Dog endorses campaign to oust Dianne Feinstein.
Hello. I am a dog. I am running for president. I consider a bite in the trouser the best way to ensure action. I would like to make an endorsement in this race -- I would like to endorse the effort to primary Dianne Feinstein.
Ever since the campaign to oust DiFi in 2012 kicked off, she has dug herself deeper every week. And last week was the last straw. First, she began digging by letting Hans Von Spasovsky, prospective FEC commissioner, get to the Senate Floor. Then, she kept right on digging by voting for Lieberman/Kyl on Iran.
And now, it has gotten to the point where she has completely dug up the neighborhood to where I have no more bones left. And we canines have got to take back our neighborhood just like you have to take back your country. So, we have a common interest here. So, please give the dog a bone and vote for the best candidate who would oust DiFi in 2012.
September 25th edition
September 18th edition
September 11th edition
September 4th edition
August 28th edition
August 21st edition
August 14th edition
August 7th edition
The case against Dianne Feinstein
The Senators who caved in on FISA
Eliminated:
John Chiang
Ron Dellums
John Garamendi
Bill Lockyer
Jerry McNerney
Rob Reiner
Frank Russo
Loretta Sanchez
Hilda Solis
Diane Watson
Steve Westly
This week:
Antonio Villaraigosa
Diary Rescue:
libralphart on eating our own:
Maybe we shouldn't be too hard on these gutless wonders of public servitude. They are obviously ignorant folks that still don't realize that by the time they walk out after a vote to pee, their constituents already know how they voted.
Maybe instead of eating our own, let’s work with them and teach them that it is safe, that we have their backs, to just say no to any republican that wants to put forward some piece-of-shit legislation.
We can also tell them that if they keeping voting like cowards, they should maybe start calculating their moving box requirements.
But that is exactly the point. We have tried to reason with DiFi; however, as has been well-documented in these diaries, she routinely refuses to have any kind of interaction between herself and us. She has totally shut herself off from her constituents and thus can't be reasoned with. And she simply keeps right on digging. Maybe she should start calculating her moving box requirements in 2012.
Neutron discusses why this must be DiFi's last term:
Quoting from Greenwald:
Yet as Stoller documents -- based on his conversations with Caroline Fredrickson from the ACLU -- several key Democrats in Congress are actively working to ensure that this happens. Stoller notes that "The Senate Judiciary Committee is hamstrung by Dianne Feinstein, who prevents a majority . . . ." On issues of intelligence, judiciary and oversight, Feinstein really has become the new Joe Lieberman, repeatedly siding with the right-wing of the Republican caucus on key issues and thus actively enabling the worst abuses of the Bush administration.
And the diarist had at one time a whole collection of DiFi's condescending letters:
Everybody I talk to who is a Democrat responds to Dianne Feinstein with a roll of the eyes at best, and a torrent of profanity at worst.
I used to keep a collection of the condescending letters I would receive back from her office, all written in the tone of a strict schoolmarm instructing a particularly slow child. It doesn't matter the issue, as long as I disagreed with DiFi, well... it was inferred that I was an idiot.
This happens WAY, WAY, WAY too much.
The Candidates:
The field is starting to narrow. All last-place finishers will be eliminated for next week's vote. People can still nominate anyone who has not been considered.
Busted for vote fraud:
Following a probe by Secretary of State Debra Bowen’s fraud investigation unit, Tanya Bowers of Rio Linda (Sacramento County) has been charged with two felonies for allegedly falsifying signatures on a Pacific Gas & Electric-sponsored regional petition. In March 2006, Sacramento County Registrar of Voters Jill LaVine alerted Secretary Bowen’s office to suspicious signatures while processing a PG&E petition.
After conducting an investigation, the Secretary’s Election Fraud Investigation Unit found that Bowers, a signaturegatherer hired by the proponents, appeared to have forged the names of five voters, including two who were deceased. Bowers earned 75 cents per signature, thereby earning $3.75 from the allegedly fraudulent signatures. The PG&E petition, which later became Measure H, sought to require existing Sacramento Municipal Utility District customer approval for any future SMUD annexations. The suspicious signatures were excluded as county elections workers tallied and validated petition signatures. The measure qualified for the ballot and voters approved it in June 2006.
Busting corporate monopolies:
Halting the "anticompetitive effects" of a merger between the nation’s two largest school bus operators, California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced a settlement with First Group, plc (also known as First Student) and Laidlaw Educational Services. Under the terms of the settlement, the merged company will divest its rights in a bus depot to Riverside Unified School District and agree that Los Angeles Unified School District may terminate certain contracts for school bus services.
Commenting on today’s agreement, Attorney General Brown said, "School districts must be able to choose the best school bus company to ensure that students have rapid and reliable school transportation. Today’s agreement protects school districts and strengthens healthy competition amongst school bus companies."
Without this agreement, the merged companies would have controlled the majority of the Los Angeles Unified School District private contracts and the only two bus depots in the Riverside Unified School District. In addition to eliminating competition between the two companies, their merger would make it more difficult for competitors to enter the private school bus markets in Los Angeles and Riverside Counties. Today’s settlement will facilitate the entry of new competitors into the areas where the merger’s anticompetitive effects are felt.
Under the Clayton Act, mergers are illegal if they create monopolies or substantially reduce competition.
Opening school playgrounds for community use:
Today, Mayor Gavin Newsom unveiled a pilot program that would open 14 school playgrounds for use on weekends and select holidays. Joined by San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) Superintendent Carlos Garcia, Newsom announced the facilities-sharing agreement as another component of the Partnership for Achievement. The pilot program will last through the end of the school year when it will be evaluated for effectiveness.
"This is a simple and straightforward idea – to open up our playgrounds when they are not being used," said Newsom. "Once again, partnering with the school district, we are able to expand the recreation options for all our youth. I encourage all San Francisco families to use these newly opened playgrounds to stay healthy and spend more time together."
He will play the role of Brian Boru, a legendary Irish king who thwarted a Viking invasion:
Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio is expected to confirm this week that he will play Irish High King Brian Boru in a new epic film.
The Titanic star has been heavily tipped for the lead role in Freedom within the Heart - scripted by Mark Mahon from Cork.It tells the story of Boru's battle against invading Vikings.
Film insiders are describing it as an "Irish Braveheart".
Maybe we need a Braveheart to rally the spineless "Democrats" in the House and Senate.
The State Senator protests the governor's plan to dismantle the state's Fair Employment & Housing Commission.
Enforcement of all State Civil Rights Laws
The Commission is entrusted with the enforcement of all the various civil rights laws in the state. Employees, renters, home buyers, and consumers of all types are protected against discrimination in several of California’s statutes. These laws are nothing but empty shells without the enforcement provided by the opportunity to go to the Fair Employment and Housing Commission for enforcement. Cases filed with the Commission are heard by a panel of Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) specifically trained and assigned for these duties.Moving the Commission Staff and Doing Away With Judges
Secretary Marin has decided, in order to save such a miniscule amount of money it would be referred to as "budget dust", to move the Commission staff to Sacramento and do away with the cadre of ALJs who hear the cases. Instead, she will throw all these cases to the more general Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH), a catchall for the enforcement of all general laws.Why This Change is Bad for Civil Rights Enforcement
A little history......in 1992, with the support of Pete Wilson’s administration, the Legislature specifically authorized the Commission to hire its own ALJs. This was done because the OAH, which had been hearing cases and which Secretary Marin and the Schwarzenegger administration want to put back in charge, had proven to be both uneconomical and inexpedient, not to mention highly ineffective, because the legal staff of the Fair Employment and Housing Commission had been required to revise and rewrite over 90% of all OAH decisions in this area as incorrect on both the law and Commission policy. At the time the Legislature found it shocking that hearing officers knew so little about the area and wrote such ill-informed opinions. One decision would have overruled the Commission’s own regulations. Another allowed an employer to ban all women from his workplace.
Protecting workers in food processing plants:
By a vote of 260 to 154, the U.S. House of Representatives today approved legislation intended to prevent workers in food processing plants from getting a debilitating, irreversible lung disease that has already sickened and killed a number of workers nationwide.
The legislation would force the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration to issue rules limiting workers’ exposure to diacetyl, a chemical used in artificial food flavoring for microwave popcorn and other foods. Scientists have linked diacetyl exposure to bronchiolitis obliterans, a severe lung disease often known as "popcorn lung." Despite mounting evidence over several years of the dangers of popcorn lung, OSHA has failed to take action to limit diacetyl exposure, prompting the need for the legislation approved by the House today.
"Seven years after the first cases of popcorn lung were identified, it is stunning that OSHA has failed to protect American workers from this horrible disease," said Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the committee. "The cost of the Bush administration’s failure to act can be measured in the number of workers who have avoidably grown ill or died. This legislation is critical to stop the delays in protecting workers from this serious workplace hazard."
Working to end AIDS, which disproportionately affects Blacks:
"The Black AIDS Institute has long been a leader in the fight against HIV/AIDS in our community. Their motto ‘Our People, Our Problem, Our Solution’ is a real testament to the fact that ultimately we can and we must control our own destiny when it comes to HIV/AIDS.
"I’m proud to join the Black AIDS Institute, The National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS, the Balm in Gilead and all my colleagues in calling for: a mass mobilization to end the AIDS epidemic; testing for one million African Americans by December 1, 2008; national AIDS plan for the United States; and to announce the release of a new report on the State of AIDS in Black America.
"As the new report from the Black AIDS Institute points out, among young people, among women, and among men, in the United States African Americans are the most at risk of getting infected with HIV, of developing AIDS, and of dying of this disease.
"The unfortunate reality is that to be black in America is to be at greater risk of HIV/AIDS.
Yesterday, I wrote about this issue; Waters has introduced her own bill:
Those of us concerned about NFIP in the wake of the 2005 storms saw the urgent need to put the program on sounder financial footing by addressing the issues stakeholders had raised around the substantial premium discounts and cross-subsidies among classes of its policyholders, outdated flood insurance rate maps, allegations of uneven compliance with mandatory purchase requirements, and questions as to the performance and efficiency of private insurers operating under the NFIP's Write Your Own program.
Additionally, the committee hearing on H.R. 920, the Multiple Peril Insurance Act of 2007, made it clear the need to address perverse incentives created by dual government and private insurance regimes when damage can be a result of wind and flood. I'm proud to say that H.R. 3121 prudently addresses these concerns.
Specifically, the bill would increase NFIP's borrowing authority to $21.5 billion from $20.8 billion, but require that it satisfy traditional criteria for actuarial soundness by phasing out discounted premiums; allow the Federal Emergency Management Agency, that is, FEMA, to increase flood policy rates by 15 percent a year, up from 10 percent; raise civil penalties on federally regulated lenders who fail to enforce mandatory purchase of flood insurance for mortgage holders; increase program participation incentives; encourage the revisions to flood maps; and starting in mid-2008, allow for the purchase of optional insurance for wind as well as water damage.
These reforms are desperately needed because, as we have seen, storms will become stronger and more intense. We need a program that can contend with the worst that Mother Nature can throw at us. Simply put, we cannot wait and let another hurricane season pass without putting the National Flood Insurance Program on solid footing.
The Blackwater hearings are in the news today; the State Department has issued a gag order on employees testifying before the committee:
In a letter sent to Secretary Rice, Chairman Waxman objects to the State Department’s instruction to its officials that they cannot communicate with the Committee about corruption in the Maliki government unless the Committee agrees to treat all information, including "broad statements/assessments," as national security secrets. Other points of growing contention between the Committee and the State Department include Secretary Rice’s refusal to testify.