As Cities Prosper, Poor People Relocate to Suburbs
by Randy Shaw‚
May. 21‚ 2013
According to a new Brookings Institution report, the number of low-income people living in suburbs increased 67% between 2000 and 2011, altering longstanding perceptions of a rising middle-class fleeing from cities to achieve the American Dream. Reasons for the shift include urban gentrification, the foreclosure crisis, greater access to suburban affordable housing and the rapid expansion of suburban areas. Paris and other European cities have long had the wealthy living in central city areas and the poor outside the city’s core, but the post-World War II growth of suburbia sent the United States in the other direction. This shift of the middle-class to the suburbs and corresponding central city decline continued until the the late 1970’s, and urban America's dramatic comeback continues at full speed today. Now that cities offer walkable, bicycle-friendly, public transit-available neighborhoods with desirable restaurants and a high quality of life, the poor are being shunted to car-dependent suburban areas in economic decline. Activists now face the challenge of helping the suburban poor while still pushing for public housing residents and those living in non-gentrified urban neighborhoods to get the resources they deserve.
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Fighting Big Food With Social Media
by Dana Woldow‚
May. 21‚ 2013
Big food and beverage companies are spending less on advertising their products to kids, and yet their presence in children's lives feels greater than ever. How can that be? Two words - social media. Using Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to bring their message to children is vastly cheaper than traditional media, and it may not even be perceived by youngsters as "advertising", making it all the more insidious. Now one fed-up mom is fighting back, taking advantage of social media's low cost and ease of distribution to get her message about processed food out to kids.
A December 2012 Federal Trade Commission (FTC) report on food marketing to children and adolescents examined data from 44 major food and beverage companies. Comparing 2009 spending to 2006, the report found "total spending on food marketing to youth dropped 19.5% in 2009, to $1.79 billion. Spending on youth-directed television advertising fell 19.5%, while spending on new media, such as online and viral marketing, increased 50%." [more]->
How Far Does 2/3 Go?
by Brian Leubitz ‚
May. 21‚ 2013
When the Legislature hit the magical 2/3 mark after the November 2012 election, a lot of progressives started dreaming big. Prop 30 just passed, and a statement had been made for a progressive vision of California. A majority of Californians had just voted to raise their taxes. Whether thanks to the strong field campaign around Prop 32 or through changing demographics of a presidential election, the Democrats gained big on the Legislative front.
But muddying these waters was a lot of mixed messaging. Gov. Brown had at least signaled that he thought Prop 30 was the only tax revenue measure that we should pass for a while, and some of the Democratic legislators had more or less said the same thing.
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The Chicago Board of Education Votes This Week Whether to Shut Down Fifty-four Schools
by Allison Kilkenny‚
May. 21‚ 2013
Chicago is braced for a critical vote by the Board of Education this week to determine if fifty-four schools will be closed. Last week, parents of three children, two who have disabilities and a third who is black, filed a lawsuit at the US District Court in Chicago alleging that the school closings violate the Americans With Disabilities Act and the Illinois Civil Rights Act. A second complaint, filed by the parents of three more children with disabilities, alleged the closings will occur too late in the year and don’t allow sufficient time for those children and their peers to transition to “unfamiliar” schools.
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IRS, Benghazi “Scandals” Won’t Hurt Dems in 2014
by Randy Shaw‚
May. 20‚ 2013
According to conventional wisdom, the IRS and Benghazi “scandals,” coupled with a difficult roll out of Obamacare, have energized Republicans and spell problems for Democrats in the 2014 midterm elections. FiveThirtyEight’s Nate Silver, whose words are gospel for millions, suggested last week that, while the impact of most scandals is less than many think, the IRS targeting of Tea Party groups “has the potential to harm Democrats’ performance in next year’s midterm elections, partly by motivating a strong turnout from the Republican base.” But as Silver knows, Democratic losses in midterm elections are primarily caused not by a galvanized GOP base but by a demoralized and/or unenergized Democratic one. This means that Democratic success in 2014 hinges not on the impact of the IRS and other “scandals” but on passing comprehensive immigration reform, rejecting the Keystone XL Pipeline, and avoiding a budget deal that undermines Social Security. Success on these issues will get young people and others who back Democrats in presidential election cycles to go to the polls in 2014, proving again that good policies are the best politics.
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Emulating Malcolm X
by Bill Fletcher Jr.‚
May. 20‚ 2013
On or around May 19th and February 21st, many Black activists reflect upon the life and work of Malcolm X, with the former his birthday and the latter the day that he was assassinated. Two years ago the publication of the late Manning Marable’s biography Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention had been a Moment that many of us had hoped would be an opportunity for a larger movement reflection on the life and work of Malcolm X. Instead, a campaign of vilification of Marable ensued accompanied by an almost canonization of Malcolm X by many critics of Marable, neither helping us to get a better understanding of Malcolm’s contributions.
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Public Rallies Against FEMA/UC Berkeley Tree Clear-Cutting Plan
by Randy Shaw‚
May. 20‚ 2013
Hundreds concerned about the future of Strawberry and Claremont Canyons came out to the last public hearing on May 18 to voice opposition and cheer those testifying against the destructive plan. Many expressed surprise over the lack of earlier notice about the project, with my May 16 story--- “FEMA Plans Clear-Cutting of 85,000 Berkeley and Oakland Trees” ---the first news many got of this potential environmental outrage. Of the many arguments made against the plan, the greatest concern involves the proposed use of over 1000 gallons of herbicide, including the notoriously toxic Roundup. Many also offered a powerful challenge to the idea of destroying “non-native” plants, arguing that its logic ---typically associated with rapidly burning non-native eucalyptus trees---ignores other fire hazards including those caused by the clear-cutting.
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Talking Spirituality: Boundless Bliss
by Natalie Grigson‚
May. 20‚ 2013
Isn’t it strange how I can write this to you at one point in time, but the message won’t get to you for days, weeks, or even months? It’s like a star so far away; its light won’t reach us for billions of years.
Okay, that might be a stretch. What I’m getting at here is how much things can change in just a week, month, or year. As I write this, I am sitting in my living room in Austin, Texas—surrounded by boxes. Tomorrow morning, Tuesday, May 14, I move to San Francisco. So by the time this gets to you, dear reader, I’ll be your new neighbor.
Why isn't New Orleans Mother's Day parade shooting a 'national tragedy'?
by David Dennis‚
May. 17‚ 2013
The media seems to forget about New Orleans and any place that the middle class can't easily relate to
On 3 September 2005 – less than a week after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast – I began to understand that America cared little about what was happening in New Orleans. I was an undergraduate at Davidson College in North Carolina at the time, worried out of my mind because my family in Mississippi was still without electricity and friends and family in New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast were still missing. The images of families stranded on rooftops were trickling in via news outlets, but it was obvious that the response from the government would be slow. But it really hit me on 3 September. I was driving around and noticed all the American flags at half-mast. Because Supreme court chief justice William Rehnquist died.
At the time, the Gulf Coast death toll was rumored to be in the thousands with nobody knowing for sure. But flags stayed at full mast until a chief justice died. To me, this was a slap in the face to what was going on in New Orleans and a sign that the city just didn't matter to the overall fabric of the country.
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SRO Tenants Push CPUC for Improved Lifeline Phone Service
by Karin Drucker‚
May. 17‚ 2013
May 21, 2013
