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CA Congressional District 04 Race: TRUE CLINT: An Exclusive Interview with CA’s Progressive U.S. House Candidate, Famed Election Integrity Whistleblower Clint Curtis

View | 5 days ago by Curtis Walker

Categories: California, Current Affairs, economic, Nevada County, CA Politics, Politics – National

Treasury Makes Shocking Admission: Program for Struggling Homeowners Just a Ploy to Enrich Big Banks | Economy | AlterNet

View | 5 days ago by Curtis Walker  Featured

National Small Business Association: President endorses Obama’s jobs bill, presses for tax cut extension: Married into Money/Sore Looser McCain Fights For Rich!

View | 7 hours ago by Curtis Walker

READ THIS ENTIRE POST Republicans & WEEP! Lindsey Graham Gets It Wrong On The Stimulus: Blames Legislation For U.S. Job Losses

View | 8 hours ago by Curtis Walker

SPIEGEL ONLINE – Druckversion – ‘Peak Oil’ and the German Government: Military Study Warns of a Potentially Drastic Oil Crisis – SPIEGEL ONLINE – News – International

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Economy — Social Security Under Assault

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Video/Action Alert: A Consumer Advocate For The People – Not Corporations!

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ACTION ALERT: Now – Really Take Our Country Back – Take the Pledge | Pledge For Democracy

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AlterNet: How Conservatives and the GOP Destroyed the “Traditional Family” They Claim to Treasure

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Review: Smart energy meters touted in stimulus not overcharging Calif. consumers – The Hill’s E2-Wire

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Revolution in the air – TheHill.com

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All entries can be viewed at: FreeFlightNewMedia.typepad.com

Dolphin Slaughter Resumes in Japan | | AlterNet

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Mind Blowing WordPress Plugins « Lorelle on WordPress

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Barack Oblogger: The Billionaires Behind the Tea Party

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THIS IS THE MESS REPUBLICANS LEFT OBAMA : The Scariest Jobs Chart Ever

2 days ago by Curtis Walker

Glenn Beck and the History of America’s Worst Demagogues – The Daily Beast

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California’s Prop 23 is bad news for Latino families « Climate Progress

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California’s Prop 23 is bad news for Latino families « Climate Progress

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John Boehner: Could This Mediocrity Become House Speaker? – The Daily Beast

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John Boehner: Could This Mediocrity Become House Speaker? – The Daily Beast

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The Government Can Now Track You, Sans Warrant, Via GPS | Fast Company

View | 3 days ago by Curtis Walker

Climate Change Is Worse Than We Thought | Fast Company

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Dems’ iPhone App Now Equips Field Organizers with Canvassing Tools | techPresident

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A “Smartmeter” Update For Foothills: PUC Smart Meter Report Raises More Questions Than Answers – Roseville Press-Tribune

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Hatewatch | Southern Poverty Law Center » Author Interview: Journalist Probes ‘Backlash’ Under Obama » Print

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OUTRAGE: Treasury Makes Shocking Admission: Program for Struggling Homeowners Just a Ploy to Enrich Big Banks – Roseville Press-Tribune

Think Progress | The Progress Report

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Doolittle to Do Nothing? Candidate for CA Congressman in District 04, Speaks Truth Of DoNothing McClintock who does NOT show the district the money

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Another Depression? The Fed and Ben Bernanke to the Rescue!

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CA STATE SENATE http://nevadacountydemocrats.c… BOXER AND FIORINA TRADE BARBS AT 1ST SENATE DEBATE

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CHART OF THE DAY: Kids Text Every 10 Minutes When They’re Awake

View | 4 days ago by Curtis Walker

CHART OF THE DAY: Apple’s App Store Dominated By Pay Apps, Google’s By Free Apps

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CHART OF THE DAY: Surprise! UberTwitter Is The Most Popular Twitter Client

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President Obama’s Address on the End of the Combat Mission in Iraq | The White House

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Categories: Current Affairs

Free Campaign Tools For Your Use. Contributions…

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Glenn Beck Reimagines Whiteness : CJR

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All entries can be viewed at: FreeFlightNewMedia.typepad.com

HIGHLIGHTS NEED FOR SENATOR DEAN FLOREZ BILL (AB1277) ESTABLISHING ANIMAL ABUSE REGISTRY IN CA

“He told us that he pinned the dog down by the neck and throat for 20 seconds while the puppy defecated and urinated on itself in panic or because it started to lose consciousness, we don’t know,” said Lt. Dan DeSousa with SD County Animal Service.

Coco died Friday, one week after CA Senator Dean Florez introduced AB 1277, which would establish an Animal Abuse Registry in California and “make those guilty of Animal Abuse famous for their crimes” and hopefully prevent horrors that Coco suffered.

Coco’s owner and alleged puppy killer, David Hale Warner, 50, is currently in the San Diego Detention Center and has been booked on felony animal cruelty charges.  The Department of Animal Services has 72 hours to prepare a case for the District Attorney.  If convicted, Warner may be punished with up to three years in a state prison, one year in a county prison or fined $20,000.

Future animal cruelty cases (and other abuses) may well be prevented if California State Senator Dean Florez, also a candidate for California Lt. Governor, is successful in gaining passage of Senate Bill 1277.

California state Sen. Dean Florez hopes a love of animals will bring the parties together. Florez is the chair of the state Senate’s Food and Agriculture Committee and an animal welfare advocate.

Details of Bill

Sen. Florez has offered a bill, S.B. 1277, to establish an online registry of people convicted of felony animal abuse.  The registry would help warn shelters and rescues as well as pet owners of abusers in the area to avoid. It would be a deterrent to animal abuse. It would also serve as an early warning indicator of those likely to commit domestic abuse or other violent crimes.

There is a well-established link between animal abuse and domestic violence and other violent crimes.

Animal abuse is often an indicator of future violence to humans

In one study 71% of women in a battered women’s shelter reported their abuser either abused a household pet or threatened to abuse a pet. (Ascione, 1998)  

In another study 88% of child abusers also abused the animals in the home. (Ascione)

In a study by Dr. Jacquelyn Campbell, Public Health Department, the Johns Hopkins University from 1994 to 2000 in eleven USA metropolitan cities, pet abuse was one of the four significant predictors for determining who was at highest risk for becoming a batterer. Many abused spouses delay leaving out of fear for their pets’ safety and because they have nowhere to take them.

70% of animal abusers were found in one 20 year study to have then committed other crimes, and 44% went on to harm people. (Arluke, A. & Luke, C. 1997).

In another study 99% of animal abusers had convictions for other crimes. (Clarke, J. P. 2002). In that same study it was found 100% of people who committed sexual homicide had abused animals. (Clarke, J. P. 2002). That study also revealed 61.5% of animal abusers had assaulted a human as well. (Clarke, J. P. 2002).

63.3% of inmates in a prison study who were in for violent crimes admitted to abusing animals. This doesn’t include the ones who didn’t admit it. (Schiff Louw Ascione, 1999)

Police have found animal abuse is a better predictor of whether someone will commit sexual assault than previous convictions for murder or arson. (Clarke, J. P. 2002).

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Find your California state senators and representatives at http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/your… and urge them to vote yes to S.B. 1277 and help identify persons convicted of felony animal abuse for the protection of both animals and people.

Read more: http://www.sdnn.com/sandiego/2… and http://www.animallawcoalition…. which were used in preparing this news item.

by Randy Bayne
x-posted at The Bayne of Blog

In a desperate move to force Democrats to accept other draconian cuts, GOP leadership in the state legislature has threatened to slash $400 million from schools as part of the budget deadlock that will soon enter it’s fourth week. A move that will go nowhere and only serves to further delay a budget agreement.

Education groups are already mobilizing to block any proposed cuts. The California School Employees Association and California Teachers Association have already begun asking members to call their legislators, particularly Republicans, to express their extreme dismay at cuts that will hurt school children and force severe cuts in spending.

Many school districts have already adopted budgets for the coming school year based on assurances that education would not be cut. Cuts in education now would force districts to dip into precious reserve funds. Education leaders say the proposed cuts would “wipe out a good chunk” of their discretionary spending.

Republicans are asking for draconian cuts in other areas of at least $2 billion, and the proposed education cuts may be a ploy to get Democrats to move away from their opposition to these cuts to social services by forcing them to make a choice between cutting social services or cutting education.

The two leaders of Republicans in the legislature refuse to stand by their plan to cut education. In order to avoid answering questions and defending the move, “Assembly Republican leader Michael Villines of Clovis and Senate Republican leader Dick Ackerman of Irvine left through a back door after two hours of budget negotiations with Democrats Tuesday evening,” reports the Los Angeles Times.

Republicans aren’t even on the same page as their own governor. The current plan being offered by Democrats is similar to the one crafted by Governor Schwarzenegger. Because of the similarities, it was thought early on that the budget process would be completed on time. That bubble was burst when Villines and Ackerman demanded unspecified cuts to social programs. Assembly Speaker Nuñez has been critical of members of the governor’s own party for not supporting his plan. Six Republican votes are required to reach the 2/3 threshold for passing a budget.

This whole episode, the Republican determination to cut funding for social programs and education, reveals just how soulless Republicans, as a party, are. They have no qualms about cutting services for the less fortunate and truly needy families. No qualms about cutting off educational opportunity for school children. The Democrats, on the other hand, have been extremely reserved about proposing tax increases on the wealthiest Californians. So much for Republican rhetoric about family values and bi-partisanship.

The amazing thing in all this is that six Republicans can’t be found who will break with their party leadership and do the right thing by supporting children, schools, families, working Californians, and the poor. Shame on you. 

(Now if only more folks at the CDP realize that this is a real opportunity that’s ripe for the picking! – promoted by atdleft)

by Randy Bayne
The Bayne of Blog

X-posted from California Notes

Look at any election results map and you would think that California is two states. Progressives democrats have a very strong hold on coastal areas, especially Los Angeles and San Francisco, with conservative, moderates and republicans claiming majority status on most of the inland areas.

One group of people sees change in the air and wants to bring more progressive attitude into the central valley and foothill areas. They call themselves the “Coalition of California Central Valley County Central Committee Chairpersons” — the “7 C’s,” for short — and though the name might not stick, they have banded together to get the attention of CDP Chairman Art Torres and the California Democratic Party. Their strategy is to get more party resources devoted to California’s rural counties, and turn “red counties blue.”

Certainly a tall task, but by no means an impossible one. Some counties that have traditionally been in the conservative red camp have moved to blue, or at least purple. The switch in San Joaquin County resulted in the only California congressional seat to change party hands in the ’06 election when  freshman congressman Jerry McNerney beat incumbent Richard Pombo. Other rural counties want to repeat San Joaquin County’s success, but say they don’t have the resources to do it on their own. This is where the State Democratic Party comes in. The chairs of the Democratic Central Committes in Amador, Fresno, Kern, Kings, Mariposa, San Joaquin, Stanislaus and Tulare Counties say they are not interested in a “one-size-fits-all” approach that may not address the unique situations found in individual rural counties, but want to make decisions based on the needs of their particular counties with support and resources from the state party. They also want the state party to focus on them early, not after polls show they can actually win tough races.

Next month the group plans to meet again to refine the framework plan they came up with at Saturday’s meeting. Then they will take their plan and present it to Torres and the “powers that be” at the party’s executive board meeting in July.

Part of that plan will focus on getting Democrats into local elected and appointed positions to begin building a “farm team.”  They feel it is important to not only elect Democrats in red counties to the Assembly and Senate, but also get Democrats established in local positions, such as Board of Supervisors, School Boards, and a myriad of commissions and special districts, so that a viable farm team can be built for future candidates for Assembly, Senate and even Congress. Early involvement, they feel, means a better chance at success, both immediately and down the road.

With term limits in place into the foreseeable future, strong local candidates will be needed to replace officer holders who are termed out. In order to have candidates ready to replace termed out Assembly and Senate members, the “7 C’s” want the state party to help them with resources so that county central committees will be able to register Democrats, get out the vote, do voter education and follow up, build their precinct operations, and elect Democrats to local offices.

Their ultimate goal is to turn each of their respective counties blue. They realize it is an uphill battle, but one they believe they can win. “With so many people moving into Amador County,” says Amador County’s Vice-Chair Randy Bayne, “you just gotta believe that a lot of them come with a progressive mindset. We need to make sure they know the Democratic Party is alive and well in our rural counties and that it is okay to register Democratic and vote Democratic.” All agreed this will take help from the state party.

They also agreed it will take commitment on their part and the presentation of a strong plan to the party’s executive board in July.

There are other groups, like Take Back Red California, that are dedicated to turning “red counties blue,” but the “7 C’s” is the only group made up exclusively of County Central Committees, officially representing the Democratic Party in each county. For them, turning their respective counties blue is job one.

In attendance were Amador County Vice Chair Randy Bayne, Tulare Central Committee member Minerva Zapalac, Kern County Chair Candi Easter, Mariposa County Chair Jery Lacayo, Fresno County Chair Joel Murillo, Stanislaus County Chair Donna Patterson, San Joaquin County Chair Bill Perkins,Kings County Chair Mark Trezza, Tulare County Chair Barbara Waldron, and Crystal Strait, California Democratic Party Deputy Political Director (not pictured).
Photo by Candi Easter

Following the meeting, the Party Chairmen were guests on the Marc Scalzo Show, of Fresno Air America Radio.
Photo by Candi Easter

Today we offer what we hope will be a regular feature: a roundup of interesting news from across the state. It’s not all expressly political and it’s not as focused on the horserace as it will no doubt become. Today, we’ve got the anti-government crusaders in Santa Clara County, housing & sprawl, education, the fundraising competition, free speech, and San Jose public Campaign financing, all on the flip.

• Following up on Calitics’ recent post on the Santa Clara County sales tax kabuki, we find that the anti-government crusaders are now trying to prevent (or at least delay) the people from deciding if they want to increase their sales tax rate.
• California has the lowest home ownership percentage in the nation. Of course, given that the news source is the California Building Industry Association, their recommendation to fix that is essentially sprawl. Proposition 13 and our geography couldn’t have anything to do with the housing issues, nope. In related news, Governor Schwarzenegger has appointed the president of the Building Industry Association of Southern California as the new director of the Department of Housing and Community Development.
• Governor Schwarzenegger wants more veterans to go to California colleges and universities. That’s a great goal. How about properly funding our public schools to prepare more Californians generally for a secondary education. Again, Proposition 13 can’t have had anything to do with our schools’ funding shortfalls, now can it?
• The Roundup has the best example of the sad “fundraising horserace” analysis I think I’ve seen. I reckon they’ll be the go-to people for conventional wisdom of that stripe. Once, again, public financing is the way to go.
• A federal judge ruled unconstitutional California’s decades old law banning noncommercial speech visible from our highways. I’m a big fan of removing government barriers to free speech, but progressives should note that most billboards are owned by companies like ClearChannel, which has often taken (or sponsored) conservative advocacy advertising and refused to put up any alternative views.
• San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales is pressing for public financing of San Jose campaigns. That’s the Good Ron. The Bad Ron is under fire for secrecy in the conduct of the city’s affairs.