From AmericaBlog

We Won

UPDATE: You can thank Ford via this online form.

FURTHER UPDATE: Great AP story on our victory.

Regarding that Ford thing? We just won. 

Every major LGBT organization mobilized on this. AmericaBlog was a true force of nature here, mobilizing from the Net, and forcing the story into the open. Wow.

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This is proof that we won. That all of AMERICA won. The Associated Press story says it all. What matters most isn’t just whether we won or lost - though it does matter - it also matters whether the media and the public and corporate America thinks we won or lost. Why? Because we don’t need extremist gay-hating bullies being perceived as winners by all of their future victims. And now America knows, when it’s a choice between the gay-haters and the gays, choose the gays.

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President Marsha Evans, who led the American Red Cross through an uneven and much-criticized response to Hurricane Katrina, resigned Tuesday in another sign of troubles inside the organization that bears prime responsibility for delivering relief to victims of disasters.

Sue says:

Red Cross is being criticized for not reaching remote areas. They are a private, not-for-profit charity … should we *expect* them to help us all? Isn’t this the role of the government? They are considered by many to be quasi-governmental … but they *aren’t*. This is that "compassionate conservative" garbage again.  Let the citizens take care of the emergencies. And what happens?

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Stop the war! Bring the troops home now!
Sat. Dec. 17, 6 pm
corner of Hollywood & Highland, LA

Street theatre, protest carolers, live music, speakers, more. Bring banners, placards, drums, noisemakers. This is a completely legal street-corner demonstration, no permit is needed.

On December 17, join A.N.S.W.E.R. on the corner of Hollywood and Highland in Los Angeles for a Protest Vigil to "Stop the War & Bring the Troops Home in Time for the Holidays!" There will be colorful anti-war banners and signs, photos of Iraqi children, hundreds of candles, community activists and well-known speakers and more. Together, we will stand together in protest, demanding an immediate end to the war and occupation of Iraq. All foreign troops must be brought home now.

Called by ANSWER LA. More info.

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Is the Pentagon spying on Americans?

Secret database obtained by NBC News tracks ‘suspicious’ domestic groups

I publish Polizeros and I’m active in the ANSWER Coalition, thus it’s not bravado or paranoia to assume someone might be making a list and checking it twice about me.

Besides, after all my hard work and dedication, they BETTER be watching me. Oh, 60’s anti-war activists who did a FOIA request decades later were uniformly appalled at how much they’d been monitored, what a waste of money and time for a war that most everyone now says was pointless. 

Update: Lefti notes in the comments that the article says

One "incident" included in the database is a large anti-war protest at Hollywood and Vine in Los Angeles last March that included effigies of President Bush and anti-war protest banners.

That protest was organized by ANSWER LA, and I drove the truck that led the march. It is only known to the twisted little brains of the Pentagon why they felt the need to monitor a completely legal protest against their insane war. But such types generally are clueless, seeing Hideous Conspiracies where none exist, then not being able to comprehend that if you invade a country the populace will fight back. Like I said, clueless. Well, clueless and nasty. Apparently they believe the Constitution they are sworn to uphold shouldn’t have all that bothersome stuff about freedom of assembly and speech.

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Lincoln Place Apartments in Venice, California is a garden-style apartment complex of 900+ units built in the early 50’s. Generations have lived there, and the rents were at least reasonable. (Well, reasonable by LA standards, a 1 bdr in Venice is probably $1200 a month now, nearby Santa Monica would be more.)

Since about 1985, the owners have wanted to demolish Lincoln Place and build condos, etc. A determined tenants association headed by the tireless Sheila Bernard has consistently blocked this from happening, and more than once when I thought they were doomed, they pulled the rabbit out of the hat yet again, and blocked the development.

The tangled tale of lawsuits, owners, and protests is too long and convoluted to tell here now. Suffice it to say that last Tuesday, 52 tenants were locked out by sheriffs acting on behalf of the owner, AIMCO, the largest apartment rental management company in the nation.

The tenants association probably can’t block these evictions from happening at this time. However they may well be able to block the demolition. Rabbits breed fast.

A little tent city has sprung up in support of Lincoln Place. Activists are welcome to drop by and show solidarity. At root, the problem is an economic system that values property rights above human rights, that allows owners many rights but gives renters few or none. Venice needs affordable housing, not more expensive mega-condos.

And yeah, this is personal. I lived in Lincoln Place for ten years, from 1991-2001. Sue and I own a home now, which just makes me even more aware of how few rights renters have.

52 Lincoln Place tenants locked out

Tuesday morning, Sheriff’s officers, acting on behalf of Apartment Investment and Management Company (AIMCO), which owns Lincoln Place, an apartment complex in Venice, locked 52 residents out of their  apartments.

The lock-out was the latest turn in the long-running struggle between the residents and AIMCO.

The train wreck in our backyard–Lincoln Place

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AmericaBlog continues their well-aimed attacks against Ford for caving to an extreme right homophobic group.

Does Ford agree with the AFA that…

Let’s look at some choice quotes from the extremist American Family Association (AFA) and its publications and see just how comfortable Ford Motor Company is with the hateful ideology its new buddy is pushing.

Does a "Jewish upbringing" lead to a life of crime?
Were gays the real evil behind the Holocaust?
Is Europe "infested" with Muslims who breed "faster than we do"?
Do Jews control Hollywood?
Are gays diseased perverts who die early? - I’m not even going to quote this crap from AFA, read it for yourself and then tell me how Ford Motor Company met with these bigots. 

Read the whole thing, then ask yourself - why is Ford even speaking to these people much less signing anti-gay agreements with them?

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Investigator: U.S. shipped out detainees

A European investigator said Tuesday he has found mounting indications the United States illegally held detainees in Europe but then hurriedly shipped out the last ones to North Africa a month ago when word leaked out.

CIA abduction claims ‘credible’

Allegations that the CIA abducted and illegally transported terror suspects across European borders are credible, an investigator has said.

Swiss senator Dick Marty has submitted a report on the claims, made in the media, to a meeting of the human rights committee of the Council of Europe. 

Hey Condi, I thought you said this kind of thing never happened? But then, you lie so much you probably no longer know (or care) what the facts are.

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Remember that movie where two very large storms meet up and form one huge, extremely powerful storm? The title might be a bit overused, but look what is happening with the Tom DeLay and Duke Cunningham cases. Talking Points Memo points to this story, Prosecutor issues subpoenas in DeLay case

My, my, sleaze and corruption everywhere. Some DC denizens will be having a very unmerry Xmas indeed, wondering when the indictments will be coming and who might be squealing on them in an attempt to save their own sorry ass.

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Howard Fineman, Newsweek’s chief political correspondent, said Monday night in the first program of a Drew University lecture series, that Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward had become a "court stenographer" for the Bush administration.

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A businessman tied to the bribery scandal involving former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham donated more than $70,000 to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s campaign committees and received two gubernatorial appointments.

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