At least three national protests are being organized in the wake of the Valentine’s Day killings in Parkland, Florida. Each is different in scope and substance, and all deserve support. And, no, three protests is not too many.
This coming Saturday, thousands of workers, along with their families, friends, and allies in the community, will gather in San Diego to stand up for the rights of working Americans in the face of the impending Janus vs AFSCME decision by the Supreme Court that aims further rig the system against us. Against this assault, we will continue to insist on our right to form strong unions, raise our collective voice, and fight for equitable pay, affordable health care, civil rights, strong communities, and quality public education for all.
The only political mechanism American workers have ever had to address this is the labor movement and that is why most Americans should care about the fate of the labor movement, whether they are in a union or not.
So come on out this Saturday and stand with the American labor movement. The new Robber Barons of the Trump era can only prevail if we let them divide us. United, we can fight back and win a better future. [Read more…]
Legislation co-sponsored by San Diego Congressman Rep. Scott Peters has drawn the ire of civil rights organizations and advocates for the disabled. On Thursday as the House of Representatives passed the ADA Education and Reform Act (HR 620) by a 225-to-192 vote, with 12 Democrats joining all but 19 Republicans.
Supporters of the bill claim it is a reasonable reform aimed at stopping bad actors from abusing the law for personal gain. Opponents claim it limits the power of the Americans with Disabilities Act and turns back the clock on disability rights.
At issue is a change in the language currently requiring ‘providing access’ to making ‘substantial progress.’ This may seem like small potatoes to some, but for those who are wheelchair bound and still seeing access problems three decades after the original ADA was enacted, it’s a big deal. [Read more…]
By Jessica Corbett / Common Dreams
In response to a series of lawsuits aimed at holding the oil giant to account for its climate crimes, ExxonMobil is taking “a bare-knuckle approach rarely seen in legal disputes” by threatening and filing countersuits against those who have sued them.
ExxonMobil “has targeted at least 30 people and organizations, including the attorneys general of New York and Massachusetts, hitting them with suits, threats of suits, or demands for sworn depositions,” based upon claims that “the lawyers, public officials, and environmental activists are ‘conspiring’ against it in a coordinated legal and public relations campaign,” Bloomberg reports. [Read more…]
The first associations that come to mind when someone says “Black Panthers“ are not likely to be items connected to health care. But in practice, the bulk of activity of the Panthers was related to the health and well-being of the community. Self-defense was a critical, but small part of daily affairs; health clinics, meal programs and education were the core elements. [Read more…]
News accounts of an arrest where a San Diego Police officer was punched in the face on Saturday, February 3, didn’t tell the whole story.
Video of the punching incident furnished by Irate Productions to the Southwestern Sun college newspaper show another, more disturbing, version of what happened.
While I think it’s always a bad idea to punch somebody with a badge and a gun, the video shows the officer (who has yet to be named) starting the confrontation by hitting with a police baton Frederick Jefferson as he backs away. And the incident was completely unrelated to what was going on that day in Chicano Park. Also, there was no ‘violence’ at the rallies. [Read more…]
There are thirty-eight events of interest to activists in San Diego over the next ten days. It’s safe to say the pace and intensity of progressive politics have not lessened as we enter into year two of Cadet Bone Spurs.
I have a few observations about our County so-called government to share before you get to the good stuff:
First Amendment eff up. Journalist Kelly Davis has worked diligently over the past few years exposing injustices in local government. The County of San Diego didn’t take kindly to her (along with Dave Maass) exposés concerning (60!) jail deaths at the SD County Jail. So they decided to drag her into court to reveal her notes, interviews, and recordings from the award-winning CityBeat series. She’s off the hook, for now, thanks to a judge with common sense. But there’s still a chance the County government will appeal. Read about it here. [Read more…]
By Michael Steinberg /Black Rain Press
Diablo Canyon. The last of California’s nuclear power plants is on its way out.
The year began with a bang in Cali. Pretty much all the state’s major media outlets, as well as others across the nation, carried it as their lead story.
My personal favorite was this headline from the January 11, San Diego Union-Tribune: “Nuclear Power receives its death sentence in California: regulators vote to shut down Diablo Canyon.” This from a publication that once promoted itself as “the eyes and ears of the CIA!” [Read more…]
For years, those of us advocating for comprehensive immigration reform have heard the loudest objections be “no amnesty” or no reward for “illegals.” In objectors’ minds, this includes even those legalized by DACA — those who were brought here as children by their parents without documents. Those objectors say simply these immigrants “broke the law” and the only acceptable remedy is for them to return to their native countries — all 11 million of them.
When confronted by the total impracticality and immorality of this task, they have no answer. Trump’s repeated calls to “Build the Wall” and “Make Mexico Pay” are attractive to these folks because, for them, it’s not a question of practicality or even the billions of dollars’ in expense, but rather something else entirely.
In fact, there is something quite irrational about advocating for the blanket deportation of 11 million people, but it goes beyond that. There’s a viciousness to it. Candidate Trump has made it clear what kind of irrationality it is – racism at its core – when he coupled his demand for the wall with the demonizing of the Mexican people as a nation. He didn’t invent this stuff, but he made it a key rallying cry to his supporters who cheered and jeered in enthusiastic support all the way to his election and now during the current debate on a deal for immigrant youth under DACA. [Read more…]
The construction of Pipeline 3602 (PL 3602) prolongs antiquated and maladaptive technology that flies in the face of reason. This project is being pushed by purely profit-motivated business executives trapped in the past. Their primary concern is certainly not the welfare of San Diegans.
The consensus of 15,000 scientists worldwide is that we have limited time to substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions or we jeopardize our very existence. We must begin a radical decline in carbon emissions by no later than 2020 to have any chance of preventing the worst effects of climate change. That radical decline entails, among other things, stopping any new infrastructure that perpetuates the fossil fuel economy. This includes PL 3602.
Aside from the climate effects of facilitating burning more fossil fuels, building PL 3602 would be expensive and put peoples’ health at increased risk because of the effects on air quality from burning natural gas. And the proposed alternate routes would infringe upon our precious open space. [Read more…]
Immigration Leader Rep. Luis Gutiérrez’s presence at San Diego State University for a “Defend the Dream” rally on Friday is coming at a time when the future for participants in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program looks bleaker by the day.
Congressman Gutiérrez, the co-chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus’ Immigration and Border Issues Task Force, along with Ammar Campa-Najjar, a Democratic candidate in CA50, will be urging Congress to immediately remove the threat of deportation for nearly 800,000 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients.
Rep. Gutiérrez is the Capitol’s most outspoken advocate for a DACA “fix”, which has been delayed and deferred throughout a series of short-term spending resolutions by Congress. Nearly 30% of DACA recipients reside in California and, according to Alliance San Diego, 40,000 residents of San Diego County are DACA-eligible or DACA recipients. [Read more…]
I have no scandals to report on today. No political outrages that can’t wait. Instead, I want to pass along some success stories.
From Chicano Park to the Jacobs Center to Mission Valley and beyond, people stood up for noble causes and dedicated themselves to continued political action. There’s more to politics than working for a win in elections; community activism, education, and coalition-building go a long way toward getting desired results at the ballot box and improving opportunity. [Read more…]
