Kimi Blog – Page 15

20161107

Vote YES on NJ Ballot Q#2 to protect gas tax funds from being raided like clean energy and health funds were

vote-to-repair-roads — Source: Engineer’s Labor-Employer Cooperative via nj.com

New Jersey Assemblyman Dr. Tim Eustace wants New Jersey voters to know that voting YES on Ballot Question #2 will enable extremely important protections of taxpayer dollars. Election Day this year falls on Tuesday, November 8.

Here are short and long versions of the reasons it’s important to vote YES to Q2. You already know how important it is that you go vote in the first place – right?

The short version of why YES on Q2

On the gas tax issue, Assm. Eustace comments:

The New Jersey gas tax increase of 23¢ is law – and it’s a mistake to think it will go away if people vote NO on Ballot Question #2 at the polls next Tuesday. Gov. Christie’s second-in-command discussed the ballot question in a 101.5 Radio interview, revealing that either she does not understand this law, or maybe Ms. Guadagno is hoping to draw out Republican voters who believe that the gas tax will go away if they vote no. But, this is not true. read more

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Government investigates vote suppression back to 2004 and presidential commission proposes protections

Cuyahoga County Board of Elections’ Deputy Director Pat McDonald offered testimony to the Presidential Commission on Elections on ways that voter registration and voting procedures could be revamped to make voting both easier and more secure. The commission’s findings on “The American Voting Experience” were presented to President Obama in 2014.

Part of a package presented to Congress on 14 December 2004 is the sworn affidavit of Sherole Eaton, a Deputy Director of the Hocking County, Ohio, Board of Elections. She describes the experience of voter machine tampering by Michael, a consulting company employee, who in 2004 entered the Board of Elections office claiming that the computers on which voting results had been stored, needed to be fixed – and proceeded to dismantle both primary and backup computers. The incident happened shortly before a planned recount was due to take place.

Obama registering voters in 1992 — AP photo supplied by Obama Presidential Campaign via The Obama Diary

2016102620161104

On live TV Pres. Obama offers the perfect comeback to Trump’s nasty tweet

Obama: at least I will go down as president — Source: Jimmy Kimmel Live via The Guardian and YouTube

The President responds to Trump’s tweet, “Obama will go down as perhaps the worst president in the history of the United States,” with the comment, “Well, @realDonaldTrump, at least I will go down as a … president … (mic drop)!”

That’s just one of the mean tweets the president read out and responded to on the Jimmy Kimmel show a couple of days ago. Our president does not disappoint.

Mean Tweets President Obama Edition 2015 — Source: Jimmy Kimmel show

Here are some of the mean tweets Pres. Obama dealt with on the Jimmy Kimmel show last year.
read more

2016102620161107

2016 Voter Resources: register, get help with voting problems, check out candidates

iTunes App: #Unidosapp – The Next Generation of American Voters One-stop app for the Next Generation of American voters to connect with the issues that matter to you in the 2016 presidential election. Find out how to register, vote, and get help with all of your presidential election questions. Get it on iTunes

Cada Voto Cuenta Volunteer sign-up LatinoJustice’s Nonpartisan Cada Voto Cuenta Election Monitoring Voter Protection Initiative is recruiting bilingual Spanish-speaking legal volunteers in five states.

On Election Day, 4000 CommonCause Election Protection community and lawyer volunteers will be ready to provide on the spot assistance on Election Day to voters everywhere in the US.

Voting hotlines
866-OUR-VOTE (866-687-8683) – English language hotline
888-VE-Y-VOTA (888-839-8682) – Spanish language hotline
888-API-VOTE (888-274-8683) – Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Bengali, Hindi, Urdu, Tagalog
1-844-418-1682 – Arabic language hotline

Call hotline numbers to learn where to go and what you need to do in order to vote. Also, report on problems like long lines, faulty voting machines and any other obstructions you encounter while attempting to vote.

Please help spread the word about the hotlines by: read more

2016101020161104

With the addition of Google Play Store access, Chromebooks are finally real laptops – well, sort of.

chrome-os-53 on chromebook — Source: https://9to5google.com

For $2-300 you can set yourself up with a Chromebook, which gives you access to Google’s suite of Cloud apps. And now, when you upgrade to Chrome Version 53, you get access to the Google Play Store too – which means access to all the Android apps you can install on a computer that offers less storage than the average smartphone.

This isn’t to say that Play Store access stinks completely. What seems to be true, is that you still have to be somewhat of a hacker to get anything approximating full laptop functionality out of a Chromebook, even with Android apps availability. read more

2016101020221207

An important essay by an honored student on the hypocrisies of inclusion in higher ed

Sung Yim with shaved head — Source: Sung Yim, courtesy of lutherxhughes.com

Sung Yim wrote an essay to Columbia University after essays the Korean poet was asked to submit as a student representative of Columbia College Chicago’s Nonfiction writing department were twice rejected and the last essay, cut down to almost nothing to eliminate any controversial bits. The author writes about the author’s own work:

It’s important to keep in mind that my work has always been scathingly political. That is, I would think, part of why the writing faculty nominated my work. It’s also important to keep in mind that they were soliciting short work of a long-form artist. I was clipping and revising each piece I was submitting to them, which took hours of free labor. read more

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Commissary Kitchen, a prison cookbook by a Mobb Deep rapper

mobb deep, prison chef — Source: Teddy Wolff/Infamous Books

A new cookbook is on the market about which its prison chef author Prodigy Johnson of the rap group Mobb Deep writes, “This book won’t make you a better cook, but it might make you a better person.”

Knowing what to eat and how to make it is evidently such an important part of prison life that there’s an entire cottage industry of cookbooks written on the subject. Inmate survival guides often have a section on food and how to use the commissary to augment prison diets. Commissary Kitchen: My Infamous Prison Cookbook, which will be published this month, is written by Prodigy and journalist Kathy Iandoli. read more

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Exposé: government assistance thief known in the 1970s as “Welfare Queen” was a white career criminal

Welfare Queen aliases — Source: Slate.com

Slate’s Executive Editor Josh Levin created a complex, in-depth multi-media story about the woman who was dubbed the “Welfare Queen” by Ronald Reagan. Mostly described by the media as a black woman, Linda Taylor was actually white and it seems she was also a kidnapper and murderer.

Ronald Reagan loved to tell stories. When he ran for president in 1976, many of Reagan’s anecdotes converged on a single point: The welfare state is broken, and I’m the man to fix it. On the trail, the Republican candidate told a tale about a fancy public housing complex with a gym and a swimming pool. There was also someone in California, he’d explain incredulously, who supported herself with food stamps while learning the art of witchcraft. And in stump speech after stump speech, Reagan regaled his supporters with the story of an Illinois woman whose feats of deception were too amazing to be believed. read more

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Has Sweeney convinced NJ legislators to turn their backs on giving a living wage to NJ workers any time soon?

Fight for $15 in NJ — Source: NJ Working Families

Why will New Jersey have a ballot referendum next year (aka constitutional amendment) that will allow state voters to decide whether to approve SCR1500 and increase the state’s minimum wage – but only by 62¢ in 2018 to $9 per hour and $1.00 a year after that to finally reach $15 an hour eight years from now, in 2024?

I got a slightly confusing reply from State Senator Bob Gordon to my email regarding this issue and have been checking into what his reply could mean. Here are the facts I’ve learned: read more

2016100820161008

Days after referendum is defeated Colombian citizens demonstrate and president wins Nobel Peace Prize

Colombians march for peace — Source: AFP News Agency clip via YouTube

Colombians turned out en masse to demonstrate for peace after a ballot referendum was narrowly defeated on Sunday 02 October 2016 50.2% to 49.8%. The deal would have brought to an end Colombia’s half century of civil war. Former Pres. Alvaro Uribe led the “no” vote campaign surge by stirring up support among voters for his claim that FARC opposition forces deserve neither amnesty from criminal prosecution or government support to assist with transitioning back into civil society, both of which were provided for under the terms of the peace agreement.
read more

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#VoteYourFuture #VoteWithTheStars

Leonardo DiCaprio says Vote — Source: #VoteYourFuture

If you care about it, #voteyourfuture. Register at voteyourfuture.us

Registration deadlines are coming up fast!

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For healthy and non-GMO foods, vote for House and Senate candidates like Josh Gottheimer

Josh Gottheimer v Garrett in NJ's 5th CD — Source: foodpolicyaction.com

In November, vote for the House and Senate candidates who believe in good, healthy and GMO-free food. Food Policy Action compares the food positions of 12 sets of candidates.

Here’s the scoop on Rep. Scott Garrett vs. Josh Gottheimer – New Jersey’s 5th District Congressional candidates:

Josh Gottheimer supports a strong federal safety net for seniors and food insecure families with children. He also supports fair wages and working conditions for food and farm workers. Incumbent Scott Garrett has voted repeatedly to cut hunger reduction and nutrition programs like SNAP; and he opposed measures that would reduce the misuse of antibiotics in food. read more

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Dude’s viral post: yes, I am racist – but I’m not evil, I’m just primed for change

In an essay gone viral that reminds me a lot of Peggy McIntosh’s legendary ownership statement about white privilege, Jeff Cook explains that racism was incorporated into the Wheaties he eat for breakfast every day in white suburban America. But, he says, this involuntary programming makes him not evil, but definitely ready for change.

It’s a great essay, full of keen insights into both the writer’s mind and the society in which we live. Well worth the read. Here’s an excerpt:

Jeff Cook and Family — Source: beyondtheglasswall blog

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Teacher helps students come to terms with the police murder of a classmate’s father

terence crutcher — Source: scarymommy.com

On 21 September, Rebecca Lee shared her experience on Facebook of helping the children in her school process and come to terms with the shooting death by a police officer, of Terence Crutcher. Crutcher was the father of a student at the Tulsa, Oklahoma school where Rebecca Lee is a literacy coach and writing teacher and ten other students at the school were related to him.

Crutcher was shot after his car stalled in the road and arriving police decided to brutalize and kill him, instead of offer him assistance. The white, woman police officer who murdered Mr. Crutcher has been charged with manslaughter. read more

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Trump is raking in the dough … from his own campaign’s contributors

Check out Politico’s article on Donald Trump’s success in collecting the funds of an adoring public who wish to support his presidential bid … and transferring campaign money into his own pockets. Some would call this unethical, others would call it good business but certainly, this is completely unprecedented:

Donald Trump’s presidential campaign has paid his family’s businesses more than $8.2 million, according to a POLITICO analysis of campaign finance filings, which reveals an integrated business and political operation without precedent in national politics. The GOP presidential nominee’s campaign has paid his various businesses for services including rent for his campaign offices ($1.3 million), food and facilities for events and meetings ($544,000) and payroll for Trump corporate staffers ($333,000) who helped with everything from his traveling security to his wife’s convention speech. read more