~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Bay of Pigs …

04/17/2018 Nativegrl77

April 17, 1961 – A U.S.-backed attempt to overthrow Premier Fidel Castro of Cuba failed disastrously in what became known as the Bay of Pigs fiasco. About 1,400 anti-Castro exiles invaded the island’s southern coast along the Bay of Pigs but were overrun by 20,000 Cuban soldiers and jailed. Trained and guided by the U.S., the exiles had expected support from U.S. military aircraft and help from anti-Castro insurgents on the island. Instead, due to a series of mishaps, they had fended for themselves with no support. The failed invasion heightened Cold War tensions between Cuba’s political ally, Soviet Russia, and the fledgling administration of President John F. Kennedy.

The following year, the Russians brazenly installed nuclear missiles in Cuba resulting in the Cuban Missile Crisis.

resource:

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

BossFeed Briefing from Working Washington

04/17/2018 Nativegrl77

On repeat

Three things to know this week:

Merlee, a parent and Jimmy John’s deliveryperson working in downtown Seattle, spoke before a City Council committee about how secure scheduling has let her make time for her family when she needs to, instead of leaving that entirely up to her employer. Councilmembers also reviewed a research report that showed the extent of scheduling issues before the law took effect in July of last year.

news Three years after McDonald’s promised via press release that they’d start paying workers $1 above the local minimum wage…they’ve apparently abandoned the practice. The reversal underscores why we need laws to raise standards, not just promises from corporate PR departments.

raised fist A new national poll finds 1 in 5 Americans say they’ve attended a protest in the past two years. More than 40% of those protestors are 50 or older.

Two things to ask:

Can you hear the tiny violin? Anti-worker right wing extremists are apparently upset about Trump Administration appointments to the National Labor Relations Board. The issue is that Trump has appointed people with so many ethical conflicts due to years of private lawyering for big businesses that they will have to recuse themselves from many key cases, slowing down their ability to roll back workers’ rights.

How does that measure up? Dollar Tree has been fined more than $300,000 by L&I for multiple “willful” safety violations at stores in Bonney Lake and Kelso, after being fined for the same types of violations in 2016 at stores in Aberdeen and Chehalis. While the maximum penalty allowed by law for each individual violation is $70,000, the chain had revenues of more than $20 billion in 2017.

And one thing that’s worth a closer look:

The poverty-wage economy has become so naturalized that stuff like this can be hard to believe, but it used to be that most people got time-and-a-half for overtime — including many salaried workers. As Seattle kajillionaire, $15 fan, and Civic Ventures founder Nick Hanauer explains in Crooked.com, a couple decades ago you had to get a pretty high paycheck — the equivalent of about $70,000/year today — in order for your employer to be exempt from haivng to pay you overtime if you worked more than 40 hours a week. But the standard eroded over time, an Obama rule that would have expanded overtime protections was rolled back in the early days of the Trump Administration, and the result is that about $1.2 billion will be taken this year from the paychecks of millions of low-paid front-line managers at fast food chains, retail shops, and elsewhere — as well as tens of millions of hours of time. The good news is that states (including Washington) have the power to address this issue for workers within our borders — we just need to make it happen.

Read this far?

tophat Consider yourself briefed, boss.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Protect Charlotte Uprising Protesters ~ Glo, Charlotte Uprising

04/16/2018 Nativegrl77

Police killed a protestor during the Charlotte Uprising. And now they’re targeting Black activists to make them afraid to speak the truth.

Demand that DA Merriweather drop all charges against Glo & Rayquan for their participation in the Charlotte Uprising!

TAKE ACTION!

My name is Glo. And in September of 2016, I participated in the Charlotte Uprising–a protest organized in response to the police murder of Keith Lamont Scott. Hundreds of Charlotte residents and community members took to the streets to ask for transparency from our police department and to demand justice for Keith Lamont Scott. The Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) responded to the public outcry with tear gas, percussion grenades, and SWAT teams–this brutality went on for 96 hours. On the second night of the uprising I witnessed the killing of fellow protester, 26-year-old Justin Carr, by CMPD. The police claimed that another protester shot Carr–Rayquan Borum.¹However, Rayquan did not kill Justin Carr–I was there. Nonetheless, Rayquan is now being accused by CMPD for the murder of Justin Carr. Rayquan has been in jail since September 2016, with no option of bail. But the truth is: Charlotte Mecklenburg police killed Justin Carr, not Rayquan.²

Within days of me sharing news to the world that CMPD murdered Justin Carr, $20,000 in felony warrants were put out for my arrest. I am being charged with felony charges for inciting a riot and misdemeanor assault on a government officer. These are completely trumped up charges, fabricated by law enforcement to discourage me from telling the truth. My trial court date is set for May 7th, 2018, and I am facing four years in prison. Together, we must take a stand to ensure that everyone, including Black people, are guaranteed the fundamental and constitutional right to protest and speak freely.

I need your support in demanding that all of my charges, and the charges against Rayquan, be immediately dropped by District Attorney Spencer Merriweather.

There is hope that my charges could be dropped, because the DA who filed these charges against me is no longer in office. And the current DA has been silent on my case. By staying silent on our cases DA Merriweather is making it clear that he doesn’t stand against police murder or political repression of activists, specifically Black activists. However, by dropping our charges he could start to change the way the criminal justice system works in Charlotte and become a DA who truly stands up for justice.

My experience is a part of a larger and more frightening issue within the criminal justice system. Protesters and activists are finding themselves profiled and targeted for speaking out against the true conditions of our nation. By prosecuting Rayquan and myself, the district attorney’s office is sending a loud and clear message to all Black people in Charlotte–prosecutors will never hold the police accountable when they murder Black people. And, if you speak out about these injustices, you can and will be prosecuted.

DA Merriweather doesn’t have to send this message. By dropping my charges he can be a DA that stands up for justice.

Rayquan’s trial date has been set for December 3, 2018, by that time he will have sat in a jail cell for over two years, with no trial, before his case is even heard.³ Our cases are uniquely connected because I witnessed the Charlotte police commit the very murder he is behind bars for. Rayquan is innocent, and has maintained his innocence the entire time he’s been held in prison. While in prison, Rayquan has been greatly mistreated, spending significant time in solitary confinement. We know how solitary confinement plays out for human beings. They deteriorate.

What is happening to myself and Rayquan Borum are not mere coincidences, we are being targeted by the Charlotte Police and the District Attorney. We are being used to send a message to deter protesters, specifically Black protestors.

However, we will continue to resist and fight for our freedom and that of all Black people. In order to do that we need your support–demand that DA Merriweather immediately free Rayquan Borum and drop all charges against me.

Until we’re all free,

Glo

Charlotte Uprising Activist

References:

1. “Uprising activists: Charlotte mayor, police chief should resign”. The Charlotte Observer, 26 September 2016. http://act.colorofchange.org/go/30810?t=9&akid=10489%2E1174326%2E_f8XlE

2. “Eyewitness to Carr Shooting in Charlotte, NC:’Riot Police Shot Him…They’re Fabricating All of This'”. The Root, 23 September 2016. https://act.colorofchange.org/go/30811?t=11&akid=10489%2E1174326%2E_f8XlE

3. “Murder Defendant Rayquan Borum Gets New Attorneys”. Charlotte NPR, 10 January 2018. http://act.colorofchange.org/go/30812?t=13&akid=10489%2E1174326%2E_f8XlE

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Gov Inslee in the Newsroom 2018

04/13/2018 Nativegrl77

04/02/2018 – Statement on EPA’s decision to weaken federal emissions standards

03/29/2018 – New Retirement Marketplace tool makes it easier for all Washington workers to save
03/28/2018 – Inslee announces director of the Washington State Lottery
03/28/2018 – WorkSource helps thousands experience the power of a job
03/27/2018 – State Parks a key keeper of Washington’s history
03/22/2018 – New law takes major step in transforming behavioral health care
03/19/2018 – Inslee signs bills to improve state’s democratic process
03/16/2018 – B.C. backs high-speed corridor study connecting Vancouver to Seattle
03/16/2018 – West Coast governments agree to cooperate on climate change, environment, trade and overdose crisis
03/14/2018 – Inslee signs executive order to protect orcas, Chinook salmon
03/13/2018 – Washington examines innovative ways to combat homelessness
03/09/2018 – Productive 2018 Legislature passes big wins for Washington
03/08/2018 – Inslee statement on passage of I-940
03/08/2018 – Inslee appoints Monty Cobb to Mason County Superior Court
03/07/2018 – New law offers Breakfast After the Bell program for hungry students
03/06/2018 – Inslee makes two appointments to the King County Superior Court
03/06/2018 – Inslee signs bill to ban bump stock devices like those used in the Las Vegas shooting
03/05/2018 – Washington becomes first state to pass net neutrality protections into law
03/01/2018 – Inslee vetoes ESB 6617 – Legislature and media agree to discuss path forward
02/26/2018 – Joint statement on U.S. Supreme Court Janus case from Gov. Inslee and Attorney General Ferguson
02/23/2018 – No longer ‘broken’: Pilot program helps incarcerated women overcome trauma
02/20/2018 – Inslee statement on House supplemental budget
02/20/2018 – Task force outlines next steps for bolstering apprenticeships, career-connected learning in Washington
02/20/2018 – Inslee announces appointment to Spokane County Superior Court
02/19/2018 – Inslee statement on Senate supplemental budget proposal

~ Culture & History

Thomas Jefferson ::: agriculture and labor

04/13/2018 Nativegrl77

Thomas Jefferson purchased a 1,334 acre tract in Virginia as a testing ground for various agricultural methods and labor systems – experiments that presented alternatives to slavery. In this discussion, a panel reflects on Jefferson’s motivations, his relationship with his confidante William Short, and their exchange of ideas on how to best manage this land known first as “Indian Camp” and then later named Morven.