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Politics & Government
Occupy City Hall: Black Lives Matter L.A. Protest Continues
This past Saturday marked the 26th day of a City Hall sit-in by activists from Black Lives Matter Los Angeles, a protest that shows no signs of ending any time soon. The group vows to stay encamped in front of the James K. Hahn annex until Mayor Eric Garcetti fires Los Angeles Police Department Chief Charlie Beck or Beck resigns.
(All photographs by Lovell Estell III)
This past Saturday marked the 26th day of a City Hall sit-in by activists from Black Lives Matter Los Angeles, a protest that shows no signs of ending any time soon. The group vows to stay encamped in front of the James K. Hahn annex until Mayor Eric Garcetti fires Los Angeles Police Department Chief Charlie Beck or Beck resigns. The action started July 12, soon after the Los Angeles Police Commission ruled that the fatal shooting of Redel Jones, a 30-year-old African American woman, was within department policy. According to police, she had lunged at officers with a knife in Baldwin Hills.
In addition to calling for Beck's removal (BLM says he leads the nation's most murderous police department), the group's other demands of the city and its police commission, as stated in a flyer distributed on site, are:
- The establishment of a partnership with the City Council to develop a reparations policy for police-violence victims and their families.
- Hold police commission meetings that are open and accessible to the community.
- The appointment of community advocates to key commission seats.
- Adhere to quarterly town hall-type meetings as was tentatively negotiated in July of 2015.
In contrast to other BLM protests that have taken place across the country, the action downtown is designed to draw attention to the group's goals and demands in a peaceful rather than confrontational manner. From the looks of its improvised bivouac, BLM Los Angeles is in it for the long haul. A stereo is on site that provides a steady flow of music, there are about a dozen red and blue tents pitched along North Main Street and in the mall area, and there are tables, chairs, a well-stocked food station and a stack of milk crates that offer a hefty selection of books and other reading material.Melina Abdullah
"Night before last, we had close to 100 people out here," says Greg Akili, a BLM activist and organizer. "We also had a large group of people from a Pilipino feminist organization that joined us for the night and donated $300." Many other donations, he added, have come from white citizens who have stopped by and expressed concerns about police shootings of unarmed black men.
So far City Hall and the LAPD have been noticeably tolerant of the protestors – which wasn't the case in January of last year, when activists camped outside LAPD headquarters were eventually evicted, with two members being arrested. There have been some minor disputes with the police involving the placement of the tents and when they have to be taken down during the day, notes Courtney Echols, a volunteer and University of California, Irvine PhD candidate studying racial violence.
Rudy, another BLM volunteer, told Capital & Main that sometimes during the night cops "buzz" the site with their sirens, trying to disturb those asleep, but otherwise the activists have been left alone. Akili theorizes that the reason for the soft treatment is because the mayor is currently on business in Rio de Janeiro (to "meet with international sports officials and hone the city's bid to host the 2024 summer Olympics," according to the Los Angeles Times), and because, as Akili claimed, "they're ignoring us, just hoping we will go away."
It is hard to imagine a conclusion that would be satisfactory to all concerned. There is no shortage of optimism among BLM members, however. Melina Abdullah is a BLM organizer and tenured professor at California State University, Los Angeles, where she chairs the Pan African Studies Department. When asked if she thought the outcome of the protest would be positive, she answered without hesitation: "We are here to stay, and we will be successful."
Politics & Government
Video: Police Killings Rise Nationally
According to the Washington Post 's "Fatal Force" report, 995 people were shot dead by police officers in 2018.
Politics & Government
Reviewed: A DIY Guide for "The Magicial Resistance"
A new book offers practical tips on how to organize — and cast spells — for equality and the environment.
Witchcraft Activism, A Toolkit for Magical Activism, David Salisbury. Weiser Books. Releases March 1.
Religion and politics have gone hand in hand at least from the time of Hammurabi's Code. Though we are guaranteed separation of church and state in the United States, many a prayer has been uttered for political gain. Any and all religions make no bones about their desire to influence social events and governmental organizations using their own methods and views of the Divine, whether it's the Catholic Workers marching for the rights of the poor, Baptist churches rallying for the right of the unborn — or witches casting spells to protect the environment.
At a time when many people feel helpless, ceremonial magic places power firmly in the hands of people who want to see positive change for the future.
While mainstream faithful said their prayers, conservative chaos magicians invoked Pepe the Frog to aid the 2016 elections. Since then, sorcerers of all stripes and more than few faithful in the Abrahamic faiths have been very publicly throwing down to counteract what they perceive as harmful acts by the current administration.
David Salisbury's Witchcraft Activism is a smart, direct guide to incorporating activism into your witchcraft practice, or experimenting in your activism by adding a little extra whammy. An experienced, long-time activist and well-respected pagan practitioner, Salisbury lays out a guide for activism that incorporates strategy, defense, offense, victory and loss with spiritual tools and magical methods drawn from Western European folk magic traditions.
He begins with setting intention and leads us to getting off the couch and carrying out an action, be it letter writing, participating in marches, attending city council meetings or lobbying — each with certain magical additions to aid in success. Salisbury also gives results based on his actions incorporating magic and suggests a variety of means for different scenarios. Concentration, visualization and focus are stressed as tools, with the addition of sigils, herbs and incantations.
Spiritual actions range from the simple to the complex. Whether meditating before a meeting, doing a divination for suggested actions, writing out a petition and placing it under a candle or using advanced magical practices like egregores, the acts suggested by Salisbury increase dedication to our causes and shift perspective, creating space for new ideas, for relief from burnout and for refocusing on goals.
Over 1.5 million in the United States identify as Pagan or Wiccan in a 2014 Pew Research Center poll—and that's not counting those witches, sorcerers and others who do not identify in those categories. The numbers of magical practitioners have risen steadily over the decades, perhaps because organized religions may not offer a sense of personal connection, of gnosis, or may have goals that are in opposition to participants'. At a time when many people feel helpless, witchcraft, ceremonial magic and folk/indigenous faiths place power firmly in the hands of people who want to see positive change for the future.
Don't believe in magic? Give Salisbury's methods a try and see what happens. You may be surprised, success is your proof. Just stay away from the Goetia!
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Politics & Government
The Tests Facing California's New Governor
Gavin Newsom now leads the state with the nation's biggest economy and largest population — and one riven by economic inequality. What will be his most important challenges?
Gavin Newsom inherits a state that should be any governor's dream: A California that is the cradle of the tech revolution and brims with prosperity, a one-party state with supermajorities in both chambers for Newsom's Democrats. But there are clouds darkening the horizon: Daily prophecies tell of coming economic storms; legislative initiatives taken on behalf of immigrants, retirement security and the stemming of global warming are increasingly thwarted by a bellicose White House. And that Democratic Party monopoly in Sacramento masks a deepening ideological fault line dividing pro-business moderates and progressives – the latter of which have largely chafed for the last 16 years under the thrifty administrations of Jerry Brown and Arnold Schwarzenegger, and are eager to burst out with far-reaching (if pricey) legislation.
Then, there are memories of three high-riding liberal governors (Pat and Jerry Brown, and Gray Davis) whose programs or careers were derailed by resentful taxpayers. There are more recent memories, too: Of an impulsive, hard-partying San Francisco mayor whose blunted ambitions led him to spend eight years in the ceremonial wilderness of the lieutenant governor's office. Newsom is said to have matured into a more circumspect, pragmatic politician, although some of the old doubts were fanned back to life by an unflattering New Yorker profile that appeared shortly before his landslide victory November 6.
Perhaps overriding all these auguries is the undeniable fact that despite its enviable economy, its abundance of billionaires-in-residence and laudable array of social services, California still has the highest poverty rate in the U.S., nearly half of its children live in poverty or near-poverty, and merely finding an affordable place to live has become an existential challenge for many. These and similar factors superimpose on the state another kind of fault line, that of economic inequality. Most of the new governor's time will be spent wrangling crises that spring from this disparity. Which is why the following Capital & Main stories primarily focus on the inequality that separates so many Californians from one another.
Affordable Housing, by Jessica Goodheart.
Single-Payer Health Care, by Gabriel Thompson.
Climate Change and Big Oil, by Judith Lewis Mernit.
Inequality Interviews with Manuel Pastor, Ann Huff Stevens and David Grusky.
Early Childhood Education, by Bill Raden.
Inequality in California: Six Takeaways.
Copyright Capital & Main
Politics & Government
Betomania & Other Tales: 2018 in Review
Capital & Main looks back at the year through 10 stories.
1. Beto vs. Democrats: Texas Lawmaker Frequently Voted to Help Trump and GOP
David Sirota: How a rising Democratic star undermined his own party's efforts to halt the GOP agenda.
Co-published by The Guardian and Newsweek
2. The Tests Facing California's New Governor
Jessica Goodheart, Bill Raden, Judith Lewis Mernit and Gabriel Thompson: California's economy is now the fifth-largest in the world, but merely finding an affordable place to live has become an existential challenge for many.
Co-published by Newsweek
3. Debt of a Salesman: Why the Cost of Living Is Making Retirement a Mirage
Eric Pape: At 62, Bill Ware works as many as 14 hours a day just to make ends meet. Saving for retirement simply isn't an option.
Co-published by Fast Company
4. Is a New Toxic Danger Threatening California?
Dan Ross: PFAS compounds have been linked in humans to cancers and hormonal disruption, as well as developmental, reproductive and immune system problems.
5. Los Angeles Renters Fight Back to Keep Their Pets — and Homes
Carol Mithers: Evoking a previously unenforced "no pet" clause is a good way for property owners to push out low-rent tenants in a gentrifying area. Frequently such evictions aren't legal, but tenants can't insist on rights if they don't know they have them. And that's where attorney Dianne Prado comes in.
Co-published by Beyond Chron
6. Energy Giants Choose Nuclear Option in Election's Biggest Fight Over Fossil Fuel
David Sirota and Chase Woodruff: Fallout from Colorado's Amendment 74 could land on all states' efforts to curb pollution and climate change.
Co-published by Westword
7. How California Public Employees Are Unknowingly Funding an Anti-Rent Control Fight
David Sirota and Andrew Perez: One of the largest donors to the Prop. 10 opposition is the private equity giant Blackstone. The move has been described as the equivalent of mutual fund executives taking money out of customers' accounts to make political contributions.
Co-published by The Guardian and MapLight
8. Homeland Security Kicks the Ladder from Under Immigrants Seeking Green Cards
Robin Urevich: Immigrants who use Medi-Cal, food stamps, housing assistance or Medicare prescription drug subsidies could be barred from obtaining green cards or visa extensions under a proposed rule from the Trump administration.
Co-published by American Prospect
9. The Lies That Should Have Sunk Kavanaugh
Bill Raden: Behind six of the main lies Kavanaugh was accused of telling under oath, plus the insights of congressional committee veterans and a former federal prosecutor who have examined Kavanaugh's September 27 testimony.
Co-published by Newsweek
10. Is Tesla a Promise or a Problem for Rebuilding the Middle Class?
Jessica Goodheart: Elon Musk's labor intransigence could upend a decades-old social contract between employers and workers.
Co-published by Fast Company
Copyright Capital & Main
Politics & Government
Beto vs. Democrats: Texas Lawmaker Frequently Voted to Help Trump and GOP
Co-published by The Guardian and Newsweek
How Beto O'Rourke, a potential Democratic candidate for president, has undermined his own party's efforts to halt the GOP agenda.
A rising Democratic star has voted for GOP bills that Trump critics say have aided big banks, undercut the fight against climate change and supported the president's anti-immigrant agenda.
Co-published by The Guardian and Newsweek
Following Beto O'Rourke's spirited run for the U.S. Senate, powerful voices in the Democratic Party establishment have touted the outgoing Texas congressman as a 2020 presidential candidate who, as the party's standard-bearer, would offer a vision of America contrasting against that of Republicans. However, a Capital & Main review of congressional votes shows that even as O'Rourke has represented one of the most Democratic congressional districts in the entire country, he has in many instances undermined his own party's efforts to halt the GOP agenda, frequently voting against the majority of House Democrats in support of Republican bills and Trump administration positions.
Capital & Main reviewed the 167 votes O'Rourke has cast in opposition to the majority of his own party in the House during his six-year tenure in Congress. Many of those votes were not progressive dissents alongside other left-leaning lawmakers but were instead votes to help pass Republican-sponsored legislation. In many cases, Democratic lawmakers said that those measures were designed to help corporate interests dismantle Obama administration programs and regulations.
O'Rourke's votes for Republican tax, trade, health care, crime- and immigration-related legislation underscore his membership in the pro-business New Democrat Coalition.
Amid persistently high economic inequality and a climate change crisis, O'Rourke has voted for GOP bills that his fellow Democratic lawmakers said reinforced Republicans' tax agenda, chipped away at the Affordable Care Act, weakened Wall Street regulations, boosted the fossil fuel industry and bolstered Trump's immigration policy. Consumer, environmental, public health and civil rights organizations have cast legislation backed by O'Rourke as aiding big banks, undermining the fight against climate change and supporting Trump's anti-immigrant program. During the previous administration, President Barack Obama's White House issued statements slamming two GOP bills backed by the 46-year-old Democratic legislator.
O'Rourke's votes for Republican tax, trade, health care, criminal justice and immigration-related legislation not only defied his national party, but also at times put him at odds even with a majority of Texas Democratic lawmakers in Congress. Such votes underscore his membership in the New Democrat Coalition, the faction of House Democrats most closely aligned with business interests.
O'Rourke did not respond to Capital & Main's questions about his votes.
The possibility of an O'Rourke presidential candidacy has been boosted in recent weeks by former Obama aides and fundraisers, as well as by Third Way — a finance-industry funded think tank that previously made headlines deriding Democratic U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren. He has also been lauded by former Hillary Clinton aide Neera Tanden of the Center for American Progress — a Democratic think tank whose officials recently slammed Republican tax and immigration legislation that O'Rourke voted for. Much of the party elite's support for an O'Rourke candidacy has not mentioned his policy record or agenda.
In the last two years, O'Rourke was among the top fifth of all lawmakers voting against the majority of his party. FiveThirtyEight has calculated that in that same time period, O'Rourke has voted for the Trump administration position on legislation roughly 30 percent of the time. The website said that is above what analysts predict would come from a legislator representing a district as Democratic as O'Rourke's. For comparison, O'Rourke's congressional district votes more Democratic than most districts in Massachusetts, according to the Cook Political Report.
Each vote reviewed below was one in which O'Rourke broke from the majority of legislators in his own party.
Consumer Protection
Since its creation in 2010, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has been under relentless assault by Republicans, who have sought to help the financial industry limit its authority. At times, they have found an ally in O'Rourke.
Echoing the GOP's line of attack on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Texas Democrat faulted the agency for a "lack of openness."
In one instance, the Texas Democrat helped the GOP challenge the agency's efforts to combat discriminatory lending practices. At issue was a 2013 CFPB bulletin asserting its "authority to pursue auto lenders whose policies harm consumers through unlawful discrimination." The agency said, "Research indicates that markup practices may lead to African Americans and Hispanics being charged higher markups than other, similarly situated, white consumers."
The move — and a subsequent CFPB enforcement action against a major auto lender — sent a shockwave through the financial industry. Republicans issued a report criticizing the rule, and in 2015 introduced legislation to repeal it. Civil rights groups such as the NAACP opposed the GOP measure and House Democrats said it was designed to halt "recent actions to root out discriminatory practices among auto lenders."
Democrat Eleanor Holmes Norton, a former chairwoman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, said in a congressional floor speech that the Republican legislation would limit regulators' "ability to protect consumers from racial discrimination in the auto lending market and give auto dealers a leg up in charging higher interest rates." The Obama White House issued an official statement of administration policy, saying it strongly opposed the Republican bill, because the CFPB guidance at issue would "ensure customers are not charged disproportionately higher prices for auto loans because of their race, color, religion or other characteristics that should have no bearing on loan decisions."
O'Rourke nonetheless officially co-sponsored the bill and voted for it. Echoing the GOP's line of attack on the CFPB, the Democrat faulted the agency for a "lack of openness," which he asserted had created "uncertainty, criticism of the CFPB's conclusions, and has made loans more expensive to borrowers." While O'Rourke later voted against using the Congressional Review Act to kill the CFPB's regulation, the original bill he voted for set the stage for the GOP to repeal it under Trump.
Also in 2015, O'Rourke voted for a separate Republican bill that Democratic legislators said was designed to delay a CFPB regulation and weaken lending disclosure protections for home mortgage borrowers. California Rep. Maxine Waters, the senior Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, said the bill would make it harder for consumers to sue lenders when they have been misled, which represented "a drastic departure from current law" under the longstanding Truth In Lending Act.
The Obama administration agreed, issuing a veto threat declaring that the GOP bill aimed to "unnecessarily delay implementation of important consumer protections designed to eradicate opaque lending practices that contribute to risky mortgages, hurt homeowners by removing the private right of action for violations, and undercut the Nation's financial stability."
A day after that veto threat, the bill passed with the support of O'Rourke, who said, "I believe it is a practical, short-term compromise that will provide long-term benefits to consumers in the United States." He argued that the GOP legislation would allow regulators to "continue working with banks to ensure that they are ready to fully comply with the law" and was designed to guarantee that "consumers applying for home mortgages are given all the information they need."
In addition to votes on CFPB-related issues, O'Rourke has also occasionally sided with Republicans on food labeling laws.
In 2015, for instance, he was one of 66 Democrats who voted for a Republican bill "to repeal country of origin labeling requirements with respect to beef, pork, and chicken," according to the bill's text. In the legislation's committee report, the GOP asserted that the bill was necessary to avoid retaliation from other trading partner countries. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, argued that lawmakers "should not let a few meatpacking companies use trade disputes as an excuse to gut important consumer protections and the rights of farmers in this country…our people deserve a right to know where their food is produced and where it comes from."
The next year, Republicans brought forward a bill that Democrats said would undermine provisions in the Affordable Care Act requiring restaurants to disclose nutritional information. Public health groups such as the American Cancer Society and the American Heart Association asked Democrats to oppose the bill, and O'Rourke's fellow Texas Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee gave a floor speech asserting that it would "reduce the likelihood that consumers will receive clear and consistent calorie information at chain food service establishments."
O'Rourke was one of only 33 Democrats to vote for it.
Fossil Fuels/Energy
During his Senate race, O'Rourke was lauded for his rhetoric about the threat of climate change. In Congress, he has questioned the safety of natural gas fracking, and he gets high ratings from the League of Conservation Voters.
O'Rourke helped Republicans vote down Democratic legislation to restrict the federal government from taking steps that could open up parts of the eastern Gulf of Mexico to offshore drilling.
But while climate scientists say policymakers must halt new fossil fuel exploration, O'Rourke has pushed back against the notion that the world must decide between carbon emissions and clean energy. Instead, he has insisted that "we can reject the false choice between oil and gas and renewable energy." Meanwhile, he has cast key votes with Republicans to boost the fossil fuel industry whose carbon emissions are at the root of the crisis.
For instance, O'Rourke was one of only a handful of House Democrats who twice voted for Republican bills to lift the 40-year-old oil export ban.
During the legislative debate over lifting the ban, the Democrats' committee report argued that "the extreme approach taken by this bill not only repeals current crude export restrictions, but also ensures that no export restrictions – for any reason – could be implemented or enforced in the future." The Democratic report, authored by House Commerce Committee ranking Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., added that "the vaguely drafted provisions of the bill could have potentially vast consequences for consumers, the environment and climate change, and national security."
That argument proved to be convincing to many Texas Democrats. On one of the votes, 5 out of 11 Texas Democratic lawmakers opposed the bill. On the other vote, seven Texas Democrats opposed the bill, with O'Rourke among only three who supported it. O'Rourke's 2018 Senate campaign website boasts that "Beto voted to repeal the Crude Oil Export Ban to support our economy and national security."
Passage of the O'Rourke-backed legislation was followed by a tripling of petroleum exports. With the export ban lifted, a recent report from the International Energy Agency projected that the United States will be exporting five million barrels of oil a day by 2023 — all while scientists warn of catastrophic effects of carbon emissions.
At the same time, O'Rourke helped Republicans vote down Democratic legislation to prevent drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, and he backed a separate GOP bill to speed up natural gas exports, which Pallone argued would "exacerbate climate change by encouraging more fossil fuel extraction."
He also supported GOP legislation that Democrats said was constructed to protect the utility industry. That bill was introduced the year before the recent California wildfires renewed questions about utility liability. At the time, Republicans said the measure was designed "to ensure reliable electricity service and reduce the risk of fires and fire hazards caused by inadequate vegetation management" in areas where power lines cross federal lands.
Repeating charges made by Democrats in the bill's committee report, Arizona Democratic Rep. Raul Grijalva said during the floor debate: "The bill waives liability for companies that start forest fires or cause other damage. This is nonsense and shifts an incredible burden and risk onto American taxpayers."
O'Rourke was one of 69 Democrats to support the bill, which passed.
Immigration & Criminal Justice
In representing the border city of El Paso, O'Rourke has been an outspoken advocate for immigration reform. In recent days he has used his platform to call for public pressure on the Trump administration to shut down an immigrant detention center in Tornillo, Texas and he made headlines slamming the Trump administration's overall immigration policy. His Senate campaign website said he wants to "pass the DREAM Act and ensure that undocumented immigrants who were brought here as children, known as 'Dreamers,' find a permanent home and citizenship in the U.S." It also declared that he wants to "end the militarization of our immigration enforcement system."
However, he was one of a group of Democrats who broke party ranks to support Republican legislation to waive requirements for Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents and job applicants to take polygraph tests — a proposal that was part of the Trump administration's plan to assemble a deportation force.
Polygraph tests have been part of CBP's efforts to confront the corruption and misconduct that have plagued the agency in recent years. A 2012 Government Accountability Office report found that between 2005 and 2012, "144 current or former CBP employees were arrested or indicted for corruption-related activities." The report noted that CBP uses polygraph tests as part of employment background checks "to mitigate the risk of employee corruption and misconduct" — and it recommended that the agency consider expanding the tests. The report specifically noted that CBP internal affairs officials were expressing "concerns about the suitability of the officers and agents hired during [employment] surges because most of these officers and agents did not take a polygraph examination."
In April of 2017, the Trump administration issued a memo pushing for authority to waive the polygraph tests in order to expedite the hiring of thousands of new CBP agents. Critics immediately raised red flags — the American Immigration Lawyers Association said it was a plan "to water down hiring standards." Tom Jawetz, the Center for American Progress' Vice President for Immigration, told Univision that "many agents brought on beforehand who had not gone through a polygraph were cooperating with cartels and subject to corruption." James Tomsheck, the CBP's former head of internal affairs, called the idea of waivers "preposterous" in light of what the polygraph tests had been finding.
Compared to other law-enforcement agencies, "a larger number of people failed the exam, but the admissions of the applicants who failed the exam were hair-raising," Tomsheck told The Nation. "The most shocking, frankly terrifying, were the many applicants who admitted that they were infiltrators. That they actually worked for a drug-trafficking organization and had for some period of time. They had been directed to apply for the job solely for the purpose of feeding information back to the criminal organization they worked with."
Two days after the Trump administration's memo, Republicans introduced legislation to allow the polygraph tests to be waived. The bill — which did not even get a committee hearing — was authored by Arizona Republican Rep. Martha McSally, an immigration hardliner and supporter of a border wall. During the floor debate, she described the measure as a necessary step to "provide CBP with immediate relief so they are able to quickly, yet judiciously, hire officers and agents."
Democrats adamantly objected. New Mexico Democratic Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham — the chairwoman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus — said "eliminating the critical polygraph requirements for certain CBP applicants only undermines our Nation's safety, given this agency's historic connection to organized crime, drug cartels, and corruption." She asserted that "no other federal law enforcement agency in the country—not the FBI, DEA, ATF, or Secret Service—makes any exceptions to their polygraph exam."
Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., declared: "Anyone who votes for this bill is voting to support and implement Donald Trump's views on immigration, his desire to militarize our southern border, and his fantasy of a mass deportation force. You cannot spin it any other way. If we want to lower the standards for screening and hiring CBP officers, eliminate checks that could help weed out candidates with criminal histories or criminal intentions, and water down the integrity of this important national security source, this bill is for you."
O'Rourke opted to join Republicans in voting for the bill, which passed. In a statement after the vote, he echoed McSally's rationale for the legislation, asserting that to address staffing shortfalls, the bill was necessary to "help speed up the hiring process and provide the CBP Commissioner additional authorities to recruit and hire quality CBP officers and Border Patrol agents."
O'Rourke joined Republicans to pass legislation making the attempted murder of a law enforcement officer punishable by death.
During the same two-month stretch, O'Rourke also broke ranks from the majority of his party in supporting another GOP measure on law enforcement — legislation that, according to GovTrack, would "add the killing or attempted killing [of] a law enforcement officer to the list of aggravating factors in federal death penalty cases."
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights said the bill was "an unnecessary and misguided attempt to politicize the unfortunate deaths of law enforcement officers and could ultimately exacerbate existing tension between law enforcement and the communities they serve, especially African Americans."
Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., argued that it would change the fundamental threshold for capital punishment by "impos[ing] a death penalty for attempted murder." He declared: "I am not aware that we have in the law, anywhere, a death penalty for an attempted crime; and here, we are establishing a death penalty for an attempt, an unsuccessful attempt."
O'Rourke was one of 48 Democrats to join Republicans in supporting the legislation, which passed.
Regulating Wall Street
Since the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, Republicans and bank lobbyists have been waging a campaign to whittle away the landmark Dodd-Frank legislation that instituted modest financial regulations designed to ward off another crisis. O'Rourke has a somewhat mixed record on financial issues, according to the financial watchdog group Americans for Financial Reform (AFR). At times he has voted with Democrats to protect existing regulations. Still, he has also frequently aided the GOP in some of its efforts, casting six votes for bills that Democrats say were designed to help bank lobbyists deregulate Wall Street.
In 2014 and 2018 O'Rourke cast votes for GOP bills that weakened the "Volcker Rule," which aims to prevent financial firms from using depositors' savings for their own speculative trading.
For instance, in 2014 and 2018 O'Rourke cast votes for GOP bills that included provisions weakening the so-called Volcker Rule, which aims to prevent financial firms from using depositors' savings for their own speculative trading.
AFR sent a letter to lawmakers warning that the 2014 bill "contains a number of potentially significant deregulatory measures." Among the most problematic provisions, said the group, were those that "would deregulate international derivatives markets"; "would greatly weaken the CFTC's ability to protect against" inappropriate transactions; and "cut off the ability of the SEC to include needed investor protection measures as part of their regulatory efforts." The letter warned that the bill's "weakening of the Volcker Rule can be expected mainly to benefit large Wall Street banks that wish to find an end run around proprietary trading restrictions."
In the debate over the 2018 bill, Democratic lawmakers on the House Financial Services Committee noted that the legislation was "the latest attempt to weaken the Volcker Rule, a cornerstone of Wall Street reform enacted in the wake of the financial crisis."
Also in 2017 and 2018:
– O'Rourke voted for GOP legislation that Democrats said would empower financial institutions to shield themselves from bank examiners. House Democrats on the Financial Services Committee described the bill as one trying to "postpone material supervisory determinations by the bank's regulator" and "make it more likely that megabanks would be able to escape or delay accountability for egregious violations of federal laws protecting consumers and the economy." AFR begged lawmakers to oppose it, saying: "The impact of this legislation in weakening bank supervision would be especially great at the nation's largest banks. Its effect would be to substantially increase the risk of systemic problems, and of unfair and predatory treatment of consumers."
– O'Rourke voted for a package of Republican bills that Democrats said would reduce independent audits of corporations, deregulate stock exchanges and restrict regulators' ability to monitor high-frequency trading. The legislation followed a series of "flash crashes" that sent stock prices tumbling and that prompted new rules from the Securities and Exchange Commission. Less than two years before the GOP legislation, former Democratic U.S. Sen. Ted Kaufman warned that unless regulators strengthened their oversight, the economy was vulnerable to a repeat of the flash crashes. O'Rourke supported the GOP bill, even though Rep. Waters pointed out that the GOP legislation "would ease the ability of high frequency traders to manipulate the stock markets undetected [and] encourage a regulatory race-to-the-bottom at our nation's stock exchanges."
– O'Rourke voted for a Republican bill to permit larger number of bank holding companies to take on more debt. In a sentiment echoed by House Democrats, AFR noted that the policy would allow larger banks to "more easily acquire smaller community banks, reducing the number of independent community banks."
O'Rourke voted for a Republican bill to weaken requirements for financial firms to inform customers that their personal information is being shared with third-party corporations.
– O'Rourke voted for a Republican bill to weaken requirements for financial firms to inform customers that their personal information is being shared with third-party corporations. The vote on the deregulatory legislation — which was backed by Wall Street lobbying groups — came only weeks after Equifax exposed millions of Americans' personal information to hackers. Republicans argued that the bill was necessary to reduce "the regulatory burden upon, particularly, our struggling community financial institutions, our community banks, and credit unions."
Democrats on the Financial Services Committee urged a "no" vote, arguing that the bill "would eliminate meaningful, clear disclosures to consumers about their privacy rights, including their ability to opt-out from having their information sold to unaffiliated third party companies."
In 2015, congressional Democrats, labor unions, environmental groups and consumer organizations were frantically trying to block a Republican measure to pass Trade Promotion Authority, which provides presidents more unilateral power to negotiate trade deals, with less input from Congress.
In 2015, Beto broke ranks with unions and environmentalists by voting to pass the Trade Promotion Authority, which provides presidents more unilateral power to negotiate trade deals.
The measure — backed by a powerful corporate lobby — was particularly fraught because it was seen as a prerequisite for the Trans Pacific Partnership. That proposed 12-nation trade deal had become a source of national debate, because — among other things — it included controversial provisions to empower foreign corporations to use international tribunals to overturn local, state and federal laws.
During the floor debate, the opposition was led by Rep. Sander Levin, D-MI, who argued that a "yes" vote meant "saying 'fine' to giving private investors in growing numbers the ability to choose an unregulated arbitration panel instead of a well-established judicial system in order to overturn local or national health or environmental regulations."
Rep. Nydia Velasquez, D-N.Y., similarly argued that "we are being asked to vote for an agreement that will cost jobs, undermine environmental protections, and erode workers' rights, all in the name of so-called free trade." The vote, she said, "comes down to a simple question: Are you going to side with Wall Street, large corporations, and their lobbyists, or will you stand with working families in your district?"
In the end, the opposition was not enough — TPA passed twice by razor-thin margins. Once again O'Rourke broke ranks with House Democrats and most of the Texas Democratic delegation to cast crucial votes to pass the GOP bill.
In the aftermath, O'Rourke — who has also been a promoter of the North American Free Trade Agreement — refused to concede that his vote was a sign of support for the TPP.
"My vote for TPA is not a vote for TPP and does not give the President the authority to commit this country to TPP," he said in a statement at the time. "In fact, if the President fails to meet the ambitious objectives defined in TPA, I will vote against TPP."
Health Care
Along with legislation to fully repeal large portions of the Obama-era Affordable Care Act, Republicans have also mounted a death-by-a-thousands-cuts strategy against the landmark legislation. O'Rourke has been a supporter of improving Obamacare, expanding Medicaid and adding a public option to compete with private insurance. In three instances, though, he broke with the majority of House Democrats to help Republicans, and in one instance, he backed a GOP bill Democrats said was designed to prop up the Trump administration's attempts to replace Obamacare.
The ACA established the Independent Payment Advisory Board to recommend ways to reduce Medicare spending. In the words of its chief proponent, former Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., the board "was created to protect Medicare for seniors – by improving the quality of Medicare services and by extending the life of Medicare for years to come."
O'Rourke defied his party and twice voted to kill the Independent Payment Advisory Board, after Sarah Palin cited it as proof that the Affordable Care Act was creating "death panels."
According to the nonpartisan Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, the language creating the board prohibited it from proposing rationing, reduced benefits, higher premiums or restricted eligibility. Despite those safeguards, Republicans led by former vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin soon pointed to the board as proof that Democrats were aiming to create "death panels." In a 2010 Wall Street Journal op-ed, Palin asserted that the board would create "'death panel'-like rationing" that makes "bureaucrats, not medical professionals, the ultimate arbiters of what types of treatment will (and especially will not) be reimbursed under Medicare."
As that mythology spread throughout conservative media, Republicans in 2015 and 2017 brought up legislation to stoke those fears and eliminate the board.
Representing Democrats on the Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass., wrote in the bill report that the legislation was part of "Republicans' piecemeal attempt to dismantle the health reform."
O'Rourke defied his party and twice voted with Republicans to kill the board. He also officially co-sponsored both measures. He additionally broke with his party by voting for a separate Republican measure to require more reporting about health exchange enrollment. Pallone, the New Jersey Democrat, cast the legislation as an effort to drown federal officials in unnecessary paperwork and "impede the efforts of the administration to implement the Affordable Care Act."
A few years later, when Republicans were pushing to replace the ACA with Trump's American Health Care Act (AHCA), O'Rourke voted for Republican legislation to provide special tax credits for COBRA benefits — an initiative that Democrats said was part of the larger Trump scheme to kill off the ACA and eliminate protections for Americans with preexisting conditions.
"The AHCA would allow insurers to charge older Americans up to five times more than they charge younger Americans," Neal said during the floor debate. "The tax credits in [the bill] would not make COBRA coverage any more affordable for the American people. In addition, it could potentially weaken the risk pool coverage because it would encourage older and sicker workers to remain on COBRA that could hurt small businesses. This is simply a backdoor way for States to discriminate against existing conditions."
In 2017, O'Rourke joined his party in voting against President Donald Trump's tax cut package, which delivered big benefits to corporations and the wealthy. His Senate campaign website cited deficit concerns about those tax cuts' cost.
O'Rourke again broke ranks with House Democrats — and the Texas Democratic delegation — to vote for GOP tax cuts.
But that was not the end of the story for Republicans. Within months, they began pressing a new package of tax cuts that Democratic groups, such as the Center for American Progress, deemed the "Tax Scam 2." One piece of that package was a proposal that a critical Los Angeles Times editorial said "would carve out a new tax shelter for start-up businesses."
As Democrats sought to present a unified front against the new GOP tax cuts, O'Rourke broke ranks with House Democrats — and most of the Texas Democratic delegation — to vote for the GOP legislation. He supported the initiative, even though the Congressional Budget Office warned that the bill would expand the deficit.
Copyright Capital & Main
Politics & Government
The Governor and the Oil Lobbyist: Report Blasts Jerry Brown's Friendship With Lucie Gikovich
Co-Published by Fast Company
How much influence has a former Jerry Brown staffer-turned-lobbyist had over the governor?
A report calls on incoming governor Gavin Newsom to investigate a lobbyist's efforts in California.
Co-Published by Fast Company
Lucie Gikovich, a longtime friend and former member of California Governor Jerry Brown's staff, repeatedly lobbied his office on behalf of a group of oil and gas companies that won major concessions from the governor on important state legislation, according to a report released today by a New York-based non-profit organization.
Gikovich's decades-long friendship with Brown has previously been reported by the Sacramento Bee, including the fact that he stays at her home while on official business in Washington, DC. But her oil and gas industry ties have not received attention prior to this report, according to report author Derek Seidman, a research analyst with the Public Accountability Initiative, which is funded by foundations and the American Federation of Teachers.
Lucie Gikovich, her business partner and firm have donated $114,500 to Brown's campaigns over the years.
"She's someone that Brown clearly completely trusts and yet is being extremely well paid by her clients to lobby on behalf of their interests," said Seidman, whose report is titled The California Oil Veto: The Lobbyist Behind Governor Jerry Brown's Concessions to Big Oil. Gikovich, who works with the D.C.-based Crane Group, has lobbied Brown's office on behalf of corporate clients for a range of industries since 2011. Gikovich, her business partner and firm have donated $114,500 to Brown's campaigns over the years.
For her part, Gikovich denies having an outsized influence on Brown and minimizes her role in legislation that the report says she influenced. "Governor Brown, more than anyone I know, makes up his own mind after hearing from all sides and carefully analyzing all aspects of the issues," she wrote in an email. "He makes his decisions on the merits, regardless of his relationships with those involved."
Evan Westrup, a spokesperson for the Governor, added a few choice words about the then-unpublished report, when it was described to him in an email. "This report is about as factual – and substantive – as a tweet from Donald Trump," said Westrup. "The governor had no knowledge that any of these companies were her clients, but even if he did, it would've made no difference. On these bills – and the thousands of others that have crossed his desk – the focus has always been on what's best for California, which is why the state's record of climate action is unmatched in the Western world."
Phillips 66, one of Gikovich's clients, has paid her $937,500 in fees and retainers to lobby the governor's office and state regulatory boards since 2012.
The Public Accountability Initiative's report builds on a longstanding critique of the California governor who, many environmentalists claim, has been too cozy with Big Oil interests in spite of his reputation as a national leader in combating global climate change and reducing demand for fossil fuels in the state. The report also calls on incoming governor Gavin Newsom to investigate Gikovich's lobbying efforts in California and to "sever the state's ties to Gikovich."
One of Gikovich's clients, the oil refinery operator Phillips 66, has paid her $937,500 in fees and retainers to lobby the governor's office and various state regulatory boards since 2012. She was the Houston-based firm's highest paid lobbyist in California, according to the report.
Gikovich served as a top aide to Brown during his first two terms as governor and he hired her as his federal lobbyist when he was mayor of Oakland, a job that earned her $780,000 from 2001 to 2007, according to the report. She also served as Brown's press secretary during his failed 1982 run for the U.S. Senate. As governor, Brown has included her in trade delegations to China and Mexico.
Brown reportedly stayed with Gikovich in her Washington D.C. home in 2013, at the time she was lobbying on behalf of Phillips 66 and Halliburton, and other corporate clients. Such hospitality might not violate ethics laws if the stay "is related to another purpose unconnected with the lobbyist's professional activities," according to the state's ethics rules at the time.
"I find it hard to believe that they would've not talked about any official business but no one can know for certain, of course," says Seidman, whose report says those visits may constitute a "possible violation of ethics rules."
The visits were "all personal, not business" and evidence of Brown's frugality as well as his desire to visit with friends, according to Gikovich's email.
Gikovich's client during the battle over two bills to extend California's landmark climate program, known as cap-and-trade, was Phillips 66, which operates oil refineries in Santa Maria and Rodeo. The package that the governor signed last year included major concessions to the oil industry and split the environmental community, with mainstream environmentalists supporting the compromise and environmental justice groups turning against it.
Gikovich said that her work on the cap-and-trade program—for which she reportedly was paid $105,000 in 2017—was mostly confined to monitoring the legislation. "There was no contact with the Governor personally on these issues," she wrote.
In 2013, Gikovich also reported lobbying Brown's office on behalf of Houston-based Halliburton, the oilfield services giant, on a proposed senate bill sponsored by then-Democratic State Senator Fran Pavley that regulated hydraulic fracturing—"fracking"—an oil extraction method that brings with it the risks of drinking water contamination and of inducing earthquakes, as well as air pollution.
That bill lost the support of environmentalists after the oil industry lobbied to amend it to allow fracking to continue while the process was being studied, as High Country News reported at the time. Westrup countered via email that "prior to this bill, there was no integrated, comprehensive regulatory oversight of this production stimulation method, which has been used in California for more than 30 years."
Gikovich wrote that the Crane Group "had a small subcontract" to provide strategic advice to Halliburton and that she "never spoke even once to the Governor or staff on their issues, including fracking."
The report also credits Gikovich with playing a key role in advocating for the Southern California Gas Company after its Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility sprung a massive methane leak in 2015, causing the evacuation of thousands of nearby residents. She lobbied Brown's office on behalf of the utility in opposition of a bill that would have granted disaster victims more latitude in litigation against the company. In an email, she said that she submitted a lengthy policy memo, but did not speak to Brown or his staff.
Brown nixed the bill, writing that "nothing has been shown to indicate that current law is insufficient to holding polluters accountable."
"It seems pretty clear that Gikovich's lobbying of his office correlated really closely with his veto of this," said Seidman.
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Politics & Government
Big Pharma Bankrolled Pro-Trump Group As Trump Pushed Pharma Tax Cut
In 2017 the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America gave $2.5 million to America First Policies Inc. — a major dark money group supporting President Donald Trump's political and economic agenda.
The major dark money group supporting President Donald Trump's political and economic agenda raked in millions of dollars directly from the pharmaceutical industry's main lobbying group — at the same time Trump backed off his position on a major drug issue and promoted a tax plan that was a windfall for the industry.
The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America gave $2.5 million to America First Policies in 2017, according to IRS documents. America First Policies was formed by former Trump advisers in 2017 and proudly touts itself as a pro-Trump organization. The PhRMA money represented more than 10 percent of America First Policies' revenues in 2017, according to the group's own IRS filings.
The IRS documents were obtained by MapLight, a nonpartisan group that tracks the influence of money in politics.
While campaigning for president, Trump pledged to take action to generally reduce drug prices and to allow Medicare to negotiate lower prices for prescription medications. He then appointed a former pharmaceutical executive to run the Department of Health and Human Services, and slammed the Medicare negotiation concept after a meeting with pharmaceutical executives.
"I'll oppose anything that makes it harder for smaller, younger companies to take the risk of bringing their product to a vibrantly competitive market," Trump said. "That includes price-fixing by the biggest dog in the market, Medicare."
While Trump has moved to allow limited negotiation in some parts of Medicare, he has rejected the larger policy he campaigned on, leaving it out of his prescription drug proposal released earlier this year.
Trump also passed a tax cut that benefited the pharmaceutical industry, but that has not corresponded with a drop in prescription drug prices. America First Policies launched an ad campaign to promote those tax cuts, and spent the end of the 2018 campaign promoting them. PhRMA also gave $1.5 million to the American Action Network, which aired an ad campaign in support of the tax-cut legislation.
Copyright Capital & Main
Will New York Fund Amazon Subsidies or Student Debt Relief?
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo made headlines begging Amazon to site its second headquarters in the state. Now, however, prominent Democrats in the state Senate and Assembly have slammed the idea of offering taxpayer subsidies to the retail giant.
Co-published by Splinter
Elections have consequences, and they may have particularly immediate consequences for billionaire Jeff Bezos, as newly empowered New York Democrats appear to be positioning themselves to try to block new state subsidies for Amazon, now that the online retailing titan has chosen New York City and Northern Virginia as new headquarters locations.
A day before last week's midterm elections, when Amazon's choice was still up in the air, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo made headlines begging Amazon to site its second headquarters in the state. "I'll change my name to Amazon Cuomo if that's what it takes," said Cuomo, as reports surfaced about Amazon potentially moving in to Long Island City.
The next day, though, Democrats won control of the state Assembly and state Senate. Now, prominent Democrats in those chambers have slammed the idea of New York offering taxpayer subsidies to Amazon. And one lawmaker wants the legislature to decide between giving Amazon taxpayer largesse or addressing the state's student debt crisis.
Democratic Assemblyman Ron Kim announced that he will introduce legislation to slash New York's economic development subsidies and use the money to buy up and cancel student debt — a move he said would provide a bigger boost to the state's economy. The legislation, says Kim, would halt any Cuomo administration offer of taxpayer money to Amazon, which could reap up to $1 billion in tax incentives if it moves to Long Island City. The deal is a goodie bag for Amazon: It includes everything from a $325 million cash grant to a promise that taxpayers will help secure a helipad for Amazon executives.
"Giving Jeff Bezos hundreds of millions of dollars is an immoral waste of taxpayers' money when it's crystal clear that the money would create more jobs and more economic growth when it is used to relieve student debt," said Kim, who recently published an op-ed with law professor Zephyr Teachout criticizing the Amazon deal. "Giving Amazon this type of corporate welfare is no different, if not worse, than Donald Trump giving trillions in corporate tax breaks at the federal level. There's no correlation between healthy, sustainable job creation and corporate giveaways. If we used this money to cancel distressed student debt instead, there would be immediate positive GDP growth, job creation and impactful social-economic returns."
New York has the most expensive set of corporate subsidy programs in the country, and a report by the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research found that such subsidies "are not cost-effective, with either no statistically significant effects or large costs per job created." Kim noted that in 2015 alone, New York gave out more than $8 billion in corporate incentives. He pointed to a recent study by the Levy Institute that found cancelling student debt would result "in an increase in real GDP [and] a decrease in the average unemployment rate."
In New York, student debt has ballooned. A 2016 report by State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli's office found that "the delinquency rate among New York student loan borrowers rose by more than a third over the past decade while average borrower balances in the State increased by nearly 48 percent, to $32,200." A memo outlining Kim's bill says the legislation would empower New York officials to "exercise their eminent domain powers to buy, cancel, and/or monetize the state's out of control student debt," which the memo says totals more than $82 billion.
Kim's move followed criticism of a possible Amazon deal by Senator Michael Gianaris, who led Democrats' successful effort to win control of the chamber, and who is expected to be in one of the Senate's top jobs.
"Offering massive corporate welfare from scarce public resources to one of the wealthiest corporations in the world at a time of great need in our state is just wrong," Gianaris and City Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer, both of whom represent Long Island City, said in a press release. "The burden should not be on the 99 percent to prove we are worthy of the one percent's presence in our communities, but rather on Amazon to prove it would be a responsible corporate neighbor."
Copyright Capital & Main
2018 Election Results
7 Takeaways from California's Elections
Two of the biggest shockers happened in Los Angeles and Orange counties, in races that have historically drawn the most conservative voters: sheriff and district attorney.
Official voting results are weeks away from getting verified for the 2018 general election, but big, historic trends are already emerging: some old, some new, some bad — and a lot of Blue.
1. Real estate interests prove again that they're some of the evilest people in California history
The people who helped to bring to the Golden State housing covenants, redlining, Proposition 13, the overturning of the Rumford Fair Housing Act, McMansions in canyons that always burn and so much more housing nastiness were on the wrong side of history again this election cycle. They spent at least $74 million to demonize Proposition 10—which would only allow municipalities the right to consider rent control—to the point where even renters felt it was a nefarious plot to destroy property values and bankrupt elderly landlords. Unsurprisingly, Prop. 10 lost by a nearly two-thirds majority, and real estate special-interests groups will spend even more if another such measure ever goes statewide again.
2. The Democrats' next big battleground will be the Central Valley
Most of the Dems' millions were spent on flipping Orange County blue, but as I wrote for the Los Angeles Times recently, the Democrats can learn a lot for 2020 by what's happening in the Central Valley. There, Latino candidates have climbed the political ladder from school board seats to a majority of the Valley's state Assembly and state Senate seats, flipping two of the latter with Latinas (Anna Caballero in the 12th, Melissa Hurtado in the 14th) on Tuesday. What they yet don't have is one of the congressional seats held by the region's Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: David Valadao, Jeff Denham, Kevin McCarthy and Devin Nunes, all whom won their races this time around (although Denham is still sweating his out). Expect the Dems to groom some rising stars for 2020—and expect them to mine data from the Valley about how to attract rural voters.
3. People in Southern California mistrust law enforcement more than ever before
Two of the biggest shockers happened around elected positions that have historically drawn the most conservative voters: sheriff and district attorney. In Orange County, Supervisor Todd Spitzer handily beat 20-year incumbent DA Tony Rackauckas, who has been dogged by a jailhouse snitch scandal for years. But even more surprising was the Los Angeles County Sheriff's race, where Jim McConnell—supported by virtually the entire L.A. political class—lost to former deputy Alex Villanueva. Villanueva will be the first Democratic sheriff in more than 100 years.
4. Los Alamitos is now unofficially Southern California's City of Hate
The tiny northwest Orange County town made news earlier this year when the city council decided to pass an ordinance protesting California's sanctuary state law. The councilman who pushed that resolution, Warren Kusumoto, was reelected this week. But also winning a seat was former councilmember Dean Grose, who made national headlines in 2009 when he emailed a racist cartoon of a watermelon patch growing outside the Obama White House.
5. AIDS Healthcare Foundation needs to stop wasting money on propositions
The nonprofit giant spent over $23 million on the Yes on 10 battle, two years after spending $4.5 million on Proposition 60 to mandate condoms on adult films sets in California and more than $14 million on Proposition 61 to regulate prescription drugs bought by the state. Last year, it spent $5.5 million on Measure S, an anti-development ordinance in Los Angeles. All that money went to nothing, as each measure lost handily. Maybe AIDS Healthcare Foundation head Michael Weinstein should've spent that $47 million on services?
6. The California GOP's last, best hope are Asians
The party has long been dead in the state, but a glimmer of hope has emerged for it in Orange County. Asian-American Republicans there now hold one congressional and state Senate seat, two state Assembly spots, three of the five chairs on the Board of Supervisors, and multiple school board and city council positions. And the new mayor of Anaheim, Orange County's largest city, is Indian-American Harry Sidhu. Leave it to Orange County to get minorities to side with the Party of Trump!
7. With five of seven congressional seats now Democrat, this ain't your dad's Orange County anymore
It's not even your Orange County. A brave new OC awaits all of us, indeed….
Copyright Capital & Main
Why Was Climate Change Omitted From Colorado's Debate Over Fracking?
Co-published by Westword
The total absence of climate change discussion in Colorado's 2018 election was striking, considering the state's intensified floods, droughts and wildfires.
Over eight debates between gubernatorial candidates Jared Polis and Walker Stapleton, Colorado's press corps mustered just three questions about climate change.
Co-published by Westword
It is no overstatement to say that Colorado's Proposition 112 and Amendment 74 were two of the most significant and far-reaching climate change measures in America's entire midterm election. But don't blame yourself if you didn't know that. While the initiatives sparked a pitched battle about the fossil fuel industry just as scientists were issuing a dire warning about climate change, that term — "climate change" — was largely absent from the state's political conversation in 2018, even though some local officials say climate change could cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars in the near future.
While Colorado's oil and gas industry was asserting that burning carbon-emitting fracked gas is "helping to reduce carbon emissions," it sponsored an anonymous website attacking journalists who report on energy and climate issues.
Oil and gas corporations spent roughly $40 million to oppose 112, which would have mandated larger distances between fossil fuel extraction sites and schools, hospitals and residential neighborhoods, and likely restricted some fossil fuel development. Some of that money also went into promoting 74, which would have empowered those same oil and gas companies to sue towns that try to restrict drilling and fracking. While the industry offered a smorgasbord of arguments in its campaign — it would defund schools, it would kill jobs, etc. — those criticisms were all based on one central premise: that the setbacks measure would allegedly ban all new oil and gas exploration.
Had climate change been a central topic of conversation, that assertion could have boomeranged on the industry — proponents could have argued that an all-out ban was in fact urgently needed in light of a recent United Nations report warning of a full-fledged dystopia if new fossil fuel development is not halted. And they might have found a receptive audience: Recent polling from the University of Colorado has shown that 70 percent of Coloradans say they are at least somewhat concerned about climate change — and that survey was done before a summer of climate-change-intensified wildfires.
Even though Prop. 112 was not a total ban on fossil fuel extraction, at least a few national voices noted that it represented an important front in the climate change battle.
However, the Colorado press corps barely mentioned climate change in its coverage of the fight, and groups pushing the proposition never made climate change a central argument in their campaign.
An analysis by Media Matters found that out of 12 Colorado newspaper editorials about 112, just one — that of the Boulder Daily Camera, which endorsed the measure — even mentioned climate change. News coverage of 112 focused alternately on the health and environmental hazards highlighted by activists and industry doomsaying about its economic and budgetary implications, but reporting on fossil fuel-related carbon emissions and their contribution to climate change was almost nonexistent.
That was true not only of the fight over 112, but of the state's wider political discourse. Over eight debates between governor-elect Jared Polis and opponent Walker Stapleton, the Colorado press corps mustered just three questions about climate change, accounting for less than 10 minutes of discussion during eight and a half hours of debate.
Meanwhile, the Colorado Oil and Gas Association was sponsoring an anonymous website attacking journalists who report on energy and climate issues. And as a backup measure to defang any potential climate arguments, the industry also ramped up its production of promotional PR asserting that burning carbon-emitting fracked gas is "helping to reduce carbon emissions," as COGA insists. That assertion relies on the public never realizing that it's only true in comparison to burning coal, but not actually true overall: Natural gas is a fossil fuel, so carbon is emitted when it is burned — no matter what COGA tries to insinuate.
The defeat of an explicitly climate-related ballot measure in Washington State suggests that many voters are not willing to support even modest efforts to frontally address climate change.
That context, though, is rarely noted in a political arena that has long been dominated by armies of fossil fuel lobbyists and millions of dollars of fossil fuel campaign spending. This year, much of that money was spent on ads designed to narrow the debate to one primarily about jobs and economic impact, thereby precluding 112 campaigners from broadening the conversation to one about the climate change dangers of fossil fuel extraction. Colorado Rising, the group behind Proposition 112, was boxed into making arguments only about better protecting the public health and safety of those living near fracking rigs, and to defensively insist that the measure wasn't an actual ban.
In a media environment that was already erasing climate change from the conversation, there was no space for them to more straightforwardly argue that dramatic reductions in fossil fuel extraction are necessary to address climate change.
"What the polling is showing is that if people are really convinced that it's an outright ban, they aren't going to vote for it," Colorado Rising's Anne Lee Foster told Capital & Main when asked why climate change wasn't a more prominent part of the campaign. "It's not about what the actual percentage [ban] is, it's proving that they have been blowing this out of proportion the whole time."
At times, 112's proponents ended up publicly asserting that the measure would not significantly reduce fossil fuel extraction at all, even as climate scientists argue that's exactly what's necessary.
"The oil and gas folks out there will still be able to do their thing," said Mark Williams, a former Democratic congressional candidate, at a Longmont town hall where he promoted 112. "My concern is you have all these operators that are out there that are trying to make a quick buck, [but] Colorado does not have strong enough regulations."
There's no guarantee 112 would have been more successful had the proponents tried to focus the fight on climate change; the oil and gas industry's success in defeating an explicitly climate-related ballot measure in Washington State suggests that many voters are not willing to support even modest efforts to frontally address climate change.
However, the total absence of the issue in Colorado's 2018 election was striking, considering not only the IPCC report, but also the state's own specific struggles with the effects of climate change. After all, leading scientists say that climate change is already intensifying Colorado's floods, droughts and wildfires. And although COGA has demanded that "natural gas must be part of the climate change conversation," many of those scientists disagree.
"There is more than enough carbon in the world's already developed, operating oil, gas, and coal fields globally to exceed 2°C," wrote a group of 26 climate scientists in a July letter to California Governor Jerry Brown, urging him to immediately halt the approval of all new oil and gas drilling. "There is simply no room in the carbon budget for any new fossil fuel extraction."
"Absolutely no new fossil fuel developments. None," said climate scientist Will Steffen, when asked earlier this year what the U.S. needs to do to help avoid global catastrophe. "That means no new coal mines, no new oil wells, no new gas fields, no new unconventional gas fracking. Nothing new."
This is why even though 112 was not a total ban on fossil fuel extraction, at least a few national voices noted that its potential to somewhat reduce that extraction represented an important front in the climate change battle.
In a guest column for the Denver Post, former NASA scientist James Hansen encouraged Coloradans to vote for 112 because it would "help prevent climate change by making oil and gas harder to access." Senator Bernie Sanders, who has called for a nationwide ban on fracking, also endorsed the measure on climate-related grounds. And toward the end of the campaign, 350.org founder Bill McKibben promoted the measure as part of his organization's nationwide push to combat climate change.
But by that point, the industry's PR machine was already skilled at suppressing any discussion of climate change and transforming every 112 argument into economic alarmism. An editorial in oil magnate Phil Anschutz's Colorado Springs Gazette was emblematic: In attacking McKibben, it didn't even bother to mention climate change, much less address his substantive argument.
Instead, its headline simply screamed, "Out-of-stater comes to kill Colorado jobs."
Copyright Capital & Main
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text:
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Because of the prefix -octo, meaning eight. Got it?
Mathaholic | 10th most active poster | Maker of the 350,000th post | Person | rrr's classmate
Last edited by Agnishom (2012-12-04 14:29:48)
'And fun? If maths is fun, then getting a tooth extraction is fun. A viral infection is fun. Rabies shots are fun.'
'God exists because Mathematics is consistent, and the devil exists because we cannot prove it'
I'm not crazy, my mother had me tested.
Note that September means seven, October means eight,
. . November means nine, and December means ten.
I've heard the story (probably apocryphal) that there were ten months originally.
Then Julius Caesar created a month in his honor, July.
Not to be outshone, Caesar Augustus created a month for himself, August.
It is probably an "urban legend", but it is a colorful story.
Well, I always thought it was because the first month of the year used to be April rather than January. It was changed to January when the Gregorian calendar was adopted. That was how the tradition of the April fool started to mock people (especially country peasants) who hadn't heard the news and still thought April 1st was the first day of the year.
Last edited by scientia (2013-01-01 07:24:18)
Pages: 1

subset: commoncrawl


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Aerosmith Releases Second Making of 'Music From Another Dimension' Episode
Aerosmith are preparing to release their first studio album in more than ten years in November, but their eager fans can get some early sneak previews inside the recording sessions via a series of online webisodes.
The Boston-based rockers have just released the second of eight planned episodes of the Making of 'Music From Another Dimension,' which shows the band hard at work - and at play.
The musicians have stated that they went back to basics for the new album, and the new clip shows they mean that literally as well as musically. Far from working in some glamorous setting, the band members are sitting around a table working out parts as if they were a young band with their first record deal. Guitarist Brad Whitford explains, "The little conference room allowed us to sit face-to-face and throw ideas back and forth; run through it, make sure we knew the arrangement. It was a really good space to have to kind of culminate all of these ideas."
From the classic sound of the guitar riff in the clip, the group might have actually succeeded in their stated goal of making an old-school Aerosmith record. Whitford attributes that to producer Jack Douglas, who worked with the band on such classic albums as 'Toys in the Attic' and 'Rocks.' The clip shows the musicians goofing around and just generally cutting up between takes, and the guitarist says that was crucial to getting the result they wanted. "Jack always makes everything fun, and when you have fun doing something, it always comes out good."
Aerosmith will release 'Music From Another Dimension' on Nov. 6 through Columbia Records. The group will continue their 'Global Warming' tour with Cheap Trick this fall, beginning in Oklahoma City on Nov. 8 and wrapping up on Dec. 13 in Nashville.


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Request a quote
Barracuda R/O DI systems have a high-efficiency 1-micron sediment pre-filter, 2-micron carbon block for VOC reduction (Barracuda+ models have Chloramine Blaster filters), high-flow/high-rejection Dow® R/O membrane and color-indicating deionization resin for lab grade water.
The 160-psi pressure gauge and clear 10" filter cartridge housings allow full system monitoring. Quick disconnect fittings, filter wrench and hose bib attachment are included. There is an optional in-line TDS meter and shut-off valve. Ship weight is 18 lbs.


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Fill out the form below to join Twister fanlisting. Please make sure you've read the rules and if you have a website, that you put a link back up to http://pavelicious.boo.pl/fls/twister/ before applying!
If you are already listed and want to update your data, you can do this here.
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Instant Marketing needed a new other design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 17 designs submitted by 10 freelance designers.
Instant Marketing Systems
We are a online marketing company that sends out email campaigns for our dental and cosmetic surgeon clients. We would like to upgrade the look of our emails that are sent out and we're adding some buttons down the side. We need to have a generic html email template that we can use for all our emails.
We need 2 columns that total the width of 650-675 pixels.
Column to the left must be 600 pixels wide and the right column can between 50-75 pixels wide. In the right hand column we are looking for the following links to be added down the side:
1. Refer a Patient
2. Schedule Appointment
3. Patient Feedback
4. Forward to a Friend
I have attached an image of one of the emails we would send out. No header is needed in this design, just the main body and background if needs be. Looking for some buttons wrapping around the side, not too bold but noticeable.


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radicalsystems needed a new t-shirt design and created a contest on 99designs.
2 winners were selected from 389 designs submitted by 74 freelance designers.
KP Fashion
In my spare time I built up the facebook group "That's what she said".
The "joke" which you can find out more about here ( http://www.urbandictionary.com/defi…she%20said ) is also a well known joke from the office. I'm not interested in associating with the office or michael scott.
I'm looking to create an online store where I can sell t-shirts.
The first design will be the "that's what she said" t-shirt.
I'm thinking the people most interested in these t-shirts will be men and women in their teens or 20's
I was really happy with the text-only design which I had mocked up for me a while back (attached).
I've seen a few different "that's what she said" t-shirts on the internet but none have really stood out as being great.
I've thought that maybe you could use some imagery (maybe a silhouette?) or a joke but I've been weary of it being "too hard to get" or looking to busy or complicated.
I'm really a fan of SIMPLE!
I'd like it to be a bit of fun, for people to be proud to wear it around and maybe get a couple of looks.
I've found bold text to work well, particular the font in the attached t-shirt design.
I'm actually not sold on a particular color scheme so use what you think works best.
-- Some random Stuff I like --
I don't want this exactly I just thought they were cool
I really liked design #81, found here ( http://bit.ly/aiUUej )
The thing i liked about it was how the figure took up most of the shirt, with some of the figure cut off, plus it was cute and fun! (I liked the ape in design #82, that was cool!)
I liked this design too #84, simple concept but it really appeals to me
http://bit.ly/cRVHjk (#29 was a cool idea).
-- Dont's ---
I'm not interested in associating with the office or michael scott.
Use any copyright material, original artwork only.
Adobe Illustrator file (AI) so that design may opened, edited and resized as required.


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Koi fish: How to buy Japanese Koi fish and start a healthy pond.
This is a broad Koi fish site dedicated to the sale, breeding and care of Japanese Koi, Butterfly Koi, Nishikigoi Koi and Tategoi Koi. Find everything from Koi pictures on how to classify Koi, to how to buy this type of fish to its history plus much more.
Check out how you can save thousands of dollars with the Energy Saving Pumps™. One of the benefits of this pump is the controller is NOT mounted on the motor. There are two 10' cables; one from the power supply to the controller, and another from the controller to the motor. Click on the above link. Power Plus Pumps™are very efficient single speed pumps with 35% extra power. They can be run at either 115 or 230 volts. Best Pond Pumps™ are very economical 2-speed motors with very high-flow pumps.
This is the place for Koi fish enthusiasts and pond keepers. Many pictures help identify Koi varieties. Our focus is on how to keep Koi fish happy and healthy. We supply imported Japanese Koi fish as well as Butterfly Koi fish from the finest breeders.
Another Internet website for pond information and equipment is http://www.KoiFishPonds.com
Best Pond Filters™ are the most efficient self-cleaning Koi nitrification filters yet, and they are sold at distributor discounts.
Our background includes successful ornamental fish keeping and breeding since the 1950s; as well as a B.S. in the Biological Sciences from the University of Chicago, and completion of the work for a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from the Illinois Institute of Technology.
Koi fish are claimed to have reached 2 meters (6 feet) in length, and the oldest to have reached the age of 230 years, passed down from generation to generation. Most modern Koi are considered special if they reach 1 meter in length, and average age from 40 to 60 years.
We welcome comments, pictures, videos, audios, and input from other Koi keepers.
We want to serve as a clearinghouse for good information while pointing out misinformation and the bad experiences that you have had.
Phone: 303-883-8000
e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com
Postal Address: 5082 E. Hampden Ave, Suite #138 Denver, Colorado 80222
Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009,2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 Colorado Koi, Inc. All Rights Reserved.


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By Sharon Bernstein
SACRAMENTO, California (Reuters) - California pledged on Monday to restore 80,000 acres of the depleted Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta as part of a massive project to send fresh water from mountain streams in the north to farmers and residents in the parched south.
The $16 billion plan was released as the state struggles in what appears to be shaping up as its driest year on record, with some farmers and urban water districts promised just 5 percent of the water that they had requested for next year.
The ambitious program would divert water from the Sacramento River above the delta, sending it through massive underground tunnels to provide water for two-thirds of the state's population, from San Jose to San Diego, and thousands of farms.
"This is a rational, balanced plan to help meet the needs of all Californians for generations to come," California Natural Resources Secretary John Laird said.
If the plan is put into place, it would change the state's system for water delivery from the region, which currently involves pumping it from the delta itself in a practice that harms the fragile ecosystem and leaves farmers and residents with widely varying amounts of water from year to year.
Under the new proposal, about half the water would be pumped from above the delta and sent through the tunnels.
The state aims to protect 56 plant and animal species as part of its plan, including Chinook salmon that swim upstream through the delta to spawn. Habitat for the plants and animals declined after years of pumping water from the delta for use in the state's drier regions.
Water has long been a contentious issue in California, where it has been diverted from mountain lakes and streams to irrigate farms and slake the thirst of metropolitan areas. Many of the state's efforts to deal with the issue are controversial, including the long-awaited delta plan.
Environmentalists complain that construction of the two tunnels would cause years of disruption while still failing to protect the delta.
State Senator Lois Wolk, a Democrat whose district includes much of the delta, was highly critical of the plan, saying it would sharply increase the price of water while failing to protect the ecosystem.
"The cost for the twin tunnels continues to increase while the amount of water that can be safely diverted from the Delta continues to decrease," Wolk said.
For farmers, the project represents a mixed bag, said Mark Atlas, an attorney specializing in water issues for the Sacramento firm Downey Brand. Those who grow crops in the state's San Joaquin Valley stand to receive more water each year than they do now. But their counterparts in the northern part of the state might wind up with less water, he said.
Tom Coleman, a pistachio farmer in the San Joaquin Valley, questioned the effectiveness and usefulness of the project, saying the delta needs to be flushed through with the fresh water that would be diverted to the tunnels.
He prefers the state to continue the practice of pumping from the delta, while allowing for some relaxation of an interpretation of the federal Endangered Species Act that for 20 years has limited the amount of water that could be pumped in dry years.
Given the regulatory process and anticipated legal challenges, the state estimates that the soonest construction could begin on the tunnels would be 2017. To move forward, the proposal and accompanying environmental impact report must first undergo a period of public comment, and once finalized win support from a host of federal and state agencies, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
(Reporting by Sharon Bernstein; Editing by Cynthia Johnston, Matthew Lewis and Lisa Shumaker)


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Masoodali Sayed is currently leading Operations for TalentPundits where he is a co-founder. At Talent Pundits he has built a unique bouquet of solutions combining Telephone Sourcing, Web Sourcing and Candidate engagement. A Sourcing expert, he has attained Level II CPSP (Certified People Sourcing Professional) Certification. In his previous role he was leading the India Service Management Centre of Futurestep and also managed its largest IT Account.. Prior to this he was managing the APAC and Europe sourcing for Cap Gemini. He has had the opportunity of working as part of one of the first entrants in the Offshore Recruitment Process outsourcing space and has comprehensive knowledge about the Global Recruitment Engagement Models and Processes. Within this period he has been responsible for blueprinting and mapping future trends within Recruitment Technology, Process Integration, Best Practices and Client Operations. Along with recruitment, he has also managed Market Research processes including Telephone and Web Research.
He holds a Master degree in Industrial Psychology and Post graduate diploma in Human resources from Symbiosis Institute of Management Sciences.
His expertise lies in Global
Sourcing, recruitment technology, deep web research, training and process
re-engineering and has played a key role in establishing BOT model.
He holds a Master degree in Industrial Psychology and Post graduate diploma in Human resources from Symbiosis Institute of Management Sciences (SIMS) also finished internal quality programs for ISO 9001 and ISMS 27001.
Organisation development, internet research, names sourcing, googling expert,erecruitment, RPO, Recruitment technology, ATS implementation, outsourcing,training, offshore, orpo, gdrpo, business operations,executive research, market research, CATI


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Were you surprised to see the smaller size Addison Independent on newsstands Thursday? We sure were.
Unfortunately the press that normally prints the Addison Independent has been having mechanical problems off and on for the past two weeks. We had the newspaper printed at a different shop this week and, despite our best efforts, it was printed on the wrong size paper — and the normal 21-inch page was shrunk to fit. Good grief.
We knew most of our devoted readers would still want to see the paper so we distributed it as usual, though we weren't happy with the way it looks either.
Thank you for hanging with us as we work out our printing problems. We apologize for the way it looks today, but promise to do everything we can to make sure the Addison Independent is available in its normal size next Thursday.
— The editors


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"Fitness Made Personal" is a direct extension of the Precor Mission.
It is a reminder of what we strive to be and how we are different to others in our industry. Fitness is our business. We strive to bring a personal touch to the experience of every exerciser, relate to operators in our industry in a personal way and cultivate a culture that believes in mutual respect and the overwhelming returns of sharing
Our Personalised Mission
Our mission is to develop personalised health and fitness experiences that help people live the lives they desire. For over three decades, we've driven fitness forwards with a passionate focus on ergonomic motion, proven science and superior engineering. We constantly study and anticipate the needs of the people and organisations we serve, and continually redefine the levels of innovation, quality and service necessary to deliver the very best fitness experiences – all with the goal of improving the ways people improve themselves. Our equipment is chosen by health clubs, hotels and spas, universities and individuals all over the world.


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At Paul Cerame Auto Group, we're always seeking new ways to make your buying experience better. Due to popular demand we are now offering an exclusive, extended warranty STANDARD on most of our preowned cars, trucks and SUVs. Backed by the reliability of Ford Motor Company, Paul Cerame Auto Group now puts even more peace-of-mind into our pre-owned inventory with the Royal Shield Limited Warranty! Your purchase of a qualifying Used vehicle should be as satisfying and worry-free as possible. To ensure that, our new Royal Shield Warranty will deliver to you these features:
· 12 month/12,000 Powertrain Plus coverage for your added peace of mind
· Good on most vehicles* with less than 120,000 miles and 9 model years old or newer
· Successful 50-point mechanical inspection on file for your inspection
· Backed by the dependability of Ford Motor Company
· Covers All Makes and Models
· Good at any Ford dealer in North America
Take a look at what we have currently on our lot. You can use one of our smartbrowser tools below to help make your decision easier. If you have any trouble finding the vehicle you are looking for, please try our CarFinder service and we'll find it for you!


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UFC female bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey has been the co-main event for the last two Chris Weidman middleweight title fights. Now, "Rowdy" is hoping to score a spot with Jon Jones.
After an injury to Jones – the light heavyweight champion – pushed back his scheduled title defense vs. Daniel Cormier from September to January, Rousey made it known she is also targeting that time for a return.
"I'd love to be on the New Year's card again," said Rousey, during an appearance on UFC Tonight. "Everything that's happened with Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier, I'd love to share a card with them."
Rousey scored a 16-second knockout of Alexis Davis last month in the co-main event of Weidman-Lyoto Machida on the Fourth of July weekend event. She was also on the year-end card in 2013 opposite Weidman-Anderson Silva.
Currently, along with preparing to generate interest with media stops for her role in "The Expendables 3," Rousey is rehabbing from knee surgery.
"This is my fourth knee surgery," she said, "and my third scope. It's going to be scary when I come back because I've been operating on one leg for several years now. When I'm 100-percent, I feel sorry for people.
"No, I don't ever feel sorry for people."
Rumors continue to float around that the UFC will sign Gina Carano to meet Rousey, as that is the fight she wants the most. If not, she's ready for anyone else willing to sign on the dotted line.
"Gina Carano was the first fight I ever saw," Rousey said. "I'd love to measure myself against her. Also Holly Holm, and I'm excited for Cat Zingano.
"I'm looking forward to all of them. I'd love to fight (Cris) Cyborg right now."
As a reminder, our sister site, WrestleNewz, will have complete coverage of Sunday's SummerSlam 2014 featuring Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena.


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Women often notice that mental health plays a role in how they use drugs or alcohol. Symptoms of anxiety, depression, or other mental health problems can lead to drinking or using in an attempt to feel better. Addiction can also be the driving force in declining mental health. "Sometimes it
Recovery Acres Blog
- 22nd June 2018
The Importance of Alumni
- 29th September 2017
Recovery Month
- 11th June 2018
Get to Know Dan
- 22nd June 2018
Emotions and Recovery From Addiction
- 5th June 2018
Change in Leadership
- 22nd June 2018
The CARE for Women Story
- 22nd June 2018
The Importance of Alumni
- 22nd June 2018
Emotions and Recovery From Addiction
- 13th June 2018
Alcohol a Growing Problem for Canadian Women
- 11th June 2018
Get to Know Dan
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Photos from Party in the Park
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Recovery Acres on CTV
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Metro News article about our new women's treatment facility
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Calgary Herald article about our women's treatment program
- 1835 House
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1835 House Addiction Recovery Addiction Treatment addictions Alcoholism calgary CARE for Women City TV Co-occurring Disorders Eau Claire Run fundraising Halloween metro news recovery Recovery Acres Recovery Acres Society Recovery Month Recovery Run 2017 Running in YYC sober volunteer women and addiction women in recovery yyc
Recovery Acres is a registered charity and non-profit organization that operates a fully accredited addiction treatment center.
We have helped over 13,000 people over more than 40 years through our men's treatment center, 1835 House.
In September 2016, Recovery Acres launched the Co-occurring Addiction Recovery Essentials (CARE) for Women program.