Remember when heads of state spoke in measured phrases representing considered thoughts and ideas? Here’s a reminder: some highlights of our previous POTUS delivering the 2018 Nelson Mandela lecture in Johannesburg on July 17th. The full transcript is available at NPR here. [Read more…]
On Vidkum Quisling’s Birthday, Reflections on Defeating a Trump-Putin Alliance
“Yay! I get to vote!” isn’t much consolation to somebody living in a tent.
The statements and actions of the President of the United States of America continue to dominate the news following his acquiescence to the ambitions of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Those who have proclaimed the uproar over hell freezing over in Helsinki as a turning point (the ‘last straw’ seems to be a popular euphemism) fail to acknowledge Trumps many enablers. There will be no miracle. The Trump train will continue to roll.
The path for progressives and people with good intentions worldwide is to see Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin as two sides of the same coin. And to understand that a restoration of any of the trappings of traditional Western Democracy cannot occur with a fundamental reorganization of the economy. [Read more…]
Russian Spy Maria Butina, Donald Trump, the NRA, and Republican Politicians at All Levels
By Mark Sumner / Daily Kos
On Monday, Russian pro-gun activist and lifetime NRA member Maria Butina, was arrested on charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States and acting as a covert agent of the Russian government.
The indictment against Butina, on the same day that Donald Trump so weakly acquiesced to Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, came after years in which the Russian agent openly presented herself as a gateway between Republican causes and Russia. During that time she not only supported the candidacy of Trump, but worked with other prominent members of the GOP, promoted Republican visits to Moscow, and secured pro-Russian statements from right-wing politicians up and down the line.
Butina has been a prominent and vocal presence in the link between the National Rifle Association and Russian pro-gun groups. But she has also inserted herself into other lobbying efforts, both for guns and for Russia. That includes open claims that she was a conduit between the Russian government and the campaign of Donald Trump. [Read more…]
Short-Term Rentals Get a Short Leash from San Diego’s City Council
After 5 plus hours of public testimony, a bi-partisan majority of the San Diego City Council today, Monday, July 16, halted Mayor Faulconer’s proposal on short-term vacation rentals and approved by a vote of 6 to 3 Councilwoman Barbara Bry’s proposal to limit the rentals to “primary residence” and onsite granny flat.
In the end, 4 Democrats (Bry, Myrtle Cole, Georgette Gomez, Chris Ward ) and 2 Republicans (Lorie Zapf and Mark Kersey) voted for the so-called “Bry Proposal”. In essence, the Bry plan limits short-term rentals to the primary residence – and if there’s an accessory unit, a so-called “granny flat” – the host is allowed to rent that out as well, as that still meets the requirement for the host to be on the property during the visit.
Faulconer’s proposal went down on a 3 to 6 vote, with only Cate, Sherman and Kersey voting for it. [Read more…]
27 Things You Need to Know About Mueller’s Latest Indictments
By James Dunlap / Facebook
Ok, so I’ve actually sat down and read the entire 29-page Mueller indictment (PDF) against the 12 Russian intelligence officers, and it is totally insane. I literally can’t believe the scope of this thing. I’m making this status public (i.e., shareable) because people need to know about this shit.
There is no way you can read the actual indictment and not conclude that
1) there WAS a RUSSIAN conspiracy;
2) that the scope of that conspiracy was GARGANTUAN;
3) that it was organized BY THE RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT (i.e., there’s no way Putin didn’t know about this);
4) That people connected to the Trump campaign (and, shockingly, other U.S. Gov’t officials) WERE INVOLVED; and
5) this is just the beginning.
If Mueller has already uncovered this amount of information with such specificity regarding the goings-on in far-away Russia, there’s NO WAY some serious shit isn’t going to hit the fan going forward right here in the U.S.
So, without further ado, here are the highlights: [Read more…]
Building Trust With Police is Like Trying to Assemble a Jigsaw Puzzle
“Trust is the Issue” was one of our rallying cries at the City Council’s Rules Committee meeting Wednesday.
And the committee came through, voting 3-2 to pass the idea of creating a Commission on Police Practices on to the full Council.
That sounds hopeful to me but trying to build trust with the police in San Diego, for communities of color, has been like trying to assemble a jigsaw puzzle. One with too many pieces – due to years of bad history.
My own history with the San Diego police goes back to when I arrived in town in 1962, my first Sunday here, shooting hoops with some guys at Mountain View Park until a few cops barge in on our fun: “Looking for some burglars.” [Read more…]
A Blight of White Fright Infects the United States
I can’t let another day go by without saying something about the increasing number of incidents being reported of intimidation and abuse being directed at people of color in the United States.
White people acting out their racism isn’t anything new. But cellphone cameras have been around for long enough to tell us these confrontations are on the increase. Anybody who thinks they can separate what’s happening on the local level from the tone set by our nation’s leadership needs to stop watching Fox News.
These incidents aren’t likely to make it into statistics about hate crimes (up 17% last year in California), especially the outbursts and racist rants happening without law enforcement witnesses or participants. [Read more…]
The Coming Supreme Court’s Taint of Illegitimacy
By Bill Adams / UrbDeZine
The circumstances underlying the creation of a strongly conservative Supreme Court for decades may have earned this Court the taint of illegitimacy. Here’s how it went awry.
The “One Person, One Vote” principle is strong in the consciousness of the American Public. It arises from fundamental notions of fairness, equality, and democracy. These notions arise from the spirit of the U.S. Constitution, even if the document itself is less direct in support of the One Person, One Vote principle. In addition to the high-minded ideals of freedom and equality, the U.S. Constitution was born of compromises arising from practical considerations such as wooing slave states into the new union.
Now we have arrived at a perfect storm of factors to subvert the will of the people. It is the result of the distrust of direct democracy embedded in the Constitution combining with undemocratic intent. The majority is ruled by the minority. There has been a massive abrogation of the One Person, One Vote principle. We are now rated as a “flawed democracy,” 21st among democratic countries in the company of Italy, Botswana, and Mexico. [Read more…]
Rewriting Reality: My Edits to Pruitt’s Resignation Letter
When I read Scott Pruitt’s obsequious resignation letter, I felt like I was living an upside-down, maniacal, nightmarish reality. It was horrifying to know this longtime adversary of the EPA was leading this same agency. My mind was staggered anew when I read in his resignation letter that he felt his service to Trump was divined by God.
His service was at absolute odds with everything we know about climate change and the affects it will have on my child and on future generations. His role was to pay attention to facts, and to heed the warnings of climate scientists, so as to protect U.S. citizens. Instead, he dismantled environmental regulations with fervor.
Rather than jump into a six-pack, which was my first inclination upon reading his letter, I fantasized an alternative reality where Pruitt admitted the follies of his actions. If he could devise a freakish alternative reality where climate change doesn’t exist and God backs this assertion, certainly I am entitled to imagine that the former head of the EPA admits he should have protected the environment.
Strangely, rewriting Pruitt’s resignation letter made me feel much better. [Read more…]
August 26, 2018: A National Day of Action Opposing Trump’s Supreme Court Nominee
By Julia Conley / Common Dreams
While President Donald Trump said Tuesday morning that the nomination process for his Supreme Court pick Brett Kavanaugh would be a “beautiful thing to watch” over the coming weeks, progressive advocacy groups say they will leverage their collective political will—and the tens of millions of their outraged members—to stand against the president’s far-right and extremist choice.
Calling Trump’s nomination of Kavanaugh a “five-alarm fire,” NARAL Pro-Choice America, MoveOn.org, Color of Change, and other groups announced a mass mobilization against the right-wing judge’s confirmation, including a nationwide day of action planned for August 26. [Read more…]
The State of Hate in California – Three Consecutive Years of Double Digit Increases
The California Department of Justice released its annual report on hate crimes reported in 2017 on Monday, July 9. Local law enforcement agencies reported 1,093 hate crimes last year, a more than 17% increase from 2016, which was an 11% increase over 2015.
San Diego County had the second highest statewide total of reported hate crimes with 95 events, 121 offenses, 114 victims, and 82 suspects apprehended. Los Angeles County (with three times the population) was California’s biggest hotbed of hate, with 419 incidents.
A hate crime, as defined by the state, is a crime against a person, group, or property motivated by the victim’s real or perceived protected social group. The data included in the report does not include hate incidents, defined as is an action or behavior motivated by hate but legally protected by the First Amendment right to freedom of expression. [Read more…]
Can Trump Really Pardon Himself? | Video Worth Watching
Vox’s Danush Parvaneh ruminates on the question of whether a president has the ability to self-pardon. Note that one of the checks discussed is the judicial system, ultimately the Supreme Court. How about that as another reason for demanding no nominations until the Mueller investigation is concluded. [Read more…]
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