Elizabeth Warren got Pissed!

Sen Elizabeth Warren – Yes!!!!  I’m glad she didn’t run for President.  I’m glad she’s not Clinton’s VP candidate.  She’s right where we need her the most! Check out the video below.  Best two minutes of politics you’ll see all year.

I mean you fire thousands of lower level employees and nobody putting the quota pressures on them?  Eight accounts per customer because “eight is great” – I kid you not, that was the internal corporate slogan.

It’s fraud, and they’re doing over and over again, and these f——s should be in jail!

Let me back up.  It was recently discovered that for years Wells Fargo had been systematically defrauding thousands of depositors by creating phony accounts and charging hidden fees for them. The scam was uncovered & ended only because of the existence of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Elizabeth Warren’s brainchild)–which, naturally, the Congressional Republicans want to eliminate. Wells Fargo paid a fine and fired thousands of low-level employees who participated in this scam. But (surprise!) no Wells Fargo executives have been held accountable or paid any penalties.

You don’t get thousands of 12 dollar per hour employees coincidentally doing the same thing unless it’s due, at minimum, to a culture which allows it, and more likely with some implicit or explicit direction from the top – or did they just do a remarkably bad job of hiring over the past two decades?

The account “technicians” should not be salespeople.  They should not be evaluated based on how much in fees they can generate, but in the quality of their services to customers.  Watching that guy listen to her with smug indignation – it brings out the vulgar Leninism in me!  I can see why some people just want to bring out the guillotines!

https://youtu.be/_VI4bZSQdUo

The Transformative Power of a Single Image

Remember the Chinese student who blocked the line of tanks during the protest/massacre at Tiananmen Square?  Similar image as a child my daughter’s age tries to stand down 11,000 anti-LGBT protesters in Tijuana.

It’s almost unfair in a way.  These 11 thousand organized and organized well in conjunction with similarly large rallies all over the country to show that the much smaller contingent of LGBT in Mexico City are fringe to their culture.  They probably received a lot of local coverage, and national, and probably this boy’s singular action made it as a side note, if that.

But then this image became international.  It made the rounds and transformed the story.  He and his stand are the story.  The 11 thousand reduced to part of his story.  The 11 thousand of course including hundreds who are suppressing or in denial of their own LGBT state of being.  Including children his age who will probably stand with him within another 10 or 20 years.

For all their numbers, the 11,000 will fall to the progressive forces of history, generated by relentless organizing and testimonials, with jump starts generated by images such as this. The photo is “viral.”  The 11 thousand organized in order to generate a transformative image which is already inflicting changes in nervous systems within Mexico and without.

It’s kind of unfair.  These people are marching with heart in what they believe.  But they are wrong and he is right.  And therefor, ultimately, he is more powerful than all of them.

Full story here.

From the article:

Said Rodriguez to Generacion: “At first I thought the child was only playing.”

But Rodriguez interviewed the child later, who said, “I have an uncle who is gay and I hate the hatred.”

All Things Reconsidered – To End the Death Penalty or Speed it Up

There are two competing propositions this fall.  Proposition 62 will abolish the death penalty with some caveats about life without parole sentences and force convicts to make money and give it to victims.  Proposition 66 would streamline the appeals process to bring perps to the chopping block earlier and would also require that the convicts make money for the victims’ families.

Here’s a cheat sheet.

I have invited both campaigns to have representatives discuss these propositions with me on All Things Reconsidered Thursday night at 7:00 p.m.

Is Pneumonia Bringing Down Clinton?

I doubt it, but this NY Times article does make the case that this was a really bad time to be sidelined.

Her problem is that she is obsessed with her privacy, whether or not there is actual corruption, while running for an office where you can expect none.  She should be holding press conferences where she just lets the reporters ask question after question.  I’m sure she has enough pat answers for difficult questions.

And Trump’s campaign has brilliantly chosen to make its play for the middle with the childcare subsidy proposal.  If his supporters would stop beating people up, the media might actually be able to “normalize” him before October.

I’m still predicting the blow-out as the polls show movement up and down for Clinton but Trump’s numbers remain the low 40s and sometimes even in the upper 30s.  But the image of HRC stumbling has to lower confidence of the middle of the road voters for whom policy is less of a concern than character, and they look for impression of strength as well as substance.

Still, Trump’s caution right now is also justified, because if they portray her as weak and play up the issue, all she has to do is come off as robust and strong at the debate and she won’t look back in the polls.  Trump’s surrogates aren’t doing him any favors by spreading the conspiracy theories.

Still, she’s a woman and American politics (nor any politics just about anywhere) are not fair to women.  She has to make the extra effort to seem strong.  And that video on Sunday really doesn’t help.  And pneumonia – it kills people!  Recovery could be weeks away.

This blogger asks, “How is she even still alive?”

Oddly enough, Trump is claiming a “right to privacy” as to his own health.  He’s a man.  He can pull that off.

Where was the guy going?

He ran right by the staircase! Seriously, the white door on the right – he might have made it as far as I Street anyway.

Lost Coast Outpost has more on the escape attempt. Maybe he had watched “Take the Money and Run?”

Austin Allison campaign launching event

As always, I am an equal opportunity political notice poster. If your campaign wants me to post notice of an event, it matters not whether I support you or your cause.

This Thursday, 9/15, at 5:15, there will be an official launch for Austin Allison’s campaign for Eureka City Council at Sequoia Park.

Please join us to meet Austin and kick start his campaign!

North Coast People’s Alliance is proud to endorse Austin’s candidacy. He is an optimistic, creative young man with a progressive vision for Eureka. This is the only contested race this year for Eureka City Council so it’s important that we show up and do the work to help Austin win.

 

It would also be a great help if you could visit the Facebook event and help spread the word, not only by sharing the event on your page, but also by inviting specific friends (hover over the ‘share’ button, then select ‘send to specific friends’ – OR tag as many friends as you can think of when you share the event on your own page). Use the hashtag #VoteAustinEureka if you like.

Thanks and we hope to see you on Thursday!

PS – Check out Austin’s website to volunteer, endorse, or make a donation!

VoteAustinEureka.org

Sohum WTF????

Kym once again shows us why she deserves the Chamber honor the other night.

I mean, seriously, the “back to the land movement” was supposed to stand for something.  Yet we resist all environmental regulation we would impose on everyone else.  We create economies with no accountability and freak out when it brings in undesirable elements, on the street or in the homes.   And we’ve generated a culture of silence and isolation which has victimized women, and while the examples in the article are extreme, they are not new!  We cannot put all this on newcomers.  I’ve heard stories from credible sources dating back to the 1970s – occurrences which should just be so much more rare than they are given the stated community values.

I’ve had clients come in and ask for restraining orders because of threats from neighbors or land partners.  I’ve ask, “Have you contacted the Sheriff?”  They respond, “No, my neighbors don’t want law enforcement up on that hill.”

Then damn it, the neighbors need to step in!  If you’re going to deprive people of protection under the law, then you had better come up with a substitute.  Meanwhile, a restraining order has to be enforced by the Sheriff.  I can’t wave a magic wand in the courtroom for you.

And there is absolutely no excuse for allowing the women in the article to be victimized that way.  Yes, the community is accountable to them.

Addendum:  Thanks to John Chiv for pointing out the actual author: Shoshana Walter.  Thanks still to Kym for keeping these issues in the light.  Other brave local writers have covered these issues, most notably Linda Stansberry.  We really need this out into the open and seriously we need public meetings to discuss this and what is to be done.

Another Redway Fatality

Kym Kemp reports.

Don’t jump to any conclusions yet!  But this small town is reeling of late.

Thanks to Kym for a very difficult service she performs.  She really deserves the honor she will be receiving from the Chamber tonight.

Media Blackout

Other than Lawrence O’Donnell is anyone in the mainstream media covering this?  I’m not always a Democracy Now fan, but they did their job here!

Sizzla Petaluma show cancelled, but I see a ray of light

The Petaluma Argus confirms that the show has been cancelled.  I’ve also learned that the show in Seattle has been cancelled.  Pressure is being put on other venues as well.

But buried in the article:

Sizzla’s publicist, Olimetta Taal, acknowledged that Jamaican culture was more conservative than the United States in regard to LGBT individuals. She described his lyrics and on-stage messaging as cultural expression, and argued that it would be a mistake for fans to take them literally.

“What I can say is that his music is misinterpreted. His music is not to be taken at face value. It’s an expression of his cultural norms, his cultural background,” she said.

Now, that’s great coming from a PR person, but even better would be for Sizzla or any of the other “murder music” artists to say, “It’s just a song. Don’t take it literally.” I think Buju Banton has a particular responsibility since his song has been chanted during and/or after acts of homophobic violence in Jamaica.

It wouldn’t be enough to make me actually support the guy in any way, but it would be significant.  It might even get him off the “murder music” list.  And maybe it would save lives in Jamaica, where many of their fans take the lyrics quite literally.