US News

The Fair Representation Act has been re-introduced in Congress. This bold solution can stop gerrymandering and make Congress work for every American. 

The Fair Representation Act can solve partisan gerrymandering, make every congressional district competitive, and encourage politicians to represent all of us instead of just their base. It does this by combining three reforms: 

• Multi-member districts. In three- or five-member districts, nearly every voter will elect a candidate they support. Voters like Massachusetts Republicans and Oklahoma Democrats will be represented in Congress. Gerrymandering will become nearly impossible.

• Ranked choice voting for all U.S. House and Senate elections. RCV frees voters to support their favorite candidates, and encourages candidates to reach out to more voters for second-choice support. When RCV is used in multi-member districts, it is a form of proportional representation.

• Uniform rules for congressional redistricting 

The Fair Representation Act can be passed without a constitutional amendment. It truly has the potential to transform our political system and create a more inclusive and deliberative government which respects and empowers all voices.

So about a day ago a new trend began called Blockout 2024. It’s on TikTok where people are meant to go block celebrities to make them speak out or donate to Palestine. Now before I continue I think people should speak out and do things. Though of these so far of what I’ve seen 3 million people really and want change, why don’t each one donate 10-100 dollars once?

In the context I get from this is people are being drastically lazy and throwing a tantrum because their celebrities ether haven’t spoken out or believes differently than them. Then wants celebrities to do everything. So as I hope everyone understands this. Celebrities are not yalls mommies and daddies. You are not 5 years old, you can do things for yourselves. If you can clearly rally with 3 million and counting. Why can’t you guys donate a small amount of money and actually make change instead of arguing.

Now for all disclaimers there’s another tier to this that it’s for celebrities that are out of touch with reality which I can understand but make sure you know what’s going on so you don’t ruin someone’s life that is a good person.

Melania Trump announcing the sale of a new customizable necklace on her website has been met with a wave of criticism and mockery on social media.

On Sunday, the former first lady took to X, formerly Twitter, to announce the unveiling of her Mother's Day necklaces selling for $245 apiece...

The post was accompanied by a link to Melania Trump's website, where the necklace in question was shown in its full glory. The jewelry item is described as a "customizable necklace designed by Melania Trump to honor all mothers."

"Each necklace can be engraved with names, initials, or significant dates to create a one-of-a-kind piece of jewelry," an official blurb states. "Those who purchase Her Love & Gratitude can also receive a limited-edition digital collectible."

The former model's "signature is included on each necklace," the site informs visitors. "The flower pendant measures 1 inch, includes a 16-18 inch adjustable chain, and is made in gold vermeil." (silver with thin gold plating)

Trump claims Black Americans relate to his criminal prosecutions

An incarcerated former gang member and one-time FBI informant was charged Friday with attempted murder in the stabbing of ex-Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin at a federal prison in Arizona.

John Turscak stabbed Chauvin 22 times at the Federal Correctional Institution in Tucson and said he would have killed Chauvin had correctional officers not responded so quickly, federal prosecutors said.

As Mahtowin Munro, co-leader of UAINE, and other speakers at the Common explained, Indigenous Peoples Day honors the resilience, survival, cultures, histories and resistance of Indigenous peoples. Munro also spoke about the need for worldwide solidary with Indigenous nations in their resistance to ongoing genocide and colonialism, including the struggle of the Palestinian people for liberation from the Zionist régime [in the Middle East].

Munro stressed that the only ultimate solution to the ongoing human and environmental catastrophes caused by capitalism and settler-colonialism is the centering of Indigenous knowledge and the full return of stolen lands and sovereignty to Indigenous nations.

[…]

A large delegation from the Indigenous Students Organization at Tufts University and Tufts Students for Justice in Palestine, wearing keffiyehs and waving a Palestinian flag, helped lead the march through Boston’s downtown shopping district. Thousands of tourists and traffic came to a halt, some cheering and honking for the marchers’ demand: “From Palestine to Mexico, all the walls have got to go!”

Surely any reasonable person can see there’s a difference between even defending Israel’s existence and justification for every oppressive action they take, right?!

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, additionally, seeks to ban the opening of safe consumption sites anywhere in the state. A bill to ban the sites was passed in the state Senate with the support of every Republican and most Democrats. Due to the controversy of the sites among Democrats, however, it may not get through the state House of Representatives. Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro promised to support the ban and says he opposes the sites.

The importance of these sites cannot be overstated. Year after year, the number of fatal and non-fatal overdoses increases. While there are “mobile” and home-based safe consumption harm reduction groups — such as Never Use Alone, where drug users call in and can get help if they overdose — these are not enough. Statistics from all over North America have shown the usefulness of these sites and how they act to preserve life.

Harm reductionists, drug users, concerned friends and family members and revolutionaries need to get involved in the fight for safe consumption sites, in Philadelphia and the entire country. These sites do not attract crime (any more than any other public service does), they do not “encourage” drug abuse, and — unlike what the federal government has said — they do not act as “sanctioned suicide” facilities or crackhouses. There must be a concerted fight to save lives.

Leaders of Steelworkers Local 8751, the Boston School Bus Drivers’ Union, including President André François and Recording Secretary Claude “Toutou” St. Germain joined Jacques Piquant and other leaders of Fanmi Lavalas of Boston in the demonstration. Fanmi Lavalas is the party of the only popularly elected president in Haiti’s history, Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

[…]

Protesters spoke with great urgency about the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Ouanaminthe, a commune of 100,000 people in the region of Haiti’s Nord-Est Department, where the Massacre River forms a section of Haiti’s border with the Dominican Republic.

Luis Abinader, president of the Dominican Republic, has ordered the border totally closed to all Haitian nationals, suspended visa applications and initiated daily mass deportations of Haitian people who live, work and seek medical care there. Normally, the border is open without restriction at least two days per week.

Abinader’s lockdown tactic comes as the Biden administration has placed new restrictions on Haitian people wanting to travel or migrate to the U.S. Thousands of people line up daily under the guns of the U.S. Marines at the often-closed U.S. embassy in Port-au-Prince, at barbed wire military checkpoints in El Paso, Texas, and now on both sides of the Massacre River. Many Haitians are drowning in the Gulf of Mexico due to these policies.

This gathering provided a platform for various anti-imperialist movements to be heard. The crowd had the privilege of listening to speakers from Bronx Boricua Resistance, a grassroots movement organizing for an independent and sovereign Puerto Rico, free from the chains of U.S. colonialism.

A representative of the Palestinian Youth Movement also addressed the crowd, calling for a liberated Palestine free from Zionist settler-colonialism. Another group that captivated the audience was PEX Semillas de Libertad, a Peruvian diaspora organization. PEX Semillas is struggling against the Dina Boluarte coup regime in Peru, and demands that the control of natural resources of Peru be in the hands of the workers, not U.S. and European corporations.

[…]

The Oct. 1 action was organized by the Bronx Antiwar Coalition, United National Antiwar Coalition, Workers World Party, and Peace in Ukraine Coalition. Endorsers and participants came from a diverse range of political groups, including International Acton Center, Veterans for Peace, Party for Socialism and Liberation, ANSWER Coalition, Struggle La Lucha, CUNY Internationalist Clubs, the DSA International Committee, National Lawyers Guild International Committee and others.

A PrisonLegalNews.org article in August 2022 reported: “Philadelphia’s jails appear to be failing on nearly every level, from staffing and security to medical and mental health care, occupational opportunities, library and recreation time, and even the provision of the most basic human needs such as food and sanitation.

“The crisis that unfolded with the onset of the [COVID-19] pandemic in the spring of 2020 has sparked ongoing protests by the families of those incarcerated, as well as public defenders, community members, and prisoners’ rights advocates. It has also caused a series of uprisings by prisoners themselves.

“Civil rights litigation over dangerous and unhygienic conditions has resulted in the city paying out over $250,000 in partial settlements, with the money going to bail funds working to free as many people as possible from confinement in Philly jails. Litigation and criminal investigations are ongoing in the cases of prisoners murdered in a spike of deadly violence, and a federal court has appointed a special officer to oversee the city’s heel-dragging efforts at reforms meant to address the issues.”

New York City activists held a solidarity picket line and rally on Sept. 30 outside the GM building in Manhattan. The action was sponsored by the December 12 Movement, Workers World Party, Teamsters Local 808, Coalition of Black Trade Unionists and others. Speakers included UAW Local 3309 President Jeff Purcell, whose local is on strike at a Stellantis parts warehouse in Tappan, New York; CBTU New York City Chapter President Charles Jenkins; and Workers World Party First Secretary Larry Holmes.

Stressing the importance of Orange Shirt Day, Mahtowin Munro, co-leader of UAINE, said: “We are here to support our Indigenous family across Turtle Island who have suffered trauma as a result of residential schools that tens of thousands of Indigenous children were forced to attend. In truth, we should not call these institutions ‘schools.’ Schools should not have graveyards and be places of horror for generations of children.”

The Catholic Church ran many of these institutions where staff beat, abused and murdered Indigenous children. Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Committee has estimated that at least 4,000 Indigenous children died at residential schools, but the real figure is likely much higher.

Related: Orange Shirt Day protests

Political drama, but the US House has never done this in its history

North Carolina’s… state budget contains a provision that gives extraordinary investigative powers to a partisan oversight committee co-chaired by Senate Leader Phil Berger (R) and House Speaker Tim Moore (R).

The Joint Legislative Committee on Government Operations — or Gov Ops for short — is empowered to seize “any document or system of record” from anyone who works in or with state and local government during its investigations. The rule applies to contractors, subcontractors, and any other non-state entity…

Gov Ops staff will be authorized to enter “any building or facility” owned or leased by a state or non-state entity without a judicial warrant. This includes the private residences of subcontractors and contractors who run businesses out of their homes…

Alarmingly, public employees under investigation will be required to keep all communication and requests “confidential.” They cannot alert their supervisor of the investigation nor consult with legal counsel.

At the National Press Club this week, Rosenworcel (9/26/23) said that the FCC will vote on a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking at its next meeting in mid-October. And they will center the role of Title II, the part of federal communications law that gives the agency the power to even go about overseeing corporate control of the internet: to push against price gouging, anti-privacy moves, access-throttling—the whole range of things that makes people hate their internet service providers, and makes it a less hospitable arena for activism and organizing. That’s before you even get to whether they are allowed to shut off service during crises like Covid.

The FCC, under the sway of corporations and their lobbyists, abandoned that responsibility years ago, under former chair Ajit Pai, appointed by Donald Trump based on his career as a lawyer for Verizon.

With Title II invigorated, the FCC can engage net neutrality rules—which prevent internet service providers from slowing access for those that don’t pony up, and speeding it along for those that do. All of which machinations we as end-users may not be aware of, but that will absolutely affect what we see and know and act on.

(Emphasis original.)

Thankfully the peacekeeper who was shot survived, and the gun jammed before he could shoot more people.

Response from the organisers of the protest: https://youtu.be/yJQycp1H5sQ

Their press release: https://therednation.org/press-release-the-red-nation-account-of-thursdays-shooting/

Footage (CW): https://youtu.be/QiQms32gROc

After bargaining all year with the unions, the city increased its offer for a cost of living wage from 1% to only 2.5%. Workers considered this offer a huge insult, as they suffered under a cost of living increase of 8.7% this year alone.

Billionaire bosses have opened up a huge wealth gap between the titans of finance and industry and the working class. The Chamber of Commerce members are the big bosses backing the mayor and City Hall. Some 42.9% of the workforce can’t afford to live in the city they serve, according to the CCU.

Among those who keep the city running are parks and recreation workers, transportation workers, librarians, City Light workers at Seattle’s electric utility, court workers, firefighters and many others.

After an hour of rallying, workers started taking over Fourth Avenue in front of City Hall. When the speakers finished, the workers marched down to City Center/Westlake Center, chanting, “Who’s got the power? We’ve got the power! What kind of power? Union power!”

Picketing has been suspended and writers are returning to work. The rank and file will be voting on the contract from Oct. 2 to Oct. 9.

While the language was being finalized, the union asked its members to join a picket line of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. The actors represented by SAG-AFTRA are still on strike.

The new agreement reportedly addresses writers’ demands for a livable income, minimum staffing levels and guarantees their jobs will not be eliminated by artificial intelligence.

As human beings, as workers and farmers, Venezuelans are no more or less deserving of the right to migrate and work than others. But Biden offered them TPS because the strategists directing U.S. foreign policy aim to weaken the Caracas government. If they don’t offer this to migrants from Guatemala or Ecuador, for example, it’s because the U.S. already dominates the regimes in those countries, regimes which are corrupt and brutal.

Biden may appear to be a kindly elder, but look closer. His offer of TPS is meant not to improve the lives of Venezuelans but to lure more Venezuelans to leave their home country. It’s aimed to make life more precarious in Venezuela and to overthrow the elected government of Nicolás Maduro.

The U.S. followed a similar policy of luring migrants from the socialist countries during the existence of the Soviet Union. Washington has done the same for over 60 years in its attempt to strangle socialist Cuba.

As recently as May 11, Menendez sent a vicious message to House Representatives who were calling on President Joe Biden to reverse sanctions against Cuba and Venezuela. He mislabeled the two governments “brutal dictatorships” and accused them of “mismanagement and graft.”

Then his charges of graft boomeranged. On Sept. 21, Menendez, his spouse, Nadine Menendez, and three New Jersey business people were indicted on charges that included conspiracy to commit bribery. Wael Hana and his two business partners allegedly bribed Menendez to accrue benefits for their business and for Egypt’s military government.

[…]

Offering up a crass anti-communist appeal as defense, the compromised politician stated that he was in the habit of withdrawing large (apparently very large!) sums of cash purportedly due to “the history of my family facing confiscation in Cuba.” A strange claim. Menendez was born in the U.S. to Cuban immigrants in 1954, five years before the Cuban Revolution.

Irizarry’s aunt, Zoraida Garcia, told CNN: “They said there was a lack of evidence. What more evidence do you want? You can see the video; the video was played in the court. The judge has seen the video. For her to drop all charges, she shouldn’t even be a judge. She dropped the charges, so it’s okay for you to murder someone and get away with it.”

The struggle for justice for Eddie Irizarry Jr, — affectionately called Junito by family members — is growing and will not stop until Dial and all killer cops are jailed.

While Biden said he would “stand in solidarity with the men and women of UAW,” in the same tweet he called for “a win-win agreement.” But in the struggle between labor and capital over the wealth created by labor, there is no “win-win.” One side’s gain is the other side’s loss. The less the bosses pay the working class, the more they keep for themselves in the form of profits. Any gain for workers cuts into the bosses’ profit-taking.

Neither Biden’s appeal to the UAW nor Trump’s demagogy will help autoworkers win a decent contract. It’s by weaponizing their power to withhold their labor that autoworkers can make good the slogan, “When we fight, we win.”

"Democrats overwhelmingly backed the eleventh-hour Republican measure to keep federal funding going, albeit with a freeze on Washington’s massive aid to Ukraine."