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Iraq Should be a Much Bigger Part of McCain’s Legacy Than His ‘Civility’

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The “straight talk” people praise McCain for is actually what most of them can’t stand about politicians: They say noble words but cast ignoble votes.

By Peter Certo / OtherWords

In the last days of his life, an old video of John McCain surfaced on the internet.

It’s 2008. He’s running for president and fielding questions from voters in Minnesota. A middle-aged woman takes the microphone.

“I can’t trust Obama,” she complains of McCain’s Democratic opponent. “He’s an Arab.”

The Arizona Republican shakes his head. Obama is “a decent family man and citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with,” McCain retorts. And adds: “He’s not [an Arab].”

Standing up for a rival was classic McCain, many believed, and his handling of the incident got praise at the time. No wonder it’s circulating again now, after a later presidential candidate made that woman’s slanderous race-baiting look tame.

Still, too few people asked: Do real Arabs not make “decent family men” or citizens? Can one not have principled “disagreements” with them?   [Read more…]

September 8 Global Mobilization Demands ‘Fast and Fair Transition to 100% Renewable Energy for All’

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By Jake Johnson / Common Dreams

Change only happens when people rise up to demand it.”

That is one of the principal rallying cries of environmentalists around the world who are gearing up for a historic mobilization aimed at highlighting the devastating effects the climate crisis is already having on vulnerable communities—and demanding a just transition to a world without fossil fuels.

“At the core of the fight to tackle the climate crisis is a concern for protecting communities and families—we need to accelerate to a renewable energy world without leaving behind the people who build the economy and power this inevitable transition,” noted 350.org, one of the groups that helped organize the 500 Rise for Climate events in over 70 countries, which are set to take place next Saturday.   [Read more…]

Deep Dark Secrets – Opening Statement by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) on the Kavanaugh Hearings | Video Worth Watching

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Senator Sheldon Whitehouse’s opening remarks at the Senate hearings on the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh include an observation that the selection process and support for Kavanaugh has been a deep dark secret. He notes that the White House “in-sourced” the selection process to the Federalist Society. That process was opaque to any public observation. His nomination is being promoted, to the tune of millions of dollars, by organizations such as the Judicial Crisis Network, whose funding is also a deep dark secret. And a significant portion of his record is being hidden by claims of Executive Privilege. Is this any way to select a lifetime appointment to the highest court of the land?

The full transcript of Sen. Whitehouse’s remarks from his website are included below the video. To listen to the entire remarks, after the excerpt finishes, click on the replay icon in the lower-left corner of the video.   [Read more…]

Lousy Labor Day News Coverage, Kavanaugh, Bail Bonds, and Kaepernick | Short Takes

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**Labor Day came and went, and our revived local daily newspaper managed to get through it without coverage about the non-management side of the workplace.

**Hearings for Donald Trump’s latest nominee for the Supreme Court begin today. It’s going to be contentious; Democrats have no actual leverage to slow the ascent of a nominee so challenged that the Senate’s Majority leader privately advised against this nomination.

**The drive to eliminate cash bail in California has spawned the latest in a series of political efforts to maintain the status quo in the criminal justice system, namely that pre-trial detention is based on the premise of some people being more equal than others.

**Not that they need any help in this area, but former 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick and Nike are rattling the far right’s hive.   [Read more…]

Victory! California Passes Net Neutrality Bill

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By Katharine Trendacosta / Electronic Frontier Foundation

California’s net neutrality bill, S.B. 822 has received a majority of votes in the Senate and is heading to the governor’s desk. In this fight, ISPs with millions of dollars to spend lost to the voice of the majority of Americans who support net neutrality. This is a victory that can be replicated.

ISPs like Verizon, AT&T, and Comcast hated this bill. S.B. 822 bans blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization, classic ways that companies have violated net neutrality principles. It also incorporates much of what the FCC learned and incorporated into the 2015 Open Internet Order, preventing new assaults on the free and open Internet. This includes making sure companies can’t circumvent net neutrality at the point of interconnection within the state of California. It also prevents companies from using zero rating—the practice of not counting certain apps or services against a data limit—in a discriminatory way. That is to say that, say, there could be a plan where all media streaming services were zero-rated, but not one where just one was. One that had either paid for the privilege or one owned by the service provider. In that respect, it’s a practice much like discriminatory paid prioritization, where ISPs create fast lanes for those who can pay or for other companies they own.   [Read more…]

Update on Prison Strike Demanding End of “Slave Labor”: After 10 Days, Protests Spread to 11 States | Video Worth Watching

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From the Democracy Now! YouTube channel, an update on the nationwide prison strike: Prisoners across the country join work stoppages, hunger strikes and commissary boycotts in at least 11 states to protest prison conditions and demand the end of what they call “prison slavery.” Organizers report prisoners in South Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Indiana are […]

With Labored Breath: The Polluted Legacy of the Steel Mills

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For the children of steel

The Atlantic recently ran an article about the long term impacts of the now largely defunct steel industry in Braddock, Pennsylvania. Braddock resident Tony Buba has produced a short documentary about the environmental racism that has created an overlooked health crisis among residents in the area, particularly among African Americans who were segregated in neighborhoods closest to the mills. The incidences of cancer and lung disease are shocking.

For those of us who lived in any one of the mill towns dotting the Monongahela River (Mon Valley) in southwestern Pennsylvania and lost loved ones to those diseases, the statistics are heartbreaking. The Trump administration’s attempts to roll back EPA air pollution standards and bring back asbestos are enraging.   [Read more…]

Lessons for Labor Day 2018: Solidarity Works!

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It has been the worst of times and the best of times for the American Labor Movement in 2018.  

Economic inequality has continued to spiral out of control as policy coming out of Washington, DC designed to tilt the scales in favor of the rich and corporations weakened the rights of working Americans at every turn. At the Supreme Court level, anti-labor justices joined the assault against labor and undermined public sector unions’ rights to collect dues.  This, combined with a tax bill that radically redistributed wealth upward and paved the way for new austerity measures aimed at gutting Social Security and Medicare, had some pundits sounding the death knell for unions and the legacy of the New Deal.

But in the midst of all this dire news, a funny thing happened: workers fought back in the unlikeliest of places.  West Virginia, Arizona, and Oklahoma were hit by massive teacher strikes and huge protests demanding higher pay for educators, better conditions for students, and an end to the underfunding of public education.  

They shocked the world and won.     [Read more…]

Childish Gambino – Feels Like Summer | Another Video Worth Watching

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Childish Gambino has released a new animated music video celebrating Summer. It features a number of imagined celebrity appearances including Kanye West, apparently remorseful about recent comments, being consoled by Michelle Obama. More details at this TMZ article.   [Read more…]

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s ‘Delivery’ from the Stephen Schwartz Musical ‘Working’ based on the Writing of Studs Terkel | Video Worth Watching

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Here’s a little something for Labor Day. The stage musical Working is based on the work of Studs Terkel and premiered on Broadway in 1978 with music by Stephen Schwartz and Nina Faso. Over the years it has grown and evolved and includes new material created by new composers such as James Taylor and Lin-Manuel Miranda, whose work was first featured in 2009. Much of the new work was unavailable as a recording until last March. Here’s one of Miranda’s contributions that was released as part of that offering: “Delivery”.   [Read more…]

Looking Back at the Week: August 26-September 1

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This week’s edition of Looking Back at the Week contains articles, commentaries, columns, and other work by San Diego Free Press regulars, irregulars, columnists, at-large contributors, and locally and nationally sourced writers on Deplorable Kalasho, refugee children still locked up, Senator McCain, Huncan Dunter’s support, wage inequality, Dr. Jen Campbell, Deep State tales, and lots of other grassroots news & progressive views from San Diego’s feisty, all volunteer, slightly funky, community news site.   [Read more…]

If You Ever Got Impeached – a Randy Rainbow Parody | Video Worth Watching

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Well, the “I” word is floating around out there now, so Randy Rainbow is here to check it out with the guy at the top! (Randy does drop one “F” bomb, so I guess this might be NSFW for language)   [Read more…]

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