The Mason Missile, November 24, 2021

Greetings, Americans! My novel, Soldier Of The Cross, is still on the market, on Amazon.com. (https://www.amazon.com/Soldier-Cross-John-Oliver-Mason/dp/0578988402/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=john+oliver+mason+soldier+of+the+cross&qid=1637014919&qsid=144-5381896-0671915&rnid=2941120011&s=books&sr=1-3&sres=0578988402%2CB01NBBUMIH&srpt=ABIS_BOOK) But I urge you to check first with your local neighborhood bookstore, which is where grassroots literary talent is fostered and is connected to the community. Alas! Kyle Rittenhouse, the little boy whose mommy drove him from Antioch, Illinois to Kenosha, Wisconsin, carrying an AR-15 assault rifle like he was acting out a Rambo fantasy, and killed two unarmed men and wounded another-was found “not guilty” in his murder trial. I had a sense Rittenhouse would walk, since the “judge,” Bruce Schroeder, told the jury to call Rittenhouse’s victims “rioters” and “looters.” (The prosecution did a sloppy job of preparing as well; did the state deliberately try to undermine the case against Rittenhouse?) Now Rittenhouse is a hero for the neo-fascist elements who will be emboldened to start shooting at progressives, LGBTQ+ people, and people of color, sensing they could get away with it. Rittenhouse himself has been offered congressional internships by Madison Cawthorn (North Carolina), Paul Gosar (Arizona) and Matt Gaetz (Florida). Cawthorn went so far as to say in a Twitter message, “Be armed, be dangerous, and be moral.” (https://www.complex.com/life/republican-lawmakers-are-giving-internship-offers-to-kyle-rittenhouse) Truly, the Republican Party is in a sunken place, and sinking deeper and deeper. The results of the 2021 election were pretty disappointing. The Democratic candidates constantly warned of the danger of trump-and he remains a danger-instead of concentrating on issues related to people and their communities. The republicans, however, talked the same trump themes, such as the evil Critical Race Theory (Do the even know what that is?), mask mandates, etc. That seems to be the new formula the Republicans are using, which I call “trumpism without trump,” hitting on the fears that trump evokes among his followers, without mentioning his name-but the Republicans have played on racial fears for decades, and now the mainstream republicans see that trump’s influence is a danger to the party, but they’ll take the votes of his followers. Now, Fox “News” and the other right-wing propaganda sites are talking about how they’ll win the House back in 2022 (while it’s still 2021) eleven months away, and they’ll use that to attack the Biden administration: and some of the mainstream news media are hinting at that idea. Excuse me, but the election is NEXT year, plenty of time for us progressives and pro-worker activists to analyze what went right and wrong this year, and to organize our grassroots campaigning to educate our neighbors and co-workers about the issues we’re facing-abuse of LGBTQ+ people and people of color, homelessness, the terrorizing of school board members and election officials this year, organizing unorganized workers, etc. t-p is not on the ballot so we don’t have to bring him up; rather, we discuss our opponent for whatever office, and provide a more viable alternative. We decide NOW how the election turns out. IT happens all the time in our elections; the media hints that our guy will lose, and the republican has it in the bag already-all the way through to the election. It’s like psychological warfare, to try to bring down the morale of progressives, trying to depress us and ready to give up before the poll are open. We must change our thinking on this-the Republicans DON”T have the elections in the bag, we CAN and WILL organize and educate our neighbors for the election, and we WILL increase our numbers in the House. (Doesn’t that sound better?) Stay safe, stay strong, and stay together! America will be free! Bye!

The Mason Moment, Nov. 15, 2021

I speak about the need for voting, the need for organizing at the grass roots, The Kyle Rittenhouse case, and Steve Bannon.

The Mason Moment, November 1, 2021

I speak today about the terrorizing of election officials ansd school board members, and of the need to vote.

The Mason Missile, October 29, 2021

The Mason Missile The E-Newsletter of John Oliver Mason October 29, 2021, 2021 1500 Walnut Street, Suite 700-21A Philadelphia, PA 19102 johnomason@johnomason.com https://johnomason.com amazon.com/author/masonjohn (Please forward to your friends) (Donations appreciated, advertising space available) https://www.paypal.me/jom57 Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist. -Ralph Waldo Emerson Greetings, Americans! I’m continuing to promote my novel, Soldier Of The Cross; it’s available through Amazon. (https://www.amazon.com/Soldier-Cross-John-Oliver-Mason/dp/0578988402/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3VQ9PDCKAUKLK&dchild=1&keywords=soldier+of+the+cross+john+oliver+mason&qid=1635266248&rnid=2941120011&s=books&sprefix=soldier+of+the%2Caps%2C111&sr=1-1) But I encourage you to first order it through your local independent bookstore; there you find writing workshops, meet-the-author events, and poetry readings. It’s at the grassroots level, in these small indy bookstores, where new literary talent flourishes. And, please support all you other small businesses, like the small grocer and local diner; they’ve been particularly hit hard by the pandemic, and the billion-dollar mega-corporations don’t need the money as much as these small family businesses do. Amazon, in particular, is wealthy enough that Jeff Bezos can afford to have his own space program, Blue Origin. But the latest is that Amazon is in negotiations to purchase MGM Studios. Amazon is about to pay $8.45 billion for MGM, as they paid $13.7 billion for Whole Foods. (https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/26/amazon-to-buy-mgm-studios-for-8point45-billion.html) This has been possible through the series of tax breaks that corporations over the past 40 decades have attained from Congress, with the help of their lobbying firms; I’m thinking particularly about the 2017 tax cut, which created the federal deficit, and the Republicans have no problem with it. (But, to the Republicans, spending money on such socially beneficial things as infrastructure, schools, medical assistance, nursing mothers, and unemployment would be an economic catastrophe.) Workers have never benefitted from these corporate tax breaks; it’s only more money for more luxury items-such as Bezos’ brand-new, $500 million dollar yacht. ((https://www.geekwire.com/2021/see-worthy-first-look-jeff-bezos-reported-500m-superyacht-netherlands-shipyard/) (https://www.autoevolution.com/news/first-look-at-jeff-bezos-new-toy-record-breaking-oceanco-sailing-yacht-y721-launched-172333.html) Bezos’ acquisition of MGM, Whole Foods, and The Washington Post, shows the need for the mega-billionaire class-along with Elon Musk and Jeff Zuckerberg-have to be taxed at the appropriate rate. Elon Musk has been particularly vehement about his class being taxed, (https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-democrats-billionaires-tax-arguments-tesla-stock-net-worth-2021-10) proclaiming on Twitter, "Eventually, they run out of other people's money and then they come for you." All of the plutocrats in history try to make the lower classes identify with them, like they have the same thing in common; whereas the in reality, all of the tax cuts from Reagan to today have benefited billionaires and corporations, with no benefit to workers or consumers. Fortunately, workers are flexing their power; the pandemic has shown the importance of “essential workers,” works who had to work throughout the COVID crisis-store works, medical professionals, sanitation workers, etc. Another set of essential workers are the bus, trolley, and subway workers of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA), who were prepared to go on strike on November 1, but they, through their union, Transport Workers Union Local 234 (TWU) settled it just before deadline. (https://www.inquirer.com/transportation/septa-strike-update-2021-contract-agreement-20211029.html?utm_source=browser_notification&utm_campaign=browser_notification&utm_medium=notification&utm_content=No-strike-SEPTA-and-its-largest-union-reach-a-contract-agreement-) The strike by the Bakery, Confectionary, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (https://bctgm.org/) is continuing its strike against Kellogg, the cereal and food company. The issues for the workers have been of moving production to Mexico (leaving the workers stranded without a job), the taking away of health-care and retirement benefits, cost-of-living wage increases, holiday and vacation pay, and that the union label be on each box of Kellogg’s products. There are picket lines around all Kellogg facilities, including in Lancaster, PA; I hope soon to be able to get there, and celebrate the workers’ victory. The strike of John Deere by the United Auto Workers (https://uaw.org/) goes on. With the skilled assembly-line workers out on strike, the Deere company has resorted to bringing in scabs-in this care, salaried office workers for the company. This has resulted in accidents by the salary workers and orders from the company not to talk about what goes on in the plant. (https://theintercept.com/2021/10/26/john-deere-strike-accident/) I’m currently reading Philip Foner’s History of The Labor Movement In The United States. It’s a great history of the terrible conditions that working people endured as the nation developed into the capitalist powerhouse it is now: poor or no housing, meager pay a family couldn’t live on, dangerous working conditions for long hours; and any attempt to organize workers to resist this, so workers could live and work as full human beings, were put down by all the ruling corporate elite had at its disposal-courts, legislatures, company goons, police, sheriff’s deputies, militia, the regular army, the era’s news media, vigilantes (composed of some of the most respectable men in the community), and the clergy. But in the face of all that, workers persisted in their organizing, so that they can be the basis of the American middle class-which has been eroded for the past four decades by tax breaks for billion-dollar corporations, the transfer of manufacturing overseas (leaving American workers jobless), the weakening of unions and protections for workers, and the weakening of laws controlling the amount of money donated to political campaigns (I’m thinking now the Citizens United case). We have a history of Labor organizing and struggle in this country. Our ancestors fought and died so that workers live a decent life. We must NOT disappoint them, and allow the corporate elite to take away our rights. We must support our fellow workers, at John Deere, Kellogg, Nabisco, Frito-Lay, IATSE, and in our own shops and neighborhoods as they fight our fight, and fight alongside of them. The ballot is the mightiest weapon in the freedom-fighting arsenal, and on November 2, I want you all to use it, for your friends, your coworkers, your families, and your neighbors. Stay safe, stay strong, and Stay together! America will be free! Bye!

The Mason Moment, October 24, 2021

I speak about the ongoing Labor unrest in the country, the need to protect small businesses like bookstores, Trump's social media scam, and celebrating PhillyCAM.

The Mason Moment Oct. 18, 2021

I speak about the raving anti-vax, anti-mask maniacs in school board meetings, and the big money behind them.

The Mason Moment, October 14, 2021

I speak about the wave of Labor activism going on in the country, AT&T paying for OANN, and the need to vaccinate and vote.