2011-09-28 "State officials warn of discipline for inmates on hunger strike" by Michael Montgomery from "California Watch"
[http://californiawatch.org/dailyreport/state-officials-warn-discipline-inmates-hunger-strike-12821]
State corrections officials today threatened to discipline thousands of inmates who have resumed a hunger strike over conditions at California’s highest-security lockups.
A state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation memo distributed to all state inmates said any prisoner participating in the strike would receive disciplinary action “in accordance with the California Code of Regulations.”
The memo warned that inmates “identified as leading the disturbance will be subject to removal from general population and placed in an Administrative Segregation Unit.” The department also said it would consider removing canteen items from inmates' cells, including any food.
The memo did not explain what action the department would take against the main strike leaders, all of whom are already locked in a special section of Pelican Bay State Prison’s Security Housing Unit, which is at the heart of the protest.
As many as 5,000 inmates in California prisons, including Calipatria and Pelican Bay, have refused state-issued meals since Monday, according to advocacy groups. The action followed an appeal from strike leaders that was posted on an advocacy website earlier this month.
Corrections spokeswoman Terry Thornton declined to offer specific numbers or locations, saying “thousands” of inmates had refused meals at “several” institutions. Thornton said the department will not formally treat the action as a hunger strike until inmates have refused nine consecutive meals.
The strikers are accusing officials of not following through on earlier promises to overhaul policies governing the Security Housing Units, where some prisoners, including several strike leaders, have spent decades locked in windowless cells.
Corrections officials say prisoners housed in the units are dangerous gang leaders who need to be segregated from the general prison population for security reasons. Officials also say they are moving forward with significant policy changes that were discussed with Pelican Bay inmates during the last hunger strike, which ended July 20.
A separate department memo also distributed to inmates today outlined the new policies being developed by senior corrections staff, including “increased privileges based upon disciplinary free behavior, a step down process for SHU (Security Housing Unit) inmates, and a system that better defines and weighs necessary points in the (gang) validation process.” The memo warned that work on the new policies “may be delayed by large-scale inmate disturbances or other emergency circumstances.”
Prisoner-rights advocates expressed concern that the situation could escalate dramatically, as neither side appears open to compromise.
“There doesn’t seem to be any endgame,” said Donald Specter, director of the Berkeley-based Prison Law Office. “The prisoners distrust the Department of Corrections. And the Department of Corrections has no intention of doing more than they’ve previously announced.”
“I’m very concerned that prisoners may die or be seriously injured," Specter said. "I don’t see any way to come to a resolution, short of prisoners stopping the hunger strike or the department taking extraordinary measures to force-feed them.”
Medical staff are on alert and expected to begin monitoring the inmates' health conditions tomorrow.
Meanwhile, some lawmakers are asking the Office of the Inspector General to take action.
A Sept. 22 letter from state Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, to Inspector General Robert Barton requested a review of the corrections department’s “response to the issues raised by the inmate hunger strike that ended in July of this year." The letter – formally issued by the Senate Rules Committee – asked that the review be completed within 30 days.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Sunday, September 18, 2011
2011-09-18 "U.S. aid to Morocco worries California olive farmers; U.S. subsidies to foreign growers worry California farmers" by Stacy Finz from "San Francisco Chronicle"
[http://articles.sfgate.com/2011-09-18/news/30171080_1_olive-growers-council-adin-hester-olive-crop]
The biggest threat to California's historic olive industry isn't the bad weather, disease, prohibitive harvesting costs and fierce competition already taking their toll, growers say: It's the federal government.
The United States has promised Morocco - one of California's main competitors - hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to stimulate agriculture in that country, including rehabilitating its more than 1 million acres of existing olive trees and planting 150,000 additional acres. This while California, the only state to commercially produce olives, has been battling Morocco and Spain for the black table-olive and olive-oil markets in this country for more than a decade, local growers said.
"We're struggling to survive, only to find out that our own country is subsidizing the very place that could put us out of business," said Dennis Burreson, who with his three sons has 500 acres of Manzanillo and Sevillano table-olive trees in Orland (Glenn County). He hopes that his grandchildren will someday run the farm, but worries that California olive growers could be a dying breed.
By now, his trees should be weighed down with fruit. But spring rains and winds destroyed much of California's olive crop this year; the U.S. Department of Agriculture predicts the harvest will be down 67 percent. Although olive trees are alternate-bearing, that is, they yield a robust harvest only every other year, this will be one of the worst years for growers in recent history, said Adin Hester, president of the Olive Growers Council of California.
As Burreson walked through his Orland groves recently, he wondered whether the cost of picking the fruit was even worth it. But if he leaves it on the trees to rot, it might attract the dreaded olive fruit fly, which could be lethal. In the meantime, an abundance of highly subsidized and lower-priced olives and oil are being imported and inundating the U.S. market, he said.
Burreson knows that life as a farmer is never easy, but he said he never thought his own country would work against him.
Foreign aid -
In 2004, Congress created the Millennium Challenge Corp., a foreign aid agency headed by the secretary of state, to help developing countries reduce poverty. Since its inception, the agency has authorized grants totaling more than $7 billion to help 23 African and Latin American countries.
In 2007 the agency agreed to give Morocco $697.5 million over five years to improve the country's employment rate and salaries by investing in its fruit-tree farms, small-scale fisheries and artisan crafts, according to Millennium. Nearly half of that money - $320 million - is earmarked for the Fruit Tree Productivity Project, with 80 percent of the cash going to olives and the rest to improve date, fig and almond production. Dates, figs and almonds are also key California crops.
Patrick Fine, who oversees such agreements as Millennium's vice president of compact operations, said he does not believe that the investment in Morocco will harm California producers. The project, he said, is designed to help poor rural families increase their incomes and to help develop a strong ally in an important region in the world.
Not meeting demand -
"I sympathize with the point of view of the California olive growers," Fine said, adding that Millennium did research to determine whether the compact with Morocco would adversely affect growers here and found that California table olives were meeting only 50 percent of U.S. demand, and local olive oil only 2 percent. "We never want (Millennium's) investments to compete with America."
Furthermore, he said, Morocco's new trees won't start producing at a commercial level for another two to three years. And when they do, the fruit will be used for olive oil and sold to Spain and other European countries, he said.
But table-olive growers argue that Morocco's Picholine olive is dual use - for eating and oil - and is already glutting the American institutional food market. The oil-olive growers say there's no question it will hurt their business because oil sold to Spain is often refined there and later sold as virgin or extra virgin in the United States.
"It's disturbing," said Brendon Flynn, president of the California Olive Oil Council. "It's difficult enough competing with countries that are being subsidized by their own (governments). Now we have to compete with foreign countries being subsidized by our own country."
Reps. Wally Herger, R-Marysville (Yuba County), and Devin Nunes, R-Alpaugh (Tulare County) have contacted Millennium, concerned that their olive-grower constituents are getting a raw deal.
"U.S.-led efforts, however well-intended, to strengthen another country's economy should not come at the expense of American farmers - particularly when funded by their own tax dollars," Herger said in an e-mail, adding that he's worried that Millennium's efforts to reduce poverty in Morocco might weaken California's olive industry and undermine job creation.
As of June 30, Morocco had received nearly $94.5 million toward the tree project, Fine said. California growers said they've received nothing.
Although California is the top-producing agricultural state in the nation - $37.5 billion last year, according to the California Department of Food and Agriculture - 93 percent of the state's crops, including olives, dates, figs and almonds, are ineligible for subsidies.
'Game-changer' -
"If we even got a few million of what our government is giving Morocco for their olives, it could be a game-changer for us," said Michael Silveira, who, like the majority of Northern California's table-olive growers, has a small - 36 acres - family-run operation.
Over the past 30 years, table-olive growers have invested millions of dollars trying to mechanically harvest their trees. Because of the fragility of the fruit, the olives are traditionally hand-picked. But growers said they're closing in on new mechanical methods that will save money and labor - they just need capital. The farmers producing olives for oil have had better luck with machine harvesting because they are less concerned about the physical appearance of the fruit, which will be crushed. Both say even a pittance of the money being sent to Morocco could help them develop new technologies to strengthen their hold in the market.
Frustrated by hardships, longtime olive farmers are ripping out their ancient trees in favor of other crops. Last week, John Erickson, a third-generation olive grower in Orland, pulled out 20 acres of olives to plant walnuts.
"This Millennium thing tipped me over the edge," said Erickson, who like most of the growers only recently learned of the subsidies.
Two weeks ago, he, Silveira, Burreson and two members of the olive processing industry formed a delegation and went to Washington to meet with Millennium officials.
"We were greeted with blank stares," Burreson said. "I don't think they realized that we even grew olives in California."
Erickson's family, which came to Northern California to farm 100 years ago, has been growing them since the 1920s. They also have 1,100 acres of almond trees. So Erickson is not too thrilled that the federal government is subsidizing Morocco's almond crop as well.
But California almond growers, whose 2010 crop was valued at $2.8 billion, stand on firmer ground than the state's olive farmers, whose bumper crop last year of $113.3 million still pales in comparison.
Erickson's 27-year-old son wants to uphold the family's olive legacy by keeping 100 acres of his family's orchards. But like many olive growers who have decided to throw in the towel, Erickson has been slowly tearing out his other groves.
Shrinking orchards -
The number of orchards in the state has shrunk by 38 percent in the last 10 to 12 years, said Hester of the growers council. Last year, California had 33,000 acres that yielded olives, according to the USDA. Twenty years ago there were eight processing plants that employed as many as 500 people each. Now there are only two - Musco in Tracy and Orland and Bel-Carter Foods in Orland.
There was a time when olive farming was profitable, Erickson said. But by the 1990s, the European Union was heavily subsidizing the olive trade there and it was getting more difficult to compete, especially in the institutional food market. Large chains used to buy California black ripe olives in bulk to serve on pizzas, tacos and sandwiches. Now places such as Subway say they're using Moroccan and Spanish olives. Morocco, which has a free-trade agreement with the United States, can afford to sell a case of its olives for $10 to $12 less than the U.S.-grown products, Burreson said.
Growers estimate that Moroccan table olives account for almost 35 percent of the U.S. market share. Moroccan exports of olives, almonds, dates and figs to the United States rose to 15,633 tons in 2010, nearly 20 percent of its total, according to the Global Trade Atlas.
"We were already at a disadvantage," Burreson said. "We at least need a level playing field."
2011-09-23 Letters to the editor of the "San Francisco Chronicle"
by Anita McCreery, Palo Alto:
Our government makes it easy for companies to take their business (and thus jobs) overseas.
Now we read ("Slicing up olive industry," Sept. 18) that our government is giving Morocco hundreds of millions of dollars for its olive growers while growers in this country are plowing under their olive trees because they cannot compete with the subsidized products that we are supporting in Morocco.
And of course, our growers don't get any government help. We already know that China subsidizes its solar industry, which has driven parts of our industry into bankruptcy. Whose side is our government on, anyway?
"Olive glut" by Bill McFarland, president, California Olive Association, Sacramento:
As described in the Sept. 18 article in The Chronicle, the California olive industry has been competing for many years with cheap imports from Europe and Africa.
receiving generous government subsidies.
The flood of cheap products into the United States has caused thousands of acres of olive trees to be removed in California, hurting growers and processors.
The U.S. government, under the auspices of the Millennium Challenge Corporation, is further eroding the prospects for California producers by giving millions of dollars to Morocco to help develop and expand its olive industry.
Morocco already has a significant share of the U.S. table olive market, and thanks to Uncle Sam, there will be 150,000 acres of new olive groves in Morocco to compete directly with small family farms in California.
The inevitable result of this folly will be a glut of olives in the world market that will, perversely, not help the intended beneficiaries - the Moroccan farmers. The California Olive Association hopes that the U.S. government will cease utilizing taxpayer dollars in programs that will lead to the demise of U.S. industries.
"Imperialism" by Laurens Garlington, San Francisco:
Your article on the ruinous federally subsidized competition to California's olive industry explains why working Californians are turning to Ron Paul's principled battle against federal imperialism.
[http://articles.sfgate.com/2011-09-18/news/30171080_1_olive-growers-council-adin-hester-olive-crop]
The biggest threat to California's historic olive industry isn't the bad weather, disease, prohibitive harvesting costs and fierce competition already taking their toll, growers say: It's the federal government.
The United States has promised Morocco - one of California's main competitors - hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to stimulate agriculture in that country, including rehabilitating its more than 1 million acres of existing olive trees and planting 150,000 additional acres. This while California, the only state to commercially produce olives, has been battling Morocco and Spain for the black table-olive and olive-oil markets in this country for more than a decade, local growers said.
"We're struggling to survive, only to find out that our own country is subsidizing the very place that could put us out of business," said Dennis Burreson, who with his three sons has 500 acres of Manzanillo and Sevillano table-olive trees in Orland (Glenn County). He hopes that his grandchildren will someday run the farm, but worries that California olive growers could be a dying breed.
By now, his trees should be weighed down with fruit. But spring rains and winds destroyed much of California's olive crop this year; the U.S. Department of Agriculture predicts the harvest will be down 67 percent. Although olive trees are alternate-bearing, that is, they yield a robust harvest only every other year, this will be one of the worst years for growers in recent history, said Adin Hester, president of the Olive Growers Council of California.
As Burreson walked through his Orland groves recently, he wondered whether the cost of picking the fruit was even worth it. But if he leaves it on the trees to rot, it might attract the dreaded olive fruit fly, which could be lethal. In the meantime, an abundance of highly subsidized and lower-priced olives and oil are being imported and inundating the U.S. market, he said.
Burreson knows that life as a farmer is never easy, but he said he never thought his own country would work against him.
Foreign aid -
In 2004, Congress created the Millennium Challenge Corp., a foreign aid agency headed by the secretary of state, to help developing countries reduce poverty. Since its inception, the agency has authorized grants totaling more than $7 billion to help 23 African and Latin American countries.
In 2007 the agency agreed to give Morocco $697.5 million over five years to improve the country's employment rate and salaries by investing in its fruit-tree farms, small-scale fisheries and artisan crafts, according to Millennium. Nearly half of that money - $320 million - is earmarked for the Fruit Tree Productivity Project, with 80 percent of the cash going to olives and the rest to improve date, fig and almond production. Dates, figs and almonds are also key California crops.
Patrick Fine, who oversees such agreements as Millennium's vice president of compact operations, said he does not believe that the investment in Morocco will harm California producers. The project, he said, is designed to help poor rural families increase their incomes and to help develop a strong ally in an important region in the world.
Not meeting demand -
"I sympathize with the point of view of the California olive growers," Fine said, adding that Millennium did research to determine whether the compact with Morocco would adversely affect growers here and found that California table olives were meeting only 50 percent of U.S. demand, and local olive oil only 2 percent. "We never want (Millennium's) investments to compete with America."
Furthermore, he said, Morocco's new trees won't start producing at a commercial level for another two to three years. And when they do, the fruit will be used for olive oil and sold to Spain and other European countries, he said.
But table-olive growers argue that Morocco's Picholine olive is dual use - for eating and oil - and is already glutting the American institutional food market. The oil-olive growers say there's no question it will hurt their business because oil sold to Spain is often refined there and later sold as virgin or extra virgin in the United States.
"It's disturbing," said Brendon Flynn, president of the California Olive Oil Council. "It's difficult enough competing with countries that are being subsidized by their own (governments). Now we have to compete with foreign countries being subsidized by our own country."
Reps. Wally Herger, R-Marysville (Yuba County), and Devin Nunes, R-Alpaugh (Tulare County) have contacted Millennium, concerned that their olive-grower constituents are getting a raw deal.
"U.S.-led efforts, however well-intended, to strengthen another country's economy should not come at the expense of American farmers - particularly when funded by their own tax dollars," Herger said in an e-mail, adding that he's worried that Millennium's efforts to reduce poverty in Morocco might weaken California's olive industry and undermine job creation.
As of June 30, Morocco had received nearly $94.5 million toward the tree project, Fine said. California growers said they've received nothing.
Although California is the top-producing agricultural state in the nation - $37.5 billion last year, according to the California Department of Food and Agriculture - 93 percent of the state's crops, including olives, dates, figs and almonds, are ineligible for subsidies.
'Game-changer' -
"If we even got a few million of what our government is giving Morocco for their olives, it could be a game-changer for us," said Michael Silveira, who, like the majority of Northern California's table-olive growers, has a small - 36 acres - family-run operation.
Over the past 30 years, table-olive growers have invested millions of dollars trying to mechanically harvest their trees. Because of the fragility of the fruit, the olives are traditionally hand-picked. But growers said they're closing in on new mechanical methods that will save money and labor - they just need capital. The farmers producing olives for oil have had better luck with machine harvesting because they are less concerned about the physical appearance of the fruit, which will be crushed. Both say even a pittance of the money being sent to Morocco could help them develop new technologies to strengthen their hold in the market.
Frustrated by hardships, longtime olive farmers are ripping out their ancient trees in favor of other crops. Last week, John Erickson, a third-generation olive grower in Orland, pulled out 20 acres of olives to plant walnuts.
"This Millennium thing tipped me over the edge," said Erickson, who like most of the growers only recently learned of the subsidies.
Two weeks ago, he, Silveira, Burreson and two members of the olive processing industry formed a delegation and went to Washington to meet with Millennium officials.
"We were greeted with blank stares," Burreson said. "I don't think they realized that we even grew olives in California."
Erickson's family, which came to Northern California to farm 100 years ago, has been growing them since the 1920s. They also have 1,100 acres of almond trees. So Erickson is not too thrilled that the federal government is subsidizing Morocco's almond crop as well.
But California almond growers, whose 2010 crop was valued at $2.8 billion, stand on firmer ground than the state's olive farmers, whose bumper crop last year of $113.3 million still pales in comparison.
Erickson's 27-year-old son wants to uphold the family's olive legacy by keeping 100 acres of his family's orchards. But like many olive growers who have decided to throw in the towel, Erickson has been slowly tearing out his other groves.
Shrinking orchards -
The number of orchards in the state has shrunk by 38 percent in the last 10 to 12 years, said Hester of the growers council. Last year, California had 33,000 acres that yielded olives, according to the USDA. Twenty years ago there were eight processing plants that employed as many as 500 people each. Now there are only two - Musco in Tracy and Orland and Bel-Carter Foods in Orland.
There was a time when olive farming was profitable, Erickson said. But by the 1990s, the European Union was heavily subsidizing the olive trade there and it was getting more difficult to compete, especially in the institutional food market. Large chains used to buy California black ripe olives in bulk to serve on pizzas, tacos and sandwiches. Now places such as Subway say they're using Moroccan and Spanish olives. Morocco, which has a free-trade agreement with the United States, can afford to sell a case of its olives for $10 to $12 less than the U.S.-grown products, Burreson said.
Growers estimate that Moroccan table olives account for almost 35 percent of the U.S. market share. Moroccan exports of olives, almonds, dates and figs to the United States rose to 15,633 tons in 2010, nearly 20 percent of its total, according to the Global Trade Atlas.
"We were already at a disadvantage," Burreson said. "We at least need a level playing field."
2011-09-23 Letters to the editor of the "San Francisco Chronicle"
by Anita McCreery, Palo Alto:
Our government makes it easy for companies to take their business (and thus jobs) overseas.
Now we read ("Slicing up olive industry," Sept. 18) that our government is giving Morocco hundreds of millions of dollars for its olive growers while growers in this country are plowing under their olive trees because they cannot compete with the subsidized products that we are supporting in Morocco.
And of course, our growers don't get any government help. We already know that China subsidizes its solar industry, which has driven parts of our industry into bankruptcy. Whose side is our government on, anyway?
"Olive glut" by Bill McFarland, president, California Olive Association, Sacramento:
As described in the Sept. 18 article in The Chronicle, the California olive industry has been competing for many years with cheap imports from Europe and Africa.
receiving generous government subsidies.
The flood of cheap products into the United States has caused thousands of acres of olive trees to be removed in California, hurting growers and processors.
The U.S. government, under the auspices of the Millennium Challenge Corporation, is further eroding the prospects for California producers by giving millions of dollars to Morocco to help develop and expand its olive industry.
Morocco already has a significant share of the U.S. table olive market, and thanks to Uncle Sam, there will be 150,000 acres of new olive groves in Morocco to compete directly with small family farms in California.
The inevitable result of this folly will be a glut of olives in the world market that will, perversely, not help the intended beneficiaries - the Moroccan farmers. The California Olive Association hopes that the U.S. government will cease utilizing taxpayer dollars in programs that will lead to the demise of U.S. industries.
"Imperialism" by Laurens Garlington, San Francisco:
Your article on the ruinous federally subsidized competition to California's olive industry explains why working Californians are turning to Ron Paul's principled battle against federal imperialism.
Friday, September 16, 2011
Federal Fascists attack the Peoples' Army in California!!!
2011-09-16
URGENT PEOPLE’S ANNOUNCEMENT!!! GENERAL T.A.C.O. OF THE BLACK RIDERS LIBERATION PARTY HAS BEEN CAPTURED!!!
Reposting this in solidarity with my comrades in the Los Angeles-area Black Riders Liberation Party.
—————————————————————————————
AT APPROXIMATELY 6PM SEPTEMBER 15TH 2011 GENERAL T.A.C.O. OF THE BLACK RIDERS LIBERATION PARTY WAS CAPTURED FOR ALLEGEDLY VIOLATING HIS PAROLE.
THE SUPPOSED VIOLATION WAS DUE TO THE FACT THAT THE TERMS OF HIS PAROLE ARE FASCIST AND STATE THAT HE IS NOT ALLOWED TO BE NEAR OR IN THE COMPANY OF ANY KNOWN MEMBERS OF THE BLACK RIDERS LIBERATION PARTY.
THIS IS A VIOLATION OF NOT ONLY THE RIGHTS SUPPOSEDLY GUARANTEED IN THE CONSTITUTION, BUT HIS HUMAN RIGHTS AS WELL.
WHO IS THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO TELL YOU WHO YOU CAN CAN’T BE AROUND?
THE TRUTH IS THE BRLP HAS BEEN ORGANIZING MANY PRISON CHAPTERS THROUGH OUT THE UNITED SNAKES OF AMERIKKKA AND HAS HAD MANY MEMBERS INVOLVED WITH THE HUNGER STRIKE IN PELICAN BAY, BOTH BEHIND THE WALLS AND ON THE STREETS.
THIS IS THE REASON WHY GENERAL T.A.C.O. HAS BEEN CAPTURED.
THIS IS AN ATTEMPT TO NEUTRALIZE THE GROWING MOVEMENT BY SUPPRESSING KNOWN LEADERS. JUST LIKE WHEN THE STATE CAPTURED GENERAL T.A.C.O.
THE DAY BEFORE THE VERDICT OF ASSASSIN KKKILLER COP JOHANES MEHSERLE. MORE THAN LIKELY TO PREVENT HIM FROM BEING ON THE STREETS FEARING THAT WHAT HAPPENED IN OAKLAND (RIOT/REBELLIONS) MIGHT POUR INTO LA (ESPECIALLY WITH THE UNJUST VERDICT THEY GAVE).
THIS WICKED STRIKE BY THE OPPRESSOR MUST NOT GO BY UN PUNISHED AND/OR UNCOUNTERED.
ONE REASON IS BECAUSE IF WE ALLOW THE STATE TO CAPTURE AND HOLD GENERAL T.A.C.O. THEN WE WILL BE PASSIVE AGENTS IN THE PRECURSOR TO OUR OWN DEMISE.
MEANING WE ARE ABOUT TO LET OUR ENEMY SHOW US HOW THEY FINA BEAT ALL OUR ASSES BEFORE THEY DO IT AND WE STILL ALLOW THEM TO DO IT.
IF WE STUDY THE HISTORY OF COINTELPRO WE WILL KNOW THAT WHAT IS DONE TO TARGETED INSURGENTS IS SOON AFTER DONE TO THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY ON A MASSIVE SCALE. I.E. CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL WARFARE (CRACK/AIDS), TRIBALISM, THE PRISON INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX, ETC.
THESE THINGS HAPPENED PARTLY BECAUSE WE AS A COMMUNITY ALLOWED OUR ENEMY TO INFILTRATE AND DIVIDE AND CONQUER US UNTIL THE MOVEMENT WAS NEUTRALIZED WITH THE LEADERS DEAD, INCARCERATED OR IN HIDING.
I AM CERTAIN THIS IS WHAT WILL HAPPEN AGAIN IF WE KEEP ALLOWING OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS TO BE LEGALLY LYNCHED, ESPECIALLY FOR THEIR POLITICAL AND/OR SPIRITUAL BELIEF’S.
WE MUST REALIZE THE REAL REASON GENERAL T.A.C.O., DHANIFU KARIM BEY AND GHETTO PROPHET WERE CAPTURED IN THE AFTERMATH OF THE IN HUMANE MEHSERLE VERDICT.
WE MUST SEE THE REAL REASON WHY LAWS ARE PASSED TO PREVENT PRISONERS FROM USING FACEBOOK WHEN THE ATTENTION ON THE PRISON STRUGGLE IS RE RISING.
THE REASON IS BECAUSE THE UNITED SNAKES GOVERNMENT; WHETHER FEDERAL, LOCAL OR INTERNATIONAL WILL DO EVERYTHING IN IT’S POWER TO SEE THAT BLACK AND OPPRESSED PEOPLE REMAIN 21ST CENTURY SLAVES.
THIS MEANS THEY HAVE BEEN AND WILL CONTINUE TO VIOLATE OUR SO CALLED CIVIL AND GOD GIVEN HUMAN RIGHTS….. UNLESS WE PUT AN END TO IT!
WE ARE ORGANIZING TO FREE GENERAL T.A.C.O. AND COUNTER THE STATE’S REPRESSIVE MEASURE’S WITH UNITY, STRATEGY, DISCIPLINE AND INTENSITY.
WE NEED ALL SUPPORTERS OF FREE SPEECH, FREEDOM FIGHTERS AND ALL COMMUNITY MEMBERS AGAINST THE GENOCIDE OF THE AFRIKAN DIASPORA TO SPREAD THE WORD THAT “GENERAL T.A.C.O. HAS BEEN CAPTURED BY THE PIGS AND WE DEMAND THAT HE BE FREE’D AND RELEASED BACK INTO THE BLACK COMMUNITY WITHOUT THE GPS TRACKING DEVICE AROUND HIS LEG.”
WE MUST DEFEND OURSELVES AGAINST THIS RACIST AGGRESSOR WITH A VARIETY OF DISCIPLINED STRIKES. WHEN OUR GENERAL IS BEING ATTACKED THE BRLP IS BEING ATTACKED!
WHEN THE BRLP IS BEING ATTACK THE AFRIKAN COMMUNITY IS BEING ATTACKED!
AND WHEN THE AFRIKAN COMMUNITY IS BEING ATTACKED HUMANITY IS BEING ATTACKED!
WE WILL HAVE MORE DETAILS ON THIS CASE AND STRATEGIES TO FREE GENERAL T.A.C.O. AND ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS.
FREE GENERAL T.A.C.O, FREE DHANIFU KARIM BEY AKA LIL BUNCHY CARTER, FREE GHETTO PROPHET, FREE MUMIA, FREE LENARD PELTIER, SUPPORT THE COMRADES IN THE PELICAN BAYHUNGER STRIKE AND END THE SHU PROGRAM!!! ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE.
THE BLACK RIDERS LIBERATION PARTY IS NOT A NON PROFIT.
WE ARE A GRASSROOTS REVOLUTIONARY ORGANIZATION IN THE BLACK COMMUNITY THAT SURVIVES OFF THE SPIRIT, PENNIES NICKLES, DIMES, BLOOD, SWEAT AND TEARS OF THE COMMUNITY.
WE ARE IN DESPERATE NEED OF RESOURCES IN ORDER TO CORRECTLY FIGHT TO FREE THE GENERAL AND CONTINUE THE DAILY STRUGGLE FOR LIBERATION.
WE ARE IN DESPERATE NEED OF FUNDS AND LEGAL RESOURCES TO DEFEND THE GENERAL AND THE MOVEMENT FROM THE COMING STORM.
TO DONATE, SUPPORT, ORGANIZE A SPEAKING ENGAGEMENT WITH THE BLACK RIDERS LIBERATION PARTY EMAIL US AT [blackriderslp@yahoo.com] OR [shangoabiola@gmail.com].
ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE WHO DON’T FEAR FREEDOM!
URGENT PEOPLE’S ANNOUNCEMENT!!! GENERAL T.A.C.O. OF THE BLACK RIDERS LIBERATION PARTY HAS BEEN CAPTURED!!!
Reposting this in solidarity with my comrades in the Los Angeles-area Black Riders Liberation Party.
—————————————————————————————
AT APPROXIMATELY 6PM SEPTEMBER 15TH 2011 GENERAL T.A.C.O. OF THE BLACK RIDERS LIBERATION PARTY WAS CAPTURED FOR ALLEGEDLY VIOLATING HIS PAROLE.
THE SUPPOSED VIOLATION WAS DUE TO THE FACT THAT THE TERMS OF HIS PAROLE ARE FASCIST AND STATE THAT HE IS NOT ALLOWED TO BE NEAR OR IN THE COMPANY OF ANY KNOWN MEMBERS OF THE BLACK RIDERS LIBERATION PARTY.
THIS IS A VIOLATION OF NOT ONLY THE RIGHTS SUPPOSEDLY GUARANTEED IN THE CONSTITUTION, BUT HIS HUMAN RIGHTS AS WELL.
WHO IS THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO TELL YOU WHO YOU CAN CAN’T BE AROUND?
THE TRUTH IS THE BRLP HAS BEEN ORGANIZING MANY PRISON CHAPTERS THROUGH OUT THE UNITED SNAKES OF AMERIKKKA AND HAS HAD MANY MEMBERS INVOLVED WITH THE HUNGER STRIKE IN PELICAN BAY, BOTH BEHIND THE WALLS AND ON THE STREETS.
THIS IS THE REASON WHY GENERAL T.A.C.O. HAS BEEN CAPTURED.
THIS IS AN ATTEMPT TO NEUTRALIZE THE GROWING MOVEMENT BY SUPPRESSING KNOWN LEADERS. JUST LIKE WHEN THE STATE CAPTURED GENERAL T.A.C.O.
THE DAY BEFORE THE VERDICT OF ASSASSIN KKKILLER COP JOHANES MEHSERLE. MORE THAN LIKELY TO PREVENT HIM FROM BEING ON THE STREETS FEARING THAT WHAT HAPPENED IN OAKLAND (RIOT/REBELLIONS) MIGHT POUR INTO LA (ESPECIALLY WITH THE UNJUST VERDICT THEY GAVE).
THIS WICKED STRIKE BY THE OPPRESSOR MUST NOT GO BY UN PUNISHED AND/OR UNCOUNTERED.
ONE REASON IS BECAUSE IF WE ALLOW THE STATE TO CAPTURE AND HOLD GENERAL T.A.C.O. THEN WE WILL BE PASSIVE AGENTS IN THE PRECURSOR TO OUR OWN DEMISE.
MEANING WE ARE ABOUT TO LET OUR ENEMY SHOW US HOW THEY FINA BEAT ALL OUR ASSES BEFORE THEY DO IT AND WE STILL ALLOW THEM TO DO IT.
IF WE STUDY THE HISTORY OF COINTELPRO WE WILL KNOW THAT WHAT IS DONE TO TARGETED INSURGENTS IS SOON AFTER DONE TO THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY ON A MASSIVE SCALE. I.E. CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL WARFARE (CRACK/AIDS), TRIBALISM, THE PRISON INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX, ETC.
THESE THINGS HAPPENED PARTLY BECAUSE WE AS A COMMUNITY ALLOWED OUR ENEMY TO INFILTRATE AND DIVIDE AND CONQUER US UNTIL THE MOVEMENT WAS NEUTRALIZED WITH THE LEADERS DEAD, INCARCERATED OR IN HIDING.
I AM CERTAIN THIS IS WHAT WILL HAPPEN AGAIN IF WE KEEP ALLOWING OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS TO BE LEGALLY LYNCHED, ESPECIALLY FOR THEIR POLITICAL AND/OR SPIRITUAL BELIEF’S.
WE MUST REALIZE THE REAL REASON GENERAL T.A.C.O., DHANIFU KARIM BEY AND GHETTO PROPHET WERE CAPTURED IN THE AFTERMATH OF THE IN HUMANE MEHSERLE VERDICT.
WE MUST SEE THE REAL REASON WHY LAWS ARE PASSED TO PREVENT PRISONERS FROM USING FACEBOOK WHEN THE ATTENTION ON THE PRISON STRUGGLE IS RE RISING.
THE REASON IS BECAUSE THE UNITED SNAKES GOVERNMENT; WHETHER FEDERAL, LOCAL OR INTERNATIONAL WILL DO EVERYTHING IN IT’S POWER TO SEE THAT BLACK AND OPPRESSED PEOPLE REMAIN 21ST CENTURY SLAVES.
THIS MEANS THEY HAVE BEEN AND WILL CONTINUE TO VIOLATE OUR SO CALLED CIVIL AND GOD GIVEN HUMAN RIGHTS….. UNLESS WE PUT AN END TO IT!
WE ARE ORGANIZING TO FREE GENERAL T.A.C.O. AND COUNTER THE STATE’S REPRESSIVE MEASURE’S WITH UNITY, STRATEGY, DISCIPLINE AND INTENSITY.
WE NEED ALL SUPPORTERS OF FREE SPEECH, FREEDOM FIGHTERS AND ALL COMMUNITY MEMBERS AGAINST THE GENOCIDE OF THE AFRIKAN DIASPORA TO SPREAD THE WORD THAT “GENERAL T.A.C.O. HAS BEEN CAPTURED BY THE PIGS AND WE DEMAND THAT HE BE FREE’D AND RELEASED BACK INTO THE BLACK COMMUNITY WITHOUT THE GPS TRACKING DEVICE AROUND HIS LEG.”
WE MUST DEFEND OURSELVES AGAINST THIS RACIST AGGRESSOR WITH A VARIETY OF DISCIPLINED STRIKES. WHEN OUR GENERAL IS BEING ATTACKED THE BRLP IS BEING ATTACKED!
WHEN THE BRLP IS BEING ATTACK THE AFRIKAN COMMUNITY IS BEING ATTACKED!
AND WHEN THE AFRIKAN COMMUNITY IS BEING ATTACKED HUMANITY IS BEING ATTACKED!
WE WILL HAVE MORE DETAILS ON THIS CASE AND STRATEGIES TO FREE GENERAL T.A.C.O. AND ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS.
FREE GENERAL T.A.C.O, FREE DHANIFU KARIM BEY AKA LIL BUNCHY CARTER, FREE GHETTO PROPHET, FREE MUMIA, FREE LENARD PELTIER, SUPPORT THE COMRADES IN THE PELICAN BAYHUNGER STRIKE AND END THE SHU PROGRAM!!! ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE.
THE BLACK RIDERS LIBERATION PARTY IS NOT A NON PROFIT.
WE ARE A GRASSROOTS REVOLUTIONARY ORGANIZATION IN THE BLACK COMMUNITY THAT SURVIVES OFF THE SPIRIT, PENNIES NICKLES, DIMES, BLOOD, SWEAT AND TEARS OF THE COMMUNITY.
WE ARE IN DESPERATE NEED OF RESOURCES IN ORDER TO CORRECTLY FIGHT TO FREE THE GENERAL AND CONTINUE THE DAILY STRUGGLE FOR LIBERATION.
WE ARE IN DESPERATE NEED OF FUNDS AND LEGAL RESOURCES TO DEFEND THE GENERAL AND THE MOVEMENT FROM THE COMING STORM.
TO DONATE, SUPPORT, ORGANIZE A SPEAKING ENGAGEMENT WITH THE BLACK RIDERS LIBERATION PARTY EMAIL US AT [blackriderslp@yahoo.com] OR [shangoabiola@gmail.com].
ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE WHO DON’T FEAR FREEDOM!
2011-09-16 "Long Beach protesters rally against pot cases" by Tracy Manzer from "Long Beach Press-Telegram" newspaper
[http://www.presstelegram.com/rss/ci_18904549?source=rss]
LONG BEACH - Close to 100 protesters gathered outside the Long Beach Courthouse on Thursday morning with wheelchairs, walkers and little green ribbons.
Shouting slogans like "No jail for a plant" and "Legalize not legal lies," the group rallied for several hours in support of Joe Grumbine and Joe Byron, former operators of medical marijuana collectives in Long Beach and Garden Grove who were inside the courthouse for pretrial motions.
Grumbine and Byron are charged with 13 felony counts for illegal sales of marijuana following a December 2009 raid of their clinics, a charge they dispute under Proposition 215, the state's medical marijuana law.
"Forty years ago tens of thousands of people marched on Washington to protest ... the draft," Grumbine said to the large group assembled outside the courthouse.
"That's starting to happen again ... no one should go to jail for growing a plant."
Among those who came to show their support for the pair were attorneys, military veterans, elderly patients and hip urban youths. They drove from as far north as Kern County and as far south as San Diego.
"We're going to unite the people to change the laws in Long Beach like we have in Kern County," California Clemency Project founder Jeff Clark declared over a bullhorn. "It is the law and we are patients and we are voters."
Clark wore a neon green and black shirt with a marijuana-leaf motif. Pinned to his chest, and all the other protesters' shirts, was a green ribbon with a small red cross in the center. The wiry veteran vowed the protests, and his work in writing clemency petitions, will not stop until the arrests cease.
"Don't piss off a bipolar Vietnam vet with a bullhorn," he said.
Event organizers said another 40 people were in the courtroom to show their support for the defendants during the motions hearing.
Attorneys for both sides of the case are scheduled to return to the court next Thursday for another pretrial conference. The trial is tentatively scheduled for mid-November, Grumbine said.
"That gives us more than a month and a half to organize," he said.
Stephanie Landa, founder of the Landa Prison Outreach Program for people convicted in medical marijuana cases, was there to help organize the rally.
She said she recently served four years in prison for a federal conviction for running a clinic in San Francisco, a clinic she said she operated with the permission of local authorities.
"I'm 65 so it wasn't cool," Landa said of her time behind bars.
"We're not criminals, we are following state law," she added. "We just want justice."
A group of protestors in favor of medical marijuana rallied outside the Long Beach Superior Courthouse Thursday morning. (Brittany Murray / Staff Photographer)
[http://www.presstelegram.com/rss/ci_18904549?source=rss]
LONG BEACH - Close to 100 protesters gathered outside the Long Beach Courthouse on Thursday morning with wheelchairs, walkers and little green ribbons.
Shouting slogans like "No jail for a plant" and "Legalize not legal lies," the group rallied for several hours in support of Joe Grumbine and Joe Byron, former operators of medical marijuana collectives in Long Beach and Garden Grove who were inside the courthouse for pretrial motions.
Grumbine and Byron are charged with 13 felony counts for illegal sales of marijuana following a December 2009 raid of their clinics, a charge they dispute under Proposition 215, the state's medical marijuana law.
"Forty years ago tens of thousands of people marched on Washington to protest ... the draft," Grumbine said to the large group assembled outside the courthouse.
"That's starting to happen again ... no one should go to jail for growing a plant."
Among those who came to show their support for the pair were attorneys, military veterans, elderly patients and hip urban youths. They drove from as far north as Kern County and as far south as San Diego.
"We're going to unite the people to change the laws in Long Beach like we have in Kern County," California Clemency Project founder Jeff Clark declared over a bullhorn. "It is the law and we are patients and we are voters."
Clark wore a neon green and black shirt with a marijuana-leaf motif. Pinned to his chest, and all the other protesters' shirts, was a green ribbon with a small red cross in the center. The wiry veteran vowed the protests, and his work in writing clemency petitions, will not stop until the arrests cease.
"Don't piss off a bipolar Vietnam vet with a bullhorn," he said.
Event organizers said another 40 people were in the courtroom to show their support for the defendants during the motions hearing.
Attorneys for both sides of the case are scheduled to return to the court next Thursday for another pretrial conference. The trial is tentatively scheduled for mid-November, Grumbine said.
"That gives us more than a month and a half to organize," he said.
Stephanie Landa, founder of the Landa Prison Outreach Program for people convicted in medical marijuana cases, was there to help organize the rally.
She said she recently served four years in prison for a federal conviction for running a clinic in San Francisco, a clinic she said she operated with the permission of local authorities.
"I'm 65 so it wasn't cool," Landa said of her time behind bars.
"We're not criminals, we are following state law," she added. "We just want justice."
A group of protestors in favor of medical marijuana rallied outside the Long Beach Superior Courthouse Thursday morning. (Brittany Murray / Staff Photographer)
Thursday, September 15, 2011
2011-09-15 "Free speech and gun bill" letter to the editor of "San Francisco Chronicle" by John Ambrose from Milpitas
[http://articles.sfgate.com/2011-09-15/opinion/30158308_1_nanny-state-frogs-feinstein]
I was surprised that The Chronicle supported ending my First Amendment rights of freedom of speech and freedom of assembly in suggesting that Gov. Jerry Brown sign AB144, the open-carry ban ("Guidance for the governor," Editorial, Sept. 13).
Open carry is the way to get the message out that gun owners are normal looking and are everywhere. An unloaded gun has little to do with the Second Amendment.
I would have hoped The Chronicle's love of the First Amendment would have it suggest a veto of AB144, as I am suggesting to our governor.
[http://articles.sfgate.com/2011-09-15/opinion/30158308_1_nanny-state-frogs-feinstein]
I was surprised that The Chronicle supported ending my First Amendment rights of freedom of speech and freedom of assembly in suggesting that Gov. Jerry Brown sign AB144, the open-carry ban ("Guidance for the governor," Editorial, Sept. 13).
Open carry is the way to get the message out that gun owners are normal looking and are everywhere. An unloaded gun has little to do with the Second Amendment.
I would have hoped The Chronicle's love of the First Amendment would have it suggest a veto of AB144, as I am suggesting to our governor.
2011-09-15 ""Smart" Meter Installer Assaults Resident Protecting his Home" by J Hart
[http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2011/09/15/18690421.php]
A man living on Chestnut St. in Santa Cruz was assaulted and had his camera broken yesterday by a "smart" meter installer working for Wellington Energy, PG&E's contractors.
Editor's Note: You have the right to demand that any installer leave your property and they are compelled to do so by law. If they refuse, you can call the police and report a trespasser. These are your basic property rights, whether you are an apartment dweller, a homeowner or a worker at a business.
Read his report below:
---
This account came in this morning and it is very alarming. It's clear that PG&E is getting desperate and is resorting to physical violence to force their meters into our communities. Alan is currently at the police station filing a police report about this incident. We must come together and refuse to go along with these illegal, violent installations.
Today, September 14, 2011 - Alan Fischer Chestnut St, Santa Cruz, CA
SMART METER INSTALLATION -
I received a ring on my doorbell at about 10:45 AM and when I went outside I realized that a technician from Wellington corporation (working for PG&E) was already installing "smart" meters on my building which is only several feet from where I sleep. He was working rapidly and would not stop to acknowledge me throughout most of our interaction. I told him that I am disabled and had been assured when I talked to PGE representatives that I could "opt out", at least temporarily, from having smart meters replaced on my building until a later date, if at all, (which I understood meant the whole building, but now am told that what I was told was incorrect.) I informed that although I was upset about the violation of my rights and well-being that I knew he was just a worker and did not consider him my enemy.
I asked him to stop and consult with his manager or boss before continuing since it was my understanding that this installation would not happen at this time and I am extremely sensitive to EMF frequencies among other things which make me ill. He refused to stop and ridiculed my concerns. He commented that if anyone interfered with his work he was instructed to call the police. I requested he call the police and stop work until the police arrived. He ignored me and continued working. I then went inside and returned with my camera and took several pictures of him installing, along with my sign protesting such installation thrown on the ground. I then attempted to get a photo of his front showing his name badge. He immediately grabbed my camera and squashed it in his fist, breaking the lens out (the lens extends when on) and destroying it. He then shoved me on the right shoulder. My neighbor had arrived in the middle of this and I demanded my camera back and he gave it back. He did not apologize and continued with a menacing attitude. I demanded he call the police and said I would if he did not. He then called the police. I called a number for legal support in front of the technician and asked my neighbor to stay, hoping that would deter any further assault. The technician ridiculed me for using a cell phone.
POLICE COLLUSION -
When the police officer (Ken Deeg, Officer 135) arrived, I noted again my disability and request that the technician stop and call his boss or PG&E and that local ordinances legally prohibit smart meters. The officer said the legality issue had nothing to do with him and stated the technician was authorized to do everything he was doing. I asked to file a police report regarding my camera and the assault. He told me to leave so he could talk to the technician in private. After a lengthy consult, he then spoke with me and gave me his card. He recommended I not take action against the technician because the technician would also press charges and I "would lose." I asked if this meant if I did not press charges, the technician also would not and he agreed. He then pushed up close to me several times to demonstrate how I was in the "technicians space" apparently to indicate that I was at fault in this way. This was inappropriate, especially as he did not say, "the technician claims you did…" such and such, but seemed to take his side as truth without question. He was not interested in hearing details from me, only the technician. I am concerned because although he was generally professional, he seemed to be taking sides without investigating all the facts first and seemed to be already prejudiced against me or my position. Although I requested to file a report asking what I needed to do about three times, he left without that happening. When I called the police station later in the day, I was told I need to follow up with the same officer – possible case #7848, but am told this is probably the "installers case against me." Still haven't been able to file a report...
[http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2011/09/15/18690421.php]
A man living on Chestnut St. in Santa Cruz was assaulted and had his camera broken yesterday by a "smart" meter installer working for Wellington Energy, PG&E's contractors.
Editor's Note: You have the right to demand that any installer leave your property and they are compelled to do so by law. If they refuse, you can call the police and report a trespasser. These are your basic property rights, whether you are an apartment dweller, a homeowner or a worker at a business.
Read his report below:
---
This account came in this morning and it is very alarming. It's clear that PG&E is getting desperate and is resorting to physical violence to force their meters into our communities. Alan is currently at the police station filing a police report about this incident. We must come together and refuse to go along with these illegal, violent installations.
Today, September 14, 2011 - Alan Fischer Chestnut St, Santa Cruz, CA
SMART METER INSTALLATION -
I received a ring on my doorbell at about 10:45 AM and when I went outside I realized that a technician from Wellington corporation (working for PG&E) was already installing "smart" meters on my building which is only several feet from where I sleep. He was working rapidly and would not stop to acknowledge me throughout most of our interaction. I told him that I am disabled and had been assured when I talked to PGE representatives that I could "opt out", at least temporarily, from having smart meters replaced on my building until a later date, if at all, (which I understood meant the whole building, but now am told that what I was told was incorrect.) I informed that although I was upset about the violation of my rights and well-being that I knew he was just a worker and did not consider him my enemy.
I asked him to stop and consult with his manager or boss before continuing since it was my understanding that this installation would not happen at this time and I am extremely sensitive to EMF frequencies among other things which make me ill. He refused to stop and ridiculed my concerns. He commented that if anyone interfered with his work he was instructed to call the police. I requested he call the police and stop work until the police arrived. He ignored me and continued working. I then went inside and returned with my camera and took several pictures of him installing, along with my sign protesting such installation thrown on the ground. I then attempted to get a photo of his front showing his name badge. He immediately grabbed my camera and squashed it in his fist, breaking the lens out (the lens extends when on) and destroying it. He then shoved me on the right shoulder. My neighbor had arrived in the middle of this and I demanded my camera back and he gave it back. He did not apologize and continued with a menacing attitude. I demanded he call the police and said I would if he did not. He then called the police. I called a number for legal support in front of the technician and asked my neighbor to stay, hoping that would deter any further assault. The technician ridiculed me for using a cell phone.
POLICE COLLUSION -
When the police officer (Ken Deeg, Officer 135) arrived, I noted again my disability and request that the technician stop and call his boss or PG&E and that local ordinances legally prohibit smart meters. The officer said the legality issue had nothing to do with him and stated the technician was authorized to do everything he was doing. I asked to file a police report regarding my camera and the assault. He told me to leave so he could talk to the technician in private. After a lengthy consult, he then spoke with me and gave me his card. He recommended I not take action against the technician because the technician would also press charges and I "would lose." I asked if this meant if I did not press charges, the technician also would not and he agreed. He then pushed up close to me several times to demonstrate how I was in the "technicians space" apparently to indicate that I was at fault in this way. This was inappropriate, especially as he did not say, "the technician claims you did…" such and such, but seemed to take his side as truth without question. He was not interested in hearing details from me, only the technician. I am concerned because although he was generally professional, he seemed to be taking sides without investigating all the facts first and seemed to be already prejudiced against me or my position. Although I requested to file a report asking what I needed to do about three times, he left without that happening. When I called the police station later in the day, I was told I need to follow up with the same officer – possible case #7848, but am told this is probably the "installers case against me." Still haven't been able to file a report...
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Union Busters & Privatizers Sacramento Mayor Johnson, Rhee marry quietly in Tennessee
2011-09-07 "Union Busters & Privatizers Sacramento Mayor Johnson, Rhee marry quietly in Tennessee" by Ryan Lillis
[http://www.sacbee.com/2011/09/07/3889552/sacrramento-mayor-johnson-rhee.html#storylink=omni_popular]
It was the most anticipated union in recent Sacramento history. But in the end, Mayor Kevin Johnson slipped off to Tennessee and got married with barely a soul here even knowing.
Almost a year to the day after Johnson and education reform advocate Michelle Rhee had originally planned to wed in an elaborate affair, the couple were married Saturday in a small ceremony in Tennessee under a steady rain.
Joined by about 40 friends and relatives, the couple wed at the Blackberry Farm resort, tucked away in the Great Smoky Mountains and 2,500 miles from the backyard of Sacramento mega-developer Angelo K. Tsakopoulos, who had agreed to host the couple's wedding last September.
Even some of the mayor's closest aides were unaware of the plan. It wasn't until Tuesday morning, when the mayor showed up at City Hall wearing a wedding ring, that news of the nuptials began to leak out.
"We had a small ceremony with an intimate group of family and friends and are thrilled to be starting our lives together," Johnson said in an email to The Bee. "We want to thank everyone who has sent us well wishes, as we are so appreciative of the support."
The guest list included the mayor's mother, Georgia West, and some of his long-time advisers from before his days as mayor. Johnson's brother Ronnie West was the best man.
Rhee, 41, and Johnson, 45, decided on Blackberry Farm because they had spent a weekend there a few years back. Travel + Leisure magazine said the resort is "like a south of the Mason-Dixon Line edition of a Currier & Ives print: ribbons of white fences, a pond stocked with catfish, and houses constructed from Tennessee fieldstone."
The resort is also close to much of Rhee's family. Rhee, the former head of the Washington, D.C., school district, now runs an education advocacy organization based in Sacramento. But she splits her time between Nashville and Sacramento so her two daughters – Starr and Olivia – can be close to their father, Rhee's ex-husband, Kevin Huffman, the commissioner of Tennessee's Department of Education.
Officiating at the outdoor ceremony was Bishop Alexis Thomas, who was Johnson's pastor back when he played for the Phoenix Suns in the NBA.
The mayor wore a light-colored suit and Rhee wore a gown designed by Monique Lhuillier, a Los Angeles-based designer whose couture bridal creations cost as much as $10,000. It was the same dress Rhee had planned to wear when the couple first scheduled a much larger wedding for Sept. 4, 2010.
This time around, the couple opted to keep their plans a secret. There were no luxurious invitations wrapped in silver bows – and no media intrigue.
Instead, guests quietly flew out to Tennessee on Friday evening for a rehearsal dinner, followed by the Saturday ceremony. Guests departed after brunch on Sunday.
The secrecy is not surprising, given how closely Johnson guards his personal life, particularly his relationship with Rhee.
The couple had delayed their first wedding last year after a copy of the invitation was obtained by The Bee. At the time, Rhee and Johnson said they were surprised by the level of public interest in their plans.
As for the honeymoon, Johnson is keeping that a secret, saying he is planning the getaway now but plans to surprise Rhee.
[http://www.sacbee.com/2011/09/07/3889552/sacrramento-mayor-johnson-rhee.html#storylink=omni_popular]
It was the most anticipated union in recent Sacramento history. But in the end, Mayor Kevin Johnson slipped off to Tennessee and got married with barely a soul here even knowing.
Almost a year to the day after Johnson and education reform advocate Michelle Rhee had originally planned to wed in an elaborate affair, the couple were married Saturday in a small ceremony in Tennessee under a steady rain.
Joined by about 40 friends and relatives, the couple wed at the Blackberry Farm resort, tucked away in the Great Smoky Mountains and 2,500 miles from the backyard of Sacramento mega-developer Angelo K. Tsakopoulos, who had agreed to host the couple's wedding last September.
Even some of the mayor's closest aides were unaware of the plan. It wasn't until Tuesday morning, when the mayor showed up at City Hall wearing a wedding ring, that news of the nuptials began to leak out.
"We had a small ceremony with an intimate group of family and friends and are thrilled to be starting our lives together," Johnson said in an email to The Bee. "We want to thank everyone who has sent us well wishes, as we are so appreciative of the support."
The guest list included the mayor's mother, Georgia West, and some of his long-time advisers from before his days as mayor. Johnson's brother Ronnie West was the best man.
Rhee, 41, and Johnson, 45, decided on Blackberry Farm because they had spent a weekend there a few years back. Travel + Leisure magazine said the resort is "like a south of the Mason-Dixon Line edition of a Currier & Ives print: ribbons of white fences, a pond stocked with catfish, and houses constructed from Tennessee fieldstone."
The resort is also close to much of Rhee's family. Rhee, the former head of the Washington, D.C., school district, now runs an education advocacy organization based in Sacramento. But she splits her time between Nashville and Sacramento so her two daughters – Starr and Olivia – can be close to their father, Rhee's ex-husband, Kevin Huffman, the commissioner of Tennessee's Department of Education.
Officiating at the outdoor ceremony was Bishop Alexis Thomas, who was Johnson's pastor back when he played for the Phoenix Suns in the NBA.
The mayor wore a light-colored suit and Rhee wore a gown designed by Monique Lhuillier, a Los Angeles-based designer whose couture bridal creations cost as much as $10,000. It was the same dress Rhee had planned to wear when the couple first scheduled a much larger wedding for Sept. 4, 2010.
This time around, the couple opted to keep their plans a secret. There were no luxurious invitations wrapped in silver bows – and no media intrigue.
Instead, guests quietly flew out to Tennessee on Friday evening for a rehearsal dinner, followed by the Saturday ceremony. Guests departed after brunch on Sunday.
The secrecy is not surprising, given how closely Johnson guards his personal life, particularly his relationship with Rhee.
The couple had delayed their first wedding last year after a copy of the invitation was obtained by The Bee. At the time, Rhee and Johnson said they were surprised by the level of public interest in their plans.
As for the honeymoon, Johnson is keeping that a secret, saying he is planning the getaway now but plans to surprise Rhee.
Monday, September 5, 2011
2011-09-05 "CA Anti-Gay Ballot Effort Floundering?" by Steve W.
[http://www.care2.com/causes/ca-gay-education-act-ballot-effort-floundering.html]
Opponents of SB48, California’s new education law that would call on schools to fairly and accurately portray the historic contributions of LGBTs in the curriculum, have launched a ballot initiative to repeal the law because they say it is indoctrination. However, recent reports suggest their efforts may not be getting the backing from the big religious groups whose financial support they will need to put the law up for a public vote.
From the Associated Press:
[begin excerpt]
Organizers of the Stop SB48 campaign— Senate Bill 48 was the law approved by the California Legislature and signed by Gov. Jerry Brown in July — are telling would-be voters the new mandate would inappropriately expose young children to sex, infringe on parental rights and silence religion-based criticisms of homosexuality. Those are talking points successfully used by proponents of Proposition 8, the 2008 ballot measure that banned same-sex marriage in California.
But so far, Mormon and Catholic church leaders and conservative groups who spearheaded the Proposition 8 campaign have not joined the effort to qualify the gay history referendum for the June 2012 ballot, leaving less-experienced Christian conservatives to lead the charge without the organizational prowess and funding to hire paid signature gatherers.
Political operatives say they can’t recall any citizens’ initiative that made the state ballot without professional petition circulators in almost three decades.
“If someone wrote a million-dollar check, we would be guaranteed to get this on the ballot,” said Pacific Justice Institute President Brad Dacus, whose legal aid firm wrote the proposed measure and is co-sponsoring the signature-gathering effort. “That’s not the case at this point… We are counting on people in churches and communities and families making the extra effort to get it done.”
[end excerpt]
Governor Jerry Brown signed the Fair, Accurate, Inclusive and Respectful (FAIR) Education Act in July [http://www.care2.com/causes/gov-brown-signs-californias-lgbt-inclusive-fair-education-act.html].
The legislation is designed to address gaps in California’s current school textbooks. The FAIR Education Act amends California’s Education Code to include instruction on the contributions of LGBTs, disability rights advocates; racial justice organizations and many other groups who were important in the shaping of history yet have been left out of the curriculum.
The legislation also prohibits discriminatory instruction or discriminatory materials from being used by the State Board of Education. It is hoped that this legislation may also help to passively combat bullying as children learn that LGBTs and other minority groups are very much part of society and have been throughout history.
Groups opposing the legislation have fallen back on old anti-LGBT tactics of misinformation and misdirection, charging that the legislation will lead to the indoctrination of children, that it is costly at a time when the state cannot afford such changes (even though changes to textbooks won’t be made until 2014 at the earliest), and that the legislation is being used simply as a means to push a ‘liberal,’ ‘gay’ agenda in schools.
One such video campaign launched by the Family Research Council — a designated hate group known for its anti-gay agenda [http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-files/family-research-council] — has been taken to task for its buffet of untruths.
Knowing how powerful the “think of the children” meme proved to be where California’s Proposition 8 battle was concerned, the impetus for supporters of the law is now to point out the flaws and flat out lies in the anti-SB48 campaigns.
As such, below is a video made by SB48 supporter Sean Chapin where he goes through the Family Research Council campaign video point by point and explains how the religious conservative group is misleading its audience.
[http://www.care2.com/causes/ca-gay-education-act-ballot-effort-floundering.html]
Opponents of SB48, California’s new education law that would call on schools to fairly and accurately portray the historic contributions of LGBTs in the curriculum, have launched a ballot initiative to repeal the law because they say it is indoctrination. However, recent reports suggest their efforts may not be getting the backing from the big religious groups whose financial support they will need to put the law up for a public vote.
From the Associated Press:
[begin excerpt]
Organizers of the Stop SB48 campaign— Senate Bill 48 was the law approved by the California Legislature and signed by Gov. Jerry Brown in July — are telling would-be voters the new mandate would inappropriately expose young children to sex, infringe on parental rights and silence religion-based criticisms of homosexuality. Those are talking points successfully used by proponents of Proposition 8, the 2008 ballot measure that banned same-sex marriage in California.
But so far, Mormon and Catholic church leaders and conservative groups who spearheaded the Proposition 8 campaign have not joined the effort to qualify the gay history referendum for the June 2012 ballot, leaving less-experienced Christian conservatives to lead the charge without the organizational prowess and funding to hire paid signature gatherers.
Political operatives say they can’t recall any citizens’ initiative that made the state ballot without professional petition circulators in almost three decades.
“If someone wrote a million-dollar check, we would be guaranteed to get this on the ballot,” said Pacific Justice Institute President Brad Dacus, whose legal aid firm wrote the proposed measure and is co-sponsoring the signature-gathering effort. “That’s not the case at this point… We are counting on people in churches and communities and families making the extra effort to get it done.”
[end excerpt]
Governor Jerry Brown signed the Fair, Accurate, Inclusive and Respectful (FAIR) Education Act in July [http://www.care2.com/causes/gov-brown-signs-californias-lgbt-inclusive-fair-education-act.html].
The legislation is designed to address gaps in California’s current school textbooks. The FAIR Education Act amends California’s Education Code to include instruction on the contributions of LGBTs, disability rights advocates; racial justice organizations and many other groups who were important in the shaping of history yet have been left out of the curriculum.
The legislation also prohibits discriminatory instruction or discriminatory materials from being used by the State Board of Education. It is hoped that this legislation may also help to passively combat bullying as children learn that LGBTs and other minority groups are very much part of society and have been throughout history.
Groups opposing the legislation have fallen back on old anti-LGBT tactics of misinformation and misdirection, charging that the legislation will lead to the indoctrination of children, that it is costly at a time when the state cannot afford such changes (even though changes to textbooks won’t be made until 2014 at the earliest), and that the legislation is being used simply as a means to push a ‘liberal,’ ‘gay’ agenda in schools.
One such video campaign launched by the Family Research Council — a designated hate group known for its anti-gay agenda [http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-files/family-research-council] — has been taken to task for its buffet of untruths.
Knowing how powerful the “think of the children” meme proved to be where California’s Proposition 8 battle was concerned, the impetus for supporters of the law is now to point out the flaws and flat out lies in the anti-SB48 campaigns.
As such, below is a video made by SB48 supporter Sean Chapin where he goes through the Family Research Council campaign video point by point and explains how the religious conservative group is misleading its audience.
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