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The Time the German Football Club Didn’t Give Nazi Salute

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***Update at end of article ***

The following article appeared in the Advocate Newspaper from Burnie Australia on January 9, 1934. The football field and other sport venues have long been a politicized space.

While we seldom think further back than to Tommie Smith and Juan Carlos raising a fist at the 1968 Olympics game, it should come as no surprise that the exertion of raw institutional power in sports— nationalistic as well as racialized, and I would also add gender based, is not particularly new or only an American occurrence.   [Read more…]

ACLU Documents Show Widespread Abuse of Child Immigrants in U.S. Custody

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New Report Is Based on Thousands of Government Documents Obtained Through the Freedom of Information Act That Detail Horrific Stories

By ACLU of San Diego and Imperial Counties

Documents obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union featured in a new report released today show the pervasive abuse and neglect of unaccompanied immigrant children detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The report was produced in conjunction with the International Human Rights Clinic at the University of Chicago Law School.

“These documents provide a glimpse into a federal immigration enforcement system marked by brutality and lawlessness,” said Mitra Ebadolahi, ACLU Border Litigation Project staff attorney. “All human beings deserve to be treated with dignity and respect regardless of their immigration status — and children, in particular, deserve special protection. The misconduct demonstrated in these records is breathtaking, as is the government’s complete failure to hold officials who abuse their power accountable. The abuse that takes place by government officials is reprehensible and un-American.”   [Read more…]

Looking Back: Omar Passons, D4 Supervisor Candidate – Policy Wonk With a Heart of Gold

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Editor’s Note: Starting Line columnist Doug Porter is taking a few days off. Since he’s spent the last six months flogging the importance of the County of San Diego primaries (last day to vote is June 5), we’re reprinting some of his early observations. Updated parts of these stories are in red. 

Omar Passons is a first-time Democratic candidate running for termed-out Supervisor Ron Roberts seat. The retiring Republican held that office since 1995, managing to get re-elected each time despite Democrats outnumbering Republicans in his district 2 to 1.

He’s a construction/land-use attorney lawyer and long-time North Park community activist running a campaign based more on ideas than partisanship.   [Read more…]

What Do You Get When You Mix Old-Style Russian Fascism and New Facebook-Style Technology? | Video Worth Watching

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From the Big Think YouTube website:

Yale University Professor Timothy Snyder gives a crash course in Ivan Ilyin’s philosophy of fascism and explains why this worldview is so appealing to Putin: it defines freedom as knowing your set place in society, asserts that democracy is a ritual and not a reality, and maintains that there are no facts in the world. Perhaps the most fascinating part of this is how new technology—like Facebook—is turning old fascism into political warfare.

  [Read more…]

Looking Back: Nathan Fletcher, Candidate for D4 Supervisor – Build a Coalition for Change

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Editor’s Note: Starting Line columnist Doug Porter is taking a few days off. Since he’s spent the last six months flogging the importance of the County of San Diego primaries (last day to vote is June 5), we’re reprinting some of his early observations. Updated parts of these stories are in red. 

Democrat and former Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher is running for termed-out Supervisor Ron Roberts seat in District 4. The outgoing Republican held that office since 1995, managing to get re-elected each time despite Democrats outnumbering Republicans his district 2 to 1.

Fletcher dropped out of politics a few years ago after a couple of angst-filled losses while taking flack for switching political parties. Most recently he was working for Qualcomm and teaching a class at UCSD. The urge to serve returned along with a long-term opportunity to end the GOP’s monopoly at the County level.   [Read more…]

A Voter App for San Diego Progressives Now Available

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A regular reader of this column has developed an app allowing voters to compare side by side recommendations of five organizations, make a choice, and generate a list to help in filling out the ballot.

The five groups included are San Diego Free Press (yay!), Democrats for Equality, the San Diego Democratic Party, Equality California, and Planned Parenthood. Further info on candidates and ballot measures, sans recommendations, is available via the SD Indivisible Voter Guide link on the left side of the page.   [Read more…]

As Monsanto Glyphosate Case Moves to Trial, Man Dying of Cancer Gets Day in Court

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By Jessica Corbett / Common Dreams

A California man dying of cancer will soon become the first person ever to take agrochemical giant Monsanto to trial over allegations that the company has concealed findings that glyphosate, the active ingredient in the company’s popular weedkiller Roundup, causes cancer.

Before DeWayne Johnson, a 46-year-old father of three, was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma at the age of 42, he worked for a school district in California, “where his responsibilities included direct application of Roundup and RangerPro, another Monsanto glyphosate product, to school properties,” according to his “landmark” lawsuit (pdf).

“Monsanto does not want the truth about Roundup and cancer to become public,” Johnson’s attorney, Michael Miller, told the Guardian. “We look forward to exposing how Monsanto hid the risk of cancer and polluted the science.”   [Read more…]

Stacey Abrams Makes History With Georgia Win | Video Worth Watching

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From the MSNBC YouTube page:

Stacey Abrams is the first African-American woman nominated for Governor of a major party in the USA. If Abrams wins in November she will be the nation’s first black woman governor. She gave a powerful victory speech Tuesday.

  [Read more…]

The Use and Abuse of Police Authority in San Diego

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If you think this story is just about people with badges doing bad things, think again. There’s plenty of blame to go around, including people who might normally be excluded from ‘the usual suspects.’

We have great candidates challenging the current County Sheriff and District Attorney. Their campaigns reflect the growing public desire to make the ‘Justice’ part of the Criminal Justice System an equal partner.

The institutions charged with protecting people and administering justice are, all-too-often, ailing–infected with racism, plagued by cronyism, and paralyzed by self-interest. Sworn personnel are expected to be enforcers of perceived class privilege by those benefitting from such advantages.   [Read more…]

Images of Obama and Filner Invoked as Primary Campaigns Get Down and Dirty

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The intensity of political campaigning is rising as Californians have one week of mailing in ballots behind them.

Advertising aimed at creating uncertainty in those who don’t follow politics closely, along with messaging featuring deceptive claims is flooding airwaves and filling mailboxes.

The absentee vote tracker at PoliticalData.com, using information from the San Diego County Voter Registrar’s office, says roughly 10% of those receiving absentee ballots in the region had been returned as of Thursday, May 17.   [Read more…]

Re-Electing Alicia Munoz & Rick Shea to the San Diego County Board of Education Matters

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These two down-ballot races will help determine the course of San Diego’s public education system for years to come.

Last week, after I wrote about the billionaire boys club behind the California Charter Schools Association pouring millions of dollars into Antonio Villaraigosa’s bid for governor, even more cash flowed into their campaign war chest the very next day.  

As the New York Post reported:

Mike Bloomberg has plopped down $1.5 million to help elect former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa as California’s next governor.

Bloomberg wrote the seven-figure check to a PAC called Families & Teachers for Villaraigosa, a big supporter of charter schools.

That’s a big issue for Bloomberg, who championed charter schools as an option for students during his three terms as New York City’s mayor.

  [Read more…]

A Net Neutrality Vote in the House of Representatives Needs a Push from You

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By Ernesto Falcon / Common Dreams

The United States Senate has voted to overturn the FCC and restore net neutrality protections, the fate of that measure currently rests in the House of Representatives. While many will think that the uphill battle there makes it a lost cause, that is simply not true. Together, we have the power to win in the House of Representatives.

Now that the Senate has officially voted 52-47 to reverse the FCC’s so-called “Restoring Internet Freedom Order”  under an expedited procedure known as the Congressional Review Act (CRA). It is now pending a vote in the House of Representatives. And while many will incorrectly assume since House Republican leadership has expressed their opposition to ever voting on net neutrality, nothing will come of it, the wishes of the leadership are frankly irrelevant.

What actually matters is whether 218 members of the House of Representatives from either party want to vote to protect net neutrality through a process called a “discharge petition.”   [Read more…]

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