Tuesday, December 3, 2019

Holiday Party & Free Screening of "It's a Wonderful Life" Friday on Cameron Park Lake!

Monday, December 2, 2019

World Nears ‘Point Of No Return’ On Climate Change

U.N. chief warns “point of no return” cn Climate change “is in sight.” Slate: “U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres isn’t mincing words when it comes to issuing a dire warning about the global climate crisis, saying that the effort to stop climate change has been “utterly inadequate.” Speaking on the eve of a two-week international climate conference in Madrid, Guterres warned that the effects of climate change were already being felt. “The point of no return is no longer over the horizon,” Guterres said. ‘It is in sight and hurtling toward us.’ Although there is enough expertise and knowledge to limit global warming, ‘what is lacking is political will,’ Guterres said. In order to combat the crisis, ‘Our war against nature must stop,’ he added. And that involves changing the old ways of doing things. ‘We simply have to stop digging and drilling and take advantage of the vast possibilities offered by renewable energy and nature-based solutions,’ he said. Delegates from around the world will be meeting in Madrid until Dec. 13 to try to agree on rules for implementing the 2015 Paris climate accord. So far the cuts in emissions that have been agreed to are not enough to meet the goal of limiting temperature rises to between 1.5 and 2 degrees Celsius (2.7-3.6 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels. Even though some 70 countries have agreed to stop emitting greenhouse gases by 2050, there is a lack of commitment form some of the biggest offenders. ‘We also see clearly that the world’s largest emitters are not pulling their weight. And without them, our goal is unreachable,’ he said.”

Sunday, December 1, 2019

Trump Claimed Progress in Negotiating Cease Fire with Taliban. _ Its a lie !

Taliban Appears Surprised By Trump’s Cease-Fire Boast In Afghanistan.

Friday, November 29, 2019

You Put Children in Cages for a Fascist President

Martin Pengelly in Washington

@MartinPengelly

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Democratic presidential candidate and former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley speaks during a campaign stop in January 2016 in New Hampshire. Photograph: Jim Cole/AP

Donald Trump’s acting deputy secretary of homeland security was called “the son of immigrant grandparents who cages children for a fascist president” on Wednesday night, by a man who forced him to leave a Capitol Hill bar on Thanksgiving eve.

That man was Martin O’Malley, former Baltimore mayor, governor of Maryland and candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016.

It was the latest in a string of incidents in which angry opponents of Trump have confronted members of his administration in public.

In June 2018, then White House press secretary Sarah Sanders was famously asked to leave a restaurant in Virginia. Senior adviser Stephen Miller, the force behind Trump’s hardline immigration policies, has been confronted numerous times.

Such incidents have led to debate about the need for civility in US public life – particularly after Trump himself was booed at a World Series game in Washington in October. The first lady, Melania Trump, was booed in Baltimore on Tuesday, when she delivered remarks at a conference on the opioid epidemic.

In messages sent to the Washington Post after the Wednesday night incident at the Dubliner bar, O’Malley was unrepentant.

A Twitter user who met O’Malley at the pub first reported the incident, writing: “Martin O’Malley just drove Ken Cuccinelli out of the Dubliner in DC [with] a passion-laced and shame-invoking tirade on behalf of immigrant refugee children!!!”firings

Siobhan Houton Arnold later told the Post: “O’Malley was shouting. I don’t think Cuccinelli was responding. I think he’s like, ‘Time to go. Just got here and I’m leaving.’ He pretty much retreated.”

O’Malley told the Post he had not shouted, but had raised his voice to be heard in a busy bar as he gathered with fellow members of his class at Gonzaga, a Catholic high school in Washington from which Cuccinelli also graduated.

He wanted to talk about Trump immigration policy which has led to family separations at the southern border and controversy over the conditions in which migrants of all ages are held.

Homelessness

From: NYT. California

If you live in California, you have almost certainly encountered homelessness. It’s the most visible symptom of the state’s vast economic inequality and is often the top concern among Californians from across the political spectrum.

Maybe your children have asked you why there are people who live on the streets, or you’ve read up on how the state’s lack of affordable housing is driving the crisis and the state or local policy changes that experts say will be necessary to make a dent in the problem.

Still, confronting the daily reality that hundreds of thousands of Californians don’t have stable places to sleep can feel overwhelming.

When we asked what readers wanted to know about the ways inequality plays out in the Golden State, many asked how they could help their homeless neighbors.

[Our national editor, Marc Lacey, explains our new effort to involve readers directly in our coverage.]

So we reached out to the people who best know what’s helpful and what’s not: those who have experienced homelessness themselves.

We heard from dozens of Californians, and nearly everyone who shared advice echoed the same basic request: Treat people you come across with dignity and respect. Don’t avoid eye contact, but do avoid making assumptions.

“When I was young, I judged those drinking or using on the sidewalks late at night,” wrote Joh Rathbun, of Santa Cruz. “I now know that a tall boy or two is much cheaper than rent.”

No gesture of good will is too insignificant, she added: “A small nod to recognize someone’s humanity can be monumental.”

Some said that offering a hot shower or a safe place to camp or park overnight helped ease their burden for a little while.
But some also said it’s O.K. to set boundaries for yourself.

Many said that simply offering fresh food, clothing, blankets, water, batteries or hygiene products directly to people living outdoors was helpful.

Sanders' Green New Deal: A Realistic Response to the Emergency That Will Define Our Lifetimes

Saturday, November 23, 2019

Stephen's Catchy Jingle Makes The Trump Impeachment Inquiry Easy To Unde...

Need to Impeach

Impeachment continued to build momentum in Washington, D.C. this week thanks to impeachment supporters who made calls, sent emails, and took to the streets last month. In October, impeachment supporters attended and asked questions about impeachment at more than 137 town halls. In November, Congress has taken notice. We’ve now heard from multiple key witnesses who are confirming some of the most damning facts about Trump’s use of military aid to pressure Ukraine to interfere in our elections.

If you didn’t catch all 24+ hours of this week’s public impeachment hearings or need a 2-minute summary, here are the key takeaways:

Tuesday, November 19th:

Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman testified that he was so disturbed by Trump’s July 25th call that he immediately brought his concerns to the NSC lawyers, and he confirmed that Amb. Sondland raised politically motivated investigations to the Ukrainian delegation in a meeting John Bolton was forced to cut short. He also confirmed that no one supported Trump’s inexplicable decision to freeze military aid to Ukraine.
Jennifer Williams pointed out an omission in the “transcript” of the July 25th phone call that the White House released. It failed to include mentions of Burisma, which is evidence of a coverup on the part of the Administration.
Kurt Volker made it clear that there was and remains no evidence that Joe Biden acted improperly in Ukraine. The former Vice President did not try to shut down an investigation into his son’s company and Volker says that Trump’s attempts to launch an investigation into Burisma were baseless.
Tim Morrison testified that he understood clearly, from conversations with Ambassador Sondland, that Zelensky had to announce an investigation into Trump’s political rival in order to receive the congressionally approved foreign aid.

Wednesday, November 20th:

Ambassador Gordon Sondland declared, in no uncertain terms, that there was a quid pro quo between this administration and Ukraine. He also makes it clear that this was not just a case of a few bad actors. Those at the highest level, including Secretary Pompeo and Trump, knew about this corrupt deal.
Laura Cooper confirmed the timeline. In direct contradiction of a Republican talking point, Cooper testified that Ukranian officials knew about the hold on security assistance just hours after the July 25th phone call.
David Hale, one of the Republicans’ own witnesses, testified that withholding aid to a desperate ally is “unusual,” “completely inappropriate,” and just plain “wrong.”

Thursday, November 21st:

Dr. Fiona Hill testified that the Ukraine pressure campaign was a "domestic political errand" that had nothing to do with corruption in Ukraine. She also pointed out that furthering conspiracies about the 2016 election to distract from Trump’s bad actions only helps Putin.
David Holmes testified that “the security assistance hold was likely intended by the president either as an expression of dissatisfaction with the Ukrainians who had not yet agreed to the Burisma/Biden investigation or as an effort to increase the pressure on them to do so.”

So what did we learn this week? Witnesses confirmed that President Trump:

Pushed Ukraine to interfere in our 2020 elections.
Used US military aid and a visit to the White House to bribe and extort a foreign government into digging up dirt on his personal political opponent.
Tried to cover it up.

If the average person did this, they’d go to jail.

Here’s what we can do to ensure Congress holds Trump accountable: Visit impeachnow.org to find an event in your community and remind Congress that nobody is above the law.