Noam Chomsky: Members of Migrant Caravan Are Fleeing from Misery & Horro...

Under Trump: ICE Becomes a Deportation Force

antiracismdsa: Under Trump: ICE Becomes a Deportation Force: By COLLEEN LONG December 30, 2018 5:07 pm TPM. RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The officers suit up in the pre-dawn darkness, wrapping on body a...

WE Are Being Governed by a Dangerous, Narcissist

What happens when the wheels come off the world’s most powerful political and military and economic vehicle? No one knows the answer to that one, but I suspect we’re about to find out.

Trump’s year is not ending well, and because of the outlandish power he wields, and his willingness to use that power petulantly for entirely personal ends, it’s likely things will get worse for us, the people, too. After the GOP lost the popular vote in the midterm elections by roughly nine million votes, Trump is seeing out 2018 with his administration in freefall: his insistence on Congress funding an utterly useless “great wall” on the U.S.-Mexico border seems, as of this writing, almost certain to result in a prolonged holiday-season government shutdown.

A lot of people in the U.S. will feel a bucketload of financial hurt as a result. In fact, the moolah-obsessed president will spend his vacation indulging in all his usual extravagances, while hundreds of thousands of government employees start being furloughed, their paychecks temporarily withheld, because of Trump’s histrionics. His Secret Service detail will continue working, protecting him unpaid while the government remains paralyzed.

Pay Freeze for Workers- Tax Cuts for the Rich

Tax Cuts for the Rich.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/27/us/politics/trump-tax-cuts-jobs-act.html

Pay Freeze for Working People
Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump issued an executive order Friday freezing federal workers' pay for 2019, following through on a proposal he announced earlier in the year.

The move, which nixes a 2.1% across-the-board pay raise that was set to take effect in January, comes as hundreds of thousands of federal employees are expecting to begin the new year furloughed or working without pay because of a partial government shutdown.

Trump told lawmakers he planned to scrap the 2019 pay bump for federal workers in August, saying the federal budget couldn't support it. In addition to the 2.1% pay increase, the executive order also cancels a yearly adjustment of paychecks based on the region of the country where workers are posted, called the "locality pay increase," that was due to take effect in January. 

What has the Poor Peoples' Campaign Achieved ?

On January 7th, we will return to the U.S. Capitol and deliver our campaign demands to the new Congress, focusing on voter suppression. In 2018, we saw attacks on the voting rights of poor people of color sweep our nation; from Georgia to Kansas, from North Carolina to North Dakota. We know that voting rights are central to every demand we have, and we will continue to call on Congress to take action to protect and expand voting rights, end racial gerrymandering, restore the right to vote to all formerly and currently incarcerated people, and more.

But like many of you, we’re taking time first to reflect on all that we accomplished in 2018.

We launched a movement committed to breaking the silence and telling the truth about the interlocking evils of systemic racism, poverty, ecological devastation, the war economy/militarism and our nation’s distorted moral narrative.

Together, we engaged in the largest wave of nonviolent civil disobedience in recent history and took action in over 40 states. Tens of thousands of people rallied on the National Mall to demand that we fight poverty, not the poor. Hundreds of poor and dispossessed people testified before the nation and made their demands heard. Leaders emerged in states around the country and we engaged in moral fusion organizing to build a broad and deep movement to sustain the fight for the long term.

Trump Shuts Down the Government

The government of the greatest country the world has ever known, the wealthiest, most powerful nation on the planet: closed until further notice.

This shutdown – hundreds of thousands of our fellow Americans working without pay during the holidays, basic government functions no longer available to the taxpayers who fund them – didn’t have to happen. The Senate passed a compromise government funding bill two days ago, 100–0. The men and women who can’t agree on what to name a post office were able to unite and unanimously agree on how to fund the entire government.

But maybe it was intended to happen.

Trump is incompetent !

Part of our government is being shut down

by an Inept, Incompetent, Unstable Trump and

his enablers. 

And, part of our economy is being wrecked.

Mr. Trump is holding the government hostage, promising a shutdown that would last “for a very long time” if Congress doesn't give him at least $5 billion for a border wall. Wasn’t Mexico supposed to pay for that?

If Mr. Trump doesn’t change his mind before tonight’s midnight deadline, his tantrum is going to cost over 420,000 federal employees their pay over the holidays, and more than 380,000 would be placed on temporary leave without pay.

NYT Editors, 

No one wants American troops deployed in a war zone longer than necessary. But there is no indication that Mr. Trump has thought through the consequences of a precipitous withdrawal, including allowing ISIS forces to regroup and create another crisis that would draw the United States back into the region.

An American withdrawal would also be a gift to Vladimir Putin, the Russian leader, who has been working hard to supplant American influence in the region and who, on Thursday, enthusiastically welcomed the decision, saying, “Donald’s right.” Another beneficiary is Iran, which has also expanded its regional footprint. It would certainly make it harder for the Trump administration to implement its policy of ratcheting up what it calls “maximum pressure” on Iran.

Among the biggest losers are likely to be the Kurdish troops that the United States has equipped and relied on to fight the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, considers many of the Kurds to be terrorists bent on destroying his country. In recent days he has vowed to launch a new offensive against them in the Syrian border region. Mr. Trump discussed his withdrawal decision in a telephone call with Mr. Erdogan on Friday.

Today’s challenging task is to defeat authoritarianism in a way that will help institutionalize the strength of the emergent progressive sections of society and prepare them for more advanced stages of a struggle for systemic change.

Last, we cannot help but take note that we live in the era of Donald Trump. A white nationalist surge drove him to the presidency, and unfortunately, similar regimes based in racist and xenophobic authoritarianism are afflicting many other countries across the globe. 

Homeless Memorial Service

Putin Wins ! Trump Orders Abandon the Kurds

WASHINGTON — President Trump has ordered a rapid withdrawal of all 2,000 United States ground troops from Syria within 30 days, declaring the four-year American-led war against the Islamic State as largely won, officials said Wednesday.

“We have defeated ISIS in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump Presidency,” the president said in a Twitter post on Wednesday morning. He offered no details on his plans for the military mission, nor a larger strategy, in Syria.

But Pentagon officials who had sought to talk the president out of the decision as late as Wednesday morning argued that such a move would betray Kurdish allies who have fought alongside American troops in Syria and who could find themselves under attack in a military offensive now threatened by Turkey.

One American official said that Kurdish leaders were informed of the president’s decision on Wednesday morning.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/19/us/politics/trump-syria-turkey-troop-withdrawal.html?actio

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/19/opinion/editorials/trump-syria-withdrawal.html?

Not All Migrants are Equal

Untangling Moves to Deport Vietnamese Immigrants


By JILL COWAN






An American soldier watching South Vietnamese refugees crowding a United States Navy boat off the coast of Vietnam in 1975. Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Last week, news that the Trump administration was moving to deport certain Vietnamese immigrants who have lived in the U.S. for decades sparked fear and anger in a community that has deep roots in California — and one that includes strong supporters of the president’s hard line on immigration, as The Los Angeles Times recently reported.


Katie Waldman, spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement that “it’s a priority of this administration to remove criminal aliens to their home country,” and that 7,000 Vietnamese people have removal orders.

How Come So Many Bernie Bros Are Women and People of Color?

How Come So Many Bernie Bros Are Women and People of Color?

Public Ownership and Socialism

And, the writer forgot to mention SMUD.

Thomas M. Hanna
December 10, 2018
Jacobin

The US has a surprisingly large amount of public ownership. But in order for it to truly serve the social good, it must be expanded — and democratized.

Socialism in the United States is making a comeback. Socialists are winning elections at the local, state, and federal levels; the membership of Democratic Socialists of America stands at a record fifty-five thousand; and polling consistently finds that younger Americans have relatively positive opinions of the concept.

While the term “socialism” means different things to different people, for the vast majority in the burgeoning movement it suggests the promise of a very different kind of system — one that is far more equitable, democratic, and ecologically sustainable than both capitalism and past experimentation with its alternatives. This system, though qualitatively different from the current order, won’t be conjured out of thin air. It will have to be constructed, at least partially, from existing institutions and arrangements.

In the economic realm, one such approach is expanding public ownership — enterprises, services, assets, and other entities owned and operated by the state at various levels. When done the right way, public ownership can create more equitable distributions of wealth and power and can be a mechanism for addressing vital social needs.

Trump's Wall

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Trump’s televised badgering of Sen. Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi was made for cable television, which predictably looped it over and over again on Tuesday and assembled “panels” of “experts” solemnly to parse Trump’s insane meanderings, Schumer’s hamming it up for the cameras, and Pelosi’s pitifully forlorn call for a “fact-based” discussion.

Less was said by cable news about the substance of the main point of debate, which is that Trump, having bankrupted the government with massive tax cuts for his billionaire cronies last February, now wants to increase government spending by spending $5 bn for a border wall. Although they initially thought they might throw Trump a bone (a mere $1.6 bn?), the wave of anger and indignation this mealy-mouthed approach provoked among the Democratic faithful appears to have put some iron in their spines. Pelosi told Trump to his face that he wouldn’t be able to find a majority in the House for such spending.

Here are the top 6 reasons the Democrats shouldn’t spend a cent on Trump’s vanity project of a border wall:

1. Trump’s conviction that there is a crisis of illegal border crossings in the Southwest shows that he is stuck in the 1980s and 1990s. The problem has plummeted in significance in the past decade and a half, according to The Center for Migration Studies. The Border Patrol is only arresting about 1/4 the number of those attempting to come in without paperwork as was true in the 1990s. And, in 2014 only one tenth as many people even tried to come in illegally as in 2005. (Taken together, these two statistics show that Border Patrol’s efficiency in apprehending undocumented entrants has increased substantially). 

Young Girl from Guatemala Dies in ICE Custody

antiracismdsa: Young Girl from Guatemala Dies in ICE Custody: 7-Year-Old Migrant Girl Dies From Neglect In ICE Custody Jakeline Maquin  NBC News A 7-year-old Guatemalan girl who crossed th...

Sanders- Oppose War in Yemen

Yesterday afternoon, for the first time in the history of the United States, the U.S. Senate passed a resolution I sponsored along with Mike Lee of Utah and Chris Murphy of Connecticut, withdrawing the United States Armed Forces from an unauthorized and unconstitutional war.

The margin was 56 to 41 in support of ending our involvement in the war in Yemen. That is, in my view, a number of “yes” votes that most people would have believed unthinkable even just a few weeks ago.

I’ve written to you a lot about my work to put an end to this moral and humanitarian catastrophe, so today I want to update you on what happens next, and then I am going to ask you to take action in support of that work.

In order for this bill to get to President Trump’s desk, it must pass the House of Representatives. Unfortunately, Speaker Paul Ryan has effectively disallowed a vote on the resolution, despite the fact it would pass with bipartisan support.

Oppose Nafta 2.0

better deal, please sign on here.  Thanks!  — Arthur

Early next year, the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) will publish a formal report on expected impacts from the proposed North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) revision.  This report will be used by Congress to make decisions about whether to support NAFTA 2.0 as written or to demand further changes.

TAKE ACTION: Please join us in urging that the official report on NAFTA 2.0 highlight its failure to include critical changes needed to protect jobs, raise wages and promote healthy communities.

Each week, NAFTA continues to destroy livelihoods across the continent.  Unfortunately, the revised NAFTA deal currently on offer would continue to facilitate the outsourcing of jobs, the suppression of wages and the dumping of toxins.  Among other problems, it also takes big steps backwards on access to medicine.

We need Congress to insist on substantive changes to the proposed text before there’s a real NAFTA replacement that working people can be happy about.  An accurate USITC report would help bolster that effort.

The USITC is now accepting official public comments on the NAFTA proposal.  Please sign onto our commentsurging the USITC to explicitly acknowledge that:

• NAFTA 2.0’s lack of strong, easily-enforced labor and environmental standards has a real cost. Without such provisions, the revised NAFTA will continue to help big corporations move good-paying jobs to Mexico to take advantage of sweatshop wages, ongoing worker rights abuses and the ability to pollute with impunity.  

Conference on Building an International Left

It was a small conference with big ideas and a deep sense of urgency. "We need to do it all," said one attendee. "We just simply need to do it all."

by

Julia Conley, Jake Johnson, and Jon Queally

 14 Comments

Attendees of The Sanders Institute Gathering that took place from November 29 thru December 1, 2018 in Burlington, Vermont. (Photo: © Will Allen 2018 / @willallenexplore)

It was a small and relatively intimate event—this small conference described as a "gathering of minds to envision the world we want"—that took place over three days as last month ended and December began in Burlington, Vermont.

No, it wasn't a "hootenanny." The serious topics discussed in detail and with passion were poverty, inequality, human rights, the climate crisis, racism, war, peace, refugees, workers, healthcare, housing, civil rights, independent media, corporate power, criminal justice reform, international solidarity, civil rights, voting rights, the rights of women, the LGBTQ community, immigration, democracy, economics, politics, organizing, and ultimately about how all of these issues can never be adequately understood or addressed in isolation.

"What do we need to do to improve the quality of life of our citizens of the world?" 
—Jane Sanders, The Sanders Institute"I think it's important that we realize the intersectionality of the issues," explained Jane Sanders, who along with executive director David Driscoll founded The Sanders Institute and organized the Gathering. "I mean environmental sanity has to do with income inequality and so many things. And that's why we intentionally do things more comprehensively because we don't want to say, 'We're having an environmental conference,' or 'We're having a housing conference.'"

The conference, she said in an interview with Common Dreams, was one that wanted to ask: "What do we need to do to improve the quality of life of our citizens of the world?"

Class and Gender in Democratic Socialist Activism- Maria Svart

The Global Left

Progressive International from MEANS OF PRODUCTION on Vimeo.

Defend Immigrants' Rights

For the past several weeks and months, families have been fleeing Honduras and Central America, desperately trying to make a better life. From a mother carrying her baby in her arms to children choking on tear gas sprayed by border patrol agents, the consequences of a broken immigration system, militarism, and endemic poverty are clearer than ever.

While politicians use the suffering of these refugee families to stoke a fear of who is coming towards our border, we are brought closer together in common suffering and hope. 

On December 9 and 10, The Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival, Kairos Center and Repairers of the Breach will join the American Friends Service Committee in San Diego and hold an interfaith service, calling on faith leaders, poor people and all people of conscience to take action together. With December 10 being International Human Rights Day and the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we will demand the demilitarization of border communities and the absolute protection of migrants seeking refuge.

Sign our petition to stand with migrant families and demand Congress overhaul our immigration system and demilitarize the U.S.-Mexico border and interior to ensure all communities can thrive in this country.

Free Screening of "HOME ALONE" & Holiday Gathering -- Thursday (12/6) Friday (12/7)

Sunday, Dec 9, 12:30pm, Central American Refugee Caravan: How do we ensure a moral and lawful response? Dr. Duane Campbell and Cori Ring-Martinez provide caravan updates and background on the root causes of the refugee crisis, followed by discussion of our individual, collective, and national responsibility to asylum seekers based on human rights and international law. Refreshments. First United Methodist Church, 2100 J St. Sacramento. FMI: 916-225-8511

Trump's Use of Force is Illegal

he Posse Comitatus Act forbids the willful use of “any part of the Army or the Air Force as a posse comitatus or otherwise to execute the laws.” It has been applied as well to the Navy and Marine Corps.






A military serviceman stands guard on the US side of the US-Mexico border fence as seen from Playas de Tijuana, Mexico, on November 16, 2018., Pedro Pardo/AFP/Getty Images

Donald Trump’s decision to send thousands of troops to the US-Mexican border to intercept migrants who intend to apply for asylum is not just a bald-faced political stunt — it is also illegal.


Passed in 1878 to end the use of federal troops in overseeing elections in the post–Civil War South, the Posse Comitatus Act forbids the use of the military to enforce domestic US laws, including immigration laws. For this reason, Trump’s decision to deploy the military to the border to enforce US immigration law against thousands of desperate migrants from Central America — who have undertaken the perilous journey over 1,000 miles through Mexico to the US border in order to apply for asylum — is an unlawful order.


Kathleen Gilberd, executive director of the National Lawyers Guild’s Military Law Task Force, told Truthout, “The deployment of US troops to the Southern border is an illegitimate political ploy and a serious misuse of the military. This action casts shame on a government that treats refugees seeking asylum as enemies.”



The illegality of Trump’s order to the military opens the door to the possibility that service members will resist it: Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, Nuremberg Principles and Army Field Manuals, service members have a duty to obey lawful orders and a duty to disobey unlawful orders.

Family Separation: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

Demand Sheriff Accountability/Transparency!

Tuesday, December 4
9:30 am
Sacramento County Board of Supervisors
700 H Street, Sacramento, CA
Here's how you can demand Sheriff accountability & transparency in Sacramento County in 2018
Tuesday, December 4:Sheriff accountability and transparency are on the agenda at the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors meeting the morning of Tuesday, December 4. We expect community members will be making public comments for most of the morning so please come and add your voice. RSVP for more info before the event at https://go.peoplepower.org/event/action_attend/18196
Monday, November 26:Although you are not required to attend on November 26 to attend the December 4 event, at our monthly chapter board meeting on Monday, November 26 at 5:45 pm, we will discuss several issues including strategizing our message for Sheriff accountability and transparency. If you would like to attend this meeting, you can get more details and RSVP at https://go.peoplepower.org/event/action_attend/18195

Details of ACLU Problems with the Sacramento Sheriff's Accountability/Transparency:You can see the latest statement of the ACLU position and details about the current need for Sheriff accountability and transparency in Sacramento County by reading this week's Sac Bee Op-Ed from the new senior staff attorney in the ACLU of Northern California's new Sacramento litigation office, titled "Jones wants democracy without transparency. That’s not how it works" at https://www.sacbee.com/opinion/op-ed/article221802185.html

Take Over P G & E

The potential bankruptcy of the California utility whose negligence likely plays a role in California’s wildfires is an opportunity for the public to gain control of the state’s energy destiny

Cal Fire found that three separate wildfires across the state in 2017 were caused by PG&E, and the utility could be liable for up to $12 billion in damages from more than 800 civil lawsuits., Mario Tama/Getty Images

There is strong evidence that the wildfires raging through California right now—killing at least 80 people, with at least an additional 1,000 missing as of November 18—have been sparked at least in part by the large investor-owned monopoly utility, PG&E. Further, PG&E’s apparent negligence and its consequences aren’t new. Cal Fire found that three separate wildfires across the state in 2017 were caused by PG&E, and the utility could be liable for up to $12 billionin damages from more than 800 civil lawsuits. With that backdrop, PG&E teeters on the brink of bankruptcy, and the California Public Utility Commission is now thinking of breaking up the utility. But the commission shouldn’t stop at breaking up PG&E. The public should take it over.

Democracy Blocked

We changed our country for the better on November 6th, 2018.

We elected hundreds of new, diverse representatives and passed ballot measures that will impact thousands of lives right away and in the years to come.

But gerrymandering still kept too many voters from having their voices heard. 

Gerrymandering had an undeniable impact on these midterms. The results in Pennsylvania and North Carolina show exactly what I mean:

In Pennsylvania, the state Supreme Court struck down the state's unfair maps, declaring them unconstitutional and ordering them redrawn before the 2018 election.

That decision resulted in a fair representation of Pennsylvania voters' choices. On Election Night, Democrats picked up 4 seats in Pennsylvania -- sending 9 Republicans and 9 Democrats to Washington. A result that fits the state.

But in North Carolina, where maps have been ruled unconstitutional but weren't redrawn in time for the election, fair representation broke down. Despite winning nearly 50% of the popular vote, Democrats won only 3 of 13 congressional seats.

These two states are proof that when gerrymandering goes unchecked, votes don't count the way they should. That's not how democracy should work -- and that's why our fight is just beginning,

From a neighborhood list serve.
Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity. -Martin Luther King Jr. In today's highly politically-charged environment, and with countless examples of corporate, and government waste and greed it's easy to understand why some people partake in resistive efforts, and in extreme cases taking political "pot shots" against many. SMUD is a customer-owned, public utility. We customers benefit not only from lower costs, but also much from the numerous ways that SMUD "gives back" to improve our community. Believe what you wish and espouse what you may. However, make no mistake about it that the competetive threat to SMUD is real. This threat has been increasing ever since AB 1890 (California Electric Utilty Deregulation) was first introduced in the late 1990's. At that time, the viabilty of SMUD's future existence and it's roughly 30 percent lower residential electricity costs were threatened. SMUD didn't advertise at that time, and laws prevented it. The ENRON scandal stalled it and caused the voting public and many lawmakers to question the move. In efforts to stave off the threat and to position themselves, many utilities diversified and split up factions of their business. We saw the creation of specific and separate entities such as power generation, power contracts, transmission, and distribution create even more fractured subentities. The bottom line is this all ended up in driving up consumer costs. Don't believe me? Let's see if this helps; A single residential customer kwh in the late 1990's was AND expected to slightly go lower in the approximately 3-4 cents range. Look at your bill to see today's cost. Thank you California Lawmakers, NOT! Some things were not broken. Utilities had to restucture rates to prevent competitors "cherry-picking." As an example, Commercial rates were reduced as they had been subsidizing "lower" Residential rates. Our costs further increased.

Air Quality

Northern California. Wed. Nov.14. 

PROGRESSIVE ALLIANCE NOVEMBER ORGANIZING MEETING -- SATURDAY, 11/17, 11AM

LOCATION CHANGE!: Sac State remains closed this weekend due to the poor air quality. As a result, we will be moving our Progressive Alliance November Organizing Meeting to Paul & Leisa's house on Cameron Park Lake: 3025A Cambridge Rd., Cameron Park 95682. Hope you can join us!

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Joins Climate Change Activists In Protest At Na...

Trump Deploys Troops to Southern Border

DOD FORMALLY APPROVES MILITARY-HOSTED IMMIGRANT CONCENTRATION CAMPS AS NON-MILITARY SITES FILL UP

By Courage to Resist.  October 23, 2018

The President of the United States, Donald Trump, once again declared that active duty US military personnel need to be deployed to the southern border in order to repel, “the assault on our country.” (Militarytimes.com, October 18, 2018)
October 25, 2018 update: Defense Secretary Jim Mattis today authorized 800 active-duty troops, to bolster the roughly 2,100 National Guardsmen who have already been sent to the border.

It’s easy to attack a ragtag group of immigrants, traveling in a public caravan, seeking asylum, and this kind of rhetoric plays well to his anti-immigration base, leading up to the midterm elections. However, it’s more than just rhetoric.
This summer, the Trump Administration ordered the military to detain tens of thousands of immigrants in tent cities across the United States. Eight military installations were identified, primarily those near the southern border with unused air strips. The military agreed, and the Department of Homeland Security and Health and Human Services (HHS) got onboard.
Military brass suggested that these camps would not violate the constitutional prohibition against using the military to police and enforce domestic immigration law, based on the fact that the military has occasionally provided shelter to people during humanitarian crises, for short periods of time. Apparently, because the military helped out a bit following a hurricane then long term immigrant concentration camps are just fine.