislation advancing privatization of public schools and stripping teachers of job protections and collective bargaining rights. Even some Democratic governors, seeing the strong rightward drift of our politics, have jumped on the right-wing bandwagon, seeking to remove any protection for academic freedom from public school teachers. This outburst of anti-public school, anti-teacher legislation is no accident.

Read more.

Target Anti-Union Video

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Here’s the Cheesy Anti-Union Video All Target Employees Must Endure. [Gawker] – Gawker has obtained a copy of Target’s notorious internal anti-union propaganda video, which it shows to all new employees in America when they’re hired. The 13-minute video, “Think Hard Before You Sign,” has the production values and cheesy dialogue of an eighth-grade educational film. It begins with an earnest discussion of Target’s business agility, and, at about the 1:50 mark, the anti-union push begins in earnest.

What is May Day?

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On May Day 2012, I’ll be joining in solidarity with workers around the world for “A Day Without the 99%.” My plans are simple: to spend the day in reflection, and perhaps share some appropriate music and movies with my children. I hope that next year I’ll be able to be in the company of Fellow Workers in Chicago for the day, but that’s simply not possible this year.

If, like me, you grew up without knowing the significance of May 1st to the working class, you might find some of these articles of interest as we prepare to celebrate International Workers’ Day 2012.

What is May Day and why is it called International Workers’ Day? [IWW.org] – May 1st, International Worker’s Day, commemorates the historic struggle of working people throughout the world, and is recognized in every country except the United States and Canada. This is despite the fact that the holiday began in the 1880’s in the United States, with the fight for an eight-hour work day led by immigrant workers.

Building on May Day traditions today. [SocialistWorker.org] – On May 1, workers across the globe will demonstrate, attend meetings and go on strike in celebration of International Workers Day, a working-class holiday with origins in the U.S. more than a century ago. With class inequality reaching new heights and shaping politics in the U.S. and internationally, a new generation is discovering the importance of May Day and embracing its message of militant working-class struggle and international solidarity.

A Short History of International Workers’ Day. [Holt Labor Library] – May 1, 1886, became historic. On that day thousands of workers in the larger industrial cities poured into the streets, demanding eight hours. About 340,000 took part in demonstrations in Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Baltimore, Washington, New York, Philadelphia, Boston and other places. Of these nearly 200,000 actually went out on strike.

The Haymarket Affair. [Illinois Labor History Society] – No single event has influenced the history of labor in Illinois, the United States, and even the world, more than the Chicago Haymarket Affair.

The McCormick Strike and the Haymarket Tragedy. [The Autobiography of Mother Jones | IWW.org] – “The police without warning charged down upon the workers, shooting into their midst, clubbing right and left. Many were trampled under horses’ feet. Numbers were shot dead. Skulls were broken. Young men and young girls were clubbed to death.”

Addressing Objections to Occupy May 1st. [IWW.org] – There have been a number of objections or concerns raised about the May 1st, 2012 general strike. Juan Conantz attempts to briefly address some of the most common ones.