CONTACT ADMINISTRATOR: admin@occupysf.net for questions about or contributions to this website.
City of San Francisco Democracy Operating System
https://app.democracyos.org/cityofsanfranciscodemocracyos
Friend us on Facebook at City of San Francisco Democracy Operating System
Occupy San Francisco GA Democracy Operating System
https://app.democracyos.org/occupysanfrancisco
Friend us on Facebook at Occupy San Francisco Democracy Operating System
GlobalRevolt
Published on Oct 14, 2010
Pearl Jam – Masters Of War on Letterman show. September 30, 2004
Come you masters of war
You that build all the guns
You that build the death planes
You that held all the guns
You that hide behind walls
You that hide behind desks
I just want you to know I can see through your masks
You that never done nothing
But to build to destroy
You play with my world
Like it’s your little toy
You put a drug in my head
Then you hide from my eyes
Then you turn and run following the fast foolish line
Like Judas of old
You lie and decieve
A world war can be won
You want me to believe
But I see through your eyes
And I see through your brain
Like I see through the water that runs down my drain
You that fasten all the triggers
For the others to fire
Then you sit back and watch
While the death count gets higher
You hide in your mansions
While young peoples blood
Flows out of their bodies and is buried in the mud
You’ve thrown the worst fear
That could ever be hurled
The fear to bring children
Into this world
For threatening my baby
Unborn and unnamed
You ain’t worth the blood that runs in your veins
How much do I know
To talk out of turn?
You might say that I’m young
You might say I’m unlearned
But there’s one thing I know
Though I’m younger than you
Even Jesus would never forgive what you do
Let me ask you one question
Is your money that good?
Will it buy you forgiveness?
Do you think that it could?
Oh I think you will find
When your death takes its toll
All the money you made will never buy back your soul
And I hope that you die
And your death’ll come soon
I’ll follow your casket
In the pale afternoon
And I’ll watch as you’re lowered
Into your deathbed
And I’ll stand on your grave till I’m sure that you’re dead
(Submitted by Gwyllm Llwydd.)
Despite regularly claiming new commitments to ‘green finance,’ the big banks continue to lend billions to the fossil fuel industry every year
In place of fossil fuel finance, investments should be redirected toward renewable energy, cleaner industry, and more sustainable agriculture, among other priorities. (Photo: Image via Stefan Bumbeck/7dvt.com)
A stark new United Nations climate report warns that humans have about 12 years to slash global emissions by nearly half. Unfortunately, that’s going to be extremely challenging without deep changes to the global financial system.
Despite regularly claiming new commitments to “green finance,” the big banks continue to lend billions to the fossil fuel industry every year—including for the most extreme climate-damaging activities, like exploiting tar sands oils and burning coal.
Continuing to invest in fossil fuels goes against all of the evidence about what needs to be done to tackle climate change. An estimated 80 percent or more of the world’s known fossil fuel reserves need to remain in the ground if we’re to have any chance of avoiding catastrophic consequences, like rising sea levels and melting glaciers.
In place of fossil fuel finance, investments should be redirected toward renewable energy, cleaner industry, and more sustainable agriculture, among other priorities. That requires reforms to the Fed and the breakup of the biggest banks.
The scale of this change can seem daunting. But in a new report for the Institute for Policy Studies, I’ve identified several priorities for achieving a more climate-friendly financial system.
Reform the Fed
The financial crisis laid bare the shortcomings of a system that was obsessed with “price stability” above all other factors. Since then, many central banks have revised their mandate to include the stability of the financial system as a whole. Some central bank leaders already interpret this to include broader social and environmental objectives, and it’s time for the Fed to step up and do the same.
Increase transparency
Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England, has repeatedly emphasized greater transparency on the potential impacts of climate change on the economy.
More frequent extreme weather events, such as Hurricane Florence or the past summer’s California wildfires, could have big impacts on property, trade and insurance premiums. Companies should be clear about how their business model would be affected by the transition to a cleaner economy. The international Financial Stability Board, established in response to the financial crisis, has suggested new global rules on climate transparency, which would be a good start.
Promote clear guidelines
In China, meanwhile, an interventionist central bank has played a key role in promoting green banking guidelines that prioritize loans for renewable energy and more efficient industry. The Fed should follow, while seeking to improve upon the patchy record of the People’s Bank of China in implementing its own policies
More radically, banks should impose a “credit ceiling” on fossil fuel investment, with a clear timeline for reducing this limit to zero. If the oil needs to stay in the ground, the money to extract it needs to stay in the vault.
Take lessons from abroad
From Bangladesh to Costa Rica, there are many instances of state-owned banks and financial institutions leading the way in clean energy investments. In Bangladesh, for example, a government-backed lending program, supported by grants and soft loans from multilateral agencies, has helped to install more than 3 million solar home systems in rural areas in little more than a decade as part of a “rent-to-own” scheme.
Other changes will need to come from the ground up, including through the re-emergence of local savings banks and cooperatives. In Germany, for example, local savings banks have successfully targeted renewable energy and efficiency programs in their own communities, as well as partnered with the country’s publicly owned development bank to ensure that its energy-lending is locally accountable. The rise of these smaller institutions, which are often non-profit and which sometimes have a social mission to serve disadvantaged communities, can also help turn the tide on the corrosive Wall Street culture that fed into the financial crisis.
Such changes are only likely to be achieved if there is a radical shake up in how banking works. Breaking up the “too big to fail” banks would be the most effective way to weaken the lobbying power of financial institutions with a vested interest in remaining the status quo. This would have not only climate benefits, but would also make for a more stable financial system.
Our economy—and our planet—depends on it.
ONE JOB SHOULD BE ENOUGH!
Marriott Hotel Strike – Workers have been walking the picket lines in this bad air quality. Please support them!
San Francisco Hotels ON STRIKE
From Local 2 :
Local 2 is striking at the 7 Marriott properties in San Francisco:
-Marriott Marquis at Mission and 4th
-Marriott Union Square at 480 Sutter St.
-Courtyard Marriott Downtown at 299 2nd St.
-St. Francis at Powell & Geary
-Palace at Market & New Montgomery
-St. Regis at 125 3rd St.
-W at 181 3rd St.
This is an open-ended strike, so we’ll be out until we win! Except for the Courtyard Downtown, all picket lines are 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. There is a Courtyard picket everyday, but just no overnight shift (10p-5a).
PLEASE JOIN THEM! The workers love to know that our labor and community allies have their back, and it lifts their spirits to see people besides their co-workers walk the line. We know that we never win alone!
It may go without saying, but the way Local 2 wins strikes is with loud, militant, non-stop, disciplined picket lines. We don’t get into physical fights with scabs or others crossing the line, as tempting as that may be, because it doesn’t help us win (and in fact can lead to picket lines being shut down). All shifts should have picket captains, most of whom are rank-and-file leaders from the hotel they’re picketing.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Few Events
Monday through Thursday
1. Monday, Nov. 12 through Thursday, Nov. 15, Film – Say Her Name: The Life and Death of Sandra Bland
Vogue Theater
3290 Sacramento St. (nr. Presidio Ave.)
San Francisco
Remaining Showtimes
Monday, Nov. 12th @ 2:30pm, 5:00pm, 7:30pm
Tuesday, Nov. 13th @ 5:00pm, 7:30pm
Wednesday, Nov. 14th @ 5:00pm, 7:30pm
Thursday, Nov. 15th @ 5:00pm, 7:30pm
Ticket info: https://www.cinemasf.com/vogue/buy-tickets/
Matinee $9.00
Adults: $12.00
Child Ages 3-12 $9.00 / Student w/valid ID $9.00
Seniors: $9.00 (60 + yo)
You’re invited to a limited theatrical screening of Say Her Name: The Life & Death of Sandra Bland. On July 10, 2015, Sandra Bland, a politically active 28-year-old African-American woman, was arrested for a traffic violation in a small Texas town. Three days later, Sandra was found hanging from a noose in a jail cell in Waller County, Texas. Described by The Hollywood Reporter as “heartbreaking..one of the most galvanizing episodes of this generation’s civil rights struggle…poignantly explored”, Say Her Name follows her family and their legal team as they try to make sense of what happened, presenting a compelling look at her life as well as her death. It’s both a vigorous, engrossing mystery and a disturbing account of systemic racism and neglect.
Tuesday, November 13
2. Tuesday, 2:00pm, COURT SUPPORT NEEDED For Clean & Sober Womens Camp
Oakland Federal Courthouse
1301 Clay St. Crtrm 2
Oakland
1st day in fed court to hear merit of the Temporary Restraining Order against eviction by city of Oakland (Libby Schaaf, OPD & Joe DeVries). Bring ID
3. Tuesday, 6:00pm – 7:30pm, Living on Ohlone Land
Golden Gate Branch Library
5606 San Pablo Ave.
Oakland
Learn about the protection and preservation of sacred Indigenous sites in the East Bay, with acclaimed speaker and activist Corrina Gould.
Ms. Gould is the spokesperson for the Confederated Villages of Lisjan/Ohlone. She is the co-founder of Indian People Organizing for Change (IPOC), hosts of the annual Shellmound gathering in Emeryville. She also formed the first Indigenous women’s land trust, the Sogorea Te Land Trust.
Info: https://www.facebook.com/events/186168882285975/ or https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2018/10/31/18818605.php
4. Tuesday, 6:00pm – 8:00pm, Freedom For Immigrants Bay Area Monthly Training
Berkeley Finnish Hall
1970 Chestnut St.
Berkeley
Monthly training for new volunteers for Freedom for Immigrants Bay Area. Covers current immigration system, local detention facility status, our volunteer programs, and how to get involved.
Info: https://www.facebook.com/events/2208626539166301/
5. Tuesday, 6:00pm – 8:00pm, Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the S.F. State Strike
California Historical Society
678 Mission St.
SF
$0 – $5.00
Join California Historical Society for an event celebrating the 50th anniversary of the San Francisco State Strike. A discussion will be initiated by leaders and participants of the Strike, as well as an artist who graduated from San Francisco State in Raza Studies and now teaches at State. U. C. Berkeley Professor Waldo E. Martin will moderate the discussion which will touch on what sparked the Strike, how it happened, and the impact it had and continues to have on San Francisco, California, and the country at large.
See site for speakers / bios.
Host: Shaping San Francisco, California Historical Society, Museum of the African Diaspora
Info: https://www.facebook.com/events/629963734067642/
Wednesday, November 14
6. Wednesday, 5:30pm – 6:30pm, Peace Vigil – Focus this week: Yemen
One Post Street @ Market & Montgomery St.
(on the steps facing Market Street, below Feinstein’s office,
directly above the Montgomery BART/Muni station).
SF
Look for the PEACE banner!
All are welcomed.
Thursday, November 15
7. Thursday, 11:45am – 1:00pm, Stop Insuring Climate Change
Meet at corner of Taylor & O’Farrell St.
The Hilton Hotel – Union Square
SF
Insurance companies are supposed to protect us from catastrophic risks. Yet when it comes to the largest threat to humanity – climate change – U.S. insurance companies are actually doing the exact opposite. Through their massive investments in fossil fuel companies & insuring of drilling and mining projects the U,S. insurance industry is making the problem worse. This has to stop. Hundreds of lobbyists for the US insurance industry are coming to downtown San Francisco for a convention. Join us at lunch time to send them a message:
Insure Our Future: Stop Insuring Climate Change!
Hosts: Unfriend Fossil Fuels, Consumer Watchdog, Rainforest Action Network
Info: https://www.facebook.com/events/270337397001119/
8. Thursday, 3:00pm – 5:00pm, STOP the Luxury Takeover of the Mission!
SF Planning Commission
SF City Hall
1 Dr. Carleton B. Goodlett Pl., Room 400
SF
Mission – we need your voice at City Hall on this critical day to stop further harm to our neighborhood!!!
UPDATE – 344 14th Luxury housing project is delayed.
***But the 3140 16th St large auto body garage across from the Roxie that wants to convert into a 3-story entertainment space including a rooftop bar is still on and must be stopped!
This area is already overcrowded with a imbalance of food and drink spaces (55%!) and we need to keep our blue-collar spaces. A Subaru dealer, in fact, wants to run a repair shop at this space and is happy to work with us to get our Mission folks into these good-paying jobs.
Hosts: United to Save the Mission, Our Mission NO Eviction, Cultural Action Network, Calle 24 Latino Cultural District
Info: https://www.facebook.com/events/484880375354099/
9. Thursday, 4:00pm – 5:30pm, On Indian Ground, California: A Return to Indigenous Knowledge
UC Berkeley
117 Dwinelle Hall
Berkeley
Joseph A. Myers Center for Research on Native American Issues Colloquia Series:
On Indian Ground: California. A Return to Indigenous Knowledge: Generating Hope, Leadership, and Sovereignty Through Education
Joely Proudfit, Chair and Professor of American Indian Studies; Director of California Indian Culture & Sovereignty Center, CSU San Marcos
and
Nicole Lim, Executive Director, California Indian Museum and Cultural Center
Dr. Joely Proudfit, Ph.D. is the Department Chair of American Indian Studies at California State University San Marcos and the Director of the California Indian Culture and Sovereignty Center. Nicole Myers-Lim, J.D. is the Executive Director of the California Indian Museum and Cultural Center. Dr. Proudfit and Ms. Lim have worked together for over twenty years and have collaborated on a number of projects to serve California tribal communities, support native students in K-12 and secondary education and promote cultural revitalization and self determination across the U.S.
Info: https://www.facebook.com/events/2064148376968928/
10. Thursday, SFFNB Thursday Food Share
16th & Mission
BART Plaza
SF
We will share free hot food in the 16th & Mission BART plaza at 6pm until the food runs out. We welcome help! Talk to us at the sharing if you’d like to help us cook, serve, or clean up. We cook from 3pm to 6pm. Contact this page with any questions.
Info: https://www.facebook.com/events/152402445380927/
11. Thursday, 7:00pm – 8:30pm, The State of Black Lives in America with Alicia Garza + Dr. Jelani Cobb
Manny’s
3092 16th St.
SF
Tickets by Eventbrite
We are lucky to have two luminatories of the civil rights movement gracing the Manny’s stage on November 15th: Black Lives Matter Founder Alicia Garza and New Yorker Staff Writer and Professor Dr. Jelani Cobb. The subject will be the state of black lives in contemporary America.
Come engage in discussion on this topic off the heels of the 2018 election, the confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh, voter suppression across the country, a completely new slate of candidate running for office, and potentially an african american woman running for President.
See site for bios
Info: https://www.facebook.com/events/299205794244173/
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
SAVE the DATE
Report Back
Aeta Community
Defend Ancestral Lands
By
SF Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines
Saturday, November 17
4:00pm
Bethany United Methodist Church
1270 Sanchez St.
San Francisco
RSVP’s to WeAreSFCHRP@gmail.com
The Aeta, the first inhabitants of the Philippines, are under attack as they face the destruction of their lands and livelihoods by the New Clark City metropolis project and a massive military complex development, a project supported by the US military.
A sneak peak at some clips for the documentary project will be shown.
The Philippine National Police want to open a full time office here at the Consulate in SF. We don’t need MORE police presence in SF, nor from an openly fascist president in the Philippines!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
RESOURCES
for
BUTTE COUNTY FIRE
More info on Butte fires including shelters:
Missing persons: The Butte County Sheriff’s Office on Sunday opened a Missing Persons Call Center that will be staffed from 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Officials are asking people to report missing persons to this call center, even if they have already reported them missing to authorities. They are also asking people to call if they have located a previously reported missing person. The numbers are:
530-538-6570
530-538-7544
530-538-7671
Butte County authorities said Saturday evening that they’ve received 508 calls for service from people unable to find loved ones. Of those, 228 remain pending. The sheriff’s office has requested those who left the area safely to register on the Red Cross Safe and Well site.
Weather outlook: The Red Flag Warning for the incident area was extended to 11 a.m. on Monday, with wind gusts of 30-40 mph expected throughout the morning, along with very low humidity. Winds are expected to die down during the day and then kick back up in the evening. Dry conditions are expected to continue along with lighter winds throughout the week.
Evacuation orders: The Butte County Sheriff’s Office has issued numerous mandatory evacuation orders in the fire area. Those orders are frequently updated on the sheriff’s Twitter and Facebook feeds, as well as the official Butte County website. Around 52,000 people have evacuated as of Sunday evening.
Cal Fire is issuing incident updates, which includes a comprehensive list of evacuation zones, at least twice a day. You can find the update on Cal Fire’s Camp Fire incident page or sign up for automatic email updates.
The Chico Fire Department and Chico Police Department are also issuing frequent Twitter advisories.
Emergency shelters: Per Butte County, these are the open emergency shelters serving people evacuating the Camp Fire:
OPEN: Yuba-Sutter Fairground, 442 Franklin Ave., Yuba City
OPEN: Plumas County Fairgrounds, 204 Fairground Rd., Quincy
OPEN: Glenn County Fairgrounds, 221 E Yolo St., Orland
OPEN: Bidwell Jr. High School, 2376 North Ave., Chico
OPEN: Butte County Fairgrounds, 199 E Hazel St., Gridley
FULL: Oroville Nazarene Church, 2238 Monte Vista Ave., Oroville
FULL: Neighborhood Church, 2801 Notre Dame Blvd., Chico
CLOSED: Chico Elks Club, 1705 Manzanita, Chico
Animal shelters:
Small animals: FULL Del Oro Old County Hospital, 2279 Del Oro Avenue, Oroville
Small animals: Chico Municipal Airport, 150 Airpark Blvd, Chico
Large animals: Butte County Fairgrounds, 199 East Hazel Street, Gridley
Yuba-Sutter Fairgrounds, 442 Franklin Ave., accepting animals for those traveling south/evacuating from the Berry Creek, Brush Creek, Mountain House and Bloomer Hill communities; accepting pets 24/7
People can report lost pets to North Valley Animal Disaster Group at 530-895-0000
Water advisory: Butte County officials say California’s Water Resources Control Board advises residents to boil water for drinking and cooking purposes in the following districts: Paradise Pines, Magalia, Lime Saddle, Stirling Bluffs and Buzztail.
HOUSE MINORITY LEADER Nancy Pelosi is confident she will return as speaker when the new Democratic majority takes over in the House, but the leaders of the Congressional Progressive Caucus are not yet saying whether they will support her leadership bid.
When asked if the caucus supports Pelosi’s leadership bid in a press call on Wednesday, November 7, and if leaders will try to convince the incoming members who promised not to support her throughout the midterms to back her anyway, caucus co-chair Mark Pocan said he’s going to keep his options open and make sure he’s leveraging his power to assure progressives are well represented in leadership.
Dozens of Democratic candidates running in tight midterm races voiced their opposition to a Pelosi speakership. Though many of the candidates lost, a handful of incoming members, including Jason Crow of Colorado, Jahana Hayes of Connecticut and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, have called for a new generation of leadership. And Pelosi has little room for error: She needs a majority of the full House, or 218 votes, to win the speakership. On Thursday night, Politico reported that at least 10 Democrats had promised to oppose her on the floor, meaning that as final ballots are counted, Pelosi needs the majority to hold at least 228 members.
“And I would say ditto to that,” said Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., who serves as vice chair of the caucus. “I’m looking to run to be the next co-chair of the Progressive Caucus, and so I think it’s very important that we talk to our members and that we really make sure that our progressive priorities are going to be represented by our leadership on all levels.”
Pocan said that the caucus may have some sense of direction by next week. “I know this is the story you’ve all been waiting to write, but I’m going to wait until I get back and talk to members and have an idea of who’s running for what and what spots are open. And hopefully, by next week, we’ll be able to give you better, more specific answers,” he said.
The Congressional Progressive Caucus demurring on Pelosi is a turnabout from her first election as party leader, when she was the clear progressive favorite in a much more conservative caucus. The lack of vocal support comes as competing factions within the incoming caucus are jockeying for position.
Democratic leaders are hoping that the calls on the campaign trail for “new leadership” won’t be renewed on the House now that campaign season is over. On election night, Rep. Steny Hoyer, the minority whip and Pelosi’s No. 2, told The Intercept that he met just last week with incoming Rep. Ocasio-Cortez, and that he is comfortable that she will fit in well with the caucus.
“I had the opportunity to sit down with Alex, as she calls herself, last week, and I found her to be very reasonable, very bright, very able, and very willing to work together to accomplish objectives. And the democratic socialists party or group in New York” — referring to the New York chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America — “endorsed her one month before the campaign — before the election. It wasn’t as if she started with that. She says she’s a Democrat. That’s what she told me, and that’s what I believe: She’s a Democrat,” he told Nicholas Ballasy, who was on location for The Intercept. (DSA NYC endorsed Ocasio-Cortez two months before the primary.)
Pelosi, who has been a top House Democrat since 2003, including four years as speaker, has expressed her willingness to work with President Donald Trump when possible, saying in a press briefing on Wednesday that the party “will strive for bipartisanship” where it can. She has waved off questions about a potential leadership shakeup, saying she considers herself the best person to unify the party.
So far, no one has stepped up to challenge Pelosi, despite a growing frustration within the Democratic Caucus with the trio of septuagenarian leaders. Rep. Cedric Richmond, the outgoing chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, recently insisted in a letter to his House Democratic colleagues that one of the CBC’s members should be in one of the top two leadership positions if there is a shakeup. (The letter was reported as coming from the Congressional Black Caucus itself, but it was a solo letter signed only by Richmond and not on behalf of the caucus as a whole.)
No one has yet challenged Pelosi or Hoyer. The caucus’s No. 3, Rep. Jim Clyburn, is facing a challenge from Rep. Diana Degette, D-Colo.
Reps. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., has said she is making a bid for Crowley’s vacated No. 4 position. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries announced on Thursday that he will run for that same position. Rep. Linda Sanchez, D-Calif., had also launched a bid, but dropped out Thursday after her husband was indicted.
As the Congressional Progressive Caucus expands, so too does its influence on the party. The 116th Congress will be the most diverse one yet, and the caucus expects to welcome around a dozen new members. But there’s still the possibility that incoming progressives build their own coalition. In July, during a podcast interview, Ocasio-Cortez floated the idea of a “sub-caucus” of Democrats who would as a united bloc, like a progressive version of the ultraconservative Freedom Caucus.
Posted on November 10, 2018 by Ellen Brown (ellenbrown.com)
The Los Angeles charter amendment to approve a city-owned bank did not pass, but it did get 42 percent of the vote, a remarkable feat considering that the dynamic young Public Bank LA advocacy group effectively only had a month to educate 4 million voters on what a public bank is and why passing the measure was a good idea. If they had had another month, the bill could well have passed.
The City Council took supporters by surprise when it put the charter amendment on the ballot in July, leaving only four months to promote it. Passing a ballot measure typically takes a campaign war chest of $750,000 or more, and the all-volunteer PBLA group began with no funding and no formal group. The first challenge was clearing the legal requirement of forming a campaign committee, which itself takes funding and some expertise. The committee only began amassing campaign funds a month before the November 6 vote, after which it managed to bring in $60,000.
Most of the campaign, however, was conducted with sheer people power. According to PBLA political director Ben Hauck, in that short time the all-volunteer team managed to gain endorsements from over 100 organizations and community leaders, text message 350,000 voters, hand out over 50,000 flyers, reach over 500,000 voters through social media campaigns, get included in three mailers reaching over 1,200,000 voters, put up hundreds of yard signs and banners across L.A., talk with thousands of voters at events, universities, rallies and gatherings across the city, get featured in dozens of major news stories, articles and TV coverage, manage their own paid social media campaign, drive over 150,000 video views on a YouTube campaign, contact 200,000 voters via a robocall from the Chairman of the California Democratic Party, put on several significant campaign events, get featured in a press event with senatorial candidate Kevin de León and City Council President Herb Wesson, and create several featured videos, dozens of ads, and countless pieces of written content.
The PBLA team is pressing on undaunted. Leader Trinity Tran wrote after the vote:
At the start of the campaign in July, public banking was an unknown issue and within 4 months, we brought the issue to the forefront of politics here in Los Angeles. Over a quarter million Angelenos voted in support of Measure B and the conversation on public banking has now been amplified across the country. This is just the beginning of the national movement. And it’s a fight we are certain will be won.
The dramatic achievements of the PBLA team in a very short time are a testament to the power of a committed group of volunteers working together at the local level for a cause they feel strongly about.
Note: If you would like to follow the progress of the public banking movement across the country, please subscribe to the Public Banking Institute newsletter, linked here.
Ellen Brown: Taking Back Our Power with Public Banks, California Vision 2020 Conference, 2018 from TSN on Vimeo.
California Vision 2020 Conference 22-minute video, Sacramento 9-20-18
President Donald Trump speaks to the media before departing on Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House on November 9, 2018 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
President Donald Trump continued his ugly attacks on the press during a media gaggle on the White House lawn on Friday morning, smearing one reporter as a “loser,” denouncing another CNN journalist’s perfectly reasonable question about the Russia investigation as “stupid,” and imperiously threatening to revoke the credentials of members of the media who don’t show him sufficient “respect.”
After CNN reporter Abby Phillip asked Trump whether he wants newly appointedActing Attorney General Matthew Whitaker to “rein in” Special Counsel Robert Mueller—an idea Whitaker has repeatedly endorsed—the president called the question “stupid” and fumed that Phillip asks “a lot of stupid questions.”
“What a stupid question that is. What a stupid question. But I watch you a lot, you ask a lot of stupid questions,” Trump sneered.
Trump went on to launch another attack on CNN reporter Jim Acosta—whose press credentials the White House stripped on the basis of a doctored video—and American Urban Radio Networks journalist April Ryan, who the president called a “loser” who “doesn’t know what the hell she’s doing.”
In response to a question about how long Acosta’s press credentials will be suspended, Trump declared, “As far as I’m concerned, I haven’t made that decision. But it could be others also.”
WE NEED YOUR HELP!
ESPECIALLY TODAY + TOMORROW!
The day after elections and seeing an alarmingly large number of voters reveal they’re against rent control, OPD was allowed to serve the #HousingAndDignityVillage with an eviction notice. Since then, The East Oakland Collective and The Village in Oakland #feedthepeople have been doing what’s necessary to still stand firm on this PUBLIC reclaimed land. If you want to be part of fighting for the basic human right of housing, this is how you can help out. Every little bit helps!
TODAY (11/09)
Come with tents, sleeping bags, food for potluck, and high spirits.
TOMORROW (11/10)
Show up by 7:30 am and be ready to tell the city this eviction is wrong and stand ground for uplifting Oakland’s most marginalized women.
The EOC and The Village can be contacted on site today (Edes + S Elmhurst, off of 98th Avenue in Deep East Oakland) and through the following social media:
Twitter: @EOakCollective
@VillageOakland
Facebook: @TheEastOaklandCollective
@TheVillageInOakland
Instagram: @EastOaklandCollective
@VillageOakland
Do what you can, when you can!
Housing IS a human right.
Homelessness IS NOT a crime.
THU, 11/8/2018 – BY KATIE ZEZIMA AND EMILY WAX-THIBODEAUX
Voters in three states overwhelmingly chose to overhaul how legislative and Congressional districts are drawn, stripping a traditionally partisan exercise from politicians while aiming to create a more level playing field based instead on geography and demographics.
Colorado and Michigan will create independent commissions to decide the boundaries of congressional and legislative districts after the 2020 Census. In Colorado, there will be two commissions, one to draw the congressional lines and one to draw legislative lines. Missouri will now mandate the use of a statistical, nonpartisan model that decides where lines are drawn, as well as the appointment of a state demographer.
A measure in Utah that would create an independent redistricting commission remained too close to call early Wednesday.
The measures were intended to reduce the likelihood of any political party wielding its power to decide where election boundaries should be drawn — otherwise known as gerrymandering, or creating districts that will more likely lead to that party retaining political control.
Tuesday was “a big day in the redistricting world,” said Wendy Underhill, director of elections and redistricting of the bipartisan National Conference of State Legislatures. Voters in Ohio approved a redistricting overhaul in May, and Underhill said citizens are voting on more such proposals this year than at any time in history.
And on Wednesday, federal judges threw out Maryland’s current congressional map, ordering the state to redraw its lines for future elections. Officials have until March to submit a redistricting plan.
The measures passed by large majorities. In Colorado, 71 percent of voters chose to change the way congressional and legislative seats are drawn; Michigan’s redistricting commission passed with 61 percent of the vote; Missouri’s changes passed with 62 percent. Utah’s measure held a razor-thin lead, 50.3 percent to 49.7 percent — a separation of about 4,000 votes — with 76 percent of the state’s precincts reporting, according to the Associated Press.
“In a night where Democrats take the House and Republicans push the Senate deeper red, it is amazing that everyone could agree on one thing: We all hate gerrymandering,” said David Daley, a senior fellow for the nonpartisan group FairVote.
In Michigan, the ballot measure was spearheaded by Voters not Politicians, a nonpartisan group. Elizabeth Battiste, the group’s communications director, said her door-to-door pitch was: “Do you know that politicians draw their own voting maps so they can keep their jobs?” Canvassers shied away from the words redistricting or gerrymandering.
“One woman had a physical reaction — she staggered back,” Battiste said. “In Michigan, we are facing really serious problems about drinking water, about infrastructure. She wanted to know everything.”
Battiste said voters were especially galvanized in places like Flint, where residents felt redistricting slowly eroded their voting power. After state legislative lines were redrawn, the state appointed the city emergency managers who ultimately switched water sources, leading to widespread lead poisoning.
Celebrities including actors Jennifer Lawrence and Ed Helms urged voters to back the measures. Former California governor and “Terminator” star Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) has also backed efforts to, in his words, “terminate gerrymandering,” calling it “one of the biggest scams politicians have ever pulled on the American people.”
Activists across the country are trying to make the issue more approachable for citizens. Some advocates have even donned Halloween costumes in the shape of gerrymandered districts, which can resemble puzzle pieces. In Asheville, N.C., the League of Women Voters organized the “Gerrymander 5k,” during which 350 people walked or ran the meandering line that splits Asheville’s congressional and legislative districts.
Demonstrators rally outside the Michigan Hall of Justice in Lansing, Mich., where the state’s Supreme Court heard arguments in July about whether voters in November would be able to pass a constitutional amendment that would change how the state’s voting maps are drawn. The vote was allowed to take place, and voters chose a new, nonpartisan model for drawing voting districts. (Dale G. Young/AP)
“I think redistricting reform has become a sexier issue because I think people understand it,” said Michael Li, senior counsel for the democracy program at the Brennan Center at New York University School of Law. “You go back 10, 15 years ago, and it was a really esoteric issue, it was dry, and that’s completely changed. People understand what we currently have doesn’t work and we need to fix something. And hopefully we can have a robust, nonpartisan debate about what that is.”
Voters in recent years have been opting for ways to overhaul how districts are created. In 2010, California voters created a nonpartisan, citizen commission to establish the state’s voting maps. Arizona voters created an independent redistricting commission in 2000.
Kathay Feng, national redistricting director of Common Cause, a nonpartisan grass roots organization, worked on the California campaign, which is now seen as a model for states that want to have citizen committees.
“In California, we had a system where politicians went behind closed doors and decided where the lines were drawn and ended up hurting communities — communities of color, women interested in running, people in the way of an incumbent,” she said, noting the issue was long seen as “an insider game, that no one was paying attention to, and we were told that it’s so complicated and regular people can’t understand it. But that’s not true.”
Both Republicans and Democrats have redrawn voting districts into odd shapes that benefit their parties for hundreds of years. It started in the early 1800s, when Massachusetts Gov. Elbridge Gerry signed a bill creating a redistricting plan for the state Senate, including a district that looked like a winged dragon. It gave an advantage to his party — then known as the Democratic-Republican Party — and created the term “gerrymandering.” (Gerry went on to become vice president, under President James Madison, from March 1813 until his death in November 1814).
Since 2010, redistricting has largely been under the purview of Republicans, who gained control of Congress and many statehouses and were able to draw new districts based on that year’s Census. The process has been contentious and, some argue, racially charged, because many new districts limit the power of minority voters.
In Colorado, a state congressman was banned from the Senate floors and chamber for the 2011 session for losing his temper during a redistricting discussion. In Michigan, where redistricting maps were first approved in 2011, there is still ongoing litigation over partisan gerrymanders; the trial is scheduled to begin in February. The next round of district lines will be drawn there in 2021, using new Census data.
“Our politics forced these debates to be extreme, and that’s not really where the people were,” Daley said. “There is a structural issue that is silently corroding our democracy, and we all have this sense that something is broken, something isn’t working. And in many ways the underlying issue is that these district lines have gotten twisted in such a way that made our politics more extreme.”
The redrawn maps have led to numerous lawsuits around the country. In North Carolina, a federal court declared the state’s Republican-drawn congressional maps were unconstitutional, calling them an “invidious” plan to favor Republicans over Democrats. But plaintiffs conceded there was not enough time to redraw the maps, and North Carolinians voted Tuesday in the gerrymandered districts.
In Pennsylvania, the state Supreme Court ruled that a congressional map drawn by Republican legislators in 2011 was “clearly, plainly and palpably” a partisan gerrymander. The court drew its own map with the help of an independent redistricting expert, and that map was used Tuesday.
The U.S. Supreme Court has been reluctant to wade into to the issue of gerrymandering. In June, it skirted the issue of whether redrawing districts in partisan ways is unconstitutional, leaving a Republican-drawn map in Wisconsin and one made by Democrats in Maryland intact for Election Day.
The term “gerrymander” stems from this Gilbert Stuart cartoon of a twisted Massachusetts electoral district. Stuart thought the shape resembled a salamander, but his friend called it a “Gerry-mander” after Massachusetts Gov. Elbridge Gerry, who approved rearranging district lines for political advantage. (Bettmann/Getty Images)Originally published by the Washington Post
From Leroy Moore:
“Voting is only 1% of the full picture. Do the 99% that most people don’t do.”
Addition by Adrienne:
Tomorrow and all the days after!
Protest & Demand:
The Trump/Pence Regime Must Go!
Rally & March
Saturday, November 10, 2018
1:00pm
Meet at:
Embarcadero Plaza
San Francisco
Regardless of whether you voted…
We must be in the streets, after the midterm elections to DEMAND and DEMONSTRATE OUR DETERMINATION that:
IN THE NAME OF HUMANITY, THE TRUMP/PENCE REGIME MUST GO!
These are not “normal” times.
Two defining aspects and one take-home point from the 2018 Midterm elections:
#1: The fascist program of the Trump/Pence regime became more consolidated and its fascist social base was more fully unleashed.
#2: The fact that Democrats won a majority in the House did not change this. The Democratic opposition throughout the elections and Nancy Pelosi’s post-election speech, refused to confront Trump’s fascism, but instead NORMALIZED, ACCOMMODATED, AND CONCILIATED AND THEN PROMISED TO COLLABORATE WITH A REGIME THAT IS BRINGING AN AMERICAN FASCISM.
Take home point:
People who hate and fear this whole fascist nightmare and direction must now ACT with great determination in the streets – while organizing to move tens of thousands and soon millions to join them in the streets – with sustained determination until we drive this fascist regime from power in the name of humanity. This is why we are calling on people to be in the streets with us on Saturday
HANDMAID’s costumes will be available.
Host Refuse Fascism
Info: https://www.facebook.com/events/308147166676665/
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Saturday, November 10
Saturday, 7:30am. We Are Resisting Eviction
Eades & Elmhurst (off of 98th Ave.)
Oakland
The day after elections and seeing an alarmingly large number of voters reveal they’re against rent control, OPD was allowed to serve the #HousingAndDignityVillage with an eviction notice. Since then, The East Oakland Collective and The Village in Oakland #feedthepeople have been doing what’s necessary to still stand firm on this PUBLIC reclaimed land.
The survival of Oaklands ONLY clean and sober unhoused women and family sanctuary and community resource center is is DANGER RIGHT NOW!!!
Saturday morning Libby’s administration is sending a load of police and public works employees to forceable remove us and destroy what we have built.
We ask: as many people show up with willingness to hold open this safe and sober women’s community.
Several of Oakland’s homeless leaders and residents of the encampment will refuse to move even if it means to be dragged off and arrested. most of us are Black and Brown women born, raised or been in Oakland most our lives and now live on the streets due to gentrification, the city has failed to provide us with the human right of housing, so we have taken it upon ourselves to assure we have a safe and dignified place for ourselves and others in the community.
We asked for housed Oakland residents to stand with us on the frontline. there will be roles that involve arrest, and roles that involve no arrest.
so many unhoused women, families, and men AND HOUSED neighbors from this severely underserved neighborhood have been able to utilize this space we created two weeks ago –
Show up by 7:30 am and be ready to tell the city this eviction is wrong and stand ground for uplifting Oakland’s most marginalized women.
Host: The Village in Oakland #feedthepeople
Info: https://www.facebook.com/TheVillageInOakland/
Saturday, 3:00pm – 5:00pm, Boycott Low Cost Meats at 2918 24th St.
2918 24th St. (between Alabama & Florida)
SF
We are calling for a boycott of Low-Cost Meats 2918 24th St. Lou Hawk owns the property at 22nd and Mission St that was destroyed by fire because of his negligence. He is the same owner of the meat market
We will be protesting Lou Hawk at his place of business
We will boycott his business until he does the right thing with his property at 22nd St @ Mission. He promised to sell the property to the city after several fires destroyed the building, in order to bring the tenants and business’s back. He is being offered near market rate, but now is proposing to build luxury units at that site.
Host: Our Mission No Eviction
