‘Mass psychosis’: corporate Democrats ripped for attacks on anti-zionist Hasan Piker

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Hasan Piker, Streamer & Creator, Night, during day two of Web Summit Vancouver 2026 at Vancouver Convention Centre in Vancouver, Canada. Photo By Florencia Tan Jun/Web Summit via Sportsfile via Getty Images

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“Centrists despise Hasan Piker more than they want to win,” said one critic.

by Brett Wilkins August 27, 2026 (therealnews.com)

Hasan Piker, Streamer & Creator, Night, during day two of Web Summit Vancouver 2026 at Vancouver Convention Centre in Vancouver, Canada. Photo By Florencia Tan Jun/Web Summit via Sportsfile via Getty Images

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This story originally appeared in Common Dreams on Aug. 26, 2026. It is shared here under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0) license.

Agrowing number of establishment Democrats are facing backlash from progressives for their escalating attacks on leftist streamer Hasan Piker, with critics accusing the party’s corporatist wing of obsessing over an online influencer while ignoring the economic and foreign policy grievances driving millions of voters away on the eve of the critical midterm elections.

The latest controversy erupted after Piker argued during an online broadcast that Jewish Americans’ public support for Israel could contribute to antisemitism. Piker’s comments drew swift condemnation from prominent Democrats, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (NY), who, without naming Piker, called them “dangerous and antisemitic.”

Other Democrats piled on, prompting rebuke from progressives, who accused the centrists of caring more about an online personality than winning back control of Congress in November.

Former progressive Michigan congressional candidate Kyle Blomquist called it an “absolute mass psychosis event.”

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“Too many demotivated Democrats stayed home in 2016 and 2024. We can’t repeat past mistakes,” Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) said on social media.

Khanna implored Democrats to stop calling Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)—who is Jewish—an antisemite and “stop wasting time attacking Hasan Piker instead of [President Donald] Trump’s robber-baron corruption.”

“Don’t put Israel hawks out of touch with our voters in charge of our Middle East policy,” he added. “It is time for a reckoning: Are we a party that represents corporate interests and super PACs, or will we represent the American people?”

According to Track AIPAC, pro-Israel Democrats have taken tens of millions of dollars in campaign contributions from pro-Israel lobby groups, including the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s United Democracy Project.

Khanna’s comments came a day after Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY), the leading Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, announced the appointment of Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) as ranking member of the Middle East and North Africa Subcommittee. Moskowitz, who said earlier this year that he is “to the right” of Vice President JD Vance in his support of Trump’s illegal US-Israeli war of choice on Iran, is one of the strongest supporters of Israel in Congress.

This, at a time when three-quarters of Democratic voters oppose US aid to Israel—up from just 45% three years ago—and after the issue was a factor in former Vice President Kamala Harris’ loss to Trump in the 2024 presidential election.

A majority of Democratic voters also believe that Israel’s US-backed war on Gaza is a genocide, a position also held by United Nations experts, around 20 countries that joined South Africa’s ongoing genocide case at the International Court of Justice, human rights groups, and scholars around the world—including in Israel.

Jasper Nathaniel, a US journalist known for his coverage of Israel’s illegal occupation, settler colonization, and ethnic cleansing of the West Bank, posted on X: “The entire bipartisan political establishment has coalesced around a willful misreading of what Hasan Piker said in order to silence criticism of Israel. They’re doing the same thing to Mark Ruffalo in Hollywood. It’s all fucking gaslighting. Don’t give an inch.”

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“What Hasan said is completely intuitive. Everyone knows that Israel’s genocide of Palestinians—and the Jewish institutions’ blanket support for it—has created more hostility towards Jews,” he added. “There is no good-faith argument against this.”

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Jacobin staff writer Branko Marcetic asserted Wednesday that “centrists despise Hasan Piker more than they want to win.”

“It’s an extreme stretch to describe Piker’s remarks as an incitement of or justification for violence and bigotry against Jews,” he continued. “The basic point he’s making—that the tendency by pro-Israel voices to conflate Jewishness with lockstep support for Israel makes Jews less safe—has been made by a number of Jewish voices, including Ezra Klein at The New York Times, David Klion at The Nation, Norman Solomon at The Guardian, union organizer Molly Kraft, and Hannah Arendt nearly 80 years ago.”

The dispute has now ensnared Michigan US Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, who campaigned alongside Piker during his successful Democratic primary bid. El-Sayed has somewhat distanced himself from Piker’s comments, emphasizing that the campaign represents his own views and condemning antisemitism. It hasn’t placated establishment Democrats.

Some Democrats have implored their party to keep its eyes on the proverbial prize—winning back Congress—instead of engaging in senseless internecine battles.

“Billionaires are draining our resources to develop a technology they want to replace us, millions will lose Medicaid in the new year to pay for tax cuts for the rich, and we’re spending billions on genocidal wars the voters oppose,” said Melat Kiros, the progressive Democratic nominee for Colorado’s 1st Congressional District. “But sure, let’s keep talking about Hasan Piker.”

It’s not just Democratic Socialists of America-type progressives who get it. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) admonished reporters during a Wednesday campaign rally for El-Sayed at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

“Don’t any reporter ask me again about Hasan Piker,” she said angrily. “It’s not what November is about.”

“Republicans are… trying to divide us,” she continued. “And we’ve got to stop letting them try to divide us.”

Weighing in on corporate Democrats’ attacks on Piker from across the Atlantic, British writer and activist Owen Jones said Wednesday that “the Democratic establishment know they’ve lost their base. These smears are driven by panic.”

“The bottom line about what’s happening here is this: The American people have turned against Israel in revulsion at the genocide and want to stop facilitating its crimes. That opposition is overwhelming among the Democratic rank-and-file,” he continued.

“But the Democratic Party establishment remains invested in the alliance with Israel—and they fear being swept aside by pro-Palestinian left-wing candidates in upcoming primaries,” Jones asserted, adding that centrists “would prefer to lose to the Republicans than win with the left. They would prefer to keep facilitating Israel’s genocide and heinous crimes rather than win.”

“That’s what we are dealing with here,” he added. “And if it means destroying US democracy to defend Israel—that’s a price they’re willing to pay.”

Matt Duss, executive vice president at the Center for International Policy and a former foreign policy adviser to Sanders, expressed a similar sentiment on social media.

“You’ve never seen corporate Democrats fighting as hard and as on message against Trump as they are against Hasan right now,” he said. “It’s insane.”

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As Ocean Temperatures Rise, Coral Reefs Face Closing Window for Recovery From Climate Damage

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Coral reef

This picture taken on March 7, 2022 shows the condition of the coral on the Great Barrier Reef, off the coast of the Australian state of Queensland.

 (Photo by Glenn Nicholls/AFP via Getty Images)

Persistent marine heatwaves are causing a “staircase of decline that becomes harder to reverse with every bleaching event,” said one scientist.

Julia Conley

Aug 31, 2026 (CommonDreams.org)

The destruction of coral reef cover, cataloged in the largest global assessment of the reefs ever completed, was distressing to scientists, with the world’s reefs declining by nearly 10% between 2020-24, compared with 1980-2009.

The authors of the report released Monday by Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN), however, emphasized that coral bleaching events driven by ocean heating was not the most worrisome finding of the analysis—but rather, the fact oceans have become so warm that stressed reefs have less and less time to recover.

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Historically, coral bleaching events—in which changes in conditions such as ocean temperatures and pollution cause coral to expel its symbiotic algae and become completely white and more vulnerable to mortality—have taken place about once in a decade, giving the reefs years to recover.

Now, the reefs are “lucky to get five or six years,” as water temperatures are remaining high and making it more difficult to regain hard coral cover, explained Manuel González Rivero of the Australian Institute of Marine Science, the lead author of the report, titled “Status of Coral Reefs of the World: 2025.”

“After decades of studying coral reefs, what concerns me most isn’t the current loss of hard coral cover; it’s that we’re steadily eroding the conditions they need to recover,” said González Rivero. “Climate change is driving more frequent and severe marine heatwaves, but local pressures such as poor water quality, overfishing, and coastal development are making reefs even less able to withstand them.”

The study compiled 21.1 million observations from 36,886 reef sites across 124 countries and territories, drawing on more than 40 years of data from across the globe.

But scientists cautioned that because the research did not include the most recent and intense global bleaching event, which lasted from 2023-25, it may not provide a full picture of the danger coral reefs are in—as well as the coastal communities they help protect and the thousands of marine species they serve as a habitat for.

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Carlos Duarte, a marine scientist at the Coral Research and Development Accelerator Platform, told The New York Times that this year’s El Niño warming trend is likely to cause another global bleaching event next year, which reefs will likely struggle to recover from as ocean temperatures have been recorded as getting hotter and hotter in recent years.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has projected that the Earth will lose 70-90% of its coral reef cover if the planet gets 1.5°C hotter than its preindustrial level.

“For many reefs affected by the unprecedented marine heatwaves in 2024, this year’s El Niño likely means they’ll have had little more than a year to begin recovering before being hit again,” said González Rivero. “This is creating a staircase of decline that becomes harder to reverse with every bleaching event.”

The report emphasizes that reefs have maintained their ability to regain hard coral cover “when disturbances are reduced and sufficient recovery time is available,” such as after the third major global coral bleaching event since 1998, which took place from 2016-17 and saw a 6.6% decline in coral.

After the event, scientists observed a “relative increase of approximately 6% between 2017 and 2019,” said the GCRMN.

“That recovery matters because the benefits coral reefs provide extend far beyond the reef itself. Coral reefs cover less than 0.2% of the ocean floor,” said the organization. “Yet, they support at least 25% of all marine species and underpin food security, livelihoods, coastal protection, tourism, and cultural heritage of close to one billion people worldwide.”

Scientists including Terry Hughes, a former director of coral reef studies at James Cook University in Australia, who was not involved in the analysis, emphasized that reducing planet-heating emissions is the top solution to the crisis of coral reef recovery, as the pollution from fossil fuel extraction is linked to increasingly hot oceans.

Allowing coral reefs to recover from bleaching events “really depends on how much more greenhouse gases go into the atmosphere and the amount of warming that causes,” Hughes told the Times, while local solutions including reducing water pollution are also crucial for maintaining reef health.

David Obura, chair of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, expressed hope that the report will “shake us out of our persistent inertia.”

The long-term monitoring by GCRMN, said Obura, “tracks not just the pulse of coral reefs, but of our planet too. It shows which regions are under the greatest pressure, that actions to date have not been sufficient, and warns where reefs will be under increasing threat in years to come.”

“We must act now to halt this decline and invest in solutions that reduce pressures and build resilience, while sustaining the monitoring that turns good intentions into effective policy,” he said. “The 40 years of data in this report provide a strident warning that delayed action risks locking in irreversible losses—not just to reefs, but also to the economies and people that depend on them.”

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Julia Conley is a senior editor and staff writer for Common Dreams.

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Talarico Protests as Texas Swing County Plans to Close 92 Polling Places

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US-POLITICS-VOTE-TEXAS

Democratic candidate for US Senate James Talarico speaks during a campaign rally as part of the “New American Dream Tour” in Beeville, Texas, on August 22, 2026. 

(Photo by Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP via Getty Images)

“The most powerful people in this county, the most powerful people in this country, don’t want us to be able to vote easily.”

Stephen Prager

Aug 31, 2026 (CommonDreams.org)

Texas Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico is pushing for one of Texas’ most important swing counties to drop plans to close nearly a third of its polling places before November’s midterms.

Amid public outcry, the Commissioners Court for Tarrant County—which contains Fort Worth and borders Dallas—plans to hold a vote on Tuesday on whether to shutter 92 of the polling places used in the 2022 election, many of which serve the city’s poorer and minority populations.

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If Democrats flip the Senate this November, the road to that outcome will almost certainly run through Texas. A Democrat has not won a statewide election there since 1994, but Talarico may be in a position to break the trend—leading Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton in most polls.

Tarrant County narrowly supported then-Rep. Collin Allred, the Democratic challenger to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in 2024. Talarico said the closure of polling places was meant to suppress turnout and help Republicans cling to their advantage in the state.

“The most powerful people in this county, the most powerful people in this country, don’t want us to be able to vote easily,” Talarico said at a press event Sunday, during which he argued that the closures would result in longer travel for voters and lower turnout, especially in heavily Black and Latino communities.

“We’re here fighting for the rights of everybody,” Talarico added. “The problem is when we let voting rights become a partisan issue. That’s when we walk down a very dangerous path in this country.”

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Proponents of the closures have described them as a way for the county to save money, rather than a political tactic.

“We’re clearly not trying to suppress the vote,” state Rep. Matt Shaheen (R-66), the chairman of the Texas House Elections Committee, told the Associated Press. “That’s a silly accusation.”

But Republican officials in Tarrant County have, in the past, explicitly tied closures of certain voting locations to partisan aims. In 2024, Republican County Judge Tim O’Hare attempted, unsuccessfully, to remove several early voting sites on college campuses, a move that the county’s GOP chairman said would have been “a serious win for Republicans in Tarrant County.”

In 2025’s off-year elections, Republicans voted 3-2 to reduce the number of polling locations by more than a third and cut funding for free bus rides to the polls for low-income residents. The previous year, they introduced new rules blocking what they derided as “left-wing” groups from registering voters inside county buildings.

At the state level, meanwhile, Texas has carried out unprecedented mid-decade redistricting to hand more US House seats to Republicans at the behest of President Donald Trump. And following Trump’s false assertions that his loss in the 2020 election was marred by fraud, Texas introduced several new restrictions on mail-in voting that were found to have significantly reduced turnout.

Tuesday’s scheduled vote in Tarrant County comes after commissioners opted to table an earlier proposal that would have shuttered nearly half the county’s polling places.

An analysis of that plan showed that the lowest-income third of ZIP codes would lose nearly 58% of their Election Day polling sites, while the highest-income third would lose just under 22%. Majority-minority ZIP codes would have lost nearly 52% of their polling places, while majority-white ones would have lost just a third of theirs.

A similar analysis has not yet been conducted for the new proposal. But civil rights groups still argue that the proposal will disenfranchise many voters.

“Cutting the number of poll sites, especially at such a large scale, will harm Tarrant County voters and their right to participate in the democratic process—and cause particular harm to Black, Latino, and [Asian American and Pacific Islander] voters who already face significant barriers to exercising that fundamental right,” wrote groups including the ACLU, the Legal Defense Fund, and the Texas Civil Rights Project, in a letter to the Commissioners’ Court on Friday.

They emphasized that the polling places slated to close under the new proposal were clustered in areas such as south and southeast Fort Worth and central and eastern Arlington, which have predominantly nonwhite populations.

Tarrant County Commissioner Alisa Simmons, a Democrat who is running to unseat O’Hare as county judge and spoke alongside Talarico on Sunday, argued that while it was an improvement on the earlier proposal, “dropping 92 Election Day polling places is crazy.”

“We should not compare this proposal to the worst proposal,” she said. “We should compare it to the access that Tarrant County voters actually had in 2022.”

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San Francisco Democrats made a mockery of policing sexual misconduct

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Two years after tough talk about confronting sexual misconduct, the S.F. Dems’ process has proven to be a farce

A man with short brown hair and glasses wearing a yellow and black "Pandemonium" t-shirt, posing against a plain white background. by Joe Eskenazi August 31, 2026 (MissionLocal.org)

A person speaks into a microphone at a community meeting while people sit and stand, some holding yellow protest signs that read “YES.”.
Brad Chapin, a political organizer who accused Manny Yekutiel of sexual assault, speaks to the San Francisco Democratic Party on Aug. 26 at the Asian Pacific American Community Center at 66 Raymond Ave. Photo by Junyao Yang.

Brad Chapin alleges that aspirational District 8 supervisor Manny Yekutiel sexually assaulted him six years ago. Yekutiel denies this.

Mission Local did not publish articles about Chapin’s claim against Yekutiel, which would be our procedure with most any single-sourced claim against any candidate. 

But when Chapin on Wednesday stood before the members of San Francisco’s Democratic Party during an endorsement meeting and described the process it used to “investigate” his allegation as a sham, that was a far less controversial claim. This process was a sham. 

We’ve spoken to half a dozen members of the local Democratic Party, across the spectrum of local political ideology, and that’s how they feel, too.

San Francisco’s Democratic Party in 2024 created its own “Code of Conduct and Policies for Sexual Assault and Harassment” in the wake of disturbing allegations being leveled at local Democratic politicos — most notably Mission District leader Jon Jacobo, who is presently being prosecuted on rape charges.

Members of the local Democratic Party risked repetitive stress injuries over the level of back-patting they self-applied over creating that code of conduct: The party’s website lists more than a dozen articles documenting its professed campaign to take on alleged political malefactors. 

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A 2024 letter from party chair Nancy Tung unmistakably refers to Jacobo and former Latinx Democratic Club president Kevin Ortiz as the impetus for this action.

The code of conduct was expediently spun up and enacted, to great fanfare. At last, we were led to believe, the scourge of alleged predators and harassers lurking within San Francisco political circles would be addressed. 

Not since the America’s Cup have San Francisco officials so overpromised and underdelivered. 

A group of people at an indoor event hold signs reading “TAX THE BILLIONAIRES,” “NO on G,” “YES on G,” and “PRO on C” while seated attendees listen. Boxes and supplies are stacked in back.
San Francisco residents gathered on Aug. 26 at the Asian Pacific American Community Center in Visitacion Valley to deliver public comment on issues like the District 8 endorsement, Prop. G and Prop. 40, as the San Francisco Democratic Party voted on its endorsements. Photo by Junyao Yang.

The Democratic Party’s much-vaunted code of conduct, it turns out, is narrowly applicable. Not only did it not cover whatever did or didn’t happen between Chapin and Yekutiel, it wouldn’t even have applied to Jacobo — who, again, has been charged with rape by the district attorney and is being criminally prosecuted.

“If Jon was seeking an endorsement, and I went to the Democratic Party and reported what happened to me, they would say that was also outside their jurisdiction,” said Sasha Perigo, one of Jacobo’s accusers.

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Ortiz, meanwhile, was never prosecuted, nor were any of the accusations of alleged unwanted behavior officially substantiated. Regardless, these, too, would not have come under the aegis of the Democratic Party’s new dictum. 

That’s because the local Democratic Party code of conduct governing inappropriate sexual conduct only covers what happens at official party or chartered Democratic club meetings or connected official events.

Blessedly, most meetings do not feature this manner of behavior. Most official events don’t, either, though this would seem to cover someone misbehaving at, say, a club holiday gathering or a symposium. 

The code of conduct is certainly not applicable to Chapin’s allegation that he was assaulted in someone’s private home, years before Yekutiel was an office-seeker.

The much-ballyhooed policy does not cover people working in City Hall, on campaigns, at nonprofits or pretty much anywhere that isn’t under the umbrella of the local Democratic Party and its chartered clubs. 

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And, as Perigo notes, that’s not how sexual assault and harassment typically work. Even if people meet at official clubs or events, the Democratic Party’s reach does not extend to time they spend in bars, in taxis, in homes — or anywhere that isn’t somehow tied to an official meeting or event. 

Seven people sit at a long table with laptops and papers in front of an “SF Dems” banner, participating in a meeting in a room with purple curtains and blue walls.
Members of the San Francisco Democratic Party on Aug. 26 endorsed Manny Yekutiel in the District 8 supervisor’s race. Photo by Junyao Yang

So, we’ve established that if you disobey Robert’s Rules of Order and sexually assault someone in plain view of multiple witnesses at a Democratic Club meeting or official event, the code of conduct has you dead to rights. Do not pass go, do not collect $200.

In less straightforward cases, it’s of little use. So, that’s a problem. But there were also problems in not just the conception and formulation of the code of conduct, but how its application unfolded. 

To wit, when Chapin first registered a complaint with the Democratic Party in early 2026, nothing happened. For months.

At this point, we need to briefly outline how this works, or is at least supposed to work. The investigatory process for charges of sexual misconduct has, by intention, been separated from the actual Democratic Party, and is carried out by volunteers.

The Democratic Party seems to feel that, given the chance, its members couldn’t help but interfere with such a sensitive matter — so it must, by design, sequester the people responsible for overseeing sexual assault complaints. 

That may be true. But it also leads to opacity. Even members of the Democratic Party’s own Committee on Sexual Assault and Harassment say they do not know who actually carried out the investigation of Chapin’s accusations.

In the event of trouble — like not contacting a complainant for months — there’s no way to demand accountability. And we’ve got trouble. 

A silhouette of a donkey colored in blue and red with four white stars, representing the symbol of the Democratic Party in the United States, which has historically championed sexual equality and civil rights.

Here’s how things ought to go, according to the code of conduct. 

A complaint to the Democratic Party is first fielded by a volunteer/pro bono ombudsperson. This individual determines if the complaint falls under the (very narrow) scope of the code of conduct. If so, an investigation is launched. And, finally, the investigator’s report is submitted to the volunteer/pro bono judicial committee, which creates a three-member adjudication panel. 

We know the chair of the judicial committee is a woman named Gina M. Roccanova, because she signed her name to the one-page summation disseminated to Democratic Party members on Aug. 26, only hours before the District 8 endorsement vote.

But nobody seems to know who the ombudsperson was; again, not even members of the Democratic Party’s own Committee on Sexual Assault and Harassment. And when they asked, we hear they were told it was not their business to know. 

Our messages to party chair Nancy Tung and executive director Bobak Esfandiari asking that question were not returned. 

Here’s why that matters: Remember, it’s the ombudsperson’s job to determine if a complaint falls within the purview of the code of conduct. Since Chapin’s complaint is so clearly outside the code’s narrow scope, this is a determination that should’ve been made quickly — within days, maybe hours. But that didn’t happen. 

The Democratic Party made its supervisor endorsements in mid-July. But not in District 8, because of the outstanding complaint. Instead, in mid-July, Chapin was contacted for an interview about his allegations by an attorney with the law firm Gibson Dunn.

And Roccanova’s Aug. 26 letter mentions that “an Adjudication Panel convened on Aug. 25, 2026, to review the investigator’s findings of fact and make a determination about whether a violation of the code of conduct occurred.”

We don’t know who the ombudsperson was, and we certainly don’t know what the hell they were thinking initiating a five-week process to determine what should’ve been evident in moments: This complaint doesn’t fall under the code of conduct, because almost nothing does. 

Instead, one day before the delayed endorsement vote, the panel reached that belated conclusion. Its terse writeup noted that, since the code was not applicable, “the accusation cannot be substantiated.” But also: “This is not a determination on the merits of whether a sexual assault occurred.” 

This memo was neither damning nor exonerating. It was nothing: Voting members of the Democratic Party were, after all that time, given absolutely zero new or useful information. 

It is mystifying why this delay was allowed to occur and just what the hell was being done over those many weeks. Members of the local party, on the day of a vote, were handed a half-page letter announcing that an investigation determined only that there needn’t be an investigation, and they then buttressed that vote based upon the outcome of “the investigation.” 

This is something you’d expect to see in “Death of Stalin,” not a Viz Valley community center. 

Chapin, on Wednesday, was dumbfounded. “I went to your attorneys,” he told the party. “I asked him explicitly if this was a waste of my time because none of this happened at a Democratic Party event. And you knew that.” 

The Democratic Party ultimately endorsed Manny Yekutiel. And that is its prerogative. 

It would have been fanciful to posit that any investigation by the Democratic Party would’ve truly gotten to the bottom of a six-year-old accusation with no independent witnesses that the police could not crack using a wire. Was the Democratic Party going to fire up the Mystery Machine and hunt for clues? Everyone should’ve been clear-headed about that. 

But the process the party undertook was indefensible — and not just useless, but worse than useless.

Whether or not you believe the claims of Brad Chapin, he was, clearly, in public agony during the course of Wednesday’s meeting. The Democratic Party sent a clear message to him and to anyone who’d think to come forward with a complaint. And it is emphatically not the message it triumphally proclaimed just two years ago.

“It is reckless to design a system so poorly, because the evidence will be used to invalidate survivors,” says Perigo. “I think the Democratic Party should’ve been honest about its capacity to fact-find in a situation in which, very likely, there were no facts to be found. Especially after police had already investigated.” 

“At best, it was a waste of the survivor’s time,” she continued. “And, at worst, it does more damage than doing nothing at all.”  

We won’t ignore your neighborhood

When a San Francisco neighborhood has a Mission Local reporter, it means someone is there. We’re following new housing projects proposed on your block, keeping tabs on what your district supervisor is up to at City Hall, and letting you know when longtime businesses close (and new ones open). When big news breaks, we already know the context.

Most neighborhoods don’t have that. Yours could. 

That’s what Mission Local is building. Our reporters don’t parachute in — they write consistently on San Francisco, so you’re never reading about your neighborhood from someone who just looked it up.

So far we are in five of San Francisco’s neighborhoods. But we know all San Franciscans deserve our kind of coverage. Will you join us?

Put a reporter on your block!

Latest News

What’s on now at San Francisco museums, September 2026

What’s on now at San Francisco museums, September 2026

S.F. supervisor seeks to bar evictions for less than a month’s unpaid rent

S.F. supervisor seeks to bar evictions for less than a month’s unpaid rent

S.F. is poised to spend $33M more on OpenGov. It’s still only handling basic permits.  

S.F. is poised to spend $33M more on OpenGov. It’s still only handling basic permits.  

Joe EskenaziManaging Editor/Columnist

getbackjoejoe@gmail.com

Joe is a columnist and the managing editor of Mission Local. He was born in San Francisco, raised in the Bay Area, and attended U.C. Berkeley. He never left.

“Your humble narrator” was a writer and columnist for SF Weekly from 2007 to 2015, and a senior editor at San Francisco Magazine from 2015 to 2017. You may also have read his work in the Guardian (U.S. and U.K.); San Francisco Public Press; San Francisco Chronicle; San Francisco Examiner; Dallas Morning News; and elsewhere.

He resides in the Excelsior with his wife and three (!) kids, 4.3 miles from his birthplace and 5,474 from hers.

The Northern California branch of the Society of Professional Journalists named Eskenazi the 2019 Journalist of the Year.More by Joe Eskenazi

Secession of the Plebeians

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Editor: Secession of the Plebeians. Was it a real thing?

  • Google AI

Yes, the secession of the plebeians (secessio plebis) was a real historical phenomenon in the early Roman Republic. [1, 2]

Between the 5th and 3rd centuries BCE, Rome’s common citizens (plebeians) staged multiple mass walkouts to protest severe economic inequality, unfair debt laws, and a lack of political power enforced by the ruling elite (patricians). [1, 2, 3]

How It Worked

  • The General Strike: Similar to a modern general strike, the plebeians would abandon the city en masse, shutting down shops, workshops, and agricultural labor. [1, 2]
  • Withdrawing to a Hill: The protesters would retreat to a nearby hill outside Rome—such as the Sacred Mountain (Mons Sacer) or the Aventine Hill—leaving the wealthy patricians vulnerable, undefended, and unable to run the economy. [1, 2]
  • The Impact: Because plebeians made up the vast majority of the population and filled the ranks of the military, a walkout paralyzed Rome’s commerce and left the city defenseless against outside enemies. [1, 2]

Major Results

  • New Representation: The first secession around 494 BCE forced the patricians to create the office of the Tribune of the Plebs, giving commoners an official political voice with veto power. [1, 2, 3]
  • Legal Reforms: Later secessions helped lead to the creation of the Twelve Tables (written Roman law) and the Lex Hortensia in 287 BCE, which made resolutions passed by the plebeian assembly binding for all Roman citizens. [1, 2]

Time for Action!

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People Power United

Your Power in Action: What You Can Do Today

The movement for freedom over fascism, progress, and power to the people starts here.

‘Embarrassing’: Google Maps Renames ‘Lake Ontario’ as ‘Lake America’ in US

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Screenshot of Google Maps with "Lake America"

A screenshot of Google Maps taken in the US on August 30, 2026 shows “Lake Ontario” renamed “Lake America.”

 (Photo by Google Maps/ Screengrab)

The name change followed President Donald Trump’s executive order and “served as a reminder that billionaires will always side with authoritarians, because authoritarians will always protect billionaires at the expense of democracy and the working class.”

Olivia Rosane

Aug 30, 2026 (CommonDreams.org)

Tech giant Google faced widespread criticism over the weekend for becoming the first major online map provider to change the name of “Lake Ontario” to “Lake America” for its US users, after President Donald Trump ordered the name change in an executive order on Thursday.

Google presented the decision as a procedural one in its statement on Saturday:

The US Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) has formally changed the name for “Lake Ontario” to “Lake America” in the United States. Since we update Google Maps to reflect name changes in official government sources, which is GNIS for the US, people using Maps in the US will see “Lake America,” those in Canada will continue to see “Lake Ontario,” and those outside of the US and Canada will see both names. These updates follow our long-standing policy for bodies of water with names that vary from country to country, and are starting to roll out now.

RECOMMENDED…

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However, advocates, lawmakers, and commenters saw the shift as another example of Big Tech in general, and Google in particular, caving to Trump’s whims. Notably, the CEO of Google’s parent company Alphabet, Sundar Pichai, attended Trump’s inauguration with a host of other Silicon Valley moguls.

“This is so embarrassing for @Google and served as a reminder that billionaires will always side with authoritarians, because authoritarians will always protect billionaires at the expense of democracy and the working class,” Melanie D’Arrigo, executive director of the Campaign for New York Health, wrote on social media.

X post: https://x.com/killedbygoogle/status/2094037246328627462?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2094037246328627462%7Ctwgr%5E63b6184f1fa1be1dada5fb1e6cb81d6fcfc9ebde%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Fnews%2Fgoogle-map-rename-trump

Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) threatened the company with congressional questioning for its capitulation, writing on social media: “Hey @Google, how about an option for thinking people vs. cultish sheep? I don’t wanna have to see your brown lips from Trump. How about calling it what it is? Don’t forget, when the Majority changes in the House and Senate, you might have some answering to do. Correction. WILL.”

Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), in response to another social media post about the change, wrote sarcastically, “That’s definitely going to make food more affordable.”

Kenneth Roth, the former head of Human Rights Watch, asked, “Is Google really so terrified of Trump that it has to play along with his childishness?”

X post: https://x.com/KenRoth/status/2094064176876376319?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2094064176876376319%7Ctwgr%5E63b6184f1fa1be1dada5fb1e6cb81d6fcfc9ebde%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Fnews%2Fgoogle-map-rename-trump

Trump biographer Seth Abramson chastised the company, writing, “Thing #1 that you *do not do* for a psychopath: appease them.”

While Google was the first digital map provider to make the change, it will not be the last, according to Wired, which reported that Apple and Bing are expected to follow suit. All three companies changed the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America following Trump’s redesignation at the start of his second term.

Trump did receive pushback from other quarters at the time, with The Associated Press losing access to presidential events because it refused to change its style guide to prefer “Gulf of America.”

This new name change, which Trump issued as part of an ongoing trade war with Canada, has also met with resistance both within and beyond the US.

On the day of Trump’s order, MapQuest announced simply, “We’re not changing it.”

X post: https://x.com/MapQuest/status/2093038963196117303?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2093038963196117303%7Ctwgr%5E63b6184f1fa1be1dada5fb1e6cb81d6fcfc9ebde%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Fnews%2Fgoogle-map-rename-trump

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney rejected the name change in a social media post on Thursday, pointing to the Indigenous origins of the name Ontario.

“The name Lake Ontario comes from the Wendat word Ontari’io, which, appropriately, means ‘the lake is beautiful, the lake is big.’ The name is more than 400 years old, predating both the Confederation of Canada and the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America,” he wrote. “We know that America is changing. Their trading relationships, their foreign policies, their national monuments, their hydronyms. Canadians also know that naming reality means calling it Lake Ontario—then, now, and always.”

The upstate New York-based Seneca Nation on Friday asked Trump to rescind the order, saying it violated an over 225-year-old treaty signed by President George Washington and the Haudenosaunee confederacy, of which the Seneca are a member.

Seneca Nation President J. Conrad Seneca said the name change showed “blatant disrespect” to Indigenous groups, adding, “The President cannot assert ownership over our culture or erase it through irresponsible political action.”

On Saturday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford unveiled a billboard on the lake’s edge that reads, “Lake Ontario, now and always” in English and French.

“President Trump can call it whatever he wants, but I can tell you the rest of the world will always call it Lake Ontario,” Ford said.

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.

Olivia Rosane

Olivia Rosane is the opinion editor and a staff writer for Common Dreams.

Full Bio >

Articles~Petitions + Petitions for Executions~ Events for Sat. Aug. 29 – Thurs. Sept. 3

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By Adrienne Fong

Not back posting on a regular basis.

RESOURCES:

 UPDATES WITH BAY RESISTANCE and get plugged to actions you can support, text “Resist” to 888-850-0928

GI HOTLINE (877) 477-4497

Center On Conscience and War: 800-379-2679 (toll free) In Washington DC

Home

  – Share these numbers to people who know active duty service members

There are events listed on Indybay that might be of interest to you(many listings in the South, North & East Bays and beyond the bay area)

Please post your actions on Indybay: https://www.indybay.org/calendar/?page_id=12

Bay Area Progressive Action Calendar: ATW Bay Area / NorCal — Action Together West

ARTICLES

A. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard says US claims about Hormuz are ‘lies’ to manipulate oil – August 29, 2026

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard says US claims about Hormuz are ‘lies’ to manipulate oil prices – Middle East Monitor

B. The Trump regime dirty Yosemite secret land scheme

The Trump regime dirty Yosemite secret land scheme : Indybay 

  See Petition #  4

C. ‘Not sorry’: Israeli officer who killed international aid workers in Gaza justifies strike – August 28, 2026

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israeli-officer-who-ordered-wck-strike-gaza-says-he-not-sorry

D. Two Types of Israel Settlers

https://www.aljazeera.com/video/newsfeed/2026/8/28/the-two-types-of-israeli-settlers

E. Iranian political analyst says Iranian economy can endure further sanction…

    Omid Khazani, an Iranian political analyst based in Tehran, argued that the US and Israel did not achieve their goals in Iran and thus are left with the only option of militarily continuing to “commit war crimes”.

F. U.S.-Born Children Are Sent to Haiti Aboard Second Deportation Flight in a Week  – August 28, 2026

https://www.democracynow.org/2026/8/28/headlines/us_born_children_are_sent_to_haiti_aboard_second_deportation_flight_in_a_week

G. Trump is Waging War on Haitians – August 28, 2026

https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/trump-is-waging-war-on-haitians/

H. ICE enforcement hits record high in Northern California – August 28, 2028

https://missionlocal.org/2026/08/northern-california-ice-arrests-increase/

I. Nepal resumes rescue ops after another flood scare August 28, 2026

Nepal resumes rescue ops after another flood scare — RT World News

J. Israel arms drug dealers to commit new ‘Sabra and Shatila’ in Gaza – August 27, 2026

https://www.instagram.com/p/DcjKpQeCH3k/?hl=en

K. Gary, Indiana is a warning: energy independence has gotten personal August 26, 2026

Gary, Indiana is a warning: energy independence has gotten personal

 Instagram within the article

https://www.instagram.com/reels/DcRtbfaJoAU/

   During the power outage the Data Centers stayed lit (from other sources)

L. Air Force Major Who Keeps Calling for Trump’s Impeachment Charged With 10 Counts Under Military Law – August 25, 2026

https://www.military.com/air-force-major-ucmj-who-keeps-calling-for-trumps-impeachment-charged-with-10-counts-under-military-law

M. Activists urge SFO to limit ICE access, but airport officials say their hands are tied – August 25, 2026

https://missionlocal.org/2026/08/san-francisco-airport-commission-ice-sfo-data-sharing/

N. Jenkins sends a Trump-like message with bridge protester trial – August 25, 2026

https://48hills.org/2026/08/jenkins-sends-a-trump-like-message-with-bridge-protester-trial/

O. California’s top-paid employee made over $2 million. Here’s what every state worker was paid – August 24, 2026

https://www.sfchronicle.com/projects/2026/california-state-employee-pay-2026/

P. Professor Sang Hea Kil comments at GG 7 sentencing hearing in SF

https://www.instagram.com/p/DccLrR1hTkO/?hl=en

Q. SF Judge sentences 7 who blocked the Golden Gate Bridge – August 21, 2026

https://www.ktvu.com/news/golden-gate-bridge-protesters-recieve-sentence

6 PETITIONS

1. Reject U.S.-Israeli military cooperation in the NDAA!

  SIGN: Reject U.S.-Israeli military cooperation in the NDAA! | Demand Progress

   Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir recently said that Israeli forces should “kill 30 – 40” Palestinians in Gaza every day. In reference to Palestinians, he said, “They are not people.”1

2. Stop Trump and Stephen Miller’s NSPM-7 attacks on free speech and protest!

  SIGN: Stop Trump and Stephen Miller’s NSPM-7 attacks on free speech and protest! | Demand Progress

3. Tell your state legislators to #DumpBigTech

  SIGN: Tell your state legislators to #DumpBigTech – Action Network 

4. Save national forests near Yellowstone from Trump!

  SIGN: Save national forests near Yellowstone from Trump! | Demand Progress

5. Organic Farming Supports Health, the Environment & Local Economies. Tell the Senate to Support Organic!

  SIGN: TAKE ACTION: Tell the Senate to Regenerate Health, the Environment, and Rural Communities by Supporting Organic in the Farm Bill! | Organic Consumers

6. Close the Loophole That Lets Frankenfoods Escape Safety Testing

  SIGN: TAKE ACTION BEFORE DECEMBER 9: Tell the FDA to Close the Loophole That Lets Frankenfoods Escape Safety Testing! | Organic Consumers

8 PETITONS for SEPTEMBER EXECUTIONS

September 1, 2026 at 6:00 pm ET:
Harold Lucas in Florida(opens in new tab)

September 10, 2026 at 6:00 pm ET:
Daniel Conahan in Florida(opens in new tab)

September 16, 2026 6:00pm

Stop Execution of LeJames Norman in Texas

September 16, 2026 at 7:00 pm ET:
Stacey Humphreys in Georgia 

September 17, 2026 at 6:00 pm CT:
Jeffrey Lee in Alabama(opens in new tab)

September 23, 2026 at 6:00 pm CT:
Ramey Ker’sean Olajuwa in Texas(opens in new tab)

September 29, 2026 at 6:00 pm ET:
Curtis Beasley in Florida(opens in new tab)

September 30, 2026 at 10:00 am CT:
Christa Pike in Tennessee

EVENTS / ACTIONS

 Saturday, August 29 – Thursday, September 3

Saturday, August 29

1. Saturday, 4:00pm – 6:00pm, Join STOP AI to Demand SF City Hall Address the AI Threat to Public Safety  

SF City Hall
Polk St. side
SF 

STOP AI

Rally with strong messaging and leafleting

Please also see Tuesday, Sept. 1 action at SF City Hall – Board of Supervisors meeting

Info: Join STOP AI to Demand SF City Hall Address the AI Threat to Public Safety : Indybay

2. Saturday, 6:00pm – 8:00pm, Teach-In: Palesitne & the Oakland People’s Arms Embargo

Registration Info: Teach-In: Palestine & the Oakland People’s Arms Embargo · Luma

  – Location will be sent out after RSVP

  -Note: this event is open registration; however, if room capacity becomes a limiting facter, UC Berkeley students will be prioritized.

  – Please use a non-Berkeley/non- institutional email to register.

Come learn about the Oakland People’s Arms Embargo campaign and the web of connections to the genocide in Palestine

Info from Oakland People’s Arms Embargo ​

Sunday, August 30

3. Sunday, 8:00am (PT); 11:00am (ET), China’s National Unity vs. U.S. Social Hierarchy  – what US media leaves out

International webnair registration: Webinar Registration – Zoom 

An International Webinar Getting to the truth about China’s new Ethnic Unity Law, and answering Western media and politicians’ hysterical anti-China reactions. Learn how all China’s people get free education, health care, housing and equal rights!

Chen Weihua, former China Daily EU bureau chief

· Jason Smith, American radio host living in China

· Jacqueline Luqman, Black Alliance for Peace · Carlos Martinez, Friends of Socialist China

· Arnold August, Xizang/Tibet expert

 · Sara Flounders, United National Antiwar Coalition  

Host: Workers World

4. Sunday, 12Noon – 2:00pm, U.S. Imperialism Threatens Cuba’s Survival  

New Valencia Hall
747 Polk St (nr. Ellis)
San Francisco 

Wheelchair accessible

Also on Zoom — Register at https://bit.ly/Cubas_Survival

U.S. sanctions and embargoes have created a humanitarian crisis in Cuba, impacting the daily lives of working-class Cubans. With Trump’s desire for an imperialist takeover of the island, international solidarity is needed. Unfortunately, the Cuban government is enacting measures that further open up a “free market” economy and place it more firmly on the path of capitalist restoration. Learn about the current situation in Cuba and how to defend the country’s sovereignty, fight the embargo and provide support.

Speaker: Bob Price
Committee for Revolutionary International Regroupment leader and author of Cuba: A Socialist Dream Deferred

Host: Freedom Socialist Party SF

Info: U.S. Imperialism Threatens Cuba’s Survival : Indybay 

Tuesday, September 1

5. Tuesday, 12:30pm – 2:00pm, Join Stop AI to Demand SF City Hall Address the AI Threat to Public Safety

SF City Hall
1 Dr. Carleton B. Goodlett Pl (Polk St. steps)
SF  

Rally to Welcome the SF Supervisors Back from Recess.

2:00pm – SF Board of Supervisors Meeting – 2nd Fl of City Hall (elevator access)

Join our Signal Chat:

https://signal.group/#CjQKIJ6eSQZ-NBP9xpp3YnTgm7nvUF5A-rfjVAix7ieOSs-1EhDR_c9CGqCSszO6b0pFc5UC

Let’s welcome the SF supervisors back from their recess with a strong message that they must ensure public safety by reigning in the AI companies from developing harmful technology that could end up killing us all.

Rally at noon and learn the process for public comment, get our talking points, and then join us in solidarity and community to go up to their first meeting of the fall session.

For more information: http://www.stopai.info

Host: STOP AI

Info: Join STOP AI to Demand SF City Hall Address the AI Threat to Public Safety : Indybay

Thursday, September 3

6. Thursday, 6:30pm – 8:00pm, Solidarity Presence in the West Bank: Report back

Private home:

1925 Hudson St.
 El Cerrito, CA  

Come with an open mind & heart as you listen to the first-hand accounts from two US volunteers with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM). We’ll discuss the importance of the ISM’s Palestinian-led activism, where we stay with families most at-risk of expulsion and state-backed settler violence. Solidarity presence means to bear witness and document such atrocities while hoping to deter violence and keep Palestinians on their land.

Amidst the escalation of ethnic cleansing, there are many ways to support the movement, both on the ground in the West Bank, and especially at home. We will give a presentation and allow plenty of time for discussion.

For more information: https://palsolidarity.org/ 

Info: Solidarity Presence in the West Bank: Report back : Indybay

Billionaires bought the SF Democratic Party. Why are we suprised at its endorsements?

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The Big Tech slate won control of the DCCC. Now they’re using it for their agenda. It’s a total embarrassment

By Tim Redmond

August 27, 2026 (48hills.org)

I’m not sure how much it helps the campaign of Manny Yekutiel for supervisor to get the endorsement of the local Democratic Party with these sorts of headlines:

Mission Local: “S.F. Dems endorse Manny Yekutiel in tense meeting despite sexual assault allegation, plea from accuser”

SF Standard: “Manny Yekutiel was accused of sexual assault. The SF Democratic Party just endorsed him”

But I wasn’t a bit surprised. The overwhelming majority of the Democratic County Central Committee won office as part of a slate financed entirely by a handful of tech billionaires who wanted a local party that would promote their interests.

Manny Yekutiel got the DCCC nod. The majority cared nothing about assault allegations. Campaign photo.

The billionaires clearly think that Yekutiel is the best candidate in District 8. So the DCCC members they funded bowed to their will, and voted for a guy who was credibly accused of sexual assault.

None of the allegations were going to matter. The mayor and his pals want Manny; the DCCC caved. Even Sup. Matt Dorsey, who supported Gary McCoy and who said that McCoy’s role in the recovery community was critical, bowed at the last minute and went with Yekutiel.

Here’s the list of people who think sexual assault allegations don’t matter when the billionaire candidate is up for endorsement:

  • Cedric Akbar
  • Michaela Alioto-Pier
  • Joshua Arce
  • Patrick Boileau
  • Trevor Chandler
  • Lanier Coles
  • Lily Ho
  • Marjan Philhour
  • Joe Sangirardi
  • Matt Dorsey
  • Fiona Ma
  • Nancy Tung

Then the local party went on to do something that hardly ever happens: It broke with the state party to oppose Prop. 40, the billionaire tax on the November ballot. Again, this is no surprise at all: The rich tech bros now completely control San Francisco’s Democratic Party. They paid for it, and they got it.

So let’s not pretend that any “investigation” or party protocol on sexual assault made any difference at all here. I’ve been watching Democratic Party politics in SF for 40 years, and I don’t think I’ve even seen a DCCC majority this bad.

An earlier version of this article mistakingly said Eric Kingsbury voted for Manny. He supported McCoy.

48 Hills welcomes comments in the form of letters to the editor, which you can submit here. We also invite you to join the conversation on our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. 

Tim Redmond

Tim Redmond has been a political and investigative reporter in San Francisco for more than 30 years. He spent much of that time as executive editor of the Bay Guardian. He is the founder of 48hills.