The Decline of Organizing in the Obama Era
by Randy Shaw‚
Feb. 08‚ 2010
Since the election of our first ex-community organizer as President, organizing for progressive change has declined. The reasons range from sharply reduced funding for organizers, to complacency after Democrats’ sweeping 2008 victories, to labor unions being forced to focus on protecting current workers from contract givebacks rather than organizing new members. The net result is that grassroots organizing – which prioritizes face-to-face contacts with the unconverted, empowers people rather than simply asking them to fulfill a task, and builds local coalitions for pressure campaigns targeting politicians – is being replaced by less effective e-mail mobilizations and other short-cuts. As the midterm elections approach, progressives face a critical choice: either spend resources now on funding organizers who can win real change in 2010, or invest in the November elections to set the stage for 2011. The choice should be clear.
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Once Again, SF Chronicle Gifts Opponents of Marriage Equality
by Paul Hogarth‚
Feb. 08‚ 2010
In yesterday’s Sunday Chronicle, the gossip columnists Matier & Ross dropped a “bombshell” that Vaughn Walker – the federal judge presiding over the Prop 8 trial – is gay. Not that it was much of a state secret; marriage equality advocates quickly put the issue in its proper context. But we know the Right will jump all over this issue, using it to discredit the trial by accusing the judge of bias. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the first time the paper has been a political gift to homophobes. In 2008, the Chronicle treated the same-sex wedding of a 1st grade teacher as front-page news. Any responsible paper would have put it on the back page with other wedding announcements, and the political impact of this coverage probably decided the election for Prop 8. Now there will be talk of “activist judges” who overturn the “will of the people,” with talk about gays getting “special rights” when this is really a civil rights battle. It seems like the Chronicle goes out of its way to undercut San Francisco values. In 2004, Phil Bronstein removed City Hall reporter Rachel Gordon from her beat – because she and her partner got married, citing an apparent “conflict-of-interest.” The same conflict, we should add, that Judge Walker will now be accused of.
Teabaggers Push Good Ol’ American Hate
by Tommi Avicolli-Mecca‚
Feb. 08‚ 2010
What does one call 600 anti-gay, anti-immigrant, anti-universal healthcare bigots gathered in one spot? Tea baggers. Their convention, “Tea Party Nation,” was held in Nashville last week to plan a conservative takeover of Congress by raising $10 million and running candidates who uphold their brand of American hate and intolerance. The term “tea bagger” is a reference to the Anglo-Saxon American colonists who dumped tea in Boston Bay to protest taxation by the British.
The gathering started off in true conservative fashion -- with a speech on immigration by a former congressman that bordered on racist.
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What is a “Fiscal Conservative” Anyway?
by Paul Hogarth‚
Feb. 05‚ 2010
By now, you’ve probably seen Republican Senate candidate Carly Fiorina’s spectacularly awful YouTube ad – attacking her GOP rival, Tom Campbell, for being a “fiscal conservative in name only.” Why? Because he criticized the Bush tax cuts, supports an increase in the gas tax and won’t sign onto Grover Norquist’s insane pledge to never vote for a single tax increase whatsoever. But what is a fiscal conservative anyway? Putting ideology aside, it means someone who thinks that government should be careful with its money (after all, who calls themselves “fiscally liberal”?). And yes, being a “fiscal conservative” often means we need to raise some taxes to act responsibly. Even liberals who believe government should be there to help the poor and middle class are “fiscal conservatives” – if they ask the rich to pay their fair share, and demand to cut the rampant corporate welfare. Progressives must never yield the “fiscal conservative” label over to right-wing ideologues, because those like Carly Fiorina have warped its meaning.
Dispatch from Park City (Part 4)
by Peter Wong‚
Feb. 05‚ 2010
Last in a series of reports from the 2010 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.
Can one successfully mix War On Terror paranoia with young New York City hipsters’ lives into a coherent and entertaining film? Director / writer Zeina Durra achieves such an effect with her debut feature film “The Imperialists Are Still Alive!”
Asya (a magnetic Elodie Bouchez) is a New York City visual artist. Her insanely busy life of making art and evening partying with supermodels gets thrown off balance when her beloved childhood friend Faisal disappears. That possible CIA abduction heralds days of emotional multi-tasking.
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The History of Black Economic Empowerment
by E. "Doc" Smith‚
Feb. 05‚ 2010
Today at noon under the rotunda of City Hall, San Francisco will kick off Black History Month with the "History of Black Economic Empowerment." The San Francisco African American Historical and Cultural Society put together this program, along with help from the Mayors Office of Neighborhood Services. Following an invocation by Pastor Aurelius Walker, will be performances by “Bumpity Thump”, African Drummers and Dancers, King Tut, Cultural Odyssey, Destined to Dance and Just B Cuz. Speakers include Al Williams - President of the AAHCS, Mayor Gavin Newsom, Supervisor Sophie Maxwell and Keynote Speaker Timothy A. Simon, Commissioner with the California Public Utilities Commission. This event is open to the public and all are encouraged to attend.
Lee Hartgrave = The Columnist
by Buzzin' Lee Hartgrave‚
Feb. 05‚ 2010
PAULA WEST is a Master at musical control. Make no mistake on this. This singer is monumentally gifted. She has terrific insight to great standards – making them sound fresh and new.
West starts the evening with Darktown Strutters Ball (Sheldon Brooks) – Lyric: “I’ll Dance off my shoes when they play those Jelly role Blues!” With the support of the great band behind her “George, Mesterhazy, Pianist & Arranger, Barak Mori, Bassist, Jerome Jennings, Drummer and Ed Cherry, Guitarist – together really revved up the audience. I’ve never heard so many Whoops and hollers. The audience was definitely ‘’buzzed.’ Really, Really fabulous was a Bob Dylan song “All I Really Want To Do” put the zap into this song with a Reggae beat. I was hooked. It got huge applause from the audience.
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Beyoncé Embodies Soulless Starbucking of Music Industry
by Randy Shaw‚
Feb. 04‚ 2010
Beyoncé won six Grammys Sunday night, the most any woman has won in one night. This success eclipsed her surprisingly boring medley early in the show, in which Beyoncé repeatedly threw her hair back in a false display of passion, all the while surrounded by a squadron of militaristic men in black-suited TAC Squad outfits. We’ve come a long way from the rebellious rock stars of the 1960’s, and the soulful and truly passionate voices of Aretha Franklin, Mary J. Blige, Janet Jackson, and the stars of Motown. In their place we have Beyoncé, spokeswoman for WalMart and American Express, whose “no drama” persona has brought misguided comparisons to Michelle Obama. The contrast between the staged passion of Beyoncé and the spirited performance by Lady Gaga was striking, but it was Beyoncé’s night. Beyoncé provides the homogenized sound that today’s music industry touts, and which it rewards as the best it has to offer.
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Crucial Moment for Affordable Housing in Silicon Valley
by Andy Blue of Tenants Together‚
Feb. 04‚ 2010
East Palo Alto stands at a crossroads as one of the last affordable communities in the Silicon Valley. This week, more than half of the city’s rental housing stock was scheduled to hit the foreclosure auction block.
Although the auction has been postponed because of ongoing negotiations between the city and the receiver appointed by the courts to run the properties in lieu of the defaulting predatory landlord, the matter of what will become of half the city's rental housing remains a very urgent one. It is imperative that tenants, advocates, elected officials, and the foreclosing lender, Wells Fargo Bank, work together to make certain that safe, affordable housing is preserved in the City of East Palo Alto.
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Diverse Applicant Pool Critical to Success of Redistricting Commission
by Titi Liu‚
Feb. 04‚ 2010
In 2008, voters passed Proposition 11 removing the redistricting authority from the State Legislature and giving a 14-person citizen's committee the charge of drawing California's legislative boundaries. Reshaping and impacting the state's political future while giving meaningful voice to California’s diverse communities will require a commission that reflects the state's population.
February 9, 2010
