August, 31 2020, 12:00am EDT
The People's Convention Draws More than 400,000 Views. Attendees Cast Historic Vote to Build a Major New Political Party Free of Corporate Money and Influence
Hundreds of thousands of people from all walks of life joined The People's Convention yesterday, sending it rocketing to #2 trending nationally on Twitter and keeping it top trending thr
DETROIT
Hundreds of thousands of people from all walks of life joined The People's Convention yesterday, sending it rocketing to #2 trending nationally on Twitter and keeping it top trending throughout the full 5-hour program. The digital Convention was viewed over 400,000 times on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. At the conclusion of the program, an overwhelming 99 percent of viewers cast the historic vote to form a major new political party in America in 2021.
Speakers included former Bernie 2020 Co-Chair Sen. Nina Turner and Harvard Professor Dr. Cornel West, Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Chris Hedges, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Danny Glover and former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura, and political commentator Jimmy Dore and Host of Amped Up Ryan Knight.
They were joined by speakers representing the mosaic of America: students, labor leaders, a poet, nonprofit leaders, activists, comedians, former Democratic congressional candidates, independent media leaders, and a climate scientist. Former Bernie 2020 staff, surrogates, delegates, and organizers all spoke.
They met in the wake of Democratic and Republican conventions that erased the needs of poor and working people in a time of mounting national crises--a raging pandemic and health crisis, an economic depression, a police brutality and racial justice crisis, a housing crisis, breadlines and record child hunger, endless wars, and climate breakdown.
Sen. Nina Turner electrified the Convention as she decried the "racist, bigoted system" that oppresses Blacks, the poor, the working poor, and the increasing rates of near-poor.
Saying we need to "slay the dragons of neofascism and neoliberalism," she called this a "revolutionary time" for which MPP is answering the call. She closed her powerful address with, "We gonna get to work on a people's party with these hands. We are on the move."
Dr. Cornel West said, "The People's Party is a prophetic fightback." The Harvard professor and author said that as he helps MPP build a people's party, he is bringing with him the musicians that have spoken for so many revolutionaries such as Curtis Mayfield, Sam Cooke and Nina Simone.
Referencing the 1963 March on Washington, Dr. West said, "That next morning young brother Dr. Martin Luther King told America about a dream that he had, which was not the American dream, but a dream rooted in the American dream, and it has everything to do with the Movement for a People's Party."
Former New York Times journalist Chris Hedges said that Trump is a demagogue but that the election of Joe Biden will ensure that "far more competent demagogues get elected." He reminded attendees that in America "you are only allowed to vote against what you hate," not for what you want. "We need to overthrow the system, not placate it."
Former Gov. Jesse Ventura talked about his experiences as an independent who defeated both major parties. "We need a third or fourth entity to step in," he insisted while lauding MPP's efforts. "The lesser of two evils, is still evil," said Ventura.
Best-selling author, spiritual leader and former Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson gave a historical background on how the civil rights and women's movements brought forth policies that are now being unraveled. She said that MPP worked in the rich tradition of people who have "taken the wheel and pushed back against oppressive forces and did what was necessary to get this country back on track."
Labeling our government a system of "legalized bribery," Willamson called on Americans to "step in" to a people's party, adding, "I'm proud to be stepping in with you." About the convention, she said, "This is big stuff. This is good stuff. This is historic stuff."
The Movement for a People's Party now dives into organizing local hubs across the country that will form the building blocks of state parties and get ballot access. The party will run for Congress in 2022 and for the Presidency in 2024.
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'The GOP Promised to Make Life Easier for Working Families,' But Here's the Real Agenda
"Mike Johnson is committing to slashing Social Security and Medicare to get the speaker's gavel," said one progressive group.
Jan 03, 2025
As Republicans took full control of Congress this week and U.S. President-elect prepared to take office later this month, Democratic lawmakers renewed warnings about how the GOP agenda will harm working people and pledged to fight against it.
"Today, the 119th Congress officially begins. Our top priority over the next two years must be fighting for working families and standing up to corporate power and greed," Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), chair emeritus of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said on social media Friday.
"While Republicans focus their energy for the next two years on giving tax breaks to the rich and cutting vital public programs, Democrats will continue working to lower costs and raise wages for all," Jayapal promised. "We'll always be fighting for YOU."
In addition to members of Congress being sworn in on Friday, nearly all Republicans in the House of Representatives reelected Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) as speaker and the chamber debated a rules package that Democrats have criticized since it was released by GOP leadership earlier this week.
"Their governance will be marked by consolidated power, scapegoated communities, and campaigns of punishment."
The package fast-tracks a dozen bills on a range of issues; they include various immigration measures as well as legislation attacking transgender student athletes, sanctioning the International Criminal Court, requiring proof of United States citizenship to register to vote in federal elections, and prohibiting a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, for fossil fuels.
"Speaker Johnson has said that the 119th Congress will be consequential. Today, both in Speaker Johnson's address and in the rules package the Republicans have passed, Republicans have shown us what the consequences of their leadership will be," Rep. Delia C. Ramirez (D-Ill.) said in a statement. "In their first order of business, Republicans advanced a legislative package that abuses the power of Congress to persecute trans children athletes, take federal funding away from sanctuary cities like Chicago and Illinois, scapegoat immigrants, erode voting rights, and put new criminal penalties on reproductive care providers."
"For the first time in history, they seek to make the speakership less accountable to the full body of legislators and to limit our ability to consider emergency bills," Ramirez noted. "Overall, they are using the rules to make Congress less transparent, less accountable, and less responsive to the needs of the American people. Their governance will be marked by consolidated power, scapegoated communities, and campaigns of punishment."
Speaking out against the package on the House floor, Jayapal said it "makes very clear what the Republican majority will not do in the 119th Congress," stressing that the 12 bills "do nothing to lower costs or raise wages for the American people."
These bills also won't "take on the biggest corporations and wealthiest individuals who profit from the high prices and junk fees and corporate concentration that's harming Americans across this country," she said. "Because guess what? These corporations and wealthy individuals are the ones that are controlling the Republican Party for their own benefit."
Jayapal highlighted the exorbitant wealth of Trump's Cabinet picks, just a day after the president-elect announced corporate lobbyist and GOP donor Ken Kies as his choice for assistant secretary for tax policy at the Treasury Department—which is set to be led by billionaire hedge fund manager Scott Bessent, as Republicans in Congress try to pass another round of tax cuts for the rich.
GOP lawmakers are also aiming "to make meaningful spending reforms to eliminate trillions in waste, fraud, and abuse, and end the weaponization of government," Johnson said in a lengthy social media on Friday. "Along with advancing President Trump's America First agenda, I will lead the House Republicans to reduce the size and scope of the federal government, hold the bureaucracy accountable, and move the United States to a more sustainable fiscal trajectory."
In other words, responded the Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC), "Mike Johnson is committing to slashing Social Security and Medicare to get the speaker's gavel."
Republicans have a slim House majority and Trump-backed Johnson was initially set to fall short of the necessary support to remain speaker, due to opposition from not only Congressman Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) but also Reps. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) and Keith Self (R-Texas). However, after a private conversation, Norman and Self switched their votes.
"Johnson cut a backroom deal with the members that voted against him so they'd flip their votes. So he will get gavel now. I'm sure in time we'll find out what he sold out just so he'd win," Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost (D-Fla.) said on social media.
"What did Johnson sell out to become speaker? Social Security or Medicare? Or perhaps veterans?" he asked.
Citing a document circulated ahead of the vote by Johnson's right-wing critics that lists "failures" of the 118th Congress, the PCCC said: "Looks like all of the above. But his holdouts put Social Security in their first bullet of grievances."
After the vote, Norman and 10 right-wing colleagues released a letter explaining that, despite sincere reservations, they elected Johnson because of their "steadfast support of President Trump and to ensure the timely certification of his electors."
"To deliver on the historic mandate earned by President Trump for the Republican Party, we must be organized to use reconciliation—and all legislative tools—to deliver on critical border security, spending cuts, pro-growth tax policy, regulatory reform, and the reversal of the damage done by the Biden-Harris administration," they added.
Politicoreported that "House Republicans are hoping to start work on the budget targets for critical committees on Saturday—the first step in kicking off their ambitious legislative agenda involving energy, border, and tax policy."
According to the outlet:
"The Ways and Means Committee is just going to be able to draft tax legislation according to what the budget reconciliation instructions are," said House Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.), who will be leading the charge on extensions of... Trump's tax cuts.
"And so when the conference figures out what they want in those instructions, we'll be able to deliver according to those parameters," said Smith, when asked about the primary goal of a GOP conference meeting tentatively scheduled for Saturday at Fort McNair, an Army post in southwest Washington.
That followed Thursday reporting by The Washington Post that Trump advisers and congressional Republicans "have begun floating proposals to boost federal revenue and slash spending so their plans for major tax cuts and new security spending won't further explode the $36.2 trillion national debt."
As the newspaper detailed, 10 policies that Republicans have considered are tariffs, repealing clean energy programs, unauthorized spending, repealing the Biden administration's student loan forgiveness, shuttering the Education Department, cutting federal food assistance, imposing Medicaid work requirements, blocking Medicare obesity treatment, ending the child tax credit for noncitizen parents, and cutting Internal Revenue Service funding.
"The GOP promised to make life easier for working families," Rep. Katherine Clark (D-Mass.), the Democratic whip, said on social media in response to the Post's article. "Now, they want to slash your school budget, raise your grocery costs, and hike your energy bills—all to pay for billionaire tax cuts."
"We will not allow Republicans to cut Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and food assistance to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy," she added Friday. "No way."
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Health Workers Plan Global Day of Action to Demand 'End to the Genocide in Gaza'
"After witnessing 15 months of relentless violence and destruction in Gaza, we can no longer carry on as if everything is normal," said organizer Doctors Against Genocide.
Jan 03, 2025
As Israel's 15-month annihilation of Gaza continues with intensified attacks on medical infrastructure and workers, an international coalition of advocacy groups is planning a
#SickFromGenocide global day of action on Monday "to take a stand against the targeted attacks on healthcare."
Organizer Doctors Against Genocide (DAG) and co-sponsors including Healthcare Workers for Palestine, Palestinian Youth Movement, Do No Harm Coalition, Labor for Palestine, Jewish Voice for Peace Health Advisory Council, and others are calling on healthcare workers around the world to take a day of mental health leave "to reflect on the immense moral injury of funding a genocide and engage the most important aspect of treatment: publicly demanding an end to the genocide in Gaza."
Monday's day of action is set to include a "Sick From Genocide" global vigil and pop-up clinics in cities across the United States, whose government gives Israel billions of dollars in weapons support each year.
"For 15 months, we have watched in horror as children and families have been obliterated by unrelenting attacks," DAG said in a statement Friday. "Hospitals, the bedrock of lifesaving care, have been turned into death traps. The recent bombing and burning of Kamal Adwan Hospitaland the arrest of our colleague, the pediatrician Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya,exemplify the deliberate targeting of healthcare workers and facilities—tactics designed to accelerate the annihilation and forced displacement of the Palestinian people in Gaza."
DAG member Dr. Rupa Marya—a University of California, San Francisco professor of medicine who's currently on paid suspension after questioning how to manage students coming to U.S. schools from a zone with an active genocide where military service is mandatory—told Common Dreams this week that healthcare professionals should "take a mental health break to grieve and take care of ourselves. Let's call in sick on January 6th. We are sick from genocide."
"We are burned out from 15 months of these images and our humanity being denied in our places of work, where we are being silenced, we are being framed as 'haters' for standing against a genocide," she advised.
"What we're asking people to do, is get your friends together, and start a pop-up clinic, set up a free clinic in the street," Marya continued. "Are other people sick from genocide? Come, we'll take care of you. Do people need free healthcare? Come, we'll take care of you."
"We need to demand that our institutions of care cut off relationships with a nation that is actively committing genocide," she asserted. "We need to demand that the United States stop sending arms to Israel. We send billions and billions of dollars to Israel to arm itself while we have people not getting healthcare in the United States."
"We have record numbers of people in the streets, many of them who have lost their homes because the most common cause of personal bankruptcy in the United States is medical debt," Marya noted. "So we can't even fund our own healthcare here, while we're sending money to Israel, where they have universal healthcare."
"Let's start showing people what a different healthcare system would look like based in a moral commitment to care, based on our love for our communities, and based on justice," she said. "That is the healthcare system that we need."
"Why are we spending our money destroying another people's healthcare when we can use that money to be taking care of our own here?"
Referring to last month's assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City, Marya added: "And if you don't believe me, look what happened to that CEO. We don't want to see political violence here. We don't want people to have to get murdered for us to understand how desperate people are for healthcare."
"So," she asked, "why are we spending our money destroying another people's healthcare when we can use that money to be taking care of our own here?"
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'Genuinely Weird' and 'WTF': Critics Denounce Meta's AI-Generated Profiles
"What is obvious from scrolling through these dead profiles," wrote 404 Media's Jason Koebler, "is that Meta's AI characters are not popular, people do not like them, and that they did not post anything interesting."
Jan 03, 2025
On the heels of Meta’s short-lived foray into celebrity lookalike AI chatbots, users around the internet have been unearthing AI-generated profiles created by Meta that are non-celebrity bots—and the reaction to them, to put it mildly, has been negative.
The Washington Post columnist Karen Attiah engaged in a back and forth with "Liv" an AI-generated Black "queer momma" who told the writer that her "creators admitted they lacked diverse references" when creating her personality. The bot, in reference to her programming, also said that the team that created her implied that white is the "default" or "natural identity."
"Not sure if Liv has media training, but here we are," said Attiah in a thread on Bluesky, where she attached screenshots of her conversation with the bot.
"This is genuinely weird and concerning," said Nina Turner, a senior fellow at the Institute on Race, Power, and Political Economy, of Liv.
According to The Verge, "Carter" an "AI-managed by Meta" profile that promises to give users dating advice, also elicited negative reactions. "Wtf is the point of this," wrote one commenter. "What the fuck does an AI know about dating?????" read another comment. Instagram pages for both Liv and Carter are no longer live.
While these AI-generated profiles only recently attracted a lot of attention, they've been around for awhile. A late December Financial Times piece about Meta's push into a range of AI-generated products, including one that helps users create AI characters on Instagram and Facebook in order to retain young users, created some confusion.
Connor Hayes, vice-president of product for generative AI at Meta, was quoted by the FT saying "we expect these AIs to actually, over time, exist on our platforms, kind of in the same way accounts do... They'll have bios and profile pictures and be able to generate and share content powered by AI on the platform."
According to 404 Media's Jason Koebler, "in the immediate aftermath of the Financial Times story, people began to notice the exact types of profiles that Hayes was talking about, and assumed that Meta had begun enacting its plan." In fact, these profiles have been around for over a year.
"There is confusion," Meta spokesperson Liz Sweeney told CNN. "The recent Financial Times article was about our vision for AI characters existing on our platforms over time, not announcing any new product."
"What is obvious from scrolling through these dead profiles," wrote Koebler, "is that Meta's AI characters are not popular, people do not like them, and that they did not post anything interesting."
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