City of Sacramento

by Martha Roberts, published on August 13, 2012
http://www.sacramentopress.com

“Allowing Ashkelon to become a sister city with Sacramento violates our community’s deepest humanitarian and egalitarian values,” said Adeeb Alzanoon, a member of the Sacramento Chapter of the Palestinian American Congress. “It makes us complicit with the racism that is systemically practiced in Ashkelon.”

Alzanoon, a refugee himself, explained that U.S. citizens of Palestinian descent with Israel government-issued IDs are prohibited by Israel from visiting Ashkelon except in rare circumstances. In addition, virtually everyone of Palestinian heritage faces extensive interrogation, including strip searching and denial of entry, if they try to visit anywhere in Israel, where nearly all have family ties.

Ethics-Challenged Michelle Rhee Gives Lecture on Ethics

Yes, Mr. and Mrs. Rhee are ethics-challenged. For evidence, simply look back to Rhee's cheating scandal in Washington, DC, or Mr. Rhee's (aka Kevin Johnson's) poorly-managed charter school where nearly one million dollars found its way out of public coffers into places it shouldn't have gone. And then there's Rhee's right-wing associations, which she carefully nurtures while claiming to be doing what's "best for the children."

Yet they soldier on, courting as much corporate money as possible in the name of "the children." Once in awhile, they even get a chance to give lectures in Hawaii. I wonder if it was an all-expense paid trip, or they did it out of the goodness of their hearts.

Diane Ravitch has the whole story, but I found their victimhood mantles particularly galling:

Interesting! My Dad was in a union when that actually meant something. Those union members from the 60's, and 70's, and 80's, laid the foundation upon which all unions exist today. By definition, citizen protests are a kind of strike - a form of speech that says, "I won't take it anymore." And to see the full-on blatant disregard and disrespect being shown by Sacramento based unions - by conspiring with the city - for all their predecessor's sacrifice, is nauseating.

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) – Sacramento city hall grounds are getting new ground rules for protests.

First Amendment rights activists are already up in arms.

“It’s interesting the city has existed for 150 years without this law, now we need it? Why?” asked Jeff Kravitz, a civil rights attorney.

Councilmember Jay Schenirer says the new rules are for city worker safety.

[...]

Schenerir says he’s worked with union groups to find a balance between safety and free speech, specifically during council meeting hours.

*** I actually wrote this two years ago, but I think in light of all the police rioting against the occupy movement, it's information is even more striking, topical, and relevant today ***

Before you dismiss this and say, "it can't happen here," click this link, and then click this link; the problem is that it happens all too frequently as seen in this recent video about the G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh. Stick with the video, the first 30 seconds or so of the video is music, but then comes an interesting report

CATO: The Ominous Growth of Paramilitarism in American Police Departments

Related: Why are Financial Terrorists (JP Morgan Chase and Morgan Stanley...etc.) getting away with attacking America?; and how about a local angle? SMUD Sues Financial Terrorists - Bank of America, UBS, and JPMorgan Over Derivatives

Too Big To Fail Casino Banks Make $518 Billion Bet On PIIGS Sovereign Debt

Look at the background in the upper right on the screengrab ... The Tower Bridge

I don't know a lot about Cesar Chavez (too young) but what I do know is that he was a civil rights and labor rights organizer and leader. And for the City of Sacramento to turn against his tireless legacy of working and speaking for the common average person who has legitimate concerns and grievances over how this country, state, and city are run is the ultimate irony. To arrest people joining together to give voice to political speech against economic injustices would be unconscionable to those who founded this country --- and no, I don't mean the ones you're thinking of --- I mean these ones --- really

Some people think that's David Arquette in the picture, but don't be fooled, that's David Stern in all his "unbiased" finery. He screwed Sacramento (along with the other lottery teams out of Patrick Ewing) in the 1985 draft. Then he screwed Sacramento in the 2002 NBA Western finals. And he's the most thin-skinned mafia-like commissioner in the United States, possibly the world.

He couldn't get the votes from the other NBA owners for his co-conspirators to move to La-La-Land. Because guess what? There are myriad reasons why that's a bad move

So, what does he do?

He appoints the last, most hated, and vile owner of an NBA team who tried to extort hundreds of millions from the people of an NBA city, and then pathologically lied when making plans to move the team to OK City

Businessweek

More than 100 students at California State University, Sacramento are occupying a campus building for a second day to protest state budget cuts to higher education.

Families sue to recover losses in alleged Ponzi scheme

By Sam Stanton and Denny Walsh
sstanton@sacbee.com
Published: Monday, Jun. 28, 2010 - 12:00 am | Page 1A
Last Modified: Monday, Jun. 28, 2010 - 8:24 am

For David and Deborah Teja, the investment deal represented a chance to sock away college money for their two children, set aside a nest egg and have enough extra to give to charity.

It was, their investment advisers repeatedly told them, a "no brainer" that would pay them 12 percent interest on their investments, which would be guaranteed by the properties they bought to generate their cash.

Like many others, they attended a seminar presided over by investment guru Lawrence Leland "Lee" Loomis at a Holiday Inn and then went to a two-day event at the Gold Country Casino in Oroville to learn more. The high school teacher and social worker were surrounded by professionals much like themselves, who responded to the idea that their investments would enable folks in financial trouble to stay in their homes.

The videos are kind of a before (1994) and after (2010) on derivatives. To understand what the derivatives are, and how the Commodity Futures Modernization Act, which legalized the worst of these casino bets (youtube) came to be, click on Libbyliberal's blog Let's Remember Brooksley Born During Citi Rubin's & Prince's Congressional Economic Rotating Villain Faux-Accountability Kabuki

The Financial Crisis As A Game Of 3 Card Monte

By Danny Schechter

You know you’re a Sacramentan when …

By Kimberly Brown, Ted Cox, Cosmo Garvin, Jenn Kistler, Rachel Leibrock, Nick Miller, Kel Munger, R.V. Scheide, Shoka and Melinda Welsh

Living in Sacramento is an art. Those who call this city home know what it takes to be a Sacramentan; they’ve survived the initiation rights and discovered the hidden treasures only found in the City of Trees. Sacramentans know their city is neither a “cow town” nor “world-class city.” It’s just a city unto itself, where it rains tree branches in the winter and transforms into a broiler during the summer, but always maintains that distinct river smell. Sacramento is home to politico wannabes, residents who desire a middle ground between the wilderness and the city, vampire killers, a few Star Trek bands and a never-ending supply of sushi restaurants. Residents of this Time magazine-sanctioned “America’s most diverse city” have developed a unique lingo, culture and lifestyle. Only those who have mastered the art of living in the River City can call themselves true Sacramentans.

—Jenn Kistler

1. … you’ve been to a wedding at the McKinley Park Rose Garden.