Global
"Phonebanking, 3-31-09, NY" by Barack Obama is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.
The global election of our lifetimes is well underway. In the few days remaining through November 3, it’s up to YOU to shape the turnout... then prepare to protect the outcome.
For an overall guide see The People’s Hub for Grassroots Democracy Organizing ( https://usgrassroots.org ) .
That site includes the “20% Solution,” urging progressives to earmark at least a fifth of our donations for grassroots organizing.
Thanks to the great work of democracy activists like Andrea Miller of the Center for Common Ground (https://www.centerforcommonground.org ), Ray McClendon of Citizens United for Justice ( https://cu4justice.com ), and of investigative journalists like Greg Palast ( https://gregpalast.com) and so many more, there’s no excuse for wringing your hands and moaning “what can I do?”
Dr. Bob Fitrakis and Dan-o Dougan provide commentary on the state of our society and play songs about Hell.
Listen live at 11pm Fridays, October 30 and November 6, and Mondays, November 2 and 9 at 10am streaming at wgrn.org or on the radio at 91.9FM
and
Mondays at 2pm streaming November 2 and 9 at wcrsfm.org or on the radio at 92.7 or 98.3FM.
As a Baby Boomer, I grew up on some of the best rhythm and blues, soul, and funk music produced in the 1960s and 1970s. Motown artists were a huge part of the soundtrack of my teenage and college years. During that time period, perhaps no record label aimed at young people was more successful, formidable, or popular than Motown.
Motown was originally founded as Tamla Records in January 1959 by native Detroiter and music lover Berry Gordy, III. In 1960 Gordy incorporated Tamla as Motown Record Corporation. The name is a nickname for the city of Detroit, which at that time was the heart and soul of the American automobile industry. Motown boasted a robust roster of talented singers and musicians that was the envy of the entertainment business. The famed “Motown sound” was a unique blend of R & B, soul and gospel that for more than a decade ruled popular music.
First of four parts from PROOF on Substack, reprint with permission of author.
A Dozen Ways Donald Trump Is Rigging the Midterms: An Exhaustive Report on a Premeditated Election-Theft Plot
(1) Donald Trump and his political appointees at the Pentagon have been secretly discussing sending the National Guard to polling places this November—and are lying about this plot. Even the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine, has falsely told Congress that a plan now in the works doesn’t exist at all.
Ten Israelis who served in Gaza have told Der Spiegel, one of Germany's leading news magazines, what they witnessed and what they did. Some fought on the ground, others operated drones or selected targets for airstrikes.
The interviews were facilitated in part by Breaking the Silence, an Israeli organization that collects testimonies from soldiers about their military service and alleged misconduct.
Der Spiegel cross-checked the accounts against other testimonies and independently verifiable information and said it considered them credible. Nine soldiers spoke anonymously. Only one, Yuval Green, agreed to be identified by name.
Most said they would refuse to return to Gaza, although one had recently been redeployed there.
The ceasefire agreement took effect on October 10, 2025. A year later, Israeli forces still controlled approximately two-thirds of Gaza, and Israeli strikes continued.
Here are the ten soldiers' accounts, as reported by Der Spiegel.
In a play by Bertolt Brecht, the persecuted astronomer Galileo says: “Unhappy the land that needs heroes."
Right now, the United States is unhappy enough to need a lot of heroes – and during this election year, many have emerged. Here are five of the notable ones.
** Abdul El-Sayed
No other major candidate this year has been the target of so many shameless and racist smears as Abdul El-Sayed, a 41-year-old Muslim American who is one of the most articulate and persuasive campaigners to arise since Zohran Mamdani. The former health official in Michigan is in a toss-up race for the U.S. Senate against former Rep. Mike Rogers, who is a nonstop fountain of MAGA talking points and deceptive campaign messaging – reinforced by President Trump – that tries to cast El-Sayed as a terrorist “jihadist.”
In the past, many Palestinians and Arabs followed Israeli elections closely.
They did so not because they entertained illusions that a Zionist leader would deliver peace and justice, dismantle the occupation or remove illegal settlements. Rather, they feared that some Israeli leaders were worse than others. They hoped to avert the worst-case scenario.
Over time, however, that distinction gave way to the belief that all Israeli leaders were essentially the same. This is not pessimism. It is experience.
Consider, for example, the expansion of illegal Jewish settlements during the Oslo peace process under Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.
