Thursday, April 11, 2019

I’m asking you to add your name to say you support my Medicare for All bill Bernie Sanders

Bernie Sanders<info@berniesanders.com>
To  alfred johnson  


It was only a few years ago that the corporate media and political establishment laughed us off when we said it was past time to guarantee health care as a right for all.
Well, that’s not the case anymore. Because right now Medicare for All is not only supported by the majority of Americans, it is also an idea embraced by many Democrats, including most running for president.
Let me be very clear: that did not happen by accident. It happened because of you. Because of us.
Together we have made incredible progress on this issue, but we are not finished yet.
Today I am reintroducing Medicare for All legislation in the Senate. And it's important that we send an unmistakable message to my colleagues that health care must be guaranteed as a right for all Americans.
I cannot do it alone. So I am asking you directly:
It will come as no surprise that the health insurance and pharmaceutical companies do not like our Medicare for All plan.
They would rather continue making billions in profits off a dysfunctional health care system that leaves millions of Americans struggling to get the care and prescription drugs that they need.
It has never made sense to me that our health care system is primarily designed to make huge profits for multibillion-dollar insurance companies, drug companies, hospitals, and medical equipment suppliers. Health care is not a commodity. It is a human right. And the goal of a sane health care system should be to keep people well, not to make stockholders rich.
So today we say to the private health insurance companies, whether they like it or not, the United States will join every other major country on earth and guarantee health care to all people as a right. All Americans are entitled to go to the doctor when they're sick and not go bankrupt after staying in the hospital.
If we are serious about providing high-quality and affordable health care to every man, woman, and child in this country, the only real solution is a Medicare for all, single-payer system that provides health care to ALL Americans.
Although we have seen growing support in Congress, the truth is that we are still taking on much of the political and financial establishment in this fight. There are many who still believe universal health care is a radical idea. But what they will soon realize is that this is a struggle whose time has come.
Today, as I re-introduce legislation in the Senate, we must send a powerful message that we are prepared to fight for – and win – Medicare for All. The only way we will win is if we are united and prepared to fight on this issue.
Let's show we're in this together:
Our ideas are winning, and today it is important that we show we are as committed to this fight as ever.
In solidarity,
Bernie Sanders

Today I am re-introducing legislation in the Senate, and I need your help to send an unmistakable message that health care must be granted as a right to all.

Add your name to say you support our Medicare for all, single-payer health care bill.



Congresswoman Ilhan Omar has received death threats in the wake of right-wing media lies.

RootsAction Norman Solomon<info@rootsaction.org>
Congresswoman Ilhan Omar has received death threats in the wake of right-wing media lies. Last month, Fox News host Jeanine Pirro suggested that Omar's hijab may well mean that she opposed the U.S. Constitution. A few days later, New York resident Patrick Carlineo allegedly phoned Omar’s office and threatened to “put a bullet in her f------ skull.”

Carlineo has been arrested. According to the criminal complaint, he told the FBI that "he was a patriot, that he loves the President, and that he hates radical Muslims in our government."

Please click here to support Rep. Omar’s outspoken courage.

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has made the connection between the outlandish media comments and the death threats, tweeting:
"Understand when Jeanine Pirro goes on Fox + rallies people to think hijabs are threatening, it leads to this. Folks who imply we’re ‘bad’ for politics, the party, the country, etc. have no idea the threats we deal w/ because of that kind of language. Talk policy, not personal.” 

The man who phoned Congresswoman Omar’s office sounded scarily similar to some right-wing TV and radio hosts.

Support Ilhan Omar as well as RootsAction’s work for open non-violent debate of the issues.

It's worth recalling how all of this started. It did not involve opposition to the U.S. Constitution. It did not involve anti-Semitism. It started with Congresswoman Omar’s support for the human rights of Palestinians, and her criticizing the power of the Israel-right-or-wrong lobby. To understand the gist of the case against Omar, consider this statement that came from Rep. Juan Vargas, a Democrat:  “Questioning support for the U.S.-Israel relationship is unacceptable.”

At RootsAction, we fundamentally disagree. Questioning support for the U.S.-Israel relationship is not only acceptable – from the standpoint of human rights, it is essential.

RootsAction has long opposed Israel’s policies toward Palestinian people, including the illegal occupation and ever-expanding settlements. We do not support the “U.S.-Israel relationship” that has provided many billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars to arming the Israeli military – routinely and often lethally violating human rights in the process.

Please click here to support Rep. Omar’s bravery.

Already, the USA’s leading Israel-right-or-wrong group, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), is gearing up to oust Ilhan Omar from Congress. The New York Times reported last month on AIPAC’s hopes to “punish Ms. Omar, a freshman Democrat from Minnesota, with a primary challenge in 2020.”

AIPAC has a long history of defeating the few members of Congress willing to speak out against Israel’s occupation policies. As more of them speak out, AIPAC is even more determined to silence Israel’s critics.

To support open debate about the “U.S.-Israel relationship,” please make a donation of whatever you can afford.

The New York Times recently quoted a former Democratic Congressman from Washington State, Brian Baird, who said: “It is so disingenuous of some of these members of Congress who are lining up to condemn these questioning voices as if they have no campaign finance interest in the outcome.” Baird added: “If one dares to criticize Israel or dares to criticize AIPAC, one gets branded anti-Semitic, and that’s a danger to a democratic republic.”

It’s crucial to push back against that danger by stepping up support for real and open debate on these issues. You can help Ilhan Omar and RootsAction to do that.



Thank you!

—Norman Solomon, Jeff Cohen, and the RootsAction Team

Background:
>>  Slate: Ocasio-Cortez Links Fox News' Jeanine Pirro to Death Threat Against Ilhan Omar
>>  Daily Beast: Pro-Trump Man Charged With Threatening to Kill Rep. Ilhan Omar
>>  New York Times: “Ilhan Omar’s Criticism Raises Question: Is AIPAC Too Powerful?”
>>  M.J. Rosenberg, The Nation: “This Is How AIPAC Really Works”
>>  Philip Weiss, Mondoweiss: “'I am told I am anti-American if I am not pro-Israel' and that’s problematic -- Ilhan Omar stands strong against blizzard of attacks”

  
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Popular Resistance Action Alert - Assange Arrested, Take Action Now Global Network

Global Network<globalnet@mindspring.com>
To  Peaceworks  
Subject: Popular Resistance Action Alert - Assange Arrested, Take Action Now
 
This newsletter is also available
on the web here.
April 11, 2019 – Today, Wikileaks publisher, Julian Assange, was expelled from the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where he was granted asylum almost seven years ago, and arrested by British police. He is being held for extradition to the United States. Assange is a journalist who should not be prosecuted for publishing the truth.

Popular Resistance calls for the immediate release of Julian Assange and is organizing a protest today at 5:00 pm at the British embassy in Washington, DC. Please attend and urge others to attend. Share this Facebook page.
If you cannot attend, protest at a British embassy near you or email or call them. Here is a list of British embassies in the U.S.: Washington, DC 3100 Massachusetts Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20008 Phone: +1-202-5886500  +1-202-588-7800 Email: britishembassyenquiries@gmail.com Atlanta, GA Georgia Pa…
We urge people in the UK, US, Australia and around the world to protest the extradition and prosecution of Julian Assange at every step of legal proceedings. Popular Resistance will be doing all it can to build a broad movement for freedom for Julian Assange so he can continue his important work as a publisher and journalist. Assange has committed no crime and has had his political asylum, which has been recognized by the UN, taken away from him for no legitimate reason.
The prosecution of Julian Assange is an attack on Freedom of the Press in the 21st Century. WikiLeaks is democratizing journalism, redistributing power and increasing transparency. Publishing the truth is not a crime. The attack on Assange is a threat not only to journalism but opposition to war and empire. People need to stand up for Assange, our right to know and build a movement against US imperialism.
Wikileaks’ breakthrough journalism has been a public service that exposed US war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan, human rights violations at the Guantanamo Bay prison and showed corporate corruption of US foreign policy in State Department cables. Wikileaks has published documents concerning governments and corporations throughout the world.
Wikileaks has democratized the media by creating the ability for people to expose crimes of governments and corporations by anonymously leaking documents that show their activities. This innovation gives power to people to be the media. Such power is essential at this time of corporate concentration of media, where six companies control 90 percent of the news.
Wikileaks documents have been covered in major news outlets like the New York Times and the Washington Post and have had an impact on the development of public policies.
The US and international courts should be prosecuting those who committed crimes exposed in the documents published by Wikileaks, not the media outlet who exposed the crimes.
Chelsea Manning, who leaked documents to Wikileaks, is being held for refusing to testify before a grand jury in Alexandria, VA. She refuses to testify in secret against Julian Assange. Manning should be released. Manning and Assange are sacrificing their freedom for our right to know
Yesterday, was the 30th Anniversary of the Whistleblower Protection Act (WPA). Beginning under President Obama and continuing under President Trump, whistleblowers are being arrested and charged with the Espionage Act at increasing levels. From the time the Espionage Act was passed in 1917 until the Obama administration took office, it was used against one person. Eight people were prosecuted by the Obama Department of Justice. The number of investigations of leaked information has tripled under the Trump administration.

Our mailing address is:
PopularResistance.org
402 East Lake Ave.
Baltimore, MD 21212

CLICK HERE TO DONATE.
"Because a sustainable future depends on the people willing to see the truth for what it is, and for those to stand up in unison in order to make a difference." — Jake Edwards Keli'i Eakin

Maj. Danny Sjursen: West Point Grad Turns AntiWar Activist Massachusetts Peace Action Brian Garvey

Massachusetts Peace Action Brian Garvey<info@masspeaceaction.org>
To  Al Johnson  

Dear Al,
Just retired from the U.S. Army, 35 year old Major Danny Sjursen is an outspoken, dissident soldier now entering a new life as a promising peace activist. From his most recent article "The Forever Wars Go On Without Me" (Apr. 3, 2019): "I think of this as my last piece authored as an active military dissenter — a clearing of the air — before moving on to a life of activism, as well as an unarmed life of words." Join us on Thursday April 25th from 7-9PM at 11 Garden Street ,Cambridge. Then attend a conference at MIT, the "Social and Economic Costs of Endless Wars," from 2-5 PM on Friday April 26th. Major Sjursen will be the keynote speaker.

Is The U.S. a Force for Good in the Mid-East? Major Danny Sjursen

Thursday April 25 @ 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm

First Church in Cambridge, Congregational, UCC, 11 Garden St
Cambridge, MA 02138

Still Trapped in a Greater Middle Eastern Quagmire, the U.S. Military Prepares for Global Combat

Danny Sjursen
Major Danny Sjursen (U.S. Army -ret.) will survey U.S. regional interventions since 9/11 and intersperse his analysis of the counterproductiveness and criminality of these actions with his own personal journey from a promising military career to a life of dissent while on active duty.
Danny Sjursen is a retired U.S. Army Major and regular contributor to Antiwar .com, Truthdig, The Nation, Tom Dispatch, The Huffington Post, and The Hill.  His work has also appeared in Harper’s, The LA Times, and Buzz Feed. He served combat tours with reconnaissance units in Iraq and Afghanistan and later taught history at his alma mater, West Point. He is the author of a memoir and critical analysis of the Iraq War, Ghost Riders of Baghdad: Soldiers, Civilians, and the Myth of the Surge (2015).  He co-hosts the progressive veterans’ podcast “Fortress on a Hill.”  Follow him on Twitter at @SkepticalVet.
Recent articles:  “The Israel Liability: Moral and Strategic Hazards of an Ill-Advised Alliance” (March 12, 2019); “Planet of War” (Nov. 20, 2018) ; “The World According to the ‘Adults in the Room’: A Year of Forever War in Review" (Dec. 23, 2018); “An Officer’s Path to Dissent” (Jan. 3, 2018); “I was an Army grunt at the pointy end of the American spear. But no longer” (Mar. 31, 2019).  Video: “US Hegemony in the Middle East” (July 5, 2018)
This event is part of the Distinguished Peacebuilder Series.   Tickets $10 for members, $20 for non-members, $5 for students, $75 for supporters.  Reserve tickets online.


Social and Economic Costs of Endless Wars

Friday April 26 @ 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm

MIT Room 34-101 50 Vassar Street Cambridge, MA 02139

Conference on the social and economic costs of endless wars, Friday afternoon April 26th at MIT
Pre-Register at cost-war-apr19.bpt.me/: Students and low income FREE, General Admission $12, Supporter $75 (thanked at event and in program)
2:00 pm: Welcome: Jonathan King, MIT
2:15 pm: Opening Panel
–  The Costs of War – Prof. Neta Crawford (Boston University)
–  The Bloated Pentagon Budget – William Hartung (Center for International Policy)
 –  Saudi Military Aggression in Yemen – Michael Page (Human Rights Watch)
 –  Endless War in the Middle East – Danny Sjursen, Major, US Army (ret.)
3:00 pm: Emerging Responses:
Chair Cole Harrison (Mass Peace Action)
–       Build Bridges not Bombs; Bringing Nuclear Disarmament into the State Legislature – Rep Nika Elugardo, Mass State Legislature (invited)
–       Don’t Bank on the Bomb – Divesting from Nuclear Weapons Manufacture – Rep. Mike Connolly (Mass State Legislature)
–       Bringing the Moral Revival to Massachusetts– Savina Martin (Poor Peoples Campaign) 
–       The Intensifying Struggle for Affordable Housing – Chuck Collins (Institute for Policy Studies)
–       Massachusetts  Battles to Protect and Promote Public Education – Andrew King (UMass Boston) .
3:45 – Workshops: 
–       A) Organizing on Campuses: Facilitator, Brian Garvey, MAPA; Zac Bears (PHENOM); Alice Pote (MIT/anti-Saudi Coalition); Gabby Ballard (MIT Students Against War); Paul Shannon (AFSC).     
–       B) Nuclear Disarmament Initiatives: Facilitators, Joseph Gerson and Michelle Cunha; Jerrold Ross (MAPA); Prof. Aron Bernstein (MIT).-        
–       C) Moral and People’s Budget: Connecting battles for Economic Justice with Reducing Pentagon Spending: Facilitator, Jared Hicks (Our Revolution); Andrea Burns (MAPA); Andrew King (UMass Boston); John Ratliff (Mass. Senior Action); William Hartung (Center for International Policy).
–       D) The Continuing Links between Militarism and Racism:Facilitator, Rosemary Kean (MAPA); Savina Martin (Poor People’s Campaign); Ceasar Mc Dowell (MIT) (invited));
–       E) Mobilizing Communities of Faith (Facilitator, Keith Harvey (AFSC) (invited); Rev. Vernon Walker (invited);  Rev. Herb Taylor (Harvard-Epworth) (invited); Rev. Leslie Sterling (St. Bartholomew’s) (invited)
5:00: Report backs from Workshops
5:30 Adjourn
Yours for Peace,
Brian Garvey
Organizer




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