Oscar Ceremony Shows Hollywood’s Rightward, Militaristic Shift
by Randy Shaw‚
Mar. 09‚ 2010
While conservatives love bashing “Hollywood liberals,” Sunday night’s Oscar telecast showed how little this description applies. From Kathryn Bigelow’s promoting George W. Bush’s argument that the U.S. invaded Iraq to protect Americans, to the disproportionate acclaim given to films exalting the military, to the exclusion of Michael Moore’s Capitalism, A Love Story from the documentary nominees, Hollywood now largely avoids any hint of progressive social analysis. The most common praise heaped on the Oscar-winning The Hurt Locker was that it took no side in the conflict, a remarkable admission of moral cowardice.
True, Bigelow’s win was a milestone for female directors, though it is unlikely to alter the overwhelming male dominance of that profession. And while seeing African-Americans win Oscars gave the event a liberal patina, most blacks remain relegated to roles requiring an African-American ( Jamie Foxx playing Ray Charles), while Latino roles are as scarce as ever despite their rising share of the U.S. population.
[more]->
Washington Democrats Circle the Wagons for Blanche Lincoln
by Paul Hogarth‚
Mar. 09‚ 2010
President Obama’s agenda is stagnant, the base is depressed going inton an Election year, and Teabaggers are energized. So what do the Democratic bigwigs in Washington do with the Party’s scarce resources? Prop up Arkansas Senator Blanche Lincoln, who’s in a tough re-election and deeply unpopular in her state. Lincoln is one of only four Democrats who filibustered a public option, prompting a primary challenge from Lt. Governor Bill Halter. The netroots has raised over $1 million for Halter, and Lincoln has responded with a punch the hippies strategy against the party base. Democrats are in trouble this year, and the Party leadership must ensure that Republicans don’t pick up seats. But the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is putting funds to help Lincoln fend off a challenge from another Democrat – when they should be fighting Republicans. MoveOn has set up an online petition for those who believe that’s wrong …
Census About to Hit the Mail: Renters Among Hardest to Count
by Dean Preston of Tenants Together‚
Mar. 09‚ 2010
California tenants – and everyone else for that matter – take note. Starting March 15, census forms will be mailed to all households. Forms should be completed and sent back in by April 1, National Census Day. Census workers will follow up with in person visits to households that do not complete the forms by mail. If you need help with the form, call the Census Bureau’s call center (1-800-923-8282).
Who cares about the census? We all should. The national census has huge implications. Hundreds of billions of dollars are allocated each year based on census data. The California Senate’s website notes that the state loses an estimated $1,300 per year for 10 years when a person is not counted.
[more]->
Dilemma: The Best Nations Are Really the Brightest
by Robert S. Becker‚
Mar. 09‚ 2010
Solution: Party of Reason and Brainpower Program
What most jeopardizes every one of us is, curiously enough, wholly within our control. 100%. Moreover, comprehensive, rational solutions are affordable, may be sequenced, and every dollar stays home – a bargain at half the cost of Iraq. You just have to value rationality and intellectual capital, two “national resources” more beset than even compromised farmland, rivers, clean air or water. Yet the galactic, infrastructure task – to refurbish top schools, universities, and research centers – remains invisible, off the media radar. In the real world, there’s not much more from the Obama crew, aside from reversing stem cell and not enough for alternative energy.
[more]->
Education Activists Need Strategy Beyond Marches
by Randy Shaw‚
Mar. 08‚ 2010
Mass protests last week against school funding cuts and tuition hikes spoke powerfully about California’s misplaced priorities. As occurred with campus protests last fall, the media gave overwhelmingly sympathetic coverage (other than to the self-indulgent group who blocked an Oakland freeway, diverting television coverage away from legitimate protests). But activists’ strategy for achieving their goals is far from clear. There is no measure on the November 2010 ballot that raises significant new money for education. Activists can use mass action to pressure legislators and the Governor to redirect excessive spending on prisons and other wasteful programs to education, but there is no chance this year of getting enough Republicans to win the necessary 2/3 legislative votes. It appears activists need a three-part strategy; pass a November ballot measure ending the 2/3 vote requirement, continue building a movement to force a new Governor and Legislature to hike the vehicular license fee in 2011, and at the same time prepare a game-changing ballot measure for 2012 that ensures adequate education funding once and for all.
[more]->
Time to Mobilize on State Budget Reform
by Paul Hogarth‚
Mar. 08‚ 2010
The March 4th statewide education protests had their positive impact – sympathetic media attention on the plight of California’s public schools. But education’s not the only thing under siege – Schwarzenegger has eliminated state funding for public transit, as we see San Francisco’s Muni collapse in front of our eyes. Health care has been slashed, and in-home supportive services are under assault. Anyone reliant on state government in any way is in crisis mode, as California is falling further down a cliff. Progressives have talked about getting rid of the “two-thirds rule” for years, but it must be done in a way that can win. And in this recession, voters won’t make it easier for Sacramento to raise taxes – no matter how fair and well thought out they are. Voters only support taxes if they know they won’t be paying them – which is why we should pass specific measures like the oil severance tax at the ballot box. As for getting rid of two-thirds for passing a state budget, the California Democratic Party has just made it easier to collect signatures – everyone must get involved now.
[more]->
Disability Perspective: Chron, SPUR, and SFBG - Alliance Based on Bias?
by Bob Planthold‚
Mar. 08‚ 2010
An amazing political linkage happened in SF on March 1 -- but was unremarked at City Hall and in ALL the media, bloggers, columns, and tweeters. It was not noticed or remarked upon in any but the disability communities.
SPUR released a disability-biased report suggesting ways to financially help MUNI. The Chron unquestioningly endorsed it on March 1st. The SF Bay Guardian's city editor also reported it in his blog, without question or comment. Both publications were giving SPUR credit for an obviously-biased report -- an amazing linkage in SF political circles.
[more]->
Another Republican Closet Case Inadvertently Comes Out
by Tommi Avicolli-Mecca‚
Mar. 08‚ 2010
How do Republicans come out of the closet? Usually in the most embarrassing way possible. If they’re not tapping their feet in airport bathrooms, they’re wooing teenage pages or hiring hustlers with loose lips. At least their exits from the closet are entertaining.
California State Senator Roy Ashburn of Bakersfield’s trip into the light is no exception. A good ol’ family man with good ol’ American family values who consistently voted against the “gay agenda,” he was recently pulled over for driving erratically down the highway on his way home from a Sacramento gay bar. He even had a “companion” in the car with him, someone he reportedly met at said queer establishment.
[more]->
Urge Media to Retract Lies About ACORN
by Bertha Lewis‚
Mar. 05‚ 2010
(Ed. Note: While the right-wing attacks on ACORN seem like old news, a new report refutes the constantly repeated core charge that a man dressed as a pimp got advice from ACORN on how to facilitate child prostitution. It turns out that the undercover right-wing racist James O’Keefe actually wore regular clothes and told ACORN he was the boyfriend of a woman being abused by a pimp. Read full details below)
By now everybody knows that James O'Keefe, the anti-ACORN video stinger, is willing to lie, manipulate, and apparently break the law, in pursuit of his extremist agenda. Monday, sources inside the Brooklyn District Attorney's office, as reported by the New York Post (long hostile to ACORN) said the videos were a "heavily edited splice job." The New York Daily News further reported that sources in the DA's office, which reviewed the unedited New York tapes as part of a five month investigation -- the first time anyone not associated with O'Keefe has seen unedited tapes -- said "they edited the tape to meet their agenda"!
[more]->
D.C. Archbishop is a Bigot
by Tommi Avicolli-Mecca‚
Mar. 05‚ 2010
It’s always interesting to listen to Catholic clergy trying to justify their anti-gay bigotry. Consider the announcement this week by Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl of the five-county Archdiocese of Washington, D.C. that he is dropping the spousal benefits offered to Catholic Charities workers in order to avoid coming into compliance with the District of Columbia’s newly enacted gay marriage law that mandates extending those benefits to queer couples.
March 9, 2010
