Dont let (((them)))) silence us (tags)
Public comment Needed
Geekouts Links Late May 2014 (tags)
Latest few months worth of links.
Lindsay/Osorio Campaign Announces 10-point Program (tags)
The Party for Socialism and Liberation is running Peta Lindsay for President and Yari Osorio for Vice-President in 2012. The campaign recently announced a 10-point program
The San Diego Mayoral Candidates That Didn't Bark (tags)
When A Better San Diego, a coalition made up largely of labor unions and their affiliates, sponsored a debate among the four leading candidates for Mayor of San Diego in next year's election, only two showed up. The no-shows were City Councilmember Carl DeMaio, whose whole campaign is based on targeting city workers as the source of San Diego's economic woes, and District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis, both Republicans. A third Republican, Assemblymember Nathan Fletcher, and Democratic Congressmember Bob Filner attended and differed on city workers' pensions, outsourcing city jobs to private companies and many other issues.
Five Minutes of Geography ? (tags)
The late Lenny Bruce once joked that the radical Right's fears about ? shock! ? sex education in the public schools were unfounded because schoolkids weren't going to come home and tell their parents, "Today at school we learned five minutes of geography and ten minutes of cocksucking." The modern-day radical Right's campaign to get rid of SB 48, a bill recently passed by the California legislature to require middle and high schools to teach the role and contributions of Queer Americans (along with Pacific Islanders and people with disabilities), is driven by a similar paranoia and a disbelief that there even are such things as Queer people ? and so far the Queer community's response to the attack on SB 48 is all too faithfully copied from the losing campaign against Proposition 8: a "coalition" made up mostly of straight people and a whiny argument about how we supposedly need "role models" to keep from drinking, drugging or suiciding.
SB 48 Referendum: THE Epic Struggle for Queer Rights in California (tags)
Roland Palencia, executive director of the Queer lobbying group Equality California (EQCA), calls the radical Right's attempt to get rid of the FAIR Education Act, also known as SB 48, "the greatest threat in years to LGBT [Queer] Californians." The Act adds Queer people, people with disabilities and Pacific Islanders to the list of communities whose "role and contributions" to American and Californian history and society must be acknowledged in lessons and textbooks used by the California public schools. Radical-Right activists, including some of the same people who successfully eliminated marriage equality in California via Proposition 8, plan to make it a referendum on the very existence and legitimacy of the Queer community and will likely wage an ugly campaign based on many negative stereotypes of Queer people. Palencia's group is fighting back by setting up a broad, mostly non-Queer coalition, and he, EQCA regional field director George Zander and openly Queer San Diego Unified School District board member Kevin Beiser spoke at the predominantly Queer San Diego Democratic Club August 25 to mobilize its members to join the campaign and help organize the grand coalition.
Rally Kicks Off San Diego Pride Events (tags)
San Diego's Queer (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) Pride events kicked off Friday, July 15 at a rally on the pride festival site in Balboa Park. The featured speakers were New Age author and credentialed minister Marianne Williamson, who talked about marriage equality as a straight supporter who has performed same-sex weddings, and Daniel Hernandez, the young, openly Gay aide to Congressmember Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) who saved her life when she was shot at an outdoor rally in January. But the most powerful speaker was former San Diego Democratic Club president Larry Baza, who powerfully expressed the history of the Queer rights movement and the challenges it faces in the future.
Back to the Ballot - Queer Activists Debate Whether to Seek Repeal of Prop. 8 (tags)
With the court challenge to Proposition 8, California?s voter-approved ban on legal recognition of same-sex marriages, mired in potential legal wrangling that could take years to resolve, Equality California (EQCA) revived their plans to take the issue back to voters and seek an initiative to repeal Prop. 8. But the 70 or so activists at the EQCA town-hall meeting in San Diego June 3 split over whether that?s a good strategy ? or whether EQCA, primarily a lobbying organization, is the right group to run such a campaign.
San Diego Queers Split Over City Redistricting (tags)
San Diego?s Queer community has split over their response to the redrawing of district lines for the City Council. On one side are the members of the self-styled ?LGBT Redistricting Task Force,? who are pushing a major redesign of the city?s Queer-influenced District 3, pushing out the people of color and less affluent Queers in City Heights and adding more upscale neighborhoods like Mission Hills and Bankers? Hill to the Hillcrest/North Park core of the district. On the other side are Queer residents of the City Heights community of Azalea Park, who bought there because gentrification had priced them out of Hillcrest and North Park and now find themselves threatened that they will no longer be represented by a Queer Councilmember. The current District 3 is San Diego?s most ethnically diverse; the district proposed by the LGBT Redistricting Task Force and the Hillcrest Town Council will be 70 percent white.
Assemblymember Atkins Warns Queer Democrats on State Budget Cuts (tags)
California State Assemblymember Toni Atkins spoke to the predominantly Queer San Diego Democratic Club February 24 and warned of two approaching deadlines coming up in the state legislature's budget deliberations: March 6, the ending of the special budget session called by former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger; and March 10, the last day the legislature can vote to call a special election to extend the current state sales tax rates and vehicle licensing fees so that current Governor Jerry Brown's budget, which calls for $12.5 billion in spending cuts, can be enacted. Without that — and so far the Republican minority in the legislature has held firm to block any vote on the tax issue, which requires support from 2/3 of both houses of the legislature even to make it to the ballot — Brown and the Democratic majority will have to make $12.5 billion more in spending cuts, which will virtually end California state spending on health and welfare and eviscerate the state's already underfunded education system.
Redistricting, Open Primaries and the Challenges for Democrats (tags)
At the January 27 meeting of the predominantly Queer San Diego Democratic Club, Jess Durfee, chair of the San Diego County Democratic Party and former president of the club, explained the challenges the party faces as the citizens’ redistricting commission begins work on redrawing legislative lines for the 2012 election and beyond. He also talked about California’s new open primary law, which also goes into effect in 2012 and allows members of any political party, or of no party at all, to vote in primary races, with the two top finishers from the primary running against each other in the general election even if they’re from the same political party. California’s Democratic leadership opposed both these changes, but Durfee’s presentation focused on making them work and protecting the party’s interests in this new electoral environment.
San Diego’s Queer Democrats Discuss Election Aftermath (tags)
The predominantly Queer San Diego Democratic Club heard from three local experts — San Diego County Democratic Party chair Jess Durfee, San Diego CityBeat editor David Rolland and political consultant Jennifer Tierney — on the aftermath of the June 8 primary election at their regular meeting June 24. The discussion centered mainly on how Democratic candidates like state gubernatorial nominee Jerry Brown and local City Council candidate Howard Wayne can overcome the vast advantage of Republican money — and, in Brown's case, the multi-billion dollar personal fortune of his opponent, Meg Whitman. The club also took a position against SB 1070, the controversial anti-immigrant law recently passed by the Arizona state legislature.
Summer Activist Training (tags)
May 1: March for Dignity, Workers' Regional Mobilization in Oxnard - PRESS RELEASE (tags)
Who: Frente Contra las Redadas del Condado de Ventura What: MARCH FOR DIGNITY: INTERNATIONAL WORKERS' DAY REGIONAL MOBILIZATION When: Thursday May 1, 2008 Starting at 5pm Where: Camino del Sol Park (Corner of Rose Ave. and Camino del Sol) in the City of Oxnard
UCLA group carries torch for less advantaged API classmates (tags)
Activists of the Asian Pacific Coalition met the press Thursday at the Ackerman Viewpoint Conference Room, University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA) to urge public support on an ongoing campaign to enable Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) have own identities. According to the Count Me In campaign it is addressing educational inequalities within the AAPI community. It said that hidden by the “model minority myth”, AAPI continue to suffer severely from access to resources for higher education, adding, “The myth homogenizes the diverse make-up of AAPIs despite the fact that each group has its own unique history, language, culture, and experience.” There is a need to disaggregate the racial category of AAPIs into their specific communities “to ensure that public policy reflects the needs of diverse communities.”
Senator Dianne Feinstein's Deadly Silence (tags)
"Senator Dianne Feinstein's office sill not intervene if the FBI decides to kill a reporter"--Ashley Tveit, Case Manager at Senator Feinstein's San Francisco office.
Miguel Contreras Remembered (tags)
Today we mourn the death of Miguel Contreras, a major figure in the Los Angeles and national trade union movement, who died suddenly last Friday of a heart attack. Miguel was the Secretary-Treasurer of the L.A. County Federation of Labor—that is, its executive director, field general, chief strategist and tactician.
Sister, Uncle Sam Wants You Too (tags)
As military recruiters step up their efforts to make up for slipping numbers, young women of color are high on their list. Meanwhile, counter-recruitment activists are speaking out.
Sister, Uncle Sam Wants You Too (tags)
As military recruiters step up their efforts to make up for slipping numbers, young women of color are high on their list. Meanwhile, counter-recruitment activists are speaking out.
Blood Money: The Human-Capital Equation of the U.S. Occupation of Iraq (tags)
When a state is determined to pursue war, and all forms of indirect symbolic protest actions have failed to sway politicians to halt their imperialist aggression, the only remaining option is direct action by the working class. One option is a general strike by workers that can effect the production and transpiration of military capital, that is the materials essential for the war machine. The other is to deprive the military of the labor it needs to fight the war.
Teachers and their union fight for public education (tags)
CHICAGO – Children’s paintings hang on the walls in the lobby of the Chicago Teachers Union office. It’s comforting for parents to see schoolkids’ artwork framed and on display.
The economy: Nothing to remain silent about (tags)
Nearly two months have passed since President Bush hosted an “economic summit” – a flop the People’s Weekly World headlined as “all show and no go.” As events have since shown, we may have understated the case:
Honky Wanna Cracker? A Look at the Myth of Reverse Racism (tags)
Forwarded by Tom Gorman. The article's on the mark, and easy to read. -jk
7/15 8 PM: KPFK Asian Pacific Islander Radio Collective production meeting (tags)
**Next KPFK Asian Pacific Islander Radio Collective (API-LA) production meeting **Monday, July 15, 8:00 PM **Arts in Action-Los Angeles, 1919 W. 7th St. 4th floor (between westlake and Bonnie brae near MacAthur Park) **For more information, contact: Lee Siu Hin (626)695-3405
Rally Against Hate Saturday AM !!!!!! (tags)
Don't forget to take a stand against hate this weekend as the Center for Reclaim America meets to promote reparative therapy for the GLBT community, and trains people to take over our school boards and city councils.