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Protest Is Patriotic – Progressive Activist Calendar for San Diego – June 30-July 11, 2017

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Now is as good a time as any to recognize that most humans living in the United States, whether they supported Republicans, Democrats or a third party in the last election aren’t very happy about what’s going on in the Nation’s Capitol these days.

It’s a mistake–I think–to let those who wrap themselves in the flag and let fear guide their moral compass claim the high ground of patriotism. We, the people, are better than that. Let the Fourth of July be an occasion where our better instincts and aspirations for peace and justice set the tone.

Housekeeping Notes: We’re moving. San Diego Free Press is migrating to a new home on the internet (our address will remain the same): all 10,000+ graphics, 7,000+posts, and 29,000+comments accumulated over the five years we’ve been doing this are boxed up and ready to go. As with any move, there are bound to be some glitches. We expect things to return to ‘normal’ by Monday. If we’re lucky, readers won’t notice anything different.

Over the Holiday Weekend: I expect to post a story + pictures about Sunday’s Impeachment March. The Starting Line column will return on Wednesday unless something really earthshaking occurs.     [Read more…]

Trump’s Latest Tantrums – Let’s Walk and Chew Gum at the Same Time

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The man occupying the office once occupied by ‘the leader of the free world’ has spent his week railing against the news media.

He took on big city newspapers, threatening Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos for non-payment of a non-existent ‘internet tax’. Then it was CNN. And now he’s been petty and misogynist with a personal attack on MSNBC host Mika Brzezinski.

Don’t allow yourself to be distracted: bad things are afoot in Congress and elsewhere.   [Read more…]

Indivisible San Diego Persists with Die In and Candlelight Vigil

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Story + Photo Gallery

The Senate may have put Trumpcare on hold for a few days, but San Diegans are continuing with a campaign expressing opposition to the proposed ‘repeal and replace’ legislation.

About 150 people gathered at the First Unitarian Universalist Church in Hillcrest on Tuesday evening for a ‘die-in,’ followed by an hour of rapid-fire and often emotional speeches and ending with a candlelight vigil on the grounds of the nearby UCSD Medical Center.   [Read more…]

Suzie’s Farm: Gone, But Not Forgotten

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Suzie’s Farm did all the right things over the past eight years, growing a wide variety organic produce, selling at farmers markets and direct to consumers, getting listed as a supplier on restaurant menus, always with an eye toward building community involvement. Above all, Robin Taylor and Lucila De Alejandro built a brand.

Now the farm is closed. The announcement came via a Facebook live post on Monday. Although they’d brought in partners with financial experience in organic agriculture last year, the business never made money. De Alejandro told viewers the farm was losing “five figures a week.”   [Read more…]

San Diegans Joining Nationwide Trumpcare Protests

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It’s Do or Die Time 

This is the week that will determine the future of healthcare and a lot more in the United States for the foreseeable future. If there ever was a time to stand up and be heard on the topic the time is now.

There will be political actions aimed at pressuring elected officials nationwide. On Tuesday, July 27, local activists will add to the chorus against this abomination of a bill in San Diego and Vista. (Details below)

A massive human chain surrounding the Capitol building is slated for Wednesday–2 pm PDT, — organized by Planned Parenthood Action.   [Read more…]

Countdown to Impeachment – Progressive Activist Calendar for San Diego – June 23-July 2, 2017

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If you’re poor and dying of cancer, console yourself with the thought that rich people will pay less taxes under the American Health Care Act. Oh, and the tax cut is retroactive, in case you have any questions about the true nature of what Republicans are up to.

If you believe in the electoral process, there isn’t much of a window left to save it. As stories in the Washington Post and elsewhere demonstrate, Russian influence in the 2016 election was a) ordered by Putin, b) more widespread than previously realized, and c) just a precursor to what we can expect in coming years.

What’s coming is the destruction (and privatization) of natural resources, education, and the nation’s infrastructure, along with an erosion of rights and protections for most of us.  But, don’t worry, there’ll be good times on Wall Street.   [Read more…]

Now Is the Time for Creative Outrage to Stop Trumpcare

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A Republican Senate Health Care Bill So Bad, It’s Called BCRAP

By Doug Porter

You can’t make this stuff up folks. The Senate version of repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act is being called the “Better Care Reconciliation Act” Plan (BCRAP).

Passage of the legislation means more than 20 million (final number TBD next week) will lose healthcare coverage, premiums will skyrocket, especially for older Americans, as the lack of a mandate will remove incentives for healthy people to enroll.

A massive response is what’s needed.  Republican legislators must be persuaded that the political cost of supporting BCRAP isn’t worth the benefits party leaders are promising.   [Read more…]

Congressman Darrell Issa’s Pathetic Defense of Trumpcare

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Thirteen men operating in secret are just about finished bolting together the various parts the Senate version of Trumpcare. This bill is obviously so bad the only defense Republicans are able to mount is lie about the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare.

Congressman Darrell Issa’s version of these falsehoods is to claim Obamacare is so flawed as to warrant an emergency replacement. It’s the big lie technique writ large because the biggest flaws in the current program are the result of deliberate acts of sabotage by his party.   [Read more…]

‘Sharecroppers on Wheels’ Walk Off the Job at Southern California Ports

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California’s port truckers make it possible for the both the old and new retail economies.of the world to function. This week they’re calling strikes and staging picket lines at ports on the West Coast, including San Diego.

This work stoppage is about more than wages and benefits; it’s about an economic nightmare akin to involuntary servitude enabled by corporations like Toyota, Walmart, Target, and Amazon.

Companies like XPO Logistics, Inc.–the target of this week’s actions– are illegally misclassifying workers as independent contractors, forcing them into a debt peonage system of the sort most Americans think vanished a century ago.   [Read more…]

Russian Hacking, Voting Restrictions, Data-Mining, and Threats to Democracy

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Our ability to vote in fair and free elections has never been more in doubt. This is about more than any single foreign power, dark money donor, or racist state official taking action to degrade Democracy. It’s about all of them combined. Follow me down this rabbit hole….

The Supreme Court has just agreed to hear a case challenging partisan gerrymandering in Wisconsin. While it will be a while before a ruling gets announced, this case has the potential to unleash a wave of lawsuits against widespread partisan gerrymanders nationally.

Author Greg Palast is coming to San Diego on June 30th. His 2016 film “The Best Democracy Money Can Buy” presents an overview of modern-day voter suppression efforts threatening our representative democracy.

The Intercept has now published a report indicating information on 198 million US voters was accidentally left unprotected on the internet by a GOP contractor. The data included: “the voter’s date of birth, home and mailing addresses, phone number, registered party, self-reported racial demographic, voter registration status” as well as computer “modeled” speculation about each person’s race and religion.   [Read more…]

San Diego Heats Up: Progressive Activist Calendar – June 16-28, 2017

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Just when I thought things might be slowing down for the summer, the political world has gone bonkers, the resistance has spread even further, and we have our first heat wave of the summer.

It looks like the employment boom under Donald Trump is kicking off as El Jefe’s lawyers have hired attorneys to represent themselves. Vice President Mike Pence has also retained representation.

The President of the United States has apparently gone unhinged on Twitter. Trump’s (probably accidentally) confirmed news accounts saying he is the target of an investigation… (I’m hesitant to write any more because things are just moving too fast.)   [Read more…]

Persistent Kamala Harris Interrupted While Questioning Nervous ‘Stonewall’ Sessions

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Attorney General Sessions’ testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday mostly consisted of memory lapses and the rollout of a new legal strategy of refusing to answer questions “in case’ the President wants to invoke executive privilege in the future.

In between non-answers Sessions did his best to eat up the five minutes allotted to questioners, alternating between defending his honor and verbally wandering through the political landscape. The former Alabama senator denounced claims regarding his involvement with Russian active measures during the 2016 presidential campaign, calling those allegations “an appalling and detestable lie.”

California Senator Kamala Harris once again turned lemons into lemonade by asking so many direct questions as to cause the witness to complain of being nervous. Republicans correctly interpreted this as a cue the Attorney General was closing in on having a case of the vapors and asserted their prerogative as white males to interrupt her.   [Read more…]

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