California Rises Above the Republican Madness

California Rises Above the Republican Madness Posted: 12 Oct 2015 10:47 AM PDT By Doug Porter  We are six years into the Obama administration. The dire predictions made for the United States of America by the prophets of the right have failed to occur. If this were baseball instead of politics, their batting average is so low they wouldn’t even qualify for the minor leagues. This is the kind of madness passing for normal in the GOP. Yet somehow these very same voices continue to be treated as credible. A leading candidate for the highest office in the country says--with a straight face--that German Jews could have stopped the holocaust if they had a few real men with guns. Fox News finds some clown who agrees. And now we have a “debate”, based on a fantastical assumption. Messages of fear continue to contaminate the political process, thanks to a press dependent on access and an ever-growing pile of Dark Money. According to an article in the New York Times, a mere 158 American householdscoughed up nearly half of all the money donated to 2016 presidential campaigns thus far. That’s more money--including inflation--than was spent on the entire 2000 presidential campaign.   [Read more...] Down With Columbus Day! Posted: 12 Oct 2015 06:33 AM PDT Sunshine/Noir II: A Continuing Exploration of Literary San Diego and Tijuana Posted: 12 Oct 2015 05:26 AM PDT San Diego City Works Press Celebrates 10th Anniversary with Anthology: "Sunshine/Noir II: Writing From San Diego and Tijuana"Friday, October 16th at 6:00 PM at the Glashaus Mainspace 1815 Main Street in Barrio Logan By Jim Miller This fall, San Diego City Works Press marks its 10th anniversary with the release of Sunshine/Noir II: Writing from San Diego and Tijuana, an anthology of local writing about San Diego edited by Kelly Mayhew and myself.   Sunshine/Noir II is dedicated to the late local poet Steve Kowit, who was an original member of the San Diego Writers Collective and, as so many San Diego writers can attest to, a fellow traveler and one of our community’s great treasures. His work appears in the anthology along with poetry, fiction, and nonfiction from Sandra Alcosser, Marilyn Chin, Jimmy Santiago Baca, Stephen-Paul Martin, Mel Freilicher, Elizabeth Cazessús, Perry Vasquez, and many more. Local journalist Kinsee Morlan formerly of San Diego City Beat as well as Doug Porter, Anna Daniels, Brent Beltran, and Frank Gormlie of the SD Free Press and OB Rag appear in the anthology along with former SDUT Book Review editor and columnist Arthur Salm.   [Read more...] It’s Time to Abolish Columbus Day Posted: 12 Oct 2015 05:21 AM PDT By Bill Bigelow / Common Dreams Once again this year many schools will pause to commemorate Christopher Columbus. Given everything we know about who Columbus was and what he launched in the Americas, this needs to stop. Columbus initiated the trans-Atlantic slave trade, in early February 1494, first sending several dozen enslaved Taínos to Spain. Columbus described those he enslaved as "well made and of very good intelligence," and recommended to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella that taxing slave shipments could help pay for supplies needed in the Indies. A year later, Columbus intensified his efforts to enslave Indigenous people in the Caribbean. He ordered 1,600 Taínos rounded up—people whom Columbus had earlier described as "so full of love and without greed"—and had 550 of the "best males and females," according to one witness, Michele de Cuneo, chained and sent as slaves to Spain. "Of the rest who were left," de Cuneo writes, "the announcement went around that whoever wanted them could take as many as he pleased; and this was done."  [Read more...] Extreme Weather Watch: September 2015 – Fires Devastate Homes in California Posted: 11 Oct 2015 09:10 PM PDT 2000 Homes and 200 Square Miles Up in Flames By John Lawrence On September 13 California Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency in Lake and Napa counties. He also had issued a state of emergency in Calaveras and Amador counties. Four firefighters were injured in the fire called the Valley fire. Thousands fled as mandatory evacuations were ordered for the communities of Cobb, Middletown, Harbin Hot Springs and Big Canyon Road. More than 1,300 people fled Middletown, north of San Francisco, as their homes were consumed by the flames. Main Street in Middletown burned up. 600 homes gone. More than 5,000 were without power. The Valley fire burned 40,000 acres in just 17 hours. On Sept. 13 it was reported that 1000 homes gone. As of October 5, the Valley fire was 99% contained. 1,958 structures were destroyed, 93 structures damaged. A separate blaze — called the Valley Fire — in Lake County, about 170 miles to the northwest, has killed three people, destroyed nearly 600 homes and burned hundreds of other structures.   [Read more...]

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The Presidential Debate Question No One Is Asking: ‘Are You a Capitalist?

The Presidential Debate Question No One Is Asking: ‘Are You a Capitalist?’ If Americans can handle a debate about socialism’s strengths and weaknesses, surely they can handle a brief back-and-forth regarding capitalism. JOHN NICHOLS

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Three Facts About the Supposed Cost of Undocumented Immigration Or, a campaign-inspired lesson on why myth busting and fact checking isn’t going to be enough to fight anti-immigrant politics in 2016. JULIANNE HING

7 Things We Learned From Thabo Sefolosha’s Trial After the NYPD broke his leg and charged him with resisting arrest, NBA star Thabo Sefolosha cleared his name in court. Here's what we learned. DAVE ZIRIN

The Legacy of Arne Duncan, ‘A Hero in the Education Business’ The Secretary of Education will step down at the end of the year, after proving himself a champion for the corporate reform movement. ZOË CARPENTER

What Alabama Can Learn From California on Voting Rights As Alabama closes DMV locations in black counties, California passes a law to automatically register 6 million new voters. ARI BERMAN

Boehner and McCarthy Reap What They Sowed Time and again, the GOP leaders caved to the far right—and encouraged its delusions of power. JOAN WALSH

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Marchers Say "Give ‘em Hell, Bernie"

Marchers Say "Give ‘em Hell, Bernie" Berry Craig: “The main reason I’m for Bernie is that he is planting the seeds for a good country. He supports good quality and affordable health care and education and a cleaner environment. A healthy, educated public together makes a good nation.” READ MORE shared from

MONDAY, 12 OCTOBER 2015 Marchers Say "Give ‘em Hell, Bernie" Berry Craig: “The main reason I’m for Bernie is that he is planting the seeds for a good country. He supports good quality and affordable health care and education and a cleaner environment. A healthy, educated public together makes a good nation.” READ MORE Friend on Facebook Follow on Twitter Forward to a Friend Everyone’s Middle Eastern Madness Murray Polner: Putin has challenged the US, which since the end of WWII, has believed—with virtually no dissent at home—that the Middle East is its exclusive playing field. READ MORE New Policing Strategy Is Not L.A.'s Only Answer Sebastián Sclofsky:The danger of concentrating all our efforts on police reform is that it reinforces a way of thinking which posits that the solutions to the problems affecting low-income brown and black communities is one of law and order. READ MORE The ‘US Way of War’ from Columbus to Kunduz Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers: The confluence of Columbus Day Weekend and the Kunduz hospital bombing has us thinking about the deep levels of cultural violence in the United States and what can be done to change it. READ MORE Glyphosate: Misery in a Bottle! Stephen Frantz: GLY and its formulations are responsible for a large variety of cancers and organ failures in humans and other animals. READ HERE

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What's the difference between Canadian Thanksgiving and American Thanksgiving?

What's the difference between Canadian Thanksgiving and American Thanksgiving? By Lloyd Alter shared from

What's the difference between Canadian Thanksgiving and American Thanksgiving? By Lloyd Alter   8 facts about the misunderstood house spider By Russell McLendon   A nation divided ... into perfect square miles By Catie Leary   How to make Homemade Nutella By Enrique Gili   Amazon gets into the arts-and-crafts business By Mary Jo DiLonardo   20 cats and dogs that can't get enough of fall By Laura Moss   One third of vegetarians eat meat when drunk By Robin Shreeves   Why must we hate the things teen girls love? By Laura Moss   Discover the inner cosmos of your brain By Gerri Miller   13 offbeat American food festivals By Matt Hickman   Outhouses are in again By Matt Hickman

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There's a big beehive at O'Hare Airport. It's keeping people out of jail.

There's a big beehive at O'Hare Airport. It's keeping people out of jail.

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Why Disney nailed its casting choice for its newest princess, Moana.

A flight attendant began sharing 'pick-me-up' notes with passengers to spread kindness. It works.

There's a big beehive at O'Hare Airport. It's keeping people out of jail.

The TRUTH will set you FREE.