f

.

“As an adjudicated insurrectionist, Trump is an illegitimate president according to Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, and therefore every official act as president will be illegitimate.”

–Mike Zonta, co-editor of OccupySF.net

The 14th Amendment states: “No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any state legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any state, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may, by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.”

Call your Congressperson and your U.S. Senators at (202) 224-3121

San Francisco isn’t giving up on turning more of its offices into homes

San Francisco Skyline Wikimedia
The financial reimbursement is available for projects downtown, which includes the Financial District, South of Market area and Civic Center neighborhood, and is meant to help alleviate the financial risk of conversions. Photo: Basil D Soufi, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

In the years after the pandemic, many city officials and developers saw an opportunity to turn unused offices into apartments. San Francisco, with roughly a third of its 100 million square feet of office space vacant, had the potential to be a nucleus for office-to-residential activity.

But as cities like New York, Washington and Chicago began offering tax incentives for conversions, San Francisco did not offer similar programs for builders. And since then, San Francisco has yet to see a single office conversion even as thousands of projects are underway and being completed in other cities.

The city is now is trying to change that.

The financial reimbursement is available for projects downtown, which includes the Financial District, South of Market area and Civic Center neighborhood, and is meant to help alleviate the financial risk of conversions.

So far, three developers have submitted projects for the program.

“We’ve got about 30 million square feet of vacant space, so we knew we had a significant problem to tackle,” said Anne Taupier, executive director of the city’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development.

City officials are hoping the new tax incentive will fuel conversions the way tax abatement programs have in New York and Washington. Those are the top two markets for office conversions, with nearly 25,000 units in development combined as of the start of this year, according to RentCafe, an apartment search platform and research firm.

In 2023, a study by a group of public policy, planning and architecture firms determined that many office buildings in San Francisco were suitable for conversion because of factors like shape, size and layout. The city then relaxed several building codes, requirements and fees. Measures waived included mandates for bike parking and open space. And in March 2024, San Francisco voters eliminated a property transfer tax on buildings that were turned into housing, helping to ease some financial burden.

Despite those initiatives, developers remained reluctant to convert properties. Meanwhile, the housing crisis in San Francisco worsened as the expansion of artificial intelligence companies pushed up rents in an already pricey market. In September, the median rent for a one-bedroom apartment in the city was over 25% more than it was the prior year and at an all-time high, according to Zumper, a rental platform.

In all, San Francisco’s efforts to make it easier and more financially feasible to convert offices to housing are expected to cut 25% off total costs in projects, said Marc Babsin, president of Emerald Fund, a residential development firm in San Francisco. That is a sizable amount even if those reductions, he noted, would be realized only after developers increase property values that go on to generate higher property taxes.

One of the developers trying to take advantage of the tax incentive is Babsin’s firm, which submitted an application and teamed up with another local developer to buy a midcentury office building. They plan to convert it into 106 apartments. Another developer, Hudson Pacific Properties, a real estate investment trust that owns about 12.5 million square feet of offices and production studios on the West Coast, wants to turn the upper floors of a landmark, 114-year-old building it owns into 136 apartments.

This week, San Francisco will host a four-course feast at the Ferry Building, commemorate The City’s circus history and throw neighborhood street festivals.

The new tax break “gives developers a way to put together a financing package that can make conversions work,” said Chris Pearson, senior vice president of Hudson Pacific.

The incentives are also playing an important role in the city’s Future of Downtown initiative, a rebuilding program the city’s planning department introduced in 2023.

San Francisco’s office vacancy rate, though improved recently, is among the highest in the country at 30.1%, according to Cushman & Wakefield, a commercial real estate brokerage. City officials see more people living downtown as a way to keep the area lively well past 5 p.m. and on weekends. That requires a mix of housing, shops, restaurants and entertainment, said Jacob Bintliff, manager of economic recovery initiatives for the Office of Economic and Workforce Development.

“Everybody feels the pain of where downtown has been since COVID, and there has been a lot of political will to go further with incentives for this category of projects,” he said. “If we were proposing them for some other type of development, maybe we wouldn’t have the same political coalition.”

More of that type of development is needed to give developers confidence to build even bigger, said Steve Luthman, global head of real estate at Hines, a global real estate investor.

The company wants to redevelop a block in the Financial District that could include converting a late-1940s-era office building into housing along with constructing the tallest office skyscraper in the city containing a mix of offices, housing and retail.

But without a broad office conversion effort, the Hines project will remain an island in a district of underused office buildings, Luthman said.

“The Financial District has always been a single-use district, and every one of our cities in America has one like it,” he said. “So we believe that creating more experiential urban districts is a winning formula, and the leadership shown by a historically antidevelopment city like San Francisco is giving developers a palate for those projects.”

Even with the new incentives, the advent of AI is an unknown in the future of office conversions in San Francisco. Lately, leasing activity and office building values are rising, partly because of the increasing number of AI firms looking for space.

More office leasing activity could slow momentum for conversions, as building owners and lenders have become reluctant to part with buildings at a price at which a conversion works financially, Babsin said. But he is confident that more conversion opportunities will become available.

“There are a lot of AI startups generating a lot of headlines and a lot of buzz,” Babsin said. “Nonetheless, dozens of Class B and C office buildings continue to struggle, so we’re bullish on office-to-residential conversions and see an opportunity to bring new energy into downtown.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

4 Ways to Take Action

  1. Host a No Kings event in your community on October 17. There will be massive rallies across the country Saturday, but don’t think you need to bring out thousands of people for your No Kings event to be successful. All you need is a fierce commitment to defend the midterms from Trump’s election sabotage and an area to host your event. You can plan a block party, a BBQ, a small march — anything to drive historic early vote numbers and prepare our neighbors to take action to protect the results. The deadline to submit events is this Wednesday, October 14 at 11:59pm PT. Still on the fence about hosting? Scroll down for a bunch more info.
  2. Check out the map and register for an event near you. Join the millions of people mobilizing this Saturday to send an undeniable message to the Trump regime that we are ready to defend our elections from any interference or subversion. New events are added every day, so it’s worth a second look if you’ve explored the map before.
  3. Join the No Kings coalition for a Know Your Federal Voting Rights training this Wednesday, October 14 at 8pm ET/5pm PT. Knowing your rights is a fundamental way to combat disinformation and voter intimidation. When we know our rights, we can defend them — and share that crucial information with our communities. Hop on the training and then spread that knowledge to your neighbors on No Kings Day!
  4. If you can, chip in to help make this No Kings a historic day of protest against election sabotage and a catalyst for the largest wave of early voting in the history of our Republic. Organizing millions of participants, staying in contact with thousands of hosts, and supporting events in every corner of the US isn’t possible without grassroots funding from supporters like you.

 Hosting an Event: Your One-Stop Shop

On the fence about hosting? The No Kings coalition created a new host guide laying out all the steps you need to get your event on the map. In just a few simple steps, you can get your event for Saturday up and running:

Step 1: Check the map. For this No Kings Day, we’re looking for hosts to spin up LOTS of events of all types, from rallies to visibility bridge brigades to walks to the polls. It’s a good thing if there are multiple options throughout the day in an area, so add your own event, or consider teaming up with a fellow host.

Step 2: Check federal, state, and local rules and regulations on hosting an early voter event. Before registering your event, get an idea of what you can and cannot do in your county, city, and state. Our compliance considerations guide can help.

Step 3: Submit your event. This Mobilize form is where you’ll add the details of your event. For further guidance and information, review the Host Toolkit, and keep reading below to get inspired for creative event ideas.

Step 4: Complete the host survey. Once you’ve submitted your event on Mobilize, you’ll get an email asking you to complete your survey. Please note that this step is mandatory and your event will not be published unless the survey is complete.

Step 5: Join upcoming No Kings coalition trainings, or watch recordings of past calls. Event hosts are required to watch an upcoming safety, de-escalation, and compliance training before October 17. You can find the full list at the link.

Thank you for taking the next step and hosting an event on Saturday!

SF Dems handily endorse Gary McCoy in fraught meeting after Manny Yekutiel exit

Party member Gordon Mar resigns after saying Dems have become ‘a protection racket for wealthy donors and political insiders’

by Bailey Zitko

October 11, 2026 (MissionLocal.org)

A middle-aged man with short hair and clear-framed glasses wears a blue jacket over a tan shirt with a pink “Gary McCoy” button.

Gary McCoy, candidate running for District 8 Supervisor, on October 6, 2026. Photo by Zoe Malen.

San Francisco’s Democratic Party coalesced behind Gary McCoy for District 8 supervisor in a fraught, three-hour emergency meeting Sunday evening, necessitated by the withdrawal of prior endorsee Emanuel “Manny” Yekutiel.

Yekutiel, far and away the favorite to win and the party’s preferred candidate, dropped out of the contest on the heels of a second on-the-record sexual-assault allegation published on Oct. 1.

Tonight, the party rescinded Yekutiel’s endorsement with a 29-0 vote. Then it endorsed McCoy by a 20-0 vote, with eight votes for no endorsement.

Following the most recent allegations against Yekutiel, Democratic Party Chair Nancy Tung apologized for the party’s earlier endorsement of him and its inability to appropriately handle sexual misconduct allegations.

Critics, including some elected members of the local Democratic Party, have called upon Tung to resign or relinquish leadership.

Most of her fellow party members, however, let it be known prior to today’s meeting that they favored keeping her in her position.

In June, political organizer Brad Chapin claimed Yekutiel painfully grabbed his testicles at a house party in 2020. A Democratic Party investigation lasted five weeks, despite the rudimentary finding that Chapin’s allegation did not fall under the aegis of the party’s sexual-misconduct policy.

On Aug. 26, Democratic Party members were given a terse, half-page note informing them that the policy was not applicable, and stating that it could not be determined whether a sexual assault took place. On that same day, the party voted to endorse Yekutiel by a slim 12-10 tally.

Manny Yekutiel outside the entrance to the mayor’s office, where a crowd gathers after Daniel Lurie’s swearing-in on Jan. 8, 2025. Photo by Abigail Van Neely.

Tung addressed the criticism she’s faced since the second sexual assault against Yekutiel and the implosion of his campaign.

She claimed efforts to push her out would ensure that nobody else would ever address the “messy problem” of sexual misconduct in local political circles.

“It’s very difficult to get right,” she said. “But there’s somebody that I made a promise to, and I want to go back and center around the person who is most harmed by this policy and its failures. And that’s Brad Chapin.”

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Prior to this evening’s meeting, Tung and Chapin had a conversation where they agreed to “continue working on this policy to make it better, to make it better for survivors, to make it better for for us in political positions, to make decisions, to make better decisions, and to make the process more transparent,” she added.

Before any endorsements were voted on or Tung responded to her critics, there were nearly two hours of charged public comments. Some speakers defended Tung and expressed their support for keeping her as chair; others called on her to resign.

Chapin made an appearance, urging the party to sign a “Believe Brad” campaign petition that would move his allegations to California Attorney General Rob Bonta.

Next, he asked for the party to sign a declaration that cites its support for Ivy Lee, the director of the city’s office of victim services, “and all of their requests for SFPD to make real changes to how sexual-assault investigations are conducted in San Francisco.”

Despite critics and attendees who expressed during public comment that Tung should resign from leadership, no official efforts were made tonight to do so. One of those critics did step down, though: Democratic Party member Gordon Mar wrote an email to Tung at shortly before 10 p.m. announcing he was quitting, “effective immediately.”

The San Francisco Democratic Party “has become an absolute embarrassment to most people who uphold democratic values. And tonight’s special meeting is just the latest example of this,” Mar said at tonight’s meeting.

“Chair Tung, under your leadership and this billionaire-backed majority … the San Francisco Democratic Party has essentially become a protection racket for wealthy donors and political insiders.”

Tung was unmoved.

“If people do not want me to represent them as a Democrat in the leadership … I’m sure that I will be voted out at some point in time,” she said. “But for now, I am committed to remaining chair.”

There’s a lot on the ballot, but we’ve got you covered.

This November, San Franciscans will weigh in on 30+ candidates, 10 ballot measures, and a host of other regional and state propositions. But fear not: Mission Local is covering it all.

We have the most in-depth election reporting in San Francisco, covering every race up and down the ballot. We’re doing weekly questionnaires of every major candidate, diving deep into the money behind the election, and analyzing what it all means.

We think that’s critical to a city like this. And we think it’s critical that election reporting remain free for all to read, because every voter deserves to know where candidates stand.

Support our election coverage!

Thanks to more than 3,000 donors, our election reporting is free. Will you join them?

Ilhan Omar’s Home Raided by DHS Following Trump-GOP Deportation Threats

Ilhan Omar’s Home Raided by DHS Following Trump-GOP Deportation Threats
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) is seen at a press conference with other members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus on funding for and efforts to reform the Department of Homeland Security, in Washington, DC on, January 13, 2026.
(Photo by Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Trump and other Republicans have called for Omar to be stripped of her citizenship and deported for years.

Following years of threats from President Donald Trump and other Republicans to deport Rep. Ilhan Omar, the Minnesota congresswoman’s Washington, DC home was raided on Monday morning by agents with the Department of Homeland Security.

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has confirmed that the raid was carried out as part of a judicially authorized warrant, which it said was part of an ongoing criminal investigation.

Fox News, which first reported news of the raid, said it was part of a probe into the naturalization paperwork filed by Omar’s late father when she became a US citizen in 2000 after immigrating to the US as a refugee from Somalia in 1995.

In September, The New York Post reported that federal investigators were examining whether Omar may have been older than 17 when she obtained citizenship through her father as a minor in 2000. The allegation, which stems partly from a discrepancy in historical records of her birth year, has not been substantiated.

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a fellow at the American Immigration Council, argued that the case was “even weaker than it already seems,” since federal immigration law includes a waiver for people who obtain legal status through fraud they were unaware of.

Joyce Vance, who served as the US attorney for the Northern District of Alabama under President Barack Obama, noted that the raid took place just weeks before the November 3 midterms, inside the 60-day window where DOJ typically avoids such dramatic actions.

“To state what’s obvious to prosecutors here, we are within the period before an election where DOJ doesn’t take overt steps in an investigation that might influence its outcome,” she said, adding that it was “another hard norm out the window.”

Omar has not yet commented on the raid as of Monday morning, and the DOJ has not indicated what, if any, specific charges have been filed against her.

The search comes after years of demands from Trump and other Republicans for Omar—who has served in the US House of Representatives since 2019—to be deported, imprisoned, or otherwise removed from office.

In a statement Monday morning, Joel Payne, a spokesperson for the progressive advocacy group MoveOn condemned the raid on Omar as a political attack.

“Rep. Omar is a dedicated public servant and a true ally for working families, and Donald Trump has done nothing but use racist tropes and stereotypes to attack her,” he said. “Now, he’s abusing his power to physically intimidate and harass her.”

Last November, Trump remarked that Omar should be thrown out of the country because she is “always complaining” and referenced her religious attire, referring to it as a “swaddling hijab.” In another post that day, he called for the US to “denaturalize migrants who undermine domestic tranquility.”

He also said Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), the only Palestinian American member of Congress, should be “sent back” along with Omar after the two protested his state of the Union address in February.

Trump has often referenced Omar while calling for all Somali immigrants to be deported from the country—even though most are US citizens. Trump has referred to Somalis collectively as “garbage” and said they have “low IQs.”

Last week, Trump called for the people of Minnesota to “fight back” against Somalis living there in a post on Truth Social, which was widely interpreted as an incitement to violence.

In March, Vice President JD Vance said on a podcast that the administration believed Omar had “definitely committed immigration fraud against the United States of America” and that he’d discussed with senior Trump adviser Stephen Miller—who is not a federal prosecutor—how to “go after” her.

Beau Tremitiere, counsel and deputy director of impact programs for Protect Democracy, told Common Dreams that “raiding the home of a prominent critic and longtime target of President Trump’s racist attacks on the eve of an election is an obvious attempt to intimidate the opposition.”

“This administration already has a long track record of failed political prosecutions,” he said. “Each new one should both anger and stiffen the spine of those standing up for our democracy.”

Several Republican members of Congress have referenced Omar’s religion and political viewpoints as reasons for her to be stripped of citizenship and deported.

Rep. Randy Fine (R-Fla.), who introduced a resolution to expel Omar from Congress last year, referred to her as a “Muslim terrorist” because of her outspoken criticism of Israel’s genocide in Gaza and said she should not “be a citizen.”

Rep. Brandon Gill (R-Texas) has also called for her deportation, claiming she helped to facilitate the “invasion” of the US after she discussed informing Somali American residents of her district of their constitutional rights should they encounter immigration officers.

In a statement Monday, House Democratic leadership called the raid on Omar’s residence “deeply disturbing” and said it “raises serious questions about the continued corrupt weaponization of the federal government against Donald Trump’s adversaries.”

“For years, Donald Trump and far-right extremists have relentlessly targeted Congresswoman Omar with vile personal attacks and baseless accusations,” they said. “Now, less than 30 days until the midterm election, his violent mass deportation machine has descended upon the home of a duly elected Member of Congress and her family.”

They added that “the American people deserve transparency, and we will deliver full accountability for the rogue abuse of power from the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice.”

This article has been updated to include comments from House Democratic leadership and Beau Tremitiere at Protect Democracy.

An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder

Dear Common Dreams reader,

It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits.

It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do.

Many people said we wouldn’t last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong.

Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good.

Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work.

But here’s the urgent message from me today. It’s never been this bad out there. And it’s never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever.

We don’t accept corporate advertising and never will. We don’t have a paywall because we don’t think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you.

When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we.

Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives?

—Craig Brown, Co-founder

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

DSA-SF voter guide for November 2026

DSA San Francisco – Democratic Socialists of America – San Francisco

Friends and Comrades,

We have big news. Today, DSA SF has released our first-ever public voter guide, for the November 2026 election.

This guide represents the collective work of over 60 DSA SF members and the democratic will of our chapter. We know working-class liberation won’t be won at the ballot box alone, but elections remain one front in our broader struggle to build a world run by and for working people.

As billionaires and corporate-backed groups like GrowSF pour money into San Francisco elections to buy influence and block our agenda, working people deserve a real alternative. Our voter guide cuts through the noise with an independent socialist analysis of this November’s ballot. We believe in a true democracy where working people, not billionaires, shape our future. This guide is one part of building the working-class power to make that possible.

Our Key Endorsements:

  • YES on Prop I: To dedicate funding from luxury real estate sales to affordable housing.
  • YES on Prop B: To establish a public bank in San Francisco.
  • NO on Props D, E, & F: To stop the Mayor’s power grab charter amendments.

DSA SF stands with our socialist in office, Supervisor Jackie Fielder, in the fight against the Mayor and the Board majority’s agenda of deregulation and increased policing. We believe these measures are essential to addressing the affordability crisis and stopping billionaires from tightening their grip on City Hall.

Read the full guide and share it with your neighbors: dsasf.org/vote

From our neighborhoods and workplaces to the ballot box, DSA SF is building working-class power and fighting inequality under capitalism, because we dream of a world run by and for the working people.

Thank you for being part of this movement. 🌹

In solidarity,

Isa S. and the DSA SF Steering Committee
steering@dsasf.org
dsasf.org

Articles~Petitions~Events for Monday, Oct. 12 – Wednesday, Oct. 14

By Adrienne Fong

Not back posting on a regular basis.

Next announcements will be posted on Thursday or Friday

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

  https://centeronconscience.org/

  – Since the Iran War – there has been an increase of active duty service people applying for C.O. status

  – 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. “Children’s Peace Drawings Are Antisemitic!” – Says Israeli UN Ambassador – October 11, 2026

“Children’s Peace Drawings Are Antisemitic!” – Says Israeli UN Ambassador

B. ‘We May’: Trump Says US Could Soon Start Bombing Yemen Again to Help Saudi Arabia – October 11, 2025

‘We May’: Trump Says US Could Soon Start Bombing Yemen Again to Help Saudi Arabia | Common Dreams

C. Netanyahu Orders Investigation, Prosecution of Interviewees in ‘NAZA’ Documentary

Netanyahu Orders Investigation, Prosecution of Interviewees in ‘NAZA’ Documentary – Israel Security

  See Event # 3

D. Some in Tennessee governor’s office don’t want second Christa Pike execution: Cuomo

https://www.newsnationnow.com/us-news/mid-south/tennessee-christa-pike-second-execution-attempt/#:~:text=According%20to%20her%20legal%20team%2C,execution%2C%20NewsNation%20affiliate%20WKRN%20reported.

E. POWERFUL MESSAGE: Navi Pillay Dedicates Nobel Peace Prize to Survivors of International Crimes| AC1C – October 10, 2026

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=he9ddzEpevU   

F. Hundreds at FedEx Demand End of Weapons Pipeline for Palestine Genocide – October 10, 2026

 Hundreds at FedEx Demand End of Weapons Pipeline for Palestine Genocide : Indybay

G. Soldiers Are Already Looking for a Way Out of Hegseth’s Livestreamed Firing Squad – October 8, 2026

https://www.washingtonsun.com/defense/soldiers-fort-hood-nidal-mikal-hasan-pete-hegseth-livestream-firing-squad-execution

H. Pentagon says firing squad execution of Fort Hood shooter will be livestream

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/pentagon-says-firing-squad-execution-of-fort-hood-shooter-will-be-livestreamed

I. SFPD beat city resident into near-coma in 2025 and DA ‘tried to cover it up,’ public defenders allege – October 8, 2026

https://missionlocal.org/2026/10/sfpd-beat-resident-near-coma-public-defenders-allege/

J. Antisemitism Law Helped Get A Professor Fiered For Free Speech, Lawsuit Says – October 6, 2026

Arkansas Professor Fired After Harassment Campaign Citing Gaza Speech

K. S.F. prosecutors again boycott judge over alleged anti-police, anti-DA bias – October 6, 2026

https://missionlocal.org/2026/10/prosecutors-boycott-judge-alleged-bias/

L. Israel is Arming Who???

ISRAEL IS ARMING WHO???? – YouTube

M, Bt Cotton in India: How did genetically modified seeds enter Indian fields before formal approval? – October 2, 2026

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

   Dr. Vandana Shiva

N. Doctors and the Death Penalty: Panel Discussion – September 29, 2026

Doctors and the Death Penalty: Panel Discussion

O. Newly created viruses are a warning. We still have a window to stop AI-enabled bioweapons – September 4, 2026

Newly created viruses are a warning. We still have a window to stop AI-enabled bioweapons – Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

PETITIONS  

1. It is time Congress held Hegseth accountable for his moral failings and criminal acts

  SIGN: It is time Congress held Hegseth accountable for his moral failings and criminal acts | Win Without War 

2. Tell 2026 Senate Candidates: Tax the rich, don’t cut Social Security

  SIGN: Take Action! 

EVENTS / ACTIONS

Monday, October 12 – Wednesday, October 14

Monday, October 12

Indigenous Peoples Day

1. Monday, 4:00am – 8:00am, 47th Annual Indigenous Peoples Day Sunrise Gathering  (See below for tickets & ferry times) 

 Alcatraz Island in
San Francisco (Yelamu)

Ticket info: https://alcatrazcitycruises.com/tickets/sunrise-gathering

   Cost: Cost: $12.00 to $15.50 per person (round-trip boat transport; the event itself is free)

      – Children free under 5 y/p

The Sunrise Gathering is open to the public, and all community members are welcome.

Boats will leave from Pier 33 in San Francisco at 4:15 AM, 4:30 AM, 5:00 AM, and 5:15 AM. Limited ferry tickets will be available for sale at the Pier 33 box office starting at 3:15 AM.

Participants are encouraged to purchase boat tickets in advance on the City Experiences website.

The gathering will also be broadcast live on KPFA Radio, 94.1 FM, and online at kpfa.org. IITC extends its appreciation to all those whose participation makes these events possible and thanks the San Francisco Arts Commission and Grants for the Arts for their support.

The gathering, co-hosted by IITC affiliate Indigenous Justice, will highlight Indigenous Peoples’ resilient living cultures in California and around the world. It will share our ongoing struggles to protect sacred lands and ways of life in the face of 534 years of genocide in the Americas, affirm “Truth in History,” and honor the original occupation of Alcatraz (1969-1971), which sparked the national and international Indigenous Peoples’ rights movements.

The 2026 Indigenous Peoples Day gatherings will be carried out in the face of many challenges. These include threats by the U.S. government to re-establish a federal prison on Alcatraz; threatened encroachments for mineral extraction on other sacred places, such as Chaco Canyon in New Mexico and Bears Ears in Utah; and U.S. military incursions threatening Tohono O’odham sacred places along the southern border to build a border wall.

Host: International Indian Treaty Council (IITC)

Info: IITC’s 2026 Indigenous Peoples Day Sunrise Gathering on Alcatraz Island Will Take Place on October 12, 2026 | International Indian Treaty Council  

2. Monday 12Noon – 4:00pm  8th Annual Indigenous Peoples Day in Yerba Buena Gardens 

Yerba Buena Gardens
Mission St. (between 3rd & 4th Sts.)
SF   

Join us in celebration of San Francisco Indigenous Peoples Day with a magnificent profusion of Native American art, music and vendors. The event highlights the vastly diverse and talented community of Indigenous artists in the Bay Area, California and the Americas. Presented on Yelamu, Ramaytush Ohlone Territory, in partnership with the International Indian Treaty Council, the program at Yerba Buena Gardens follows the Annual Indigenous Peoples Day Sunrise Gathering on Alcatraz – please check the IITC website for updates. Schedule to be announced

A groundbreaking Indigenous musician whose art flows directly out of his cultural activism, tenor Jeremy Dutcher is a conservatory-trained Canadian composer, musicologist and performer who has turned European classical music into a vehicle for language preservation. A member of Neqotkuk First Nation in Eastern Canada now based in Montréal, Québec, Dutcher catapulted to renown with his debut album Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa, which won the 2018 Polaris Music Prize and the Juno Award for Indigenous Music Album of the Year at the Canadian equivalent of the Grammys in 2019. The project unearthed century-old archival recordings of his ancestors, which he turned into collaborative compositions on piano. Sung entirely in Wolastoqey, his endangered mother tongue, the album led to collaborations with artists such as Yo-Yo Ma and Feist.

Lyla June is musician, scholar and community organizer of Diné (Navajo), Tsétsêhéstâhese (Cheyenne) and European lineages. Influenced by her work in Human Ecology, Indigenous Pedagogy and her traditional upbringing, Lyla’s multi-genre presentation style has engaged audiences across the globe towards personal and collective healing.

The Neighborhood Kids are a collective from Southern California, blending powerful lyricism, high-energy hip-hop and punk influences into an explosive live show. Rooted in culture, community and resistance, The Neighborhood Kids bring an unapologetic energy to the stage with music that speaks to identity, social justice and the power of the people.

SH1NE L1GHT is a life-long writer whose music is raw and deeply intentional. He blends radical honesty and spirituality to foster connection, community and healing. Catch him and his 7-piece band bringing a hip-hop jazz infused set on to the YBG Festival stage.

Info https://www.eventbrite.com/e/indigenous-peoples-day-with-jeremy-dutcher-at-ybgfestival-tickets-1986360842752

3. Monday, Film: NAZA at Roxie in the Mission  (October 12 – October 22) 

Roxie
3125 16th St.
SF

Tickets: https://roxie.com/film/naza/#showtimes

In secret conversations on the rooftops of Tel Aviv at night, the systems behind Israel’s calculated mass killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza are revealed by the people who designed and operated them.

Directors Note:

We made this film out of a sense of obligation to use our position as Israeli filmmakers and journalists to examine the systems behind the mass killing of Palestinian civilians for which our country is responsible. While filming members of Israel’s military on rooftops at night in Tel Aviv over the past three years, we found ourselves asking the very questions that were asked by our grandparents’ generation and throughout the 20th century: how does one group of people allow the total dehumanisation of another?

What do the inner workings of such a system look like? Many of the revelations in the film were published almost immediately as we learned of them, in the months following the October 7th attacks, by The Guardian (one of NAZA’s producers), in collaboration with reporting partners +972 Magazine and Local Call. The film lets us explore something deeper than we could in our investigative journalism alone: not only the words being said but also those that are not said, the silence. It is up to all of us to break that silence.

– Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor 

Tuesday, October 13

4. Tuesday, 3:00pm-5:00pm(PT); 6:00pm – 8:00pm(ET), Press Conf: The Petition on the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention for Freedom of MUMIA ABU-JAMAL

In person:

Grace Congregational Church of Harlem
310 West 139th St,
New York, NY 10030

Live stream Online with YouTube: tinyurl.com/Oct13-Mumia

 SPEAKERS

MC: Sophia Williams

Rev. Dr. Nigel A. Pearce

Bret Grote, ALC Legal Director and Mumia Abu-Jamal’s lead attorney

Mumia Abu-Jamal, expected to call in

Dr. Ricardo Alvarez, Abolitionist Physician and Mumia’s medical consultant

Pastor Keith Collins, Abolitionist, Practitioner of Liberation Theology and Decolonization

Special Invited Guest: Mama Pam

Contact: Suzanne Ross (917) 584-2135, Sophia Williams (917) 806-0521

New York—For more than 44 years, U.S. citizen Mumia Abu-Jamal has been arbitrarily detained in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Today, the Abolitionist Law Center and a national coalition of other human rights organizations – American Civil Liberties Union, Center for Constitutional Rights, California Coalition for Women Prisoners, and Release Aging People in Prison Campaign – submitted a petition to a United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention seeking relief. The submission provides evidence of the state of Pennsylvania violating international standards by consistently denying Mr. Abu-Jamal a fair trial and appellate process, by applying torturous conditions of confinement, and condemning him to a death by incarceration sentence that prevents him from ever leaving prison alive.

Mr. Abu-Jamal, a 72-year-old award-winning broadcast journalist and prolific author, has been incarcerated for more than four decades, since December 1981. He was arrested and charged with murdering a police officer after being found at the scene, also shot. After being convicted and given the death penalty, he was held in solitary confinement on death row (1983-2011) for 29 years, a gross violation of the international Mandela Rules limiting solitary confinement to 15 days. Throughout, Mr. Abu-Jamal has been targeted for his political expression, associations, and his race—prior to his arrest, at trial, and over the course of his incarceration, appeals, and postconviction proceedings, including repeated attempts to censor and silence his political writings and speech.

“Mumia’s case exemplifies the racism endemic to the criminal punishment system in Philadelphia in the 1970s and 1980s, and the use of incarceration as a tool of political repression,” said Saleem Holbrook, Executive Director of the Abolitionist Law Center, the public interest law firm that represents him. Police, prosecutorial and judicial misconduct plagued his conviction. Mr. Abu-Jamal’s 1982 trial, according to Amnesty International, “failed to meet minimum international standards safeguarding the fairness of legal proceedings.” The UN submission clearly documents the racial discrimination Mr. Abu-Jamal has been subject to along with deprivation of his right to represent himself, deprivation of adequate time and facilities to mount a proper defense, and political interference. “At every step, the case against Mumia violated fundamental legal principles. He would be free if courts applied the law to his case instead of playing politics with the Constitution,” said Abolitionist Law Center Legal Director Bret Grote. “We are seeking a ruling from the United Nations that exposes the bias, racism, and cruelty of the judicial system in Mumia’s case.”

Mr. Abu-Jamal has diligently pursued a new and fair trial through appellate and post-conviction proceedings in both state and federal court, but has exhausted all legal avenues for relief. Though his death penalty was overturned, Mr. Abu-Jamal’s sentence of life without parole – also known as death by incarceration (DBI) – is torture: a cruel, inhumane, and degrading punishment that violates international law. “The inherent arbitrariness of an indefinite DBI sentence, which allows no periodic review of continuing need or reasonableness, in combination with Mr. Abu-Jamal’s many years served to date, advanced age, declining health, and lack of risk to the public violates multiple provisions of international law,” said Samah Sisay, Staff Attorney at Center of Constitutional Rights. Now an elderly man, Mr. Abu-Jamal has endured multiple near-death medical crises, including hepatitis C, congestive heart failure, a preventable hyperglycemic emergency that threatened his life, and multiple ophthalmic conditions that, due to inadequate medical care by the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, pose a significant risk of permanent blindness. As the submission states, Mr. Abu-Jamal is one of a staggering number of individuals in the United States condemned to die in prison. As of 2020, more than 200,000 people in the United States were serving life or virtual life sentences, of whom nearly 8,300 were in Pennsylvania; more than 56,000 people in the U.S. are serving formal sentences of life without parole, of whom more than 5,000 are in PA. Black people comprise only about 1 in 9 of incarcerated people in PA, but 2/3 of those serving life sentences. A growing consensus of international authorities has condemned DBI sentencing in the U.S. as violating international prohibitions on racial discrimination. In November 2023, the United Nations Human Rights Committee recommended that the United States “establish a moratorium on the imposition of sentences to life imprisonment without parole.”

The July 28 submission to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention can be found at alcenter.org.

5. Tuesday, 5:00pm – 6:30pm (Pt); 8:00pm-9:30pm(ET), Webinar: U.S. Military Spending and How to Stop It

Webinar registration: Webinar: U.S. Military Spending and How to Stop It

A 90-minute live event with 45 minutes for Q&A — Bring your best questions!

·       U.S. military spending is twice what we’re ever told and more than the rest of the world’s combined

·       It’s over three-quarters of proposed discretionary spending and stripping funding from urgent needs

·       It’s driving a global arms race, wars, and the risk of nuclear war

·       We have the power to reverse

Speakers:

David Vine is the author of a trilogy of books about war and peace including The United States of War: A Global History of America’s Endless Conflicts, from Columbus to the Islamic State. David is a founder and steering committee member of the Network to Dismantle the Military Industrial Complex, among other projects. David is a fellow at the Transition Security Project and a contributor to TomDispatch.com and Foreign Policy in Focus. David has also worked and published with the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, the Institute for Policy Studies, and the Center for International Policy. David was a professor of anthropology at American University in Washington, DC for 18 years before resigning with the rank of full professor in 2024.

Hanna Homestead (she/her) is a policy analyst and strategist with over a decade of experience spanning grassroots organizing, international development, and electoral and issue-specific campaign work. She served as a congressional staffer, a Global Health Corps fellow in Uganda, and worked on the intersection of climate crises and militarism at the Center for International Policy. In her current role at the Institute for Policy Studies, she researches federal budget priorities and the costs of war, with the goal of moving tax dollars from the Pentagon to beneficial public goods. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, and Politico. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a master’s degree from Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA).

John Reuwer is Treasurer and a Member of the Board of Directors of World BEYOND War. He is a retired emergency physician whose practice convinced him of a crying need for alternatives to violence for resolving tough conflicts. This led him to the informal study and teaching of nonviolence for the last 35 years, with peace team field experience in Haiti, Colombia, Central America, Palestine/Israel, and several U.S. inner cities. He worked in South Sudan with the Nonviolent Peaceforce, one of the few organizations practicing professional unarmed civilian peacekeeping. He also serves on the Committee to Abolish Nuclear Weapons with Physicians for Social Responsibility educating the public and politicians about the threat from nuclear weapons, which he sees as the ultimate expression of the insanity of modern warfare, so blatantly displayed in the current war in Ukraine.

Sunjeev Bery serves as People Over Pentagon campaign director at Public Citizen, where he coordinates a coalition of hundreds of organizations, advocates, and scholars working to reduce wasteful Pentagon spending and redirect resources toward critical human needs. Over the course of his career, Bery has held a range of advocacy and campaign leadership roles focused on democracy, human rights, climate, and education. As a regional director for the American Civil Liberties Union, he organized and advocated on civil rights issues including post-9/11 government surveillance, immigrant rights, and police accountability. As executive director of Freedom Forward, he built and led international human rights and climate campaigns focused on ending U.S. alliances with repressive oil monarchies in the Middle East. As advocacy director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International USA, he lobbied U.S. and international officials, diplomats, and policymakers on foreign policy and human rights concerns during the Arab Spring. Bery has also worked as a lobbyist on college affordability issues and as a fundraiser and digital campaigner for environmental organizations. Bery holds a B.A. from UC Berkeley and an M.P.A. from the Harvard Kennedy School, where he was a Harvard Public Service Fellow. He is a recipient of the 2007 Asian Law Alliance Community Impact Award and has received commendations from the California State Senate and State Assembly for his human rights advocacy. He has spoken widely in national and international media, and his commentary on U.S. foreign policy and human rights has appeared in a wide range of newspapers and other publications.

Moderated by David Swanson. David Swanson is an author, activist, journalist, and radio host. He is executive director of World BEYOND War and campaign coordinator of RootsAction.org. Swanson’s books include War Is Still A Lie. He blogs at DavidSwanson.org and hosts Talk World Radio.

Host: World Beyond War

Info: Webinar: U.S. Military Spending and How to Stop It : Indybay

Wednesday, October 14 

6. Wednesday, 10:00am – 12Noon, Protest Flock CEO Appearance at “Disrupt TechCrunch” Conference 

Moscone Center
747 Howard St.
SF

Disrupt TechCrunch, a conference highlighting tech and start ups, will feature Flock Safety, Inc. founder and CEO Garrett Langley at its annual event this year, to be held at San Francisco’s Moscone Center.

Flock’s mass surveillance network statistically has NOT increased safety. Instead, it has been abused by local police departments to track down women fleeing domestic violence and has falsely accused people of a variety of crimes.

We will be demonstrating to highlight the absolute incoherence of inviting Garrett Langley, CEO of surveillance tech company Flock Safety, to speak at an event in San Francisco while ICE is leveraging Flock technology to terrorize communities throughout California in particular and across the nation.

The Wolves are supported in this protest by co-sponsors Bay Resistance, the Raging Grannies, DSA Silicon Valley, DeFlock SF, SOS Safety Over Surveillance and Peoples Aid amongst others.

Our protest outside Moscone Center where the conference is being held will feature multiple speakers, 1984 movie audio clips, banners, signs, surprise art visuals, and an opportunity for community members to express their outrage against Flock and other automated license plate readers (ALPR’s). Flock Safety, Inc. has been at the forefront of this industry holding approximately 80% of the US market based on mapping data.

Info: Protest Flock CEO Appearance at “Disrupt TechCrunch” Conference : Indybay

7. Wednesday 6:30pm, Oakland Privacy: Fighting Against the Surveillance State

Please email contact [at] oaklandprivacy.org a few days before the meeting to get up-to-date location information or obtain Zoom meeting access info.

Join Oakland Privacy to organize against the surveillance state, police militarization and ICE, and to advocate for privacy, surveillance regulation of both corporations and the state, and government transparency, around the Bay and nationwide.

We fight against spy drones, facial recognition, tracking equipment and online tracking, police body camera secrecy, anti-transparency laws, and requirements for “backdoors” to cellphones; we oppose “pre-crime” and “thought-crime,” — to list just a few invasions of our privacy by all levels of Government, and attempts to hide what government officials, employees and agencies are doing.

We draft and push for privacy legislation for City Councils, at the County level, and in Sacramento. We advocate in op-eds and in the streets. We pursue lawsuits as necessary to protect our rights. We stand in solidarity with Black Lives Matter and believe no one is illegal.

Info Oakland Privacy: Fighting Against the Surveillance State : Indybay

‘Brazen Attempt to Try to Intimidate Journalists’: Trump DOJ Launches Antitrust Probe Into News Networks

US President Donald Trump speaks to reporters

US President Donald Trump speaks with reporters upon his arrival to Joint Base Andrews, Maryland on October 10, 2026.

(Photo by Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

“The investigation is nonsense,” said one press freedom advocate. “Trump may view the presidency as a business venture, but news outlets’ standing up for their constitutional rights has nothing to do with antitrust law.”

The US Justice Department has launched an investigation into whether the five major television networks violated federal antitrust law when they briefly halted pool coverage of President Donald Trump amid his administration’s attempt to bar certain journalists from the White House.

The New York Times reported late Saturday that DOJ officials “contacted networks on Friday and demanded communications and materials related to the White House TV pool.” ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC, and Fox News rotate the responsibility of capturing and distributing footage of the president. The networks paused pool coverage last month after the Trump administration dropped CNN from its scheduled pool assignment.

Emily Covington, a spokesperson for the Justice Department, confirmed the existence of the investigation in a statement on Saturday, saying that “group boycotts among commercial competitors can violate the Sherman Act.”

Press freedom organizations and other critics condemned the probe as a politically motivated attack on journalism and questioned the administration’s expressed concern about antitrust violations—particularly given that the DOJ has effectively abandoned antitrust enforcement during Trump’s second term.

Bruce Brown, president of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, said the investigation “appears to be a pretext for seeking records from the networks about how they are covering daily White House events during a media ban the president himself put in place.”

“The decisions news organizations make about coverage are protected by the First Amendment, and summoning antitrust authority, on top of the retaliatory actions the White House has already taken to bar certain outlets, is another and even more brazen attempt to try to intimidate journalists,” said Brown.

Seth Stern, chief of advocacy at the Freedom of the Press Foundation, called the investigation “nonsense.”

“The investigation is nonsense. Trump may view the presidency as a business venture, but news outlets’ standing up for their constitutional rights has nothing to do with antitrust law, no matter what Laura Loomer says,” Stern added, pointing to the far-right activist’s public call for an antitrust lawsuit against the major TV news networks. “Depriving Trump of the attention he craves is not a competitive harm, and in any case, antitrust law has long recognized First Amendment exceptions even when there is anticompetitive impact.”

News of the DOJ investigation came after CNN, MS NOW, and Politico sued the president over his attempt to bar the outlets from the White House. Late last month, a Trump-appointed judge ordered the administration to restore White House access to the outlets as the lawsuit proceeds.

Jonathan Kanter, who headed the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division under the Biden administration, told CNN on Saturday that the media networks’ actions in the wake of the attempted White House ban are “not even in the same zip code of an antitrust violation.”

“It’s literally freedom of speech,” said Kanter. “It’s no more an antitrust violation than the reporters coming together to form the pool in the first place.”

An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder

Dear Common Dreams reader,

It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits.

It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do.

Many people said we wouldn’t last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong.

Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good.

Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work.

But here’s the urgent message from me today. It’s never been this bad out there. And it’s never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever.

We don’t accept corporate advertising and never will. We don’t have a paywall because we don’t think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you.

When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we.

Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives?

—Craig Brown, Co-founder

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

“The Soul of Man under Socialism” by Oscar Wilde

“The Soul of Man under Socialism” by Oscar Wilde is an essay published in 1891. Wilde presents a libertarian socialist vision that challenges conventional charity and capitalism. He argues that poverty prevents people from realizing their true potential and that well-meaning altruism only prolongs suffering by addressing symptoms rather than causes. Wilde advocates for a socialist society that abolishes private property, freeing individuals from material concerns to pursue creative self-development and artistic
Read online now

‘Affront to Democracy’: Trump’s National Guard Troops Seen in Front of Ballot Box in DC

‘Affront to Democracy’: Trump's National Guard Troops Seen in Front of Ballot Box in DC

National Guard troops are seen standing in front of a ballot drop box outside the Foggy Bottom Metro station in Washington, DC on October 8. 2026.

(Screenshot from a video by @brynodc/TikTok)

“Armed troops do not belong near ballot boxes,” the head of the District of Columbia ACLU told Common Dreams.

Amid fears that President Donald Trump will send armed agents to intimidate voters during the midterms, the DC Board of Elections told Common Dreams on Friday that it is responding to complaints of National Guard troops stationed outside a ballot drop box near downtown Washington shortly before voting was set to open.

On Thursday, Bryan K. Randolph, a Washington, DC-based political and legal commentator, posted a video to TikTok showing what he said were three members of the National Guard stationed in front of a ballot box outside the Foggy Bottom Metro station, which is located on the campus of George Washington University.

“I stood and watched for a few minutes before I shot this video,” Randolph said. “They were there for at least a few minutes. I don’t know for how much longer they’d been there before that.”

He said that minutes after he began filming, the troops left, possibly because they saw him recording.

Federal law explicitly prohibits the presence of “any troops or armed men at any place where a general or special election is held” unless their presence is necessary to repel armed enemies of the United States.

Though the statute does not specifically mention ballot drop boxes, legal experts have argued that the phrase “any place” means it should apply not just to traditional polling places, but also ballot drop boxes, election offices, and ballot counting facilities.

While he said it was unclear why the troops were stationed at the ballot box, Randolph noted that it was “a giant white box with the word ‘ballot’ pretty hard to miss,” adding that “they clearly, at best, have not been told to stay away.”

A spokesperson for the DC Board of Elections confirmed to Common Dreams that it “has received complaints regarding National Guard personnel posted near a ballot drop box next to the Foggy Bottom-GWU Metro station.”

“We are addressing the concerns with the National Guard directly and have requested that they impose limitations on the placement of National Guard service members near drop boxes and other voting locations in the District,” she said.

Joint Task Force-District of Columbia, the military command overseeing National Guard operations in the capital, did not respond to a request for comment.

National Guard Members patrol 14th Street, working with Metro police on August 24, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

President Donald Trump deployed the National Guard to the streets of the nation’s capital last summer. The troops have remained despite widespread public opposition and a federal judge’s ruling that the deployment was unlawful, which an appeals court subsequently put on hold.

Asked about the possibility of deploying troops to polling places earlier this year, Trump did not rule it out. He has also lamented that he did not send National Guard troops to seize election materials while he tried to overturn his loss in the 2020 election.

Voting rights experts have warned about possible plans by Trump to use federal troops or agents—including US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the National Guard—to interfere with November’s midterm elections. Though elections are administered by states under the Constitution, Trump has said that Republicans should “nationalize” voting.

Dan Herman and Devon Ombres, two national security and legal policy experts at the Center for American Progress, said that “there is little to no safe or democratic way for the military to be involved with the elections process.”

“Voters may stay home if they fear military presence. Ballots may no longer be trusted if a machine’s chain of custody is broken. Military deployments elsewhere in a city might prevent voters from reaching their polling site in time,” they wrote in a brief published Friday by Just Security.

The recording shared on Thursday is not the first instance of National Guard personnel seen gathered around ballot boxes in DC. In June, Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), the nonvoting delegate from DC in the House of Representatives, demanded answers about another video in which a resident confronted several troops who were seen outside a drop box.

Asked whether they’d been told to stay away from the boxes, one of the Guard members responded, “No. Not at all.”

“The fact that Guard personnel reportedly had not been instructed to avoid ballot drop boxes suggests a troubling lack of awareness by leadership of the impact these deployments are having on the district and its residents,” Norton said.

A voter uses a ballot drop box at the Bucks County Administration building voting on demand and ballot drop center in Doylestown, Pennsylvania on October 31, 2024. (Photo by Ed Jones/AFP via Getty Images)

With Republicans in Congress projected to take heavy losses in the midterms, proponents of his efforts to overturn his last election defeat have reportedly met with Trump in recent days, urging him to declare a “national emergency” that they claim would allow him to assert direct authority over the elections, an idea disputed by legal experts.

One plan that has reportedly circulated among election deniers has involved invoking the Insurrection Act, which they claim would allow Trump to flood polling locations with military and federal law enforcement.

While the Insurrection Act would permit some domestic law enforcement by the military, Herman and Ombres emphasized that it would not override the laws restricting troops from polling locations.

“Armed troops do not belong near ballot boxes,” Monica Hopkins, executive director of the ACLU of the District of Columbia, told Common Dreams. “At minimum, troop presence at the ballot box creates the appearance of voter intimidation and risks discouraging DC residents from exercising our fundamental right to vote.”

“The deployment of National Guard into the District without the consent of our local government is an affront to democracy here and around the nation,” she said. “National Guard troops must go home.”

An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder

Dear Common Dreams reader,

It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits.

It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do.

Many people said we wouldn’t last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong.

Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good.

Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work.

But here’s the urgent message from me today. It’s never been this bad out there. And it’s never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever.

We don’t accept corporate advertising and never will. We don’t have a paywall because we don’t think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you.

When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we.

Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives?

—Craig Brown, Co-founder

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

A public bank could be key to fixing San Francisco’s affordable housing crisis

By ,Contributor
SFChronicle.com Gift Article
Proposition B’s public bank would give San Francisco another tool to fund civic initiatives such as building affordable housing or providing loans to small businesses.
 

Proposition B’s public bank would give San Francisco another tool to fund civic initiatives such as building affordable housing or providing loans to small businesses.

Manuel Orbegozo/For the S.F. Chronicle

On Election Day, San Franciscans have the opportunity to authorize the first municipal public bank in the country by passing Proposition B. It’s a watershed moment for the city and advocates for a fair economy across the country.

While tremendously exciting, from a global perspective, San Francisco is a little late to the party.  Public banks are a proven and tested model. In 2024, over 1,100 of these institutions worldwide held $91 trillion in assets. Public banks are a safe way to put our public money to work for the public good.

San Francisco is rich in culture, innovation and diversity, but still struggles to meet its people’s needs for affordable housing and inclusive economic development. A public bank can help by providing additional, values-aligned finance tools to help make our city greener, more resilient, more democratic and more affordable.

Like conventional banks, public banks issue loans and make returns on those loans. However, public banks put public money to work for the people and do not need to be profit maximizers. Instead, well-designed public banks can function as policy maximizers by making sustainable returns while supporting democratically determined community needs. For example, public banks can support the affordable housing the city badly needs that is underserved by loans from profit-maximizing, private-sector banks. Public banks take into account the public interest in their lending decisions.

Public development banks, of which there are about 500, like the kind San Francisco is considering, finance around 10% to 12% of the world’s total investment as of 2024. And while public banks have been around for hundreds of years (the first public bank was a municipal bank created in 1401 in Barcelona), they have experienced a resurgence in interest following the 2008 global financial crisis, in response to the climate crisis and following the COVID-19 pandemic. This is because public banks can respond to crises as a matter of policy rather than profit.

The publicly owned Bank of North Dakota was capitalized with $2 million in 1919, and since then, the people of North Dakota have benefited from low-cost loans provided in partnership with local credit unions and community banks for unmet needs like helping farmers recover from disasters, building workforce housing, opening childcare centers and providing financial assistance for federal employees affected by government shutdowns. Last year, the Bank of North Dakota generated $353 million in returns for the state, while also directly stimulating the local economy.

The public bank of San Francisco would add another option to the city’s municipal finance toolkit and work in tandem with other mechanisms, like grants and bonds, to more flexibly support public policy priorities. While it’s true that bonds are essential for large-scale capital projects the city doesn’t have funds for, they have some limitations; for example, because of the steep fixed costs of issuing bonds, they are not feasible for smaller projects and non-eligible spending, like fleet electrification, which a public bank can fund more cheaply and efficiently. And because public banks can make money while supporting economic development, they help cities use limited public dollars more efficiently.

San Francisco’s public bank would also be highly regulated, with oversight from state and federal regulators who are tasked with ensuring that all banks meet safety and soundness standards. Comparable municipally owned public banks in Canada and Europe are some of the safest and most economically efficient banks in the world. With as few as 20 employees managing $10 billion in assets, many have never suffered a loan loss — ever.

When designed as such, public banks are some of the most democratic, transparent and accountable financial institutions anywhere. Prop B calls for an independent bank oversight commission, and all board and committee members are appointed and vetted in a public process. That process includes a community outreach committee designed to ensure transparency and public engagement by issuing regular reports on the bank’s work and holding town hall and focus group meetings.

In Europe, public banks widely support public policy goals around social housing. For example, MuniFin (a municipally owned bank in Finland) is a major supporter of not-for-profit housing in the country, with 48% of its long-term loans going to this end. The Municipal Finance Authority of British Columbia, a bank owned by and for cities of the province, is one of the most effective and efficient banks in the world, public or private: some 20 employees manage over $10 billion in assets. While it specializes in infrastructure, like water and sanitation, it supports social housing with low-cost loans when requested by cities.

Setting up public banks takes time, care and attention to detail, which is why advocates have been working for years to design a governance framework that provides democratic oversight, a high standard of professional expertise and controls to limit political influence on the bank’s lending.

About Opinion

Guest opinions in Open Forum and Insight are produced by writers with expertise, personal experience or original insights on a subject of interest to our readers. Their views do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Chronicle editorial board, which is committed to providing a diversity of ideas to our readership.

Like with any investment, timing is everything, which is why Prop B doesn’t require the city to put any money toward starting the bank. Passing Prop B empowers San Francisco to pursue external funds to invest in the bank and decide the right way to fund this priority once the structure and safeguards are in place. Failing to pass the measure means the city loses this opportunity.

The best time to start a public bank is 20 years ago, the second best time is now.

Thomas Marois is a professor of political economy at McMaster University in Ontario. He is the author of the book “Public Banks: Decarbonization, Definancialisation, and Democratisation.”