The Race to be Supreme Ruler of Crapsville

Why aren’t folks talking about Stockton, California’s upcoming mayoral race? Not even our local newspaper has said jack about Ann Johnston vs. Clem Lee since at least June! WTF? Never fear, Stockton, your bitchy neighborhood feminist is back with a little political punditry for the masses!

Before we even get to talking about the candidates for Top Dog of City Hall, let’s establish a few major concerns that the next mayor should be expected to address. I am sure you will agree to their importance.

1. Jobs. We need jobs. Real jobs. Our young men all suffer from the same I Want To Be A Drug Dealer fantasy until their early twenties because it is honestly the most viable option for financial stability ‘round here! Shit is so bad on the legit employment front, that when local boys fill out job applications they list hustlin’ as a relevant skill, The School of Hard Knocks as educational background, and “Pimpin’ ain't easy” as a reason for leaving their previous employment. We don’t need another fast food joint that will employ eleven or twelve residents part-time on minimum wage or another addition to the corporate restaurant boulevard along Pacific Avenue that will do the same. We need real industry, real employment prospects, and a real living wage!

2. Crime. I don’t buy the Party Line that more police officers & a bigger jail facility will solve the problem. Shit, I’m more afraid of SPD than any of the gang bangers I’ve come across and I have no idea how a bigger jail is supposed to deter criminal behavior. We need to restore the public’s faith in our law enforcement personnel and, honestly, I’m not sure what could get me to re-think my attitudes towards our Boys in Blue. They gun down residents without repercussions (or even adequate explanations) so often that any native Stocktonian would agree that “SPD don’t fuck around”. They show up twenty deep to house parties, are always timely when a noise disturbance is reported, and have been known to kick asses from Louis Park to Oakie-ville without batting an eyelash. Stockton has a violent crime problem and it is not entirely due to gang activity. After all, poverty and high crime rates are the Siamese twins of public policy; where there is one, there is inevitably the other & separation of the two issues is damned near impossible! We need to start looking at our crime problem with honest eyes and develop rational strategies to combat it, instead of behaving like having California’s highest violent crime rate is an unavoidable phenomena that is out of our hands.

3. The Budget Has to Serve the NEEDS of the Community! I think it’s cool that Downtown doesn’t look like Skid Row anymore and I’ve enjoyed my fair share of hockey & soccer games at the Arena, but I can’t justify the exorbitant costs of Downtown Revitalization being covered at the expense of our libraries, our social services, and our environmental responsibilities! City Council has thrown our money around and made piss-poor investments whenever possible; it’s like an alcoholic transient in pee-stained clothes living under the freeway in a cardboard box…but his box is decked out with a Wii and surround sound speakers. Seems like there are some major essentials being looked over, y’know? We need to fund our emergency shelters and low-income assistance programs, so that they can serve as stepping stones to a more stable future for city residents. We need to reward locally-based entrepreneurs for giving the city it’s rare glimpses of culture (where is the subsidy package for Stockton Joe’s? Or the TOB? Xochimilco’s?)! Our hometown businesses deserve to be propped up by the City, rather than beaten down by the current hostile permit & taxation policies that ensure only the Strongest Corporate Entities survive. We need low-income health options besides the County Hospital’s emergency room! We need to remember how broke most of us are & allocate funds accordingly. Our city coffers need to be at the disposal of Stockton’s residents, not it’s (Favorite Son) investors.

4. Address the Environmental Disaster that is the Valley! The air tastes terrible (go out of town for a few days & when you come home, you’ll know exactly what I mean). The water quality is pretty fucking scary (Arsenic! Selenium! Uranium! And enough Copper to line our intestines for decades to come!). The Delta’s eco-system is on it’s last legs, but it’s death rattle is virtually ignored. Huge sections of the world’s best farm land continue to be gobbled up by the Axis of Assholes (Spanos, Grupe, the Stone Brothers), then regurgitated along the city’s boarders as shitty housing developments that no one here can afford and no one else wants. We can fix our troubled streets, our economic crisis, and our community safety net, but if our environment remains a secondary concern, none of it will matter. If given a choice, who would want to live in a place with air that tastes like week old cigarette butts on it’s best days?

5. Knock Some Smarts into Us! Please? If we are going to spend money, we really outta’ allocate a good chunk of change to improve literacy in these parts. Proof that our local governing body gives a shit less about the illiteracy rates of this sad city is the damned coffee shop some idiot installed in the Adult non-fiction section of the Chavez Central Library. WTF? Of all the stupid places to stick a cafe… Now kids run ramped through the historical biographies like it’s a McDonald’s fucking Playland, while Mommy or Daddy enjoys a leisurely latte at a table next to the new release periodicals & I pull the hair out of my scalp strand by strand in an effort to refrain from throttling the little bastards. No joke.

Before I lose it & hop on the first Amtrak outta’ here, I’d better shift my focus to the candidates and their platforms. This way I can pump a little optimism into my thoughts for the city’s future or, at least, have an actual person to direct my anger at!

Ann Johnston has my vote (at this point) because she’s not currently a member of the Worst Case Scenario City Council. On her website she names her top Mayoral goals as:

* ridding the city of criminal activity, gangs, and neighborhood blight 

* finishing the downtown/waterfront redevelopment

* bringing in new business with high paying jobs and good benefits

Ridding the city of criminal behavior seems like quite a lofty goal, but I like the Can-Do Attitude she has with regards to the crime issue. She lists some strategic ideas for kickin’ crime in the tail, such as: enforcing truancy & curfew laws, creating Neighborhood Councils, and holding police District Commanders accountable for the crime rates of their districts (which is a fucking brilliant idea! Imagine that! Police Accountability! In Stockton!). She also suggests building relationships between schools and the business community,which I found to be a very fresh & interesting idea. “Smart Growth” is another aspect of Johnston’s platform that I can get behind wholeheartedly (see #4, listed above).

When assessing a candidate for political office, one of the smartest things you can do is peep their endorsements. Knowing who is backing their bid for power can tell you a lot about their motives & true intentions. Johnston’s long list of supporters (from her website, once again) doesn’t give me any cause for alarm. The local Teamsters, Operating Engineers, Longshoreman, City Employee, and Plumber’s Unions are all on her side. The Campaign for Common Ground (a local environ-friendly organization), The Sierra Club (the local chapter of the national environ-goodies), Planned Parenthood Mar Monte (saintly people), SJ & Calaveras County’s labor councils, and The Central Valley Stonewall Democratic Club (local lefties representing the LGBT community) are also on board with Ann. The feminist and the gay endorsement? Sounds like my kinda’ lady.

Opposing Johnston in November’s election, is current City Councilman Clem Lee. Full Disclosure: My sister & I both voted for him at least once, based entirely on his name recognition. Now, I see the error of my ways! Right off, Clem Lee’s website annoyed the shit out of me. The homepage is littered with that gossipy negative campaigning bullshit that sours me on political discussion (my opponent did such-and-such, so I deserve your vote! Whaaaaa…Cry baby bullshit). His biography reminds us of his life-long residency (which makes me wonder how he has been so blind to Stockton’s best interests while on the Council. I’m half his age & can’t help but see the shit) and proves his heterosexuality by bringing up his 17 year marriage and 14 year old offspring. No pictures though. No platform information either. Nothing but some garbage vague statement about raising Stockton to new heights based on a vision, or some shit. Lee should probably cruise by Johnston’s site & see how it’s done. Johnston is even rockin’ a MySpace, while Clem Lee’s homepage hasn’t even been updated since May! However are we expected to make an informed decision in such an important political contest, if Lee doesn’t bother to let us know WHY we should give him our vote? I guess he’s banking on that whole name recognition strategy panning out again. The McCormick Girls won’t fall for that shit this time!

I am totally 26-0

I have spent every one of my twenty-six years in the same sad shit-hole of a town and, hopefully, that doesn’t officially make me a sad shit-hole of a person (ew…that sounds really dirty & unpleasant). A departing comrade clowned me on this fact recently, as if I wasn’t already aware of the sucky-ness factor of my living situation! For those of you not in the know about just how much Stockton, California blows, allow me to present the following bits of regional current events:

* Currently, Stocktonians “benefit” from a $15,405 per capita income, with 18.9% of families and 23.9% of the population living beneath the poverty line. A Forbes Magazine review noted our soaring crime rate (6,570 crimes per 100,000 residents, the highest in California!) and a Central Connecticut State University study twice ranked us as the most illiterate U.S. city with a population over 250,000. The crash of the sub-prime lending market that began last year slammed Stockton like no other city in the nation, leaving one out of every 30 homes in foreclosure. CNN cited Stockton as the city expected to see the greatest decline in home values in the U.S. We have been named in Forbes most recent Worst Place to Live list, coming in second to Detroit. With all these glaring issues, you’d think the local government would be a bit concerned, right?

* Despite the above mentioned notoriety, our City Council has thrown Stockton’s sparse funds into the following cosmetic projects: there was The Stockton Arena to the tune of $69 million in construction costs and $4.8 million in additional losses since it opened, which does not include the $2.7 million in interest the city had to pay on the bond used to build the mother f**ker; the Port’s home @ Banner Island Ballpark cost $22 million to build and has lost another million since ‘06; we gave $2.5 million to lure Sacramento-based Paragary’s Restaurant to the Hotel Stockton, without any rent being charged to them until 2012; we tossed $500,000 in subsidies to the Sheraton Hotel after selling the land it was built on for a whole dollar; and the City just bought the Washington Mutual building for $30 million so that City Hall can be relocated there. Oh! We cannot forget the infamous Neal Diamond concert that netted The Jazz Singer a cool $1 million from the city coffers. Now, the folks at City Hall are doling out $26.5 million to build a downtown marina for the elite Stockton boating community. By the looks of things, Stockton must be rollin’ in the dough!

* Unfortunately, that is not the case according to the approved 2008-09 budget. Our “great” All American city has slashed $10 million from it’s budget; a little over a million from the library’s book & materials funds, $2 million from the Parks & Recreation funds, $2 million from the Safe Neighborhoods Measure W funding, almost $2 million from housing grants and emergency shelter funding… You get the point, don’t you? High crime, high poverty, low literacy, high unemployment, and a shit load of cuts for all our sorely needed public services in exchange for a multi-million dollar downtown full of amenities that most Stocktonians’ will never be able to use. Wow. If you wanted to learn about political corruption or terrible public policy, Stockton is the place to be! If your not entertained by living in a crime-riddled, economically stagnant, Real Estate developer’s playground where the air tastes worse than the water & the average resident is dumber than a box of rocks, I wouldn’t advise you to move here.

Frontin’ for all y’all

* On the Presidential Election front: Gallup has Obama with a sparse lead in the polls (45% to McCain’s 44%), Rasmussen has a 47% Obama lead vs. McCain’s 46%, the Washington Post is showing a 49% Barack lead against John’s 46%, and the Associated Press is giving Obama 47% and McCain a mere 41% of the voting populace. In other words, however you slice it Barack Obama is ahead, but not by much. Hillary finally started speaking out in support of Obama at a Nevada campaign stop yesterday, where she reminded folks that her supporters have much more in common with Barack Obama than they ever will with John McCain. Thank you for stating the fucking obvious, Mrs. Clinton. Aside from the polls & Hillary, I’ve done my best to avoid the intense day-to-day news coverage of the election, because the mainstream media seems hell bent on telling me how I feel about things, how I intend to vote in November, and pretty much avoiding any relevant news on the subject. So, Fuck ‘um.

* On the Wars We Didn’t Start front: I’ve been a bit confused about the Russia-Georgia conflict, so I assume some of you are too. After looking into the matter, I came up with this: Georgia is a former Soviet republic that flew the coop after the fall of communism in the region (1991). The small nation is a bit of a thorn in Russia’s side, since it has expressed desire to join NATO and is allied with the Western nations that are often in opposition to Moscow. A Georgian provence that boarders Russia, South Ossetia, has had a level of semi-independence for the past 16 years, but according to Georgian officials, separatists have increased their attacks recently and prompted a response from Georgia, which sent in tanks. Russian officials claimed Russian peacekeepers were killed by their forces & that the Georgian military was ethnically cleansing the region of native Russians, so they too sent in tanks. As of this morning, Russia claims to have halted all military action in the Georgian provence, but reports of Russian bombing are still coming out of the region. In summary, Georgia used to be under Russia’s control, until they said Fuck That in ‘91. Then, a piece of Georgian territory attempted to do the same thing & assert their independence, only to be given a military bitch slap from the former freedom fighters of Georgia. Russia tried to intervene & hoped to regain some control over the area, but punked out when the world started paying too much attention. I hope that clears things up for y'all.

* On the Olympic Games front: Swimmer Michael Phelps nabbed the gold in two events so far, swimmer Aaron Piersol got us another, swimmer Natalie Coughlin got us a gold for the ladies, and the entire U.S. men’s relay team (which included Phelps) won yet another. Mariel Zagunis won a gold in women’s fencing and Walton Eller won one in men’s shooting. Only China & it’s home team advantage have earned more golds than we have at this point. Upcoming events of interest include today’s first U.S. women’s football/soccer match vs. New Zealand, today’s men’s preliminary basketball game vs. Angola, Friday’s women’s preliminary basketball game against Spain, and Wednesday’s men’s football/soccer match against Nigeria. Go Team Go.

The 2008 Olympics as I see it

I’ve never entirely understood the whole international sporting event/diplomatic convention thing that is The Olympic Games. I am always reminded of the barbaric Roman Colosseum “games”, which pitted slaves against vicious animals and armed soldiers in fights to the death to please the elite ruling class or those lucky enough to avoid participation in the battles. Similarly, the Olympic Games brings together people from all over the world to exhibit their physical strength and willingness to push their bodies to the limits of human endurance, which allows us non-participants and our governments to find some kind of nationalistic pride in their endeavors. Especially here in the U.S. of A., we only give a shit about the gold metals our “teams” earn, not the athletes that won them. Maybe I’m reading too much into the events, but that is kind of my style, y’know?Anyhow, this year’s games are being held in Beijing, China and the media seems to be doing some of their own hyper-analysis on the subject. Issues of China’s human rights abuses, out-dated economic policy, and civil liberties are the main focus of Olympic news talk and if I didn’t know any better I’d might mistake the Games as something more than a series of athletic competitions!

Maybe this focus on everything but the games is due to the fact that the summer games blow. As far as entertainment value, the winter games have much more to offer the average ESPN viewer. This could be because their are fewer sports showcased in the winter edition of the Olympics, so more coverage is devoted to each event & that makes silly shit (like bobsledding) seem interesting. The winter games appeal may also lie in the fact that the United States isn’t expected to win as many metals as they are during the summer ones, so the drama factor is increased. Whatever the reason, the summer games seem to inspire yawns ‘round these parts.

Starting on Friday (08/08/08, right Elaine?), the 2008 Summer Olympic Games will attempt to gain our attention with some truly uninteresting sporting events. Archery? Hasn’t been entertaining since Robin Hood beat the Sheriff.* Handball? Isn’t that the game that Mexican dudes play against walls in public parks with that hard blue ball (that, by the way, totally stings if your hit with it)? Table Tennis? Badminton? And the worst offender – Synchronized Swimming! There are a few summer sports that always earn recognition in America (usually because we kick ass at them). The best example is Basketball (both Men’s and Women’s), which is pretty much a guaranteed gold metal for the U.S. There is always substantial buzz surrounding Women’s Gymnastics (remember Carrie Strug’s vault performance with a busted leg? Dumb chick…). Women’s Soccer/Football is another sport that generates a lot of press, mainly because America dominates in this one as opposed to it’s less than stellar performance of it’s Men’s team. I’m sure Mia Hamm’s strip tease in 1996 helped a bit as well. While I may never understand the inclusion of the Ribbon Dancing or Trampoline events, I cannot fault the Olympic Committee for including Beach Volleyball in the Summer line-up (in addition to regular Old School Volleyball). Now there is a kick-ass sport with major spectator drawing power! Plus, considering it’s origins on California’s beaches, it’s sort of a regional favorite.

Any discussion of the Olympics is incomplete without a little gender-based analysis (or at least, any discussion with me…). I am not entirely clear on why nearly every event must be gender segregated (the only exceptions being the Equestrian and badminton mixed double events ). I guess separating sexes for Soccer/Football, Basketball, Field Hockey, and Wrestling might make sense. Men tend to weald more upper-body strength, Women can endure pain for longer periods of time, and muscle mass is significantly different between the sexes, so co-ed contact sports might not be the best idea. BUT I can’t think of a single good reason for gender separation in sports like archery, shooting, BMX cycling, diving, or sailing. Do testicles or a uterus really effect the performance of a sailor? Really? Then, of course, there is the few remaining sports that are exclusive to a specific gender in the eyes of the Olympic Committee. Both Baseball and Boxing are Male Only sports; Synchronized Swimming, Rhythmic Gymnastics, and Softball are the realm of Only Women. It’s tempting to suggest that not enough men or women compete in some of these sports, but when an event like Women’s BMX Cycling exists with only 16 participants I find it hard to believe that the international community is lacking in enough male rhythmic dancers or female baseball players to at least include the fucking events. The thing that bothers me the most about gender with regards to the Olympic Games is the quotas dictated by the Olympic Committee that reduce female participation in almost every event. Not that more female competitors weren’t available, it’s that The Powers That Be cap the number of women athletes substantially beneath the number of male participants. Such is the case with both of the canoe events (233 male athletes vs. 95 female athletes), all of the cycling events (380 males vs. 148 females), track and field (1100 dudes vs. 900 chicks), and Judo (217 He-Men vs. 147 She-Ra’s). Doesn’t seem right to set rigid quotas that perpetuate the notion that male dominated sports are naturally gender specific.

Luckily my feminism doesn’t interfere with the only Olympic events I give a damn about: Basketball and Soccer/Football. I’m a team sports type of gal, I guess! Both events feature Men’s and Women’s teams, both have equal gender quotas (there are 4 fewer women’s football teams, but not because of quotas), and both sports appear to be American strong suits (aside from Men’s Football, that is). Men’s B-Ball offers a politically interesting possibility, since Iran has the only Asian team in the event & a face-off with the U.S. could create all kinds of political metaphors. It would be entertaining to watch Dubya use such a game as reasoning for an invasion of Iran, however, it’s unlikely since Iran’s team is laughably without game! We’ve got LeBron James, Jason Kidd, Kobe Bryant, and Carmelo Anthony! The gold is in the bag, baby. Our Women’s team ain't too shabby either. The Sacramento Monarch’s Kara Lawson, the legendary Lisa Leslie of the L.A. Sparks, and last years #1 draft pick Seimone Augustus of the Minnesota Linx round out a team that I see as unbeatable. As far as Men’s Soccer is concerned, Brazil and Argentina are likely to kick our asses (no surprise here). Our Women’s team has a good shot at the gold, but Brazil and Germany might pose a threat to that goal (get it? Goal? I’m super witty.). At any rate, the games should provide more than a few glory moments for our guys & girls in Beijing and, in turn, for us at home.

Go, Team USA, Go.

*Just to clarify, I thought of the Robin Hood reference on my own, but the Olympic Committee couldn’t think of anything better and they used the same reference on the official ‘08 Archery webpage. Sort of sad that archery’s apex was a fictional account from centuries ago!

A Guide to Surviving the Rental Experience (or Renting for Dummies)

On three separate occasions in the last month, I’ve had conversations with friends about the pitfalls of renting a living space. Since it seems to be such a hot topic within my circle of buddies, I figure there must be many more enquiring minds or newbie renters that could do with a little advice on the issue. Then I started thinking how much knowledge I’ve accumulated on the subjects of tenant law, roommate disputes, lease agreements, house hunting, and moving in general. I’m up on game, to say the least.

I sort of consider myself a connoisseur of Stockton’s rental units. If there was a degree program for Professional Renter, I’d have at least a Master’s. I’ve lived in plenty rental homes as a tenant, a sub-leasing tenant, and a temporary couch surfer. I’ve lived in apartments, houses, duplexes, triplexes, attics, bedrooms, closets, and condos. Some where tiny spaces, others were expansive abodes. In some cases the monthly rent was a steal and other times it was inflated. I’ve rented from property management companies, from private owners, from friends, from tenants willing to break their own lease to rent to me, and from corporate controlled apartment complexes. I’ve had nearly every possible combination of living arrangements; from my current solo existence to an out of control tweeker pad with god knows how many other people during my lost years, from living with my sibling to living with a significant other, and I’ve moved in with complete strangers, casual acquaintances, and best friends. My roommates have been a mixed bag of characters: a crazy middle-aged karate instructor/Gulf War veteran (AKA Karate Rock) that rented me a room, the newly outed super-flaming gay guy that shared a couple of residences with me, the irritable lesbian with a vicious bark and no bite in my first apartment, and the raging alcoholic boyfriend with a penchant for destroying furniture and fixtures during drunken fits. I’ve lived with first time renters, under-aged high school students, hippy retirees, clandestine lovers, and quasi-relatives. I’ve been burned by roomies, neighbors, and landlords enough to have learned some painful lessons, but I’ve also benefited from living with some of my former roommates. Yes, mine is quite an extensive renter “resume” because I’ve never renewed a lease agreement (or even wanted to). Anyhow, here are a few pieces of advice from me to you, as an expert.

  • Whenever you have a roommate, you should draft up a Roommate Contract & Agreement. ANY ROOMMATE. Even if it’s your boyfriend, even if it’s your best friend from childhood, even if the person is “hella cool” and you guys “get along really well”, even if you are the one moving into the home they already live in. Even if you never have to use the contract against your roomie in a court of law, the document serves a very valid purpose. All the headaches that come with communal living are put on the table up front, so miscommunication and the accompanying conflicts are greatly reduced. I’m not advocating the use of a contract to enforce a fascist dictatorship of your home; it’s just a mutually agreed upon Way of Doing Things. If nothing else, writing up the contract with your co-tenants puts everybody on the same page as far as how y’all want to live. You’d be surprised how many of the things you see as common courtesy or essential upkeep are entirely foreign to others! It’s better to be up on game about your roommates pet peeves or annoyances up front, rather than discovering he/she is a neat freak or nark months down the road when he/she flips the fuck out and/or flushes your stash. Such a document should include the terms of paying rent (how much, when, repercussions for late rent or bounced checks, etc.), the expected length of the living arrangement, what utilities exist & who’s responsible for them, and ABOVE ALL the agreement must clarify what happens when it comes to moving out. The last part is crucial! How long should their notice be? Do they forfeit their security deposit if they bounce out on you early? Are their certain activities or behaviors that could lead to a roommate’s eviction? Optional sections of the agreement can divvy up housework, stipulate the rules about guests, address noise curfews or studying/sleeping schedules, and establish a smoking policy. Trust me, a Roommate Contract is totally necessary.
  • Familiarize yourself with your rights as a tenant and the responsibilities of your landlord. Remember that there are laws to protect you from oppressive or shitty landlords & living conditions, just as there are laws to protect their investment from you.
  • The amount of your security deposit cannot exceed the monthly rent, unless an additional pet deposit is required. When you move in, a landlord can charge you a security deposit OR last months rent – not both! If the landlord intends on keeping any of your deposit when you move out, you can request a detailed accounting of what they are keeping it for. They are required to present you with receipts (or copies) and detailed time sheets or fee statements if they employ someone to make repairs, if you request it. If the landlord fails to give you this documentation within 30 days of your request, they forfeit their right to the deposit money & it must be returned to you in full according to California state law.
  • Any correspondence with your landlord should be written whenever possible & you need to retain a copy for your records. If you need repairs made, you can call them BUT also send a dated letter. If you have a complaint, you can talk to them BUT also send a dated letter. Trust me.
  • When looking for a place, put the time and effort in to evaluate your options whenever possible. A little searching can pay off big time and a hasty move can land you in a shitty over-priced place that you despise.
  • Plenty of corny kitchen decorations and Lifetime movies have told us that home is where the heart is. This is true, but let’s not forget it is also where all your worldly possessions are too! Keep that in mind when picking a neighborhood, a roommate, or a lock for your bedroom door. If you have a lot of pricey shit, get renter’s insurance. If your thrift store / hand-me-down chic like me, just remember to lock your doors/windows and be mindful of the company you keep inside your castle.
  • Get to know your neighbors. It is terribly annoying when neighbors routinely call the cops on you for being loud or having a party or because they’re fucking crazy, so open up a dialogue ASAP. Besides, it’s nice to have someone looking out for you in da ‘hood.

Tequila is like kryptonite to Ms Maryjane Foxie

For whatever reason, I conveniently forget this fact when presented with an opportunity to drink the devil booze. I then re-learn the lesson, without fail, by the end of the evening. Yesterday’s foray into Drunk-ville ended quite early, since my alcohol consumption started earlier than usual, and the homies were left to fend for themselves while I got reacquainted with my toilet bowl. My bad.

Now that I’ve regained consciousness, I’m ready to start the day’s complaints with a new found sense of irritation.

* According to the New York Times article HERE, American hospitals nationwide have been snitching to the INS about injured or ill illegal immigrants seeking medical care. Since they lack insurance & most nursing homes won’t accept these patients, the hospitals will assist in their deportation to avoid the financial responsibility of treating them. I can’t help but think how fucked up it would be to get hurt or sick and seek treatment, only to be deported by people uninvolved with immigration matters. That would be like catching an STD and when you went to the clinic, your ass got fired from your job. Unrelated & unnecessary double Fuck You’s for folks already in a screwed up position.

* The House of Representatives passed the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would require employers to disclose employee salaries so that women will know sooner if they are being paid less for equal work. This Act was written in the wake of the Supreme Court’s 2007 ruling in Ledbetter v. Goodyear. The Ledbetter ruling stated that employees have to file discrimination charges within 180 days of the initial unlawful employment practice, meaning a female employee getting shitty wages must sue within 180 days of her first unequal paycheck…even if she isn’t aware of what her contemporaries are making. You have to sue before you know your being screwed? Sounds fucked, huh? The Paycheck Fairness Act intends on rectifying the problem, but Bush has vowed to veto the legislation if it makes it through the Senate. What a dick…

* This headline made me puke in my mouth: “More Rapes Linked To Young Women on Drinking Binges”. WHAT!?! Obviously, the editors of San Diego News don’t realize that rapists commit sexual assault, therefore are at fault, and the alcohol consumption of their victims doesn’t change that fact. Women have a right to exist in the public sphere, intoxicated or not, without being subjected to sexual violence. Our police forces are supposed to protect the community, drunk or not, and arrest the rapists without blaming the victimized women in the media. This isn’t 1956, after all.

Valley folk handle the business!

As you may have guessed, I totally appreciate grassroots activism and rebellion. I do not appreciate my local government’s ignorance to the community’s well-being, so when people from ‘round these parts go up against the powers that be I am in hog heaven! Some recent examples of regional muckraking are as follows:

  • Books Not Bars, an activist group dedicated to the demise of California’s Division of Juvenile Justice, rallied outside the site of the former DeWitt Nelson Youth Correctional Facility in Stockton on Thursday. The group of protesters were turned away from the facility’s main gates by correctional workers, but they continued the rally directly across the street in a field. Books Not Bars advocates youth rehabilitation, as opposed to the current system of incarceration. I am in full agreement. It seems awfully fucked up that juvenile offenders are locked up in our already bloated prison system when unemployment rates, homelessness, inadequate educational systems, and poverty have more than a little to do with their criminal activity at such a young age. If they aren’t old enough to vote, to drink, to give consent, then I don’t think they are old enough to serve hard time.
  • Union employees gathered outside the Stockton Caltrans building on Thursday to protest Governor Schwarzenegger's executive order to slash their pay to the federal minimum wage ($6.55/ hour). The idea behind the Gobonator’s order is that pay cuts (& elimination of scores of part-time positions) would save the state $1 billion and ease the financial difficulties (a $15.2 billion deficit, to be specific) projected in the upcoming fiscal year. Unfortunately, I doubt Arnold took into consideration the cost of living in California. Nobody can survive on $6.55 here, that’s why our minimum wage is $8.00/hour. Why not freeze the pay of elected officials & state judges (who are usually upper-middle class folk that can manage on a temporary wage cut)? Or repeal the retarded block on taxation increases brought on by Proposition 13? Of course, the state wouldn’t be entirely fucked if it just carried the deficit into the next few years, but Arnold’s up for re-election & that type of financial crisis isn’t good for his image, I suppose. Never the less, state workers do not deserve to carry the financial faux pas of Sacramento’s politicians on their backs.
  • The California Black-Brown Summit on Re-Entry and Recidivism starts tomorrow in Stockton and will address the fact that black and Hispanic prisoners make up 67% of California’s prison population. Workshops will focus on education, housing, gangs, and employment. Groups such as Homeward Bound (executioners of a prisoner re-entry program), the NAACP, and the League of United Latin American Citizens organized the two-day event at UOP’s Grace Covell Hall. Here’s to citizens actively addressing crime and interracial cooperation in the San Joaquin Valley! Good work, y’all.