My 2018 Primary Recommendations & a Look Foward to November

May 17, 2018May 17, 2018 / draketalkoakland / 2 Comments

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Vote Dan Kalb AD 15, Pamela Price DA, & Write-in N.O. Confidence for Sheriff

You got your ballot in the mail and your handbook before that and wow, this is another fine mess we’ve gotten ourselves into. With an open seat in Berkeley/Oakland/Richmond for state assembly and our current governor being termed out from his last incarnation, we have lots of folks to study and TV ads to avoid.

So let’s tackle the governor’s race first. Like most Californians, or most voters, I don’t know any of these guys and gals too well. At least the current governator was once our mayor and though I didn’t much like him, I had some idea what he’d do. Scratch that, with Jerry you’re never sure of anything.

The once flamboyant Governor Moonbeam has turned into Gov Scrooge and it’s well known by all our legislators that if we want more money for programs for kids and housing for the bottom, say, 75% of us, we’ll have to wait for the next boss in Sacramento.

Governor-Delaine Eastin

Gavin Newsom had sucked all the air out of the room until two billionaire charter school proponents, Eli Broad and Reed Hastings, started pumping billions into the race for Antonio Villaraigosa. Having met him once and found him to be a bit sleezy and a lot opportunistic, I would take Gavin over him if those were the only choices.

However, despite Newsom’s image as the brave guy who promoted marriage equality, I remember when San Francisco was on the brink of total gentrification from a wonderful pastiche of cultures and revolutionary instincts to the stultifying center of finance and tech bros it seems to be today, and Newsom presided over that change, encouraging it all the way. Oakland is there now and woe to us if we don’t heed the warning signs.

So my choice was between State Treasurer John Chiang and former Schools Superintendent Delaine Eastin. Delaine has all the right instincts and when I saw her at Oakland’s rally to repeal Costa Hawkins law which prohibits many municipalities from passing renter protections, I gave her my vote. You should too.

Lieutenant Governor-Gayle McLaughlin

I am not excited about this race but most voters never are. The only obvious reason to run is to be the next in line for governor. I had thought to endorse Ed Hernandez and then looked at his list of supporters-I was very impressed that he has all the union support but then noticed that that included all the police unions and that worries me. It’s already very difficult to get police reform bills passed, and I doubt he would oppose anything police unions support.

Gayle McLaughlin has operated in the tiny crucible that is Richmond politics where Chevron is the obvious villain to be opposed and most who do, come out looking like heroes. I find her naive and not as grounded as I would like but I will vote for her in lieu of the establishment candidates. BTW, if you notice the inundation of your airwaves with Kounalakis ads, look her up. She is a developer who is the daughter of a developer who has spent her life being appointed to high profile commissions. Don’t let the Obama imprimatur cloud your weepy eyes.

US Senator-Kevin De Leon

State Senator De Leon is responsible for most of the progressive legislation which got through the legislature this year as he was the Senator Pro Tem who pushed and organized the resistance including defining us as a sanctuary state. Now that Senator Feinstein has managed to portray herself as a staunch supporter of the Resistance and, given her millions in campaign cash, Kevin may have little chance but we should look for him to lead our state in some other capacity soon.

Congress-Barbara Lee Speaks for Me-as always

CA Secretary of State-?

I’m sure there are folks who can tell you why or why not to continue to support the incumbent, Alex Padilla, but I could find little or no information on that race. It looks like Padilla is guaranteed a return to that office.

Also, the Wellstone Voting Rights Task Force, for complicated reasons, is voting no endorsement in this race.

Betty Yee for Controller and Malia Cohen for State Board of Equalization.

Attorney General-Xavier Becerra

Ok, so I changed horses in mid-season. My club, the Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club, had heartily endorsed Dave Jones for Insurance Commissioner and feted him with a celebratory dinner. I got many calls from him and finally decided to endorse him before the California Democratic Convention back in February.

But then I got more info from someone who worked as an attorney in that department under both Garamendi and Jones. Describing Jones as insurance commissioner,”Jones could have pursued a pro-consumer agenda, like John Garamendi. But instead he was as passive as he could possibly be. He didn’t even bother to replace people who were in positions subject to his appointment. He just left the Republican holdovers to keep doing whatever they were doing (he didn’t seem to know or care).”

And more specifically as a reference to Jones’ environmental platform, “But where he has real power to help consumers–by making insurance companies treat policyholders fairly–he’s pathetically timid.

Here’s an example I {former employee} know about: the insurance commissioner has the authority to disapprove all health insurance contracts (policies). There are department lawyers who review every word to make sure it complies with the law.

There was a huge backlog of these policies (the insurers could use them until and unless they were disapproved). While literally thousands of these policies were sitting without review the laws changed and included more consumer protections. I tried to get those policies disapproved, since they clearly no longer were valid.

But the policies were being used by insurance companies and Dave Jones didn’t want to upset them. So he ordered that they all be approved, even though they all violated the law.”

I’ve heard that Jones was weak on money bail reform while Becerra was not. So I am now endorsing AG Becerra. Maybe Jerry managed to do something right.

Tony Thurmond for Superintendent of Schools-very important!

Now to the fun down ballot stuff. It often seems like throwing darts at your handbook would work just fine which leads me to believe that some of these positions should be appointed rather than elected as they are based on professional credentials that few have and even fewer may desire. But here we go:

Assessor-James Johnson

I can’t say I know a lot about this office though I suspect it’s one that shouldn’t be based on political expertise. I have a recommendation from a progressive friend who has worked with him that Johnson does indeed know the work of this office and is highly competent to carry it on. She is concerned about that the next assessor see the job as important and not just as a political stepping stone so I’m going with that.

Auditor-Controller-Irella Blackwood

Ok, I’ll admit to knowing little about what this office does too but it seems very important. One of the reasons I chose Irella was that during a forum she mentioned why she would present more transparent reports than her opponent Melissa Wilk, who already works in the county auditor’s office, is currently doing. Of course, promises are cheap and we’ll have to see but it is a concept her opponent did not push.

They both have great endorsements but Blackwood’s includes Ann-Marie Hogan while Wilk’s includes Sheriff Ahern who is being targeted by civil rights groups demanding his department be audited for why spending is going up for county jails while prisoner numbers are falling.

I’m sure they would both be fine auditor’s but I want to see this office removed from the sheriff’s influence.

County Board of Supervisors- Wilma Chan-this incumbent has quietly led the fight against the worst of the Trump crimes here in Alameda County.

District Attorney-Pamela Price

I’m happy to note that since I endorsed her, George Soros has followed my lead, LOL and pumped some money into mailers to elect her and other progressives into the office most responsible for mass incarceration of Black and Brown youth.

I’ve written more extensively about this endorsement here – https://draketalkoakland.com/tag/pamela-price/

And I will just add that while Nancy O’Malley has accomplished good things in the past, she is a traditional DA and the times call for innovation and a focus on dismantling mass incarceration. Whatever happens we should be grateful to Candidate Price for taking this on.

Sheriff-Write-In–N.O. Confidence

As I detailed in the blog above, there was a search for someone to run against this sheriff with the necessary law enforcement background but no one took that on despite our coalition’s effort. Since then, some of us have been beating the bushes to find a write-in candidate who would not be required to have the law enforcement certification but would be the antithesis of what most California sheriffs have become, gung-ho supporters of the Trump anti-immigration policies and purveyors of the abuses of the mass incarceration state. Because they are elected independently, they act with impunity and little can be done to restrain their most negative impulses.

We still have until May 22nd to find a write-in candidate who embodies what real public safety would look like, a California where everyone is encouraged to watch out for each other without imposing their biases on them and where all feel free to come forward and ask for help in times of need. That person must be a registered voter in the county and be willing to obtain 20 signatures to prove it. That’s it, sign up!

But if as likely, no one steps forward-ideally a POC who works in the re-entry, anti-violence or public health field-then we will promote a campaign for everyone to write in the well known anti-sheriff candidate (gluten free of course) N.O. Confidence, who uses the pronoun “they.“

State Assembly AD 18-Rob Bonta

Assembly Member Bonta is running unopposed probably because he is one of the hardest working folks in that body and is one of our reps who ushered in the resistance against the regime in DC while also fighting for affordable housing, renter protections, and money bail reform. That’s just a sliver of the issues he is taking on. Show him your support.

State Assembly AD 15-Dan Kalb

This is an open seat in a wide-open race. We have a well-heeled candidate, Buffy Wicks, whom almost no one knows and who has’t lived here for long but due to the Obama nostalgia and piles of cash, has a good chance of getting in the top 2 of our weird primary system.

Wicks is also not a supporter of the repeal of Costa Hawkins which would allow municipalities to enact renter protections on some of the units not now affected by any protections, and she is quite willing to take contributions from the charter school industry. Outside of those pivotal issues, she might be a fine rep but I have nothing to base that on. She worked in the Obama administration but I have no way to know what her real contribution was.

My candidate, Dan Kalb, is widely acknowledged to be the most likely to write successful legislative initiatives in the legislature. His expertise ranges from environmental experience to fighting for affordable housing through knowledge of and a willingness to enact police reform. He is a principled politician who will not make promises he can’t keep.

So now I have to add that I like Jovanka Beckles and Cheryl Sudduth. I keep scratching my head wondering why CNA, the nurses’s union, declined to support Beckles in favor of a political neophyte when they might have put Jovanka over the top. Maybe it’ll still happen, we’ll see. In terms of Cheryl, I am really impressed by the number of issues she is involved in, particularly the layers of sanctuary she reps, and the passion with which she addresses them.

Judge Superior Court-Karen Katz

When Tara Flanagan ran she made a big splash and was a very visible and able politician. But since then she has disappointed those who closely watch trials as more law and order, especially for Black defendants, than was hoped for when elected.

Karen Katz has spent her life as a public defender and is running because she says, “we are all safer when justice is administered fairly.” I have no idea if she has a chance to beat a sitting judge, actually that is probably unlikely, but given some of what I have heard about Judge Flanagan’s court, it’s worth a try.

Propositions-County & Regional

RM3-NO

This measure raises the tolls on the Bay Bridge over the next few years to fund a hodgepodge of projects which claim to be public transit oriented but list to the side of ferry boats while stalling out on your daily AC Transit route leaving you stranded as you bike, albeit in better lanes, to the BART where your wait might be a couple of minutes shorter or not, depending on where you live. As one wag said, these are projects inspired by a transit agency that recently moved to the west bay at great expense but wants East Bay drivers to fund far flung transit and highway improvements to traffic nightmares wrought by Silicon Valley. Why must we continue to pay for all their sins?

The worst part about this mishegoss of a measure is that once these tolls are implemented, there will be no place left to go for funding by transit agencies which are still cleaning up the crumbs left by this mess.

As Jack Kurzweil, one of the founders of the Wellstone Club says, “The projects are not presented as part of a grand plan to address the future transportation needs of the Bay Area. That’s because there is no such grand plan. Consequently, there is little basis upon which to evaluate the choice of projects. They are parts without a whole. The Bay Area needs a transportation vision that makes sense.”

County Measure A-Childcare-Yes

Although it’s a small increase to the sales tax, the type of tax I rarely favor, we can handle this to fund something as desperately needed as good childcare. I recently bought shoes in Santa Monica and their sales tax is higher-yet I saw lots of shoppers there so go ahead and vote for this.

City of Oakland Measure D-Libraries-Yes

This is a relatively small increase in property tax, $75, but it will have a big impact especially for children for whom their local library branch is a sanctuary and the 30% whose school libraries have been shuttered. With this tax, library hours can be increased as well as the services they supply.

By the way, as some of you may know, adult education was wiped out in Oakland over the last decade and the library is one of the remaining spaces which provides adult literacy classes. And if, like me, you’re a kindle user, the library is a great place to get your ebooks too and the librarians are quite helpful in getting you signed up.

Prop 68-Yes-Park bonds

Prop 69-Yes-funds for Transportation to be spent on Transportation-Duh

Prop 70-NO, no,no-Don’t hobble the Legislature waiting on Republican votes for these projects

A Word about the Upcoming Mayoral & Council Contests

As many of Oaklanders look forward to the fall 2018 elections to remove some of the Trump stain, we also have to take stock of our city. We see the cranes all over the downtown and the crowds at the Lake. We have a plethora of renowned restaurants to choose from when we go out–and all this is good.

But we may be becoming inured to the ever growing empire of tents, the daily displacement of families & couch surfing youth; at the same time as many of our 1920’s cottages turn into million dollar homes, more and more of us live in unspeakable and highly visible squalor on our streets. And others band together in older homes and apartments hoping that when they go out to work, they don’t get attacked and deported by agents of a xenophobic and lawless regime in Washington.

Our neighbor San Francisco now has the lowest percentages of families of any city in the country. Are we on the verge of becoming the same kind of city as that, cleansed of its Black leaders, its Latino entrepreneurs, its artists and writers, its Bohemian youth, those who struggle and yearn for justice and new ways of living?

We are in the last moments when the way out of that reductionist and ultimately bleak future is clear–reelecting the folks who have tinkered with small solutions and toyed with our fears while so many go quietly away from us, is not the answer. Just as we’re doing on the national scene, we must allow our creative and compassionate ideas to flow and design the Oakland we have always dreamed of. That means we must stop looking for someone to blame and start proposing bold even outlandish solutions, then join with others to make them happen. Si se puede.

PS. Don’t be fooled by those who denounce the regime in Washington while doing little for the least of these in our hometown. Watch what they do, not what they say.

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Trump was Right or They go Low but We Make Jokes?

May 1, 2018May 1, 2018 / draketalkoakland / 1 Comment

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Not another commentary on the White House Correspondents Dinner, yeah, just a short one. Cause I do have a couple things to add to the mishegoss.

I know you all heard about Michelle Wolf disparaging Press Secretary Sarah Sanders looks. Well, actually she didn’t and that’s enough of that [but wait, are we as women warriors so fragile? The woman’s face displays all the anger, rage and contempt that her boss has for us.]

You may have missed some of Wolf’s other points and many of them were significant. The current state of comedy is in fact all I have to hold onto. It’s where I learn to find perspective on the true state of our country.

She picked on the one part of Trump’s identity that is subject to shame and that is his supposed wealth. We can guess that their are two good reasons that the fake president does not want his taxes released. The most important of which is that they will show what a poor businessman he is, what a loser who started out with millions, looks like when he has to go to money launderer’s and vile dictators for loans. She said, “Trump is so broke he had to borrow money from the Russians and is now susceptible to blackmail and possibly responsible for collapse of the republic, yay.” Not the funniest joke but the best thumbnail analysis of the mess we’re in.

“But it turns out that Trump is the one pussy you’re not allowed to grab….he said it first, remember?” So while I hate the use of the term pussy to describe something that is weak since that so obviously isn’t true, in this case the use of it is brilliant, it’s a triple entendre, I think.

“Trump is racist though, he loves white nationalists which is a weird term for a Nazi. Calling a Nazi a white nationalist is like calling a pedophile a kid friend.” Great line to illustrate how we have softened the ways we describe the most vile people on the planet.

Her comments about Wall Street were perfect and described succinctly how our government colluded with financial criminals, thieves who have never been punished.

“Although I haven’t been sexually harassed [referring to her time working at Bear Stearns in 2008,] I’ve definitely been fucked. That whole company went down on me without my consent…and no men got in trouble for that one either.” Bada boom! Sexually explicit, not really but wow, pretty descriptive. With Michelle, the last throwaway line is always the kicker.

“Chappaquidick in theaters now” for instance reminds us of the ironies of our changing values. It refers of course to the ouster of Senator Al Franken in a moment of self-righteous panic. Think about how the discussions that are going on in the Senate now [if there any] would’ve looked if Franken were still there and try to hold that in your brain while you ponder what health care would’ve looked like without Ted Kennedy. But don’t think about it too long, you’ll get vertigo and end up “under a tree” hehe.

Did you miss this one, “You guys are going through cabinet members quicker than Starbucks throws out Black people, but don’t worry they’re having an afternoon, that’ll solve it.”

There were some jokes that while I couldn’t help but laugh, also worried my sense of political correctness like those about Mitch McConnell’s neck or Paul Ryan’s missing balls, probably cause I tend to think of having balls as having no sense but charging ahead anyway. That line was good for this crowd though since it gratified some while enraging others or maybe not-last throwaway line on him-“Yeah, bye Paul.” Does anyone even care anymore what that prick does? Oops.

To the Dems referring to the midterms, “You’re somehow gonna lose by 12 points to a guy named Jeff-Pedophile-Nazi-Doctor…oh, he’s a doctor?”

On Ivanka, since no one has freaked out yet on her picking on the First Daughter, I’ll remind you, “she’s done nothing to satisfy women-I guess like father like daughter….pause while they gasped…”oh you don’t think he’s good in bed, com’on.”

On the Handmaids’ Tale, “Mike pence if you haven’t seen it you would love it,” ok that’s VP Pence in a very small nutshell [do I feel a pun coming on, nah, I’ll leave that to Colbert. He loves dick jokes.] download (6)

She had excellent put downs of every cable news station and one beloved network show that takes itself way too seriously. You could figure out what is happening on This Is Us without any dialogue if all you did was listen to its lugubrious soundtrack. And then she got to our beloved Rachel, “watching Rachel Maddow is like going to Target. You went in for milk but you left with shampoo, candles and the entire history of the Byzantine Empire.” Is it possible to write a better critique of what went wrong with the Maddow show?

“And of course, Megyn Kelly. What would I do without Megyn Kelly…ah probably be more proud of women.” Boom.

You probably heard the comments she made on how the media gave us Trump and why they don’t cover anything but him, best lines, “You guys are obsessed with Trump. Did you used to date him? Because you pretend that you hate him but I think you love him.” Nailed it.

images (2) Ending with, “Goodnight. Flint still doesn’t have clean water!”

After which Trump tweeted that the the WHC dinner “is dead as we know it.” In the interests of keeping the press alive, I have to agree. The need for access and “civility” that only flows one way, the obscene comradery between celebrity reporters, CEOs and the Trump crime family all swishing out in their designer finery has absolutely nothing in common with reporters who eke out stories in our local papers or even TV reporters who have to carry their own cameras much less those of us who follow and investigate the news for nothing after Wall Street emptied the press rooms around the towns, cities-and the foreign offices where people die trying to get their story. download (7)

Speaking of that, Dana Milbank excoriated Ms. Wolf the day after, saying that instead there should just be a ceremony eulogizing the journalists who died in the line of duty. Yeah, lots of folks will watch that, Dana [are you sad cause your mom named you that?] Yeah, and those of us out here who know we are under attack from this regime, experienced a cathartic moment hearing the truth told by this squeeky-voiced lady and we deserve at least that.

Medics carry an injured woman to the ambulance at a hospital after a suicide attack in Kabul Photograph: Mohammad Ismail/Reuters

But if you desire civility with Nazis and in any way see yourselves on the same side as them, we don’t. It’s not an existential threat. That’s way too pretty and removed from what we’re experiencing-the list is too long to enumerate-it’s a very real threat. We don’t want to work alongside those who would destroy our environment, our rights, our families, and our hope.

Lest we get lulled into a stupor by the horror of it all, we need a regular dose of affirmations like this, succinct clear representations of what we are up against and why we need to continue resisting it all. You can say Michelle was mean but I felt the love. It radiated over the tops of the heads of the bourgeoisie all the way to the children of Flint. Those of you “clutching your pearls,” can grow a real pussy.

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Sheriffs to Receive Summons to Appear at Peoples’ Tribunals

April 9, 2018April 9, 2018 / draketalkoakland / Leave a comment

California Sanctuary Campaign Media Advisory

Notice to Appear – Peoples’ Tribunal May 5th

Oakland, CA: On Tuesday, April 10th, 10 am, 1401 Lakeside Drive, Alameda County Sheriff Gregory Ahern’s offices, an alliance of coalitions including ACILEP, Detention Watch Network, Black Alliance for Just Immigration, Freedom for Immigrants (formerly CIVIC) and many more organizations representing immigrants, those seeking asylum and groups opposed to mass incarceration will deliver a Notice To Appear [Orden del Pueblo] at the May 5th Peoples’ Tribunal [Tribunal Popular] at the West County Detention Facility in Richmond, CA.

Reverend Dr. Maria Cristina Vlassidis Burgoa of the Starr King Unitarian Universalist Church in Hayward will deliver the summons, saying, “We demand that all elected officials, especially local law enforcement officials, adhere to the letter and spirit of the law by affording everyone due process. We further demand an end to the collusion between ICE and the Alameda County Sheriff’s office and call on Sheriff Ahern to appear before the people and answer to these and other charges.”

At the same time as the Notice To Appear is being delivered to Sheriff Ahern, these demands will also be conveyed to Sheriff Livingston in Contra Costa County and David Jennings, ICE Field Director in San Francisco. Coalition members will serve Attorney General Jefferson Sessions and ICE Director Thomas Homan in Washington, D.C. tomorrow.

Tribunals are taking place nationwide during April and May to bring attention to the purposeful cruelty being afflicted on these communities by ICE and other law enforcement agencies who promote family separation, exile from community, and mass incarceration. The Tribunals call on agency directors and elected officials to listen to testimony on the harm being done to them and accept the judgement of the people who have suffered directly under these conditions.

Contact: Pamela Drake-510-593-3721, pamelaadrake@gmail.com or Judith Stacey-510-559-0703, judith.stacey@nyu.edu

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Join the Friday Vigil at the Federal Building-We Refuse to Tolerate Ethnic Cleansing

January 16, 2018January 18, 2018 / draketalkoakland / Leave a comment

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Press Advisory

Federal Building Vigil this Friday–We Refuse to Tolerate Ethnic Cleansing

Oakland, CA: On Friday, January 19^th at noon the California Sanctuary Campaign, the Alameda County Immigration Legal & Education Partnership, Mujeres Activas Y Unidas, the Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity, CAIR-SF Bay Area, Haiti Action Committee, the Qal’bu Maryam Women’s Mosque, Haiti Emergency Relief Fund, the Oakland Justice Coalition, Latino Task Force, Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club, the East Bay Young Dems, and the Coalition for Police Accountability will come together in front of the Oakland Federal Building to stand vigil against current White House policies which directly threaten the lives of people of color in this country and abroad.

According to Rev J Alfred Smith Jr of Allen Temple Baptist Church, “the president’s stated policies and actions will promote the ethnic cleansing of whole swaths of Black and Brown people whether native born, immigrant or refugee, seeking opportunity and the ability to raise their families in dignity. The president repeatedly makes racist and misogynistic statements which result in directives from his DOJ and the Congress while families are separated by federal authorities, children are left without healthcare, jails fill with our youth, and refugees are refused asylum. We must take a moral stand against the president and his party before these destructive attitudes and actions do any more damage.”

The vigil is being held the day prior to the historic Women’s March which will take place in cities and towns across the country to assert that women’s rights are human rights. The vigil calls attention to the special jeopardy that women of color face as a result of current policies which threaten not only their economic well-being but their safety in the streets, at their workplaces, and in their homes.

We call on other cities to protest outside local federal buildings at noon on Friday, January 19^th. If we cannot look to our president or the Congress to uphold the moral authority of our country’s stated values, then we must do it ourselves.

Contact: Pamela Drake, pamelaadrake@gmail.com, 510-593-3721

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This Week in Resistance from Oakland to Sacramento

January 4, 2018January 4, 2018 / draketalkoakland / Leave a comment

Starting with Friday, January 5th, we have a very busy activist week coming up–important stuff from sanctuary to rent control, coal to electoral organizing, it’s all happening from the Bay Area to Sacramento. Get your walking shoes on, hop on BART or Amtrak, you are needed. images

Friday, the 5th [from the East Bay Sanctuary Covenant]3 pm at the San Francisco Federal Building, 90 – 7^th Street

Rally to Save Temporary Protected Status for Immigrants

“The Trump administration is threatening to remove Temporary Protected Status (TPS) from Salvadorans, Hondurans, Nicaraguans, Syrians, and Haitians and send them back to situations of life-threatening violence. Many came to the United States because of former wars and natural disasters and have been here for years, and for some, even decades. Removing Temporary Protected Status will put hundreds of thousands of people at risk of deportation. Sending them back to countries where there are ongoing conflicts or economic instability is a human rights disaster.” haitians

Bay Area Coalition to Save TPS-
For further information, contact CISPES at 415-503-0789 or bayarea@cispes.org

Saturday, January 6th, OJC, 10 am, at the ACCE Office, 2501 International Blvd, Oakland Electoral Organizing for 2018-

The Oakland Justice Coalition is calling progressives together to strategize for the upcoming elections this fall when the mayor’s office in addition to city council and school board seats in Districts 2, 4 and 6 will be up and some challengers are already running. “Our elected officials do not deserve a free ride in 2018. Who is ready to step up?” 25594003_10159734810420150_3593693008047131124_n

Tuesday, January 9th, Oakland City Hall, Council Chambers, 6 to 9 pm

Deport Ice– The Public Safety Committee of the Oakland City Council will consider a Resolution by CMs Kaplan and Brooks to prevent OPD from assisting ICE in deportation raids such as happened on August 16th 2017. images (8)

The resolution had been postponed during the December Workers’ Strike and after the City Council prevented the Public Safety Committee from hearing the issue in November.

https://www.facebook.com/events/758631214332796/

Wednesday, January 10, SF Federal Building, 450 Golden Gate, 8:30 am

“Join No Coal in Oakland on January 10 at a crucial hearing that could put an end to developer Phil Tagami’s lawsuit against the City of Oakland. NCIO-150x150

Rally outside the courtroom at 8:30 am (but come even earlier to make sure you can get a seat inside the courtroom if you want to attend).”

Wednesday evening, 6:30 pm in City Council Chambers, 3rd meeting of the Oakland Police Commission–

The new police commission is still getting its sea legs and is not yet staffed. Members of the Coalition for Police Accountability have been present at each meeting and the commissioners claim to have learned more about their mission and its implementation from them, audience members, than the city administration. We’re all beginning to wonder if the current administration is up to working with citizen groups like this and others like the Soda Tax Advisory Board.

https://www.eastbayexpress.com/oakland/oakland-has-yet-to-spend-soda-tax-funds/Content?oid=11372565

Check https://www.coallitionforpoliceaccountability.com for more info on police commision meetings.

Thursday, January 11th, Rally Against Costa Hawkins, in Sacramento [from Tenants Together] http://wellstoneclub.org/rent-control-for-all-repeal-costa-hawkins/

“A first vote on the bill to to repeal the state restriction on rent control – the Costa Hawkins Rental Housing Act – AB1506 – is scheduled! This was hard fought. Housing justice groups across the state have been pressuring Housing committee chair Assemblymember Chiu, lead author Assemblymember Bloom, and Assembly Speaker Rendon to bring this to a vote.

Meet us in Sacramento at the state capitol on Wednesday January 11th at 8:30am in State Capitol, Room 4202 at the Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee meeting. It’s important to get their before early so we can get seats in the hearing room. Stay tuned for lobby days prior to the vote!”

https://www.facebook.com/events/161315931153430/

Women’s March Redux, , Saturday, January 20th in Oakland and other cities around the country-

https://www.facebook.com/womensmarchoak/

Stop circling the Firing Squad!

All this great stuff, progressive change and signs of resistance should energize us but we have more enemies than Trump and the GOP or the moderate Dems, we have ourselves as Pogo once said, and we’re a tough audience. images

We are losing KPFA–the only listener sponsored radio, no Kochs, no commercials a la NPR–founded in 1949, then developed into a network called Pacifica which now has 5 stations including our successful one in Berkeley. But the wolf is at the door of WBAI in New York due to their own incompetence masquerading as ultra left purity, and because they are clueless and see conspiracies where there is actual failure, they have led the wolf directly to the door of KPFA too. It is probably too late for us to rectify this situation and because so many listeners have heard the cry of the wolf too many times, they may no longer care but this is a grave loss. And it is ours to own, not the Right’s, more’s the horror and the pity.

Then on a smaller scale, a brilliant and witty progressive senator has been taken down by our own Democratic women andd many of us are left wondering which of the charges brought against former Senator Al Franken were actually valid and how serious were they anyway?? His name is now mentioned in the same sentence as accused pedophile Roy Moore and serial abuser Harvey Weinstein!

How did we let that happen without any type of investigation of the incidents or analysis of how to handle them? And BTW, let’s retire the term zero tolerance or let’s admit that it also means zero nuance, zero thought and no tolerance at all for mistakes.

Ok, enough criticism-self-criticism, onto the fights at hand but don’t forget how easily we become our own enemies, no more nose spiting or cutting off or whatever, we can’t spare the blood-we no longer have the bandages. We’ve got a civilization to save and hopefully improve.

Let us know what you are willing to help, drive a carpool, sign up to speak at a meeting, make a phone call, carry a sign in the next march or all of the above?

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A Sunday Afternoon in Berkeley

August 29, 2017September 10, 2017 / draketalkoakland / 2 Comments

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Photo by Sheraz Sadiq, KQED

Yesterday we held a No Hate Rally in Berkeley and the haters didn’t come–or did they? I went and I’ll admit that I have hate in my heart toward the whole Trump Clan, the hideous Trump cabinet and the Republican leadership.

So what was the story yesterday in Berkeley? Was it a violent riot as most media portrayed it, a beautiful peaceful gathering for the whole family, a staunch defense of the city or… a mixture of all of that? So far I’ve read about a dozen versions and each is colored with its own bias, of course. I’ll share some of them leaving out the names of those who described their personal experiences unless they have been published them.

One friend who has mobilized as security for demonstrations over the years and engaged in self defense at times said, “I saw a large group of Black Bloc young people congregating on the corner. There were 30 – 50 of them there…. As I walked down Allston toward McKinley, this group of Black Bloc people started to chase down one person who was running from them toward McKinley. I have no idea who this person was. The Black Bloc people caught him, threw him to the ground, and started to beat him with a stick, kick him and beat him with fists.”

This stands in contrast to another report, “others rallied and then started marching toward MLK park. After a few blocks we were joined by about 100 antifa activists dressed in black to create an inspiring demonstration of unity and determination to make Berkeley and the entire East Bay a fascist-free zone.

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Photo by Sheraz Sadiq/KQED

Once at MLK park people prepared to defend themselves against the kind of attack that left at least seven people suffering from knife wounds in Sacramento last June. Instead, the handful of fascists stayed behind the police barriers, some literally kneeling at the cops’ feet as they hurled racist jibes and gave the finger to the anti-fascist protestors. People became predictably angry…..Remarkably, and contrary to some of the media narratives, the fascists escaped with their lives and without serious injury.”

This is a little of what I saw and posted on facebook, since corroborated by some reporters who were there, “Ok there is one guy here that the crowd was chasing as he left the park. Apparently he had his hat and glasses knocked off and then was surrounded while he was still arguing that Trump had created jobs. A couple of BPD had to come and rescue him, sending him on his way.
I expected to go to Civic Center Park to be angry at these guys but then I started to feel afraid for him. I still don’t like mobs nor the idea of picking on the weak, which he was at the time.” He was eventually led away by a Berkeley cop.

Other friends testified to peaceful crowds and heartening speeches even at Civic Center. There were certainly many folks, thousands at the alternate rally, lots of good signs and happy faces with the Berkeley/Oakland Stands United Against Hate posters that were produced by the hundreds.

Photo by Dan Brekke/KQED

Further facebook topics for discussion:

One lively discussion as to whether Antifa and especially the masked black clad crowd (Black Bloc) were useful/positive/ protective demonstrators and necessary or a truly violent faction of the Left. After the events in Charolottesville and the role that Antifa is said to have played in protecting peaceful church going folk, mostly Black, by the way, some of us, me included, have felt the need to-if not embrace them-then not reject them for their “bravery” or others for their dedication if not their tactics.

The other isue that has been raging is whether the media or was it the “fake news” -please note I mean this ironically-over played the violence of the day in Berkeley given all the folks carrying signs with young and old family members, large groups in Groucho masks, they were the “Marxists,” and speeches about love and inclusivity. Still I can’t blame reporters who saw some attacks and at least one beating and were themselves threatened. One reporter even jumped between the black clad counter protestors and the right winger they were beating. https://www.revealnews.org/blog/reveal-host-al-letson-shields-man-from-beating-at-anti-hate-rally/

Our own Darwin BondGraham of the East Bay Express filed this report, tweeting it in real time, https://www.eastbayexpress.com/SevenDays/archives/2017/08/27/liveblog-east-bay-demonstrators-protest-against-hate . “Update at 2:10 p.m.: Antifa members badly beat up an alt-right demonstrator on a downtown street.”

Here’s another account that seems a little bipolar but it was that kinda day, “Anyone who was on the ground in Berkeley yesterday will tell you how beautiful a demonstration it was: thousands of people, old and young and in between, socialists, anarchists, liberals, unionists, brass bands, religious groups, students, you name it. There was tactical cooperation between very different groups. A large Antifa contingent played a vital role in defending the community from the 30 or so white supremacists who showed up armed and looking to fight. There were a handful of scuffles, and a few Nazi’s got mildly beat up and removed from the park by Antifa folks. But the day was overwhelmingly celebratory and peaceful.”

And yes, I also saw a report from a “No Hate Rally” organizer who was at least momentarily glad that some Antifa were there when faced with the White Supremacists at the park.

But here’s a divergent point of view from someone I respect as a very thoughtful human being though I know her only a little, “#1: If you live in Berkeley, Oakland, Emeryville, Albany, San Leandro, San Lorenzo, El Cerrito or Richmond, in other words, the inner East Bay, you knew this would happen. You knew 200 or so self-righteous, BAMN/BlackBloc/Antifa, or whatever the hell our masked avengers call themselves this week, would show up with aggression and hostility in their hearts and make sure they push a small number of extremists around, punch them, and dominate the news cycle. You knew this would happen no matter how many thousands of peaceful people showed up. We need to stand up to these people. They are harming our community. They distract the media from what we are fighting. What we are fighting here is white supremacy. Comment #2: I’m not all that excited that 4,000 mostly white people showed up in Berkeley to protest what in our community amounts to an extremely small fringe group who have zero impact on how we live day to day, and congratulated themselves about how they’re fighting Nazis and KKK types. Look at our community and you will see that how we live day to day supports institutionalized white supremacy. Start with R-1 zoning which protects white privilege in housing, move on to the underfunded AC Transit system which many people of color depend on because car ownership is too expensive, look at all the laws and regulations, starting with the U.S Constitution and moving on down to our regional transit and air pollution agencies that prioritize property and profit over people’s health and well being. I love living in Berkeley. Relative to the rest of the nation, we are a deeply progressive community. However, relative to reality, we have a very long way to go to address privilege and build our commons.”

And lastly, my friend who witnessed the beating suggested, ” My view, deeply held, is that massive unity and nonviolence (with appropriate defensive security) is the way toward social progress. The difference between our side and theirs is that they rely on violence; we need to rely on politics and unity. If we become the mirror image of them, we lose.”

We can blame the media, we can certainly blame the fascists, the president and his followers who knowingly opened a Pandora’s box of evil and keep it open–but then–we’ll have to decide. We may have a romantic notion that if the communists, free thinkers, and artists who thrived in Germany in the 1920’s had only had more sticks, more street fights or even arms, the Nazis would’ve been beaten back, but I doubt that. I think we’ll find that the fight was already lost by the time those streets fights had begun to take over the life of that country.

I’ll admit I have lots of hate in my little formerly-Quaker heart. I really want to hurt some of those folks that I can never even reach and I think they deserve it. I would attack someone who attacked my own but I just can’t be a bully for other side. Punching down will always be something I feel in my gut is wrong.

I don’t think we are on the verge of a Brown shirt nation either. So many folks have come out all over the country to stand against hate and white supremacy, In fact I didn’t even think I’d live to see the day that that term is acknowledged as an American problem. 34,000 people signed up to be a on a coalition call that I was on recently to fight white supremacy. Thousands rallied to the airports with almost no warning. We are not that country even though a hateful percentage has been unleashed-our young folks have lived differently than the Trump generation, my generation, they will not accept it and neither will we.

So maybe we need to go home and call our neighbors to do some radical activities like my friend above suggested-fight for local transit and push back when NIMBYS refuse to let low income housing into our neighborhoods, put our kids in public schools and demand they be funded-there’s so much else, much less heroic. Don’t get me wrong (though I know many will), we should confront this evil and I’m always ready to take to the streets, it’s in my DNA. But I need to know I’m fighting evil not becoming one with it.

Addendum

My simple rules for tumultuous times or how not to become a reactionary:

*don’t react with violence towards people with little to no power.
*don’t react with generalizations against the media when they report things you didn’t want them to see.
*don’t react with new (or existing) laws that criminalize people based on association.
*don’t be ready to restrict others speech just because it’s hateful unless they attach actions or the imminent threat of actions to speech.

Or to paraphrase Miranda Rights and any NCIS show you’ve ever seen-no matter who you are, all of the above can and will be used against you.

Has SB 562 actually moved Universal Healthcare Forward?

July 4, 2017July 6, 2017 / draketalkoakland / 6 Comments

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“Are we turning into Trump-like voters who believe that wishing will make it so and who refuse to take on the hard work of designing, fundraising and door knocking for something as important as this?”

On this 4th of July, I have a question for all those people imploring us to talk to the folks across the aisle or the country or the political divide. How the hell can we do that when progressive Democrats can’t even talk to each other here in California?

Yeah, you already know I’m talking about the shitshow that resulted from the shelving of our holiday wish list or our progressive letter-to-Santa, SB 562.

I was refused healthcare for many years in my own so-called-progressive state. Why, cause I had been on workers’ comp but it could have been any number of minor pre-existing conditions that gave insurers the right to tell me no. I once worked for a union which treated me as a contractor so I had to fight to pay for my own insurance on their plan-being a single mom of 2 kids with chronic illnesses-it was a necessity I was ready to fight for.

So along with many Californians I was very excited when Single Payer, which had been variously vetoed or ignored by our state government over the years, looked like it’s time had come. But you know when you start a relationship, then start to see red flags, but you try to convince yourself that you can fix it? You gravitate toward any explanation for their troubling behavior until everything falls apart and you see how it happened??

I was excited and ready to try and explain this bill to friends who had been suspicious of previous attempts at single payer. I kept asking questions, none of which got answered sufficiently but I wanted to try and see it through the eyes of skeptics so that I could attempt to explain their concerns away.

There’s all this money out there for healthcare and this would be cheaper than what we are currently doing. Yep, I believe that one, the evidence around the world proves that. But how would it be financed, well, we don’t know but we’ll figure it out and then let you know, trust us, right? Uh, I thought, I can’t use that sort of non-explanation with folks who are already leery. Hell, I can’t even use that on myself.

Framing is All in Politics

Immediately after those questions began to surface, I saw how it got framed by the opponents of our not-for-profit healthcare system. They’re coming to take your salary, half of it every year, they said. Absurd, I responded, asking again for a formula with actual numbers…

images (9) Do we live in the state that birthed, Don’t Think of an Elephant, for nothing? Do you even need George Lakoff to know that the first one who frames the debate, especially in a fear-fueled atmosphere, usually wins? So I freaked out, geezus, why didn’t we set up our talking points first? Why lay our own land mines in the way of victory? I think I tore a little hair out trying to tell anyone who would listen–we’re already making terrible mistakes.

No, they patiently told me, we’re gathering support for the concept. Really, didn’t we have that from every person who had realized that Obamacare was saving lives, maybe their own, and that it’s demise would ruin or even take them?! If not, this bill probably wasn’t going to convince them.

Well, I said to myself, maybe the threat against the ACA will move the legislature and even Jerry can detect political rumblings [I ‘m convinced he doesn’t hear actual human voices, but like an animal, he can sense when a thunderstorm is about to break, especially as he’s been hit by lightning a couple times already.]

California Democratic Convention Organizes Firing Squad

So I gathered my desperation and painted it as hope. Then the Democratic Convention happened and instead of California’s governing party discussing how to resist the Trump regime or even, with so many Berniecrats and the powerful nurses’ union in attendance, how to get the Business Dems (we’re supposed to call them Mod Dems) to our side by overwhelming them with our logic, we shouted them down. Oops, no, we shouted everyone down, including long time fighter John Burton then we kept shouting until everyone else had left the room-here I’m being metaphorical or hyperbolic or whatever, cause I had already left myself, so I don’t know.

But the California Senate passed 562 so I thought, where there’s a will… etc, but it was more–where there’s buck to pass, a career to be advanced…Didja know that Senator Lara who designed this bill, this mission statement of notions, is running for Insurance Commissioner, and is termed out soon?

I’ve been told by many politically savvy folks that this bill is being used as a litmus test for anyone running for office. I can’t imagine having to support any candidate who doesn’t believe in some form of universal healthcare but, apparently, it has to be this bill-a bill which ignores the realities of Prop 98 and the Gann amendments-or you must walk the plank!

Fake News = Any News We Don’t Want to Hear

Orthodoxy on the Left is nothing new but it seems more dangerous at a time when facts and journalism are being eschewed as fake news. Within my own 18th AD Caucus of the county Democratic Party, questioning the viability of SB 562 is a good reason for personal attacks. You can almost see folks covering their ears and yelling “lalala.”

I do not claim to understand all the pros and cons of this particular bill so I kept reading about it and you can too. See the Intercept https://theintercept.com/2017/06/30/california-single-payer-organizers-are-deceiving-their-supporters-its-time-to-stop/

or Mother Jones http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2017/06/some-notes-on-californias-single-payer-health-care-plan/

If you actually read those articles, either of them or this one, you will see that a voter initiative is the next step- http://www.sacbee.com/site-services/newsletters/capitol-alert-newsletter/article143463329.html.

Note the final quote from Paul Song, a board member for the nonprofit advocacy group Physicians for a National Health Program and the former chair of the Courage Campaign, “We’re eventually going to have to go the initiative route.”

Knowing this, why are we purging each other and clinging to false hope? Are we turning into Trump-like voters who believe that wishing will make it so and who refuse to take on the hard work of designing, fundraising and door knocking for something as important as this? Would we rather blame those who question this orthodoxy or think long and hard before raising their hopes on a campaign that threatens to turn into an inquisition?

Beyond the blacklisting of those who see the obstacles littering our way, this approach may deepen the cynicism in an electorate that is in despair when we tell them such stories. So have we have taken a moment of progressive activism and turned it into a call for passive righteousness? Though you may raise a red flag in front of some folks to get a rise out of them, they will not charge for long when there is no payoff at the end.

Don’t lie or spin to people whose energy and good will you will need for a serious and difficult campaign. We’ll all have to put in long hours and thoughtfulness to win healthcare in this state and this country. Like #45 said, turns out it’s complicated. Who Knew?

To Do List, Last Week in June

June 29, 2017June 29, 2017 / draketalkoakland / 1 Comment

Please squeeze in one or more of these opportunities for activism this week!

It’s been a hectic week even for diehard activists. And if you’re freaked out about losing your healthcare now or very soon, you’ve been frenztiedly calling Washington, DC. But some Americans unlucky enough to be represented by Republican senators, have been filling the hallways of Congress this week even if you don’t see it on tv-sitting in at their senators’ offices and going out in plastic ties, otherwise known as handcuffs.

Here in California voters for Single Payer Healthcare traveled by bus to Sacramento today to protest the sidelining of a bill which would guarantee free healthcare to every Californian. More on that in another blog.

On Monday-Oaklanders for a People’s Budget shut down the Oakland City Council meeting when it became clear that council members were going to vote on a budget which did not prioritize the funds need to help the homeless nor to prevent the imminent displacement of many more renters. There were other necessities being demanded like funding for the arts. See ReFund Oakland or https://www.facebook.com/DefundOPD/ 18839239_307755119662088_2859169411652791691_n

Tuesday-Last night the same city council came to an impasse/tie over the implementation ordinance that would set the final rules for the new police commission.

And tonight-Wednesday- the Oakland School Board expects to remain in session until they are able to pass a contentious budget for the upcoming year at OUSD. According to Mike Hutchinson, they’re still at it as I write this at 11 pm six hours in.

So, phew, not much left to do for the remainder of this week, right? Please read on..

Thursday-The Public Defenders Office led by Brendon Woods and their allies will be holding a press conference and rally tomorrow at the iconic Oakland courthouse at noon which hopes to forestall the removal of Oakland and Berkeley arraignment hearings all the way to…Dublin. Here’s more info- unnamed (3)

I’ll be there because the fight for justice still begins at home.

Then at 4 pm the City Council will make another try at passing a budget which needs to be done by Friday, June 30th, by law. Please see ReFund Oakland on 19399573_1326252544156296_7554708531302223629_n Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Refund-Oakland-388201741294719/ or my recent guest blog from Margaretta Lin, https://draketalkoakland.com/2017/06/26/tell-the-oakland-city-council-tonight-refund-oakland/

But wait, did you forget that the Supreme Court temporarily let stand parts of the Orange Moron’s travel ban? As a result a coalition of refugee and immigrant groups are asking you to start showing up at airports, SFO for us, after 2 pm. If you’re not at the Oakland City Council meeting, catch lunch after the Public Defender’s rally, then jump on BART and head out there.

Here’s more info from Zahra Biloo at the Council on American Islamic Relations_

Community advisory from CAIR-SFBA and Advancing Justice-Asian Law Caucus: http://bit.ly/2sKmVVv

Media statement from CAIR National: http://bit.ly/2sKiaeW

Facebook live video explaining all of it: http://bit.ly/2sKE9lN

Also on Thursday– in the morning…from the California Immigrant Youth Jusice Alliance

Join us this Thursday to demand the release of Maguiber, an Alameda father of 3 US-citizen children, who is currently in deportation proceedings because of local law enforcement’s collaboration with ICE.

Help us continue sharing his story as we demand the Field Director Jennings us his unnamed-11 prosecutorial discretion to release Maguiber.

#FreeMaguiber
Thursday, June 29

10:30 am

1401 Lakeside Dr # 1200, Oakland, CA 94612

Friday evening-

The ACLU led group People Power has managed to arrange a community meeting with our local Republican and Jeff Sessions supporter, Sheriff Ahern, to talk about our sanctuary laws and how he does/or does not implement them. It’s important we have a good turnout. Here is the info-

Freedom Cities Action • City/Town Council Meeting- starts at 5 pm

Location:

Hayward Adult School, 22100 Princeton Street, Hayward, CA 94541

Rabi’a Keeble, founder of Qal’bu Maryam Women’s Mosque holds Teach-in on Islamophobia in Oakland’s City Hall

West Oakland Mosque Holds Solidarity Event Today

May 7, 2017 / draketalkoakland / 2 Comments

Press Advisory: California Sanctuary Campaign Event in Oakland

Oakland, Ca: The As Salaam Mosque has invited the East Bay community to show solidarity against harassment and discrimination, share cultural experiences, and celebrate diversity this Sunday from two to four thirty at 975 7th Street. There will be speakers, refreshments, and time to network with neighbors and local leaders.

Imam Muhammed and Pastor Jim Hopkins of the Lakeshore Baptist Church will lead the event in prayer. Speakers include Assembly Member Rob Bonta, leader in the State Sanctuary movement, Assembly Member Tony Thurmond, Council Members Lynette Gibson McElhany and Noel Gallo, Jose Hernandez of Congresswoman Barbara Lee’s office, School Board Trustee Jumoke Hodge, and former Mayor Jean Quan. Sundiata Rashid of the Lighthouse Mosque and Reverend Ken Chambers of the West Oakland Baptist Church will also address the gathering.

Jehan Hakim of Asian Americans Advancing Justice, organizer of the event along with Jean Quan, stated, “In these times of bigotry and harassment, it’s important for us as residents of the East Bay and beyond to spend the day with our Muslim neighbors learning what it means to create a real sanctuary in our community.”

For more info, see: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/solidarity-day-with-our-muslim-neighbors-tickets-33878708128?aff=esfb&utm-source=fb&utm-term=listing&utm-campaign=social&utm-medium=discovery&utm-content=attendeeshare or

Contact: Pamela Drake-pamelaadrake@gmail.com, 510-593-3721

The Mother of All Mistakes

April 14, 2017April 16, 2017 / draketalkoakland / 2 Comments

I started a blog last week and this was the headline and first paragraph-

Chronic Trump Fatigue Syndrome or what to do about Syria, Sessions, Gorsuch, Russia, the courts and more…

On another dark and stormy night in Northern California reminiscent of the night before the Trump inauguration, Trump launched his biggest success since his election and installation-which-you remember was the biggest in history-period. He sent 59 cruise missiles onto a Syrian airfield (which remains mostly undamaged) and a few more children died as collateral damage but he won the ratings war. I didn’t finish it before..

More crap happened–

Fast forward to Thursday- I went to lunch with an expert on immigration law and while my comrades and I were learning how to combat the inhumane way our long term undocumented fellow citizens-I’m using that word quite on purpose-are being treated, our White House commander-in-chief told HIS military to go ahead and play with the best toys they got, firing off the MOAB-mother-of-all-bombs.

After the first missiles were launched to such rave reviews-while doing nothing to stop Assad’s attacks-our Hollywood president, decided to go bigger; and this time in a place where even fewer people would be there to document the damage.

He did this on the day after we all watched a man being casually brutalized for wanting to use his ticket to fly. It’s even kind of amazing that we still have the ability to be shocked when authorities take total advantage of us with impunity.

Some facebook friends of mine were startled (running out of words for this phenomenon) that the Chicago police so offhandedly described how the passenger had injured himself. But we see those videos all the time, cops firing at innocent drivers into cars with children in Black neighborhoods. (Heaves sigh, maybe it’s good that we still are somewhat in touch with our humanity.)

And while all this is going on in full color with terrible soundtracks, the new #Hollywoodtroll administration is threatening to unravel Obamacare which you may find out while trying to make a doctor’s appointment. They have also set course to defund Planned Parenthood so that the remaining care for women may disappear, amid discussions of cutting the payroll tax as a way of killing social security. And, of course, they are delegitimizing science and data collection in hopes that everything they do can be excused as necessary.

There’s lots more, this is just a short list from the last couple of days and doesn’t even refer to the rants by the #GhostoftheConfederacy Jeff Sessions who’s running the Department of No Justice for You, you filth (by the way, he didn’t actually say it, but it was in his transcript.) http://www.marketwatch.com/story/jeff-sessions-changes-prepared-speech-to-not-call-criminal-illegal-immigrants-filth-2017-04-11

So, what about the possibility of starting a war with North Korea? I almost had in-laws, or my son did, in Seoul and I can’t help but think of a little girl there in the bosom of her family. While Kim Jong Un is a human rights criminal, he is not stupid. Any small country who wants to oppose ours, would do well to arm themselves to the hilt-except, of course, when the US is run by a criminal too, one with no concept of humanity, oh well.

Phew, it may have helped me to get all this down, but now it’s out of my head and into yours. What to do, what to do…?

I’m thinking that maybe we’re lucky that he has gotten, the #Trumptroll I mean, so crazy so fast. Americans of heart, Americans with brains, hell, Americans with any sense at all, have just gotten Woke and will hopefully, Stay Woke, https://www.bustle.com/articles/134893-what-does-woke-mean-theres-more-to-the-slang-term-than-you-think. They are rallying, marching, making signs and art, hashtags and laws to oppose this crazy shit. Watch this for some fun.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2017/04/12/you-lie-constituents-just-used-rep-joe-wilsons-own-line-against-him/?utm_term=.092ef17ca9f9

Attitudes and Info for our times-

*Stay skeptical but resist cynicism

*Recognize absurdity and laugh at authority, media and yourself.

Check this out- http://www.vox.com/2017/4/3/15163170/strikethrough-comedians-satire-trump-misinformation and this- http://www.danajerimaier.com/writing/resist

*Resist authority when you see it taking advantage of the vulnerable, in a plane, on a train, in town, in a gown (where is Dr. Seuss when we really need him) and everywhere your eyes and mind take you.

*Try saying “Stop that,” at casual abuse.

**When cruelty becomes fashionable, remain kind.

Oh this one is so hard. I wanna go to Berkeley tomorrow (April 15th, if you don’t know, I won’t clue you in) and punch a fascist but then I remember 1) I don’t know how to throw a punch and 2) it would probably just make me angrier and not change a thing. But, I didn’t say I don’t fantasize revenge….

*Self Care is important but planetary care is even more important

*Or How I learned to Embrace Anxiety Disorder and Love the Chaos...

We in the First World, whose homes are not being blown out from under us and whose air is still breathable-we who spend more hours worrying about obesity and eating right- than watching our children starve, well, we already know about long walks in nature and booting up our kindles to a good mystery.

Naivete is OK but Ignorance is not.

*My best antidote to being overwhelmed is information. For a couple years now I have been very disturbed by the conflagration in Syria and our ability to ignore it-it’s going into its 7th year!

I saw Progressives taking sides without really knowing how it all came about-it’s not all false flags, folks. Then I looked up Phyllis Bennis, wise, kind but full of hard knowledge. Read this- https://www.thenation.com/article/the-war-in-syria-cannot-be-won-but-it-can-be-ended/ I’m also reading journalist, attorney and Syrian-American, Alia Malek’s new book which I got out of the Oakland library, http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25898173-the-home-that-was-our-country The Home That Was Our Country.

*Watch https://news.vice.com/ . If you don’t get HBO, just check out Vice News online. They have brief and in depth stories from all over the world. It is really important to get news that’s not straight #MSM, main-stream-media.

*Social media is important-

Sequestering yourself may work for a time, but jumping into the political fray works better for me. Instead of yelling at the TV, I yell or joke or carp on twitter or instagram. Yeah, I work, I’m active in many organizations, read, go out to dinner, well, maybe I let the dishes sit a little longer-but there is still time for social media and it’s a necessary part of participating in politics.

Except for this-

Stop wasting time with the Hillary vs Bernie argument, progressive puhllease–

I’m glad Bernie is still in the Senate and taking an active role but he’s not my hero. I’m also glad that Hillary speaks out, given her knowledge and background, but she will never be my candidate again. That’s all over and we’ve discussed what went wrong ugh nauseum.

In all the bad news, I forgot to promote our progressive California legislature-doing things like making California a Sanctuary State, working to rid of us the unfair bail system, promoting single payer healthcarehttp://www.latimes.com/politics/essential/la-pol-ca-essential-politics-updates-spring-break-in-canada-california-1492029238-htmlstory.html . Rather than isolate us from other states, we should use this struggle as a model and, btw, New York just passed free college, well kind of https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/11/nyregion/new-yorks-free-tuition-program-will-help-traditional-but-not-typical-students.html?_r=0.

**Let’s breath deeply, let’s hug each other and take in a movie together, and then let’s fight like hell in the most creative, outlandish and life affirming ways we didn’t know we had in us**

Drake Talk Oakland

Making a difference in Oakland & beyond

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