Australian Anti-War Activist Joan Coxsedge's September 28, 2015 Letter

(The following letter from Australian anti-war and Latin American solidarity activist Joan Coxsedge—who is also a former member of the Victoria state parliament--originally appeared in an Australian-Cuban solidarity group’s newsletter)

"September 28, 2015

"Dear Comrades,

"Hello everyone. The air is a smidgin fresher since Abbott and his deadbeat colleagues got the chop, although some of the most nauseous are still in situ, like some of their nauseous policies, clearly part of Turnbull's deal. Same cargo, prettier captain who's yet to be tested.

"But I’m already a little tired of reading about this wonderful new person when he's just an arrogant, smug, filthy rich merchant banker using brutal Scott Morrison to spruke the same glib slogan of `work, save and invest' to people desperately looking for jobs that no longer exist. London to a brick the big end of town will still bludge on society with one in five of these capitalist hucksters not paying a cracker in tax.

 "And while the rest of the world spends $270bn on renewables, Australia’s contribution to climate change is a miserable $330 million. A different story for defence which gets more than $1.5 trillion a year to buy hugely expensive useless weaponry to kill people on behalf of the US of A.

"But Turnbull’s not a dill. He’s smart and knows how to play the media like a Wurlitzker, leaving Shorten looking like a rooster that's lost its mojo and all its feathers and sounding like a dyslectic robot. Sadly in all the important areas, there's only a cigarette paper between the two major parties.

"One who dares to articulate an alternative to our current rotten system is Jeremy Corbyn, described as the most left-wing leader in British Labour history, a aprty that went to the dogs under Blair, was corrupted by Big Capital and was used to intimidate, degrade and destroy the working class in what is laughably called democracy.

"Ironically, it was Miliband’s reform of the party’s electoral system that was supposed to appease the Blairites by destroying what's left of trade union power by opening up the vote to outsiders that went tits-up. A few Blairites even gave Corbyn enough votes to stand as a token lefty. Jeremy Corbyn has been a member of the Labour Party for 40 years and anyone who hears him knows he is that most endangered of political species, a genuine guardian for the public interest.

"He is a wise, decent man doing his best against the sick ugly rule of Capital to improve the lives of ordinary people while Big Money is doing its damnedest to shoot him down. A serving British Army General even threatened mutiny and a possible coup if Corbyn was elected PM and was only mildly rebuked by the Ministry of Defense.

"The attacks are ferocious and unrelenting, portraying Corbyn as sexist, anti-semitic and unpatriotic, attacks coming not only from the right-wing press but from `progressive' papers like The Guardian which thrives on a reputation for `speaking the truth' and `protecting the vulnerable.'

"The Guardian has shown itself to be little more than a conduit for the establishment with its inner commentariat from Jonathan Freedland to Polly Toynbee ridiculing and insulting Corbyn from the moment he won the vote. Corbyn's victory has not only exposed Labour as a sham alternative to the Conservatives but has exposed the sham of Britain's liberal-left media as a genuine alternative to the Tory press.

"Noam Chomsky puts it this way: ‘What I talk about are the liberal intellectuals, the ones who portray themselves and perceive themselves as challenging power, as courageous, as standing up for truth and justice. They are basically the guardians of the faith. They set the limits. They tell us how far we can go. They say, "Look how courageous I am." But do not go one millimeter beyond that.'

"The election of Corbyn has reaffirmed that for the political and media establishment there are acceptable opinions and there are unacceptable opinions. Corbyn holds many of the latter. Their mission is simple: to kill him off before any serious policy debate can take place. By any means necessary.

"With a multitude of trade deals about to descend on our heads, it's time to take stock. The World Trade Organization (WTO) is holding its tenth Ministerial Conference in Nairobi at the end of this year. As corrupt as buggery, its processes and outcomes have already been decided in advance.

" Karl Marx wrote about the nexus between trade and war in Das Kapital in 1857 showing that under capitalism, production is not for consumption but for trade and kills as surely as guns.

" People mistakenly believe that with the end of colonialism, the Empire ceased to exist. It did not. It simply mutated into a `multilateral neo-colonial system' with the US, Europe and Japan creating the principle weapons of global economic governance--the World Bank, the IMF and the WTO--all busily creating spin-offs such as Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) and the TTIP (Translatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership). Make no mistake, the World Trade Organization is a war machine.

"Russia is rapidly becoming our latest bogeyman with neocons, war hawks, and a complicit media all beating the preliminary war drums convincing a duped public that the Russian threat is real when the record shows the threat comes from the US, not from Russia.

" A few years ago Washington was frothing at the mouth anticipating being able to bomb Syria into oblivion with the pretext that Assad was using chemical weapons, brushing aside a deal negotiated by Russia in 2012 with Assad agreeing to either share power or step down.

"But the US did not want a diplomatic solution. Its assault on the Middle East has resulted in the biggest refugee crisis in human history as people flee from US bombs and destruction. So who is the aggressor?

"Joan Coxsedge"

38 Myths About U.S. System of Higher Education

In his 2008 book, No Sucker Left Behind: Avoiding The Great College Rip-Off, Marc Scheer exposed the following 38 myths about the 21st-century system of higher education in the United States:

Myth 1: "People have to go to college to get a `college education.'"

Myth 2: "Everyone should go to college."

Myth 3: "College degrees are required for success."

Myth 4: "Prestigious jobs that require graduate degrees always pay well."

Myth 5: "Graduate degrees always lead to an excellent payoff for students."

Myth 6: "Borrowers should pay back their student loans as quickly as possible."

Myth 7: "Students should study the subjects they enjoy most, regardless of the costs."

Myth 8: "Prestigious colleges provide a better education than other colleges."

Myth 9: "American citizens get good value from all of the government money spent on college."

Myth 10: "Prestigious colleges provide better payoffs than other colleges."

Myth 11: "Expensive colleges provide better payoffs than other colleges."

Myth 12: "It's easy for college grads to get some kind of job."

Myth 13: "It's easy for college grads to find college-level jobs."

Myth 14: "It's easy for college grads to find high-paying college-level jobs."

Myth 15: "College leads to an excellent payoff for all students."

Myth 16: "After college, college graduates tend to gain financial advantages over high school graduates very quickly."

Myth 17: "A college degree is worth about $1 million (or more over a lifetime)."

Myth 18: "Colleges give their students the support they need in order to graduate."

Myth 19: "The college grading system accurately measures and represents true student learning."

Myth 20: "Celebrity professors enhance student education."

Myth 21: "College instructors are open to all perspectives."

Myth 22: "College instructors communicate effectively."

Myth 23: "College instructors are good teachers."

Myth 24: "Professors improve their teaching skills by conducting research projtects."

Myth 25: "Professors' top priority is to teach students."

Myth 26: "Colleges encourage their professors to focus on teaching."

Myth 27: "College students receive instruction from professors who teach full-time."

Myth 28: "Colleges are committed to giving their students a good education."

Myth 29: "If it's a `college education,' it must be good."

Myth 30: "The food that colleges sell to students is healthy and safe."

Myth 31: "Colleges offer food that students enjoy eating."

Myth 32: "College food is inexpensive."

Myth 33: "On-campus housing is safer than off-campus housing."

Myth 34: "On-campus housing is more helpful than off-campus housing."

Myth 35: "On-campus housing is less expensive than off-campus housing."

Myth 36: "College students only pay costs for four years of college (or less)."

Myth 37: "Colleges have very little money and need every penny they can get."

Myth 38: "College graduates are financially `set for life.'"

Revisiting 2016 Democratic Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders' Pre-2000 `Outsider In The House' Book

During the 1990's, when he held a seat inside the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington, D.C. as Vermont's congressional representative, 2016 Democratic party presidential candidate Bernie Sanders wrote a book that Verso published, titled Bernie Sanders: Outsider In The House, in which Sanders stated the following:

"In 1976, as the now `perennial candidate' of the Liberty Union, I ran for governor again....I ended up with 6 percent of the vote....

"After that campaign I decided to leave the Liberty Union Party....

"....With politics behind me, I...began building, reasonably successfully, a small business in educational filmstrips. I wrote, produced, and sold filmstrips on New England history for elementary schools and high schools....

"In 1979, after discovering that....college students I spoke to had never heard of....Debs, I produced a 30-minute video on his life and ideas....The Debs video was sold and rented to colleges throughout the country, and we also managed to get it on public television in Vermont. Folkways Records also produced the soundtrack of the video as a record....

"....I now had a business career....The Debs video was a success and I was now beginning to think about a video series on other American radicals--Mother Jones, Emma Goldman, Paul Robeson....My media production career came to an end in 1980....

"....In Congress, I chair the 52-member House Progressive Caucus which has 51 Democrats and me, people with whom I have an excellent relationship....

"....Forward now to 1996....Bill Clinton is a moderate Democrat. I'm a democratic socialist.

"Yet without enthusiasm, I've decided to support Bill Clinton for president....I will vote for him, and make that public....A Clinton victory could give us some time to build a movement, to develop a political infrastructure to protect what needs protecting, and to change the direction of the country....

"The problem with a third-party or independent candidacy, as I had learned back in my Liberty Union days, was that although people will often agree with the candidate's position, they are skeptical of his or her `electability.' So it was of major importance that, shortly before the election, the Burlington Patrolmen's Association endorsed my bid for mayor. They did so because I promised to listen to the concerns of cops on the beat and open serious labor negotiations with their union...

"Vermont is a rural state in which tens of thousands of people enjoy hunting....During hunting season thousands of kids go out with their fathers and mothers to hunt....I am pro-gun, and pro-hunting...."

Revisiting 2016 Democratic Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders' Pre-2000 Political Career--Part 9

In his 1997 South End Press book, Democracy Unbound: Progressive Challenges to the Two Party System, David Reynolds described how 2016 Democratic party presidential candidate Bernie Sanders governed in Burlington, Vermont during the 1980's, when Sanders was the mayor of that small city of 38,000 people:

"Bernie Sanders....had clear limitations when he entered the mayor's office [in Burlington, Vermont[ in 1981.

"Although sympathetic to the issues raised by the women's movement, Sanders was not a feminist nor did he understand gender oppression as well as class exploitation. As a result, the Sanders' administration came under increasing criticism for not including more women in positions of authority. Indeed, Sanders' inner circle of advisors was all male....The women's council had to fight for its independence from the mayor's office, and was not one of the administration's top priorities.

"Sanders also ran into conflicts with the environmental and peace communities. Some ecologists have criticized him for focusing too much on economic growth rather than questioning the desirability of growth as an end in and of itself. The well-known intellectual advocate of social ecology, Murray Bookchin....became an outspoken Sanders opponent. A group of his supporters evolved into the Burlington Greens.

"During his first term in office, peace activists were angered at Sanders when he opposed their civil disobedience actions at the local General Electric plant. For these activists, the plant, which is the sole significant manufacturer of the high-speed, multi-barrel guns used against Nicaragua, was the natural local manifestation of the U.S. military machine....Although in negotiating around these issues Sanders agreed to set up a peace conversion task force, little was done. Similarly, anger flared again in 1985 when a newspaper reporter discovered that the local police had infiltrated the peace movement.

"In response, the Sanders' administration pushed the police commission to adopt guidelines for the use of undercover police officers. Yet critics from the peace movement did not see this measure as an adequate protection. The administration did not give their issue priority perhaps due to the role that the police union played in Sanders' electoral success in 1981....

"Sanders also took criticism for his own leadership style. Critics have argued that his administration involved a tight-knit inner circle and top-down decision-making. As such, Sanders had failed to break fully with the well-established politics of the status-quo...." 

Revisiting 2016 Democratic Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders' Pre-2000 Political Career--Part 8

In his 1991 book, The Socialist Mayor: Bernard Sanders in Burlington, Vermont, Steven Soifer indicated how 2016 Democratic Party presidential candidate Bernie Sanders apparently related to local anti-war movement and peace movement activists in Vermont when he was the mayor of the small city of Burlington, Vermont during the 1980's, by writing the following:

"....In August 1982, a group of activists targeted the General Electric [GE] plant in Burlington because it `is the only significant producer anywhere of the high speed, multi-barrel machine guns that are a basic component of virtually all the fighter aircraft in the Western world'--the Gatling gun, which is used extensively in Central America....

"In summer 1983, the Burlington peace community....planned to engage in civil disobedience [CD] action at the plant, which drew criticism from....Sanders....

"The tension that existed between the peace community and Sanders early in his administration came to a head over the GE demonstrations. One of Sanders's progressive critics offered this perspective on the differences between the peace movement and the mayor:

"`It goes back to '83, when we decided to sit in at GE and Bernie opposed that....'

"The tensions between Mayor Sanders and the peace movement were confirmed by many both inside and outside the administration...." 

Revisiting 2016 Democratic Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders' Pre-2000 Political Career--Part 7

In his 1991 book, The Socialist Mayor: Bernard Sanders in Burlington, Vermont, Steven Soifer indicated how 2016 Democratic party presidential candidate Bernie Sanders governed in Burlington, Vermont during the 1980's, when Sanders was the mayor of Burlington, Vermont:

"....One administration insider noted that Bonnie Vander Tain, Personnel Department director after Jim Dunn, was the only woman appointed by Sanders to head a department, and she didn't stay long....In another administration insider's estimation, `the tension comes with the women's groups because they don't see Bernie as a feminist--and he's not--and partly that's his age, and he tries hard. I think he relies on men primarily.'....

"Progressive critics of the Sanders administration were generally harsh on Sander's record with women. For example, one said:

"`I guess he's finally agreed to set up a women's committee (that is, Women's Council) that has some teeth to it, but for years women were trying to get to take their concerns seriously....and it was the same thing--he just wasn't listening....'

"Another progressive critic explained her view of the situation of women at city hall: The `lack of women around him and his seeming inability to have women in any leadership position in city hall [is a problem[....I think his inner circle's...all men.'

"Still another progressive critic had this to say about Sanders's relation to women:

"`If you look at all....the big jobs, very few [go] to women. Only through great pushing was there finally a Women's Council....in the city....after four years in office....He hasn't done anything affirmative, he hasn't done anything necessarily too bad, but he's done nothing that would make any great changes for women at all.'....

"....Women's issues were not one of Sanders's top priorities. Many women interviewed, both inside and outside the administration, raised concerns around the mayor's style and process....Women generally spoke of his `male style' of doing things and his not being a feminist....

"Sanders's leftist critics were harsh in their assessment of the mayor's interactions with women....People from various groups raised the issue of Sanders's inner circle of all male advisors. The mayor's inner circle, while changing somewhat over the years, included David Clavelle, Peter Clavelle, Jonathan Leopold, Jr., John Franco, Jim Schumacher, and George Thabault. Some women expressed feelings of having been `overlooked' or `cut out of the decision-making process' at various points...." 

`Equal Pensions For All!'

See the people marching and cheering for the Cause
Hear the old folks singing and chanting to applause:
"The low pay that you gave us for the worst jobs made us poor
So now we demand: `Equal Pensions For All!'

"For fifty years you forced us to work for minimum wage
And forced us to be robots and labor as your slaves
And in order to get hired, you forced us all to crawl
So now we demand: `Equal Pensions For All!'

"From all of your temp agencies and factories that you shut down
And all your laid-off workers and all your mortgage loans
You made yourself big money by breaking labor laws
So now we demand: `Equal Pensions For All!'

"You inflated your own salaries, while watching us clean your floors
And gave yourself large pensions to play golf in Florida
While we all starve in cities to pay rent to your landlords
So now we demand: `Equal Pensions For All!'

"You chained us to computers in your office skyscrapers
Or fired all who rebelled in your restaurants and stores
You did not pay more taxes on the profits you made from War
So now we demand: `Equal Pensions For All!'"

Yes, see the people marching and cheering for the Cause
Hear the old folks singing and chanting to applause:
"The low pay that you gave us for the worst jobs made us poor
So now we demand: `Equal Pensions For All!'
Yes, now we demand: `Equal Pensions For All!'"

A protest folk song from 2015 that explains why all retired workers in the United States (regardless of racial, gender or class background) should receive an equal and adequate amount of pension money annually from the U.S. economic system and U.S. government in the 21st-century.

Revisiting 2016 Democratic Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders' Pre-2000 Political Career--Part 6

In his 1991 book, The Socialist Mayor: Bernard Sanders in Burlington, Vermont, Steven Soifer indicated how 2016 Democratic party presidential candidate Bernie Sanders apparently governed Burlington, Vermont during the 1980's, when Sanders was the mayor of that small city of around 39,000 people: 

"....There appears to be little difference between Sanders, a socialist mayor, and any non-socialist mayor regarding the issues of who has access to the mayor's office, decision-making processes within the administration, and the centralization of power....

"....Many women inside the Sanders administration raised concern about the mayor's style and his decision-making process. One administration insider, speaking from personal experience, said that women sometimes were `overlooked' or `cut out of the decision-making process'....

"One progressive activist criticized Sanders's style on other grounds....He....spoke of what he labeled `authoritarian' tendencies: `I don't think he has a real commitment to internal democracy....'

"Progressive critics of the administration leveled similar criticisms. One said: `He just meets with two or three people and that's who decides what's going to happen, and he just really doesn't care what anybody else thinks....'

"Still another charged that Sanders's style works against democracy: `The most fundamental thing that's wrong with the administration is that we have personal paternalism here--we don't have municipal democracy....

"`....Sanders....often makes decisions with little or no input from the people around him....It certainly is an impediment to developing a non-reformist strategy toward a democratic socialist society. As many people as possible must be included in both internal and external decision-making processes if we are to move away from the hierarchical, authoritarian, and centralized models of society....'

"....Women and the peace movement did not have such an easy time gaining access to the Sanders administration....His frequent retreat to an old-boy style of making decisions indicates that he has incorporated few of the principles that guide the women's movement today, all the more disappointing to socialist feminists that see his administration as more of the same old patriarchy.

"....There can be little doubt that Sanders bears the responsibility for running the city [of Burlington, Vermont] like a hierarchically run business instead of creating a democratic socialist polity, where all people have a voice and are truly empowered...."

Revisiting 2016 Democratic Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders' Pre-2000 Political Career--Part 5

In his 1991 book, The Socialist Mayor: Bernard Sanders in Burlington, Vermont, Steven Soifer indicated how Burlington, Vermont was apparently governed by 2016 Democratic party presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, when Sanders was mayor in the 1980's of that small city of around 39,000 people:

"We must ask how the Sanders administration's economic development policies differ from a traditional capitalist approach....In certain cases like the waterfront [area of Burlington, Vermont]....there was little to distinguish his [Sanders's] position from that of capitalist interests in the city of Burlington....

"....Concerning the more fundamental issue of the necessity of growth, the question of mass transportation as an alternative to increased vehicular traffic, and the impact....on Burlington's low-and moderate-income neighborhoods, Sanders rates poorly.

"Sanders and his administration have affected the nature of development in the city of Burlington [Vermont]....We must ask whether there was a basic difference between the Sanders administration and a capitalist Democratic or Republican administration regarding development issues....As evidenced by the critiques from various progressives, the administration certainly did not do as much as it could to limit undesirable development in the city, nor did it pursue, except perhaps at the end, a non-reformist reform or socialist strategy toward development projects....

"One of the guiding principles of democratic socialism is participatory democracy....While Mayor Sanders himself professed a democratic-socialist philosophy, his administration's internal decision-making processes tended to be limited and exclusionary,....to certain progressives and women...

"....One would expect tenants' concerns to be a big agenda item for Sanders. However,....this really has not been the case....

"When one thinks of non-reformist issues that a local socialist administration could promote concerning tenants' rights, the issue of rent control immediately comes to mind. However....Sanders, who says he supports the idea, has not strongly promoted the issue...."

Revisiting 2016 Democratic Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders' Pre-2000 Political Career--Part 4

In his 1991 book, The Socialist Mayor: Bernard Sanders in Burlington, Vermont, Steven Soifer indicated how 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders apparently governed the city of Burlington, Vermont during the 1980's, when he was the mayor of that small city:

"....One of Sanders's progressive critics strongly felt that Sanders's comment about running the city [of Burlington, Vermont] like a corporation was indicative of the sellout of his socialist principles. Said this critic about Sanders: `He respects capitalists....The big fact is he's running the city like a corporation. The city's not an ethical community to him, it's a corporation....'

"....His `honeymoon' with Antonio Pomerleau, the city's largest individual taxpayer, [head of] a large insurance business and own[er of] shopping centers and development throughout the state, was a curious one that raised eyebrows in the progressive....community. The two seemed to strike a personal friendship early on in Sanders's first term. Said Sanders: `On a personal level, I have to say I'm fond of Tony....He's a self-made capitalist, not a corporate capitalist....' This is not the sort of distinction one expects a socialist to make.

"....Some progressives accused the [Sanders] administration of making too many compromises with developers....

"....One prominent Burlington businessman commented: `I think most of Bernie's initiatives around job formation and economic development have been very entrepreneurial and capitalistic, frankly.'....Business fears of `nationalization' or real socialism in Burlington have proved unfounded...."

Black Worker "Not Seasonally Adjusted" Unemployment Rate Increases To 9.9 Percent In August 2015

Between July and August 2015, the official “not seasonally adjusted” unemployment rate for all Black workers in the United States (youth, male and female) increased from 9.7 to 9.9 percent; while the jobless rate for Black female workers over 20 years-of-age increased from 8.6 to 8.9 percent during the same period, according to the “not seasonally adjusted” Bureau of Labor Statistics data. In addition, the “not seasonally adjusted” unemployment rate for Black youths between 16 and 19 years-of-age increased from 31 to 32.4 percent between July and August 2015; while the “not seasonally adjusted” jobless rate for Black male workers over 20 years-of-age increased from 8.7 to 9.1 percent.

The official “not seasonally adjusted” total number of unemployed Black workers (youth, male and female) in the United States increased by 33,000 (from 1,887,000 to 1,919,000) between July and August 2015; while the “not seasonally adjusted” number of Black workers who still had jobs decreased by 120,000 (from 17,649,000 to 17,529,000) during the same period.

Between July and August 2015, the official “not seasonally adjusted” unemployment rate for Latina female workers over 20 years-of-age increased from 7.3 to 7.4 percent; while the “not seasonally adjusted” jobless rate for all Latino workers (youth, male and female) in the United States was still 6.6 percent in August 2015. In addition, the “not seasonally adjusted” number of unemployed Latina female workers over 20 years-of-age increased by 11,000 (from 766,000 to 777,000) between July and August  2015; while the “not seasonally adjusted” total number of Latino workers (youth, male and female) who still had jobs decreased by 134,000 (from 24,478,000 to 24,344,000) during that same period.

The “not seasonally adjusted” number of Latino workers (youth, male and female) in the U.S. labor force decreased by 256,000 (from 26,334,000 to 26,078,000) between July and August 2015; while the “not seasonally adjusted” jobless rate for Latino males over 20 years-of-age was still 4.9 percent in August 2015. In addition, the official “not seasonally adjusted” unemployment rate for Latino youth between 16 and 19 years-of-age increased from 20.9 to 21.8 percent between July and August 2015; while the “not seasonally adjusted” number of Latino youths between 16 and 19 years-of-age who still had jobs decreased by 111,000 (from 1,033,000 to 922,000) during the same period..

The official “not seasonally adjusted” unemployment rate for white youths between 16 and 19 years-of-age was still 13.8 percent in August 2015; while the official “not seasonally adjusted” jobless rate for all youths (Black, Latino, white and Asian-American) between 16 and 19 years-of-age in the United States was still 16.5 percent during that same month

The “not seasonally adjusted” number of Asian-American workers in the U.S. labor force decreased by 74,000 (from 9,181,000 to 9,107,000) between July and August 2015; while the unemployment rate for Asian-American workers was still 3.4 percent in August 2015, according to the “not seasonally adjusted” data.

The official “not seasonally adjusted” jobless rate for white female workers over 20 years-of-age in the United States was still 4.5 percent in August 2015; while the official “not seasonally adjusted” unemployment rate for white male workers over 20 years-of-age was still 3.8 percent during that same month. In addition, the “not seasonally adjusted” unemployment rate for all white workers (youth, male and female) was still 4.5 percent in August 2015; while the “not seasonally adjusted” total number of white workers who still had jobs decreased by 435,000 (from 118,603,000 to 118,168,000) between July and August 2015..

Between July and August 2015, the “not seasonally adjusted” number of female workers over 16 years-of-age in the U.S. labor force decreased by 303,000 (from 73,696,000 to 73,393,000); while the official “not seasonally adjusted” jobless rate for all female workers over 16 years-of-age in the United States was still 5.3 percent in August 2015.

The official “not seasonally adjusted” unemployment rate for all female workers over 20 years-of-age was still 5.1 percent in August 2015; while, the official “not seasonally adjusted” jobless rate for all male workers over 16 years-of-age in the United States was still 4.9 percent during that same month. In addition, the official “not seasonally adjusted” unemployment rate for all male workers over 20 years-of-age was still 4.4 percent during that same month.

Between July and August 2015, the “not seasonally adjusted” total number of workers in the United States who still had jobs decreased by 494,000 (from 149,722,000 to 149,228,000); while the “not seasonally adjusted” total number of workers in the U.S. labor force decreased by 1,137,000 (from 158,527,000 to 157,390,000) during the same period. In addition, a total of 8,162,000 workers in the United States were still unemployed in August 2015, according to the “not seasonally adjusted” data; and the “not seasonally adjusted” unemployment rate for all U.S. workers (male, female and youth) was still 5.2 percent during that same month.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ September 4, 2015 press release:

“….Manufacturing and mining lost jobs….The rates for adult men (4.7 percent), adult women (4.7 percent), teenagers (16.9 percent), blacks (9.5 percent), Asians (3.5 percent) and Hispanics (6.6 percent) showed little change in August…

“The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) held at 2.2 million in August and accounted for 27.7 percent of the unemployed….The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers) was little changed in August at 6.5 million. These individuals, who would have preferred full-time unemployment, were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find a full-time job…

“In August, 1.8 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force….These individuals were not in the labor force, wanted and were available for work, and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey….Among the marginally attached, there were 624,000 discouraged workers in August….Discouraged workers are persons not currently looking for work because they believe no jobs are available for them….

“Manufacturing employment decreased by 17,000 in August….Job losses occurred in a number of component industries, including fabricated metal products and food manufacturing (-7,000 each)….Employment in mining fell in August (-9,000), with losses concentrated in support activities for mining (-7,000)….Employment in other major industries, including construction, wholesale trade, retail trade, transportation and warehousing, and government, showed little change over the month….

Revisiting 2016 Democratic Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders' Pre-2000 Political Career--Part 3

In his 1991 book, The Socialist Mayor: Bernard Sanders in Burlington, Vermont, Steven Soifer indicated how 2016 Democratic presidential primary candidate Bernie Sanders won election for a third term as mayor of Burlington, Vermont in the late 1980's:

"After Sanders's unsuccessful 1986 gubernatorial bid, the daily newspaper speculated that he would run for mayor again....At the beginning of December [1986], Sanders threw his hat into the ring....Sanders announced that....this would be his last race for mayor....

"As the race unfolded....Sanders proposed a 4-cent tax increase to hire more police officers and administrative personnel and to buy more police cruisers--his first proposed tax increase since 1983....."

Revisiting 2016 Democratic Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders' Pre-2000 Political Career--Part 2

In his 1991 book, The Socialist Mayor: Bernard Sanders In Burlington, Vermont, Steven Soifer indicated how 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders was re-elected as the mayor of Burlington, Vermont in November 1983:

"....The 1983 election differed from the previous mayoral election....Sanders received more than 50 percent in a three-way election...

"....A progressive critic expressed disappointment in Sanders's reelection campaign:....`His [campaign] slogan in '83 was `Leadership that's keeping Burlington strong.' It's not a radical posture to take. And the context of it [the campaign]--street improvements, keeping taxes down, efficiency in government, saving money,....at best they're kind of democratic, reform-oriented platform. He [Sanders], in fact, does what almost all politicians do, which is he runs left between elections and then back right, right before the election--not so much in the spoken word--but in what the machine produces. And the machine gets the word out real well...."

Revisiting 2016 Democratic Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders' Pre-2000 Political Career--Part 1

In his 1991 book, The Socialist Mayor: Bernard Sanders In Burlington, Vermont, Steven Soifer indicated how 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders was elected to be the mayor of Burlington, Vermont in November 1981:

"...Sanders formally announced his independent bid for mayor [of Burlington, Vermont] in Fall 1980....After a tense recount [in November 1981], Sanders was declared the official winner, but by an an even slimmer ten-vote margin...

'How do we explain the extraordinary upset of Bernard Sanders over Democratic mayor Gordon Paquette?....The lack of a Republican candidate and the presence of three independent candidates, including Sanders, also was critical to Paquette's defeat. One of these independent candidates, restaurateur Dick Bove, ran against the incumbent after losing in the Democratic Party city caucus. If Bove had not gotten the 1,000 voters he did, Paquette almost surely would have won the election....

"The endorsement of the Burlington Patrolman's Association in a week before the election was still another crucial factor. Paquette had alienated this group over the years and the socialist challenger actively courted their support. One Sanders administration official commented that the endorsement `probably took him [Sanders]...to a situation where he was now a real legitimate contender.' And one newspaper reporter confided that it `gave Bernie an endorsement from a very credible source that in and of itself negated all the possible...red-baiting that would have gone Bernie's way....I mean how can you be a communist if the police are for [you]?'.

"The news media also played an important role....By giving Sanders a lot of coverage, the news media helped turn him into a major contender in the election. Said one progressive: `I can't believe he [Sanders] would have won as mayor if he had not been on the news almost every night--and sympathetically so!'....

"....One campaign worker said Sanders's identification as a socialist was `never brought up by the media or Paquette, even though the campaign was ready for it.' Immediately after the election...a story appeared in The Burlington Press on Sanders's socialist beliefs and philosophy, making it widely known for the first time...."