Month: May 2012

The Innocence Project in New York says DNA alone has freed 289 prisoners since 1989.

By David G. Savage / LA Times / May 21, 2012

WASHINGTON — More than 2,000 people have been freed from prison since 1989 after they were found to have been wrongly convicted of serious crimes, according to a new National Registry of Exonerations compiled by University of Michigan Law School and Northwestern University.

Its sponsors say it is by far the largest database of such cases, and they hope it will help reveal why the criminal justice system sometimes misfires, prosecuting and convicting the innocent.

“The more we learn about false convictions, the better we’ll be at preventing them,” said Samuel Gross, a University of Michigan law professor.

See here for Chicago braces for final day of anti-NATO protests as demonstrators march on Boeing HQ

Reuters / May 20, 2012

Nearly 50 U.S. military veterans at an anti-NATO rally in Chicago threw their service medals into the street on Sunday, an action they said symbolized their rejection of the U.S.-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Some of the veterans, many wearing military uniform shirts over black anti-war t-shirts, choked back tears as they explained their actions. Others folded an American flag while a bugle played “Taps,” which is typically performed at U.S. military funerals.

Another Endorsement That Hasn’t Happened Yet (But Still Could)

I didn’t realize that my House congressional district had been redrawn until a Juan Vargas campaign walker knocked upon my door in City Heights. I had to stop and think a moment. I had spent a number of yes, dramatic years, in Susan Davis’ district and it took me a moment to process the impact of the redistricting and that now I’m in the 51st Congressional District.

It took me less than a minute to respond to the question whether I would support Juan Vargas. When asked I said “No. Absolutely not and I’ll tell you why. He went missing on the single payer healthcare vote earlier this year.” Vargas ducked the vote, twice, despite receiving thousands of calls urging him to support the bill.

Vargas was presented with the “Spineless Rubber Chicken” award for sitting out a critical vote on this particular issue. We have a Democratic governor and a Democratic majority in the California legislature and the single payer health care option with dental coverage for our families and neighbor is dead, lacking two votes.

If you really want to understand what’s at stake in the race for the 52nd Congressional District between Scott Peters and Lori Saldaña, the most important thing to consider is not personality conflicts or whether the candidates get along with the media but which wing of the Democratic Party they would represent. Both want to unseat incumbent Republican Brian Bilbray, but whose interests would each candidate serve? What kind of Democratic Party would they help shape?

As has been noted elsewhere in the OB Rag, Saldaña has the backing of many local and national progressives and would certainly head straight into the Progressive Caucus. This is the most liberal caucus in the House and describes itself thusly:

Our Caucus members promote a strong, progressive agenda, what we call “The Progressive Promise–Fairness for All”. The Progressive Promise is rooted in four core principles that embody national priorities and are consistent with the values, needs and aspirations of all the American people, not just the powerful and the privileged. They reflect a fundamental belief in government of the people, by the people, and for the people.

The four, core principles of the Progressive Promise:

1. Fighting for economic justice and security for all;

2. Protecting and preserving our civil rights and civil liberties;

By Donna Frye / Voice of San Diego / May 21, 2012

If you don’t know about the relationship between state low interest loans for city wastewater and water projects, city bond offering documents and Proposition A’s proposed ban on Project Labor Agreements, you will probably want to read this to the end.

Fact is, they have a lot in common and it’s an interesting relationship.

On Tuesday May 22, the City Council will vote on two agenda items, 51 and 52, that allow the city to borrow money from the State Revolving Fund (SRF) program at a “low 2.0933% for a 20-year term”. Both items are for public infrastructure projects; one is for wastewater and the other is for replacing old water mains. Combined, the city is seeking to borrow approximately $30 million at this low rate of interest.

Some background in the agenda:

Thirty-two months on the 21^st of May my husband of 44 years passed away from Lung Cancer. He began smoking while still in high school, and before he stopped smoking 34 years later, he admitted to smoking three packs of cigarettes a day. I always wondered that if he admitted to smoking 3 packs a day, how many packs did he really smoke.

He would say that if he had known the evils of tobacco he probably would never had had that first puff. That’s what he would say, but is it the truth? Who knows?

He was a charming blue-eyed Irishman that frequently had a twinkle in his eye. He was a leader, not a follower, and I suspect that if he thought it was “cool” to smoke, he would have smoked. But there was no research like there is today; when he finally did stop smoking – 31 years BEFORE he died – he stopped because he finally believed what research was telling him. He thought that by quitting smoking, he was prolonging his life, and the cause of death would never be “lung cancer.”

This weekend is the crazy weekend for Chicago. NATO is meeting about Afghanistan, protests are happening, nurses storm the streets demanding taxes on the rich wearing Robin Hood masks on, Iraq and Afganistan veterans are throwing away their medals in protest of the wars – and now, an attempt to trump it all, we have “terrorism” charges against some activists which are being met with swift denials and charges of “set up”.

President Obama had a sleep-over for world leaders at Camp David, getting ready for a G8 meeting on Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, dozens of veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars plan on leading a march of thousands on Sunday, May 21, alongside Vietnam veterans, and will be presenting their medals to NATO officials during. This anti-war march will proceed through Chicago’s downtown area to the convention center where NATO is holding its summit.

And of course, inside the summit will be President Obama and other world leaders. The City of Chicago is bracing for major protests. Organizers are hoping the rally, which caps a week-long series of anti-NATO actions, will draw thousands. The Iraq and Afghanistan and Vietnam veterans will hold a reconciliation

SEMPRA denies activists access to property to deliver letter outlining their concerns about the San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant – (Or Marcia, Carol, Hugh and Ray’s magnificent adventure)

by Carol Jahnkow

May 19, 2012–Representatives of the Peace Resource Center of San Diego, Citizens Oversight Project, the Green Party of San Diego and the newly formed Shut San Onofre Working Group were told Friday morning by SEMPRA security officers that they would not be allowed on SEMPRA’s property at 101 Ash Street to deliver a letter directed to SEMPRA Executive Chairman, Donald Felsinger.

Marcia Patt, Hugh Moore, Carol Jahnkow and Ray Lutz were told that instead, a security officer would come out to the street to accept the letter on behalf of SEMPRA Executive Chairman, Donald Felsinger. Three San Diego Police Department cars with 5-6 officers observed from across the street.

Just having finished a review of who – and what – the San Diego Left endorses for this June’s Primary, I wanted to offer a summary of where different groups and media projects are at with the current crop of candidates and propositions. (Note: not all races are covered, especially those of smaller municipalities and non-controversial propositions).

First – of course, there is a left in San Diego politics – so, those who cannot accept it, get over it. (For a refresher course on left vs right, see here and here.) The groups reviewed for their endorsements are all left or left-of-center. And by reporting on any group’s choices does not mean that I necessarily endorse them, their choices, or politics.

I scanned the endorsements of the following news sources and organizations:

• CityBeat – the weekly magazine is generally left-of-center in their views, policies, and endorsements.

• Democratic Socialists of America – clearly a left organization – an out-and-out “socialist” stance. Here’s their endorsements in a pdf file: Download File

• Progressive Democrats of America – they have a local progressive group, on the activist left side of the Democratic Party.

• San Diego Labor Council – labor and its manifestations are usually on the left side of the political spectrum.

WASHINGTON — A judge may have found unconstitutional the law that allows people to be held indefinitely without trial by…

From Democray Now / May 17, 2012

AMY GOODMAN: A federal judge Wednesday struck down part of a controversial law signed by President Obama that gave the government the power to indefinitely detain anyone it considers a terrorism suspect anywhere in the world without charge or trial, including U.S. citizens. The ruling came in a lawsuit challenging the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, filed by a group of journalists, scholars and political activists including Noam Chomsky, Daniel Ellsberg, Chris Hedges, Naomi Wolf and Cornel West [correction: Wolf and West are not plaintiffs but in the process of becoming plaintiffs].

Judge Katherine Forrest of the Southern District of New York struck down the indefinite detention provision, saying it likely violates the First and Fifth Amendments of U.S. citizens. The judge rejected the Obama administration’s argument that the NDAA merely reaffirmed an existing law recognizing the military’s right to perform certain routine duties.

From La Prensa / Originally published May 10, 2012

The personalized automobiles known as “Lowriders,” are part of a subculture whose aesthetic tendencies cross over into the world of fine art. Lowrider describes a car that is typically customized with a hydraulic setup to be low to the ground, with an elaborate paint job, striking chrome features and uniquely designed upholstery. But this term reaches beyond cars, and has become a cultural phenomenon and way of life for many people.

Today Lowrider culture can be seen not only in cars and motorcycles, but also in sculptures, photography and paintings as a way for people to express their individuality and cultural pride. This exhibition will feature a display of full-size cars, motorcycles and bicycles that have been created in the Lowrider style.