I graduated at the end of 2008 with my Masters degree in Chinese medicine, and have been a massage therapist since the end of 1997, so health care is a concern to me. As an underemployed recent graduate, I'm also concerned with economic opportunity and disparity. (Friends, acquaintences, complete strangers, please send massage clients! =)
Long ago in my undergraduate career, I studied education and philosophy. I'm a big advocate of supporting and innovating our public school systems. I believe there are certain services that should be part of our social contract that should be non-profit and supported where necessary by government investment. Such services are not just a matter of providing a social safety net, like Social Security & Medicare, but also providing a foundation for societal growth and advancement. To me this includes public education, a right to basic health care, and subsidized research efforts to advance knowledge, especially in areas that may not be profitable in the short term, but would be beneficial and even vital in the long term, like alternative fuels. I believe we should be providing tax support for these services and not privatizing them for private exploitation and profit.
Our society has placed business and private profit on a pedastal to be worshipped and not to be profaned. In doing so, we have neglected responsibilities in our social contract. We have abandoned those in the lowest strata of society and celebrated those who can generate the most wealth. School systems are under assault, and are especially vulnerable to economic crises such as the one we are now in, which has been building for about 30 years.Tax revolts that started in the seventies have now become so entrenched that we are unwilling to pay for basic services like education and infrustructure maintainence and development. It's past time that we started valuing the public foundations of our society and got back to paying to support those foundations.
Aside from not having the will to pay for services (unless those services come from a defence contractor or energy producer), we have also dismantled industrial and business oversight. Deregulation and abuse have led to a crisis in our financial system, a bloated and expensive health care system where the one who succeeds best is the one who can get away with providing the least care, and business interests that run roughshod over legislative efforts to have minimal accountability. Instead of standing up for and protecting the little guy, it seems that much of the function of government has been for sale to the highest bidder. It's past time for a paradigm shift.
Here endeth the rant. At least for now... ;-)
From Ryan Seashore
Please Join us on Tues, January 20th
for the
San Francisco Inaugural Ball!
at the supperclub, 657 Harrison St. @ 3rd
Featuring the sounds of DJ's: D-Sharp, DJ Just,
Dan-Lo and Franchise
RSVP to: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=50994897750
Admission: is on a sliding scale $5 to $25
all proceeds go to Kiva.org
Doors Open at 9pm
21 and over
Drink Specials all night long!
Celebrate this historic event with other Obama Supporters!
Hosted by: Ryan Seashore and Generation Obama SF Co-Hosts: Brian Wang, Rebecca Prozan, Virg Cristobal,
Albert Hwu, AAPI's for Obama, Filipinos for Obama,
SF Obama Pride, South Asians For Obama,
And San Francisco Young Dems
The moment we have all worked so hard for is almost upon us - the Inauguration of Barack Obama as our 44th President! It's a moment you should be proud of, as your hard work helped make it happen. SF for Obama Volunteers invite you to join in celebrating this historic event in two ways:
* Participate in the National Day of Service on January 19
* Attend an Inauguration party on January 20 ********************************************************************
Commit to your community through the National Day of Service President-Elect Barack Obama has asked that we help launch his administration by joining him in a National Day of Service on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, January 19. Engaging in service on this day is a great way to pay tribute to Martin Luther King's legacy and to demonstrate the positive change we can create together in our communities.
Organizers have planned all kinds of events around the city where you can lend a hand in the community. All you need to do is show up! Invite your friends too and make the day even more fun.
Find a community service event near you at: http://www.USAservice.org/calltoservice You can choose from park replanting, food bank efforts, beach clean up, helping the homeless, repairing school facilities, and many more projects to improve our country from the ground up. Here are a few of the special opportunities available in San Francisco:
* Clean up a park near you. Events are happening from Muir Woods to Golden Gate Park, Ocean Beach, and beyond. Some of the work is family-friendly, so bring your kids.
Visitacion Valley Greenway: http://www.usaservice.org/page/event/detail/dayofservicejanuary19/4jgmr
Ocean Beach, Crissy Field & GGNRA: http://www.parksconservancy.org/help/special_events.asp
Golden Gate Park North Lake: http://www.usaservice.org/page/event/detail/dayofservicejanuary19/4jqhc
Gilman and Ignacio Volunteer Gardens: http://usaservice.org/page/event/detail/dayofservicejanuary19/4jjh5
* Process food for distribution from the SF Food Bank.
Saturday, January 17 morning: http://www.usaservice.org/page/event/detail/weekendeventsjanuary17or18/4j4dv
Saturday, January 17 afternoon: http://www.usaservice.org/page/event/detail/weekendeventsjanuary17or18/4jlbh
Sunday, January 18 afternoon: http://www.usaservice.org/page/event/detail/weekendeventsjanuary17or18/4jwp3
*Chinatown Community Development Center
http://www.usaservice.org/page/event/detail/dayofservicejanuary19/4v533
* There are so many ways you can help to make our country a little bit better. Find the right event for you at: http://www.USAservice.org/calltoservice
********************************************************************
Watch and Celebrate the Inauguration – without having to fly to DC Join your fellow volunteers and Obama supporters to share the joy of change on January 20th at one of the following celebratory events here at home in the warmth of San Francisco.
Morning
NextArts Presidential Inauguration Simulcast (Civic Center Plaza across from City Hall, 6:00am - noon, Free)Watch the inauguration ceremony live from DC on huge screens. Funded by NextArts, which asks that you bring new socks or underwear as a charitable donation. More info at: http://www.nextarts.org/aboutus/calendar.php
Emerge America Inauguration Breakfast at the City Club (155 Sansome Street, 11th Floor, 7:30am - 9:30am, Donations start at $50) Join Emerge America, Emerge California, Fenton Communications, and the San Francisco Democratic Party for a Bay Area Celebration of the Inauguration of Barack Obama. Breakfast will be served.Tickets and more info at: http://emergeca.org/template.php?page=event09Inauguration
Presidential Inauguration Watch at the SF Main Library Koret Auditorium (100 Larkin Street, 9:00am - 12:00pm, Free) Featuring the swearing in and acceptance speech of President-Elect Barack Obama. Enjoy celebratory cake and refreshments. Cosponsored by the African American Center. http://sfpl5.sfpl.org/scripts/publish/webevent.pl?cmd=opencal&cal=cal14
Evening
Inauguration West 2009 at the War Memorial Opera House (401 Van Ness Avenue, 5:30pm - 8:30pm, Tickets $25 each) Enjoy cocktails, tasty hors d'oeuvres and great music with the San Francisco Democratic Party, Emerge CA, Good Ol' Girls, Democracy Action, SFWPC, Democratic elected officials, campaign volunteers and Democratic activists to celebrate Barack Obama's inauguration! Tickets needed in advance at: http://www.actblue.com/page/inaugurationsfObama Inauguration Celebration at the Swedish American Hall (2174 Market St, 7pm - midnight, Tickets $25 at door/$22 in advance) This is an evening of good cheer to welcome Obama into the White House and to raise money for an incredible local organization, Grid Alternatives (www.gridalternatives.org). Food by Radio Africa and Kitchen at 7 pm, cash bar, and inauguration re-broadcast at 9 pm. Tickets and more info at: www.cafedunord.com
Inauguration West at City View at Metreon (4th & Mission, 6pm - 10pm, Tickets $75 each) Eat, drink, and celebrate at the Bay Area's Inauguration West at the Metreon. Music by Morris Day and the Time, with local celebrity guests.Tickets needed in advance at: www.inaugurationwest.com
A Celebration for Hope and Opportunity at San Francisco LGBT Community Center (1800 Market Street @ Octavia, 6pm - 8pm, Free) Celebrate the historic electoral victory of Barack Obama, rally with fellow community members for all the issues affecting our community, engage and connect, inspire and be inspired.For more information, see http://www.sfcenter.org/ or call 415.865.5649
Concerts for Change Free Inauguration Party at Rasselas Jazz Club & Restaurant (1534 Fillmore St, doors open at 7pm, band from 8pm - 11pm, Free) Free party with jazz-funk band hosted by Concerts for Change. All ages until 10 pm, 21+ after 10 pm. For more info and to RSVP, email Paul Warnow at paul@progressive-alliance.org
**************Find more celebration events and join our group for updates on future activities in San Francisco to support President Obama: http://my.barackobama.com/page/group/SanFranciscoVolunteersforObama We hope you will join us in marking these amazing days of change for our country! See you on January 19 and 20.
-SF for Obama Volunteers--
"Today we begin in earnest the work of making sure that the world we leave our children is just a little bit better than the one we inhabit today." – President-elect Barack Obama
In my event "Change is coming - get invoved" event on Saturday December 13th (see http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/gsxb3c), I got a great note from a group of registrants, viz: "three internet entrepreneurs, headed your way. would like to discuss how we can open up government and the public's participation in it ... by taking it online!" from Chelsea Hardaway.
Look forward to seeing you there...
Cheers,
Ray
From Elias Portales
-------------------- Subject: Obamános a Nevada Getting out the Latino Vote in Nevada: why it really matters Please join us in supporting Obama Nos Llama, a targeted effort to turn out the Latino constituency in the GOTV efforts in the battleground state of Nevada. For the last two weekends, we will be coordinating caravans of 500-600 Latino activists from California to Reno Nevada to ensure massive voter turnout for Obama. Here’s how YOU can help: GO TO NEVADA and pass along the sign up link specifically for volunteers from Northern California, we will fill out the official campaign web form, but in order to ensure we have the data easily accessible, if you have previously signed up for Nevada via the Obama website we are asking that you please provide your information on the link below.
http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?key=pxPB2KRGqLD3RcoN69WPiSw&hl=en
Thank you for making this happen. YES WE CAN!!! SI SE PUEDE!!!
PLEASE get this talking point into the Debate and the Campaign:
The debate over INCREASED REGULATION FOR WALL STREET is missing a very appropriate metaphor to get our point across.
All sports, from professional to little league, have paid umpires and referees (just like regulators). And the Super Bowl adds more referees and the World Series more umpires during the championships. If we believe our Wall Street financial system to be "world-class", then wouldn't we also have appropriate boundaries just as professional sports do? Americans love sports - so maybe this analogy/metaphor will get the point across. (We can even make reference to "instant replays" like the SEC does when they investigate insider trading.)
Maybe this "umpire/referee" metaphor can get the point across for those advocating a "free for all" - which only leads to abuse, arguments and no boundaries for ethical or moral action. Having grown up playing sports without umps/refs when younger in Chicago, I much prefer the Professional approach. And so should the American and global financial systems.
PLEASE consider this point for the debate and ongoing campaign.
Exciting training… the most challenging part of any outreach being the communicational piece, after that training I definitely have a more elaborate view of such a component in matters of interpersonal psychology!
Among other aspects these are the issues I will have to address within my fundraising event on this September 21st… In other words, our Platform Meeting was a sound opportunity for our group to set the tone as how this Election should be addressed for optimal success of our candidate, Barack Obama.
Part of the Agenda then will be laying out a plan to reaching out more people in those battleground states, leading to registering more voters (some not yet registered for many reasons…), working out a strategy to initiate a local door to door knocking from now up to Election Day… Better yet, our Group is part of this nationwide effort dubbed OBAMA BLUE DAY, Tuesday September 30, 2008.
Since we still have 100,000s of unregistered and millions who remain on the fence!Its time for us to come together, voice our unity, and make THE difference! Everyone is asked to do two things: 1) WEAR BLUE 2) REGISTER TWO VOTERS AT LEAST! (If you can't register two voters talk to two people who may be on thefence/ or a McCain supporter and sway them to become a Obama Supporter) and for the sake of this historic turnout, we would appreciate if you can document major achievements in those regards at diasporaonline@msn.com .
I myself will be traveling for this same Agenda over Iowa and Wisconsin… further resources available at: http://illinois.barackobama.com/page/content/ilhome
Feel free to FORWARD THIS TO EVERYBODY WHO MAY BE INTERESTED INPARTICIPATING!..
Regards,
Demba Deputy Field Organizer
People need to actually know facts. Who cares about lipstick - the McCain-Palin heathcare proposal is the WORST "You're On Your Own" I've seen yet. For this reason alone we need to send this message. Make sure you read and send out this OP ED
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/16/opinion/16herbert.html?ex=1379304000&en=002e12e7e04e2233&ei=5124&partner=facebook&exprod=facebook
If you're fired up and want to work for Senator Obama's election that is a wonderful place to be. If you've experienced frustration in finding information or opportunities to help or volunteer that is unfortunate.
A word of advice. If you telephone a stranger looking for information, remember this. You are a stranger. It is unreasonable to believe that any competent person will provide you detailed information over the telephone simply because you ask. Reasonable people define detailed information as personal data that one could not easily find with a google search.
Simply put I'm not going to give you someone's cell or home number without their prior consent. I don't think I'm alone in those feelings. If you and I had worked together would you want me giving your name, address or contact information to some stranger who phoned?
Best practices when contacting a stranger is to do so by electronic mail. Dude, if you're emailing from an anonymous address like yahoo or gmail again, don't hold your breath waiting on a response. Your privacy is important to you. Most of us feel the same way.
Moving on. Send an email identifying who you are, how you came to contact that person, what you request from that person and your use for the information. Follow these best practices and no reasonable person should have an issue with providing you prompt and reasonably detailed information following their due dilligence with respect to your representations.
Hope this provides some clarity. If its too much work then don't be surprised if your efforts reflect your lack of committment. If you don't own real property and other assets in 4 or more states then you may not understand a reasonable person's need to know who they are dealing with.
Anyone wanting to put together material for Voter Reg Drives should shop at Walmart. All you need and the prices can't be beat. Some stores are open 24/7 so no lines. You're in an out before you know it.
Best thing you'll find for your events are paperweights. The most important purchase you'll make are items to keep your material from blowing away. Most events will occur outdoors. If you don't have things to keep your papers from flying away all your conversation will be cut short by your having to chase down paper.
If you have questions call or respond to this post.
Bill
Operative 60 days after the effective date of July 8, 2008 the California Legislature wrote and the Governor signed Senate Bill 1137.
The requirements pertaining to the notice of default and the posting and mailing of an entirely new notice apply to loans secured by owner occupied residential real property and made between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2007. These provisions will remain effective until January 1, 2013.
A Notice of Default (NOD) may not be filed by the trustee or lender until 30 days after contact is made in person or by telephone with a borrower to assess their financial situation and explore options to avoid foreclosure, or until 30 after satisfying specificied due diligence requirements.
Consult the attorney of your choice for legal advice. Time is of the essence. You want to move quickly in taking action to prevent the loss of your asset.
On the 19th of this month in the Palo Alto headquarters on El Camino Real I had a 45 minute conversation with a woman who donated time, energy and cash to the primary campaign of Hillary Rodham Clinton. She was one of the Clinton supporters not yet supporting Senator Obama.
This individual says that she and a great many others who supported Senator Clinton who have not moved over to Senator Obama have not done so because of the following:
1. These individuals blame Senator Obama for orcheastrating when the super delegates endorsed him. They felt that the super delegates should have waited until after the primaries were complete and everyone had voted to publicly endorse the candidate of their choice.
2. These individuals had a problem with Senator Obama declaring himself the winner when he did. They felt he should have waited a few days or a week before claiming the nomination.
3. This group feels that Senator Obama should have chosen Senator Clinton as his running mate simply because she recieved as many votes as he did.
4. This population of Americans felt the Democratic Party failed to penalize three other states for holding their primaries before Super Tuesday as they penalized Michigan and Florida. Harold Eckles and the others in the Clinton Camp did not communicate this fact well to Sean Hannity and Fox News but these individuals hold Senator Obama to fault for this selective enforcement according to them.
I think this is pretty much the gist of her comments. I of course have counters for everything she said. Some of my comments I shared with her and others kept to myself. Her bottomline was that Senator Obama and company had kicked sand in their face and it was unnecessary. She felt that he would have less ground to cover if he had not made some of the steps mentioned in 1 thru 4 above.
This indivdiual seemed normal and rational. I have no doubt she will vote for Senator Obama because she is a decent person. I'm not so encouraged by the fact that some of these individuals believe what is indicated in 1 thru 4. People that think that way could easily justify in their minds not voting for Senator Obama so that Senator McCain gets to appoint Supreme Court Justices who will overturn Roe v. Wade making abortions illegal. These kind of Americans can justify in their minds not voting for Senator Obama or voting for Senator McCain because unlike their candidate Senator Obama raised enough money to pay his vendors and staff ontime and paid what was owed. Some of the people that believed what this Hillary supporter shared with me will vote McCain or not vote for Obama because they in their hearts of hearts simply can not vote for a tall guy for no reason other than his height. Having a Harvard Law Degree or passing one of the hardest bar exams in the United States or running the best campaign in American political history based on donations received and overall efficiences is simply not enough for some folks to bring themselves to vote for a tall guy.
These people deserve John McCain, his North Korea, Iran, Russian plans including the re-instituting of the draft and his continuation of the failed Bush Administration fiscal and tax policies. These people deserve the budget deficit that McCain will grow. Remember their candidate was such a strong manager she left the primary in debt ranging from $20M to $30M while Senator Obama had tens of millions in the bank to pay staff, vendors and fight the lies of the 527s and other right wing liars.
The prize for nicest person in the world goes to the lady from Fresno County who changed her registration to Alameda County this morning. She was just a really positive person.
Unlike previous events there were no voters from outside Alameda County. In 6 hours a total of 9 individuals were either registered for the first time or changed their address on the voter rolls.
Having done multiple events in 3 counties now some advice to anyone else wanting to conduct voter registration drives. Bring forms that are specific to the county you're working in. If you know that there exists a significant number of non-english speakers in the area where you're holding your drive take the time to secure the appropriate forms ie russian/english, spanish/english and the like.
Fournier Is At It AgainBy Steve Benen
Ron Fournier is the acting Washington bureau chief for Associated Press (AP).[1] He formerly served as the AP's chief political writer and subsequently as "online political editor".
In mid-2006, Fournier was a founding member and editor in chief of the online political and social networking community HOTSOUP.com.[2][3] Fournier returned to the AP in March 2007 "in the newly created role of Online Political Editor". In a memo announcing his return, AP executive editor Kathleen Carroll stated that "his primary responsibilities will be developing new approaches to political and election coverage online, working with AP's news, multimedia and revenue groups."[4]
Fournier is listed with the speakers agency, Leading Authorities, as costing $5,000 to $10,000 for east coast speaking engagements and double that for west coast engagements.[5]
Analysis: Obama's pick highlights his weaknessesBy RON FOURNIER Associated Press WriterAug 23rd, 2008 | DENVER -- The candidate of change went with the status quo. In picking Sen. Joe Biden to be his running mate, Barack Obama sought to shore up his weakness — inexperience in office and on foreign policy — rather than underscore his strength as a new-generation candidate defying political conventions. "I searched for a leader who is ready to step in and be president," said Obama, a transformational political figure who nonetheless faces criticism about whether he has enough experience to be president. He picked a 35-year veteran of the Senate — the ultimate insider — rather than a candidate from outside Washington, such as Govs. Tim Kaine of Virginia or Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas; or from outside his party, such as Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska; or from outside the mostly white male club of vice presidential candidates. Hillary Rodham Clinton didn't even make his short list.
Aug 23rd, 2008 | DENVER -- The candidate of change went with the status quo.
In picking Sen. Joe Biden to be his running mate, Barack Obama sought to shore up his weakness — inexperience in office and on foreign policy — rather than underscore his strength as a new-generation candidate defying political conventions.
"I searched for a leader who is ready to step in and be president," said Obama, a transformational political figure who nonetheless faces criticism about whether he has enough experience to be president.
He picked a 35-year veteran of the Senate — the ultimate insider — rather than a candidate from outside Washington, such as Govs. Tim Kaine of Virginia or Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas; or from outside his party, such as Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska; or from outside the mostly white male club of vice presidential candidates. Hillary Rodham Clinton didn't even make his short list.
On the campus of a local California State University Campus I had the pleasure of registering to vote one of the greatest minds to coach Woman's basketball in the free world.
This coach is so awesome it pains me to have wait until November to see her team excel.
New to the eastbay this coach had a record at San Francisco State University that was impressive.
Her photos don't do her justice. Tall, lovely to the eye, wonderful to the soul this coach is worthy of your support this Fall.
Every campus has a designated area to allow political and other types of free speech. This is the area that is available to conduct voter registration drives. A call to the university police or administration office will identify this area. Typically this area will be in the quadragle area or university center area or student union type place.
There will always be obstacles and/or people that will attempt to impede our actions to bring meaningful change to the United States by taking action to help elect Senator Barrack Obama POTUS. We must be of good cheer. We must be flexible. If they close a door, we open the window. Nothing will stop some of us from working to register voters or take other action to help change the direction of this country by working to election Senator Obama.
This morning San Francisco's newest resident joined me at the downtown campus of CCSF for a voter registration event. We were fairly organized but yours truly had no change. We were able to distribute Senator Obama's position flyers on energy, the environment, the job market and women's issues before a police office from the CCSF Police Department asked that we leave. The unarmed and highly pleasant police officer informed us that we were on private property and that the Chancellor's stated policy is that our activities were not allowed on campus.
We moved directly across Mission staying on the same side of Fourth Street with the hope that attendees of events at Moscone Center West might have moved or been new to the area or simply not registered to vote. Yeah right, attending a tech conference but not registered to vote. Not bloody likely but you never know.
We were successful in having two volunteer forms completed which should be processed by Rich or someone else in the Berkeley office this week. We did get change at a point and were able to sell several items.
Moving forward when conducting events on any CCSF Campus it is probably best to inquire where the free speech area is and set up there. The business decission was made to be outside where ever the downtown campus free speech area because of the presence of Everett College around the street, the proximity to the Marriott and the Metreon combined with Moscone Center. Simply put, inside we're only exposed to the student population of CCSF downtown, outside we pick up that population plus all others traveling on 4th and Mission which is a hugely travelled corridor.
My heartfelt thanks to the very nice lady who will be taking her husband on a ferry ride to Sausalito as their schedule permits to enjoy live jazz, little wine and a great afternoon of shopping and lunch.
Interdependency in between these areas makes it a Must to dilate on them in close correlation: alternative sources of energy, beyond fossil fuel is the ONLY key to combined high gas prices, dependency on foreign oil, global warming, markets deregulations and to some extent, war on terror...With regards to actual state-of-the-art of new energy sources research and development, all it takes is government to opt breaking the vicious circle of Big Interests and DARE to implement research results for the benefits of the peoples…this time!
As convened by our Group and expected to further disseminate updated information relevant to this Position...
For better networking with us on similar strategy sessions as a result of our Follow up phase, send us an E-mail with "Plateform Meeting" at diasporaonline@msn.com
Demba.
