Newsitem List

With his support this week for a minimum wage hike and a low-cost prescription drug program, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger continues to, as a front-page Los Angeles Times story put it, “rob” Phil Angelides of key issues. Having made peace with labor unions, Schwarzenegger may also reduce anger over his gay marriage veto by signing legislation allowing domestic partners to file joint state tax returns. But when it comes to tenants, the Governor has remained solidly in the landlords’ camp. Now...

This compilation of news and events marking the first anniversary of Katrina and the atrocities committed in its name is taken from the Aug. 23 edition of the San Francisco Bay View newspaper, and we are spreading the word through this list until our website, www.sfbayview.com, is back online. A popular website that drew 2 million hits a month, it's been badly hacked and is now under reconstruction....

I recently traveled to Mississippi’s Gulf Coast with the volunteer organization Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) to assist in ongoing relief efforts there. It is painfully obvious, nearly a year after Hurricane Katrina laid waste to the region, that the market-based approach to relief and reconstruction has left the entire region devastated, generating even higher levels of social inequality....

Katrina vanden Heuvel writes critically about Calif and Mass health plans...but she and too many, others overlooks some basic problems regarding Private insurers....

The Labour government’s Welfare Reform Bill published before the parliamentary recess seeks to force the most vulnerable members of society—the sick, single parents and older workers—off benefits and into work....

SAN FRANCISCO – The men in the office slept on the floor, had to forego bathing and ate rations provided by the National Guard, but they were able to broadcast nonstop after the devastating hurricane. The men were five dee jays for 1540 Radio Tropical Caliente, some of the workers for the ethnic media of New Orleans that survived Katrina to provide first response services and eventually overcome financial blows and play a role in the rebirth of the city....

When is the last time you heard the President mention housing? In all of his State of the Union addresses and stump speeches combined, the issue of housing simply never comes up. While it's obvious that Mr Bush has other priorities such as the war and tax breaks for the wealthy, he has been known to at least give lip service to some issues that are important to working people such as health care, jobs and social security. Even if we on the left don't like what he has to say about these issues...

With bipartisan super-majority votes that stunned and dismayed mental health clients and advocates, the California Senate and Assembly passed involuntary outpatient commitment (IOC) bill AB 2357, sending the bill to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to sign or veto. The bill would extend Laura's Law, California's existing outpatient commitment law, by five years. Opponents, including the California Network of Mental Health Clients, plan to launch a letter-writing campaign to urge the Governor to...

LA PEÑA CULTURAL CENTER 3105 Shattuck @ Prince Berkeley, CA...

BEVERLY HILLS, CALIF. - It has been 20 years since Spike Lee burst on the scene with his sexy and controversial movie, “She’s Gotta Have It.” The low-budget, independent film was shot in two weeks and cost a paltry $175,000 to make. However, “She’s Gotta Have It” grossed $8 million at the box office and catapulted the fledgling filmmaker’s career....