Play On...

This week in Berkeley both local music lovers and out of towners got together for the bi-annual Baroque Music Festival and Exhibition. (The event occurs on the East Coast on alternative years.) And those of us lucky enough and demented enough to attend concert after concert, most of them conducted in venues with which we have developed a familiarity over the years living here, sat through innumerable concerts, studying the backs of the heads of the mostly greying audience in attendance in those few (or many) rows in front of us as we reveled in the glorious music of the 11^th through the 18^th centuries, And while we did so, to our sometime distress, we heard the deafening sirens of the “serve and protect” people swerving and detecting in the streets outside wherever they found people walking vertically, or loitering horizontally.

And we asked ourselves, is this normal?  How long has this been going on? What does it sound like when they make their arrests?  When they cuff people for “loitering?”  or being brown? When the beatings start? (And I do know what it sounds like:  I hunkered down in the Castro Theatre at the time Act-Up hosted a neighborhood “visitation” by ranks of San Francisco’s finest armed with their batons.) When the bullets begin to fly? Because the sound of those sirens is becoming more frequent. And, amidst the waving flags, each year the budget for those flashing lights (red, white and blue) is growing by leaps and bounds. And the lutenists are smiling awkwardly and with greater frequency as the outside alarms interfere with the peacefulness and contemplation that music always brings, especially in these years of cop-on-black murder, and frenzied deportations, and family separations, and the disappearance of upwards of 1400 children. 

And the announcement by the Progressive Turnout Project today that House Republicans approve Washington's staging its flag-waving military parade, and Common Dreams announces that an Ohio ICE raid, after 114 workers were arrested, left their children stranded with baby sitters, and day care teachers, and that 40 million Americans already live in poverty.

Is this normal?  Is this the new normal you want to see?

(Every one of these Actions—except the last one—requires the click of a mouse—the mouse that roars.)

Say ‘No’ to Trump’s war parade.

Stop Trump from starting war with North Korea.

Hold Trump’s out-of-control immigration agents accountable.

Tell Congress to defund ICE and CBP.

Send a twitter message to key congressional members.

Share graphic on Facebook and Twitter.

Tell Secretary Nielsen to stop separating families.

Resist Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 2017.

Join the Poor People’s Campaign.

Read.

The Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition announces that, despite Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris Accords, states comprising 35% of the U.S. economy are taking steps to put a price on carbon pollution; over 100 companies have announced emissions reduction targets, business of all sizes invested in a total of 2.8 gigawatts of renewables, and hundreds of cities are already committed to the Paris climate goals.

With Tesla powerpacks, electric cars can now charge day and night on sunlight with battery storage.

High court rules that gas wells are not allowed on land zoned for home or farms.

350 announces that with activist support, their endorsed candidates and initiatives won by defeating California Proposition 70, a Big Oil push to put climate programs at the mercy of corporate lobbyists.

France announces an end to plastic table settings by 2020.

U.S. Mayors collaborate on large-scale renewable energy initiative.

Instead of using pesticides Japanese farmers are using ducks to eat the weeds and insects, and leave the rice alone.

Apple announces it will attempt to frustrate Facebook tools to automatically track web users with its next version of iOS, and Mac operating systems.

Among its recent victories, the ACLU announces Senate passage of police misconduct and use of force records SB 1421, Senate approval of SB 923 establishing eyewitness identification standards, Assembly passage of AB 2601 mandating equal sex education for charter as well as other public school students, and Assembly approval of AB 3131 making sure local communities weigh in before local “law enforcement” acquires military equipment.

Mariano Rajoy, fascist president of Spain, falls.

Anti-nuke Nobel winner, ICAN, offers to pay for Trump-Kim summit.

In a unanimous vote, House declares the U.S. has no legal right to attack Iran.

Dame Catherine Healy of New Zealand, a former sex worker, is being recognized for her work advancing the rights of sex workers. 

Democrats and women especially score at the primaries according The Hill.

Tuesday’s results include victories for Jeramey Anderson in MS-04, and Harley Rouda in CA-48.

California Democrats are not shut out by ranked voting in Districts 10, 11, 22, 25, 39, 45, 48, and 49.

Progressive Jason Anderson wins the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s race.

Earlier this year, the NDRC announced 12 electoral target states for 2018: Virginia, Wisconsin, Nevada among them.

Argentina’s national soccer team cancels their upcoming match with the Israeli national team. Israel pointed to BDS  activists as responsible.

Trump grants clemency to one lifer, non-violent drug offense prisoner 63-year-old  Alice Johnson.

Activists succeed in changing Walmart’s paid family leave.

Slamming family separation as “brutal, and offensive,” a federal judge rules ACLU lawsuit can proceed.

One more defendant in the Inauguration Day Protest was found not guilty, and three more are still waiting for jury verdicts.

 

 (None of these cartoons appeared in Pittsburgh's Post-Gazette, despite Rogers being the paper’s full-time staff political cartoonist.)

 

 

 

 

Stealing Candy From Babies

If you order today, your gift will arrive in time for Father’s Day -- so don’t wait!

The ad says: With Father’s Day right around the corner, we’re sure you’re already thinking about what to get the fathers and father figures in your life. Even if it hasn’t crossed your mind yet, we’ve got your back -- and front! Our Tax March t-shirts are American-made, super-soft, fit dads of all shapes and sizes.

Another says: Next Weekend: Classic Star Wars Film Gets an Adult Makeover at The Warfield.

The Caption reads "Bawdy burlesque to Star Wars.

This is America in the trumpfirst century.

But a headline (from Common Dreams) gets real: ‘Thousands arrested nationwide as Poor People’s Campaign Demands ‘End to the War Economy.'” The article cites the Pentagon budget “which [steals] resources that could be used to provide healthcare and food [not to mention housing] to the poor at home [while] killing innocents abroad, and quite frankly it’s killing us, too, because it’s a vast mechanism of upward wealth transfer.  A recent publication  addressing that very issue is titled: Stop Thief!: the Commons, Enclosures and Resistance (by Peter Linebaugh). And Kathy Kelly’s report, Scourging Yemen, where starvation and disease have been enlisted as weapons of war, tells it like it is, and can be read here.

And steal it does.  Almost every outing, I discover new settlements of tent cities in the town in which I live. In another decade, our cities will vie with those of 80s India: Bombay, especially. How did they get that way? What historical processes, created such a desperate housing crunch? Meantime, here is the pie chart representing the administration’s Discretionary Budget request for 2019:

How hard does the American worker have to work to pony up taxes in support of this Gargantuan war programme? More than workers of most industrialized countries, American workers produce the greatest amount of goods for the maximum numbers of working days.  If the American  worker worked as little as Norwegian and Danish workers, he or she would enjoy nearly 2.2 months of paid vacation.  Instead American labor works way more than, say, Denmark’s while suffering huge levels of inequality, poverty and material deprivation.

Conclusion: Stealing from poor Americans is like taking candy from a baby. But some of us get it.  According to Common Dreams, the Poor People’s Campaign unveiled a series of demands last month ahead of launching its 40 days of action, rolling over more than 30 states:

 

“We demand a stop to the privatization of the military budget and any increase in military spending. We demand a reallocation of resources from the military budget to education, healthcare, jobs, and green infrastructure needs, and strengthening a VA system that must remain public.” Surely modest, routine demands appropriate to any industrialized country not owned by oligarchs and governed by elites, especially those who prefer to lose an election rather than go against the interests of the bankers and corporations that buy their sycophancy year after year.

 “The really critical thing,” wrote Howard Zinn, “isn’t who’s sitting in the White House, but who’s sitting—in the streets, in the cafeterias, in the halls of government, in the factories. Who is protesting, who is occupying offices and demonstrating—those are the things that determine what happens.” Does it seem to you as though Capitalism is not working for you? And that it may be time to create whole new systems for making things work sustainably?

In “Needed Now: A Real and Radical Left,” Chris Hedges advises investing “our energy in building parallel popular institutions to protect ourselves and to pit power against power…including unions, community development organizations, local currencies, alternative political parties, and food cooperatives” a list which should be expanded to include state and city banks, cooperative production through worker owned coops, with a vision based in harmony, rather than exploitative of the natural environment.

We need a serious Left, one not atomized by identity politics, and capable of sticking around for the very long and steep haul.

  

To join the Poor People’s Campaign. Visit wilpfus.org/

Petition congress to stop Trump from attacking North Korea by going to https://www.change.org/p/u-s-house-of-representatives-stop-trump-from-attacking-north-korea

Petition congress to stop Trump from starting a nuclear war by going to http://act.winwithoutwar.org/sign/sign-petition-tell-congress-stop-trump-starting-nuclear-war/

Toffiq al-Bihani has been stuck in Guantanamo for 16 years without charge or trial.

Take action and demand his transfer.

Congress attempts to shut down war plans for Iran with an amendment now attached to the national Defense Authorization Bill.

Following the worker revolt there, Google ends drone technology contract with the Pentagon.

Nationwide #KeepFamliesTogether rallies demand the administration halt cruel border separation of parents and children policy.

Stockton CA Michael Tubbs, the nation’s youngest mayor  experiments with a universal basic income.

Chile joins Kenya and Morocco becoming the first Latin American country to ban plastic bags,

Iran enacts massive and meaningful drug reform.

Toshiba withdraws from South Texas nuclear power plant project.

Mid American Energy becomes first investor-owned utility in U. S. to generate renewables equivalent to 100% of its customers’ annual use.

  

Despite intense opposition from big polluters backed by the global north at the recent international meeting in Germany to advance the Paris Agreement, activists helped pressure the EU to side with people and with climate justice. 

The City of Grenoble makes its water management public.

Congress introduces legislation to protect California swordfish industry.

Costa Rica’s new president, Carlos Alvardo, announces a ban on fossil fuels, placing his country as a major trailblazer in the fight against climate change.

The 2018 Freedom Flotilla arrives in Gaza with desperately needed food! medical supplies! and other aid!

In a win for sustainability, reducing military costs, and promoting water security, the House Armed Services Committee unanimously approved Rep. Salud Carbahal’s water amendment.

Prosecutors drop charges against a half dozen people the government had sought to imprison for decades for their roles in planning an anti-Trump march.

Former felons nationwide use their past connections with the incarceration system to restore voting rights to the disenfranchised.

Andy Tsege is pardoned after nearly four years on death row in Ethiopia and rejoins his family in London.

The nation’s largest union of federal workers files suit against the administration over an EO that seeks to deny workers the right to job site representation.

Despite fierce lobbying from ISPs, net neutrality bill passes in California.

Candidates backed by the Sanders revolution achieve early success in the primaries.

The Virginia Senate votes to expand Medicaid and provide health care to nearly 400,000 Virginians.

The California State Assembly votes for the first time to require Ethnic Studies as a statewide graduation requirement.

Illinois ratifies the Equal Rights Amendment, making it the 37^th state to do so.

Fractured Fairy Tales

Grim  Fairy Tale I

Once upon a time, there was an Ogre or a Monster. Call it Grendel or maybe Baba-yaga. It committed unspeakable vulgarities. It had a crown of bristles circling its head, and a voice so loud it could make volcanoes shudder beyond the Western seas, and spew their boulders (targeted for precision strikes) over the mountains of the East.

But one day the ground opened up and swallowed the Ogre or the Monster whole, and the volcanoes stilled, and the Ogre or Monster was never seen again.

Grimmer Fairy Tale II

Once upon a time, there was an Ogre or a Monster. Call it Grendel or maybe Baba-yaga. It committed unspeakable vulgarities. It had a crown of bristles circling its head, and a voice so loud it could make volcanoes shudder beyond the Western seas, and spew their boulders (targeted for precision strikes) over the mountains of the East.

One day the ground  opened up but the Monster or Ogre was safe inside his house, his voice still growing louder and louder. Photographers photographed the hole. Maintenance crews erected traffic cones around it; cops strung caution tape around it.  And while the Monster howled, the hole kept getting bigger and bigger.

Even Grimmer Fairy Tale III

Once upon a time, there was an Ogre or a Monster. Call it Grendel or maybe Baba-yaga. It committed unspeakable vulgarities. It had a crown of bristles circling its head, and a voice so loud it could make volcanoes shudder beyond the Western seas, and spew their boulders (targeted for precision strikes) over the mountains of the East.

One day the ground  opened up but the Monster or Ogre was safe inside his house, his voice still growing louder and louder. Photographers photographed the hole. Maintenance crews erected traffic cones around it; cops strung caution tape around it. And while the Monster howled, the hole kept getting bigger and bigger.

Some people hoped the hole would swallow the Monster or the Ogre up as it had so reliably done before. Some people eyed the hole with growing apprehension.

 

Grimmest Tale of all

Once upon a time, there was an Ogre or a Monster. Call it Grendel or maybe Baba-yaga. It committed unspeakable vulgarities. It had a crown of bristles circling its head, and a voice so loud it could make volcanoes shudder beyond the Western seas, and spew their boulders (targeted for precision strikes) over the mountains of the East.

One day the ground opened up but the Monster or Ogre was safe inside his house, his voice still growing louder and louder. Photographers photographed the hole. Maintenance crews erected traffic cones around it; cops strung caution tape around it. People watched it grow. But while the Monster howled, the hole kept getting bigger and bigger.

Some people hoped the hole would swallow the Monster or the Ogre up. Some people eyed the hole with growing apprehension. They loved the Monster or the Ogre so much, one day they discovered that they looked just like him because all along they had been growing bristles just like his and howling in louder and louder voices. And by now, there were so many of them, no matter how big it got, the hole couldn’t swallow them all up.

Opinion

Witness what is happening on the White House lawn.  With efforts seriously afoot to sink the Trump regime and scores of people changed with digging while tweeting, the mainstream media reported that Evangelicals, reluctant to tell the truth that sinkholes are the mark of God’s disfavor, are claiming it’s a conspiracy by what’s left of the Left (sinkholes have also appeared at Mar Lago, making it unsafe for golfing) and some are even claiming it’s a sign Mother Earth is mighty pissed. Lefties want to do away with Trump and all his trappings, including his 99 eyesore hotels–worldwide, and scientists, always the ones to have the last word, are saying it’s a symptom of man-made climate change.

Sign on to the nuclear ban agreement.   Since 122 nations adopted the treaty at the United Nations on July 76, 2017, 58 countries have already signed and 7 countries have ratified the treaty. Once 50 countries ratify the treaty, it will enter into legal force, becoming binding under international law.

Sign up to join the Treaty Compliance Campaign today.

 

(The good news this week is that there are too many roses to be able to provide any links. For further reading, please look them up.)

With its draconian reduction in food stamps, (SNAP) House farm bill collapses amidst Republic disarray.

Nation-wide, cooperative utilities far exceed total of investor-owned and public power utilities, according the Smart Electric Power Alliance. 

In a huge step toward holding police accountable in California, and ending a blue wall of secrecy, SB 1421 passes out of committee.

With a vote of 360 to 59, the federal criminal justice bill passes through the House  of Representatives.

Houston police chief calls for gun control.

Vancouver bans plastic straws and foam containers.

Estonia becomes the first country to offer free public transportation in the city of Tallinn before going nation-wide.

Challenging high prices, Vermont passes a drug importation law.

The Matsés, an Amazon people, create a 500-page traditional medicine encyclopedia—in Matsé.

The Rohrabacher-Blumenauer Amendment preventing Federal interference in State

medical marijuana laws is adopted in the Appropriations Committee.

Eleanor Holmes Norton becomes the first member of the U.S. Congress to pledge support for the UN agreement on he prohibition of nuclear weapons.

Activists disrupt Morgan Stanley’s annual shareholder meeting by blocking vehicle access to protest financing for Energy Transfer Partners, the company behind the Dakota Access, Bayou Bridge, and Marine East Pipelines.

New protest site blocks Mountain Valley Pipeline.

Grandfather scales tree, erecting mid-air camp to stop Kinder Morgan clear-cutting.

Atlantic Coast Pipeline faces civil rights complaint after key permit is blocked.

In France, demonstrations have been held nation-wide opposing the government’s official policy of support for Israel, with cultural figures refusing to take part in the government’s cultural activities designed to promote Israel.

The “Freedom” flotilla to Gaza vessels dock in Copenhagen with aid, and activists from the world over.

Michigan sets a massive precedent by passing law effectively banning  the NSA.

In a Gloucester Country, N.J. bathroom use case, a federal judge rules in favor of a transgender student.

In Connecticut, Senate Governor Dan Malloy, has signed the National Popular Voter bill, making Connecticut the latest state to enact it. So far the bill is now law in 12 jurisdictions with 172 electoral votes.

Amy McGrath wins the Democratic nomination in Kentucky’s Six Congressional District.

David Richardson qualifies for the ballot in  Florida’s 27^th Congressional District.

Paulette Jordan, a Native American state legislator wins the Democratic nomination in Idaho.  In other states, non-politicians, women, veterans and non-whites lead the effort to take back the House and Governorships.

Seventy-two percent women dominate the primaries, including 62 Democrats.

Lupe Valdez, a gay Latina sheriff wins the Texas Governor’s primary.

Gina Ortiz Jones, the first LGBTQ candidate, is nominated to run in Texas 23^rd District.

A school teacher!!! ousts the majority leader of the Kentucky House of Representatives.

The NRDC announced election protection initiatives in Ohio, Arizona, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania.

Winning 92.6 percent of votes, Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro wins his second presidential term, despite the U.S. announcing—even before the voter—that it would not recognize the election results.

Four Guatemalan ex-officials, 3 of them torture “School of the Americans” graduates, are convicted of kidnapping and rape and the forced “disappearance” of members of the Theissen family.

Palestinian journalists form committee to file legal case against Israeli with the International Criminal Court after two of them are slain by the IDF.

Pope Francis chimes in, telling gay man “God made you like this.”

After three years of organizing by Arab Youth Programming, San Francisco  Board of Education votes to continue allow it to provide cultural linguistic and academic services to Arab youth.

Pacific Fishery Management Council votes to close a Washing-state-size area to bottom trawling.

Despite Trump’s announcement that U.S. public libraries can be zeroed out, France’s “we sign it” announced that with a petition of 14,000 plus signatures, it allowed libraries to remain open evenings and weekends.

In Europe, (not in the U.S.) Amazon signs a contract with unions regarding work shifts.

Ireland makes abortion a reality after voting overwhelmingly to repeal eighth amendment of their constitution.

Silence

It began with a question: "What would happen "if 200,000 Palestinians headed peacefully to cross the border [into their ancestral home, now called Israel], while raising a poster that says they only want to go back to their land?" This was the idea that set the whole process in motion, explains Enas Fares Ghannam, a Palestinian translator and writer.

 

 

The UN has predicted that "Gaza will become unlivable by 2020." Ninety-seven percent of its water is contaminated and undrinkable. Only four hours of electricity are available per day. Unemployment runs rampant and its infrastructure is collapsing. The director of the Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem said in a recent statement that Gaza residents, most of whom have "never had a chance to leave the small patch of land" have "lived their lives without any political rights, devoid of any hope for a reasonable future, totally subject to the decisions and policies of the Israeli government."

And this is what happened:

For more than a month, Israeli soldiers have been shooting and killing unarmed Palestinian protesters in Gaza, using high-powered sniper rifles and live ammunition. Israeli soldiers wounded more than 2,700 Palestinian protesters and killed dozens more with rifle fire on Monday. At least five children were killed, including an 8-month-old baby girl who died after inhaling tear gas fired by Israeli soldiers. Tuesday, a few hundred Palestinians have defiantly returned to protest near the Gaza fence after yesterday’s carnage. Early reports indicate that there has already been one death and dozens of injuries from live ammunition and gas inhalation, while casualties have been reported during separate protests in the West Bank.

Palestinians have been shot while kneeling for prayer. They have been shot in the back. Children have been targeted and killed. Journalists, clearly marked as such, have been shot, killed and maimed. Thousands have been injured, and some have had to amputate their limbs to survive their injuries.

Meanwhile a small region of western France totaling 4,000 acres in Les Landes, historically noted for its independence, established a small community of worker owned cooperatives. So when they defeated plans for the airport projected for Nantes, the government proceeded to move in on this anti-Capitalist community known as ZAD (zone a defendre) with rubber bullets, and bulldozed all their houses.

What’s to rejoice about

While Haspel, our grotesque torture queen, has been confirmed as the new head of the CIA, the UN approved a war crime probe, as the chief of human rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein ripped Israel’s horrifying massacre of Palestinians. Only Big Brother voted against the probe (the U.S. and Australia) and 14 smaller brothers bravely abstained (Germany, the U,K,, and Switzerland among them).

Opinion 

Last week I attended the demonstration at the Israeli consulate in San Francisco called for the day after the new capital of Israel was moved to Jerusalem, and some 60 people were being shot dead by snipers not 70 miles away. Both sides of the trafficked street were crowded with protesters including a small contingent of people waving the Israeli flag, some of their faces bespeaking the centuries of vast intelligence and book learning—and sadness—that underlies Jewish history.

Both sides shouted at each other, slogans, a yes/no boondoggle leading to no where. Because no where is our name now. No where, and tears.  Endless tears that yet again, the human species, which always considers itself so exceptional, is capable of this.

Whereas it is a time to weep, its only possible response for us impotent ones protesting in the street, is to bear witness.  To bear witness with intent. Silently. It is not a time to shout. 

Over the week, the internet has been crowded with stories of Palestine, of the Nakba, of brave resistance by Palestinians. But what did the press have to say when the American frontier decimated the very people who had lived there for thousands of years in order to steal their land, their territories, to kill their buffalo, to take over their rivers and lakes—and oceans— and pollute them with the White Man’s glut? What did the American press have to say about that? What does anyone have to say about displacement, about invasion by the latest comer, pushing all aside in its wake?

And all the bought, mostly white, politicians who say nothing while this carnage goes on, because the killers du jour have cornered the purse strings, and the politicians need to be re-elected, and the tail wags the dog. What happened to the idea of the golden bough: the king must be sacrificed after seven years of rule? Where would our bottom feeders be then? There might—for one thing—be fewer slogans and fewer empty promises.

But would there be less racism? What is it about white European “civilization” that pushes all aside in its devastating wake?

The press says nothing about the dilemma when one country (Palestine) is magnanimously handed over to a group of stateless people who are told: Here, here is your promised land? How can such a dilemma conclude any other way? Silence is the only response possible in the face of a tragedy foregone.

Palestinian lives matter: sanction Israel

Go to Care2 petitions to sign: the U.S. Must condemn the Indiscriminate Shooting of Gaza Strip Protesters to sign. (The link refuses to upload).

Join Bernie Sanders petition demanding the end to the shooting of unarmed Palestinian protesters.

Sign and share the petition demanding Gillbrand and Schumer block Trump from arming Saudi starvation of Yemeni kids.

Support the effort to shut down the Miramar ICE center in Florida which forces hundred of visitors to stand for hours in the sun without shade, water, or bathrooms waiting for ICE meetings.

Forbid the separation of families at the border.

Tell the Senate: no nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain. Read why: John D’Agata: About a Mountain.

U.S. Senate votes to restore net neutrality.

There’s a strong probability (because they do not make any MONEY) that 25% of U.S. nuclear plants will close.

At the local and state level, new campaign aims to generate national support for un treaty banning nuclear weapons.

Wind overtakes nuclear energy in the U.K. in the first three months of 2018.

Faith communities oppose nuclear dump in New Mexico.

Judge William Alsup rules against the postal service in lawsuit against  Berkeley zoning overlay meaning that the gorgeous Italianate building housing the downtown Post Office cannot be sold to make into a Target store.

A new farming technique using drastically less water is catching on (Huff Post).

The Standing Rock Tribal Council endorse efforts to bring renewables to the rez.

Border patrol agent faces retrial for the killing of José Antonio.

Sen. Gillibrand introduces new bill to hold out-of-control Immigration agents accountable.

Richmond, CA, city council voted to enact a Sanctuary City contracting ordinance sponsored by councilmember Jovanka Beckles and Ada Recinos barring contracts with ICE data brokers,

Tucson passed a resolution banning the privatization of its jails and detention centers, joining a small but growing number of cities and counties that are tell GEO Group and Core Civic they are not welcome.

Burlington, Vermont nixes F-35s, citing environmental impact statement.

Progressive democratic wing of the Democratic party scores an upset victory in Nebraska’s 2^nd congressional district.

Pennsylvania primaries deliver strong wins for Democratic women.

San Francisco sets up a task force to establish a city-owned bank.

A Philadelphia neighborhood achieves inclusive control through a community land trust.

Seattle reins in Amazon with a new tax.

A dozen Google employees quit to protest Google’s collaboration with the Pentagon automating drone targeting. And four thousand more sign a letter of protest.

Demonstrating deep hunger among the electorate for a progressive agenda, candidates running on platforms of Medicare for all, free college, and a living wage, emerged victorious in the primaries. Big wins were scored in Pennsylvania, Idaho, and Nebraska.

Democratic AGs  keep the DACA program alive, protecting Dreamers from deportation, fight back against Betsy DeVos, block Trumps attack on sanctuary cities, and stand up to EPA Pruitt’s agenda with over 80 actions protecting the environment.

Largest act of organized teacher political action is recorded as No. Carolina joins the national wave of teacher strikes.

A federal appeals court nullifies key permit for Atlantic Coast Pipeline.

The European Union moves to forbid members’ compliance with Trump’s economic sanctions reimposed on Iran.

How to Lose 1500 Children

U.S. Government Official Steven Wagner, the acting secretary of Health and Human Services should propose giving lessons to the rest of us about exactly how to achieve those numbers, especially after disclosing to a Senate “homeland security” subcommittee that the agency only learned of its missing children when it placed calls to persons taking responsibility for them. Now 1500 (1475 to be exact) such losses (after all, they’re only children) is already quite an achievement. And as such future “losses” are planned, it’s a good idea to buckle up for a major Losing Workshop.

How do you “lose” 1500 children (1475 to be exact)? Various effective methods could be proposed. First of all the Border is a mine field. You have all those fresh, unaccompanied minors. These kids need to be lost. Aren’t they suffering from the violence and orphaning that drug cartels and gangs have imposed on them or their parents, rendering them desperate and unfit for the American lifestyle?? And they travel here on the roofs of freight trains. So no loss there. So far so good, wouldn’t you agree?

Or kids whose parents are so desperate for their children to see a better life, but too poor or desperate to accompany them, well, surely we wouldn’t want a class of people that poor interfering with the American dream, now would we?

And anyway, these kids are a real bother: the expense of incarcerating them before turning them over to approved sponsors who can sodomize them, before returning them to clog the deportation courts because they speak Spanish, or some obscure Indian dialect, and no lawyer represents them. Even if they can’t understand a word of what’s being done to them, chaining them together, and banging a gavel each time costs MONEY.

Now how about if people like that get to stay in the land of opportunity — like the 8 kids who were indentured to work on an egg farm in Marion, Ohio? They could be stealing the vote right now for the Republicrats.

Which is why this morning’s mail includes the 2018 National Illegal Alien Election Survey which suggests that the integrity of my sacred, all-American voting rights have been jeopardized — no, not by caging practices, or hacking the Republican-owned voting machines, or denying the vote to felons who have served their time, and not by Facebook’s manipulations of people discouraging them to vote — but by ALL THOSE ILLEGAL ALIENS who just keep on voting all the time. Which is why we need to punish them as much as possible, and separate them from their families, and hate them for skins less White than ours. Wouldn’t you agree?

Well shucks, Health & Human Services has a limited budget.

How can you expect them to spend money tracking the welfare of vulnerable unaccompanied minors all the time…especially when other agencies need to fly on private jets, eat off $31,000 dining sets, and christen $4.4 billion Bath Ironworks battle ships with champagne so the U.S. Mediterranean Fleet can keep bombing countries Israel doesn’t like — like maybe Syria and Iran.

An app called Notifica has now been created which will alert a support network when ICE comes calling. Spread the word.

Sign Move On’s petition Don’t separate families at the border.

Urge Schumer and Gillibrand to oppose the next Saudi arms deal.

Prison Reform

The Maine House and Senate voted overwhelmingly to override Gov. Paul LePage’s veto of a bill that will finally begin the implementation of a regulated adult-use marijuana market.

The Pennsylvania Health Department announced that it will implement all of the improvements recommended by the medical marijuana advisory board.

Racial Justice groups are freeing black women from jail for Mother’s Day.

Prisoners organizing national strike against “modern-day slavery.”

Energy

Costa Rica’s new president promises to go 100% renewable by 2020.

California becomes first state requiring all new homes be built with solar.

Chiefs from 133 First Nations join fight against Kinder Morgan Pipeline and oilsands expansion.

Winds farms boost tax base for local U.S. governments.

State court declares Bayou Bridge Pipeline illegal.

Climate Change

Acknowledging sea level rise, Connecticut legislature passes sweeping climate change bill.

Justice

Of 831!!! state arrests for Standing Rock, 578 have been concluded so far, with 337 either dismissed or acquitted.

Judge rules in favor of NAACP DACA lawsuit making 36,000 immigrants of Africa and 20,000 youth from Caribbean eligible for DACA.

Fourth circuit rules that suspicionless forensic searches of electronic devices at the border are unconstitutional.

More than 1000 representatives of indigenous peoples traveled to the UN in late April to participate in the 17th session of the UN permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

The British Government has apologized to Abdul-Hakim Belhaj and Fatima Boudchar for the UK’s role in their abduction, torture, and rendition to Libya. He was a prominent opponent of the Gaddafi dictatorship and she was pregnant at the time of abduction.

Aid workers who rescued 51 migrants are cleared of criminal charges in Greece.

Sister Joan Chittister, O.S.B. sums up the hypocrisy of many in the ‘pro-life’ movement:”I do not believe that just because you’re opposed to abortion, that that makes you pro-life. In fact, I think in many cases, your morality is deeply lacking if all you want is a child born but not a child fed, not a child educated, not a child housed. And why would I think that you don’t? Because you don’t want any tax money to go there.

New York City parole board is releasing more people and no longer catering to their #BlueLivesMatter agenda that calls for death in prison for people like Herman Bell, who have been convicted of killing police officers, regardless of their age, rehabilitation or current public safety risk.

South Carolina democrats kill So. Carolina Senate GOP abortion ban with days-long filibuster.

Tetra Tech supervisors found guilty for fraud in “cleanup” at Hunter’s Point Shipyard superfund site.

U.S. Politics

American Samoa has the second U.S. public bank.

Texas has been litigating a gerrymandering case capable of remaking political map of Texas.

NRDC sues Gov. Walker for holding special elections, and state supreme court candidate Dallet won re-election.

Ohio voted for a bipartisan ballot measure making redistricting more fair.

Tenants Together announces: California judiciary committee passes AB 2925 requiring landlords to state cause for any eviction. (1000 evictions a month in Oakland.)

The administration just endorsed letting states decide how to regulate marijuana,

The administration has frozen funding for the White Helmets.

Arizona teachers win some concessions from the state.

Puerto Rico

Teachers & parents launch strike against standardized testing.