There have been many unlikely things that have happened this past month or so: some of them appearing as legislation, some of them appearing in the form of Republicans who set new records for running away from the words they used to get elected-and some of them appearing in the markets, where, believe it or not, many Europeans finds themselves wishing for our economic situation right about now.
There are even improbable sports stories: our frequently hapless Seattle Seahawks, the only team to ever make the NFL Playoffs with a losing record, are today preparing to knock the Chicago Bears out of their bid to play in the Super Bowl, having crushed the defending holders of the Lombardi Trophy just last week before the 12th Man in Seattle.
But as improbable as all that is, the one thing I never thought I would see is Barack Obama getting into a political argument with himself over Social Security-and then losing the argument.
Even more improbably, it looks like there's just about a week left for him to come to a decision...and it looks like you're going to have to help him make up his mind.
Event to include voter outreach to over 200,000 Californians!
"BlogMobile" to gather American stories while traveling from LA to DC
CALIFORNIA (September 21, 2010) - Responding to a call to restore opportunity for Americans and pull America back together, One Nation Working Together - California will hold a massive day of action on October 2, 2010. The event, to be held at Los Angeles City College, will bring thousands of Los Angeles area residents together in an effort to re-energize voters for this November's election, and call for an end to the polarizing tactics that are being used to divide our country.
One Nation Working Together - California will also be sending a group of 'citizen journalists' via RV who will be blogging about the concerns of those they meet as they travel from Los Angeles to Washington DC. The 'BlogMobile' will depart Los Angeles on September 24 and arrive in Washington, DC for the national rally also being held on October 2.
"One Nation Working Together - California is a grassroots movement that will fight for future opportunities for our students and the unemployed, regain the hope we held so proudly in 2008, redefine the future, and move our country forward," said Laphonza Butler, President of SEIU ULTCW (United Long Term Care Workers' Union).
If you care about prison reform, Yee's SB 399 (JLWOP) should be a no-brainer. Plus it's one step of many needed to build the narrative we need to rein in the prison budget and help elect Kamala Harris. Secure Democrats are utter fools to vote no on this.
Yee's office is saying the bill may come up again on Monday, August 29. We have time to act if we get on it first thing.
Good strategic point made on the CDP Progressive Caucus discussion list:
The strategic thing to do is to look first to Dems in safe seats who aren't standing up -- that includes Mendoza, De La Torre, Nava, and Chesbro as well as Ma. If you're a vote or two short, you might be able to get one of the endangered freshmen.
My Assemblywoman, Nancy Skinner, says Marty Block and Ted Lieu should also be contacted. Contact info below. We can have some fun on Facebook & Twitter this weekend and make calls 1st thing Monday morning.
"Adequate control of human exposure would be difficult, if not impossible." -CA Scientific Review Committee
This is the time of year many talk about United Farm Workers' founder Cesar Chavez. Cesar was many things, among them he was a strong voice on pesticides.
Cesar Chavez said, "In the old days, miners would carry birds with them to warn against poison gas. Hopefully, the birds would die before the miners. Farm workers are society's canaries. Farm workers-and their children-demonstrate the effects of pesticide poisoning before anyone else...There is no acceptable level of exposure to any chemical that causes cancer. There can be no toleration of any toxic that causes miscarriages, still births, and deformed babies."
Luis Medellin and his three little sisters, aged 5, 9 and 12, live in the middle of an orange grove in Lindsay, CA--a small farming town in the Central Valley. During the growing season, Luis and his sisters are awakened several times a week by the sickly smell of nighttime pesticide spraying. What follows is worse: searing headaches, nausea, vomiting.
The Medellin family's story is not unique. From apple orchards in Washington to potato fields in Florida, drifting poisonous pesticides plague the people who live nearby--posing a particular risk to the young children of the nation's farm workers, many of whom live in industry housing at the field's edge.
This situation also often exists in schools in agricultural areas where it's not uncommon to have a school next to a field.
"I am very afraid because I do not know what tomorrow will bring because I am four months pregnant and I worry for my unborn baby. Three days later [after being exposed to pesticide drift], I am still vomiting and have a major headache. My pregnancy doctor could not see me as he was going to charge me and I did not have any money to pay him." -- Julia Rojas Sabino, Organic Onion Worker
Pesticide drift poisonings should be a thing of the past. Agribusiness knows pesticides are dangerous. Pesticide applicators know pesticides drift. Proper precautions should be taken by applicators. Every farm should make sure supervisors know what to do in a drift emergency. It's simple. Right?
The highly toxic, mutagenic, new pesticide methyl iodide is currently being given a comprehensive review by the Department of Pesticide Regulations and the agency's registration decision is pending advice from a panel of scientists convened specifically to review this chemical.
However, according to inside sources, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is being pressured by corporate interests to fast-track registration of this toxic pesticide--despite serious concerns from the state's own scientists at the Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR).
Take action:http://bit.ly/jfrEt
Today, for the first time ever, Californians will have the chance to weigh in on the state’s broken death penalty system. Victims, clergy, legal experts, wrongfully convicted individuals and concerned taxpayers from around the state will converge on Sacramento for a public hearing of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, to give their comments on new regulations for lethal injections.
The hearing comes after three years of legal challenges and three years without executions in California. If the rules are adopted and more pending legal challenges are resolved quickly, executions could resume as soon as 2010. But only four people have exhausted all of their appeals and would even be eligible for execution. Meanwhile in the last three years, 16 people on death row have died of natural causes or suicide. California has only managed to carry out 13 executions since the death penalty was reinstated in 1977.
Yet despite having no official method of execution for the last three years, California has wasted hundreds of millions of dollars on the death penalty system, and stands poised to waste another $1 billion over the next five years. So after voicing their opinion on executions today, concerned taxpayers will also have their chance to voice their opinion on wasteful spending, calling on the Governor to end the death penalty altogether and save the state millions.
(Interesting story, and good work on pushing him to take this seriously. - promoted by Brian Leubitz)
I got home yesterday (now Thursday) and a message on my VM told me it's my Republican State Senator. Dave Cox. And he's calling in response to my email challenging him to do the responsible thing and pass a budget with a mix of taxes and cuts over the Republican "hard line in the sand" of no new taxes plus a hard spending cap. WTF?
First, I was amazed that he actually called me back personally. So I called his office. His assistant answered and I said, "I'm blankety, blank, and I received a call either from Senator Cox or from this office. He checked to see who called. The next voice I heard was the Senator. Very odd. How am I, a Democrat, able to talk with a Repub California State Senator about the State's ongoing budget fiasco.
UPDATE: (Bob) I just got off the phone with David Dayen for the report from the ground. It was kinda tough to hear because all of the horns honking in the background. He said there was a great crowd, KTLA is interviewing a number of them, and they are having a lot of fun passing out the lapel pins. Also, he loved the fact that a Burbank Police Officer came by and told them he was their officer for the night and if they had any problems (with ABC or Disney) to give him a call. I wish I was there, if you can make it they'll be out there until 7PM.
OK, so everyone's frustrated with the content-free, brainless ABC News debate the other night. Chuck Todd actually gets it wrong - it's not about rabid Obama partisans rising up to hammer ABC, it's about thinking people rising up and deciding not to accept the thin gruel the media tries to feed us anymore.
The moderators are unrepentant and congenitally wired to not get it. So we're going to have to take to the streets - the mean streets of Burbank, California. We want to know if ABC/Disney executives can pass the Gibson/Stephanopoulos flag pin litmus test - it's obviously the most important issue facing the nation, so are they sufficiently patriotic? If not, we're willing to help them out.
Watch this fabulous video put together by FireDogLake and then click on over to take action. Great song. Important message.
Send an email to an executive on one of your favorite shows. I sent one to my favorite new show Life. I love me a good cop drama, especially one with Sarah Shahi in it.
(Nice action diary from the United Farm Workers. - promoted by Julia Rosen)
E-mail CA officials today!
A little over a week ago, the EPA approved the use of methyl iodide--a dangerous toxic, mutagenic pesticide. The EPA is refusing to listen to us and the dozens of prominent scientists who have repeatedly pointed out the dangers associated with this pesticide.
California is one of the largest users of fumigant pesticides. The state must give a separate approval to methyl iodide before this toxic chemical can be used. We asking for your immediate help to encourage California authorities to do the right thing and refuse approval of this deadly compound.
Look at any election results map and you would think that California is two states. Progressives democrats have a very strong hold on coastal areas, especially Los Angeles and San Francisco, with conservative, moderates and republicans claiming majority status on most of the inland areas.
Those are my words from a couple weeks ago when I wrote about the meeting of a group of rural Democratic Central Committee chairs meeting in Fresno. One of the outcomes of that meeting was a determination to increase the influence of progressives in rural counties.
Joshua Grossman, President of Progressive Punch has written a piece for California Progress Report entitled "The Secret is Stockton" in which he looks to the progressive central valley city as a key to California's blue hue. [Grossman's article is also posted here, at Calitics.] All that's needed is a little help.
This land could be fertile terrain for political progressives, as long as it receives a modest irrigation flow of money and political expertise. This land is called Stockton.
I'm on the mailing list for the Latin American Working Group, which tracks Latin American policy in Washington. Among other things, they're currently working on drumming up 100 cosponsors for HR 654, the Rangel-Flake bill to end the ban on travel to Cuba. The bill would eliminate all restrictions on travel between the United States and Cuba, and LAWG has targeted quite a few Californian members of Congress as potential cosponsors. Hit the flip for a rundown on why this is important and the list of California targets.
