Monthly Archives: January 2021

California Assembly District 14, Democratic Party, Progressive Democrats of Benicia

TAKE ACTION TODAY! Our Democratic Party is electing delegates, deadline MONDAY, JANUARY 11

BenIndy Editor: The Benicia Independent most especially endorses Susannah Delano and Kari Birdseye!  Vote for all 10 – more below…

From Progressive Democrats of Benicia

CHOOSING OUR CA ASSEMBLY DISTRICT 14 DEMOCRATIC PARTY DELEGATES

YOU can help vote for a PROGRESSIVE SLATE to represent us! Details and HOW to vote…

WHAT DELEGATES DO: The Delegates we elect will vote for the officers of the California Democratic Party, as well as endorsements for legislative and statewide offices and ballot propositions.  In even numbered years the Delegates establish the party platform and weigh in each year on state resolutions.

The PDB Steering Committee recognizes that there has been a division within the Party between Progressives and Labor/corporate interests. In Solano County, the labor slate includes an offshoot of the Working Families PAC which spent nearly $300,000 in an unsuccessful attempt to defeat Steve Young in the race for Benicia Mayor.

This year, due to the Pandemic, the Democratic party is doing an all-mail ballot to elect delegates representing Assembly District 14 (Grayson).  We are urging you to go to the link [https://ademelections.com/?isCandidate=False] to request a ballot be mailed to you, and then consider supporting the Progressive slate, as listed below.

Your Steering Committee supports this group of Democratic Progressive Candidates who want to change the Democratic Party from the corporate and divisive politics of the past. The AD 14 Progressives for Change slate is asking for your vote in January 2021 to take the party into a more transparent, accountable, and inclusive future.

How to get a Party Ballot and VOTE…

Due to the pandemic, the California Democratic Party (CADEM) has implemented a vote by mail for the 2021 Assembly District 14 Elections.

  • Deadline to request a vote-by-mail ballot is Monday January 11, 2021.
  • All voters must request a vote-by-mail ballot for this election at   https://ademelections.com/?isCandidate=False
  • All ballots must be received before Wednesday, January 27, 2021.

THE PROGRESSIVE SLATE

Please remember these names and vote for these 10 PROGRESSIVE candidates, AD 14 Progressives for Change:
…Thomas Bilbo https://www.facebook.com/ElectTomBilbo/
…Kari Birdseye https://www.facebook.com/kari.birdseye
…Ruscal Cayangyang https://www.facebook.com/ruscalcayangyang/
…Brenda Crawford https://www.facebook.com/ElectBrendaC/
…Susannah Delano https://www.facebook.com/SDforADEM
…Matthew Finkelstein facebook.com/MatthewFinkelstein4AD14/
…Susan George https://www.facebook.com/SusanGeorge4AD14/
…Leilani Quesada https://www.facebook.com/electleilaniquesada/
…Steve Sillen https://www.facebook.com/stevesillenad14/
…Phillip (Maui) Wilson https://www.facebook.com/MauiForAD14/

AD 14 Progressives 4 Change: https://www.facebook.com/AD14Progressives4Change

Watch the video: https://fb.watch/2sZ7qkFilC/

AND… please tell and email this information to your Democratic friends in District 14 (Benicia, Vallejo, Concord, Clayton, Martinez, Pittsburg [western portion], Pleasant Hill, Rodeo, and the northern part of Walnut Creek).

A Promised Land, Donald Trump, Keeping Watch on Earth News

Benicia author Stephen Golub – A Promised Land

Four recent recommended articles…

A Case for Impeachment – And a counter to some counter-arguments

Stephen Golub, Benicia – A Promised Land: Politics. Policy. America as a Developing Country.

That Was the Week That Was
Quite a week, eh? It’s hard to believe that just last Sunday so much talk was about Trump’s taped talk with Georgia’s secretary of state, while many of us eagerly awaited that state’s Senate elections.

That all seems like ancient history today, as Democrats are circulating a draft resolution to impeach Donald Trump for “incitement of insurrection.” Insurrection is “an act or instance of revolting against civil authority or an established government.”  [Continue Reading]

American Carnage – Remove Trump from office now. He’s dangerous.

Some thoughts on what’s going on right now in DC.
Trump is deranged. His refusal to condemn the criminals, the rioters, the terrorists who invaded the Capitol and whom he’s egged on demonstrates that this is a man dangerously out of control. So does his praising the mob…  [Continue Reading]

My Chat With a Conspiracist – And why he’s better than his would-be betters in the Senate’s “Sedition Caucus.”

Out in the Street 
As I strolled down the main commercial drag of my new hometown of Benicia, California yesterday, a fellow offered me a small slip of paper and asked, “Do you know how the Chinese Communist Party stole the election? Check out the video from this paper.” The slip recommended a “Who’s Stealing America” documentary on the front and supposedly reliable news sources on the back.

The guy had a mask on, kept his social distance and seemed nice enough, so I engaged. Our chat went something like this: [Continue Reading]

Light at the End of the Dumpster Fire – 2020 was literally catastrophic.

But here are 20 big ways in which it wasn’t all bad.
For whatever reason, I still recall a 1997 TV ad tag line for the telecommunications company MCI: “Is this a great time or what?”

No sane person would say that about 2020. The year brought us… [Continue Reading]

Stephen Golub, Benicia – A Promised Land: Politics. Policy. America as a Developing Country.


Benicia resident Stephen Golub offers excellent perspective on his blog, A Promised Land: Politics. Policy. America as a Developing Country.
To access his other posts or subscribe, please go to his blog site, A Promised Land.

Armed insurgence, Donald Trump, U.S. Capitol

Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI): white nationalist groups, QAnon and influencers planned and led the violent siege

By Roger Straw, January 9, 2021
Denver Riggleman, Former Virginia U.S. Rep, Air Force Intelligence, NSA, Network Analysis, Disinfo Hunter, Whiskey Distiller. Author: “Bigfoot…It’s Complicated”

Former Republican U.S. Representative Denver Riggleman appeared tonight on CNN with a shocking and factual analysis of the hate groups behind Wednesday’s capitol riots and armed and deadly siege of the U.S. Congress.

Read the full report below; but here is a brief summary listing of the insurrection leadership:

Hate Organizations involved in the U.S. Capitol Riots per this report:

      • Proud Boys (White Supremacists)
      • Oathkeepers (Anti-Government)
      • NSC131 (Neo-Nazi)
      • New Jersey European Heritage Association (White Supremacists)
      • Nick Fuentes and “Groyper Army” (Neo-Nazi)
      • American Nationalist Party (White Supremacists)
      • American Guard (White Supremacists)

Summary:

    • Virtually all violent vanguard elements appeared to come from predominantly far-right fringe groups
    • Some in the crowd interpreted portions of President Trump’s speech as an instruction to march aggressively to the capitol building directly.
    • High profile figures associated with the administration were also inciting violent sentiment and cued instructions previous to the event,
    • Widely subscribed messianic ideology in QAnon, together wth situational cues, created conditions that strongly favored mass enactment of its fantasy of insurrection.
    • Explicit plans to ‘Occupy the Capitol’ were circulating across social media suggesting that the capitol building was an explicit target of the violent vanguard from the beginning. Evidence suggests some rioters were armed with weapons and zip-ties.
    • There is no credible evidence that the crowd was infiltrated or led by Antifa activists at this time.

The January 9 report is carefully researched and factual, detailing the planning and leadership of the January 6 violent insurrection and mob attack on the U.S. Capitol.  Check out the tweet below, or go directly to the 10-page report, “1/9/21 – NCRI ASSESSMENT OF THE CAPITOL RIOTS: Violent Actors and Ideologies Behind the Events of January 6, 2021“.

SOURCE: The Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) is a politically neutral, multi-disciplinary team of experienced neuroscientists, technology industry leaders, physicists, and machine learning experts from across academia and industry who have developed an integrated technology platform – Contextus – to track and expose the epidemic of virtual deception, manipulation, and hate, as it spreads between social media communities and into the real world.

Coronavirus, Covid 19, Solano County CA

COVID-19 in Solano County, Daily update on Friday, January 8, only 6 ICU beds available

By Roger Straw, January 8, 2021, from Solano County Public Health (and others, see below.)

Friday, January 8: 377 new Solano cases overnight, no new deaths.  Since last Feb: 22,232 cases, over 775 hospitalized, 102 deaths.Compare previous report, Thursday, Jan. 7:Summary

    • Solano County reported 377 new cases overnight.  In just the last 14 days, Solano has seen an increase of 4,902 new cases.  We’re averaging 350 (!) new cases every day!  Total of 22,232 cases since the outbreak started.
    • Deaths – no new deaths reported today, a total of 102 Solano deaths since the pandemic began.
    • Active cases – Solano reported 176 fewer active cases today for a total of 2,742 active cases.  Compare: Solano’s average number of Active Cases during October was 284, average in November was 650 – and TODAY we are at 2,742!  Is the County equipped to contact trace so many infected persons?  Who knows?  To my knowledge, Solano has offered no reports on contact tracing.
    • Hospitalizations – Today, Solano reported 5 fewer CURRENTLY hospitalized persons, total of 171.  Among the age groups, the County reported no new hospitalizations, for a total of 779 persons hospitalized since the outbreak began.  But these numbers are surely meaningless; read on…
      >>In a December 31 Fairfield Daily Republic article, reporter Todd Hanson wrote, “Since the start of the pandemic, and as of Wednesday [Dec. 30], 9,486 residents have been hospitalized.”  This startling number is far and away above the number of residents hospitalized as indicated in the count of age group hospitalizations, and not available anywhere on the County’s COVID-19 dashboard.  Asked about his source, Hanson replied that Solano Public Health “had to do a little research on my behalf.”  It would be good if the County could add Total Hospitalized to its daily Dashboard update.  [For the numbers used in my manual calculation of total hospitalizations, see age group stats below.  For COVID19-CA.GOV numbers, see BenIndy page, COVID-19 Hospitalizations Daily Update for Solano County.]
    • ICU Beds – Solano County reported a sharp decrease in ICU beds available today, down from 12% to an all-time record low of only 4%, and back in the RED DANGER ZONE for the first time since December 22.  COVID19-CA.GOV reported today that Solano County had only 6 available ICU beds as of yesterday, January 7.  (For COVID19-CA.GOV info see BenIndy page, COVID-19 Hospitalizations Daily Update for Solano County, and for REGIONAL data see COVID-19 ICU Bed Availability by REGION.)
Positive Test Rate – ALARMINGLY HIGH SOLANO TEST RATE OF 28.5% – VIRUS SPREADING LIKE WILDFIRE, STAY HOME!

Solano County reported our 7-day average positive test at an alarming rate of 28.5%, up from yesterday’s 26.8%, and over 3 times the State’s purple tier threshold of 8%.  Average percent positive test rates are among the best metrics for measuring community spread of the virus.  The much lower and more stable California 7-day average test rate was down a bit from yesterday’s 14.3% to 14.0% today.  (Note that Solano County displays past weeks and months in a 7-day test positivity line graph which also shows daily results.  However, the chart does not display an accurate number of cases for the most recent days, as there is a lag time in receiving test results.  The 7-day curve therefore also lags behind due to unknown recent test results.) 

By Age Group – Holiday surge upon holiday surge – in all age groups
  • Youth 17 and under – 50 new cases today, total of 2,476 cases, representing 11.1% of the 22,232 total cases.  No new hospitalizations reported today among this age group, total of 17 since the outbreak began.  Thankfully, no deaths have ever been reported in Solano County in this age group.  But cases among Solano youth rose steadily over the summer, from 5.6% of total cases on June 8 to 11% on August 31 and has plateaued at over 11% since September 30.  Youth are 22% of Solano’s general population, so this 11% may seem low.  The significance is this: youth are SERIOUSLY NOT IMMUNE (!) – in fact at least 17 of our youth have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.
  • Persons 18-49 years of age – 191 new cases today, total of 12,490 cases. This age group is 41% of the population in Solano, but represents 56.2% of the total cases, by far the highest percentage of all age groups.  The County reported no new hospitalizations among persons in this age group today.  A total of 237 are reported to have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.  Solano recorded no new deaths in this young group today, total of 7 deaths.  Some in this group are surely at high risk, as many are providing essential services among us, and some may be ignoring public health orders.  I expect this group is a major factor in the spread of the virus.
  • Persons 50-64 years of age – 71 new cases today, total of 4,646 cases.  This age group represents 20.9% of the 22,232 total cases.  The County reported no new hospitalizations among persons in this age group today.  A total of 212 are reported to have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.  No new deaths were reported in this age group today, a total of 18 deaths.
  • Persons 65 years or older – 65 new cases today, total of 2,611, representing 11.7% of Solano’s 22,232 total cases.  The County reported no new hospitalizations among persons in this age group today.  A total of 313 have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.  No new deaths were reported in this age group today.  A total of 77 of our elders have died of COVID, accounting for 75.5% of Solano’s 102 total deaths.
City Data
  • Benicia added 12 new cases today, total of 604 cases since the outbreak began. 
  • Dixon added 21 new cases today, total of 1385 cases.
  • Fairfield added 100 new cases today, total of 6,228 cases.
  • Rio Vista added 1 new case today, total of 205 cases.
  • Suisun City added 19 new cases today, total of 1,539 cases.
  • Vacaville added 95 new cases today, total of 5,760 cases.
  • Vallejo added 128 new cases today, total of 6,443 cases.
  • Unincorporated areas added 1 new case today, total of 68 cases.
Race / Ethnicity

The County report on race / ethnicity includes case numbers, hospitalizations, deaths and Solano population statistics.  This information is discouragingly similar to national reports that indicate significantly worse outcomes among black and brown Americans.  Note that all of this data surely undercounts Latinx Americans, as there is a large group of “Multirace / Others” which likely is composed mostly of Latinx members of our communities.

  • Asian Americans are 14% of Solano’s population, and account for 11% of cases, 12% of hospitalizations, and 17% of deaths.
  • Black Americans are 14% of Solano’s population, and account for 11% of cases, but 17% of hospitalizations, and 21% of deaths.
  • Latinx Americans are 26% of Solano’s population, but account for 15% of cases, 23% of hospitalizations, and 17% of deaths.
  • White Americans are 39% of the population in Solano County, but only account for 29% of cases, 30% of hospitalizations and 33% of deaths.
More…

The County’s Coronavirus Dashboard is full of much more information, too extensive to cover here on a daily basis.  The Benicia Independent will continue to summarize daily and highlight significant portions.  For more, check out the Dashboard at https://doitgis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=055f81e9fe154da5860257e3f2489d67.

Source
Source: Solano County Coronavirus Dashboard (posted on the County website late today).  For a complete archive of County updates, see my Excel ARCHIVE.  ALSO see important daily updates from the state of California at COVID19.CA.GOV, embedded here on the BenIndy at Cases and Deaths AND Hospitalizations AND ICU Beds by REGION.