** Here's how you can help: Call DA Wagstaffe to demand justice for Chinedu Okobi: (650) 363-4636. Office hours are M-F 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 pm PT** Statement from Ebele Okobi, the victim’s sister. Two days ago, I watched the police videos of my brother’s October 3 murder. They were shocking, not just because I sat next to my mother as we watched my little brother getting tortured to death in broad daylight while he begged “Someone, please help me!” and cried out “What did I do?”. They were shocking because they contradicted, in every single particular, the statement that the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office released and to which San Mateo District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe referred in multiple news outlets after my brother’s murder. They were shocking because the District Attorney, his investigators and the San Mateo Sheriff’s Office have had access to these videos for weeks and have done nothing whatsoever to hold Sergeant David Weidner and Deputies John DeMartini, Alyssa Lorenzatti, Joshua Wang and Bryan Watt accountable. They were shocking because District Attorney Wagstaffe has allowed statements that he knows to be false to remain in the public record. They were shocking because my brother’s mental illness had absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with his killing. The video of my brother’s murder starts out with a dash cam view of my brother, walking calmly down the sidewalk, carrying bags. It’s notable, because the view shows other people walking-it’s broad daylight, so there is nothing particularly interesting or sinister about a man walking down the street, holding bags, heading somewhere. He is dressed normally, and doesn’t look disheveled or as if he’s in crisis. The deputy driving the car says something like who is this guy, and then speeds up to get alongside my brother. Lie #1: According to the San Mateo County Sheriff’s office and District Attorney Wagstaffe’s statements, my brother was “running in and out of traffic”. My brother was not walking in and out of traffic when the deputy noticed him. He was walking on the sidewalk, as people do. Based upon the audio of the first deputy who made contact with my brother, that deputy was also not responding to any calls about anyone “running in and out of traffic”, so there was no basis to stop my brother other than what that deputy saw. The video shows the deputy was driving down the street, noticed my brother walking down the sidewalk from about a block away, and decided to stop him. When the deputy pulls up alongside my brother, he shouts at him and asks him what he’s doing, tells him he needs to question him. My brother quietly answers (it’s inaudible), and then walks to the intersection, looks out for traffic, and crosses the street. At that point, the deputy calls in a Code 3. A Code 3 means “Emergency, send back-up.”. Lie #2: At no point was the deputy in danger, there was nothing about a man crossing the street at an intersection that was an emergency. He was in a car, and my brother had crossed the street away from him. The deputy, within 2 minutes of having seen my brother, has dramatically escalated a situation that didn’t need to even be a situation and has then lied about being in danger and there being an emergency, which he knows will result in other deputies coming in hot. The next cut of the video shows my brother, as he has crossed to the other side of the street. The first deputy speeds across the street to cut him off, another police car speeds up in front of my brother. Deputy Alyssa Lorenzatti charges out of the car. At this point, my brother drops his bags and puts his arms up in the air. Deputy Lorenzatti rushes into him, he twists to the side and moves his hand up to avoid being hit or to avoid inadvertently hitting her. They grab him, rip off his jacket. He tries to run, asking, “What’s wrong? What did I do?” That’s when Deputy Joshua Wang tased him. My brother falls in the street, on his back, crying. He has the presence of mind to keep his hands in the air, even as Deputy Wang holds the taser and continuously sends volts of electricity through his prone body. He is not fighting, just crying in pain. I will never forget the visual of his hands, waving above his head, open, begging. He begs them to take the taser prongs off of him. He tries to pull them off himself. Lie #3: My brother never attacked any of the deputies. He did not assault anyone. My baby brother, as big as he was, didn’t even defend himself. The deputies keep shouting at him to turn over on his stomach. They electrocute him again. He screams. At no point does anyone tell him why he was stopped, what they think he has done, whether or not he is under arrest. When there is a break in the torture, my brother staggers to his knees, tries to run away. A deputy pulls out his baton, strikes, they tase him again. My brother goes down. At some point, my brother tries to run across the street, they chase him, they tase him, they pepper spray him, they jump on top of him while he is prone. There is audio of Sergeant Weidner saying “Stay on top of him, stay on top of him, stay on top of him.” Someone asks if my brother is still breathing. Sergeant Weidner keeps cheering them on, telling them to stay on him until they have crushed the life out of him. Someone shouts “I see blood!” Then it’s over. My brother has clearly died, right there on the sidewalk, in broad daylight. One of the deputies immediately declares it a crime scene. A deputy asks another, solicitously, if he wants water. Killing my brother is thirsty work, apparently. What not a single one of those deputies does is give my brother CPR. None of them tries to help him. They express no shock or remorse at the fact of his death. It’s all very casual. They prop his body upright, like an over-full trash bag. His head hangs forward, airways occluded. No one follows even the most basic life-saving procedures. There is no mercy or compassion for my little brother. If they...

The recent Mid-terms

To control the daily abuse and excess speeding past the speed limit on Western/Sterling from 183rd to Heather Road and to prevent a tragedy from occurring.

It’s no secret DJT and the GOP want to strip the LGBT Community of what little rights we have. Please keep the LGBT Protections in NAFTA to help our continent be as accepting of our treasured diversity.

Sky Haven is an empty, 14 acre property owned by the DeKalb County Public School System. The property is located in the East Atlanta neighborhood and provides high value tree canopy, a headwater stream, and needed neighborhood greenspace that supports abundant wildlife and critical stormwater management. The property is not officially a public park, nor is it protected greenspace. It could be sold or destroyed at any time.

We must hold all elected politicians accountable.

Democrats continue to earn more votes in California, New York, etc., but many races are lost in “red” or “purple “states by slim margins. Everyone has a constitutional right to move to another state. Why not encourage and help willing volunteers to relocate in sufficient numbers to strategically selected areas where the balance of power can be shifted, for example, Wyoming, the Dakotas, Georgia, Florida, etc.

On November 16th, a sunny 45 degrees normal school day, WE, working parents, all got an unexpected school notice - "Afterschool Activities Cancelled". Please remember our children do not use school buses if they stay in the after school programs and without saying some programs are privately paid. We all have to drop our work schedule and figure out how to pick up our children in a very limited timeframe. We don't want our school system led under such unconscionable leadership.

Already considered the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, the situation in Yemen has rapidly deteriorated in recent months, largely due to the massive bombing and starvation campaigns at the hands of a Saudi Arabia and UAE-led coalition. This coalition, backed by the United States and other global powers, continues to carry out horrific air raids and bombings, as well as blockade ports of entry, causing mass starvation. Through military support for the coalition, the United States is actively facilitating Yemeni suffering. Between June and September 2018, civilian deaths in Yemen rose by 164%. Amongst these deaths were 40+ school children murdered by a US-supplied bomb that struck a school bus in August. In addition to aerial strikes, the Saudi-led coalition has regularly blockaded ports of entry, causing the rapid spread of treatable diseases and the starvation of millions. The situation is growing ever more dire, and it is vital that the U.S. immediately halt support for the coalition by passing Senate Joint Resolution 54. S. J. Res. 54 would direct the removal of US Armed Forces from hostilities in Yemen within 30 days unless Congress explicitly authorizes military force. After the senseless murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in October, Germany finally ended arms sales to Saudi Arabia. With 80% of Yemen’s population in need of humanitarian assistance, and 14 million on the brink of man-made famine, the U.S. should follow suit and end its blank check for Saudi war crimes. We, the undersigned, urge Congress to urgently support and pass S. J. Res 54 and finally end American complicity for war crimes in Yemen.

While Google acknowledged their mistake privately, they did not demand a refund of their contribution(3). If Ms. Hyde-Smith is interested in representing her African-American constituents this way, Google should be exposed for solidarity with that. I call on Google to redirect their investment to a more appropriate recipient such as the Equal Justice Initiative, which educates on lynching; or to Cindy Hyde-Smith's opponent in the run-off election on November 27, Mike Espy, an experienced public servant who is, additionally, African-American. Notes (1) Cindy Hyde-Smith’s racist remark - https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/11/11/senator-mississippi-joked-about-public-hanging-her-black-opponent-called-it-reprehensible/?utm_term=.dea3f80e016b (2) almost 40% of Mississippians are African-American people - https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/ms (3) Google’s donation and regret, but not refund demand - https://www.dailydot.com/layer8/google-donation-lynching/

Developments show the Democratic Party leadership has no intention of fighting for a real climate plan in the new Congress. With the UN’s recent climate report, that's unacceptable. The science is undisputed, we have the technology, and the public is overwhelmingly on the side of bold action on climate and jobs -- the only thing standing in the way of a livable future is the failure of political leadership. Add your voice to ours. Tell Nancy Pelosi and Democratic Leadership: 1. Champion a Green New Deal that would create millions of good jobs to transform society over the next decade to stop climate change. This means creating a committee tasked specifically to write policy on creating jobs and moving our country off fossil fuels over the designated 12 years that the IPCC has given us. Let’s protect the lives of all working people -- black, brown, and white -- from the ravages of disaster and pollution. 2. Mandate that any Democrat in leadership must take the No Fossil Fuel Money pledge and reject campaign contributions from fossil fuel executives and lobbyists and prioritize the health of people and planet over industry profits. Oil and gas executives profit off a business model that's incompatible with the future of human civilization. It's time for the Democratic Party to reject their influence wholesale. A rising generation of young people of all backgrounds helped flip the House with a record turnout. We will no longer tolerate empty promises and words without action. We’re not expecting miracles -- we understand that the GOP is corrupted by dirty oil money and will stall us at every turn. We know that sweeping change isn’t possible until Trump is gone -- but we need to start laying the groundwork and put forward our vision for America now. We’re asking Democrats to step up to the fight alongside us.

Developments show the Democratic Party leadership has no intention of fighting for a real climate plan in the new Congress. With the UN’s recent climate report, that's unacceptable. The science is undisputed, we have the technology, and the public is overwhelmingly on the side of bold action on climate and jobs -- the only thing standing in the way of a livable future is the failure of political leadership. Add your voice to ours. Tell Nancy Pelosi and Democratic Leadership: 1. Champion a Green New Deal that would create millions of good jobs to transform society over the next decade to stop climate change. This means creating a committee tasked specifically to write policy on creating jobs and moving our country off fossil fuels over the designated 12 years that the IPCC has given us. Let’s protect the lives of all working people -- black, brown, and white -- from the ravages of disaster and pollution. 2. Mandate that any Democrat in leadership must take the No Fossil Fuel Money pledge and reject campaign contributions from fossil fuel executives and lobbyists and prioritize the health of people and planet over industry profits. Oil and gas executives profit off a business model that's incompatible with the future of human civilization. It's time for the Democratic Party to reject their influence wholesale. A rising generation of young people of all backgrounds helped flip the House with a record turnout. We will no longer tolerate empty promises and words without action. We’re not expecting miracles -- we understand that the GOP is corrupted by dirty oil money and will stall us at every turn. We know that sweeping change isn’t possible until Trump is gone -- but we need to start laying the groundwork and put forward our vision for America now. We’re asking Democrats to step up to the fight alongside us. And if they are unwilling, they should step aside and make way for new leadership that will.