Articles Posted July 2011
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Republican Party Right-To-Work Laws
Designed to Exploit Workers?Why do we need unions anyway? Because they are essential for America. Unions are the only large-scale movement left in America that persistently acts as a countervailing balance against corporate power. They act in the economic interests of the middle, working class. But the decline of unions over the past few decades has left corporations and the rich with essentially no powerful opposition. You may take issue with a particular union’s position on an issue, but remember they are the only real organized check on the power of the business community in this country. RTW laws are anti-union, pro-business
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Candidates Call Mayor Ed Lee’s Integrity into Question
The question of Lee’s integrity is being raised following Lee’s recent comments suggesting he is now considering going against his word and entering the mayor’s race.
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Is Ed Lee Beginning to Look Like a Typical Lying Politician?
If Mr. Lee is now contemplating a run and enters the race, he will be fairly judged to be another typical lying politician whose words cannot be trusted and, therefore, is not fit for public office.
The good will Mr. Lee has engendered thus far would immediately evaporate. The Board would no longer trust him. The electorate would understand him to be a fraud and all the mayoral contenders who entered the mayor’s race on the understanding that Lee would remain true to his word, would be well within their rights to expose him as a continuation of corruption at City Hall.
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Happy Birthday Nelson Mandela
Since his retirement in 1999, one of Mandela’s primary commitments has been the fight against AIDS. His son, Makgatho Mandela, died of AIDS on January 6, 2005. AIDS continues to be a major problem in South Africa and indeed, in all of Africa. An estimated 5.6 million people were living with HIV and AIDS in South Africa in 2009, more than in any other country. It is believed that in 2009, an estimated 310,000 South Africans died of AIDS.
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Randy Shaw: A Flip-Flopping Hypocrite?
The Guardian was founded in 1966. In 1976, publisher Bruce Brugmann crushed a union organizing effort by the International Typesetters Union and the Newspaper Guild. It took an 8-month strike that sometimes turned violent but the Guardian was able to divest themselves of the added, but fair, expense of dealing with a union.
Then, of course, they became rabidly pro-union. But, only on paper. Bay Guardian City Editor Steven T. Jones told me that he was very much in favor of there being a union at the Guardian but that only around 4 people would be eligible to join.
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Board to Vote Today
on Wiener Ballot Measure Reform Proposal“San Francisco’s ballot measure system, like California’s as a whole, is broken,” said Supervisor Scott Wiener, the measure’s sponsor. “Currently, we have too many ballot measures. And, once the voters pass these measures, they effectively become frozen and almost impossible to change even when it makes sense to do so. This good-government measure is a first step in making our system of ballot propositions more balanced.”
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Cunnie Enters Race for Sheriff
With California Attorney General Kamala Harris and Supervisor Scott Weiner by his side, Cunnie said he is running for sheriff because he “feels he is the best candidate right now to come to the table” to address the myriad problems facing the California prison system.
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From Eugenics to the Holocaust
to the Maltreatment of US UndesirablesToday we see vestiges of eugenics-thinking in post-WWII America in the treatment of African-Americans, Jews, homosexuals, undocumented immigrants and Muslims – as well as traces of racism in the criticism of President Obama. We see a “blame the victim” mentality. Doesn’t it seem like the safety nets for the poor, mentally ill, disabled, elderly, and displaced are among the first programs to be cut at budget crunch time while at the same time we won’t approve taxing the rich more? The “well born” get richer while the havenots fall by the wayside.
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Civic Center Residence Celebrates Grand Re-Opening
The Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation’s (TNDC) upgrade to the Civic Center Residence, located at 44 McAllister, included the construction of additional units of low-income housing, a seismic retrofit, plumbing and electrical overhauls, two new elevators, new shower rooms on each of the eight floors, and upgraded common room facilities including three community kitchens.
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Herrera Moves to Sue CPUC, Feds Over San Bruno Tragedy
“In the aftermath of the San Bruno tragedy, it has become increasingly obvious that blame must be shared by regulators who were either asleep at the switch or too cozy with the industry they’re supposed to regulate,” said Herrera. “The potential threat to human life and safety demands the strictest enforcement of federal pipeline standards. Yet while PG&E was flouting federal law, regulators did little to hold the company accountable. Congress enacted the Pipeline Safety Act to allow for legal actions like the one I am initiating to protect public safety, and I am confident a federal court order will help accomplish that. The potential risks to San Franciscans and others from further gas pipeline failures can no longer be ignored.”
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Closing the Loophole in SF Health Care Ordinance
The amendment, introduced by Supervisor David Campos, simply re-affirms the layman’s traditional understanding of a “health care expenditure” by allowing employees to carry over funds from health reimbursement accounts from year to year. At present, some employers are taking back unspent HRA balances at the end of the year, denying employees the use of those funds.
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BART Protest Delays Evening Commute
Chanting “Cops, Pigs, Murderers,” “No justice, no peace, disband the BART police,” the demonstrators were able to prevent an eastbound train from leaving the Civic Center station for 15 minutes forcing BART managers to halt services in both directions.
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Libya and US Debt: Another Treasury-Draining War
Yet, the bill for U.S. participation in the NATO-led Libya mission is projected to reach at least $844 million by September with the U.S. funding about three quarters of the military spending by all NATO countries. This expenditure is on top of $1.2 trillion and counting, we are spending on the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Clearly, we cannot continue these enormous war expenditures ad infinitum, especially with our faltering economy. This money could be better spent elsewhere.
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Oh, For the Good Old Days…
What better way to escape today’s realities than by slipping back to a supposedly better time. Which is what Woody Allen’s alter ego did when he got a magical opportunity to do just that. But to his great chagrin, he discovered that those people in his romanticized times also longed for the good old days.
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Fair Shelter Initiative Hearing On July 14
Care Not Cash or Proposition N was passed by voters in 2002 and was promoted as a means to increase mental health, substance abuse treatment and housing in exchange for County Assistance Program (CAAP, previously known as GA) benefits. Under current law, the $422 allotted monthly to homeless people enrolled in CAAP is reduced to $59; the rest is redistributed to city-funded shelter services through a fund managed by the Human Services Agency.
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Mayor Lee Rejects Adachi Overture
for Pension Reform CompromiseBoth Adachi and the Mayor are sponsoring competing pension reform proposals that are expected to go before voters in November in an effort to correct a structural imbalance between pension costs and city revenues, an imbalance which has forced the city to cut services and layoff city workers year after year to make up for spiraling pension costs.
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This is currently a hot topic
Lies, Damn Lies, and “Safe” Nuclear Power
Many problems AP found could trigger a nuclear disaster, including broken seals and nozzles, rusted pipes, aging facilities past their useful life, and numerous examples of shoddy maintenance and management laxity. Nonetheless, NRC officials rubber stamp license extensions, including 66 facilities over 25 years old re-licensed for another two decades, instead of responsibly shutting them down.
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