nextian:

California has incredibly stringent absolutely-no-voter-ID ever laws/policies in place—you may not ask a voter for their ID unless they did not use one to register, and if that is the case, you must accept any of the many, many forms of identification that are authorized and not quibble. Otherwise, no matter what the confusion, you absolutely definitely cannot ask, and indeed if the voter offers it to you you’re supposed to lean over and look at it instead of taking it so that no one behind you in line thinks it’s required. It is your responsibility to ensure that everyone who tries to vote, gets to vote, and in the very specific instances where there’s a potential threat of voter fraud, the absolute most you are allowed to do is ask them to vote provisionally instead.

I live and vote in San Francisco. I’m white/Jewish and I read unambiguously white. I’m also a young woman and I’d worn professional clothes that day, as I was going to pollworker training (which is why I know all this!) I went to vote early at City Hall after that training.

I signed my name slightly different than I had on my voter registration.

I got voter ID’d.

And more than that, when I produced my VALID CALIFORNIA DRIVER’S LICENSE with the INCREDIBLY OBVIOUS PICTURE OF ME ON IT, the pollworker sighed and hemmed and hawed and pointed out that my signature was different from the one on this card, too. I prevented myself from saying “what the fuck,” as I might be working with her on election day, and explained that I continued to be me, both in the photo and on paper. She sighed again and offered to let me vote anyway.

That was it! That was all it took. I’d signed the E different than I usually did. I was the least vulnerable voter in the world at that moment, in a state where this is not only prohibited but fenced around with a million other prohibitions so you should never even get to this point, and I got voter ID’d. This is how prevalent the idea is that we’re in terrible danger of voter fraud and everyone needs to show an ID to prove that they’re the person they say they are. This election is going to come down to stolen and suppressed votes, so if you’re voting, I strongly advise that you come to the polls prepared by the knowledge of the laws in your state. Don’t let them intimidate you.

And if you are voting in San Francisco, just so you know, pollworkers are absolutely required to make sure you’re able to vote by any means necessary, so ask for any accommodation you need—you are legally obligated to get it. Up to and including doing the whole thing from the curb if you can’t get out of the car.

black-cat-urelle:

collaterlysisters:

thepeoplesrecord:

Walmart strikes spread to more states
October 9, 2012

For the second time in five days – and also the second time in Walmart’s five decades – workers at multiple US Walmart stores are on strike. This morning, workers walked off the job in Dallas, Texas and Laurel, Maryland; Walmart store workers in additional cities are expected to join the strike in the coming hours. No end date has been announced; some plan to remain on strike at least through tomorrow, when they’ll join other Walmart workers for a demonstration outside the company’s annual investor meeting in Bentonville, Arkansas. Today’s is the latest in a unprecedented wave of Walmart supply chain strikes: From shrimp workers in Louisiana, to warehouse workers in California and Illinois, to Walmart store employees in three states – and counting.

Fuck yeah

oh shit that rules

(via natellite)

mehreenkasana:

• Mosque burned to the ground in Missouri.
• Pig carcasses thrown at mosque in California.
• Air rifle shots at mosque in Illinois. 
• Paintball attack against mosque in Oklahoma.
• Acid attack against Islamic school in Illinois.

I have nothing to say other than I am sickened by this increasing sensation of hate and intolerance. America, what are you doing?

(via paxamericana)

soo:

Greetings from California

(via bluepeets)

susie-c:

This is what I get for making a snarky comment about all the comparatively well-paid East Coast reporters writing about San Francisco and Oakland like they live here. Made me laugh, because I still have a sense of humor, but I’m not sure Oakland does. People here just don’t have enough weed!

paxamericana:

We often talk about how hard NOM works to hide their donors – even if it means circumventing the law – but now, we’ve learned the identity of one of their high-profile financial supporters: Mitt Romney.

Financial documents obtained by HRC reveal that Mitt Romney donated $10,000 to the National Organization for Marriage in 2008 – essentially funding NOM’s strategy of using racial division and unfounded scare tactics to attack LGBT equality, at the same time that NOM was fighting for Prop 8 in California.

susie-c:

good:

Making art into a full-time job—indie or industry—can require years of scraping with no guaranteed payoff. It becomes a much smoother path if you’ve got a phone full of friends from whatever art school, enough spare time to hone and promote your work, and family who can support you and who don’t need to be supported. Social capital is still capital, and in our economic system, an art career is a luxury purchase.

The Hidden Economics of Oakland’s Rap Bohemia

Channing Kennedy FTW

brm3d1na:

heartmindspirit:

“Glass Beach is a beach in MacK­er­richer State Park near Fort Bragg, Cal­i­for­nia that is abun­dant in sea glass cre­ated from years of dump­ing garbage into an area of coast­line near the north­ern part of the town.”

This is how the Earth treats its traitors, by taking our trash, and turning it back up onto our shores in the form of smooth, beautiful jewels.  How forgiving of a mother.  

This is awesome! If only more trash could be just glass..

(Source: heartbloodspirit, via feed-well)

Protests Grow in Solidarity with California Prisoners as Hunger Strikes Enter Third Week

DORSEY NUNN: You know, what brings me into this studio this morning at 5:00 in the morning is that I’m scared people are going to start dying. You know, the only model that these guys got left is the model of Bobby Sands and the Irish strike. That’s their model. So these guys—

AMY GOODMAN: Explain what you mean by that.

DORSEY NUNN: You know, somebody needs to think about what would drive human beings—yes.

AMY GOODMAN: Dorsey, you’re talking about—you’re talking about fasting to death, if you’re talking about Bobby Sands.

DORSEY NUNN: Yeah, that’s what they’re talking about. And that’s what they’ve been like—that’s what I’m frightened of. So what brings me into your studio is, I think they’re betting on the compassion of people who live in the state of California, people who live in the United States. And what’s frightening to me is that I don’t know if that compassion really exists.

MOLLY PORZIG: I mean, just to add to that, to back up to the question of what has the response of officials been, I mean, it’s very, very clear that the CDCR is more than willing, if not wanting, people to start dying. They want this to go away quickly and quietly. They pride itself on Pelican Bay being the end of the line, not only for people in California, but to be a model for the United States, and really the world, in terms of how to repress political organizing and resistance and any sort of defiance to any sort of establishment.

And I think that, you know, what the challenge is for supporters outside of prison is that we need to be tirelessly working at, in a very urgent way, taking the risks that we can to match the courage of these hunger strikers, because, like Dorsey is saying, people—it’s not just that we’re afraid of in a few weeks people dying. People are getting to that point now. And we need to be acting more. You know, historically, people have used civil disobedience to prevent mass death. And that’s exactly the moment that we’re in right now. That’s exactly what these hunger strikers and thousands and thousands of prisoners across the state of California are doing. Some prisoners at Ohio State Penitentiary are also joining this. You know, so this is really, really huge.