killaphill
killaphill's JournalWomen of color bolt Warren's Nevada campaign in frustration
A half-dozen women of color have departed Elizabeth Warren’s Nevada campaign in the run-up to the state’s caucuses with complaints of a toxic work environment in which minorities felt tokenized and senior leadership was at loggerheads.
The six staffers have left the roughly 70-person Nevada team since November, during a critical stretch of the race. Three of them said they felt marginalized by the campaign, a situation they said didn’t change or worsened after they took their concerns to their superiors or to human resources staff.
“During the time I was employed with Nevada for Warren, there was definitely something wrong with the culture,” said Megan Lewis, a field organizer who joined the campaign in May and departed in December. “I filed a complaint with HR, but the follow-up I received left me feeling as though I needed to make myself smaller or change who I was to fit into the office culture.”
Another recently departed staffer, also a field organizer, granted anonymity because she feared reprisal, echoed that sentiment. “I felt like a problem — like I was there to literally bring color into the space but not the knowledge and voice that comes with it,” she said in an interview.
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/02/06/elizabeth-warren-campaign-nevada-111595
Trending on twitter......
A dumb question...
As Democrats, we generally are opposed to the Electoral College because its not.... democratic. We are in favor of the person winning the most votes winning the election.
However, our most important early election barometer, the Iowa Caucuses, are basically a model of the Electoral College. Bernie Sanders apparently has the most votes, but won't get the most delegates and is identified as "losing" in Iowa.
I think my dumb question is evident. Why are we doing this to ourselves? Can't we, as a party, agree that the person with the most votes wins? And why would we kick off our effort to pick a nominee with something that is the exact opposite?
I have zero problems with what is happening in Iowa
What is more important? Getting it fast, or getting it right? If I recall correctly, during Presidential elections, it takes California a week or more to tally results. So we can wait a few hours. This whole situation has been totally overblown, and exploited by those who want to stir up conspiracy theories or cast our party as "incompetent." There are no conspiracy theories, and there was a minor technology glitch. No big deal.
NYPD prepares for massive 'F--- The Police' protest in NYC
Source: New York Daily News
Police are preparing for a massive anti-police protest that could bring chaos to Friday’s morning and afternoon transit commutes, officials said.
Protesters are expected to jump turnstiles en masse and tag up train stations throughout the five boroughs during the anti-NYPD rally, titled “F--- The Police III," which is in response to alleged “over-policing” in the subway, including supposed racially-motivated fare-beating arrests and ticketing.
Early Friday morning, someone poured Gorilla Glue on the turnstiles at the Borough Hall No. 2 train station, preventing people from swiping their MetroCards, sources said. The tag “Cops Out” was also found at the 72nd St./Central Park West station.
More protesters are expected to converge at Grand Central Terminal at 5 p.m. to jump turnstiles and reclaim the subway station, organizers said.
Read more: https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/ny-nypd-prepares-for-massive-protest-in-nyc-20200131-ksszmcdc2bawfpyrp3bp7d5kbe-story.html
Public transit is just that. Public. And should be free. Hopefully this movement spreads.
By turning back caravans, Mexico is acting as Trump's border wall, critics say
MEXICO CITY — One year ago, Mexico’s often chaotic southern border appeared relatively orderly: Mexican authorities processed thousands of U.S.-bound migrants for humanitarian visas, allowing them to travel north legally.
The free-transit regimen was a drastic change of policy pushed by a new Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who had denounced his predecessors for having done what he called the dirty work of Washington in deterring migrants’ northbound passage.
But this week, López Obrador’s government greeted migrants in a more hostile fashion. Mexican National Guard troops in full riot gear blocked their way and fired tear gas canisters to disperse those seeking to breach the nation’s border with Guatemala. Hundreds of people were put on planes and buses back to Honduras, where most of the migrants in the latest caravan began their journey.
For López Obrador, Mexico’s first avowedly leftist president in a generation and a political campaigner who pledged to welcome migrants, the last year brought a substantial shift in his view of how to handle the Central American influx.
https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-01-24/in-turning-back-caravans-mexico-becomes-trumps-wall
Surprising and disappointing conduct by Obrador. I wonder how or what Trump has threatened him with to get him to act this way?
Costumed actor made racist 'OK' hand gesture in photo with child
A second family has come forward to claim a costumed actor at Universal Studios made a racist hand gesture while posing for a photo with their child.
In 2019, a Colorado family went public with complaints that an actor dressed as “Despicable Me” character Gru made an upside-down “OK” hand gesture while posing with their 6-year-old daughter who is biracial and has autism.
https://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/ny-universal-studios-racist-ok-hand-gesture-picture-with-child-20200123-5w5ybm65svcf5jm3flyxmtj6by-story.html?fbclid=IwAR1EMu6E8v11h1AwIkaCgqjvLprCAQfVoic20-piOut3ZKt3lTEckMMghGo
This is almost getting to the point of being frightening. It just makes me wonder....how broad and deep is the thread of white nationalism that is running through our country? And it appears to be accelerating.
They have to stop this....
Until now we've had about as civil a Democratic Primary contest as one could expect. For the most part, with some rare exceptions, disagreements were very professional. Now the gloves have come off, and our candidates are starting to tear into one another. And with 4 very well funded campaigns (Mayor Pete, Biden, Warren, and Sanders), as well as two billionaires with unlimited resources, this threatens to continue for months. With Trump watching from the sidelines continuing to lob bombs.
I'm not sure what the answer is, but our candidates need to move away from the personal stuff very quickly and elevate the discourse. This isn't good for anyone.
Multiple reports on Twitter -- Iranian security forces have opened fire on protesters
This is heartbreaking. And more blood on Donald Trumps hands. He started this fire, and now its starting to burn out of control.
https://twitter.com/HorLevnon/status/1216428234692276224
California's latest pollution push: Banning gas-powered mowers and blowers
The next frontier in California’s battle against pollution: lawn equipment.
State air regulators are laying long-term plans to phase out gasoline-powered devices like leaf blowers and lawn mowers, saying they can produce more noxious emissions than cars.
Plenty of Bay Area cities are already acting: At least eight have banned gas-powered blowers, and more restrict their use during times of day or up to a certain noise level. Novato may soon join the list.
“What I think we need to realize is that we have to do something different for climate change in the world,” said Novato Mayor Pro Tem Pat Eklund, who proposed a ban on gas lawn mowers and leaf blowers in December. “If not, we are going to see a different world than we do today. Every little bit is going to help.”
https://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/California-s-latest-pollution-push-Banning-14951305.php
This Has Been the Best Year Ever
If you’re depressed by the state of the world, let me toss out an idea: In the long arc of human history, 2019 has been the best year ever.
The bad things that you fret about are true. But it’s also true that since modern humans emerged about 200,000 years ago, 2019 was probably the year in which children were least likely to die, adults were least likely to be illiterate and people were least likely to suffer excruciating and disfiguring diseases.
Every single day in recent years, another 325,000 people got their first access to electricity. Each day, more than 200,000 got piped water for the first time. And some 650,000 went online for the first time, every single day.
Perhaps the greatest calamity for anyone is to lose a child. That used to be common: Historically, almost half of all humans died in childhood. As recently as 1950, 27 percent of all children still died by age 15. Now that figure has dropped to about 4 percent.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/28/opinion/sunday/2019-best-year-poverty.html#commentsContainer
Too bad that, given the impending global catastrophes to be wrought from climate change, this temporary blip is unsustainable.
Profile Information
Member since: Thu Jun 27, 2019, 05:41 PMNumber of posts: 212
