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Cop-on-cop crime in LA: American blowback
February 8, 2013
In a letter titled only “Last Resort” and addressed to “America,” Christopher Dorner makes clear his grievances, his objectives and the rationale behind his actions – a chilling declaration of war on the Los Angeles Police Department. The LAPD has long played a vanguard role in white supremacist policing in the United States.
Judges grant California six additional months to cut prison population
January 31, 2013
On Tuesday, a panel of three federal judges granted California six additional months to comply with federal orders to reduce prison overcrowding. About six years ago, U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson appointed federal receiver J. Clark Kelso to oversee the state’s prison health care system after determining that an average of one inmate per week died as a result of malpractice or neglect. In 2011, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered California to reduce its inmate population to help improve prison health care.
CPUC’s San Onofre investigation: Parties cry foul
January 31, 2013
Parties to the California Public Utilities Commission’s investigation of the San Onofre nuclear generating station outage are crying foul over ongoing procedural delays and a narrow Scoping Memo issued Tuesday, Jan. 28. Parties ask CPUC to stop paying for these severely damaged reactors now and plan for permanent replacement resources instead.
Postal hunger strike to save 6-day delivery
January 28, 2013
A half dozen postal hunger strikers completed a six-day fast for six-day delivery and declared a “people’s victory” in late December. The strikers established an “emergency” tent encampment in the shadow of the Capitol, demanding that Congress and the president halt closures and cuts to the U.S. Postal Service.
Beyond banning ‘bad guns’ and ‘arming good guys’
January 27, 2013
In our current climate, it is increasingly hard to see how some of the alternating proposals flowing from these debates, namely, a “good guy with a gun” in every school or a generic “gun control” that bans all bad guns and gun accessories will be anything but a distraction from truly understanding and addressing the root of what is causing people to die.
HUD housing programs at risk locally and across the nation
January 26, 2013
Massive spending cuts to the nation’s federal housing programs are scheduled to go into effect on March 1, 2013, threatening thousands of low-income families in Oakland and other Bay Area cities with higher rent than they can pay. Additionally, several hundred thousand or more low-income families all across the nation could lose their vouchers.
Report: Dr. King’s dream of economic equality deferred as racial wealth disparities persist
January 21, 2013
The 10th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day report by UFE explains that the Great Recession took a greater portion of wealth from Black and Latino families than it did from White families. Today, the average net worth of White families is, respectively, more than six times higher and 5.7 times higher than the average Black and Latino families. Median wealth disparities are even greater.
How we can truly honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
January 21, 2013
I have no doubt that Dr. King would be mounting a nonviolent poor people campaign to end rampant hunger, homelessness and poverty today. Let’s honor and follow Dr. King by building a beloved community in America where all have enough to eat, a place to sleep, enough work at decent wages. Dr. King is not coming back. It’s up to us to redeem the soul of America. He told us what to do. Let’s do it.
Another side of King: Black economic power
January 20, 2013
Contradictions in White America’s treatment of Blacks, which were exposed by the Black Power Movement, fashioned another side of King, according to his last speech and his writings. A side that began to embrace Black nationalist tactics and strategies as a means to achieve freedom, justice and equality for Black people. A side that accelerated Dr. Kings’ assassination.
Showdown at San Onofre
January 8, 2013
Two stricken California reactors may soon redefine a global movement aimed at eradicating nuclear power. They sit in a seismic zone vulnerable to tsunamis. Faulty steam generators have forced them shut for nearly a year. Tell CPUC ‘No nukes!’ Shut down San Onofre permanently! Tuesday, Jan. 8, hearing 10 a.m., rally noon, 505 Van Ness Ave. at McAllister, San Francisco.
Boycott all the brands that helped kill Prop. 37
January 2, 2013
California’s Proposition 37, the genetically-engineered (GE) foods labeling initiative, failed to pass by a very narrow margin. But that does not mean the labeling fight is over, nor does it mean proponents of honesty in food labeling cannot get even with the opposition by actively boycotting the corporations responsible for helping kill the initiative.
Manteca killer cop cleared of any wrongdoing
January 2, 2013
On Dec. 12, the San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office cleared Manteca police officer John Moody of any wrongdoing for the shooting death of Ernest Duenez Jr. on June 8, 2011. Moody fired 13 times, with 11 bullets hitting Duenez as he struggled to exit a truck parked in his own yard. Moody is back on the job, free to continue terrorizing the people of Manteca.
FBI documents reveal secret nationwide Occupy monitoring
December 31, 2012
FBI documents just obtained by the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund (PCJF) reveal that from its inception, the FBI treated the Occupy movement as a potential criminal and terrorist threat even though the agency acknowledges in documents that organizers explicitly called for peaceful protest and did “not condone the use of violence” at Occupy protests.
Check ‘n Go borrowers eligible for $4.3 million in refunds
December 31, 2012
Check ‘n Go claimants may be qualified for restitution if they obtained a four-month installment loan online between November 2006 and June 2008 through the websites checkngo.com, ilp.fbdel.com and commandloans.com. To be eligible for repayment, borrowers must mail a claim form and a copy of the required form of identification to the settlement administrator, postmarked by March 28, 2013.
U.S. deploying troops to 35 African countries
December 30, 2012
Soldiers will begin training in March 2013 in order to prepare for a project that will send troops to as many as 35 African nations. Citing a growing threat from extremist groups, including those with ties to al-Qaeda, the Department of Defense is hoping to install American soldiers overseas in order to prepare local troops there for any future crises as tensions escalate.
Culture of violence
December 24, 2012
General measures could move the cultural discussion and peoples’ behaviors in the right direction, whereas a focus on restricting gun ownership – except for people who fit appropriate medico-legal exclusion criteria – will probably worsen our cultural crisis, increase discrimination and police attacks, and increase the danger of greater social violence and chaos.
John Lewis slams Obama’s fiscal cliff proposal to cut Social Security
December 23, 2012
President Obama’s latest fiscal cliff proposal includes a cut to Social Security. What it means is that all current and future retirees receiving Social Security, including veterans and the disabled, would see a dramatic cut to their current and future benefits, and the cuts would compound over time. Rep. John Lewis was deeply disturbed by this proposal.
Supreme Court rules cops can be filmed
December 18, 2012
The U.S. Supreme Court has decided to let stand a lesser ruling that allows citizens in the state of Illinois to record police officers performing their official duties. Up until just last year, anti-eavesdropping legislation on the books across Illinois meant any person within the state could be imprisoned for as long as 15 years for recording a police officer without expressed consent.
Assemblymember Ammiano introduces Homeless Bill of Rights
December 17, 2012
Assemblymember Tom Ammiano has introduced a groundbreaking bill to protect some of society’s most vulnerable members. The Homeless Person’s Bill of Rights and Fairness Act (AB 5) establishes a foundation on which California can begin to build protections of the basic human rights of people who are homeless.
Toss wasteful defense weapons programs off the cliff
December 11, 2012
As President Obama and leaders in Congress seek to avoid the so-called “fiscal cliff,” any agreement must address the immense contribution that the Pentagon makes to the debt. Without defense spending reforms on the table to modernize our security budget, there is no pathway back to the budget surplus we enjoyed before the decade of unchecked defense spending took off.