SunSeeker
SunSeeker's JournalIn 'very abnormal' development, longtime sponsors bail on San Francisco Pride
In the past four weeks, multiple companies told San Francisco Pride, the nonprofit behind San Francisco’s annual Pride Parade and Civic Center celebration, that they would not support the 2025 Pride celebrations. In an interview with SFGATE, San Francisco Pride’s executive director, Suzanne Ford, said she was “really disappointed” by the developments.
“I just interpreted that companies are making decisions that at this time it’s not good to be sponsoring Pride,” Ford told SFGATE. “I think in this political environment that they thought that was a risky decision. But that’s just me reading the tea leaves. I think for a long-term sponsor not to sponsor us, they are responding to what we are.”
Ford told KTVU-TV that those sponsors included Comcast; Anheuser-Busch, the company behind Budweiser and Beck’s beer; wine company La Crema; and Diageo, the beverage company that produces Guinness, Smirnoff and other alcoholic drink brands. Aside from Comcast, all of those companies specialize in alcoholic beverages, a market that has become more volatile as Americans’ drinking preferences shift.
Ford didn’t hesitate when asked whether the Pride festivities June 28-29 would still go as planned. “We have no choice,” she told SFGATE. “There are too many people depending on us. We will find a way to find the funds.”
https://www.sfgate.com/sf-culture/article/longtime-sponsors-bail-on-sf-pride-20226582.php
Relatives of missing Venezuelan migrants desperate for answers after US deportations to El Salvador
Source: Reuters
The Trump administration has provided few details so far on the identities of those who were deported. But Solanyer Sarabia believes she saw her 19-year-old brother, Anyelo, among images shared online of the Venezuelans deported to El Salvador's mega-prison. His head had been shaved and he was dressed in white prison garb.
Solanyer said an ICE officer told her that her brother was detained because of a tattoo that linked him to Tren de Aragua, a violent gang with Venezuelan prison origins that has spread through the Americas. She said the tattoo depicted a rose and that he had gotten it in a tattoo parlor in Dallas. "He thought it looked cool, looked nice, it didn't have any other significance," she said, stressing that he is not a gang member.
Johanny Sanchez, 22, suspects her husband Franco Caraballo, 26, who was detained in Texas, could now be in El Salvador, but does not know for sure.
Sanchez says Caraballo called her on Friday at around 5 p.m. to tell her he would be deported to Venezuela. He was confused because he had a pending asylum claim and a court date set for Wednesday.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/relatives-missing-venezuelan-migrants-desperate-answers-after-us-deportations-el-2025-03-17/?utm_campaign=trueAnthem%3A+Trending+Content&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR3za96N3hqjQbhrb159_oh174CnBr-ZkKcxulU8axUKszSLwtAj2b3Mjq4_aem__CwfHkflppUDQ2dJpm3TiA
It appears that any Venezuelan men with tattoos are assumed to be a gang members, regardless of their immigration status. Both of the men described in the article were here legally as asylum seekers.
Midwife Is First Person Charged With Violating Texas' Extreme Abortion Ban
A Houston-area midwife is the first person to be charged in Texas with violating the state’s extreme abortion ban, which outlaws the procedure under nearly all circumstances.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office announced the arrest of Maria Margarita Rojas on Tuesday, saying an investigation found she has been “providing illegal abortions and illegally operating a network of clinics in the Northwest Houston area.” Rojas, who Paxton said went by Dr. Maria, was charged with the illegal performance of an abortion and practicing medicine without a license.
The former is a second-degree felony in Texas and is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
Rojas, who is listed as a licensed midwife by the Texas Department of Licensing & Regulation, has not spoken out publicly, either directly or through legal counsel.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/texas-abortion-ban-first-person-charged_n_67d89de8e4b0682946100786
Why is America Intentionally Destroying Its Gobal Influence?
This is the clearest, simplest and most intelligent explanation of how the US has used its global influence to become rich, and how Trump's spurning of that global influence, and betrayal of our allies, spells the end of the American empire:
The comments to the video are also worth a read. A lot of his followers appear to be Canadians and Europeans, and what they say about Trump betraying them is quite eye opening and heartbreaking. The trust is gone, probably irretrievably so. Nobody wants to buy anything American anymore. And nations are looking to others for military purchases like drones and planes, fearing US can no longer be trusted for maintenance parts--after Trump shockingly stopped military aid to Ukraine. Many note their countries will be purchasing from German defense manufacturers from now on. This will cost the American economy trillions of dollars in the coming years.
Schumer explains why a shutdown would be worse that voting for the CR.
Key point (near end of video): federal courts would be shut down in a shutdown, and we would not be able to run into court to get an injection against the latest Trump/Doge insanity. Courts have been the only place we have been successful at constraining Trump.
Loved ones devastated after Southern California grandparents detained by ICE
Three Southern California sisters are devastated and working to get by after they said their parents were suddenly taken away from them by immigration authorities. It’s been weeks since their mother, Gladys, and father, Nelson, were detained after the couple went in for a standard appointment with immigration authorities.
Gladys and Nelson Gonzalez moved from Colombia to the U.S. without documentation 35 years ago before settling down in Newport Beach in Orange County and building a life. The couple has raised three daughters and now have a young grandson.
The Gonzalez sisters said their parents were detained at their ICE appointment and then transferred to a detention center. “They were put into handcuffs by their wrists and ankles and treated as criminals before getting to these detention centers,” Stephanie said. “All they said is they extended their stay, even though every year they’ve had permission to be here and they’re law-abiding citizens who show up and are doing their duty to check in with immigration and say, ‘Hey I’m here. I’m not hiding or doing anything wrong.’ Then they just arrested them like that.” https://ktla.com/news/local-news/loved-ones-devastated-southern-california-grandparents-detained-by-ice/
Calif. congressman infuriates locals with response to Yosemite cuts
Over the last several weeks, as Yosemite National Park fell into chaos due to the Trump administration’s whiplash-inducing executive orders and indiscriminate layoffs, people began asking what Rep. Tom McClintock was going to do about it. McClintock, a Republican, represents the 5th Congressional District, a sprawling Central California territory that contains Yosemite. He’s been conspicuously absent from town hall meetings in gateway towns and hasn’t been making public statements.
But on Thursday McClintock broke his silence and published an op-ed that infuriated park employees and gateway residents. Here’s his gist: The federal workforce is bloated. Only a few Yosemite employees got fired. The protesters are out of line. The park will be fine. McClintock likened legitimate concerns about endangered species going extinct, devastating wildfires and public safety hazards to a “Ghostbusters” quote: “Human sacrifice! Dogs and cats living together! Mass hysteria,” he wrote.
He neglected to mention anything about the Trump administration suspending the park’s reservations system, which has been crucial to managing crowds and traffic congestion, and is silent on the employee credit card spending limit having been lowered to $1, meaning regional supervisors must now purchase items like toilet paper, hand soap and maintenance supplies.
The congressman emphasized that government spending must be reined in, stressing that every dollar of discretionary spending by the federal government is now borrowed. What he did not say is that the National Park Service requires less than one-fifteenth of 1 percent of the federal budget, or about $4.7 billion. Meanwhile, national parks added $56.5 billion to the economy in 2023, according to a park service report, and provided 415,400 jobs in nearby communities.
https://www.sfgate.com/california-parks/article/tom-mcclintock-thinks-yosemite-is-fine-20209454.php?fbclid=IwY2xjawI9069leHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHXs5ZH5wfw6IJonrg-HyzC5XcmiwBZDtUR2vNnXdXujor1yFS_HrM1jzmw_aem_wYNDL9OCZbu7aAezHgPqTA
House narrowly passes six-month funding bill as shutdown deadline nears
Source: NBC News
The Republican-led House voted Tuesday to pass a six-month funding bill that would prevent a government shutdown at the end of the week, overcoming fierce Democratic objections.
The vote was 217-213, with all Republicans but Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky supporting the continuing resolution. One Democrat, Rep. Jared Golden of Maine, voted for it.
The measure now heads to the Senate, where its fate is uncertain. Republicans control 53 seats, and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., has made clear he’s firmly against it. That means at least eight Democratic senators would have to support the bill to cross the Senate’s 60-vote threshold and send it to President Donald Trump’s desk.
The government is set to run out of money late Friday night.
Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/house-vote-funding-bill-avert-government-shutdown-rcna195808
Media Matters accuses Musk's X of 'abusive' tactics in new lawsuit
U.S. media watchdog group Media Matters sued Elon Musk’s X on Monday, accusing it of bringing "abusive," costly and meritless lawsuits to punish Media Matters for its reporting on advertising on X after Musk bought the social media platform.
Media Matters' lawsuit, opens new tab in federal court in San Francisco asked a judge to block two cases that X filed in Ireland and Singapore against the watchdog.
The lawsuit also asked the court to declare that California is the appropriate venue for disputes involving X and its terms of service. X is currently also suing Media Matters in a federal court in Texas.
"X initiated a vendetta-driven campaign of libel tourism, spanning three jurisdictions in three countries, all arising from the same conduct: Media Matters’ use of X’s platform in accordance with X’s Terms of Service and its truthful reporting on the results," the complaint said.
https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/media-matters-accuses-musks-x-abusive-tactics-new-lawsuit-2025-03-10/?utm_campaign=trueAnthem%3A+Trending+Content&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR0B_Rm9xXM8nmPbbkAENgY9bUPCwsALtVZddqlKKe89Nx4gPCDj5cD6Ub8_aem_M1OveFJftLeRA2R3yejkXA
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