On today’s show hear the recent shocking details unconvered by Army veteran Julie Akey and by Pat Elder of MilitaryPoisions.org. Shocking amounts of numerous poisons were discovered on Ft. Ord that have caused cancer! Many that were stationed there like Julie developed cancer because they were unknownily exposed to TCE, Agent Orange and other VOC’s on the base.
– The Executive Director UNRWA USA describes how important UNWRA has been in Gaza for decades, and how Israel’s targeted destruction of UNWRA infrastructure is an attack on all civilian life in Gaza.
Geoff Hueter is the Chair of Neighbors for a Better San Diego, a volunteer grassroots organization that promotes sensible, data-driven planning for San Diego. Prior to that, Dr. Hueter was the Chief Data Scientist and Co-Founder of Certona Corporation, a leader in real time, AI powered omnichannel personalization for the world’s largest retailers. Dr. Hueter holds 12 patents and received his Ph.D. in Physics from the University of California at San Diego, where he studied gamma ray bursts.
WOMEN OF COLOR ROAR, a weekly political talk radio show,is hosted by journalist and activist Angela de Joseph. A life-long journalist, Angela is an Emmy-nominated filmmaker who began her career as an editor at Essence Magazine in New York. She is the chair of Indivisible Watu, a grass-roots community activist organization dedicated to voter education and engagement. Angela is also a Program Manager for GRID Alternatives, the nation’s largest nonprofit solar installer and training program that places low-income community members in clean energy jobs.
Call In With Your Questions or Comments 619-790-KNSJ (5675)
VACCINATIONS IN THE NEWS–WHAT DO WE KNOW?
Mike is in conversation with Dr. Samuel Halpern
Dr. Samuel Halpern is a San Diego physician who spent most of his long career as a faculty member at UCSD Medical School, specializing in internal medicine and nuclear medicine. He saw patients in clinical settings; taught medical residents and fellows; led basic research in radiopharmaceuticals to diagnose and treat various diseases, including cancer. Much of his research involved radio-labeled monoclonal antibodies for both imaging and therapy. He spent several years in medical administration as well. He is the author of many professional journal articles in peer-reviewed journals and has served as a reviewer of grant proposals for the NIH and Veterans Administration.
Dr. Halpern is presently an emeritus professor at UCSD, but is still actively licensed and sometimes works as a volunteer physician in the local community.
STOP & TALK with Grant Oliphant and Crystal Page Fri 8am
Thoughtful conversations and a good way to start the day! STOP & TALK dives deep into the themes of purpose and opportunity, guided by the insights of leaders in the arts and culture, health, philanthropy, finance, and innovation fields. Together, we celebrated local achievements and envisioned what’s possible in San Diego County.
KNSJ’S COMMUNITY RADIO MEETING TONIGHT, THE FIRST THURSDAY OF EACH MONTH ON ZOOM
EVERYONE WELCOME–ALL AGES–NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY
TO JOIN US, CALL 619-283-1100 FOR ZOOM LINK INFORMATION
HERE IT IS ALREADY, FALL, AND KNSJ PUBLIC COMMUNITY RADIO, WHICH IS VOLUNTEER-RUN, HAS A LOT OF THINGS PLANNED TO CONTINUE TO BRING CURRENT EVENTS, LOCAL, NATIONAL, WORLD, AND MORE, TO YOU IN THE SAN DIEGO AREA, STORIES FROM THE GROUND, STORIES FROM WORKERS AND NEIGHBORS, OBSERVERS OF WHAT IS HAPPENING. KNSJ HAS NEWS AND REPORTS THAT ARE MORE THAN HEADLINES–NEWS AND STORIES NOT CARRIED ON CORPORATELY-OWNED STATIONS WHO HAVE NO TIES TO YOU OR TO SAN DIEGO.
THEN AT NIGHT WE HAVE AN EXCELLENT MUSIC BLOCK WITH LOCAL DJs AND AN ECLECTIC COLLECTION OF MUSIC.
JOIN US AND TELL US ABOUT YOURSELF AND WHAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO WORK ON. WE HAVE A LOT OF VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES FROM ADMINISTRATIVE, TECH SOCIAL MEDIA TO WORKING ON A PROFESSIONAL SHOW/PODCAST.
A new poll reveals that Americans continue to support organized labor at historic levels, even as the Trump administration and its Republican allies in Congress take a battering ram to union rights and the nation’s working class.
Gallup’s annual survey, released Thursday, shows more than two-thirds of people in the US (68%) approve of labor unions and the economic security and prosperity they provide working families. The popular support matches record-high numbers of recent years after a long decline from the 1960s through the early 2000s.
As Gallup notes:
When Gallup first measured Americans’ ratings of labor unions in 1936, 72% approved. Approval reached the record high, 75%, in 1953 and 1957 and ranged between 63% and 73% from 1958 through 1967. Then, from 1972 through 2016, approval was lower, with few readings over 60%, including the 48% all-time low recorded in 2009. This was the only time approval fell below the majority level. Since 2017, approval has been above 60%, the longest period at this level since the 1960s.
“Working people want unions and the numbers prove it,” said Lee Saunders, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), in response to the latest polling.
The survey shows sharp partisan divides despite the overall approval of organized labor. While 90% of Democrats surveyed and 69% of independents voiced support, only 41% of Republicans expressed the same level of support for organized workers and their unions. “All party groups show increased support for unions compared with 2016,” said Gallup, “though Republican support has declined since peaking at 56% in 2022. That was the only time Republicans’ approval has risen above 50% in the past 25 years.”
Saunders, like other members of the labor movement, has been a steady voice in rebuking President Donald Trump and his Republican Party as they run roughshod over labor rights and wage a relentless war against the working class by attacking Medicaid, food assistance, public education, better wages, collective bargaining, and workplace safety—all while slashing regulatory safeguards designed to protect America’s working families from industry greed and handing out massive tax breaks for billionaires and corporations.
“Gallup polling once again shows historically strong support, because workers understand that they have the power to win fair pay, safer working conditions, and dignity on the job when they organize a union. Today, that power matters more than ever,” said Saunders. “While billionaires and their yes-men in Congress try to slash wages, gut health care, and silence working people, we are fighting back—organizing, mobilizing, and demanding a voice.”
Despite the support of a large majority of Americans across the political spectrum, union density remains at historic lows, which makes sense given the hostility from both major parties to the needs of the working class and their fealty to represent the interests of big business over those of working families over the last five decades.
In his latest attack on the working class—and just ahead of the Labor Day weekend—Trump on Thursday issued a new executive order expanding his assault on the government agencies where federal employees would lose their collective bargaining rights.
Union members and labor experts immediately called the order unlawful—just like the original March order upon which it was based—and vowed to fight it tooth and nail in court.
“This is how President Trump is commemorating Labor Day: continuing his administration’s all-out attack on workers and unions,” said Liz Schuler, president of the AFL-CIO. “This new executive order once again distorts the law by ripping away the collective bargaining rights of federal workers in an attempt to silence their voices on the job.”
“Issuing these executive orders just days before the holiday that honors everything working people have fought and died for—including our right to come together with our co-workers in a union and bargain for what we deserve—shows us that this administration’s callous disregard for workers’ rights knows no bounds,” added Schuler. “No matter what it throws our way, the labor movement will never stop organizing and fighting for each other—and we’ll see him in court.”
AFSCME’s Saunders, suggested the polling should serve to invigorate the labor movement, even at a time when corporate power’s hold on the levers of power seems near complete.
“We know that working families are the backbone of our economy. But instead of getting the respect they’ve earned, they’re getting squeezed by CEOs and anti-worker politicians who want to hand out tax breaks to the billionaire class at the expense of Medicaid, food assistance, worker protections and our communities,” he said. “It is easy to see why trust in Congress and big corporations is hitting new lows, while support for unions remains strong.”
Saunders added that his union’s 1.4 million members are “proud to stand with every worker who is fighting back to demand dignity, fairness, and a voice on the job. Because when we stand together, we can defend our freedoms from billionaires who want to rob us of them.”
Bemoaning how Republicans have been able to coopt the mantle of being the party of the working class, all while undermining wages, workplace safety, and the right to collectively bargain, Les Leopold, executive director of the Labor Institute, has been among those warning the Democratic Party that it must change direction, or die trying, if it wants to win back the working class.
As he wrote following Trump’s 2024 reelection, “It’s time to end this sad chapter in U.S. history when the Democratic Party leaders refuse to be genuine allies for workers and the Republican Party is rewarded for pretending to be.“
ABOUT SCHEERPOST: ScheerPost is an award-winning, independent news organization that focuses on progressive politics and human rights issues that the mainstream media miss or decline to cover. Founded on the principle of honest reporting and holding those in power to account, we make it our mission to bring our readers the latest cutting-edge news and analysis about these issues. With our original articles written by renowned journalists and reposted articles curated by our award-winning staff, we present our readers with daily content from various perspectives that explain and challenge dominant narratives. Since our inception in March 2020, we’ve been able to maintain our independence through grants and reader donations — we will never erect a paywall — and in the process, our stories have been viewed more than 15 million times by our readers from around the world.
At the helm of ScheerPost are editor Narda Zacchino, former Los Angeles Times reporter, Sacramento Bureau Chief, Orange County edition editor, associate editor and vice president, deputy editor of the San Francisco Chronicle, and senior editor at the Center for Investigative Reporting and Robert Scheer, former Ramparts magazine managing editor, Los Angeles Times national correspondent and columnist and author of 13 books. With a combined 60 years-plus of mainstream journalism experience, they created ScheerPost, which has become an essential internet news outlet. At a time of increasing dominance of billionaire ownership in journalism, they materialized the warning of legendary media critic A.J. Liebling that “Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one.” Led by passion for independent journalism and bringing light to the truth, the founders do not take any compensation so all donations can go to site staff and operations.
ScheerPost fills a news media gap by reporting on issues other publications often shy away from or ignore entirely, such as controversial international issues; the threat of nuclear war; economic, racial and gender inequality; criminal justice reform; defense industry profiteering, and important moments in history that textbooks totally ignore. Our journalism is vital to providing an alternative understanding of what is going on in our world today. ScheerPost is committed to raising the voices of those marginalized by mainstream media and amplifying issues suppressed by the most powerful people and organizations in the world.