RandySF
RandySF's JournalNYC: City Council opposition to Adams' likely corporation counsel nominee Mastro grows
Randy Mastro, Mayor Eric Adams’ presumptive pick to be the city’s next top lawyer, is growing increasingly unpopular with the City Council, as yet another caucus of members came out against him on Friday.
The council’s six-member LGBTQAI+ Caucus joined the far larger Black, Latino and Asian Caucus (BLAC) in opposing Mastro, an alumnus of former GOP Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s administration, as Adams appears likely to nominate him to be the city’s next corporation counsel.
Mastro would replace the position’s current occupant, Sylvia Hinds-Radix, whom Adams has confirmed will be stepping down — though it is unclear when exactly that will be.
While Adams has insisted there is “no disagreement” between himself and Hinds-Radix, the New York Post reported earlier this week that he ordered her ouster after she voiced concerns about the city representing him in his sexual assault suit.
https://www.amny.com/news/city-council-opposition-grows-mayor-adams-corporate-counsel/
Jared Moskowitz is seeing red but says constitutional amendments keep Florida 'in play'
U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz acknowledges Florida is a “red state.”
Still, he agrees with other Democrats who suggest the state is in “play” this November because of two ballot initiatives, including one that would guarantee access to abortion.
“Make no mistake about it. Without those ballot initiatives, I don’t think Florida is in play,” said the Coral Springs Democrat on MSNBC’s The Weekend.
Moskowitz, who noted the nearly one million gap between Republicans and Democrats in terms of active voters, is putting out a message that is not in sync with other Democrats, such as former Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, who contends that the state is a “purple” battleground state.
Moskowitz also pointed out that the ballot initiatives — including one that allows adult recreational marijuana use — will need a yes vote from 60% of the voters to pass.
https://floridapolitics.com/archives/671666-jared-moskowitz-is-seeing-red-but-says-constitutional-amendments-keep-florida-in-play/
LAPD had no security at mayor's house when intruder broke in; suspect targeted Bass, D.A. says
The man who broke into Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass’ home Sunday was specifically “targeting” her when he forced his way in and reached the second floor, Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. George Gascón said Tuesday.
Prosecutors provided disturbing new details about the incident after announcing the filing of burglary and vandalism charges — both felonies — against Ephraim Hunter, 29, of Los Angeles. Hunter pleaded not guilty to both counts.
Appearing at a news conference, Gascón said Hunter broke into Getty House, the mayor’s residence in L.A.’s Windsor Square neighborhood, around 6:40 a.m. He smashed a glass door, leaving a trail of blood as he went inside, Gascón said.....
Prosecutors revealed the new details of the case a few hours after interim Police Chief Dominic Choi reported that there were no security officers on the Getty House property at the time of the break-in.
Choi, fielding questions from reporters, said the break-in took place during a shift change, when “the officers that are there overnight leave to head back to their station and the oncoming shift comes on.”
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-04-23/man-broke-into-l-a-mayors-home-during-a-short-gap-in-lapd-security
TX-SEN: Top 'Democrat for Cruz' Accused of Sexual Harassment
A more explosive case arose more than two decades later, when Palomarez’s chief of staff at the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce claimed she was “subjected to discrimination on the basis of their gender, sexual harassment, and a generally hostile work environment,” in a lawsuit against the business advocacy group. Her complaint alleged that under Palomarez, then the organization’s president and CEO, she had suffered remarks about her appearance and clothing in the presence of other employees, as well as “inappropriate, unwanted, and unconsented to touching.”
The suit also raised the aide’s concern that Palomarez used to deliberately “play into and perpetuate” rumors the two of them were having an affair through his “handsy” and “flirtatious” behavior. She also accused him of referring to her and other female workers as “fucking bitch.”
The former chief of staff also shared with the Times an email, which she sent to a friend describing an incident in which Palomarez expressed an interest in “being with” her and attempted to kiss her. The woman and the chamber agreed to drop the matter in 2019, court records show.
Palomarez resigned his role at the chamber but denied the allegations, and told the Times that they represented a kind of political reprisal for his cordial relations with former President Donald Trump. But he also filed a lawsuit against a Dallas businesswoman and chamber board chair, claiming she conspired with his chief of staff and other women to besmirch his reputation after he terminated a relationship with her.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/top-democrat-for-cruz-javier-palomarez-accused-of-sexual-harassment?ref=wrap
NJ-07: New Jersey's Activist-In-Chief (D) Wants To Flip A Swing Seat
FLEMINGTON, N.J. — Sue Altman first made national headlines when she was expelled from a New Jersey state Senate hearing by state troopers in November 2019.
The moment was captured in a photo of Altman, then the state director of the New Jersey Working Families Alliance ― a state branch of the progressive Working Families Party ― being physically dragged out of the room with her head held high in defiance.
At the time, Altman was the leading critic of a state tax incentive program that handsomely benefited George Norcross III, the well-connected insurance executive regarded, for decades, as the most powerful figure in South Jersey politics. The troopers had been tasked with ejecting jeering demonstrators, but Altman was quiet at the time of her removal, fueling speculation she had been singled out for her role as a ringleader.
The moment captured Altman’s essence as an irritatingly effective thorn in the side of the Garden State’s famously clubby Democratic establishment. Earlier in 2019, she had led a demonstration outside of Sen. Cory Booker’s presidential campaign fundraiser with Norcross and other New Jersey bosses. And in 2021, Altman picketed outside of Rep. Josh Gottheimer’s district office over his effort to delay a vote on President Joe Biden’s sweeping climate and social policy bill.
That kind of stint as a rabble-rouser is not exactly the textbook prelude to a congressional run in a Republican-held seat, but Altman is not one to follow conventions. Trading in her black-and-orange Working Families Party T-shirt for business attire, she is now the presumptive Democratic nominee in New Jersey’s purple 7th Congressional District, where ousting first-term Rep. Tom Kean Jr. is part of Democrats’ strategy for retaking the House.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/progressive-sue-altman-new-jersey-swing-seat_n_662beae0e4b0ab66ede48d20
Squad scores with Summer Lee win but faces a long primary calendar
Rep. Summer Lee’s primary victory over a more moderate Democrat in Pennsylvania this week offered a jolt of momentum for progressives and dialed up the urgency for those targeting the “Squad.”
It was a promising result for fellow Squad members, especially Democratic Reps. Jamaal Bowman (N.Y.) and Cori Bush (Mo.), who are both trying to fend off formidable primary threats of their own amid an influx of spending by pro-Israel groups looking to topple them.
“I expect we’re going to see a doubling down on some of the races they’ve already invested in,” Matt Duss, a former senior foreign policy adviser to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), said of organizations targeting the Squad. “And we’re going to see progressives doubling down to defend.”
The Israel-Hamas war has highlighted significant divides within the Democratic Party as progressives demand a cease-fire and criticize both Israel and the Biden administration’s handling of the crisis.
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4625078-squad-summer-lee-primary-races/
The Far Right's Campaign to Explode the Population
The threat, we are told here this weekend, is existential, biological, epoch-defining. Economies will fail, civilizations will fall, and it will all happen because people aren’t having enough babies.
“The entire global financial system, the value of your money, and every asset you might buy with money is defined by leverage, which means its value depends on growth,” Kevin Dolan, a 37-year-old father of six from Virginia, tells the crowd that has gathered to hear him speak. “Every country in the developed world and most countries in the developing world face long-term population decline at a level that makes growth impossible to maintain,” Dolan says, “which means we are sitting on the bubble of all bubbles.”
Despite this grim prognosis, the mood is optimistic. It’s early December, a few weeks before Christmas, and the hundred-odd people who have flocked to Austin for the first Natal Conference are here to come up with solutions. Though relatively small, as conferences go, NatalCon has attracted attendees who are almost intensely dedicated to the cause of raising the U.S. birth rate. The broader natalist movement has been gaining momentum lately in conservative circles — where anxieties over falling birth rates have converged with fears of rising immigration — and counts Elon Musk, who has nearly a dozen children, and Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán among its proponents. Natalism is often about more than raising birth rates, though that is certainly one of its aims; for many in the room, the ultimate goal is a total social overhaul, a culture in which child-rearing is paramount.
NatalCon’s emphasis on childbirth notwithstanding, there are very few women in the cavernous conference room of the LINE Hotel. The mostly male audience includes people of all ages, many of whom are childless themselves. Some of the women in attendance, however, have come to Austin with their children in tow — a visual representation of the desired outcome of this weekend. As if to emphasize the reason we’re all gathered here today, a baby babbles in the background while Dolan delivers his opening remarks.
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/04/28/natalism-conference-austin-00150338
Iowa Supreme Court to determine legality of six-week abortion ban
he Iowa Supreme Court heard arguments regarding proposed legislation to restrict abortions at six weeks April 11, after the legislation was blocked by a district judge citing unconstitutionality.
The six-week abortion ban was signed into law in July, but the bill was quickly blocked to determine its constitutionality. Now, the seven Iowa Supreme Court justices will hear arguments and decide on the legality of this legislation.
Authors of the proposed bill set the limitation due to the six-week marker offering the earliest detection of a fetal heartbeat. Currently, Iowa permits abortions up to 20 weeks of pregnancy.
Mack Shelley, a political science professor, said the issue was expected by the court, so an opinion may be drafted quickly.
https://iowastatedaily.com/295153/news/iowa-supreme-court-to-determine-legality-of-six-week-abortion-ban/
NC's governor praises weekend deal that averts major strike at Daimler Truck
Governor Roy Cooper is praising a tentative agreement between United Auto Workers and Daimler Truck. The UAW struck a four-year deal late Friday avoiding a potential strike that could have impacted more than 7,000 workers.
Cooper took to social media on Saturday to call the deal a “great win for hard working NC UAW members and their families.” Cooper also expressed his appreciation to UAW and Daimler leadership for staying at the negotiating table until the deal was done.
Attorney General Josh Stein, who is running for governor this year, echoed that sentiment saying North Carolina workers “deserve a fair shake that honors the work they do every day to provide for their families and keep our state strong.”
The agreement, which still must be ratified, includes raises of more than 25%, the end of wage tiers, the introduction profit-sharing, and Cost-of-Living (COLA) for the first time since Daimler workers first organized with the UAW.
https://ncnewsline.com/2024/04/28/ncs-governor-praises-weekend-deal-that-averts-major-strike-at-daimler-truck/
Arizona GOP picks state Sen. Jake Hoffman, indicted fake elector, for national position
A state lawmaker facing charges alleging he tried to help overturn the 2020 election was selected by fellow Arizona Republicans to a top position in the national party.
Along with 17 others, Sen. Jake Hoffman of Queen Creek was accused of nine felony counts in an indictment announced by Democratic Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes this week.
It alleges the slate of Republicans sometimes known as fake electors and the Trump aides engaged in a conspiracy aimed at "preventing the lawful transfer of the presidency of the United States, keeping President Donald J. Trump in office against the will of Arizona voters, and depriving Arizona voters of their right to vote and have their votes counted."
Democrat Joe Biden won the popular vote, and under state law, Arizona's votes in the Electoral College went to him.
https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/arizona/2024/04/27/arizona-fake-electors-jake-hoffman-running-for-national-gop-role/73474423007/
Profile Information
Gender: MaleHometown: Detroit Area, MI
Home country: USA
Current location: San Francisco, CA
Member since: Wed Oct 29, 2008, 02:53 PM
Number of posts: 58,911
