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FCC Chairman Ajit Pai’s Cameo in an Proud Boys Video: Fun Guy or Closet Extremist?

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By the time most you of are reading this, the Federal Communication Commission will have changed the rules regarding regulation of the internet, despite a survey showing 83% of registered voters oppose such a move.

Critics say FCC Chairman Ajit Pai’s plan allows service providers to control download speeds, limit or block access to certain websites, and charge consumers extra fees for broader access.

There may be a darker side to the FCC chairman, one surfacing early on Thursday via Twitter. I’m not sure what all this means, other than an indication Pai likes to play with some not nice people with a track record of aiming to suppress free speech and supporting patriarchy.
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Black Votes Matter: Jones Wins Senate Seat in Alabama

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The Roypublicans Are in Panic Mode

In Alabama on Tuesday, Democrat Doug Jones won 49.9% of the vote to Republican Roy Moore’s 48.4% in a special election to replace Jeff Sessions, who resigned his Senate post to become Trump’s chief elf and Attorney General. The other 1.7% wrote in someone else’s name.

Republicans in Alabama have typically been winning elections in recent years by a half million votes. Jones won by 21,000. Turnout for the special election was projected to 25% of registered voters. Double that number showed up at the polls. Moore lost 12 counties that Trump won in 2016. Republicans won this particular Senate seat in 2014 with 97% of the vote.

This was a huge victory, and let’s give credit where credit is due. Black voters showed up, despite being systemically obstructed from access to the polls.   [Read more…]

#MeToo Reaches the White House; Trump Not Amused

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It’s a sign, I hope: Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year for 2017 is feminism, selected because of the frequency of lookups at the once-upon-a-dictionary’s website.

On Monday, three of the nineteen women who have accused President Trump of sexual harassment and assault detailed their accounts of being groped, fondled and forcibly kissed at a news conference. (Depending on which news account you’ve read, the number of accusers varies from 13 to 19.)

Rachel Crooks, Jessica Leeds, and Samantha Holvey said they were speaking up again because of the current climate that has emboldened women to speak up about sexual misconduct.   [Read more…]

Counter-Protest at Pro-Border Wall Rally Was an Embarrassment

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What I have to say today is probably gonna make some people unhappy.

On Saturday, a group of regional nativists held a rally in Otay Mesa celebrating the prototypes for Trump’s wall. Rep. Duncan Hunter was the featured speaker. Eyewitness accounts agree the crowd size was 100 or less, as likely was the average IQ.

Another group thought it would be a good idea to get twenty people to yell stuff at the MAGA types. Now they’re upset because punches were thrown and the battalion of Sheriffs and other law enforcement types standing around didn’t come rushing to their aid.

Really?   [Read more…]

Sheriff Groping Scandal: Nine Women and Counting… Progressive Activist Calendar December 8-18, 2107

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A ninth woman has come forward with claims of sexual misconduct by San Diego County Sheriff Deputy Richard Fischer, according to the Union-Tribune. All the victims are alleging incidents involving unwelcome hugs, groping and, in some cases, implied threats. Although the complaints date back to 2016, the Deputy was not placed on formal leave until lawsuits were filed last month.

It’s not like this was a one-time thing for at least one of the women; I’d call it stalking:

“When he clicked the seat belt into place, he rubbed L.R.’s breasts up and down using the heel of his hand and the inner part of his arm,” one of the new lawsuits alleges. “Fischer said, ‘Oh I hope your husband doesn’t mind.’”

That complaint, filed Wednesday in San Diego Superior Court by a woman who did not want to be publicly identified as a victim of sexual assault, accuses Fischer of accosting her five other times before she was released with a misdemeanor ticket last year.    [Read more…]

Republicans Plan to Continue Looting

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Having engineered what may be the biggest upward transfer of wealth in US history, Republicans are coming after the crumbs left on the table. They are optimistic about reconciling the House and Senate bills in conference committee and anxious to move on dismantling the social safety net. 

They see no irony in saying ‘reforms’ must be made to food stamps, Medicare, and social security to reduce America’s deficit after crafting legislation exploding that same deficit by more than a billion dollars over the next decade.

House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) went on talk radio this week to say congressional Republicans will aim next year to reduce spending on both federal health care and anti-poverty programs.   [Read more…]

As California and the World Burns: December 6, 2017

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BREAKING: There’s too much bad news today. Here are some short takes.

California’s on fire and the rest of the world isn’t looking too good, either.  In no particular order… I’ll update these stories as needed throughout the day.

Photos coming out of Los Angeles and nearby environs look more and more like a hellscape. As I write this the Getty Museum is in danger, the major freeways headed north out of Los Angeles have been closed and reopened, and 27,000 people in Ventura County have been forced to evacuate.   [Read more…]

Facebook Minions, Greedy Old Perverts, and the War on Women

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There Is No #NotMe Here

Yesterday I learned to be careful about writing the lede and headline for a story tackling the subject of misogyny. Alex Zaragoza at City Beat wrote something about all men having a degree of complicity in sexism and its more extreme manifestations and was silenced for doing so.

It didn’t take long for Facebook’s content moderation team to remove the article from City Beat’s social media postings. It seems as though the headline “Dear Dudes, You’re All Trash” infringes on the rights of white men, who are considered a protected group on the platform, according to a six-month-old ProPublica investigation.   [Read more…]

BREAKING: Senate GOP Screw Up on Tax Bill Forces Another Vote

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Haste makes waste. The Republican leadership’s rewrite of the tax bill over lunch last Friday accidentally nullified all of their corporate donors’ favorite deductions. In their hurry to make sure nobody actually had time to read the bill before voting on it, the GOP Senate missed some important fine print.

This means plans for the House of Representatives to simply ratify the Senate version of the bill on Monday are out the window. Now, this legislation will have to go through a conference committee (to reconcile each chamber’s bills), adding two weeks to the process, and another vote in each chamber.   [Read more…]

Organize the Outrage: The Republican Tax Bill Is Bad, What Are You Going to Do About It?

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In the wee hours of Saturday, Republicans in the Senate, having learned from their shortfalls in attempting to repeal Obamacare, cobbled together enough votes to pass legislation using taxes as a mechanism to foster fundamental changes in the lives of Americans.

All the bad things you may have heard about this legislation are true to one degree or another, but it’s the overall effect that’s important. The GOP has signed America up for a subprime mortgage guaranteed to fail younger generations and paved the way for instilling a new social order based on greed and privilege. 

So, the question remains, what can be done? Sure a few smallish protests by the already-committed can make some noise, as they did in New York this weekend with a crowd chanting “lock him up.” These ain’t gonna fix what is obviously a systemic problem.   [Read more…]

Flynn Flips, Republican Tax Scam Lives On, for Now – Progressive Activist Calendar, December 1-11, 2017

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The Good News: The man who chanted “Lock Her Up” obsessively at rallies for Donald Trump is now officially charged with a federal crime.

ABC News Special Report: Michael Flynn promised “full cooperation to the Mueller team” and is prepared to testify that as a candidate, Donald Trump “directed him to make contact with the Russians.”

The Bad News: It appears the US Senate will pass some sort of budget. It still has to be reconciled with the House version of the bill, which is not a given because of the deficit hawks in the Freedom Caucus. Think about this: Republicans were ready to approve a tax bill that will affect our society for generations to be signed by an illegitimate President likely steps away from an indictment.

Three upcoming events you need to to be sure to notice: Save Affordable Housing – Planning Commision Meeting (December 7), Net Neutrality Protests at Verizon Stores (December 7), and Human Rights Day of Action (December 10)
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Once a San Diego Wunderkind, Bridgepoint Education Faces Significant Legal Troubles

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Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Or one could say another sad and sordid chapter in the history of America’s Finest City is ending. Yet another would-be business wunderkind has left its stain on the soul of the city.

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra has filed suit against Ashford University and its owner Bridgepoint Education alleging the company misled thousands of low-income students into enrolling and taking on student debt.

Just a few years back, Bridgepoint Education was San Diego’s fifth largest private employer. The corporate logo, displayed in huge white letters at the top of the downtown high-rise (now housing the San Diego Union-Tribune) was a symbol of civic pride. Its executives were active with the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Economic Development Corp., the Downtown San Diego Partnership and the San Diego County Taxpayers Association.
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