"Why I Adore Joe Biden"

Before we get to our featured blog,  here are some photos from a recent motorcade protest.

 #FreeThemAll

Even in this day of "social distancing,"  it's still possible to make your voice heard. Non-violent inmates need to be released from jails where the coronavirus can spread quickly. Toledo-area protestors donned their masks, placed their posters and banners on their vehicles and circled the block, honking and chanting until the prisoners in the Lucas County Jail banged on their windows in response. 

Will the Sheriff release these prisoners to their families until their trial dates? We'll see. But time is of the essence, and compassion is every bit a part of justice and rehabilitation.  Human beings shouldn't be locked up simply because they cannot afford bail. There is no reason to let these non-violent detainees be exposed to and possibly die from COVID-19.  Keep shouting at the walls until they come crumbling down!

Read more about the protest: https://www.toledoblade.com/local/city/2020/04/18/motorcade-of-protestors-demand-release-of-non-violent-inmates-toledo-lucas-county/stories/20200418081 

And now our guest blogger shares why she can't wait to vote for the former vice president.

"Why I Adore Joe Biden"

By A. Riche-Persson

I’m excited! I can’t wait to cast my vote for President of the United States for Joe Biden. He’s the man who represents everything I know and love. Things will stay the same under good ol’ Uncle Joe, and that’s the way it should be. We can’t be changing everything to suit the whims of the public, can we? They didn’t go to Ivy League schools, and they can’t even manage an invite to my yachting club regatta. We need to keep things in the hands of those who know best, don’t you think?

And all this blah-blah-blah from the Bernie Bros about Medicare for All —who needs it? I have great private health insurance. It even covered my Botox injections and my tummy tuck last year with just a mere ten thou deductible. Couch change! All red-blooded Americans everywhere love their private health insurance according to Joe. Nobody worth anything would be caught dead walking into a hospital with a Medicare card. You wouldn't catch me doing something so lowbrow! It doesn’t go well with my designer purse and matching heels, either.

These hippie peaceniks who keep saying things about Joe voting for the Iraq War and that he never met a war he didn’t like and that he was a friend of segragationalists in the past? Well I say, “Pfft!” War is great for business and that’s what America is all about – business. My Raytheon stocks skyrocket every time dear Donald rattles his sword, and I’m certain Joe will do the same. He’s got an interest in seeing those stock prices go up and up, especially after all this unnecessary shut down of our economy with this coronavirus hoax. It’s just like the flu I hear. And nobody wants their kids to attend school with ghetto scum. Joe was dead right on that issue. Get over it, crybabies.

Where was Joe during all these coronavirus town halls that Bernie put on? Does it really make a difference that he was taking a nap? Who needs all these extra people crowding up the place anyway? I think we could stand to lose a few thousand hoboes sleeping on our park benches and who would miss a few thousand old people or grocery stockers or cashiers or daycare workers here or there? (I get my food delivered to my door, the back door, I think... I let my cook and housekeeper handle that sort of thing.)  

What I’m saying is that America has more than enough people, so let the virus get rid of a few of them. It’s back to work the rest of you lazy bums so my company can realize a good dividend by the quarter’s end. Joe will make sure America is up and working. What I mean by that is that you all will be back to work so I can continue to live off the money you make for me.

Oh, and you’re begging for free money because you lost your job, along with free health care from the government? Who told you to get sick? Nobody! What do you think government is for? Looking out after your health and safety? No, it’s for keeping business people like me afloat and bailing out our banks when they make a bad decision or two. We are the “job creators” after all. All those million of small businesses in small town America just get in the way of our big monopolies making a bigger profit. The government needs to protect us from these annoying little challengers to the free market system. Go big or go out of business is what I say!

Yes, I do like how Joe believes the oil, gas and coal companies deserve to be given massive tax breaks, and we should hinder solar and wind energy technologies from growing and expanding. We don’t want to use up all the sunlight and wind too quickly—what would we do at the beach if we didn’t have sun and wind? Our sailboats wouldn’t work, and I’d have to go to the salon for a fake tan. No way am I going to turn myself orange like you-know-who!

Speaking of colors, Green New Deal? What kind of deal is that? (I look better in black.) The Earth was put here for our plundering. And gasoline is cheap--I filled up my three Escalades for next to nothing this past week.  The Obama Administration was the leader in bringing fracking to the world. Joe will continue that legacy, no fear. So, frack away and let's enjoy the open road in big thirsty cars. Vroom-vroom!

We want Joe to be in office so he can put in a Supreme Court justice replacement for Ruth Ginsburg who will stand up for a woman’s right to… do something. I know Joe said something about how this old-fashioned Roe v. Wade decision could be let out to pasture. It’s not like women can’t easily jump on a plane or a yacht and go elsewhere for an abortion, right? We don’t want to be paying for  poor women’s mistakes or paying to feed and clothe all their baby mistakes. They need to get off their lazy welfare queen butts and get a job waiting tables. Pull themselves up by their own bootstraps! Government money should be put to better use for the good of all—like bailing out the banks again when they need it in the future.

I certainly want to commend Joe for doing a great job to putting conservative-business-minded men like Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas on the Supreme Court back in the day. Joe raked that Anita Hill over the coals for saying the same things about Justice Thomas that some are saying about Joe nowadays—that they sexually harassed women who worked under them. 

There’s the problem right there. These women work under them, and so they deserve to have their butts pinched and be kept in their place. We can’t have uppity-types telling wealthy, powerful men to keep their hands to themselves. They have the money after all. They pay your wages. They own you, you good-for-nothings!

At the end of the day, how can I resist that sexy way Joe comes right up behind me at a thousand dollar a plate fundraiser and breathes in my hair? Ooo! I get shivers down my spine just thinking about his presidential hands all over me. Just call me "Monica," haha! All these people who get bent out of shape because of a few gals who didn’t care for his pawing just haven’t enjoyed having sex with a rich and powerful person before, and they’re just plain jealous of those of us who have. LOL!

I hope you can see now why Joe Biden would make a super president for people like us. He’s older and wealthy and white—so he understands how it feels to have to put up with the rabble that Bernie guy and other Lefties roused up. Joe was a huge supporter of Bill Clinton's wonderful crime bill in 1994 that locked up all those naughty black and brown people who smoked too much marijuana (not sold by our new corporate cannabis operations). He’ll continue to militarize the police so they’ll keep things the way they should be and deal with those troublemakers. We’ll all prosper and not have to worry about our share prices dropping precipitously under a Biden administration.

That’s all we really need in a president anyway, right? More of the same, 'cause happy days are here again! Even Republicans like Joe Biden and say they'll vote for him. With Donny or Joe in the Oval Office, we'll all be raking in the cash and rolling in the dough like we are now. And a healthy stock market is a great thing for all Americans, don't you agree?  

Don't believe me? Well, this gal says she'll vote for Joe (holding her nose) https://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/62473-focus-i-cant-believe-i-have-to-vote-for-joe-biden

But this guy says you actually have a choice and you don't have to vote for him if you don't want to. As if!  https://medium.com/@danielca/dont-vote-for-joe-biden-the-case-for-the-green-party-in-2020-fcae946e0ffc

:BIO: "A. Riche-Persson" (or Ayn to her friends) is a member of the country club down the road and thinks she knows what's best for those who haven't been blessed with her good looks (and face lifts) and brains (she attended Yale, but married a millionaire and forgot to finish her degree). Heed her advice and you, too, can become well-connected in a corporate-owned-and-operated establishment party like the DNC. Just leave your conscience at the door with the coat check girl.

For more on Biden's background, check out this informative blog post from last year -- Biden: My Time? https://bernie2016.blogspot.com/2019/04/biden-my-time.html

UPDATE: New Evidence Supporting Credibility of Tara Reade's Allegation Against Joe Biden Emerges: https://theintercept.com/2020/04/24/new-evidence-tara-reade-joe-biden/ 

Now for a different viewpoint of what's happening in the world. Lee asks, "Will things ever be the same?" (And will we ever see that $12,000 yearly we've all been paying out to the 1% since 1980?)

https://youtu.be/HO0aB_VuoGo

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For families locked away in the Trump administration's detention centers, there are zero options to stay safe from the coronavirus. Even in the middle of a pandemic, authorities are keeping dozens of families away from their loved ones in facilities with limited access to soap or adequate medical treatment.
Two of the largest U.S. private prison profiteers have already recorded cases of COVID-19 among their staff and the people they've detained. [1] 

There is no time to waste: Rush an urgent message to state and federal legislators and DEMAND that they IMMEDIATELY end the use of private prisons and release vulnerable populations so they can reunite with their families and socially distance safely.

ACT NOW

When an outbreak occurs in a detention center, the families there won't be the only ones at risk: the staff who work in these facilities could take the virus home, and put their entire communities at risk of exposure.
 
By demanding an end to the use of private prisons, we can help thousands of children and their families escape conditions that will condemn them to needless suffering and death from COVID-19. 70% of all immigrants detained by the Trump administration are held in private prisons. Ending the use of private prisons would release many migrant children and families in federal detention, and seriously affect the Trump administration's ability to separate more families in the future. 

This pandemic reminds us that we are intertwined. You can't cage a virus; the only way to ensure our collective health is to care for each other. To do that, we have to fight back against this administration's abusive policies that endanger families in federal detention and beyond. 

Tell federal and state lawmakers to end the use of private prisons and protect incarcerated people from COVID-19.
 
Thanks for all you do,
Jess Morales Rocketto
Families Belong Together

[1] A Second ICE Detainee in Louisiana has Tested Positive for COVID-19

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Don't let the coronavirus make us homeless. Demand an end to rent and mortgage payments during the crisis.

Sign Now

Over ten million U.S. citizens filed unemployment claims in just two weeks due to the intentional economic shutdown to prevent the spread of the deadly coronavirus. Unemployment websites are crashing, many people are not even eligible, and the one-time $1,200 checks promised by the government will not even cover many people's rent. In short: millions of Americans have no way to pay their rent or mortgage right now. That's why we need to demand leaders put a freeze on rent and mortgage payments during the pandemic for both individuals and businesses. Sign the petition if you agree! A national landlord association reported that a full one-third of renters in the U.S. failed to pay their rent during the first week of April and May is going to be even worse. While some cities have put a moratoreum on evictions, that just means rent and mortgage payments will pile up during that time and folks will be evicted as soon as those moratoreums are lifted. The only ethical, humane answer is for lawmakers to put a freeze on rent and mortgage payments, and they have the power to do it. Please sign on to help make sure no one ends up homeless due to this global crisis. Thank you, Kelsey B. The Care2 Petitions Team

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From Color of Change:

We just received great news to provide us all with a glimmer of hope! Since the outbreak of COVID, we knew we had to fight hard for incarcerated people because our elected leaders failed to make a humane plan to address those who would be hardest hit. 

So we decided to launch our fight.

Thousands of Color Of Change members joined us in pushing to make all communication free of charge for incarcerated people and their families during this crisis, and forever. As of last week, people incarcerated at federal prisons have finally been granted free phone calls during the pandemic, up to 500 minutes a month. Before we launched our campaign and more than 18,000 people signed our petition, many incarcerated folks were only given two fifteen-minute free calls per week, some received even less.

This is what’s possible when we unabashedly fight for those most impacted, in the face of elected leaders who show indifference for incarcerated people. We win and keep families connected!

But C.A., we know we have much more to do to ensure ALL incarcerated people receive the humane response needed to ensure their wellbeing. Here is what we need you to do to continue fighting with us:

  1. Share the petition with your friends and family demanding elected leaders grant ALL incarcerated people with free calls. This includes state prisons, county jails, and all detention centers.

  2. Start or join a local campaign and demand your elected leaders implement a humane plan for incarcerated people. We need mass releases and an end to the constant churn of people in and out of facilities across the country.

Until justice is real,
Scott, Rashad, Arisha, Clarise, Erika, Malachi, Leonard, Marybeth, Madison, and the rest of the Color Of Change team

Why Don't We Celebrate May Day Anymore?

It's springtime--the season when many contemplate the beauty of nature and why things have become the way they are.

The above meme is a wealth of information for those who wonder, "What are Rights of Nature and how do they affect me?" While many are supportive of the recent Lake Erie Bill of Rights initiative, they still have questions about how a Rights of Nature law can help We the People protect our natural resources such as our drinking water Check out the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund web site for more info. http://www.celdf.org 

And now, an article from a new TRC blogger that asks (and answers) a very pertinent question about why things have come to this point in history.

Why Don't We Celebrate May Day Anymore?
by Redd Phlagg


It's sad that Americans have no idea about the origins of May Day. They've never heard about the Haymarket Massacre. They have no clue where the eight hour day/five days a week workweek comes from. When they see or hear about a union action in the mainstream media, it's almost always slanted toward the negative. For example, a headline might scream, "Unionized School Teachers Demand Better Pay And Working Conditions While Hard-Working Parents Scramble For Daycare"

Oh, those nasty, greedy, evil union members!

Face it--Americans have been taught to hate unions and union workers. The vast majority enjoy the concessions that union activists have commandeered from the capitalist class, such as the minimum wage and overtime pay, but they simply don't have time for the people who make up the unions themselves. Workers are invisible to them.  Strange that is, too, since most Americans are--or have been--members of the working class at some point in their lives.

Why do we hate ourselves so much?

It's not a natural state of being. I don't imagine that most of us get up every day, look in the mirror and say, "Let's see how hard I can work myself to death today to make corporate profits for a bunch of rich people who couldn't care less about my health and welfare." So, how did it come to this sorry state of affairs? Mass brainwashing? Chemicals in the water?

Yes...and yes. All you need do is switch on the TV or open up a web browser and start watching the corporate-sponsored newscasts to see the brainwashing techniques at their best. Only certain issues, stories and candidates are featured on the big networks and that's not because nothing isn't happening involving lesser known people and events. It's a deliberate attempt to keep us slave laborers focused on only those things the capitalist class wants us to focus upon, namely how to make more money for them. 

Be it to deny corporate responsibility in poisoning our air and water, emphasize buying huge gas-guzzling SUVs to make you more popular with the ladies, or perpetuate the myth that the latest coup d'etat staged by the CIA and/or NSA is worth enlisting in the military and dying for (in order to make Raytheon a few more billions in profits this quarter), workers are being fed a whole lot of propaganda bullshit. 

There really isn't any simpler or nicer way to put it. We're just cogs in the capitalists' machine of profit generation. Nothing personal--we just need your blood, sweat and tears. And while you're at it, please leave your dead body in a zipper bag on an Air Force runway when you're done bombing and shooting innocent workers in exotic lands far away, like Syria, Iraq, Yemen or Venezuela. If you don't return alive, then  the elitists don't have to worry about  pesky veterans belly-aching about not receiving the medical care and benefits capitalists told them they could have if they did sign up to kill for "freedom" and Uncle Sam.

We're not celebrating May Day--a worker's holiday--anymore because the American worker is an endangered species. It's part of the oligarchs' plan. Once we're gone and used up as cannon fodder, they can easily replace most of us with androids and robots unless... 

Unless we replace them and their outdated, heinous, immoral system of economic servitude with one that embraces the rights of the worker, the average person, and rejects the ideal that parasitical hoarders of billions of dollars are somehow more worthy to enjoy "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

Happy May Day, fellow drudges!  Deep down, we all know what we need to do. We just got to have the guts to do it.

BIO: Redd believes in putting the people first and foremost. Don't ever ask Redd to apologize for pointing out the selfish greed of the upper classes--you won't get it! Redd can frequently be found marching and speaking out for freedom, the real thing and not the imaginary idea perpetuated by corporate propaganda. Power to the people! 

Related article--May Day 2019 Labor Protests in 17 Photographs
https://www.vox.com/2019/5/1/18525416/may-day-labor-protests-2019

Strike action in the Midwest--

strike photos courtesy of NW Ohio DSA

Live Video of Nurses and Support Staff Strike at St. Vincent's Hospital
--over 2200 workers and supporters march for better working conditions in Toledo, Ohio.
https://www.facebook.com/Childofthesystem/videos/2379685248760175

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From UltraViolet:

A New York judge just let a child rapist off with no jail time and--unbelievably--justified it by saying he "only" raped one girl. "Only one"--these are the words of Judge James McClusky.

Last week, Judge McClusky sentenced Shane Piche, a school bus driver, to probation and $365 in fines for raping a 14-year-old child he met on his bus route. According to court records, Piche lured her and other minors to his house, gave them alcohol — and then raped her.⁴

It's horrifying that this even needs to be said, but one child raped is too many. Judge McClusky cannot be trusted to protect survivors of sexual assault, and he needs to be removed from the bench. This case is getting a ton of attention on social media and in the news, and calls are coming from across the country for the commission on judicial conduct to remove McClusky from his position permanently. 

Can you add your voice and demand Judge McClusky be removed from the bench?
 

Tell the New York Commission of Judicial Conduct: "Judge James McClusky just let a child rapist off with a slap on the wrist. Remove him from his position immediately for his blatant disregard for survivors of sexual assault."

Sign the petition

Unfortunately, this isn't the first time we've heard a story like this. In 2015, the nation erupted when California Judge Aaron Persky sentenced Brock Turner to a mere six months for assaulting an unconscious woman behind a dumpster at a Stanford University party. More than one million people signed the petition to demand Judge Persky be removed from the bench, and Bay Area UltraViolet members staged a number of protests. Ultimately, voters rose up to remove Persky from the bench in 2018. That was a huge victory and shows what we can do when we raise our voices together.^5,6 

Like former-Judge Persky in California, Judge McClusky of New York has shown where his concern lies--for the lives of white male perpetrators and not the women or girls they assault. Because of Piche, the life of a 14-year-old child has been irrevocably changed. By demanding McClusky be removed from the bench, we can show that we won't let judges side with rapists over women and girls.

Can you sign the petition to get Judge McClusky removed from the bench?

Together we can build a world that believes and cares for survivors instead of perpetrators. 

Thank you.
-- Shaunna, Kat, Karin, Holly, Kathy, Susan, Anathea, Emma, Natalie, Melody, Pam, Lindsay, Ryan, Sonja, and Noma, the UltraViolet team

Source:
1. School Bus Driver Who Raped 14-Year-Old Will Not Go To Prison, New York Times, April 30, 2019
2. Judge Sparks Outrage for No Jail Time in Rape Sentence, Washington Post, April 30, 2019
3. Judge Gives No Jail Times to Former School Bus Driver Who Admitted to Raping 14-Year-Old Girl, USA Today, updated April 30, 2019
4. School Bus Driver Who Raped 14-Year-Old Girl Gets No Prison Time, Huffington Post, April 30, 2019
5. Judge In Stanford Sex Assault Case Will No Longer Hear Criminal Cases, BuzzFeed, August 25, 2016
6. Judge who was recalled after Stanford sexual assault case seeks donations to pay $135,000 in attorney fees, Los Angeles Times, December 12, 2018

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From Friends of the Earth:

Last week, the Trump Administration finalized its plan to gut safety regulations for offshore drilling.

These regulations were put in place after the Deepwater Horizon oil rig disaster killed 11 people and caused the worst oil spill in American history. Communities near the Gulf of Mexico are still recovering today. Making matters worse, it’s even more likely that a similar disaster would happen in the Gulf again. Our leaders have long seen the Gulf as a “sacrifice zone” -- where drilling can continue unabated.

Congress could take a stand against the efforts to hand over the Gulf to Big Oil and expose its communities to a future oil disaster. But we need your help to push it to act!

Take action NOW: Tell Congress to protect communities in the Gulf from a future oil disaster!

Trump clearly learned nothing from the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe. Instead of reducing offshore drilling, he wanted to open more than 90% of the Outer Continental Shelf for drilling activity.

We know from experience that drilling puts marine life and coastal communities at risk. We need to shift away from drilling in our oceans, including the entire Gulf of Mexico.

Any new drilling would threaten fishing, tourism, and the livelihoods of millions of Americans in coastal communities. The only benefits would go to Big Oil executives. 

We must continue fighting with all we have to ensure that our marine life and coastal communities are truly protected. So we need your help to keep the pressure on Congress.

Help send 25,000 messages to Congress: Tell your legislator to protect our oceans and coastal communities, not Big Oil’s profits.

Deepwater Horizon serves as a reminder that any drilling in our oceans is unacceptable. It’s only a matter of time before the next large-scale oil spill disaster. Drilling disrupts marine life, pollutes our coasts, and contributes to climate chaos as well.

The good news is, pressure from people like you to stop giveaways to Big Oil is working. Trump was recently forced to walk back his plan to open nearly all of our oceans to more new drilling. And that was largely thanks to people like you who spoke up in opposition.

But Trump isn’t about to give up. Rumors are already swirling that he will revive his offshore drilling plan after the 2020 election. So we need Congress to step up, check Trump’s handouts to Big Oil, and protect our aquatic ecosystems from future destruction.

Help protect our oceans from Big Oil: Tell your member of Congress to keep fighting for coastal communities and our marine wildlife.

Standing with you,
Hallie Templeton,
Senior oceans campaigner,
Friends of the Earth Action