One down, three more to go. The Real News’ Aaron Maté and Mike Hudema of Greenpeace Canada discuss TransCanada’s recent cancellation of the Energy East tar sands pipeline. The future outlook of the ongoing struggles against the Keystone XL pipeline, Enbridge’s Line Three Replacement and the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline in British Columbia is considered in light of the Energy East cancellation. [Read more…]
Notions of Love Rising Out of the Darkness in Las Vegas
I just left Vegas a few days ago, with very fresh memories of how loud and all aglow it was, which makes it particulary difficult for me, in these moments, to fathom a man mowing down people who are having a good time as though they were foes on a battlefield.
Such a tragedy tears at your heart and it came at a time when we Americans are already suffering as we seem to be spinning aimlessly away from embracing each other as fellow citizens.
Like, for example, the situation with NFL players, of all people, who kneeled on one knee, before us and the world, when our anthem was being played to bring awareness to the ongoing racism people of color face – and, instead of “we the people” condemning the injustice these citizen-athletes highlighted, we yelled at them and booed them and called them un-American when protesting is about as American as being an American can be. [Read more…]
Pregnant Woman Released from Detention; Questions Remain About ICE Policy
By Edward Sifuentes
After more than 40 days in an immigration detention facility, Maria Solis, an Oceanside pregnant mother, was released to her family on September 12.
Solis, who has had a history of difficult pregnancies, was in such fear for the health of her unborn baby that after weeks of detention she requested to be deported to her native Mexico – rather than risk another day incarcerated.
Calls for her release garnered widespread community support, including help from MomsRising, a nonprofit advocacy organization concerned with issues affecting mothers and families. [Read more…]
Kevin’s Katrina – The ‘Good News’ Flows As the Homeless Crisis Grows – Progressive Activist Calendar September 29-October 9, 2017
If you happen to live in or visit one of the neighborhoods surrounding the East Village, you’ve no doubt noticed an influx of homeless humans in the past few days.
San Diego’s been getting an increasing amount of negative publicity about the epidemic of Hepatitis A. Based on what I’ve seen this week, the City’s response has been two-fold:
SANDAG Reform Bill Now on Governor’s Desk
By David Harris / SanDiego350
A bill to reform the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) has made its way past both houses of the State legislature and now awaits the Governor’s signature. AB 805, introduced and sponsored by Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher, would change the structure and voting process of the SANDAG Board of Directors. The Board consists of elected officials from 18 cities and the County.
Gonzalez-Fletcher held a press conference this past week to urge the Governor to sign her bill. The legislator was joined by San Diego Councilmember Chris Ward as well as councilmembers from Encinitas and National City. Gonzalez-Fletcher was surrounded by two dozen supporters, including members of the Quality of Life Coalition, Environmental Health Coalition, and SanDiego350.
Kicking off the “presser” in front of the downtown State building, Gonzalez-Fletcher explained her reasons for stepping into the breach. “So many of us have been frustrated for years by a system of government that has been non-responsive to so many of our communities. And it comes from a structural issue, we don’t have a representative government [body]…as a result the ten smallest cities have veto power over transportation needs and planning for the entire region.”
Councilmember Ward emphasized the City of San Diego’s perspective: the City has roughly half of the county population yet limited voting power. “The reforms offered by AB 805 will make SANDAG a stronger and more responsive and effective agency,” Ward said, “We need critical investments in regional transit and other planning decisions. We can’t get there if we don’t have as much of a voice as the smaller cities…we can’t get there without restoring the broken trust between the public and SANDAG.” [Read more…]
Proposal Pairing Convention Center Expansion and Homeless Funding Gets a Thumbs Down From PANA
The Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans (PANA) today became the second community organization to reject a proposal supporting convention center expansion in return for funding for affordable housing and homeless services.
Alliance San Diego issued a statement on Tuesday condemning the plan, saying “This crisis needs a dedicated response, not one tied to the fate of a major development as part of a ballot measure that may or may not win in an election.”
According to an article in the Voice of San Diego, organizations from a cross-section of political interests met last week for a discussion on possible emergency ballot measures proposed for the June 2018 primary ballot. [Read more…]
President’s Third Attempt at a Muslim Ban Condemned
A Statement from Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans (PANA)
President Donald Trump buried on a Sunday afternoon announcement of his new travel restrictions on visitors primarily from Muslim-majority countries just as the key portion of his prior travel ban was due to expire. This is the third time the administration has attempted the ban. In this iteration, there is no end date; its restrictions have no time limit, making it more insidious than prior versions.
The new ban places various entry bans on immigrant visas for people from eight countries: Chad, Libya, Yemen, Iran, North Korea, Syria, Somalia, and very limited Venezuelans. Sudan is no longer included in the ban. It goes into effect immediately for people from the six Muslim-majority countries (Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen), and in mid-October for those from Chad (also majority-Muslim), North Korea, and Venezuela. [Read more…]
Will San Diego State Take Provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos’ Bait?
After sticking the University of California at Berkeley with an estimated $800,000 security tab for a non-event, right-wing activist Milo Yiannopoulos is reportedly set to appear at San Diego State University in late October, according to the Daily Aztec. I’m suspicious about this announcement by the State College Republicans, who are promising an event at Montezuma Hall even though they have not completed the steps needed to be recognized as a student organization.
Multiple media outlets are reporting the canceled-at-the-last-minute ‘Free Speech Week’ was orchestrated by the alt-right firebrand to defame UC Berkeley and, in fact, doomed from the start.
During a Facebook Live stream following the cancellation of the Berkeley event, Yiannopoulos announced three future California appearances as part of his “Troll Academy” tour: on Oct. 25 at Cal State Bakersfield, Oct. 29 at San Diego State and Oct. 31 at Cal State Fullerton. [Read more…]
Lessons from Naomi Klein: Learning How to Resist Trump’s Shock Politics – Part Two
Last week, I discussed what I see as the first central lesson of Naomi Klein’s new book, No Is Not Enough: Resisting Trump’s Shock Politics and Winning the World We Need—that Donald Trump represents nothing new in American politics but rather, is the logical extension of decades of terrible ideas and policies. Today I’ll focus on the second key lesson of Klein’s work.
Neoliberal Incrementalism Brought to You by Democrats Is Not Enough:On this point, Klein is refreshingly clear-sighted: the window that is open for significant change is closing. As she notes, “In short, climate change detonates the ideological scaffolding on which contemporary conservatism rests. To admit that the climate crisis is real is to admit the end of the neoliberal project.” But, she argues, too many on the left side of American politics just don’t get it.
Why Does the Colorado River Need to Sue For Rights?
By Will Falk
On Tuesday, September 26, the Colorado River will sue the State of Colorado in a first-in-the-nation lawsuit requesting that the United States District Court in Denver recognize the river’s rights of nature. These rights include the rights to exist, flourish, regenerate, and naturally evolve. To enforce these rights, the Colorado River will also request that the court grant the river “personhood” and standing to sue in American courts.
Four of my comrades in the international environmental organization Deep Green Resistance and I, are serving as “next friends” to the Colorado River. We are represented by the noted civil rights attorney Jason Flores-Williams who is based in Denver. Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund is serving as advisors in the case.
The term “as next friends” is a legal concept that means we have signed on to the lawsuit as fiduciaries or guardians of the river. Under current law, the Colorado River is not “legally competent” and, so needs “next friends” to ensure her rights are protected. A “next friend” is someone who appears in court in place of another who is not competent to do so – like a minor or someone with a mental disability. My role, as next friend to the Colorado River, is to protect the river’s rights.
We recently released a press release that has been widely shared on social media. National media outlets are beginning to take notice. And, we’re getting interviews, receiving email inquiries, and responding to online comments. So far, the most common question is: Why does the Colorado River need rights? [Read more…]
Homeless Tents for La Jolla and Rancho Penasquitos? Progressive Activist Calendar September 22-30, 2017
The consequences of years of neglect are now giving America’s Finest City’s reputation a beating as San Diego’s homeless crisis continues to unfold.
The Hepatitis A epidemic, long predicted as a consequence of the city’s failure to recognize the necessity of public restroom facilities, has claimed 16 lives and over 400 hundred people have fallen ill with the disease.
I don’t think the Mayor and his advisors get it yet. Given that his office has time to play political games with this situation, perhaps it’s time to start some serious advocacy for tents in some neighborhoods with enough clout to be heard at City Hall.
Maybe it’s time to start discussing tents for Ranchos Penasquitos, La Jolla, maybe even Kensington, somewhere up near Chamber CEO and former Mayor Jerry Sanders’ home. [Read more…]
Follow The Money to Understand Graham-Cassidy. Use Your Heart to Stop It.
Facts don’t matter when it comes to the Graham-Cassidy ‘get rid of Obamacare’ scheme. But feelings do.
They had seven-plus years to come up with a plan. The best the Republicans could do earlier this year was to create underfunded versions of the Affordable Care Act. Facing a September 30th deadline for getting a bill passed using 51 votes, they have opted to blow up the law entirely.
Just about every organization having contact with humans needing healthcare services has come out against Graham-Cassidy. Multiple analyses have all reached the same conclusion, namely that this legislation will cause harm.
But in the end, it may turn out that an emotional plea by late-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel will be the thing creating the wave stopping this diabolical nightmare. [Read more…]
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