San Francisco: Celebrating Michael

It's sad. It's tragic. But the guy gave us a lot of good stuff in his life.

Heartfelt plea to President Obama: 'Show me you have the courage to produce change...'

Robin McGehee's heartfelt and transcendent speech at the Meet in the Middle 4 Equality rally held in Fresno, CA on Saturday, May 30, 2009 - the first Saturday after the CA Supreme Court ruled on the court case to invalidate Prop 8 that passed in November 2008, eliminating the right of same-sex couples to legally marry. At 4:30 into the video, Robin McGhee gives a message to President Obama, asking him "show me you have the courage, show me you have the courage to produce change that I've believed in, that I've lobbied for. I've believed in you, and I'm asking you to prove it." Robin McGhee was forced to resign from her position as President of a P.T.A. board after she attended a "No on 8" rally. She was instrumental in organizing the Meet In The Middle 4 Equality rally.

Video: Bill Maher and 'New Rules'

Video: First Lady Michelle Obama urges students to give back to their communities

Saturday, May 16, 2009: First lady Michelle Obama made her debut as a commencement speaker at the University of California, Merced, and she urged graduates to give back to their communities.

Left and Right: Activist Politicians Arrested At Protests

Republican Alan Keyes, was arrested in South Bend, Indiana while protesting against the invitation of the President of the United States to speak at the Notre Dame Commencement.

Video Update: Tuesday, May 12, 2009 at 9:50 AM

The irony is that Keyes was President Obama's challenger in the Illinois Senate race. As we must recall, the winner of that race was Barack Obama.

Alan Keyes accused Barack Obama of reading the newspapers. Go figure.

Democratic Rep. Bob Filner of California's 51st District was arrested on Friday at at a rally protesting loss of union jobs. Rep. Filner is not new to the protest movement either.

April 2007 - During the CA Democratic convention in San Diego on April 28, Rep. Bob Filner spoke out against Blackwater West and vowed to introduce federal legislation.

Town Hall: President Obama in Costa Mesa on AIG bonuses and the economy

David Shuster calls out Representative Issa on 'the train to Sin City' malarkey

David Shuster asked Representative Issa what he thought about President Obama's call to fiscal responsibility and responded in part by saying, 'Well we're glad that he's (President Obama) joining the Republican Party?'

Yikes!

As the Republicans are rediscovering their political and fiscal identity, it is extremely hard to take their language that frequently generates the words 'big fat hypocrites' in my mind.

I want fiscal responsibility. I also believe that the Republicans have a very important part to play in the equation. I believe we have to do this, but it's really, really, really hard to endure the nonsense.

Shuster then presses Representative Issa on the political use of the high speed rail from Nevada to California, snarkily referred to by the Republicans as 'the train to Sin City', that may be in someone's pork fantasy but is most assuredly not in the bill.

The Secretary of Transportation in the Obama Administration by the way is a Republican named Ray Lahood.

Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Hardball smackdown

This is the real Republican strategy. It's all about the politics.

We obstruct now, hedging our bets that the stimulus legislation will fail so that we can make headway in the 2010 election cycle to elect Republicans into Congress.

The fact is that they are going to paint the stimulus as not having worked whether or not plan has little affect or a lot of affect.

Get ready. That will be the argument no matter what happens. It's a certainty.

Rick Warren, Innaguration, Prayer, Outrage, Prop 8, Bigotry - The President-elect answers questions about Rick Warren being part of Innagural

There are rumblings in the blogosphere. Some Lefty bloggers are picking up on the part of President-elect Obama's statement in which he said we have to create an atmosphere in which "we disagree without being disagreeable" in his explanation regarding the inclusion of Pastor Rick Warren to deliver the invocation for the inauguration.

Pastor Warren, is a contentious figure due to his status as a fundamental instrument of the California Proposition 8 vote.

This is the part that I picked up on from the President-elect's recent remarks.

Dr. Joseph Lowery who has deeply contrasting views to Rick Warren on a whole host of issues is also speaking.

During the course of the entire Inaugural festivities there are gonna be a wide range of viewpoints on issues that are presented and that's how it should be because that's what America's all about.

That's part of the magic of this country is that we are diverse, and noisy and opinionated and so you know that's the spirit in which we have put together what I think will be a terrific inauguration and that's hopefully gonna be a spirit that carries over into my administration.

I understand the outrage at the inclusion of Rick Warren in the celebration. As a believer in the teachings of Jesus Christ, a Democrat, a Progressively Liberal person on many issues, I say get Rick Warren out there talking and talking a lot.

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. I don't like to be squelched, therefore to squelch another seems terribly wrong.

The playing field to be heard is so much better today than it has ever been for full-on-Leftys and Left-leaners. Monday through Friday on the 'teevee machine' are Rachel Maddow and Keith Olbermann in addition to the voices in the blogosphere and Air America Radio.

The grassroots of the Democratic party are still out there in communities and neighborhoods and they haven't entirely stopped talking politics. Many of the people who actively engaged in the campaign, are even now still active and engaged.

Oh and we have a man who will be President who has more promise than I have seen in my lifetime.

It's not 'all good', but it's pretty close. Bring it.

In Court Today: Civil Liberties - Class Action lawsuits heard Monday against the telecom industry

Wired is keeping a close eye on this one for us. Bless them.

From DU Blogger

SAN FRANCISCO — The Bush administration on Tuesday will try to convince a federal judge to let stand a law granting retroactive legal immunity to the nation's telecoms, which are accused of transmitting Americans' private communications to the National Security Agency without warrants.

At issue in the high-stakes showdown — set to begin at 10:00 a.m. PST — are the nearly four dozen lawsuits filed by civil liberties groups and class action attorneys against AT&T, Verizon, MCI, Sprint and other carriers who allegedly cooperated with the Bush administration's domestic surveillance program in the years following the Sept. 11 terror attacks. The lawsuits claim the cooperation violated federal wiretapping laws and the Constitution.



In July, as part of a wider domestic spying bill, Congress voted to kill the lawsuits and grant retroactive amnesty to any phone companies that helped with the surveillance; President-elect Barack Obama was among those who voted for the law in the Senate. On Tuesday, lawyers with the Electronic Frontier Foundation are set to urge the federal judge overseeing those lawsuits to reject immunity as unconstitutional. At stake, they say, is the very principle of the rule of law in America.

"I think it does set a very frightening precedent that it's okay for people to break the law because they can just have Congress bail them out later," says EFF legal director Cindy Cohn. "It's very troubling."


Source: WIRED

Economy: Beverly Hills pawn and loan sees uptick in business

It's not surprising to think that pawn shops would be seeing more traffic these days with the economy in the tank.

It is surprising to me to know that there as actually a pawn shop on Rodeo Drive in the affluence of Beverly Hills.

But then, it's name and location are not a quick indicator that it is in all actuality a pawn shop as most of us in middle and lower America think of a pawn shop.

Morning Edition, November 27, 2008 · Befitting a town where image is everything, the Beverly Loan Co. is tucked away on the third floor of the Bank of America building in Beverly Hills, a block east of Rodeo Drive.

It's an upscale pawn shop in one of the nation's priciest ZIP codes, and it has become an alternative bank for people who can't get their bankers to lend.

There's a Picasso currently in the shop. Owner Jordan Tabach-Bank says he has also had works of art in here by Chagall, Warhol and Lichtenstein. Along with watches by Rolex, Cartier and Patek Philippe. DeBeers diamonds. Baccarat crystal.

There's a Picasso currently in the shop. Owner Jordan Tabach-Bank says he has also had works of art in here by Chagall, Warhol and Lichtenstein. Along with watches by Rolex, Cartier and Patek Philippe. DeBeers diamonds. Baccarat crystal.

Tabach-Bank's grandfather started the business during the Great Depression. And the fine items for sale today are remnants of tough times for the well-heeled. Either sold outright for quick cash or used as collateral on loans that went unpaid.

..."Never before have we seen so many white-collar customers — doctors, lawyers, accountants, businessmen and women — getting $50,000-plus loans," says Tabach-Bank. "Normally these are people with great credit who could go into a bank and get the big loans, but that's not the case anymore."


read more here and listen too

Wanda Sykes on 'Prop 8' vote in California

Woa! San Diego Republican Mayor emotionally turns back on promise to ban gay marriage

Dang. I am stunned by this video, mostly because I understand fully how hard it is for people who have gone through life with a concrete view to change course. The confliction for many people regarding the issue of gay marriage and civil unions is a tough one.

This video reaches to the gut wrenching core of the issue. The world is changing.

Republican mayor of San Diego supports gay marriage

by kos

Sun Nov 02, 2008 at 09:45:04 AM PDT

Turns back on campaign promises to oppose gay marriage in an emotional press conference:

Surprisingly poignant.

"I have close family members and friends who are a member of the gay and lesbian community. Those folks include my daughter Lisa, as well as members of my personal staff.

"I want for them the same thing that we all want for our loved ones—for each of them to find a mate whom they love deeply and who loves them back; someone with whom they can grow old together and share life’s experiences.

"And I want their relationships to be protected equally under the law. In the end, I couldn’t look any of them in the face and tell them that their relationship—their very lives—were any less meaningful than the marriage I share with my wife Rana.

If the GOP hopes to survive into the future, they'll need more of this. That's certainly the case in California, but that will also be the case nationwide in the midterm. A party that has built its power by demonizing government should understand that advocating for government meddling in people's personal lives is a long-term political loser

for source - click here

Kos Diarist: First diary entry, first protest in Orange County, CA with wonderful pictures

Wow! Outstanding pictures and great first diary entry! Keep up the good work. PD

Anti-Palin Rally in OC

by Kif Kroker

Sat Oct 04, 2008 at 08:27:11 PM PDT

Wow, what an exciting day for me. My first protest rally and my first diary. My son and I went to Costa Mesa to protest outside Sarah Palin's fundraiser. By the time we got arrived, there was already more than a 100 people protesting. At the height of the rally, there was probably close to 300. Everyone there was so excited about Obama (except perhaps, the Ron Paul wingnuts). People ranged in age from infants to the elderly.

We got flipped off 4 times and given a thumbs down three times. Once, the front passenger gave us a thumbs up and the back passenger flipped us off. We decided the front passenger must have been giving us a sarcastic thumbs up, which is a difficult concept to convey. By and large, the vast majority of people were on our side. For every nasty gesture, we got at least 10 people cheering us on, with cars honking and fists pumping. We tried to figure out who was on our side by the cars they were driving.

• Kif Kroker's diary :: ::
• 
  

Luxury sedan = not on our side. Prius = our side. It worked without fail.

I think the thing that surprised me most is that there was not a single person outside supporting McCain/Palin. No protest to counter our protest at all. Most of the people I talked to felt that while Orange County will still probably go for McCain, no one seems to be happy about it. They are "holding their noses" while they vote for him.

My son took some of these pictures and some are mine. He's probably going to write a diary too, so some may look familiar.

for source - click here

Yet another Republican comes out for Barack Obama

Ok this is getting crazy. Yet another Republican comes out for Obama. I hope that ordinary conservative citizens are starting to get the message and take a cue. Former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan has been a 'party bucker' in the past, and not embraced by Republicans for going his own way, but still. It's another Republican for Barack Obama. Shiver me timbers. PD

Los Angeles Times - September 18, 2008: Riordan said the Illinois senator was by far the best choice for the White House and the only one with the intellect to shepherd the country through troubled economic times. "He's extremely bright and energetic, and he's a guy who gets things done," said Riordan, who was a successful venture capitalist before he was elected mayor in 1993, serving two terms.

Riordan criticized GOP presidential nominee John McCain's past support for financial deregulation, saying it helped trigger the mortgage crisis and subsequent economic downturn. "There's nothing in his background that shows he's a person who can understand these complicated economic issues, or shows that he is entrepreneurial enough to bring about change."

for source - click here

Peon Lies, Misdemeanors and Felonies: Questionable campaign donations to the McCain camp

THE NEWS YORK TIMES

Family’s Donations to McCain Raise Questions
By MICHAEL LUO

Published: August 6, 2008

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — The Jordanian business partner of a prominent Florida businessman, who has raised more than $500,000 for Senator John McCain, appears to be at the center of a cluster of questionable donations to his presidential campaign.

Campaign finance records show Mr. McCain collected a little more than $50,000 in March from members of a single extended family, the Abdullahs, in California and several of their friends.

Amid a sea of contributions to the McCain campaign, the Abdullahs stand out. The checks come not from the usual exclusive coastal addresses, but from relatively hardscrabble inland towns like Downey and Colton. The donations are also startling because of their size: several donors initially wrote checks of $9,200, exceeding the $2,300 limit for an individual gift. read more here

Hungry Peon: News from The Swamp - Michelle Obama talks food with eating healthy guru, Alice Waters

Chicago Tribune

Michelle Obama talks food with Alice Waters

by John McCormick Monday, July 28, 2008

As she has campaigned on her husband's behalf over the past 18 months, Michelle Obama often talks about the rigors of daily life for an American mother.

There was extra pressure in the room Monday, however, as she headlined a fundraiser in Chicago that had included an earlier speech by healthy eating guru Alice Waters, who runs the Chez Panisse restaurant in Berkeley, Calif.

"You can't just make a dinner," Michelle Obama said. "It's got to be a nutritious dinner, grown with good, fresh, clean food. That takes time. Trust me." read more here

Peon Labors: Another labor union unites behind Barack Obama

San Francisco Chronicle

Labor leader urges members to help elect Obama

Monday, July 28, 2008

Associated Press - The head of one of the nation's largest unions is urging its 1.4 million members to work hard to elect Sen. Barack Obama to the White House. read more here