100,000 Dead in Burma
Action Alert · Everyone on Earth · Human Rights · News · Poverty
submitted by billl on Wednesday, May 7, 2008 - 10:58pm PST

From avaaz.org ...

In the wake of a massive cyclone, tens of thousands of Burmese are dead. More than 40,000 are missing. A million are homeless.

But what's happening in Burma is not just a natural disaster—it's also a catastrophe of bad leadership.

Burma's brutal and corrupt military junta failed to warn the people, failed to evacuate any areas, and suppressed freedom of communication so that Burmese people didn't know the storm was coming when the rest of the world did. Now the government is failing to respond to the disaster and obstructing international aid organizations.

Humanitarian relief is urgently needed, but Burma's government could easily delay, divert or misuse any aid. Today the International Burmese Monks Organization, including many leaders of the democracy protests last fall, launched a new effort to provide relief through Burma's powerful grass roots network of monasteries—the most trusted institutions in the country and currently the only source of housing and support in many devastated communities. Click below to help the Burmese people with a donation and see a video appeal to Avaaz from a leader of the monks:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/burma_cyclone/77.php
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SacBee Endorses Alyson Huber for the 10th Assembly District
Campaign · News
submitted by billl on Thursday, May 8, 2008 - 7:56pm PST
10th Assembly District: It's Sander and Huber
Published 12:00 am PDT Thursday, May 8, 2008

The 10th Assembly District is one of California's more egregious examples of partisan gerrymandering. The district stretches from Amador County to Rancho Cordova, includes a small part of the city of Sacramento, then juts down to the wealthier neighborhoods of Laguna and north Stockton in San Joaquin County.

Party bosses designed this district to reliably elect a Republican while making surrounding seats safe for Democrats.

*snip*

In the Democratic primary, El Dorado Hills lawyer Alyson Huber is running against Jim Cook, a parole agent who is making his second run for this seat. Huber clearly is the stronger candidate.
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Sacramento candidate's name sounds so presidential
Campaign · General Interest
submitted by billl on Thursday, May 8, 2008 - 7:54pm PST
Sacramento candidate's name sounds so presidential
By Lisa Heyamoto - lheyamoto@sacbee.com - Published 12:00 am PDT Thursday, May 8, 2008

If the 2008 election furor has taught us anything, it's that name recognition is a political force to be reckoned with.

Just ask Warren G. Harding.

The Warren G. Harding in question is not, of course, the 29th president of the United States (but you knew that, right?). Instead, the local Harding is running against incumbent Susan Peters for her seat on the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors.

And in a year where experience vs. proximity to experience is a hot button issue on both the local and national stage, Harding has quite a claim to the crown – not only does he share a dead president's name, the two are even related.
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Time to bomb Iran, Mr. Sixpack?
All Americans · Campaign · Economy · Editorial · Foreign Policy
submitted by billl on Thursday, May 8, 2008 - 7:51pm PST
Time to bomb Iran, Mr. Sixpack?
Sacramento Bee

When asked by George Stephanopoulos on Sunday to name one prominent economist who supported her idea of a gas-tax holiday, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton proclaimed that she doesn't worry about what "economists and elites" think about her plan.

So, if a foreign or economic crisis were to occur, is she going to go down to the neighborhood bar and ask Mr. Joe Sixpack for advice? Call me crazy, but I would rather have my president consult with the smartest, most capable "elites" available. But that's me.

- Allan Weissman, Sacramento
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Action Alert: House Leadership Set to Fund War into 2009!
Action Alert · All Americans · Foreign Policy · News · War · War Profiteers
submitted by billl on Wednesday, May 7, 2008 - 11:51pm PST
The House of Representatives will vote as soon as tomorrow -- Thursday, May 8 -- on an additional $162.6 billion for the war and occupation in Iraq!

YOUR CALL TODAY IS CRUCIAL.

Call your representative NOW: 202-224-3121

Tell them to vote "No!" on this funding bill.
Tell them it's long past time to bring all the troops home and end the war.
Tell them to stop playing political games while lives are being lost.

Amazingly, the bill includes $66 billion for fiscal year 2009. This means the funds for the occupation will keep flowing well into the next administration, allowing the new president a free hand to continue the war and occupation with little or no accountability to Congress until next spring. This is an appalling abdication of responsibility.
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Teachers Say No to the Budget Cuts - Friday @ Capitol
Education · Other local event · Schwarzenegger
submitted by billl on Wednesday, May 7, 2008 - 11:21pm PST
TEACHER CARAVAN FROM SAN DIEGO, LOS ANGELES, SAN FRANCISCO TO SACRAMENTO: STOP THE BUDGET CUTS!

Rally on Friday, May 9th, 3:00 - State Capitol

On Thursday, May 8, 2008, members of the Association of Raza Educators (A.R.E.) will lead a protest caravan to Sacramento, California. Teachers will meet in Chicano Park (San Diego, CA) at 3:30pm and the caravan will leave at 4:00pm. Teachers in Los Angeles will also meet at the Governor's office in Downtown LA at 5:00pm. Other caravans will leave Oxnard, the three caravans will then converge in downtown San Francisco where they will unite with Bay Area teachers for a press conference that begins at 10:30am, on Friday May 9th. The caravans, part of a statewide effort, will continue to Sacramento, where there will be a massive teacher rally on the grounds of the State Capitol Building at 3:00 pm.
Time: Friday, May 9, 2008 - 3:00pm PST
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If I Were A Terrorist
Bush's Cabal · Civil Rights & Justice · Constitution · Economy · Fascism · Health Care · Impeachment · Military Industrial Complex · National Security · Poverty · Republicans · Terror / Fear · Video
submitted by billl on Wednesday, May 7, 2008 - 11:12pm PST
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McCain Declines Secret Service : The Onion
Bush's Cabal · Humor · Video
submitted by billl on Wednesday, May 7, 2008 - 11:10pm PST
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White House can't find '03 e-mail files
All Americans · Bush's Cabal · Impeachment · News
submitted by billl on Wednesday, May 7, 2008 - 11:34am PST
Hellooo, is anyone out there? Wake up people!! This is the most corrupt administration in the history of our country. How many more reasons do we need to impeach these guys? There is absolutely no chance that these backup tapes could be missing, unless it was intentional.
--Bill

White House can't find '03 e-mail files
Chicago Tribune - May 7, 2008

WASHINGTON — The Bush administration has not found disaster backup files for White House e-mails from a three-month period in 2003, according to court documents filed this week, raising the possibility that messages sent before and after the invasion of Iraq may be gone.

The White House chief information officer, Theresa Payton, said in a sworn declaration that the earliest recorded file was dated May 23 of that year.
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No ID, no vote, 10 retired nuns told
All Americans · Electoral Reform / Election Protection · News
submitted by billl on Wednesday, May 7, 2008 - 10:56am PST
To all the right-wingnuts that are commenting on the SacBee site about the rampant voter fraud that requires Indiana's restrictive and disenfranchising Photo ID law: Please provide proof of your false claims. There are not millions of "illegals" voting in our elections. If there are, please provide the proof. I know you guys don't need facts to support your claims, but for the rest of us in the reality-based community, we require proof before we believe your claims. Supreme Court Justice Souter pointed out his dissent regarding Indiana's Voter ID law, "that the State has not come across a single instance of in-person voter impersonation fraud in all of Indiana’s history. Neither the District Court nor the Indiana General Assembly that passed the Voter ID Law was given any evidence whatsoever of in-person voter impersonation fraud in the State." Now right-wingnuts: Where's your proof?
--Bill

No ID, no vote, 10 retired nuns told
By Greg Gordon - ggordon@mcclatchydc.com - Published 12:00 am PDT Wednesday, May 7, 2008

WASHINGTON – At least 10 retired nuns in South Bend, Ind., were barred from voting in Tuesday's Indiana Democratic primary election because they lacked photo IDs required under a state law that the U.S. Supreme Court upheld last week.

John Borkowski, a South Bend lawyer volunteering as an election watchdog for the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, said several of the retired nuns had been voting all of their lives but were told they lacked the required identification cards and could only file provisional ballots.

Since 2005, Indiana's toughest-in-the-nation law has required every voter to produce a state or federal photo ID card. The Supreme Court, after weighing scores of legal briefs from conservatives who backed the statute and liberals who opposed it, upheld the law by a 6-3 vote, saying there was little evidence that it was unduly burdensome for voters.

Borkowski said Sister Julie McGuire, one of several nuns on poll duty, wasn't pleased to turn away the nuns, some of whom were in their 80s and 90s and no longer had driver's licenses.
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War Made Easy - Norman Solomon
All Americans · Bush's Cabal · Foreign Policy · News · War
submitted by billl on Tuesday, May 6, 2008 - 1:48pm PST
War Made Easy
By Norman Solomon - t r u t h o u t | Perspective - Tuesday 06 May 2008

Watch the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRKU6l6xyto

When The New York Times published its explosive "Pentagon Pundits" story on April 20, the result was a wave of criticism directed at the Defense Department for manipulating TV news coverage of the Iraq war. Critics also faulted the networks for failing to scrutinize the conflicts of interest of the "military analysts" who went on the air. Many of those retired military officers were being coached by the Pentagon to mislead the public, and many had personal financial stakes in corporations with major Pentagon contracts.

Routinely lost in the current uproar is the extent to which media managers have gone out of their way to suck up to the Pentagon. Top network executive Eason Jordan - who ran CNN's news operation during the invasion of Iraq - is a case in point. He repeatedly asked the Pentagon for approval of the "military analysts" who were under consideration for on-air roles.

The documentary film "War Made Easy," based on my book of the same name, shows the pervasive and long-running partnership between key news outlets and high-ranking warmakers in Washington. This video excerpt from the movie puts the "Pentagon Pundits" story in a broad and chilling context.
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New Charlie Brown TV Ad
Campaign · News · Veterans
submitted by billl on Tuesday, May 6, 2008 - 11:39am PST


Charlie Brown's 1st TV ad of 2008. Entitled "Patriotism before Partisanship," this ad highlights the clear choice that voters will face in November---between a battle tested leader who is already taking action to solve problems, and career, partisan politicians who exemplify the problem in Washington.

Click Here to Contribute, and Help Keep Charlie's Ad on the Air

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Day of Action: Coalition to Defeat George Runner's Initiative
Other local event
submitted by billl on Tuesday, May 6, 2008 - 10:55am PST
Day of Action: Coalition to Defeat George Runner's Initiative

When: Wed. May 7, 2008 - 10:15am
Where: Capitol Building, Sacramento
Meet at the corner of 11th St. and L St., (the group will then go to Press Room 113 together)
What: A press conference to oppose the Runner Initiative

Contact Jennifer Kim to RSVP

Ella Baker Center is holding an action in Sacramento to speak out against Senator George Runner's dangerous ballot initiative and to announce the formation of a statewide coalition to defeat it. Please join us in calling for real solutions to crime and violence, not more wasteful incarceration of young people and people of color. We'll meet outside the State Capitol at 10:15 am at the corner of 11th St. and L St., then go to Press Room 113 as a group. Contact Jennifer Kim to let us know you're coming.
Time: Wednesday, May 7, 2008 - 10:15am PST
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Make it stop
All Americans · All Californians · War
submitted by Tjadendevries on Saturday, May 3, 2008 - 4:23pm PST
Heartbreaking: Two-year-old Ali Hussein is pulled from the rubble of his family's home in the Shiite stronghold of Sadr City in Baghdad, Iraq on Tuesday, April 29, 2008. The child, who later died at the hospital, was in one of four homes destroyed by U.S. missiles. More than two dozen people were killed when Shiite militants ambushed a U.S. patrol in Baghdad's embattled Sadr City district, bringing the death toll in area on Tuesday to more than 30, a U.S. military spokesman and Iraqi officials said. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)

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Florez: Is governor smarter than a 12th grader?
News · Schwarzenegger
submitted by billl on Friday, May 2, 2008 - 10:25pm PST
Florez: Is governor smarter than a 12th grader?

Sen. Dean Florez, who took offense to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's comments earlier this week about small-town lawmakers, today announced he was introducing a resolution calling on the governor to take the high school exit exam.

"Given the governor’s distasteful comments, what’s unanswered is whether he can make the grade," said Florez in a long and chiding statement.

"For the leader of our great state to suggest that rural Californians have no vision -- of an airport or of a highway -- is demeaning in a very personal way for the people who live in rural California," he continued.
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Science Friday: Not just for Harry Potter anymore
Education · Video
submitted by Tjadendevries on Friday, May 2, 2008 - 4:23pm PST
[This is how things advance in just a few short years. First, two reports from two years ago where they could only "cloak" small objects, then, the latest advancement, then how it works. Click the pic for a Today Show report]

From The Times October 20, 2006

A real invisibility cloak? Wizard!

British professor's theory has become a reality as US scientists develop a vanishing act

By Lewis Smith

    IT BEGAN as just a wizard idea from a British scientist. Yesterday it became a reality.

    And reality began to disappear.

    Following in the footsteps of Harry Potter, it was revealed that the world’s first invisibility cloak has been tested in America. So far the device is rather limited — it is 5in (13cm) wide and can hide an object only from microwave beams.

[Remember, to scroll down for the latest report]

    But the principle established by Sir John Pendry, a professor at Imperial College, London, has been proved to work and in the next five years there are hopes that total invisibility may become possible for larger objects. Tanks, for example.

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Fearless Friend Died as He Lived
Constitution · Homelessness · News
submitted by billl on Friday, May 2, 2008 - 1:00pm PST
Fearless Friend Died as He Lived

He ran to the aid of a fellow homeless man who was under attack
By Jocelyn Wiener - jwiener@sacbee.com | Published 12:00 am PDT Friday, May 2, 2008

They called him "Gremlin" because he looked like a leprechaun, with his shock of red hair and his elfin spirit. Michael Tinius was a fighter in life, championing the rights of men and women who dwelled – as he did – in clearings along the American River Parkway.

Friends say Tinius died as he lived – trying to look out for someone else.

Tinius, 47, was stabbed to death Wednesday evening when he intervened to protect a fellow homeless man who was being pursued by two men, according to friends, police officers and officials at the Loaves & Fishes homeless services complex.

Tinius and the other homeless man were rushed to UC Davis Medical Center, police said. Tinius – who police also identified as Michael Wentworth – was pronounced dead; the other man suffered stab wounds but was expected to recover. Authorities did not release his name.

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SfD Presents: The Fifth Estate: Sticks & Stones - Fair & Balanced Media?
Media Monopoly /Reform · SFD Meeting
submitted by billl on Friday, May 2, 2008 - 10:24am PST
Are you disgusted at the lack of media coverage of the real issues that affect our society? Are you tired of "gotcha questions" in the presidential debates? If a candidate does not wear flag lapel pin, are they unpatriotic? Who gives a rats @##? How about asking questions about our healthcare crisis, faltering economy, environmental destruction, pre-emptive war and occupation of sovereign nations, etc...?

Join us this Wed., May 7th at the Colonial Heights Library for a lively discussion about the "Fair & Balanced Media" in our society as we watch the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation documentary, The Fifth Estate: Sticks & Stones.

WEDNESDAY MAY 7th
7:00pm – 9:00pm
Location : Colonial Heights Library
4799 Stockton Blvd.
Sacramento, CA 95820 map

You can RSVP here: http://dfalink.com/event.php?id=29209



THE FIFTH ESTATE : Sticks & Stones

You can see how Bill O'Reilly and Ann Coulter reacted to this film (click the pic to watch the short video):


Please join us as we take a look at this documentary highlighting how ridiculous the Mainstream Media actually looks trying to appear fair and balanced. The Canadian Broadcasting Company takes an outside look at the American media, and how it has digressed to a shouting match between supposed Liberals and Conservatives, where often big money dictates who is the loudest. This 45 minute film will be followed by a spirited discussion. Light snacks and refreshments will be provided.
Time: Wednesday, May 7, 2008 - 7:00pm PST
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Bush admits he approved torture
Bush's Cabal · News · Torture
submitted by billl on Friday, May 2, 2008 - 9:47am PST
Bush admits he approved torture
By HELEN THOMAS - HEARST NEWSPAPERS

WASHINGTON -- The American people have heard President Bush and his spokespeople say many times that the U.S. government does not engage in torture.

Whether Bush was believed or not is another story -- especially in light of the photographic evidence of the abuse of prisoners in Abu Ghraib. It's understood that many of the photos are too sadistically graphic to be made public.

Still, the official U.S. denials of torture continued until earlier this month when Bush acknowledged in an interview with ABC-TV that he knew about and approved "enhanced interrogation" of detainees, including "waterboarding" or simulated drowning.
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Brad on Christine Craft's Show - Smacking Down Clueless (and Racist) Wingnuts on the SCOTUS Indiana Photo ID Ruling...
Civil Rights & Justice · Electoral Reform / Election Protection · News
submitted by billl on Thursday, May 1, 2008 - 9:14pm PST
Brad Friedman on Christine Craft's Show - Smacking Down Clueless (and Racist) Wingnuts on the SCOTUS Indiana Photo ID Ruling...

I just finished a very lively late-night hour (actually 26 minutes with all the commercials removed, you're welcome) on San Francisco's KGO with Christine Craft. The discussion concerned the Supreme Court's outrageous ruling in the Indiana Photo ID restriction case, and my article yesterday detailing how difficult it now is to vote in Indiana if you don't happen to have one. Rights shmights.

The audio features plenty of wingnut callers who just don't get it, demonstrating why it's so damned difficult to fight off this out-and-out GOP voter suppression scam/assault on your democracy and Constitution. If it's this difficult in "liberal" SF (albeit, on "conservative" KGO) this nation is in big trouble. And, if the articles from the last few days here haven't made that clear, we are. Big time. This November is gonna be a nightmare. Big time.
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