California

A29 Peaceful Protest at San Onofre CA #NUCLEAR Plant | #OccupyNuclear

no_nukes — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 21:49:34 -0600

KEEP SONGS SHUTDOWN FOR GOOD

2nd Peaceful Protest at San Onofre CA, April 29, 12 to 3pm
http://residentsorganizedforasafeenvironment.wordpress.com/2012/04/18/2nd-peaceful-protest-at-san-onofre-april-29-12-to-3pm/

Residents Organized for a Safe Environment
http://residentsorganizedforasafeenvironment.wordpress.com/

flyer: http://residentsorganizedforasafeenvironment.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/a29-san-onofre-flier-1up-v83.jpg

San Onofre Power Plant Still Leads the Nation in Safety Complaints - Voice of OC | Orange County's Nonprofit Investigative News Agency: OC Coast
http://www.voiceofoc.org/oc_coast/article_0d87a1f0-88c7-11e1-9b63-001a4bcf887a.html#.T5CDtQuzl1o.twitter

Rally Against Nuclear Power at San Onofre on April 29th
OB Rag: http://obrag.org/?p=58755

< #OccupyNuclear | #nuclear #nukes #nonukes #antinuclear #occupy | #OcNuke Daily > http://tinyurl.com/OcNuke

Big Banks Own California, Too: How Bank Lobbyists In Sacramento Killed Foreclosure Mitigation

oppositefear — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 02:07:34 -0600

By Lee Fang on Oct 6, 2011 at 6:05 pm

State Senator Juan Vargas (D) killed the foreclosure mitigation bill; later went to dinner with Bank of America lobbyists

As the 99 Percent Movement takes shape across the country, citizens are demanding that Congress represent the public interest instead of the whims of bankers and big corporations. For instance, after demanding and receiving massive bailouts, Wall Street banks successfully lobbied Congress to crush any serious effort to mitigate the foreclosure crisis. The spectacular bank lobbying coup in Washington prompted Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) to remark that the banks “frankly, own the place.”

And this dynamic is not only at play in Washington: Banks have a disproportionate amount of power in California as well.

As one of the epicenters of the foreclosure crisis, Californians by the tens of thousands have lost their homes. In most cases, banks have repossessed houses without bothering to re-negotiate interest payments to find foreclosure alternatives. And in a growing number of cases, “robo-signers” have allegedly forged documents and illegally foreclosed on borrowers. Since the foreclosure crisis is leading towards a spiraling decrease in home property values across the state, nearly everyone is affected.

A common sense idea to add transparency and accountability to the mortgage market died a quick death earlier this year. State Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) and State Sen. Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) proposed SB729, a measure “to require banks to give people a definitive answer on loan modification, identify who owns the loan, and give borrowers legal recourse if banks don’t take these steps.”

The idea, embraced by consumer advocates and many foreclosure experts, did not even make it out of committee. State Sen. Juan Vargas (D-San Diego), the chairman of the banking committee, joined two Republican state senators in snuffing the bill. State Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Los Angeles) abstained from the vote, ensuring a 3-3 split (a tied vote does not allow the bill to proceed). Despite moving testimony from victims of foreclosure fraud and persuasive academic opinion, the bill died. To understand why, simply follow the money:

– Bank of America, a leading mortgage-lender in California, spent $173,703 lobbying this year in Sacramento. Disclosure reports show Bank of America hired lobbying firms like Nielsen Merksamer and Government Relations Counsel to kill SB729. Reports also show that Bank of America treated Vargas to dinner at the Ella Dining Room and Bar about a month after he voted to kill the foreclosure mitigation bill. Bank of America has contributed $5,500 in campaign contributions to Vargas and nearly $2,000 to Padilla.

– The California Mortgage Bankers Association, a lobbying group representing a number of mortgage lenders in the state, spent $55,711 lobbying in Sacramento this year. The bankers hired KP Public Affairs, a firm that doubles as the general counsel for the association, to help kill SB729. The group donated $4,000 to Vargas and $1,000 to Padilla recently.

– Wells Fargo spent $84,027 lobbying in Sacramento, and hired a firmed called Knudsen & Associates to help kill SB729. Wells Fargo has contributed $2,800 to Padilla and $2,000 to Vargas. Disclosure reports show agents for Wells Fargo took a state senator out to lunch shortly after the SB729 vote, but the disclosure forms appear to be incomplete because the name of the senator is not filled in.

JP Morgan Chase, the California Chamber of Commerce, Fidelity National Financial, the Securities Industry And Financial Markets Association (a trade association representing investment banks like Goldman Sachs and Barclays Capital), and other bank-related organizations spent tens of thousands to lobby against SB729.

In an article last month in the San Diego Union Tribune, Vargas pled ignorance while explaining his role in killing the mitigation and transparency measure:

“If a homeowner is doing everything the bank asked him or her to do and the bank forecloses, I think that’s very inappropriate and should be a violation of the law. But I don’t remember hearing any testimony about that kind of thing while we were discussing this bill.”

According to sources contacted by ThinkProgress, Vargas was in the hearing room with witnesses who testified about a host of unfair and rushed bank foreclosures. Perhaps the dinner Bank of America bought Vargas after the vote had some memory-wiping ingredients.
link: http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/10/06/337012/big-banks-own-california-too-how-bank-lobbyists-in-sacramento-killed-foreclosure-mitigation/

Occupy San Jose: Exposing the Truth

MundusVultDecipi — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 15:40:19 -0700

https://www.facebook.com/groups/190055744403958/

Occupy El Centro / Imperial Valley

Sky — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 01:15:49 -0700

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Occupy-El-Centro-California/257515260959761
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Occupy-Imperial-Valley-Toma-el-valle/245069565543543

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Potluck gathering, discussion groups, Nov 17 (Saturday).

Previous march:

Mountain View (Silicon Valley)

ideafarm — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 15:41:30 -0700

The root problem is selfishness, and Mountain View, CA is the Ground Zero Of Greed! The real revolution will not be a media event; it will occur silently and relentlessly, like tectonic shift, as hearts turn away from selfishness. Today's Occupy drama is merely a minor groan before the earthquake that is coming. The real revolutionaries are on their knees at church and in their homes. Join with each other as brothers and sisters committed to empowering each other through real community. Let us make Mountain View the epicenter, and when the time is right, bring down the edifices of selfishness that tower over us!

PURPOSE and CAUSE

Governmentalfreedom — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 22:11:33 -0600

If we are grown up the past is our greatest asset, I am my children's eyes (8 and 11) as I fear for their future, therefore I am not here for myself but for our kids. We are responsible to the children we bring into this life and when things go wrong to correct it for our kids not us, that is my purpose and why I am here. What had caused it "lies" in the past we are experiencing, children know very little about things until they become the victims. To control is to be controlled and it is not what FREEDOM is about my cause is freedom even though I feel were in a socialistic prison (lack of freedom)

Solutions? Everyone knows what prostitutes them and enslaves them - Money, Money, Money as it needs to change to a free open market. Start ending the FED use community money, State money interest free money to be of service with and sustainable for the future of our children not for war but of tangible service to our neighbors.

Preamable

Governmentalfreedom — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 22:25:25 -0600

WHAT IS OUR PREAMBLE? Time for the people and writers to gather info for a preamble?

Occupy Pebble Beach, California

OccupyPebble — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 21:01:07 -0600

Occupy Pebble Beach, October 17, 2011, 4-6pm was a resounding success!
Thanks to everyone who came out in support of the Occupy Movement!

We had broad exposure with both passers-by and media.
In sum, we counted 567 positive thumbs up, 338 positive honks and countless waves and smiles.
The dissenters were few and far between.
In addition, we were interviewed by Amp TV, the Monterey County Weekly, the Carmel Pine Cone, KION, and Fox News... in our guy fawkes masks!

Our Occupy Pebble Beach protest was conducted in solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street movement, and we read the entire “Declaration of the Occupation of New York City” several times, including directly into the Fox News camera for our local area.

We stress that our Occupy Pebble Beach movement is not targeted at local residents, but in solidarity with the many suffering Pebble Beach residents who have been victim of fraudulent banking practices and foreclosure.

The Occupy Pebble Beach General Assembly has decided against an encampment at this time.

At the next Monterey Area General Assembly, we will propose continued protests in high profile areas across Monterey Peninsula as a way to increase the exposure of our movement and gain support from the 99% that we are.

Thanks again to all of you who came out in support of Occupy Pebble Beach :)
We sincerely invite more concerned citizens to join us next time!