The most famous and successful boxer of the late 20th century, Muhammad Ali, was both a symbol and a product of the turbulent times he lived through.

This video clip offers a visual summary of Al's tumultous career: 

Michael Ezra (right) Chair of the American Multicultural Studies Department at Sonoma State University, is the author of Muhammad Ali:  The Making of an Icon. He says the fighter’s decision to change his name form Cassius Clay to Muhammad Ali was a dramatic moment in his public history, but  it was even more significant in the behind-the-scenes internal politics within the Nation of Islam.

 The soon-to-be Muhammad Ali stands triumphantly over Sonny Liston as he claims the world heavyweight boxing title in 1964. Watch the rematch here:

From today's perspective, Ali's heyday is sometimes seen as a "golden age" of boxing in America, in no small part because of the quality of the competition that Ali was able to dominate.

Democrats in the state legislature have consistently opposed deep cuts in programs that serve California's neediest citizens.  Wednesday, a crowd of those citizens turned out in downtown Santa Rosa to raise their voices in their own defense.

(Photographs courtesy of Becoming independent)

Demonstrators outside the state office building in Downtown Santa Rosa July 16 (above) were uniformly concerned, and some such, as a woman named Bridget, were angry and upset.

Cammy Weaver, Executive Director of Becoming Independent in Santa Rosa, is alarmed at the way proposed budget cuts in the California legislature are eroding the protections of the state’s Lanterman Act.  Moreover, she fears, once those cuts are enacted, they will remain in place for years.

Although the state budget  "trailer bill" - the actual legislation to implement the spending cuts that are being debated in more general terms-is still tentative, it includes 36 specific items that the staff at Becoming Independent has been carefully watching. Chief among their concerns are these four:

Cuts to Early Intervention - 6,000 babies between 0-3 years of age will lose their services. Another 11,000 are at risk to lose of see major reductions in services. The result will be life-long disabilities for these babies who, with early intervention, may not even need ongoing services in their adult years.

 Use of Least Costly Program - For the first time as a matter of law, regional centers will have the authority to assign or transfer a consumer from where they want to be to a program entirely of the regional center's choosing to save money. That choice will not be subject to appeal. The IPP is destroyed for those who will be subjected to a life of someone else's choosing.

Cuts to Transportation - Relying on public transportation to move people with severe disabilities from where they are to where they need to be is a failed concept. It will work for some, but not for most. Unless the bus stops directly in front of their home and goes directly to where they need to be, it is simply impractical. It will trap people with disabilities in their homes. They won't be able to reach your program!

Cuts to Respite - The goal was to save $5 million by capping respite hours at no more than 90 hours per quarter. Instead, this cap imposes at least a 20% cut, "saving" more like $35 million. The reason saving is in quotes is that failure to get vital relief from 24-7 care-giving or people with severe disabilities will collapse many families and lead to much more expensive out-of-home placement.

The California Supreme Court's decision upholding Proposition 8 will not be the last word on the contentious issue of same sex marriage in our state.

As much as she dreaded it, Jeanne Rizzo (seen at left in white, celebrating her marriage with long-timer partner Pali Cooper last summer)  had a sinking expectation well in advance that the court's ruling would go against the same sex marriage advocates who had sought to overturn Proposition 8.

The case before the court contended that passage of Proposition 8 last November didn't just amend the California state constitution, but created a substantive change to it by denying rights unequally to a subset of the population. The decision, in Romesburg's view, says more about California's legal and legislative standing than it does about same sex marriage.

Shortly after the Supreme Court decision was announced, KRCB was able to reach Jane Spahr (right), the Presbyterian minister who was threatened with internal sactions from the church for marrying two same sex couples in Sonoma County. Spahr was among the hundreds of protesters outside San Francisco City Hall (see photo below) and described the scene as she and dozens of others prepared to be arrested as part of that demonstration.

Demonstrators sit down at Van Ness Avenue at Grove Street. Protesters took part in a civil disobedience demonstration that blocked traffic on Van Ness following the California Supreme Courts decision upholding of Prop 8 vote, the ban on gay marriage.  About 100 protesters were arrested, a small portion of the crowd that turned out to object to the California Supreme Cour decision upholding Proposition 8.

Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan (right) was glad to see George W. Bush leave the White House. Now she's pressing his successor for more change in US military policies in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Unless President Obama decides to take actions more in keeping with his campaign promises to quickly wind down the dual wars in the Middle East, Sheehan predicts his current high levels of international popularity will plummet.

In addition to recalling American troops, Sheehan believes that a key step toward rebuilding this country's credibility in the eyes of the world would be war crimes prosecutions of top Bush Administration officials.

 Sheehan, who is speaking this evening at Sonoma State University  (see flyer below),  has recently completed a new e-book,  Myth America
10 Greatest Myths of the Robber Class and the Case for Revolution!   Here's a peek at its Table of Contents:

Myth One: America: Greatest Nation in the Universe!

Myth Two: Elections Matter

Myth Three: There's a huge Difference Between Dems and Repubs

Myth Four: It is Noble to Die in Robber Class Wars

Myth Five: The Central Banking System is good for the Robbed Class

Myth Six: It's a Privilege to pay Income Taxes to the Robber Class

Myth Seven: Housing, Health Care and Education are Privileges, too

Myth Eight: America has a Free Press

Myth Nine: The Environment, Who Needs it?

Myth Ten: 19 Muslims with box cutters were responsible for 9/11

Summary: The Case for (peaceful) Revolution.

The book is available only in digital format through Sheehan's website.