Peace & Justice History for 12/6

December 6, 1849
Harriet Tubman, a slave in Maryland, escaped her owners.
More about Harriet Tubman  
December 6, 1865
The state of Georgia provided the final vote needed for the 13th Amendment to become part of the U.S. Constitution, abolishing slavery.

Slave auction  
“Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”

first vote
Two days before, Mississippi’s legislature had voted to reject ratification; Mississippi didn’t ratify the anti-slavery amendment until 1995.
More on the ratification 
December 6, 1978
The voters of Spain approved a new constitution in a popular referendum by nearly 8-1. It proclaimed Spain to be a parliamentary monarchy and guaranteed its citizens equality before the law and a full range of individual liberties, including religious freedom. While recognizing the autonomy of seventeen regions, it stressed the indivisibility of the Spanish state.
December 6, 1998
In Venezuela, former Lieutenant Colonel Hugo Chavez, who had staged a bloody coup attempt against the government six years earlier, was elected president.


Some perspective on some of Chavez’s actions  
Two views on what Venezuelans see in Chavez 
BBC profile of Chavez 

https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistorydecember.htm#december6

Peace & Justice History for 12/5

(Barfbag alert for the 2002 entry. But it is US history.)

December 5, 1955
Five days after Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white man, the African-American community of Montgomery, Alabama, launched a boycott of the city’s bus system.
The Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) was formed to coordinate the boycott with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,
elected as its president.

Out of Montgomery’s 50,000 black residents, 30,000-40,000 participated. They walked or bicycled or car-pooled, depriving the bus company of a substantial portion of its revenue.
The boycott lasted (54 weeks) until it was agreed the buses would be integrated.


Waiting at a transportation pickup point during the Montgomery bus boycott – 1955-1956
< What was the Montgomery Bus Boycott? > 
December 5, 1955
The American Federation of Labor, which had historically focused on organizing craft unions, merged with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, an organization of unions largely representing industrial workers, to form the AFL-CIO with a combined membership of nearly 15 million.
George Meany was elected its first president.


AFL-CIO history 
December 5, 1957
New York became the first city to legislate against racial or religious discrimination in housing (Fair Housing Practices Law).
December 5, 1967

Dr. Benjamin Spock  
264 were arrested at a military induction center in New York City during a Stop the Draft Week Committee action. Dr. Benjamin Spock and poet Allen Ginsberg were among those arrested for blocking (though symbolically) the steps at 39 Whitehall Street where the draft board met. 2500 had shown up at 5:00 in the morning to show their opposition to the draft and the Vietnam War.
 
Allen Ginsberg
December 5, 1980
The United Nations adopted the charter for the University for Peace in Costa Rica. Its purpose would be “promoting among all human beings the spirit of understanding, tolerance and peaceful coexistence, to stimulate cooperation among peoples and to help lessen obstacles and threats to world peace and progress . . . .”

The monument sculpted by Cuban artist Thelvia Marín in 1987, is the world’s largest peace monument.
It also established short-wave Radio for Peace International (RFPI)which was shut down by the University in 2004 when RFPI exposed a plan between the University for Peace and the U.S. to hold anti-terrorist combat training on campus. 
Interview with James Latham, CEO of RFPI when it was under siege 
December 5, 2002

President George W. Bush with Sen. Lott and Sen. Thurmond
At the 100th birthday celebration for Senator Strom Thurmond (R-South Carolina), Senate Republican leader Trent Lott (R-Mississippi) praised Thurmond’s Dixiecrat Party 1948 presidential campaign (official slogan: “Segregation Forever!”).
“I want to say this about my state. When Strom Thurmond ran for president, we voted for him. We’re proud of him. And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn’t have had all these problems over all these years, either.”
The reaction to this sentiment led to Lott’s resignation as Senate majority leader.

https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistorydecember.htm#december5

And now the unions who supported Republicans see what they get for that-

‘Gut punch’: Trump upsets local union leaders by opposing U.S. Steel-Nippon deal

RYAN DETO  | Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024 2:28 p.m.

On Monday night, President-elect Donald Trump reiterated his opposition to the proposed $14.9 billion sale of U.S. Steel to Japan’s Nippon Steel Co., vowing to block the deal when he takes office.

Some steelworkers in Pittsburgh’s Mon Valley who support the deal — and Trump — weren’t happy.

“I am very frustrated with the news that came out last night,” United Steelworkers Local 2227 Vice President Jason Zugai said during a panel discussion Tuesday in Washington, D.C. “I didn’t expect that to come out. So that was like a gut punch.”

The local represents hundreds of workers at U.S. Steel’s Irvin Works in West Mifflin.

Zugai, Local 2227 President Jack Maskil and West Mifflin Mayor Chris Kelly met with politicians Tuesday to lobby them to approve the sale, which has come under scrutiny from Republicans and Democrats alike.

Leaders in both parties, including President Joe Biden and both of Pennsylvania’s U.S. senators, oppose the deal on national security grounds. Many believe the iconic Pittsburgh company should remain domestically owned.

Also standing in opposition is the leadership of the United Steelworkers. Its president, David McCall, told TribLive last month that despite fractures among his membership, he remains firmly against any deal.

McCall said he has little faith that Nippon will make good on promises to pour $1 billion into the Mon Valley Works, which some analysts say needs at least that much money to remain competitive.

Maskil, the local president, acknowledged that when the U.S. Steel-Nippon pact was first proposed in December 2023, he and other steelworkers were skeptical. Those concerns began to fade, however, after Nippon Vice Chairman Takahiro Mori met with local steelworkers and Mon Valley elected officials in October.

Maskil told the panel convened by the Hudson Institute, a Washington, D.C., think tank, that 95% of the employees at the Irvin Works now support the Nippon purchase. He suspects that a majority of workers across all three Mon Valley facilities back the deal.

There are more than 3,000 union steelworkers across the three facilities in the Mon Valley Works.

Outreach to Shapiro

Zugai said he attended Trump rallies in Westmoreland County and Pittsburgh in the run-up to the election, even meeting with the president-elect at one, and helped organize steelworkers to attend.

Trump did not mention any opposition to the U.S. Steel-Nippon deal at those rallies. Zugai said Trump told him then that he would take another look at the deal after he won the election.

Zugai said he was hopeful Trump would eventually support it after speaking with Mon Valley workers and members of Mon Valley communities.

Kelly, the West Mifflin mayor, poked fun at Trump for not coming around to their side. He said he has yet to hear from any national politician about a plan to invest in the Mon Valley plants if the deal with Nippon is blocked.

“Maybe he has concepts of a plan,” Kelly said about Trump, referencing an often-mocked line from Trump during the September debate with Vice President Kamala Harris when discussing health care.

The Trump transition team did not respond to a request for comment.

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, a body responsible for evaluating the national security implications of foreign investments in American companies, is weighing the sale.

The committee’s deadline to issue a determination on the sale is Dec. 23.

In the meantime, Zugai said, local supporters like himself have been trying to persuade politicians to back the deal.

He said he spoke with Gov. Josh Shapiro’s office and came away feeling that the governor is trying to help push the deal through.

Shapiro, at a stop in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, confirmed that Zugai has met with members of his team.

The Democratic governor didn’t express outright support for the U.S. Steel-Nippon proposal but said he is trying to ensure a deal that keeps steel jobs in the Mon Valley.

“I have been where I have always been. I have been convening people to the table, with all the relevant parties, to try and see if there is some deal to be had that will protect the jobs in Western Pennsylvania and, importantly, have a future for steelmaking in the Mon Valley,” Shapiro said.

A report by Bloomberg indicated that Shapiro has spoken with Nippon’s Mori and Biden about the sale.

Shapiro didn’t confirm those reports and said he would rather not divulge the details of private conversations. He added, though, that he felt the need to get involved in the sale because he lacks faith in U.S. Steel CEO David Burritt.

“If we leave this just to Dave Burritt alone, he is going to do what he has been doing, and what he promises to do — and that is to move jobs out of Western Pennsylvania,” Shapiro said. “My approach all along has been to bring people to the table, see what we can do to find common ground, and see what we can do to protect these jobs and create future opportunities.”

Ryan Deto is a TribLive reporter covering politics, Pittsburgh and Allegheny County news. A native of California’s Bay Area, he joined the Trib in 2022 after spending more than six years covering Pittsburgh at the Pittsburgh City Paper, including serving as managing editor. He can be reached at rdeto@triblive.com.

https://triblive.com/news/politics-election/gut-punch-trump-upsets-local-union-leaders-by-opposing-us-steel-nippon-deal/

Some News about Being the Loyal Opposition

from Adam Parkhomeno and Sam Youngman, so NSFW, of course. Following the snippet, a message from me for tomorrow, with thanks to Janet.

====================================

Pardon us? by Adam Parkhomenko Read on Substack

It’s Monday. There are 700 days until the midterm elections. The FBI is about to get way scarier, a warning from a monster’s mommy and Dark Brandon goes Dark Daddy.

Be advised: This newsletter uses profanity. And it’s been saving that shit up for like a week.

Note: Sexy Patriots! Holy shit we sure missed your hot asses. How the hell are you?! How was your Thanksgiving? Does Uncle Trump Trash have third-degree burns on his crotch thanks to an “accidental” gravy boat spill? Oh that’s a shame. Well we sure are glad to be back with you, and we’re damn grateful to you for letting us take some time off to recharge. Lots of scary fucked up shit happened while we were away. But right now we need to talk about this…

Um… We don’t really know what to say here. There’s weird, there’s fuck-a-couch weird and then there’s whatever the hell that is. We kinda like that Jello Diddler (JD) Vance has gone missing, but when he pops up just to do shit like this it really freaks us the eff out. It’s like there’s a roomful of horrifying serial killers but the one you really gotta worry about is the guy who keeps disappearing. We like to think Trump traded him out for Elon Leon or he’s just off defiling a sofa, but we all know he’s probably up to something stupid and evil. Whatever it is, dude, it ain’t worth it if you’re posting shit like that on Thanksgiving. Yikes. Y’all have a blessed day.

Note two: We’d just like to take a second to congratulate all the dumbshit mainstream media reporters who bought Trump’s bullshit denials about Project 2025. More: AP News

Note three: Jamie Raskin is making a move to replace Nadler on the House Judiciary Committee. Nadler is a nice man, but this needs to happen. We need warriors in key places, and few people fight like Raskin does. More: Axios

Note four: Ex-convict Charles Kushner, who was pardoned by his son’s father-in-law, will be our next ambassador to France because the only thing Trump loves more than criminals is nepotism. More: AP News

Note five: We like y’all too much to show you the clip of RFK Jr. in the shower while Cheryl Hines sells her crap. So here’s the story without the video. You’re welcome.

Note six: We understand there are people who wish Biden hadn’t done what he did for Hunter (more in the news section), but watching Colorado Gov. Jared Polis try to cozy up to the right every chance he gets is really pissing us off. Go ahead and run for president, asshole. More: The Hill

Note seven: You’re not gonna believe this but pardoned criminal Dinesh D’Souza is totally full of shit. Ok so you will believe it. This weekend Dinesh apologized for the lies in his movie, 2,000 Mules, which was about voter fraud in the 2020 election. He should have kept lying. He might have gotten elected president. More: Independent

Note eight: Did y’all watch “A Man on the Inside” over the break? Isn’t it wonderful?

Note nine: Elon Leon Musk has like 50 kids of his own, but he spent Thanksgiving with Baron Trump. How fucking weird is that? More: CNN

Note 10: Politico and other kiss-asses just don’t understand why normal decent people are leaving Elon Leon’s nazi playground Twitter for Bluesky. (snip-MORE)

==================

OK. Now for the message from Ali. Can you tell I watched a lot of PBS this weekend, with the interruption of a perfectly good and funny bit of work to remind people that democracy and freedom are not free? I feel like I’m doing that.

The thing is better and more succinctly explained here, but very briefly, tomorrow the US legislature opens a session, and we want to meet them with the message that “LGBTQ+ People Are Not Going Back.”  And neither are your allies-we aren’t going back, but we are going with you wherever you need us to, and many of us have free mom hugs to go along with that. After you wash your hands. Anyway, my bit, which I’m working on and is saved in drafts, will be to encourage all of us to write to our Congress critters, and any other Congress critters to whom we’re moved to write. I’m likely to do the Congress critters writing tonight, so they see it in the morning first thing. As the draft post here will be.

https://www.senate.gov/ https://www.house.gov/

We can fight like Jamie Raskin! (See above; Parkhomenko has that bit of great news up there. It could be a great idea to write to him, and encourage him to make the move.)

A Chinese national, charged with fraud by the SEC, just sent Donald Trump $18 million

(As is said on my other favorite blog, Our Failed Political Press at work again. sigh The money graf here: A foreign national under federal fraud prosecution making a purchase that results in $18 million cash payment to the president-elect has all the makings of a major scandal. But it has been virtually ignored by several major media outlets.

But the entire piece makes it make better sense.)

by Judd Legum Read on Substack

Chinese Crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun paid $6.2 million for a banana — sold by Sotheby’s as conceptual art — and then ate it last Friday.

The banana is not Sun’s most notable recent purchase.

On November 25, Sun purchased $30 million in crypto tokens from World Liberty Financial, a new crypto venture backed by President-elect Donald Trump. Sun said his company, TRON, was committed to “making America great again.”

World Liberty Financial planned to sell $300 million worth of crypto tokens, known as WLF, which would value the new company at $1.5 billion. But, before Sun’s $30 million purchase, it appeared to be a bust, with only $22 million in tokens sold. Sun now owns more than 55% of purchased tokens.

Sun’s decision to buy $30 million in WLF tokens has direct and immediate financial benefits for Trump. A filing by the company in October revealed that “$30 million of initial net protocol revenues” will be “held in a reserve… to cover operating expenses, indemnities, and obligations.” After the reserve is met, a company owned by Donald Trump, DT Marks DEFI LLC, will receive “75% of the net protocol revenues.”

So before Sun’s purchase, Trump was entitled to nothing because the reserve had not been met. But Sun’s purchase covered the entire reserve, so now Trump is entitled to 75% of the revenues from all other tokens purchased. As of December 1, there have been $24 million WLF tokens sold, netting Trump $18 million.

Sun is also joining World Liberty Financial as an advisor, making Sun and the incoming president business partners.

While Trump has the cash, Sun’s tokens are effectively worthless. To comply with U.S. securities law, WLF tokens are “non-transferable and locked indefinitely in a wallet or smart contract until such time, if ever, [WLF tokens] are unlocked through protocol governance procedures in a fashion that does not contravene applicable law.” The only thing that Sun can do with his tokens is participate in the “governance” of World Liberty Financial. Right now, the only thing World Liberty Financial does is sell tokens.

Any foreign national paying an incoming president $18 million weeks before entering the White House should raise red flags. Sun’s purchase is even more alarming because the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is currently prosecuting him for fraud.

The SEC’s ongoing prosecution of Sun

On March 22, 2023, the SEC charged Sun and three companies he owns. The SEC accused Sun of marketing unregistered securities and “fraudulently manipulating the secondary market” for a crypto token “through extensive wash trading.” Wash trading involves “the simultaneous or near-simultaneous purchase and sale of a security to make it appear actively traded without an actual change in beneficial ownership.” In other words, according to the SEC, Sun made it seem like there was a lot of interest in crypto tokens he issued when much of the trading was fraudulent and manufactured by Sun.

The SEC also charged Sun with “orchestrating a scheme to pay celebrities to tout” his crypto tokens “without disclosing their compensation.” Federal law requires people who endorse securities to “disclose whether they received compensation for the promotion, and to specify the amount.” The celebrities involved included Lindsay Lohan, Jake Paul, and Soulja Boy.

Lohan paid $40,000, and Paul paid about $100,000 to settle the charges against them without admitting liability. Soulja Boy did not respond to the lawsuit, and a default judgment was issued against him.

Sun posted on X that he believes the SEC “complaint lacks merit” and complained that “the SEC’s regulatory framework for digital assets is still in its infancy and is in need of further development.”

The litigation against Sun is ongoing, with a federal judge considering a motion by Sun’s attorneys to dismiss the charges. The current SEC Chairman, Gary Gensler, who announced the charges against Sun, will step down when Trump takes office in January. A new SEC commissioner appointed by Trump could settle or dismiss the charges against Sun.

How Trump can use the power of the presidency to unlock hundreds of millions in profits for himself

Through World Liberty Financial, Trump can reap massive personal profits from creating a more permissive regulatory environment for crypto ventures.

In addition to his 75% share of revenues over $30 million, Trump’s company was also awarded 22.5 billion WLF tokens. At the current sale price, these tokens are worth more than $300 million. That is more than 20 billion tokens being offered for sale publicly. (This makes the “governance” value of WLF tokens, which was already questionable, effectively worthless. No matter how many tokens you own, Trump will always be able to outvote other token holders.)

Right now, Trump’s tokens — like those purchased by Sun — are worthless because they cannot be transferred. But Trump could appoint a new SEC chairman who is friendly to the crypto industry and who would create new rules allowing the WLF tokens and similar crypto assets to be legally traded. If the price of the tokens increases when they hit the open market, which is a possibility for a crypto token backed by the President of the United States, the value of Trump’s tokens could be in the billions.

That appears to be exactly the path Trump is taking. WIRED reports that Trump is “asking the crypto industry to weigh in on potential picks.” Among the leading contenders is Paul Atkins, a former SEC Commissioner, who, since leaving the agency in 2008, has run a consulting firm that works with crypto companies. Atkins is also co-chair of the Token Alliance, an initiative of the Chamber of Digital Commerce, the lobbying group for the crypto industry. He is also a member of the Chamber of Digital Commerce’s Board of Directors.

Another top contender, former SEC General Counsel Robert Stebbins, has said that the SEC should “pause most of its crypto lawsuits while clearing a path for the firms to do business without the overhang of litigation.” But Stebbins’ candidacy underscores the need for Sun to forge a favorable relationship with Trump. Stebbins acknowledged that, even if it takes a more permissive view toward the crypto industry, it may want to consider continuing to pursue litigation involving fraud.

Major media outlets obsessed with banana, ignore Sun’s payment to Trump

A foreign national under federal fraud prosecution making a purchase that results in $18 million cash payment to the president-elect has all the makings of a major scandal. But it has been virtually ignored by several major media outlets.

The New York Times, for example, has published five articles about Sun’s purchase of the banana but none about Sun’s $30 million purchase of WLF tokens and his business partnership with Trump. The Washington Post has published three articles about the banana, but its coverage of Sun’s purchase of WLF tokens was limited to one short paragraph in a larger editorial about the crypto industry. (The paragraph does not explain how Trump personally profits from Sun’s token purchase.) The Wall Street Journal did publish a short piece about Sun’s token purchase on its “Live Update” blog, but the piece was not viewed as significant enough to be included in the print edition. The paper published two articles, plus a video, focused on the banana. One of the Wall Street Journal articles about the banana was published on the front page of the paper.

Peace & Justice History for 12/2

December 2, 1914
 
Karl Liebnecht
Karl Liebknecht was the only member of German Parliament to vote against war with France and Britain. He was arrested shortly thereafter and conscripted into the German Army. Refusing to fight, Liebknecht served on the Eastern Front burying the dead.
More about Karl Liebnecht
———————————–
December 2, 1942

Enrico Fermi, the Italian-born Nobel Prize-winning physicist, directed and controlled the first self-sustaining fission reaction in his laboratory beneath the bleachers of Stagg Field at the University of Chicago.The result of this experiment made the atomic bomb possible and ushered in the nuclear age. Upon successful completion of the experiment, a coded message was transmitted to President Roosevelt: “The Italian navigator has landed in the new world.”

More on Fermi and the bomb 
——————————————-
December 2, 1954

The U.S. Senate voted 65 to 22 to censure Senator Joseph R. McCarthy (R-Wisconsin) for “conduct that tends to bring the Senate into dishonor and disrepute.”The condemnation, with all the Democrats and about half the Republicans voting against him, was related to McCarthy’s controversial, abusive and indiscriminate investigation of suspected communists in the U.S. government, military, and civilian society. The House of Representatives and many states continued their own investigations.

Senator Joseph P. McCarthy with chief counsel Roy Cohn (L)
See a video clip of McCarthy reacting to the censure 
——————————————–
December 2, 1961

 
Fidel Castro
Following a year of severely strained relations with the United States and his country, Cuban leader Fidel Castro openly declared that he was a Marxist-Leninist.
————————————-
December 2, 1964

Thousands who were part of the Berkeley Free Speech Movement gathered on the steps of Sproul Hall, the administration building at that University of California campus, to protest four students being disciplined for distributing political literature; Joan Baez performed in support. The next day, police arrested 773 who began a sit-in at Sproul Hall. 10,000 more students then went on strike and shut down the school.
photo: © Ron Enfield
The Free Speech Movement had begun in October, when three thousand students surrounded a police car for 36 hours. Inside the car was a civil rights worker, Jack Weinberg, who had been arrested for distributing political literature on the UC-Berkeley campus.
 
Jack Weinberg in police car.
What was the Free Speech Movement?  
———————————-
December 2, 1977

A demonstration erupted outside a South African court after a magistrate ruled that security police were to be exonerated in the death of black consciousness leader Steve Biko, who died while in their custody.
The demonstrators chanted, “They have killed Steve Biko. What have we done? Our sin is that we are black?”
Biko’s funeral

His funeral had been attended by more than 15,000 mourners, not including the thousands who were turned away by the police. He had been arrested for writing inflammatory pamphlets and “inciting unrest” among the black community.
Steve Biko

The news story
 ————————————-
December 2, 1980

Maryknoll Sisters Ita Ford and Maura Clarke, Ursuline Sr. Dorothy Kazel, and lay missionary Jean Marie Donovan were raped, murdered, buried outside San Salvador, and unearthed shortly thereafter.


American Nuns Maura Clarke, Ita Ford, Dorothy Kazel and Jean Marie Donovan- killed in El Salvador in 1980.

U.S.-trained and -supported Salvadoran national guardsmen, widely known to act as death squads, were suspected.The Reagan administration, taking office seven weeks later, and relying in part on the Salvadoran military to rid Central America of communism, denied the National Guard’s involvement. General Alexander Haig, the president’s secretary of state, explained the churchwomen’s deaths to Congress as an accident caused by nervous soldiers who “misread the mere traveling down the road (of the nuns’ van) as an effort to run a roadblock.” The FBI and CIA later reported this as a total fabrication, and five national guardsmen were later convicted of murder.
More about the Maryknoll Sisters 

https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistorydecember.htm#december2

Peace & Justice for 11/28

November 28, 1891

Early IBEW delegates
The National Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (now International, the IBEW) was founded when 10 men met at Stolley’s Dance Hall in St. Louis, Missouri. Their goal: the joining together of electricians in a common organization to make a better life for all.
The original logo adopted at the First Convention.
Read more 
November 28, 1905

The political party Sinn Fein (meaning “we ourselves” in Gaelic) was founded in Dublin by Irish nationalist Arthur Griffith. Its objective was to end British rule in Ireland and seek national self-determination as a sovereign state.

Sinn Fein’s story of its origins 
November 28, 1991
The U.S. Congress passed the Comprehensive Threat Reduction Act (the Nunn-Lugar legislation), which provided up to $400 million to assist with the destruction of Soviet nuclear and chemical warheads.
The legislation was initiated by Senator Sam Nunn (D-Georgia) and Senator Richard Lugar (R-Indiana).

https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistorynovember.htm#november28

Thanks, Dark Brandon!

Thanksgiving dinner is historically affordable this year

Farm data shows [sic] holiday meal staples are collectively at their cheapest, after adjusting for inflation, in nearly 40 years — not including the Covid-hit year of 2020.

By Jing Feng

You may not know it by looking at sticker prices in grocery aisles, but Thanksgiving dinner is more affordable than it has been in years.

The costs of this year’s holiday feast — estimated at $58.08 for a 10-person gathering, or $5.81 a head — dropped 5% since last year, the lowest level since 2021, according to a nationwide survey of grocery prices by the American Farm Bureau Federation, which represents millions of U.S. farmers. But the picture improves further when adjusted for inflation. (snip)

A defining feature of the post-pandemic recovery, and the 2024 election, is the divergence between Americans’ sour views of the economy and its underlying strength. Many shoppers understandably focus on price levels — the dollar value of the things they buy — rather than those purchases’ inflation-adjusted, or “real,” costs. The latter is the true test of affordability, since it reflects an often underappreciated piece of the inflation puzzle: wage inflation.

And indeed, while Thanksgiving food prices are up 19% since 2019, according to the AFBF, federal data shows median household wages growing by about 25% during the same period.

What’s more, “the average American also has to work fewer hours to buy the same meal than in previous years,” the report added. “Wages continued to grow faster following the COVID-19 pandemic, even as inflation cooled. Because average wages rose 4% from 2023 to 2024, it took 9% less work time for us to pay for this year’s Thanksgiving dinner.” (Emph. mine -A)

Snip-there is more, and being a mainstream news outlet, they are both siding the economy by including people’s feelings about it as opposed to the facts, but still. They could have been saying these things for the past year and a half, because I don’t know about where everyone else here lives, but our prices in S. Central KS have been lower again for at least a year and a half now. Prices went through the roof after DJT and Republicans allowed suppliers to do what they needed to to solve the supply chain crisis they made during COVID, and so suppliers raised prices so severely.

But maybe that’s not true where everyone lives, either.

Peace & Justice History for 11/26

November 26, 1968
U.N. General Assembly passed a resolution against capital punishment following an official report which said, “Examination of the number of murders before and after the abolition of the death penalty does not support the theory that capital punishment has a unique deterrent effect.”
More on capital punishment and homicide 
November 26, 1970
American Indian activists marked Thanksgiving with a National Day of Mourning for Native Americans by occupying Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts, the alleged landing spot of the Pilgrims’ arrival in Massachusetts colony. Led by Wamsutta Frank James, an Aquinnah Wampanoag elder and music teacher, over 200 Indians seized the Mayflower II and painted Plymouth Rock red.

Day of Mourning demo in downtown Plymouth
James had refused to speak at a state dinner the night before commemorating the 350th anniversary of the landing, and went on to organize United American Indians of New England.
Wamsutta Frank James’ suppressed speech 
video footage 2022 National Day of Mourning
November 26, 1983
President Ronald Reagan ordered military assistance to Iraq in the war Saddam Hussein had begun by invading Iran. To prevent an Iraqi military collapse, the Reagan administration supplied battlefield intelligence on Iranian troop buildups to the Iraqis, sometimes through third parties such as Saudi Arabia.
National Security Decision Directive 114, signed on that day, stated that the United States would do “whatever was necessary and legal” to prevent Iraq from losing the war with Iran. It called for heightened regional military cooperation to defend oil facilities, and measures to improve U.S. military capabilities in the Persian Gulf.
The assistance was granted despite frequent and consistent reports of Iraqi use of chemical weapons, a clear violation of the 1925 Geneva Protocol. Mustard gas had been used against Iranian troops and against “human wave” attacks by thousands of Basij (Popular Mobilization Army or People’s Army) volunteers.

The full story on U.S.-Iraq relations at that time 
The Geneva Protocol 

https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistorynovember.htm#november26

Republicans being assholes and the damaging effects on people it has

The bible lessons were pushed by Jonathan Covey [photo], head of the anti-LGBTQ hate group Texas Values, which has appeared here multiple times in the past. In February 2015, on the tenth anniversary of the Texas state ban on same-sex marriage, Texas Values held a “banniversary” celebration complete with a cake-cutting ceremony. The actual tenth “banniversary” wasn’t until November 2015, but Texas Values held their little party months early because they rightly feared what the Supreme Court would ultimately rule in June of that year.

 

I had a classmate tell me that Dems would do better if we dropped the “whole bathroom thing.” I educated him that this was not a fight we chose and that trans people have been around for decades using the bathrooms they fit in best. It was Republicans that made it a “thing.”

All of the “hot button social issues” are issues created and kept alive by Republicans.
People are just trying to live their lives, and the GQP decides they’re doing it wrong.

Exactly, because Rethugs always know what triggers their fragile, fearful, deeply insecure base the most.

American People: We don’t have enough money to buy gas, groceries, healthcare or pay rent. We need help!

Republicans: We’re banning trans women from Capitol restrooms.

A Trump supporting, anti-trans, anti-gay Republican was elected commissioner of the county where I grew up. He won despite being in jail on election night for a sexual assault in Vegas. It’s now come out that the woman he assaulted was his daughter. fox59.com/news/indycri…

— Radley Balko (@radleybalko.bsky.social) 2024-11-20T01:22:20.078Z

Three wives, adultery with an employee, and an alleged sexual assault is what Jesus would want.