LA LGBT GREENS/OUT AGAINST WAR NEWSLETTER, DECEMBER 2014

[shane que hee]

LOS ANGELES LGBT GREENS/OUT AGAINST WAR, 923 Levering Avenue Unit 102, Los Angeles CA 90024. Editor:Shane Que Hee. Phone: (310)208-1624; lgbtg...@hotmail.com ;  oa...@hotmail.com 

Other: www.cagreens.org/lacounty; www.gp.org; www.losanglesgreens.org; www.campusgreens.org; www.cagreens.org; www.greens.org; www.lavendergreens.org

cal-...@cagreens.org ; gplac...@cagreens.org

lavende...@green.gpus.org; lavender-...@green.gpus.org
……………………………………………………………………................................
LA LGBT GREENS/OUT AGAINST WAR  NEWSLETTER  DECEMBER 2014  Volume 14  #12

…………………………………………………....................................................
                          HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON EVERYONE!!
SAME SEX MARRIAGE:
  A 6^th Circuit federal Appeals Court in Ohio upheld in a 2-1 vote same sex marriage bans in 4 states, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee (LAT Nov 7 A7;  FILA Nov 13 p11;QVegas Nov p12).  The US Supreme Court may consider the results in spring 2015 and may decide definitively by the end of June. Lambda Legal criticized the decision.
   Kansas issued a stay on same sex marriages there but this was lifted on Nov 12 along with that in South Carolina (LAT Nov 11 A8;Nov 13 A13).  Same sex marriages can occur now in Kansas and from Nov 20 in South Carolina, with the S Carolina Atty General appealing that ruling but being overruled on Nov 18 (LAT Nov 19 A11). Montana’s ban was struck down on Nov 19 with marriages beginning immediately (LAT Nov 20 A10).
Other: Time Nov 17 p15 (8 men sentenced for attending a same sex marriage ceremony on a riverboat in Cairo, Egypt); Dec 1 p18 (Kevin the son of author Jodi Picoult proposed to his boyfriend Kevin on paddleboards in the middle of a lake and gave his love an engagement earring); QVegas Nov p10,11,12,13,30-31(same sex marriage in Nevada);34,46; FILA Nov 27 p11,12
 
 
LGBT  NEWS
INTERNATIONAL;
World AIDS Day on Dec 1 received much ballyhoo at UCLA with free HIV testing and a vigil (Daily Bruin Dec 1 p1,5;Dec 2 p3). and there was another observance at Laguna Beach (LAT Dec 2 AA6(photo)).

NATIONAL
  For some unearthly reason, The Advocate Dec/Jan pp48-51 picked Pres Putin of Russia for its MAN OF THE YEAR!  This review edition analyzed the Nov 4 elections from its perspective, chiding the Victory Fund for supporting Republicans (p15), analyzing for 2014 the LGBT characters in Hollywood films (p34), on TV (p37), progress in HIV research (pp45-47), and events (pp 52-61).  Its sister publication Out (Dec/Jan) presented 18 things that people should know (pp30-35, none of it political), AIDS veterans (p60), and the Out 100 among whom were political activists playwright Larry Kramer (p100), transgender activist  Mara Keisling (p125), same sex marriage pioneer Evan Wolfson (p128), ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero (p128), and Amnesty International’s Kalaya’an Mendoza (p132).
    FILA Nov 13 p11,12 surveyed the election results for LGBT candidates.
   The Winter Intelligence Report documented anti-LGBT discrimination (p7(2),12,18,44,48(4)).
   Shirley McLaine, 80, Oscar winner for Terms of Endearment, is starring in the film Elsa & Fred with Christopher Plummer and directed by Michael Radford that opened on Nov 7  (LAT Nov 5 D1;Nov 7 D6).
   The archdiocese of Chicago has posted its sexual abuse records dating back to 1952 on 36 cases adding to the 30 it posted on its website last Jan (LAT Nov 7 A12).
   Bisexual film star Tyrone Power, who died at age 44 after 3 marriages and 3 children, was profiled on the 100^th anniversary of his birth in LAT Nov 9 D11 without mention of that element, as was Rod Serling of The Twilight Zone (LAT Nov 9 D11).
   A new Pee Wee Herman movie is in the works announced Paul Reubens (Time Nov 17 p64).
   The PEN Center USA First Amendment  Award was presented in Beverly Hills on Nov 11  went to journalist Glenn Greenwald and documentary film director/producer Laura Poitras for their work on Edward Snowden’s NSA revelations (LAT Nov 13 D2).
   The documentary film The Dog directed by Frank Keraudren and Allison Berg is based on the life of  John Wojtowicz (died in 2006), whose attempts to have his lover get sex reassignment surgery by robbing a bank was the subject of the 1975 film Dog Day Afternoon (LAT The Envelope Nov 13 S30). It was picked up for distribution by Drafthouse Films after being shown at the 2013 Toronto Film Festival.
  A biography of Sam Wagstaff, Robert Mapplethorpe’s lover, was published entitled Wagstaff: Before and After Mapplethorpe  by Philip Gefter (Out Dec/Jan p30).
   Time Nov 24 p56 and FILA Nov 13 p34  reviewed the exhibition of  Keith Haring: The Political Line at the de Young Museum in San Francisco until Feb 16.  Haring who died of AIDS in 1990 aged 31,  was famous for creating ACT-UP trademark symbols, as well as cartoons/artwork on social and environmental issues like apartheid, nuclear weapons, greed, and AIDS as well as abstracts.
   San Francisco wants to be purged of AIDS (Time Dec 1 pp44-52).
   The Imitation Game, the film of the life of biomath Alan Turing (1913-1954) starring Benedict Cumberbatch, appeared in theaters on Nov 28 and was heralded by Time Dec 1 pp66-76; LAT Nov 27 D3; LA Weekly Nov 28 p37 Turing was the head of the team that broke the Enigma code of World War II Germany with the world’s 1^st computer (Turing machine), but who committed suicide when forced to choose hormones to cure his homosexuality. He also was a philosopher who wondered whether artificial intelligence could achieve feeling, will, self-consciousness, and love.
    Michael Sam was released by the Dallas Cowboys and NBA Star Jason Collins retired at the end of Oct leaving LA Galaxy soccer player Robbie Rogers now the only active openly Gay professional sportsman in the U.S. (LAT Nov 27 D2; FILA Nov 27 p11; QVegas Nov p12).  Rogers’ memoir Coming out to Play was released at the end of Nov.(FILA Nov 27 p54,64).

CALIFORNIA
   Gay Republican Carl DeMaio was narrowly beaten in the Nov 4 election for the 52^nd Congressional District in San Diego (LAT Nov 9 AA5;Nov 10 AA6).  The margin was 2% of the votes cast.
   Out LGBTs elected on Nov 4 included: Evan Low - State Assembly (D-Campbell);Sheila Kuehl - Los Angeles County Supervisor; Jeffrey Prang - Los Angeles County Assessor; Abel Guillen - Oakland City Council; Gabriel Quinto - El Cerrito City Council; D.R. Haywood - Anaheim City School Board; Scott Houston - Director, West Basin Municipal Water District, District IV; Marguerite Young - East Bay Municipal Utilities District Board; and Lori Droste who edged out George Beier for same seat to Berkeley City Council for District 8 .
   Former Assembly Speaker and 1^st openly Gay one John Perez, was named by Gov Brown as a Regent of the University of California (LAT Nov 18 AA4; Daily Bruin Nov 18 p1).

LOS ANGELES
   Sheila Kuehl won the Supervisor’s election in District 3 on Nov 4 beating Bobby Shriver by about 6% (LAT Nov 5 A9;Nov 6 A1;Nov 7 AA2;Dwec 2 A1; Daily Bruin Nov 5 p1; FILA Nov 13 p14).
   Jeff Prang, West Hollywood City Council member, just led by 9,036 votes over John Morris one day after election day in the County Assessor race a lead that increased to 20,000 by Nov 18 (LAT Nov 6 AA3;Nov 19 AA1;Nov 22 AA3;Dec 2 A1).  Prang spent some $713,027 compared with his opponent’s $281,913.  He eventually won by a 1.6% margin after the final tally.on Nov 28.
   The alternative night scene continued to be covered (LA Weekly Nov 7 p53;Nov 14 p60;Nov 21 p56;Nov 28 p51).
  The Los Angeles advent of the Broadway musical Kinky Boots  by Harvey Fierstein, 60, and Cyndi Laupe,61, (directed and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell) was heralded (LAT Nov 9 E1; LA Weekly Nov 21 p34;Nov 28 p36; FILA Nov 13 p42). It is at The Pantages through Nov 29, and Dec 30-Jan 11 at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa. It won 6 Tonys in 2013.
   Debate on LGBTs in the diocese of Los Angeles is moot (LAT Nov 10 AA1,AA3;Nov 14 D1).
   Long Beach openly Gay mayor Robert Garcia inducted a Latino Police Chief for the 1^st time (LAT Nov 12 AA3).
   A Victorville Gay man on Oct 28 was assaulted with rocks and a wooden board by 3 men, one
17,  one 22, and another still at large and also had his wallet stolen (LAT Nov 14 AA5).
   The AIDS Memorial Garden of Peace and Love at Laguna Beach  since its originator Michel Martenay died in 2009 after tending it for 20 years (LAT Nov 16 AA4). It sits below the Coast Inn, the former home of the famous Gay nightclub, the Boom-Boom Room in the 80s. The garden was where former Los Angeles Councilman, Bill Rosendahl, met his lover, who also died of AIDS.
   The Gay wing of LA Men’s Central Jail was discussed in LA Weekly Nov 21 p14, and also noted by FILA Nov 27 p13.
   The UCLA Peertorship program of the UCLA Queer Academy to serve the UCLA queer community was highlighted in Daily Bruin Nov 20 p1.
   Gay organist Cameron Carpenter was the celebrant along with conductor Gustavo Dudamel of the 10^th anniversary of Hurricane Mama, the organ at Disney Hall (LAT Nov 22 D1). He played Samuel Barber’s Toccata Festiva, his own transcription of Scriabin’s piano sonata #4, the Saint Saens Organ Symphony, and Stephen Hartke’s Symphony #4.
   Bill Kaiser and Shane Que Hee were at an enthralling reading Hick: A Love Story by Terry Baum with Pat Bond performed by Terry Baum in the Lorena Hick (1893-1968) role, Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962) read by Stephanie Satire, and stage directions read by Eric Gordon, at Workman’s Circle. in front of an audience of over 100.  The material was drawn from their letters to each other. Hickok’s letters explicitly mentioned the word “homosexuality”.
  WeHo was selected as the test site for hi-tech healthcare enrollment (LAT Nov 23 AA1).
  Joe Orton’s What The Butler Saw play-farce directed by John Tillinger at the Mark Taper Forum was reviewed luke-warmly (LAT Nov 25 S1; LA Weekly Nov 28 p35).
   Noel Coward’s 1^st hit The Vortex is on at The Matrix  Theatre on Melrose through Dec 14  (LA Weekly Nov 28 p36). It transplants the action to the 60s as directed by Gene Franklin Smith.
   Oscar Wilde’s A Woman of No Importance directed by Armina La Manna for Sacred Fools Theatre Company in East Hollywood through Dec 17  received a mixed review in LA Weekly Nov 28 p36.
Other: Argyle Sweater (LAT Nov 8 D8) explored how 2 male elephants were to kiss; Time Nov 17 p11 noted Apple CEO’s Bloomberg Businessweek essay in which he discussed being Gay;
 
LGBT PASSINGS
  Ex-UCLA Anthropology Professor Peter Hammond, 86, died of Alzheimer’s Disease in Los Angeles on Oct 4, leaving his dear caregiver friend Carlos A Brown.  He graduated in Cultural Anthropology from Northwestern U in 1962; taught at U Pittsburgh (1957-62); Indiana U (1962-65); and moved to Washington with his Iranian wife until the onset of the War in Vietnam when he quit his job at the National Academy of Sciences to become a fully fledged writer.  His Introduction to Cultural and Social Anthropology in 1971 became a standard text book, and he was recruited in 1981 by UCLA to be an Anthropology Department member, a post he held for 33 years.  While at UCLA he co-founded International Development Studies, chaired the Chancellor’s Task Force on Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Studies that led to the establishment of the UCLA LGBT Studies program and UCLA LGBT Center, and attained the Luckman Award for Distinguished Teaching in 1996.   He collaborated with the NAACP in the 50s earning his hefty FBI file.  
 
    Well-known gay Washington, D.C., defense attorney Van Teasley, 55, known for representing poor gay and transgender clients, was found bound and strangled at his vacation home in Santo Domingo, capital of the Dominican Republic, on Oct. 30. There was reportedly no sign of forced entry, and police have not disclosed a motive for the apparent murder.

    Milán Rózsa, 26, on Nov 7 committed suicide by jumping in front of a train to draw attention to homophobia in his native country of Hungary. Mr. Rózsa led the LGBT Pride Parade in Budapest in 2011 when it was attacked by young fascists and neo-Nazis. His father saw his son’s public stance differently, and committed suicide a day after the parade, causing his son to be depressed but not discouraged in his activist path.  The Harvey Milk Foundation made it possible for him to visit and speak about his struggle in Washington, DC. During the Internet tax protests, he played a key role and was present among the demonstrators at Fidesz party headquarters. He was arrested, but not charged. Earlier, he trespassed on the property of Russia’s embassy in Budapest, to protest homophobia and support gay rights for Russia’s LGBT community. He also made headlines by climbing up on the balcony of Hungary’s presidential palace, the Sándor palota, demanding a referendum on whether Hungary should accept Russian financing of the Paks atomic energy plant.

   Chris Korpi, 53, died of heart failure on Nov 8 in Mission Viejo, leaving his partner of 21 years, Patrick Harris of Dana Point. He graduated in 1984 from the South Dakota School of Mines with a degree in Geological Engineering.  He switched to being a lobbyist and a political consultant, and obtained his teaching credentials in the State of California in the 1990s. He taught math and science in the public schools of Orange County. After 1999, he worked for gaming businesses and nurtured tribal customers.  In 2013 he became Vice President of Native  American Relations & Business Development for VizExplorer. He was a spokesperson for Capistrano Unified Children First.   He was a Board member of the Indigenous Educational Foundation of Tanzania, and a member of the Canyon Club of Laguna Beach. In the 90s he organized AIDS Walks  in Orange County, worked to defeat Prop 8, and promoted marriage for same sex couples.

    Physician David Hart, 67, died in Fort Lauderdale FL on Nov 13 of pancreatitis and kidney failure, survived by partner of 4 years Edward Gould, and former long-term partner, Dennis Cornell.  He graduated from pepperfine U in 1967, obtained his MD from UC Irvine in 1971, interned at Harkness Hospital, San Francisco, and was in private practice by age 25. His early specialties were in emergency and industrial medicine but shifted to AIDS. He explored “off-label” clinical trials in Los Angeles with similar–minded physicians. 

   Leslie Feinberg, 65, who identified as an anti-racist white, working-class, secular Jewish, transgender, Lesbian, female, revolutionary communist, died on Nov 15 due to complications from multiple tick-borne co-infections, including Lyme disease, babeisiosis, and protomyxzoa rheumatic. She died in Syracuse, NY, with her partner and spouse of 22 years, Minnie Bruce Pratt, at her side, herself an activist and poet and the author of Crime Against Nature, about loss of custody of her sons as a Lesbian mother. After a long-distance courtship, they made their home for many years in Jersey City, NJ, where, to protect their relationship, they domestic-partnered in 2004, civil-unioned in 2006, and also married in a civil ceremony in Massachusetts and in New York State in 2011.  Feinberg was the first theorist to advance a Marxist concept of “transgender liberation,” and her work impacted popular culture, academic research, and political organizing. Her impact on mass culture was primarily through her 1993 first novel, Stone Butch Blues, a groundbreaking work about the complexities of gender. It passed from hand-to-hand inside prisons, and was translated into Chinese, Dutch, German, Italian, Slovenian, Turkish, and Hebrew (with her earnings from that edition going to ASWAT Palestinian Gay Women). She was born Sep 1, 1949, in Kansas City, Missouri, raised in Buffalo, NY, in a working-class Jewish family, and at age 14, she began supporting herself by working in the display sign shop of a local department store, and eventually stopped going to her high school classes, though officially she received her diploma. She entered the social life of the Buffalo gay bars. She moved out of a biological family hostile to her sexuality and gender expression, and to the end of her life carried legal documents that made clear they were not her family. Discrimination against her as a transgender person made it impossible for her to get steady work. She earned her living for most of her life through a series of low-wage temp jobs, including working in a PVC pipe factory and a book bindery, cleaning out ship cargo holds and washing dishes, serving an ASL interpreter, and doing medical data inputting. In her early twenties Feinberg met the Workers World Party at a demonstration for Palestinian land rights and self-determination. She soon joined WWP through its founding Buffalo branch.  After moving to New York City, she participated in numerous mass organizing campaigns by the Party over the years, including many anti-war, pro-labor rallies. In 1983-1984 she embarked on a national tour about AIDS as a denied epidemic. She was a key organizer in the December 1974 March Against Racism in Boston, a campaign against white supremacist attacks on African-American adults and schoolchildren in the city. Feinberg led a group of ten lesbian-identified people, including several from South Boston, on an all-night “paste up” of South Boston, covering every visible racist epithet. She was one of the organizers of the 1988 mobilization in Atlanta that re-routed the white supremacist Ku Klux Klan as they tried to march down Martin Luther King, Jr. Ave., on MLK Day. When anti-abortion groups descended on Buffalo in 1992 and again in 1998-1999 with the murder there of Dr. Barnard Slepian, Feinberg returned to work with Buffalo United for Choice and its Rainbow Peacekeepers, which organized community self-defense for local LGBTQ+ bars and clubs as well as the women’s clinic. A WW journalist since 1974, she was the editor of the Political Prisoners page of Workers World newspaper for 15 years, and became a managing editor in 1995. She was a member of the National Committee of the Party. From 2004-2008 Feinberg's writing on the links between socialism and LGBT history, Lavender & Red, ran as a 120-part series in Workers World newspaper. Her most recent book, Rainbow Solidarity in Defense of Cuba, was an edited selection of that series. She authored two other non-fiction books, Transgender Warriors: Making History and Trans Liberation: Beyond Pink or Blue, as well as a second novel, Drag King Dreams.  She was a member of the National Writers Union, Local 1981, and of Pride at Work, an AFL-CIO constituency group. She received an honorary doctorate from the Starr King School for the Ministry for her transgender and social justice work, and was the recipient of numerous other awards, including the Lambda Literary Award and the American Library Association Gay and Lesbian Book Award. During a period when diseases would not allow her to read, write, or talk, Feinberg continued to communicate through art. Picking up a camera for the first time, she posted thousands of pictures on Flickr, including The Screened-In Series, a disability-art class-conscious documentary of her Hawley-Green neighborhood photographed entirely from behind the windows of her apartment. Diagnosed with Lyme and multiple tick-borne co-infections in 2008, Feinberg was infected first in the early 1970s when little was known about the diseases. She had received treatment for these only within the last six years. She blogged online about these issues in Casualty of an Undeclared War.  At the time of her death she was preparing a 20th anniversary edition of Stone Butch Blues. In addition to the text of the novel, the on-line edition will contain a slideshow, This Is What Solidarity Looks Like, documenting the breadth of the organizing campaign to free CeCe McDonald, a young Minneapolis (trans)woman organizer and activist sent to prison for defending herself against a white neo-Nazi attacker.

    Karl Svoboda (aka Lyons), 52, died of pneumonia in Los Angeles on Nov 20, leaving his greatest support, Victoria Svoboda of Thousand Oaks.  He originally came from Miamisburg (OH), Dayton (OH), and lived in Playa Del Rey, Venice, and West Hollywood in Los Angeles before settling in Thousand Oaks. Both Karl and Victoria came to the Out Against War vigil at Santa Monica/San Vicente Blvds, for many years and also many Out Against War endorsed marches and rallies during that period.   We thank them both for their contributions.
 
 
GREEN PARTY NEWS
 INTERNATIONAL
   Ebola fears are still resounding (Time Nov 24 p11,19;Dec 1 p13,14,20,21,;  LAT Nov 4 A4;Nov 5 A15;Nov 6 A15;Nov 7 A12,A15;Nov 9 A3;Nov 10 A10;Nov 11 A8,A10;Nov 12 A1,A3,Nov 13 A7(2),A8,A14; Nov 16 A10 (2);Nov 17 A11;Nov 18 A7,A8;Nov 19 A2;Nov 23 C2).
   Disappearance of student dissidents continued to have fallout in Mexico (Time Nov 24 p30;  LAT Nov 5 A3;Nov 8 A3;Nov 11 A1;Nov 16 A24;Nov 20 AA3;    Daily Bruin Nov 14 p1;Nov 21 A4;Dec 1 A4;Dec 2 A3).
   The European Union economy is getting weaker (Time Nov 17 p14;  LAT Nov 5 B1;Nov 9 A1).
   Post March 11 2011 earthquake/tsunami/Fukushima effects in Japan were still evident (LAT Nov 7 A6;Nov 19 A3).
   Climate change effects were discussed (Time Nov 17 p15,24;Nov 24 p11;  LAT Nov 12 A1; Nov 13 A1,A2,A16; Nov 14 A9;Nov 15 A13;Nov 22 AA3;Dec 2 A3).
   The Pacific rim leaders met in Beijing China on Nov 10-Nov 13   for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, and Obama also visited Myanmar (Nov 13-14) and the G-20 Annual Summit in Brisbane, Australia from Nov 15-17 (LAT Nov 11 A3,A4;Nov 12 A1,A3;Nov 14 A3,B1; Nov 15 A3;Nov 16 A2,A7;Nov 17 A1,A12).

NATIONAL 
   The Republicans won control of both the House (242 seats/435) and Senate (52 seats/100) in the midterm elections but cannot override a Presidential veto (Time Nov 17 p11,26,30,32-39;Nov 24 p19;    LAT Nov 5 A1(3),A8,A11,A12(3),A14, A15,B1; Nov 6 A6,A7,A8,A9, A11; Nov 6 A1;Nov 7 A14;A15;Nov 8 A10;Nov 9 A8,A14,A18, A25(2),AA2,AA5;Nov 10 A1;Nov 12 A7,A10;Nov 13 A8;Nov 14 A8(2),A19(2);Nov 15 A9;Nov 16 A10;Nov 20 AA4;Nov 21 A21;  Daily Bruin Nov 5 p1; LA Weekly Nov 21 p47 (Henry Rollins column)).  Three Dem Senate incumbents were defeated in the Senate (Alaska, Colorado, and North Carolina).
   Labeling GMO foods lost in Colorado and Oregon on Nov 4, while increases in the state minimum wage passed in Alaska, Arkansas, Nebraska and Washington and gun control passed in Washington (LAT Nov 6 A6).  A fracking ban passed in Denton, North Texas (LAT Nov 8 A7).
   Oregon and Alaska voted on Nov 4 to retail marijuana products (LAT Nov 6 A11).
   Unemployment decreased to 5.8% in October, the lowest since July 2008 (Time Nov 24 p19;  LAT Nov 8 B1).
   ObamaCare continued to have its ups and downs as the Republican Party filed a lawsuit against it (LAT Nov 8 A1;Nov 10 A1;Nov 11 A7;Nov 12 B1;Nov 13 A17;Nov 15 A1,B1,B4;Nov 16 A24,B3;Nov 19 A1,A14;Nov 21 A9;Nov 22 B1;Nov 25 A12,B1;Nov 27 A1,A12;Dec 1 A1;   LA Weekly Nov 7 p6;  FILA Nov 27 p22).  .
   Immigration reform is awaiting Obama’s executive orders after the debacle of the midterm election and as state immigration laws were questioned (Time Dec 1 p27,28;  LAT Nov 9 A8;Nov 10 A9,AA3;Nov 11 A10;Nov 14 A2,A13;Nov 16 A11;Nov 19 A1,A10;Nov 20 A1(2); FILA Nov 13 p16).  Obama finally outlined his plan on Nov 20 to a mixed reception (LAT Nov 21 A1,A20,A21,AA1(3); Nov 22 A1(2),A2,A9,A11,AA2,B1,B3,D1;Nov 23 A1,A9,A10,A11,A31, AA2;Nov 24 A8;Nov 24 AA1;Nov 25 A11;A13(plus cartoon),AA1;Nov 26 A12,A13(2);Nov 27 A29;Dec 1 A1;Dec 2 A1;  Daily Bruin Nov 25 p1;Dec 1 p4;Dec 2 p4;   FILA Nov 27 p11; Intelligence Report (Winter) p26).  Illegal parents of legal US citizens or of Resident Aliens who have lived in the US for at least 5 years (some 4.1 million) have 3 years without deportation to become legit; recent graduates in high tech fields and non-US spouses of US citizens (some 600,000) will be allowed to stay longer under relaxed visa rules; illegal children who arrived before June 2007 (some 300,000) have 3 years without deportation to be made legit.
   Internet neutrality is now an issue (Time Nov 24 p7,14;  LAT Nov 11 A1,B1;Nov 12 A10,B1; Nov 23 A29).
   Federal and state law differences on marijuana continued (Time Nov 24 p12;Dec 1 p9;  LAT Nov 11 A7;Nov 15 AA1;Nov 16 A1;Nov 27 B1).
   The fallout from the Ferguson police shooting-killing of Michael Brown on Aug 9 continued as the trial verdict was awaited (Time Nov 24 p22;  LAT Nov 12 A6;Nov 15 A2;Nov 16 A16;Nov 18 A2, A9;Nov 19 A13,AA8;Nov 21 A21;Nov 22 A6;Nov 23 A2,A8;Nov 24 A6).  The decision not to indict the police shooter came on Nov 24 and was followed by riots in Ferguson and  protests in all major US cities including Los Angeles (LAT Nov 25 A1(2),A8;Nov 26 A1(2),A9,A11(2), A12,AA1,AA2;Nov 27 A1,A19;Dec 1 A8;Dec 2 A11;   Daily Bruin Nov 25 p1,4; Intelligence Report (Winter) p7;   ).  At least one dead; 61 arrests,14 injuries, 21 buildings set on fire, and 10 police cars destroyed occurred in Ferguson on the night and next early morning of the announcement. New York protestors marched through midtown to Times Square; 400 activists chanted outside the White House in Washington DC; Dallas rebels stopped traffic on the Interstate 35; some 1,500 Bostonites chanted outside the South Bay House of Corrections; the 580 freeway in Oakland was shut down; some 3 arrests were made in Los Angeles and the 110 Freeway shut down by 100 as the culmination of a march of 200 from Leimert Park along Pico Blvd to downtown.  These protests continued during the Thanksgiving holidays, with the officer who was not indicted resigning on Nov 29.
   There are big hurdles involved in convicting excessive force by police (LAT Nov 16 A1).
   Gun reform efforts were called for but implementation was weak (LAT Nov 13 A16;Nov 16 A23).
   Fast-tracking trade deals was called for in LAT Nov 14 A18.
   The Keystone Pipeline was voted down in the Senate (Time Dec 1 p16;  LAT Nov 19 A10;Nov 21 A21).
   Fracking and earthquakes was discussed in LAT Nov 27 A2.
   Cleveland police shooting death of a 12-year old African American boy with a toy gun mistaken for a real gun stirred emotions (LAT Nov 27 A12).
 
CALIFORNIA
   22 of 36 Greens who ran were elected at the Nov 4 election in California.  They were: Bruce Delgado, Mayor, Marina, Monterrey County, incumbent; Deborah Heathersone, Town Council, Pt. Arena, Mendocino County, appointed incumbent; John Keener, City Council, Pacifica, San Mateo County; Gayle Mclaughlin, City Council, Richmond, Contra Costa County; Paul Pitino, City Council, Arcata, Humboldt County; Amy Martenson, Board of Trustees, District 2 Napa Valley College, Napa County; Dave Clark, Board of Directors, Cardiff School, San Diego County, incumbent; Adriana Griffin, Red Bluff Union School District, Red Bluff, Tehama County, appointed incumbent; Jim C. Keller, Board of Trustees, Bonny Doon Union Elementary School District, Santa Cruz County; Kathy Rallings, Board of Trustees, Carlsbad Unified School District, Carlsbad, San Diego County; Alex Shantz, Board of Trustees, St. Helena Unified School District, Napa County; David James (Jim) Smith, Board of Trustees, Canyon School, Canyon Township, Contra Costa County, incumbent; Logan Blair Smith, Little Shasta Elementary School District, Montague, Shasta County, appointed incumbent; John Selawsky, Rent Stablization Board, Berkeley, Alameda County; Jesse Townley, Rent Stablization Board, Berkeley, Alameda County, incumbent; Larry Bragman, Board of Directors, Division 3, Marin Municipal Water District Board, Marin County; Jan Shriner, Board of Directors, Marina Coast Water District, Monterrey County, incumbent; Jeff Davis, Board of Directors, Ward 5, Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District, Alameda and Contra Costa Counties (incumbent); Robert L. Campbell, Scotts Valley Fire District, Santa Cruz County; James Barone, Boardmember, Rollingwood-Wilart Recreation and Parks District, Contra Costa County; Gerald Epperson, Board of Directors, Crocket Community Services Distrct, Contra Costa County, appointed incumbent; William Bretz, Board of Directors, Crest, Dehesa, Granite Hills, Harbison Canyon Planning Group, Seat 8, San Diego County, incumbent.  Congrats to them!
   Gov Brown was reelected to a record 4^th term with a margin of about 17% (LAT Nov 5 A1,A9, AA1;Nov 6 A1,AA1,AA5(3),AA6(2),B1;Nov 6 AA4(2);Nov 8 AA1;Nov 9 AA5;Nov 10 A8, A11(2 plus cartoon),AA1;Nov 12 AA1;Nov 18 AA4;Nov 20 AA1;Dec 1 AA1;Dec 2 AA1,AA3;  LA Weekly Nov 5 p  ; Nov 14 p7(2);  Daily Bruin Nov 5 p1;Nov 6 p1). Democrats will not have a supermajority.  State Props 1 (water), 2 (rainy-day fund) and 47 (minor offenses sentencing) passed while the others did not. San Benito County (Measure J) and Mendochino County (Measure S) banned fracking but Santa Barbara County (Measure P) did not ban it (LAT Nov 5 A10;Nov 6 AA1, AA2).  San Francisco turned down a tax on sodas but Berkekey passed Measure D (LAT Nov 5 A10;Nov 6 AA1;Nov 7 AA2). 
  State pension funds are low as unemployment for October remained at 7.3% with the lowest rate being 4.1% in San Mateo County and the highest being 23.7% in Imperial County (LAT Nov 14 A1;Nov 22 B1).
  In spite of the recent rain on Oct 31-Nov 1, drought is still occurring (LAT Nov 4 AA1(2);Nov 5 AA1;Nov 10 AA1,AA5;Nov 12 A2;Nov 14 AA2;Nov 20 A14;Nov 23 A1;Nov 24 AA3,AA4;     Nov 26 AA4;Dec 2 AA1,AA4).
  Organizing against the use of plastic to bag groceries was discussed in LAT Nov 7 AA4 as the state-wide law is to take effect on July 1.
  LA Times Columnist George Skelton continued to be a cheerleader for Top Two (LAT Nov 13 AA1).
  The State was ordered by the Federal Government to complete parole plans for 2-time non-violent felons by Dec 1 to relieve prison overcrowding (LAT Nov 15 AA4;Nov 17 AA1;Nov 18 AA1;Nov 22 AA1;Nov 27 A1)..
  Environmental activists are suing Southern California Edison $3 billion over the San Onofre deal whereby taxpayers anted up $700 million after the Jan 2012 failure of the plant’s steam generators with the subsequent June 2013 closing and will pay 70% of the closing costs over the next 10 years (LAT Nov 15 B3).
  Corruption in the state government was pilloried in LAT Nov 16 A23.
  Students protested hikes in state tuition fees at UC campuses (LAT Nov 19 AA4;Nov 20 A1;Nov 21 AA1;Nov 23 A29;Nov 24 AA4;Nov 25 AA3;Nov 27 A29 (cartoon);  Daily Bruin Nov 20 p1;Nov 21 p1;Nov 24 p4(2);Nov 25 p4).

LOS ANGELES
   Nov 4 measures to increase local taxes for Parks (Prop P) and to keep Santa Monica airport open (Measure D) were defeated while Measure LC to replace Santa Monica airport with parkland and Measure  R to limit development in Malibu passed (LAT Nov 5 A10;Nov 6 A16,AA3;Nov 9 A23;Dec 1 AA2).
   While Jim McDonnell became the new County Sheriff, an ex-deputy was sentenced in a ticket-fixing case (LAT Nov 5 AA3;Nov 6 AA3;Dec 1 AA5;Dec 2 A1).  McDonnell was sworn in on Dec 1.
   The City of Los Angeles budget deficit caused worries, and caused Mayor Garcetti to plan to reduce City of Angeles energy consumption by 15% (LAT Nov 8 AA1), County jail reform for the mentally ill (LAT Nov 13 A16), cutting tree-cutting costs (LAT Nov 17 AA3), parking ticket reforms (LA Weekly Nov 21 p11), and more taxes on guns (LAT Nov 26 AA1). LA County unemployment was 8.0% (LAT Nov 22 B1). Mayor Garcetti also encouraged high-tech solutions (LAT Nov 23 AA1).
   Ranked choice voting was discussed in LAT Nov 9 A24.
   UCLA faculty at last voted 332-303 to have a diversity requirement for its undergraduate program in the College of Letters and Science (LAT Nov 5 A14;Nov 24 AA3;  Daily Bruin Nov 3 p1). Failed votes occurred in 2004 and 2012. To be implemented it still needs to pass the Undergraduate Student Association Council and the Academic Senate Committee on Rules and Jurisdiction. It was approved by the full UCLA Academic Senate 85-18 on Nov 20 (Daily Bruin Nov 21 A1).
   More transit issues arose involving light rail (ground was broken on the Purple line extension with projected stations at La Brea, Fairfax, La Cienega, Beverly Drive, Century City, Westwood, and Veterans Administration for $6 billion and to take 20 years) , freeways and pedestrian crossings (LAT Nov 3 AA1;Nov 4 AA1,AA2;Nov 7 A14;Nov 17 AA3;Nov 26 AA3;Dec 2 A10,AA2).
   Exide Technologies has been ordered to clean up polluted homes and yards in Vernon and fined $526,000 for improper management of hazardous waste (LAT Nov 7 AA3;Nov 13 AA3).  Some 62/104 homes examined required cleanup for lead pollution.
   Corruption continued to be uncovered (LAT Nov 7 AA5;Nov 8 AA3,AA4;Nov 24 AA6).
   The last day to signify intent to run for the March elections was Nov 8 and at least 500 signatures are needed by Dec 3 (LAT Nov 9 AA3). Electioneering has already begun (LAT Nov 10 AA2).
   The homeless continued to be problems (LAT Nov 11 AA1,AA3;Nov 17 A15;Nov 23 AA3;Nov 26 AA4;Nov 27 A1; Daily Bruin Nov 17 p1).
   Unrest continued at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach as truckers walked out over alleged wage theft (LAT Nov 11 B1;Nov 14 B2;Nov 16 AA1).
   The LAPD continued to be coy about details of, and the circumstances leading to, Ezell Ford Jr’s shooting death by LAPD on Aug 11, with Mayor Garcetti finally ordering the autopsy release (LAT Nov 13 AA1;Nov 14 AA3;Nov 19 AA8 (connection with Ferguson)).  It also had internal dissent over bias in internal discipline (LAT Nov 14 AA1;Nov 18 A1). Drones and the LAPD was a hot topic (LAT Nov 17 A15). The shooting deaths of 2 by LAPD in East Los Angeles on Nov 16 is being investigated as well as a police shooting deaths in Long Beach and West Covina (LAT Nov 17 AA5;Nov 18 AA3;Nov 24 AA6;Nov 25 AA3).
   Rusty Hicks is replacing Maria Durazo at LA County Federation of Labor (LAT Nov 19 AA1).
 
 
OUT AGAINST WAR
   John O’Brien and Bill Kaiser got to the Federal Court House protest on Spring Street on Nov 25, one day after the Ferguson verdict, to join a motley gathering of some 40 anarchists and other persuasions who marched back and forth from the Court House to the Police Station, some media (Channel 5 KTLA), and of course cops.  The Out Against War banner was photographed, John dialogued, and Bill was "interviewed" by "CNN "  They stayed until 5:15p.  Shane Que Hee got there at 5:40p with the media still there, and the protestors in a circle discussing their next move. The throng swelled to some 300 before they moved off to such places as the 101 Freeway (briefly blocked), one police cruiser graffitied, and one police officer injured from a thrown bottle (LAT Nov 26 AA5;Nov 27 AA1,AA2). The ANSWER sponsored rally in the Crenshaw District was lively with Crenshaw and King Blvds blocked for quite some time by 100 protestors (LAT Nov 26 AA5).  All-told in Los Angeles, some 3 were arrested on Nov 24, 183 on Nov 25. 160  arrested on Nov 26, 176 were arrested on Nov 27, and 8 on Nov 28.  On the night of the decision, some 30 UCLA students paraded around the streets of Westwood and UCLA Campus in protest (Daily Bruin Nov 25 p1,Nov 26 p1), and some 200 students attended a rally in Meyerhof Park on Nov 25 (Daily Bruin Nov 26 p1).
 
WAR NEWS
INTERNATIONAL
   Al Qaeda fears have resulted in many travel curbs (LAT Nov 6 A3;Nov 27 A4,A6).
   Violence continued in Iraq as ISIS still continued its gains, albeit more slowly than initially and as the US doubled its force that aids Iraqis but still made little headway against ISIS and as another beheading of a US citizen occurred there (Time Nov 24 p7,10;Dec 1 p21;   LAT Nov 3 A1,A3;Nov 7 A1;Nov 8 A1;Nov 9 A3;Nov 14 A6(2);Nov 15 A4;Nov 16 A7;Nov 17 A1,A3;Nov 18 A3,A4;Nov 20 A4,A14;Nov 23 A3,A19).
   Killings continued in Afghanistan (LAT Nov 5 A3;Nov 7 A4;Nov 17 A3;Nov 23 A7;Nov 25 A3;Dec 1 A1).
   Bombings continued in Pakistan (LAT Nov 3 A3;Nov 7 A4;Nov 16 A7;Nov 27 A4).
   The Syrian rebels are not doing well against newly reelected Pres Assad in spite of ISIS (LAT Nov 4 A3;Nov 5 A4;Nov 6 A3;Nov 11 A4;Nov 13 A1;Nov 18 A1;Nov 21 A1;Nov 23 A3;Nov 27 A6;Dec 2 A4).
   The effect of the Syrian war on Lebanon was discussed (LAT Nov 11 A2;Nov 13 A1).
   Egypt is proving a crucial link in US influence (LAT Nov 4 A11;Nov 6 A4;Nov 7 A4).
   The June election results in Libya were invalidated by the Supreme Constitutional Court in Tripoli, now under the control of Islamic militia,  to the protests of the alternative parliament in Tobruk,  in which anti-Islamics have a majority (LAT Nov 7 A4).
   Tunisians voted for President on Nov 23 (LAT Nov 24 A3).
   Iran and its nuclear capabilities were still being negotiated (Time Nov 17 p15;   LAT Nov 5 A4;Nov 6 A4;Nov 12 A11;Nov 16 A9;Nov 17 A3;Nov 18 A1;Nov 20 A4;Nov 22 A3(2);Nov 24 A1,A4;Nov 25 A3,A12,A13).
   Israel continued building settlements; more violence occurred in Jerusalem; Israel began demolishing Palestinian homes again (Time Dec 1 p12;  LAT Nov 6 A3,A4;Nov 7 A3;Nov 8 A4;Nov 11 A3;Nov 12 A3;Nov 13 A3;Nov 14 A4(2);Nov 15 A3;Nov 19 A1,A4;Nov 21 A3;   Daily Bruin Nov 5 p4;Nov 18 p1;Nov 20 A3,AA1;Nov 22 A1;Nov 24 A3;Nov 24 A3;Nov 25 A4;Nov 27 A3).
   The Ukraine continued to be unsettled, with separatists voting in the east much to the chagrin of the central government and the plaudits of Russia, and as the Ukrainian death toll reached 4,300 (Time Nov 17 p11;Nov 24 p11;Dec 1 p9;   LAT Nov 3 A3;Nov 4 A4;Nov 5 A2;Nov 6 A4;Nov 8 A4;Nov 11 A3;Nov 15 A6;Nov 16 A7;Nov 17 A4(2);Nov 20 A15;Nov 21 A3;Nov 26 A1;Dec 1 A2).
   Russia is skipping a nuclear weapons summit in the US (LAT Nov 6 A4;Nov 9 A24;Nov 13 A3).
   Former Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev has worried about another Cold War in a Berlin speech at the 25^th annual celebration of the knocking down of the Berlin Wall (Time Nov 24 p10,11;  LAT Nov 9 A7; Nov 16 A1;Nov 18 A7;Nov 26 A4;Nov 27 A6).
  .Fawzi Odah, 37, a Kuwaiti held at Guantanamo Bay for 13 years, has been sent home (LAT Nov 6 A3).   He was never charged or tried. A Saudi Arabian national imprisoned at Guantanamo for 12 years, Muhammad al-Zharani, was sent home to Saudi Arabia on Nov 19 (LAT Nov 23 A14).  Some 142 are still imprisoned with 73 recommended for “transfer”.
   Obama’s foreign policies were discussed in LAT Nov 12 A11;Nov 16 A24;Nov 17 A3;

NATIONAL/STATE/LOCAL:
  US Muslims allege that the FBI is pressing them to spy on their own community (LAT Nov 4 A12).
  The District of Columbia Court of Appeals was asked to block NSA data collection (LAT Nov 5 A6), but the Senate would not  (LAT Nov 19 B1).
  The Obama Administration continued to try suspected terrorism cases in civil courts (LAT Nov 5 A7).  The Obama administration is reexamining its hostage and border policies (LAT Nov 19 A11;Nov 26 A2).
  A fired federal air marshal sought whistleblower status after he disclosed to the media federal govt plans to stop using armed air marshals on overnight flights from Las Vegas (LAT Nov 5 A7)
  Domestic drone use is still being advocated (LAT Nov 5 B3;Nov 19 B4;Nov 20 A15).
  Costs are rising ($11 billion a year) as the US nuclear arsenal ages and equipment and parts are no longer available and need to be made as expensive special orders (LAT Nov 9 A1;Nov 10 A1;Nov 15 A1).  The major facilities are at: Lawrence Livermore CA; Nevada National Security Site; Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico; Sandia National Laboratory, New Mexico; Pantex Plant, Texas; Kansas City Plant, Missouri; Y-12 National Security Complex, West Virginia;  Savannah River Site, South Carolina. 
  The report on the CIA’s techniques after 9/11 is about to hit Washington DC (LAT Nov 9 A4).
  Ron Kovic of Born on  the Fourth of July fame, was interviewed in LAT Nov 9 AA1.
  Iraq and Afghanistan war vets were profiled in Time Nov 17 Pp46-55.
  Vietnam War vet, Tomas Young, 34,  a paraplegic, died on Nov 10 in Seattle.  He contacted Ralph Nader who then brought Phil Donohue to meet him ultimately leading to the making of the latter’s film Body of War, that featured Young  He also protested alongside Cindy Sheehan during the Crawford, Texas, protests during the reign of Pres Bush.
  The report on the 2012 Benghazi incident absolved Obama Administration officials and received a mixed reception (LAT Nov 23 A7;Nov 24 A8).
  
 
OCCUPY
  The gap between the 1% and the rest focused on by the Occupy movement has been complemented by the rather obvious findings of Children Now  that wealthy counties have better public schools than poorer counties, and that California children are far behind those of most other US states in their family income category (Daily Bruin Nov 14 A4). California’s Public Schools Accountability Act rewards good schools with more funds and puts pressure on poorer schools by providing lower funding for those schools.
   Low income high schools instruct about 2 weeks less than richer schools on average and have almost twice the instructional days lost compared with low poverty schools (LAT Nov 18 AA2).
   Bank employees are more likely to lie for financial gain than for their home life according to a study, proving the old adage that everything is nature-nurture (LAT Nov 22 AA2). The Zurich researchers recommended a banker equivalent of the medical Hippocratic Oath.
   A federal judge signed a Bank of America settlement of $16.7 billion for misleading investors during the recession (LAT Nov 27 B2).


LAVENDER GREENS MISSION STATEMENT(June 24 2003): 
The National Lavender Green Caucus (NLGC) is the Green Party's advocacy group on gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and queer (GLBTIQ) issues. NLGC works for the elimination of heterosexism and all its manifestations such as homophobia, violence, prejudice, and injustice against GLBTIQ communities. NLGC also works for the elimination of racism and sexism and all their manifestations in GLBTIQ communities and in society as a whole, and our work is centered in ten key values and four pillars of the Green Party of the United States. The caucus recognizes that freedom and social justice for GLBTIQ individuals will only come with the liberation of all people, and we actively view ourselves as a part of a broader movement for social justice.

EVENTS:
ANTIWAR VIGILS: Fridays 5-7p at Vista Theater at Sunset Blvd./Hollywood Bl./Hillhurst Av./Virgil Av. junction; Echo Park, intersection of Glendale/Alvarado, S of the #2 freeway entrance; 5-6p at Pico/La Cienega; 6.30-7.30p at Mar Vista Park at Palms/McLaughlin.
ARLINGTON WEST MEMORIAL AT SANTA MONICA PIER BEACH: Sundays until Troops Come Home, 7:30-9:30a to 6:00-7:00 p at Santa Monica Pier (North Side)
OCCUPY LOS ANGELES GENERAL ASSEMBLIES, Have shut down. https://www.facebook.com/occupyLA
OCCUPY VENICE GENERAL ASSEMBLIES, Still meeting.  https://www.facebook.com/OccupyVeniceCA
HELP CHELSEA MANNING: Sign the Chelsea Manning Presidential pardon at http://pardon.privatemanning.org
Write a letter for clemency for Chelsea Manning.  Directions and information are at http://www.privatemanning.org/featured/write-a-letter-supporting-pvt-mannings-request-for-clemency .   The letters must be printed, signed, then scanned (so that they have the signature) in pdf format, and e mailed to nat...@privatemanning.org. 
 
We also recommend general support of Trayvon Martin and anti-Syria and -Iraq War related actions.
 

Jan 24-25, GPCA General Assembly, Monterey.  http://www.cagreens.org/ga/2015-01/