Submitted by Dan Bacher on Wed, 07/28/2010 - 12:47pm
Assembly Speaker John Pérez Is on the Wrong Side of History
By Dan Bacher
In a historic protest on July 21, over 300 members of California Indian Tribes and their allies peacefully took control of a Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Blue Ribbon Task Force meeting in Fort Bragg to protest the violation of indigenous gathering and fishing rights under Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s controversial MLPA Initiative.
Over 60 immigrant workers from the sea urchin industry, many from indigenous communities in central and southern Mexico that were forced to come to the U.S. after they were driven off their land under NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement), marched side by side with members of the Yurok, Tolowa, Cahto, Kashia Pomo, Karuk, Hoopa Valley, Maidu, Hopi, Navajo and other tribes. Besides them were recreational anglers, commercial fishermen, seaweed harvesters, environmentalists and sea urchin divers and local political candidates.
Will House Democrats Oppose a Jobless War Supplemental?
Sunday 25 July 2010
by: Robert Naiman, t r u t h o u t | Report
The war supplemental for Afghanistan is expected to come back from the Senate to the House this week - without any kind of timetable for military withdrawal from Afghanistan, and without money to save teachers' jobs attached.
AP reports:
In a take-it-or-leave-it gesture, the Senate voted Thursday night to reject more than $20 billion in domestic spending the House had tacked on to its $60 billion bill to fund President Barack Obama's troop surge in Afghanistan.
The moves repel a long-shot bid by House Democrats earlier this month to resurrect their faltering jobs agenda with $10 billion in grants to school districts to avoid teacher layoffs, $5 billion for Pell Grants to low-income college students, $1 billion for a summer jobs program and $700 million to improve security along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Labor unions had strongly backed the House Democratic effort to attach money to the supplemental, to boost employment and avoid teacher layoffs. Will these unions now urge House Democrats to vote no on any jobless war supplemental?
Few expect that the House, in a freestanding vote this week, will reject the $33 billion request for the Afghanistan war, since until now there has been a solid block of more than 90 percent of House Republicans committed to voting yes on what they would consider a "relatively clean" war supplemental.
But what is in serious dispute is how many House Democrats will vote no on a jobless war supplemental. A large Democratic no vote would send a strong signal to the White House of House Democratic impatience with a blank checkbook for endless and fruitless war, while the administration insists that there is no money to save jobs at home, at a time of nearly 10 percent measured unemployment. A large Democratic no vote would also send a powerful signal of Democratic "no confidence" in the Pentagon's war plans, increasing pressure on the administration to vigorously pursue a political resolution to the conflict and to establish a timetable for military withdrawal - as desired by the majority of Americans and three-quarters of Democrats, according to a recent CBS poll.
Chicago-To the cheers of thousands of rank and file activists, AFL CIO head Richard Trumka accepted the nomination of the newly formed US Labor Party for the Presidency of the United States. Trumka will make his run as the standard bearer of a party fielding a full slate of candidates from the local and state to federal levels, running with the support of all major national and international unions, many peace and environmental organizations, and millions of economically and politically disenfranchised Americans.
Addressing a packed convention center a stone's throw from Chicago's haymarket, Trumka's remarks evoked labor's fallen heros and rekindled themes of radical trade unionism long thought vanquished after generations of hostility to organized labor fomented by right wing think tanks, mainstream media outlets and an army of pro-business lobbyists in Washington.
Submitted by libbyliberal on Mon, 07/26/2010 - 8:16pm
From Campaign for Peace and Democracy in an email:
Dear friend of the Campaign for Peace and Democracy,
U.S. intervention in Afghanistan is facing increasing challenge, and this week's dramatic Wikileaks revelations -- the biggest U.S. war expose since Dan Ellsberg's Pentagon papers -- make it all the more difficult for Congress to keep funding this horrific war. It is an important moment for all of us who want immediate withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan to raise our voices.
It looks like there will be an up-and-down House vote this week on the Afghan war supplemental funding. The Senate has stripped the bill of all unrelated issues such as funding for teachers, so the meaning of the vote will be clear: there will be no excuses for voting "Yes" or abstaining (not that such excuses were ever legitimate.)
Submitted by libbyliberal on Sat, 07/24/2010 - 8:08pm
[spoiler alert]
I have not been an avid mystery reader, even of the old classics. I do, however, groove on dramatized mysteries, and especially -- in the past decade -- those produced by PBS Masterpiece Theater.
These adaptations are professionally and brilliantly done. The writing. The acting. The direction. The cinematography. I have appreciated all the generations of Marple, for example. Each actress has brought a unique and exciting flair to that savvy old woman.
It has taken me a good while to come to appreciate Christie’s Hercule Poirot. The convincing and formidable David Suchet finally brought me on board. However, after seeing a recent adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express, I am tempted to de-board. Not out of disappointment in Suchet’s performance, but in watching this famous fictional detective endorse torture in the name of profoundly-motivated vigilantism. To make Poirot OKAY with that. To make him a moral “relativist”.
IMHO … this is NOT OKAY!!!!
Two scenes, not dramatically presented as I understand it in Christie’s novel, introduce this episode. They are jarring and no doubt aspire to give a quick-fix foreshadowing and faux-support to Poirot’s eventual abandonment of “law” at the end of the narrative, or more accurately, his collusion with "lawlessness" of a righteous and dramatically wronged group of people.
Submitted by Tjadendevries on Sat, 07/24/2010 - 4:31pm
I have no idea what that guy's saying (something about government subsidies), or what the goat is going on about (probably tax cuts or corporate subsidies for the wealthy), but the goat's reaction looks awfully familiar
Here's a unique chance to hear from some actual participants in the recent attempt to bring supplies to Gaza.
Humanitarian Aid Under Attack
On Thursday, July 29, 2010, hear testimony from human rights workers who survived the Israeli Navy’s attack on the May, 2010 unarmed Freedom Flotilla that was attempting to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza. Nine people were killed and over 50 wounded in the attack. San Francisco Bay Area activists Kathy Sheetz and Gene St. Onge were among the over 600 passengers and crewmembers on six ships.
The event is at 7pm at Pioneer Congregational, 2700 L Street , Sacramento . The program will also include a West Bank update from recently returned local activists and information about boycott & divestment efforts you can get involved with locally (www.sacbds.org/campaigns).
[IOr call (916) 482-3018 with your name, phone number, and showtime choice.]
APE intends to honor requests in the order received.
COUNTDOWN TO ZERO traces the history of the atomic bomb from its origins to the present state of global affairs: nine nations possess nuclear weapons capabilities with others racing to join them, with the world held in a delicate balance that could be shattered by an act of terrorism, failed diplomacy, or a simple accident. Written and directed by acclaimed documentarian Lucy Walker (Devil’s Playground, Blindsight), the film features an array of important international statesmen, including Jimmy Carter, Mikhail Gorbachev, Pervez Musharraf and Tony Blair. Countdown to Zero makes a compelling case for worldwide nuclear disarmament, an issue more topical than ever with the Obama administration working to revive this goal today. The film was produced by Academy Award® winner and 2009 nominee Lawrence Bender (Inglourious Basterds, An Inconvenient Truth) and developed, financed and executive produced by Participant Media, together with World Security Institute.
If you can’t join us on Aug. 6, COUNTDOWN TO ZERO will run until Aug. 12.
A free showing of "Occupation 101" and brief conversation with its producer, Abdullah Omeish as well as a viewing of the trailer for his new film, "365AM".
Crest Theater, 1013 K Street, Sacramento, CA 95814.
Thursday, July 22, 2010 at 7:00 p.m.
(Doors open at 6:00 p.m. -- light refreshments)
A thought-provoking and powerful documentary film on the current and historical root causes of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Unlike any other film ever produced on the conflict -- 'Occupation 101' presents a comprehensive analysis of the facts and hidden truths surrounding the never ending controversy and dispels many of its long-perceived myths and misconceptions.
Submitted by Tjadendevries on Mon, 07/19/2010 - 4:37pm
The first of two videos with Emmy Award winning reporter George Knapp. It exposes the corruption and outright baldfaced lies by the corporate-to-BLM-and-back-again-revolving-door and political-career-climber-muckety-muck-bureaucrats. The next video explains the reason for BP's involvement with the roundups in Nv. and possibly California ... which is, BP's, among other's, interest in the Ruby Pipeline, a 42" Natural Gas Pipeline from Wyoming to Oregon.
Part one covers the history of the BLM's lies and a former BLM employee, Craig Downer who quit in disgust and has proven the BLM's data is false, provides the factual counterpoint to those lies. Part one also covers the investigations into the bogus data used to support these lies, via FOIA work done by a private citizen, Cindy MacDonald, that shows what the true motivations are behind these heinous acts. We'll also get a glimpse into George's 20 plus year investigation of this activity , the truth about the horses, their land and how it's been handed over to Big Agriculture (Corporate Cattle Ranches) and Big Oil, all at the expense of the U.S. Tax Payer and in violation of U.S. Federal Law.
Submitted by Tjadendevries on Mon, 07/19/2010 - 3:33pm
Boxer has taken to comparing her years of "public service" to Fiorina's choice "to become a CEO, lay off 30,000 workers, ship jobs overseas (and) have two yachts."
Sacramento's August Peace Event invites you to see
