FORUM: The Myths of Monotheism

Got a Point of View? An Opinion on a subject? Feel like getting on your Soap Box? This is the place. Please send your thoughts to vesta@sonic.net. This FORUM submission is on Monotheism from the perspective of an Atheist. Enjoy!

The Myths of Monotheism

By Tony Adler

Friday, December 26, 2008 Boxing Day

From my point of view as an Atheist and somewhat of a historian, I feel it incumbent upon my self to offer others a modicum of truth and thereby give them the opportunity to understand and see religious myth for what it is. Those of the faith often ask with astonishment, “Don’t you believe in God?” The question is an oxymoron, since in reality there is not a god to believe in or not.

As an historian I much prefer polytheism to monotheism. It has been shown that Gods and Goddesses do not have to exist in reality in order to do good or perpetrate murder and mayhem, for that matter. My own favorite deities were the Egyptian, Greek and Roman in that order. Of course to understand the Judea Christian story one must journey deep into the mists of time to Mesopotamia and Babylon and look at the myth of Gilgamesh which gave birth to the book of Geneses. Of course Abraham came from this area and brought with him the worship of Shamech, the Sun God and the story of the great flood from the Babylonian history. There is Archeological evidence that in Neolithic times the area between the two rivers did suffer a devastating flood that changed the topography and eliminated two other rivers.

Since the Israelites Came out of Egypt and spent generations in Babylon one has to look at how they and their religion grew out of these influences. The Babylonian God of the sun Shamech was the name given to the eternal light, Nur Tamid which burned in the Jewish temple. The Egyptian name for this God was Aton Re, and in past cultures was part of Isis the Mother Deity of Egypt known to the Greeks as Aphrodite and the Romans as Venus.

Venus is the morning star known astrologically as Virgo or Lucifer the bringer of enlightenment i.e. knowledge. In Neolithic Mesopotamia she was Inanna the snake god of love and fertility, or Enki the god of earth and water Enlightenment was anathema to the early Christians consequently knowledge was of the Devil. It still is.

Ancient Hebrews known as Hyksos or Haribari meaning Shepard Kings frequently attacked Egypt around the Delta and eventually took over that era and ruled Lower Egypt for 108 years, their 15th dynasty having six kings. They introduced Egypt to the horse and chariot and the compound bow. These people were monotheists, practiced circumcision and eschewed pork. They were eventually defeated and driven out, though many were egyptianized and remained keeping their own god.

If we can jump ahead to the 18th Dynasty in 1353 and to the Pharaoh Amenophis III and his correspondences with Tushratta, the king of Mitanni We must look at the preserved Amarna letters, which are available to read to this day in cuneiform on clay tablets. These are in the Berlin Museum of Egyptology together with the bust of Nefertiri who looms largely in this history and as you will see she became the actual founder of the present day Christian monotheism.

King Tushratta had a fifteen year-old daughter of great beauty whose name was Tadu Heba. King Tushratta proposed this girl for wife to the 43 year-old Pharaoh Amenophis III. She was accepted and journeyed into Egypt taking with her great wealth and servants, and her sun god Shamesh. Her marriage to the Pharaoh lasted until his death eleven years later after which she married his son Amenophis IV aged eleven. Because of her great beauty the Egyptians gave the Queen the name Nefertiri which means, “She who walks in beauty.” Nefertiri introduced her religion of the Sun God Shamesh who in Egypt was a minor god Aton to her young husband, and upon adulthood and under her influence the young Pharaoh changed his name to Akhenaton and decreed that this was to be the one god of Egypt and that Amun and all other gods were to be deposed. He created a capitol city dedicated to Aton and plunged Egypt into a bloody civil war to enforce his new religion.

As history shows this monotheism brought on a plague of intolerance and violence under which our planet suffers to this very day. The remaining Hyksos and Haribari took to this religion, but went underground when it was stamped out by Horemheb after the death of Akhenaton and his follower Tutankhamen

Monotheism festered in Egypt until in the 19th. Dynasty in 1269 when their mobs robbed the Egyptians and set off into the desert crossing the sea of reeds into Canaan. They had changed the name of their god from Aton to Adon meaning Lord or in Hebrew Adonoi meaning our lord. The followers of Adon under Moses became violent killers and sacked the land of Canaan murdering men, women, and children and all their animals. From this religion spread out a long history of war and bloodshed until the Romans lead by Pompeii conquered the land in 63 BCE. In Roman times the legend of Jesus arose, though there is no historical proof that he ever existed. He is not mentioned by Josephus in his history of the period.

Christianism became a cult that flourished in Rome, and became violently opposed to Roman Mithraism, smashing their temples and destroying their artifacts. Purges were instituted against this violent monotheistic cult, but it survived, later to be imposed on Rome by Constantine who actually founded the Catholic Church and laid down its dogma in the fourth century C.E. in Nicia.

In the 6th century Islam also sprang from this root. From this time on these two monotheistic religions have split into various cults and continued brutal warfare against all and sundry and especially against the Jews who were their founders, The first Crusade was instigated in the 12th century by Pope Urban II when he ordered his armies to wipe out the Cathars an intellectual and advanced religious group in the South of France. They were all burned alive, and their goddess was Isis. Later the Knights Templar were also murdered for their treasure The Crusades and the inquisition made the whole world run with blood and permanently drove a wedge between Islam and Christianity.

Freemasonry sprang from the Templars, and in fact founded our constitution remaining true to Isis or Virgo if you like and trying to keep religious influences out of our politics. However the Monotheistic religions are still to this day murdering millions in the name of their various cults. These cults are responsible for the overpopulating of our planet, for the subjugation of women today and throughout the ages, for slavery, pedophilia in the Catholic Church, and Protestant puritanical attitudes toward sex contraception abortion and even stem cell research. In my estimation dogmatic religion is a curse on the world which thrives in ignorance and darkness, and in my view the only way to survive it is through a diligent search for knowledge through free and comprehensive education based on historical truth with the goal of total enlightenment. Lucifer i.e. Knowledge can never be evil.

Tony Adler
Cotati

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Movie Reviews: Milk and Frost/Nixon

History repeats itself 30 years later and two films, Milk & Frost/Nixon, capture the lessons we should be learning. This time, we need to get it right.

Movie Reviews: Milk & Frost/Nixon

By Vesta Copestakes

It’s not common for me to watch movies, but two films drew me to the theater this holiday season because they both received reviews that made me believe they were bringing important parts of our history to film: Milk & Frost/Nixon. I didn’t put the 2 & 2s together until I saw both films that these movies are about the same era in history, 30 years ago, and that they are also both about history repeating itself.

Even though I was young and aware in the mid to late seventies, I don’t think I was as aware as I believed I was at the time. In the case of Milk, I can see that being straight and middle class white, my awareness of profound discrimination against homosexuals was more an abstract injustice. I had experienced racial prejudice and it’s negative impact, but hadn’t seen too much homophobia, mostly because I lived in a very straight world.

Discrimination of any kind has always offended me, but this kind didn’t touch my life. Now that I am older and have many gay friends, I know from experience the profound impact of homophobia. What knocks me over is how the worst offenders are people of Christian faith. I am convinced that Jesus would never approve. My impression of the teachings of Jesus is that he taught us not to judge, but to love all people the way his father had taught Him. How can these righteous people stray so far from the path they insist they are following?

What I saw in Milk was the same battle we just fought over Proposition 8, but then it was Proposition 6 and far more reaching in its discrimination. It was a hate movement designed to segregate a huge part of our population using the tools of fear.

Our Prop 8 is about marriage. That Prop 6 was about every aspect of life where a homosexual would come into contact with the heterosexual world. Ultimately, Prop 6 failed. It was a huge celebration of life and acceptance for so many that lead us to believe much of the battle was over, especially here in Northern California where we thrive on acceptance and tolerance.

Try to imagine a world without homosexuals and you lose huge contributions from the work force, from our economy and from the benefits of their participation in our mutual life. What blew me away the most was the massive support from black churches. I simply have yet to understand how a huge part of our population which has suffered immensely from discrimination, could support discrimination toward another group. Hypocrisy is not strong enough a word. I can’t make sense of that one.

So we became complacent as we grew to see that there are no differences in the love between a man and a woman from the love between a man and a man or a woman and a woman. The Gay Rights movement had become so used to a higher level of acceptance, they didn’t seem to see the battle raging as strongly as it really was. We have much work to do. This one needs to go to the Supreme Court and be challenged as a basic human right in our country. We are the land of equality and justice for all. There are no exceptions to the word ALL

And in the case of Frost/Nixon I was simply elated at the time that Nixon was out of office, bummed that he got off Scott free, but the bottom line was that the war in Vietnam came to an end over time and the draft that so plagued my generation was put to rest. It was the Draft that brought us to the streets in protest of the wrong war. Not that there ever really is a right war. But our war took every young man and pulled him into service whether he believed in the cause or not. Females were free to live. Males were prisoners of the system.

The Gulf and Afghanistan/Iraq wars distinguish themselves as being fought by all volunteer forces, so it’s hard to complain. These young men and women believe in what they are doing and volunteer to do it. But these modern wars are still as wrong as the Vietnam War, and clearly illustrated in the movie, the bombing of Cambodia by Nixon was just as power hungry and based upon a lie as the invasion of Iraq. The very same abuse of power we have witnessed in the Bush administration was the violation of our power structure and government system of which the Nixon administration was guilty.

Nixon got to retire in wealth and comfort rather than die in prison where he belonged. He betrayed our trust, he broke our laws and he was guilty of crimes against humanity. The Bush administration is just as guilty and they, too, will play golf, lecture, live in luxury, etc. until the day they die. At least with Nixon, he had his moment of truth in the famous interview with David Frost. We can only hope the same will be true with Bush, Cheney and the gang. The future will become the present and we’ll find out.

Ultimately, I was impressed with both the quality of these two films and how they portrayed the repetition of history. Sometimes we need to re-live a lesson to learn it. Hopefully, we’ll get it right this time. Two steps forward, one step back, but forward movement none-the-less.

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Adopt-a-Highway Program Needs to be Reinstated NOW!

Caltrans still has the Adopt-a-Highway program closed down.

New adoptions are not presently allowed and have not been so allowed for many months now.

For no good reason - see below.

It makes no sense for a hugely successful trash abatement program to be closed down when the state is in a fiscal crises.

Larry Stirling
San Diego

Ms. Saldana, please restart our Adopt-a-Highway Program

In 1985, the legislature enacted my Assembly Bill 2330 authorizing CALTRANS to undertake our hugely successful Adopt-A-Highway Program (AAP).

For nearly a quarter of a century, our AAP has permitted CALTRANS to “accept public donations of volunteer time, equipment, and materials for roadside maintenance and enhancement.”

“In addition to the aesthetic benefits of cleaner and more beautiful roadsides, participants prevent pollutants from entering our waterways.” recounts our highway department’s web site.

This program has been an unqualified success. Around 4,000 groups representing some 35,000 volunteers annually groom more than 12,000 roadside miles (about 65% of our highway inventory) in an attempt to stem the tide of litter that billows mostly from the backs of commercial trucks.

CALTRANS calculates that the amount of trash annually collected fills some 250,000 large plastic bags “… (E)nough bags to reach from Stockton to South Lake Tahoe or from Bakersfield to Disneyland.”

In addition to the inglorious work of schlepping up other peoples’ trash at 4,000 different locations, the AAP volunteers have also planted trees and wildflowers at 375 sites and scrubbed graffiti off of more than 300 highway walls and other structures.

CALTRANS estimates that this volunteer effort saves the taxpayers around 15 million dollars a year.

It also saves many Californian drivers from a twice-daily dose of visual blight.

Until this year, the AAP encountered very few problems as both AAP volunteers and private contractors have handled themselves remarkably well in spite of the dangerous conditions under which they work.

There was one volunteer who got bitten by a rattlesnake. But he was teasing the critter when it happened. Never wise. And a tragedy occurred when the boyfriend of a female volunteer cruised by to flirt with her. His illegally stopped car caused a tragic chain of accidents.

Otherwise, the AAP has been essentially untroubled for over two decades.

Sadly, that changed when San Diego Assembly Member Lori Saldana took umbrage at the fact that a group of men and women, who were concerned about lax border enforcement, organized themselves into a group named after our revolutionary war heroes “The Minutemen.”

In addition to augmenting the Border Patrol with their version of a “Neighborhood Watch” e.g. private citizens keeping an eye out for law breakers and reporting them to the police, the “Minutemen of San Diego” applied for and were granted a section of a local highway to clean up.

When the sign went up, Ms. Saladana led the charge among fellow legislative Hispanics to deny these volunteers the opportunity to pick up trash citing their views on illegal immigration and effectively demonizing them in the minds of CALTRANS authorities.

Duly responsive to the Hispanic legislative angst, CALTRANS bosses moved the subject sign to a less desirable location prompting a civil-rights law suit that reversed the CALTRANS decision.

Since then, mindful of Ms. Saladana’s concerns, CALTRANS has closed entry to the program until new rules and regulations could be promulgated that would satisfy Ms. Saldana and her fellow Hispanics.

And there the matter has sat for many months stalling the AAP program and robbing it of momentum by prohibiting new adoptions to replace organizations lost through attrition.

In addition, the several commercial adopt-a-highway companies, which clean up our roadsides at no public cost, constantly lose customers that they cannot replace though many are waiting. They must therefore lay off staff. It would be no surprise to learn that most such staff are Hispanic, the very people for which Ms. Saldana et. al. purport to care.

The leading case on this issue is Missouri v. Cuffley, a show-down between the State of Missouri’s AAP and a Missouri chapter of the hated KKK.

The KKK was denied an opportunity to participate in that states AAP because of their clearly stated racist views and the allegations that other KKK members had committed crimes.

The lower courts sided with the KKK (and the ACLU) pointing out that Americans citizens have a right to associate and even discriminate in their private affairs. Such is not government action and thus is not subject to the same constitutional limits. The Supreme Court agreed denying appeal without comment.

As far as I know, the Minutemen do not discriminate in admission to their membership on any ethnic or racial basis. And when it comes to crime, their situation is quite the opposite; they are militating FOR enforcing the law and against breaking it.

Whatever Ms. Saldana’s views on the fairness of our immigration laws which are much less rigorous than those of Mexico; we are still a nation of laws.

She should not let her personal pique interfere with the lawful conduct of the Minutemen nor should she continue to hinder the most successful volunteer program in the history of California.

Reinstate the AAP now!

Comments? Feedback - please e-mail Larry Sitrling at larry.stirling@sddt.com

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Global Student Embassy Promotes Peace-Sebastopol

Traveling to Promote Peace
By Jasper Oshun

The Global Student Embassy (GSE) is a project that seeks to build a cross cultural dialogue between students in Sebastopol and their counterparts in Santa Fe, Argentina, and Zurite, Peru. The project, started in September, is beginning to catch the attention of our community.

Due to the fiscal sponsorship of the Sebastopol Community Cultural Center (SCCC), and the support of local businesses and individuals, the project is beginning to achieve grassroots success. My brother Lucas and I are grateful for our community’s involvement, evidenced by a successful November 14th fundraiser at the SCCC. The support of the community is vital to making this a successful project. We thank everyone for their support, and we are excited at the prospect of hosting 6 students and two teachers from Argentina and Peru this January.

Our motivation for the project arose from two ideals. Dissatisfied ourselves with our government’s foreign policies and approaches to international relations, we were heartened by the global community’s ability to view us as fellow-global citizens, not as agents of our government. This emboldened my brother and me to seek ways in which we could build extra-governmental relations with friends and enthusiasts of the project along our travels. Providing an opportunity for our South American participants to travel is inherent to the project. Secondly, we sought some way to maintain the passion, excitement and openness of mind we were accustomed to while traveling once we returned to Sebastopol. How could we, two recent college graduates, use our creativity to share the magic of exploring the world with our hometown community? The Global Student Embassy has become our answer.

GSE has three goals, the first being to enable travel for those who would not otherwise have the means or opportunity. The majority of existing exchange programs send privileged youths to study amongst other communities of relative privilege. We want to provide young people in low-income areas an opportunity to gain first-hand knowledge of our community apart from the narrow representation of American culture that is pervasive around the world. The second goal is to establish a dialogue between communities that fosters understanding and learning through a commitment to public service. Significant contributions to our respective home-towns can be made through the energy and enthusiasm of our youth. Finally, we seek to broaden the horizons of our student participants to promote peace.

To achieve these goals, we teach a cultural awareness and international relations class one day a week at Analy. We explore the values of Sebastopol, its socioeconomic status relative to our sister communities, and the potential of youth to create positive change. Outside of class, our students discuss fundraising strategies, and develop and plan community service projects via Skype with the South American students. From mid-January to mid-February, 4 students from Santa Fe, Argentina, and 2 from an Andean village outside of Cusco, Peru will stay with local families, and engage in public service projects. Our schedule will include a bilingual soccer camp, cultural presentations to students at Park Side Elementary, Spanish classes at the Sebastopol Senior Center, environmental restoration work, a collaborative project with the Graton Day Labor Center, and local tourism.

Lucas and I will continue to fundraise as we work to expand the goals of GSE to other West County high schools. This spring we are planning to explore possible future sights of GSE, both locally and abroad. The Global Student Embassy is a simple idea that utilizes the increasing interconnectedness of the world to connect small communities. Through learning cultural differences, engaging in public service and sharing positive experiences, GSE aims to build peace around the globe. This summer, Lucas will lead a group of students to Santa Fe, Argentina, while I lead a group to Zurite Peru. We invite readers to learn more by calling 829-1026, or at www.seb.org.

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Veterans and Soldiers in Film

Jennie Orvino checks in with reviews and links to films dealing with soldiers and veterans' experiences in our current wars.


Hi Friends and Fans,

I've been meaning to recommend some films dealing with soldiers' and veterans' experience of our current wars, and today seems a good day to do it.

I'm including as well an article from The Nation, with stats of 300,000 soldiers suffering from PTSD, 320,000 with traumatic brain injury, 18 suicides per day of vets (previous wars included), and 18% unemployment rate of Iraq and Afganistan war vets (the last info from Andrew Bacevich, on radio this morning, author of The Limits of Power, the End of American Exceptionalism.)

I've also added (forgive this long email but I've been holding on to this information in the light of our celebration of the new president) links to articles about the arrested vets who tried to bring questions to Obama and McCain at their final presidential debate. A very difficult story about police abuse, one vet trampled by police horses, resulting in a broken cheekbone, etc. These particular Iraq vets have been arraigned and are now referred to as the Hempstead 15. More at the following links:

http://www.michaelmoore.com/mustread/index.php?id=1059

http://www.vetvoice.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=2164

***
Now, my FILM RECOMMENDATIONS (all available from NetFlix). Let me say that these documentaries are not depressing. They make me proud of the journalists who made them and of the real people whose lives they depict. Better than fiction! Totally engaging.


Body of War produced by Phil Donahue, personal story of Tomas Young, a gung-ho soldier who returned home paralyzed and is struggling to deal with his physical limitations and changing feelings about war. Very well produced and photographed. Especially moving is his meeting with Senator Byrd, now 90. "We both have some mobility issues," Tomas says to the senator who walks with canes. Also interesting to be reminded of the congressional vote to authorize the Iraq invasion, name by name.

Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience. one of my favorites, because it is about soldiers' writing, and interviews with them, and read by actors with great graphics and illustrations. I feel this is a neutral piece, not necessarily "anti-war" but just showing the reality of these peoples' experiences, from infantry, to med evac to the officer who accompanies caskets home.

Voices in Wartime again, the literary slant. "Powerful poetry, shattering images." (2005) from Vietnam and the World Wars to the present. Focuses on both history and post traumatic stress.

Sir! No Sir! historic, about the GI movement to end the Vietnam War

Alive Day Memories; Home from Iraq
Jim Gandolfino (the Sopranos) interviews returning Iraq vets, legless, armless, brain injured. Not specifically anti war; one legless guy was pretty gung ho still, but he was damaged, wouldn't let Jim hug him.

The Ground Truth: The Human Cost of War mostly just interviews with soldiers about their experiences, very powerful about PTSD

Poison Dust: about depleted uranium and the birth defects, etc. in babies of soldiers, from the Gulf War era


***

Article from The Nation, Nov. 10, 2008
On Veterans Day, Don't Forget About the War
By Aaron Glantz

The War in Iraq has disappeared from the headlines. The ongoing economic crisis has Americans looking inward, wondering if they can keep their homes and their jobs, with little interest in death and destruction half a world away. According to the Pew Research Center, media coverage of the war has plummeted from an average of 15 percent of stories in July 2007, to 3 percent this February, to just 2 percent of stories during the last week of October.

The war also disappeared as an issue in the presidential campaign. Both Barack Obama and John McCain barely mentioned the war in Iraq in their final debate. In his historic victory speech, Obama said "Iraq" only once. Some say the election results show Americans demanding a "change," and in many ways they do. But they also show a collective desire to forget.

Most Americans want to put the war behind them, but this feeling is based not on a coherent critique but on a kind of collective exhaustion. In many ways, we as a country find ourselves in a mood like the one towards the end of the Vietnam War: we are tired and simply want to move on and forget the conflict ever happened.

Yet this feeling can come at a great cost, because it is this same dynamic that led to the betrayal of more than three million Vietnam veterans.

"When I go through airports I see soldiers just sitting up against a wall...by themselves," says therapist and Vietnam veteran Shad Meshad, who heads up the National Veterans Foundation. "No one goes up to them; that positive energy toward them has faded. No one is spitting or shouting, but they're still left with the fact that they're responsible for what they did or didn't do, and they're supposed to think about that alone."

Given the experience of Vietnam vets, Meshad believes that the American people ignore their veterans at their own peril. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, eighteen veterans commit suicide every day and 200,000 sleep homeless on the streets on any given night. By 1986, the National Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Survey reported that almost half of all male Vietnam veterans suffering from post-traumatic-stress disorder had been arrested or jailed at least once--34.2 percent had been jailed more than once, and 11.5 percent had been convicted of a felony.

"We're going to repeat that same thing, I can sense it," Meshad says, "if we don't take action and Congress doesn't create services to help these folks over the next ten or fifteen years."

Indeed, there are already many signs that history is repeating itself. Consider the implications of an April 2008 survey by the Rand Corporation; it found that a majority of the 300,000 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans suffering from post-traumatic-stress disorder and of the 320,000 with traumatic brain injury are not receiving help from the Pentagon and VA medical systems. In its study, Rand noted that the federal government fails to care for war veterans at its own peril--noting PTSD and TBI "can have far-reaching and damaging consequences."

"Individuals afflicted with these conditions face higher risks for other psychological problems and for attempting suicide. They have higher rates of unhealthy behaviors--such as smoking, overeating, and unsafe sex--and higher rates of physical health problems and mortality. Individuals with these conditions also tend to miss more work or report being less productive," the report said. "These conditions can impair relationships, disrupt marriages, aggravate the difficulties of parenting, and cause problems in children that may extend the consequences of combat trauma across generations."

"These consequences can have a high economic toll," the report continued. "However, most attempts to measure the costs of these conditions focus only on medical costs to the government. Yet, direct costs of treatment are only a fraction of the total costs related to mental health and cognitive conditions. Far higher are the long-term individual and societal costs stemming from lost productivity, reduced quality of life, homelessness, domestic violence, the strain on families, and suicide. Delivering effective care and restoring veterans to full mental health have the potential to reduce these longer-term costs significantly."

There is hope in this story, though.

When Barack Obama takes the oath of office on January 20, America will have a President who has shown an interest in and commitment to caring for America's veterans. As a senator, Obama supported increased funding for the VA and an expanded GI Bill. His campaign platform sounded all the right notes about increasing the number of mental health providers, reforming the government's bureaucratic disability-claims system, and increasing the number of Vet Centers, where returning veterans can find community as they make the difficult transition from war to civilian life.

But taking those steps will require hard work and support from the public that amounts to more than just lip service to "supporting the troops." We must stay engaged on the issue of Iraq and our government's treatment of its veterans and create an atmosphere where a repeat of the tragedy that followed the Vietnam War will not be tolerated. If we don't, Barack Obama may follow our lead and rush quickly past the veteran who's sleeping homeless on the street.

***

About Aaron Glantz
Independent journalist Aaron Glantz reported extensively from Iraq from 2003-05 and has been covering the stories of American military veterans since his return. He is author of How America Lost Iraq (Penguin) and the forthcoming War Comes Home (UC Press). He edits the website www.warcomeshome.org, a project of radio station KPFA-FM

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An Idea Worth Spreading - Who Are We?

Below is a link to a web site that just amazed me. I want to thank Robert Zoglin for this. I was totally amazed and I can tell there is more than just this one tale - but this one tale is worth every minute it takes to watch and listen.


I hope you find this as interesting and insightful as I did. It may take some time to load but it is a clean link.

Watch this!
Bob EZ

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/jill_bolte_taylor_s_powerful_stroke_of_insight.html

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Sonoma County Protests Propisition 8

RALLY TO PROTEST THE PASSING OF PROPOSITION 8

Rallies are being held around the state and nationally to protest the state of California writing discrimination into our constitution.

We will be rallying in Sonoma County
Saturday November 15th, 10:30am at Courthouse Square in Santa Rosa.
between 3rd & 4th Streets at Mendocino Avenue

Come and show your support. All are welcome!
A lawsuit is being filed, we're trying to get Sonoma County to sign on to the lawsuit as a petitioner. Our Democratic State Representatives have signed on to a "Friends of the Court" brief to show their support for equal rights.
Come and stand for equality!


Below are two essays submitted to WCG on this subject - there are more. Thanks for reading.


PROTECTING THE RIGHTS OF THE MINORITY
FROM THE TYRANNY OF THE MAJORITY
The Saga of Proposition 8

By Maddy Hirshfield

Election Night, November 4th, 2008 will go down as a night of mixed results and mixed emotions. Never has my heart been so lifted and so broken all at once. The same night that brought an end to the wretched truism that only a white man could be elected president, brought us news that the people of California had decided to enshrine bigotry and discrimination into our state constitution.

As of 1:09 pm, Monday November 10, Prop 8 stood at 52.3% Yes and 47.7% No. Out of almost 11 million votes cast that's a difference of a little less than half a million. There's a law suit in process that Los Angeles; San Francisco and Santa Clara have filed and the wheels are turning to get Sonoma County signed on as a co-petitioner.

Proposition 8 is but the latest chapter in a tortured story of the struggle for equal rights, a story of the intolerant seeking to use the most sacred tools of democracy to demonize and marginalize those with whom they disagree. In 2000, its predecessor, Proposition 22, was overwhelmingly passed in California. Prop 22 consisted of fourteen words: "Only marriage between a man and women is valid or recognized in California." On May 15th, 2008, the Republican-dominated, moderately conservative California Supreme Court struck down Proposition 22. Chief Justice Ron George wrote for the majority: "Our state now recognizes that an individual's capacity to establish a loving and long-term committed relationship with another person and responsibly to care for and raise children does not depend upon the individual's sexual orientation," The statement by George went on: "An individual's sexual orientation -- like a person's race or gender -- does not constitute a legitimate basis upon which to deny or withhold legal rights."

At that point, the only thing left for those in opposition to marriage equality was to have those same fourteen words written into our Constitution. The good news: All they had was fear and intimidation. The bad news: fear and intimidation worked.

The lawsuit now being filed is an argument over whether Proposition 8 constitutes an "amendment" or a "revision" as each needs to find its way to the ballot via a different path. But that's for the legal types to sort out. On the practical side, I simply do not understand how it's possible to write discrimination INTO the constitution. What if a group of people got together and were successful getting an initiative on the ballot that would amend our Constitution to make it illegal for Latinos to have bank accounts, or for people of color to sit anywhere on the bus they wanted, or drink from the water fountain of their choosing. And let's for argument sake say that amendment to the Constitution passed by a majority of voters. Would we then simply sit back and say, "Oh well, the people have spoken?" Of course not!

Our adversaries say gays have all the rights of marriage now with domestic partnership. Even if that were true -- which it is not -- we learned a long time ago that separate is not equal. Back in the days when people of color had to ride in the back of the bus and drink from separate fountains they still reached their destinations and had their thirst quenched. But we stopped doing that because we figured out it was wrong to treat people differently ... and it still is.

However, here is my glass-half-full view of things as we move forward in this process.

• Statewide, we came so much closer to defeating Prop 8 than we did with Prop 22 in 2000.

• We here in Sonoma County turned Prop 8 down by more than 40 percentage points, we only defeated Prop 22 by 6.

• I've received beautiful, supportive emails from friends who say they just don't understand. And they tell me about conversations with co-workers who feel the same.

• I also get emails from supporters who tell me they know it's coming because they listen to their 12-year-old kids talking with their friends, and the 12-year-olds don't get what the problem is either.

• And ... Barack Obama was elected President of the United States.

I literally sobbed through our new President-elect's entire acceptance speech. And when he got to the part where he said "all Americans" must come together, "black, white, young, old, gay, straight"... a voice in my head kept saying, "it's going to be all right" over and over again, "it's going to be all right."

I believe in "protecting the rights of the minority from the tyranny of the majority" and I have faith that's exactly what we will do.

I also have faith that it will be all right because the majority will soon be the minority. Those 12 year olds are growing up … and we older folks live to fight another day.

Onward!

Maddy Hirshfield is a long time political activist. She currently works for Assemblywoman Patty Berg who recently signed on to a "Friend of the Court" brief along with a majority of other legislators to overturn Prop 8."

--------------

An open letter to supporters of Prop 8:

My name is Sabina and I and coming out of the closet to tell you...that I'm left-handed. Yes I know that it's been apparent for most of my life, but I need to publicly state it.

What's the big deal about being a lefty? Well these days society's majority of right-handers doesn't look down on the 10% of us who aren't, but that hasn't been the case for most of history.

The settlers of this country used left-handedness as evidence of being in league with the Devil. Yes, being a southpaw in Salem was proof of being a witch and reason enough to burn or drown you.

Being left-handed was always seen as being suspect, of not being normal, of being other. The Romans considered the right side the source of good, and all negative things as emanating from the left. In fact, the Latin for "the left side" is sinister, with all the connotations and meanings that word still carries today.

Even as recently as the last century being left-handed was looked on as being wrong somehow. My great-uncle Alberto was born lefty. His family tied his arm to his side and forced him to use his right hand. In the end, his community still looked at him as a left-handed man who was using his right instead.

And why this suspicion of lefties? No one has ever been able to give me a satisfactory reason. I hear a lot of stuff about the Bible and "the right-hand of G-d," about how it doesn't look normal, about being taught to think that way. Mostly I hear about how being different from the norm is wrong.

Luckily for me, people--and society-- have the ability to change their views. When it became apparent that I was left-handed, my parents did not try to change me. In fact, my family and community did not even give any notice to it. It was just a part of who I was, along with my blue eyes or my brown hair. And while it can sometimes be a challenge to be a lefty--guitars are strung wrong, scissors don't cut correctly, the design on my coffee mug never faces me when I drink from it--I know that being different is not seen as being not-normal.

By the way, I also happen to be Jewish and gay. Most people have let go of their discrimination of the former; it's not seen as acceptable for Americans to voice anti-Semitic comments. I look forward to the day when you let go of your fear of the latter as well. You can change the way you've been taught to look at people who are different from you.

Sabina Fried
Sebastopol

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Election 2008 - Sonoma County & the Nation

Well - one thing about the Obama-Biden ticket is that they want to build peace and prosperity from the bottom up. Trickle down economics never did work. So now we have a chance to see if bottom up not only creates a better economic climate for us all, but that having our basic needs on top of the priority list will create the comfort we all seek, and that translates to less anger - which translates to less violence. If all goes well, this will spread across the planet. Comfortable people are rarely angry enough to kill others. Motivated by ambition rather than anger. What a concept!

Now let's see how that translates to California politics - then to Sonoma County...


NATION - all of us who were optimistic that the Obama-Biden team could make it all the way to the White House have been proven correct. Manifesting the name President Barrack Obama worked - how very California! Congratulations to every person who volunteered to help make this happen. Now we have even more volunteering to do to make our agenda reality over the next decade. This is a team effort that will take years to accomplish.

There are plenty of opportunities. Please refer to the Volunteer section of my newspaper where every month there are ways you can become involved in our community and make changes happen every day toward a better world.

STATE - I'll keep checking the results until they are final and make any changes I see coming our way.

My high hopes for Equality & Justice for All - and I do mean all - from chickens in cages to lovers in churches and teenage girls with embryos developing in their bellies - have been dashed. This election is a bi-polar moment in history. Many of us feel elation and depression all at once.

On a county level - as you can see below - we seem to be on the same page. So we are safe at home. How very fine for us. On a state level - we have a lot of work to do. I believe our national constitution is about that wonderful concept of freedom of choice and equality and justice for all. How many times do we need to repeat the phrase to get people to understand that THIS is what our country stands for. You can't label people as exception to those rules. Our work is cut out for us as the saying goes. We need to challenge Prop 8 supporters on a Constituitional level.

SONOMA COUNTY - The corner of Hwy 116 and Hwy 12 in downtown Sebastopol has always been a place where people let their opinions be known with placards and waves to cars driving by. Some support Our Troops, others oppose war & violence. On election eve it was Efren vs. Rue, Prop 8 yes and no, Prop 2 yes - I saw no No. Kathleen Shaffer and her husband inspiring voters to support Kathleen.

What happens best of all at these gatherings is that opposing forces have a chance to spend time with each other. Communication is the key to changing minds. Let's keep talking. But as I like to say - it's not “I'm right - you're wrong” that works. We need to respect other's opinions and simplye xpress our own without making the other person wrong. They will listen if we approach subjects that way. Dialogue - not monologue.

You are always welcome to add your opinions. That's what this newspaper is all about. Whether on the web or in print - let me know what's on your minds at vesta@sonic.net.

Sonoma County Consolidated General Election
This is how WE voted - not that state or the nation - November 4, 2008

Election Results as of 11/05/2008 at 9:30pm

President and Vice President
Completed Precincts: 453 of 453
Displayed as Vote Count then Percentage (hard to translate this into this format)
Obama/Biden, Dem 144,399-73.5%
McCain/Palin, Rep 47,184-24.0%
Nader/Gonzalez, PF 1,633-0.8%
Barr/Root, Lib 1,065-0.5%
McKinney/Clemente, Grn 707-0.4%
Keyes/Drake, AIP 692-0.4%
Write-in candidate(s) 674-0.3%


U S Representative 1st District
Completed Precincts: 87 of 87
Vote Count-Percentage
Mike Thompson, Dem 20,581-68.6%
Zane Starkewolf, Rep 7,123-23.8%
Carol Wolman, Grn 2,237-7.5%
Write-in candidate(s) 46-0.2%


U S Representative 6th District
Completed Precincts: 366 of 366
Vote Count-Percentage
Lynn Woolsey, Dem 113,296-70.6%
Mike Halliwell, Rep 39,976-24.9%
Joel R Smolen, Lib 6,986-4.4%
Write-in candidate(s) 241-0.2%


State Senator 3rd District
Completed Precincts: 158 of 158
Vote Count-Percentage
Mark Leno, Dem 48,272 -1.2%
Sashi McEntee, Rep 19,475-28.7%
Write-in candidate(s) 94-0.1%


Member of Assembly 1st District
Completed Precincts: 133 of 133
Vote Count-Percentage
Wesley Chesbro, Dem 37,048-74.3%
Jim Pell, Rep 12,718-25.5%
Write-in candidate(s) 103-0.2%


Member of Assembly 6th District
Completed Precincts: 161 of 161
Vote Count-Percentage
Jared Huffman, Dem 46,362-66.0%
Paul Lavery, Rep 18,397-26.2%
Timothy J Hannan, Lib 5,221-7.4%
Write-in candidate(s) 237-0.3%


Member of Assembly 7th District
Completed Precincts: 159 of 159
Vote Count-Percentage
Noreen Evans, Dem 48,513-73.2%
Doris Gentry, Rep 17,629-26.6%
Write-in candidate(s) 99-0.1%


Sonoma County Board of Education Area 1
Completed Precincts: 78 of 78
Vote Count-Percentage
Alex Bantis 12,149-50.0%
John A Musilli 12,080-49.7%
Write-in candidate(s) 85-0.3%


So Co Jr College Dist Santa Rosa Area
Vote For: 2
Completed Precincts: 157 of 157
Vote Count-Percentage
Richard W Call 36,369 -40.3%
Keith Woods 26,945-29.8%
Don Edgar 26,729-29.6%
Write-in candidate(s) 257-0.3%


Calistoga Joint Unified School District
Vote For: 3
Completed Precincts: 3 of 3
Vote Count Percentage
Mary Burke Montez 137-28.4%
Marty Hunt 102-21.2%
Paul Schlieder 93-19.3%
Marco DiGiulio 86-17.8%
Michael Feiner 64-13.3%
Write-in candidate(s) 0-0.0%


Cloverdale Unified School District
Vote For: 3
Completed Precincts: 8 of 8
Vote Count-Percentage
Karen J Scalabrini 2,513-29.0%
Dianna MacDonald 2,414-27.9%
Dick Johnson 1,965-22.7%
Daniel L Bunting 1,764-20.4%
Write-in candidate(s) 6-0.1%


Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified School District
Vote For: 2
Completed Precincts: 35 of 35
Vote Count-Percentage
Ed Gilardi 8,762-35.5%
Karyn Pulley 8,091-32.7%
Marc Orloff 7,776-31.5%
Write-in candidate(s) 86-0.3%


Windsor Unified School District
Vote For: 2
Completed Precincts: 31 of 31
Vote Count-Percentage
George R Valenzuela 5,575-38.3%
Ted Seche 5,091-35.0%
Shari Kirichenko-Egan 3,876-26.6%
Write-in candidate(s) 23-0.2%


Bellevue Union School District
Vote For: 2
Completed Precincts: 21 of 21
Vote Count-Percentage
Debra A Mills 2,03- 36.2%
Yvonne L Kennedy 1,790-31.9%
Katherine Holden 1,766-31.5%
Write-in candidate(s) 23-0.4%


Forestville Union School District
Vote For: 2
Completed Precincts: 8 of 8
Vote Count-Percentage
Jean Bullard 1,634-37.4%
Ron Abler 1,372-31.4%
Guy Eck 1,348-30.9%
Write-in candidate(s) 15-0.3%


Liberty School District
Vote For: 2
Completed Precincts: 2 of 2
Vote Count-Percentage
Geraldine T Johnston 578-43.6%
Ronald K Evenich 533-40.2%
Albert J Romano 209-15.8%
Write-in candidate(s) 5-0.4%


County Supervisor 1st District
Completed Precincts: 119 of 119
Vote Count Percentage
Valerie K Brown 20,891-51.2%
Will Pier 19,786-48.5%
Write-in candidate(s) 130-0.3%


County Supervisor 3rd District
Completed Precincts: 71 of 71
Vote Count Percentage
Shirlee Zane 17,318-55.3%
Sharon Wright 13,83- 44.2%
Write-in candidate(s) 166-0.5%


County Supervisor 5th District
Completed Precincts: 91 of 91
Vote Count-Percentage
Efren Carrillo 17,395-50.8%
Rue Furch 16,725-48.8%
Write-in candidate(s) 132-0.4%


Member, City Council Santa Rosa F/T
Vote For: 4
Completed Precincts: 107 of 107
Vote Count Percentage
Gary Wysocky 25,211 13.7%
John Sawyer 24,613 13.4%
Ernesto Olivares 22,990 12.5%
Marsha Vas Dupre 20,608 11.2%
Lee Pierce 19,266 10.5%
Don Taylor 18,383 10.0%
Michael Allen 16,406 8.9%
Bobbi Hoff 13,675 7.4%
Carol Dean 12,265 6.7%
Eddie Alvarez 6,468 3.5%
Hans Dippel 4,222 2.3%
Write-in candidate(s) 192 0.1%


Member, City Council Santa Rosa S/T
Completed Precincts: 107 of 107
Vote Count Percentage
Jane Bender 23,042 45.7%
Judy Kennedy 10,719 21.3%
David Rosas 9,659 19.2%
Lawrence R Wiesner 6,781 13.5%
Write-in candidate(s) 192 0.4%


Member, City Council Cloverdale F/T
Vote For: 2
Completed Precincts: 5 of 5
Vote Count Percentage
Mary Ann Brigham 2,033 39.1%
Augustine Gus Wolter 1,641 31.6%
Luciano Toninato 1,513 29.1%
Write-in candidate(s) 6 0.1%


Member, City Council Cloverdale S/T
Completed Precincts: 5 of 5
Vote Count Percentage
Jessalee Raymond 2,497 98.0%
Write-in candidate(s) 50 2.0%


City Clerk Cloverdale
Completed Precincts: 5 of 5
Vote Count Percentage
Michele P Winterbottom 2,523 98.8%
Write-in candidate(s) 31 1.2%


Member, City Council Cotati
Vote For: 3
Completed Precincts: 5 of 5
Vote Count Percentage
Janet Orchard 1,385 20.1%
Robert Coleman 1,363 19.7%
Mike Kurvers 1,153 16.7%
George Barich 1,129 16.4%
Susan Harvey 1,089 15.8%
Eric Kirchmann 773 11.2%
Write-in candidate(s) 10 0.1%


Member, City Council Healdsburg
Vote For: 3
Completed Precincts: 8 of 8
Vote Count Percentage
Mike Mc Guire 3,939 35.7%
Tom Chambers 2,673 24.2%
Gary W Plass 2,571 23.3%
Tony Pastene 1,842 16.7%
Write-in candidate(s) 10 0.1%


Member, City Council Petaluma
Vote For: 3
Completed Precincts: 38 of 38
Vote Count Percentage
David Glass 12,850 22.4%
Mike Healy 10,608 18.5%
Tiffany Renee 9,972 17.4%
Karen Nau 9,326 16.3%
Samantha Freitas 7,928 13.8%
Spence F Burton 6,521 11.4%
Write-in candidate(s) 49 0.1%


Member, City Council Rohnert Park
Vote For: 3
Completed Precincts: 28 of 28
Vote Count Percentage
Gina Belforte 5,870 17.2%
Jake Mackenzie 5,248 15.4%
Joseph T Callinan 5,242 15.4%
John Borba 5,085 14.9%
Tim Smith 4,533 13.3%
Vicki Vidak-Martinez 4,085 12.0%
Dawna Gallagher 3,923 11.5%
Write-in candidate(s) 62 0.2%


Member, City Council Sebastopol
Vote For: 2
Completed Precincts: 6 of 6
Vote Count Percentage
Guy Wilson 2,091 35.5%
Kathleen Shaffer 2,089 35.5%
JenThille 1,341 22.8%
Colleen Fernald 355 6.0%
Write-in candidate(s) 10 0.2%


Member, Town Council Windsor
Vote For: 2
Completed Precincts: 22 of 22
Vote Count Percentage
Debora Fudge 5,719 36.8%
Cheryl Scholar 4,188 27.0%
Julie Adamson 2,804 18.1%
Leroy Dysart 2,796 18.0%
Write-in candidate(s) 19 0.1%


Rincon Valley Fire Protection Dist
Vote For: 3
Completed Precincts: 59 of 59
Vote Count Percentage
Patricia P Waldow 5,491 28.7%
Darrel J Mead 5,486 28.6%
James M Bouler 4,796 25.0%
John Hamann 3,361 17.5%
Write-in candidate(s) 31 0.2%


Valley of the Moon Fire Protection Dist
Vote For: 3
Completed Precincts: 18 of 18
Vote Count Percentage
Dawn Mittleman 4,459 29.6%
William Norton 4,340 28.8%
Ray Brunton 3,974 26.4%
Elissa Wadleigh 2,251 14.9%
Write-in candidate(s) 36 0.2%


Windsor Fire Protection Dist
Vote For: 3
Completed Precincts: 26 of 26
Vote Count Percentage
Victor Pozzi 4,402 23.3%
John D Nelson 4,109 21.8%
Adam Joseph Brolan 3,834 20.3%
Richard Olufs 3,751 19.9%
Myron Steele 2,768 14.7%
Write-in candidate(s) 27 0.1%


Petaluma Health Care District
Vote For: 3
Completed Precincts: 62 of 62
Vote Count Percentage
Fran Adams 13,876 22.1%
Stephen Steady 12,205 19.5%
Robert Ostroff 10,605 16.9%
Liz Close 9,712 15.5%
Robert C Hill 8,267 13.2%
Gerald S Besses 8,006 12.8%
Write-in candidate(s) 77 0.1%


Sonoma Valley Health Care District
Vote For: 3
Completed Precincts: 42 of 42
Vote Count Percentage
Peter Hohorst 8,275 30.4%
Madolyn Agrimonti 6,428 23.6%
Bill Boerum 6,341 23.3%
Bill Gurry 6,124 22.5%
Write-in candidate(s) 77 0.3%


PROP 1A - Safe, Reliable Passenger Train Bond Act
Completed Precincts: 453 of 453
Vote Count Percentage
Yes 120,662 63.9%
No 68,229 36.1%


PROP 2 - Standards For Confining Farm Animals
Completed Precincts: 453 of 453
Vote Count Percentage
Yes 120,231 63.2%
No 70,157 36.8%


PROP 3 - Children's Hospital Bond Act
Completed Precincts: 453 of 453
Vote Count Percentage
Yes 88,335 47.9%
No 96,168 52.1%


PROP 4 - Waiting Period Term Minor's Pregnancy
Completed Precincts: 453 of 453
Vote Count Percentage
Yes 63,319 33.5%
No 125,953 66.5%


PROP 5 - Nonviolent Drug Offenses. Sentencing
Completed Precincts: 453 of 453
Vote Count Percentage
Yes 81,365 43.6%
No 105,440 56.4%


PROP 6 - Funds For Law Enforcement. Penalties
Completed Precincts: 453 of 453
Vote Count Percentage
Yes 41,247 22.6%
No 141,195 77.4%


PROP 7 - Renewable Energy Generation
Completed Precincts: 453 of 453
Vote Count Percentage
Yes 60,001 32.1%
No 126,916 67.9%


PROP 8 - Eliminate Right of Same-Sex Couples
Completed Precincts: 453 of 453
Vote Count Percentage
Yes 65,898 33.9%
No 128,466 66.1%


PROP 9 -Criminal Justice Victims' Rights. Parole
Completed Precincts: 453 of 453
Vote Count Percentage
Yes 82,392 45.8%
No 97,400 54.2%


PROP 10 - Alternative Fuel Vehicles. Bonds
Completed Precincts: 453 of 453
Vote Count Percentage
Yes 62,726 34.4%
No 119,858 65.6%


PROP 11 - Redistricting Constitutional Amendment
Completed Precincts: 453 of 453
Vote Count Percentage
Yes 92,428 53.0%
No 81,975 47.0%


PROP 12 - Veterans' Bond Act of 2008
Completed Precincts: 453 of 453
Vote Count Percentage
Yes 118,808 66.0%
No 61,319 34.0%


Measure J - Bellevue Union School Dist. Bonds
Completed Precincts: 21 of 21
Vote Count Percentage
Bonds Yes 2,892 68.8%
Bonds No 1,312 31.2%


Measure K - Petaluma Reduce Wastewater Rates
Completed Precincts: 38 of 38
Vote Count Percentage
Yes 10,519 45.8%
No 12,468 54.2%


Measure L - Rohnert Park Reduce Sewer Rates
Completed Precincts: 28 of 28
Vote Count Percentage
Yes 7,269 52.9%
No 6,485 47.1%


Measure M - Sebastopol Utility Users Tax
Completed Precincts: 6 of 6
Vote Count Percentage
Yes 2,155 59.4%
No 1,471 40.6%


Measure N - Windsor Transient Occupancy Tax
Completed Precincts: 22 of 22
Vote Count Percentage
Yes 6,827 70.2%
No 2,896 29.8%


Measure O - Gold Ridge Fire District Parcel Tax
Completed Precincts: 21 of 21
Vote Count Percentage
Yes 5,814 75.7%
No 1,867 24.3%


Measure P - Sonoma Vly Health Care Dist Bond
Completed Precincts: 42 of 42
Vote Count Percentage
Bonds Yes 13,021 80.8%
Bonds No 3,093 19.2%


Measure Q - SMART Rail Quarter Cent Sales Tax
Completed Precincts: 453 of 453
Vote Count Percentage
Yes 138,624 73.5%
No 50,047 26.5%


Registration and Turnout Total
Completed Precincts: 453 of 453
Reg/Turnout Percentage
Total Registered Voters 248,122
Precinct Registration 248,122
Precinct Ballots Cast 87,167 35.1%
Absentee Ballots Cast 110,657 44.6%
Total Ballots Cast 197,824 79.7%

For more information and updates:
http://www.sonoma-county.org/regvoter/elections/Results/results.asp

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Politics: the Will to Serve Others

Brave People Run for Public Office

Whether we're talking about the Presidential campaign or the fight for a seat on the Board of Supervisors of Sonoma County, we're looking at, learning about, and judging individuals who have a desire to serve our community. That fact gets lost as we examine every detail of their lives. When you get a mailer full of venom on a candidate, does it make you feel impelled to run for office in the future? Or does it make you feel vulnerable - that your life could never hold up to that level of examination.

Probably the latter…

As I watch John McCain and Sarah Palin rip Barrack Obama apart for the people he spends time with - for his middle name that he did not choose, for imagined horrors that have no basis in truth, I try to imagine surviving those kind of personal assaults. How strong does an individual need to be - how confident - to brush those comments aside and face voters with the truth of who he is and why he wants to serve our county?

Serve our Country.

For some, it is justified to believe that people run for office because they seek power. It seems like an overwhelming level of responsibility just for power, but to each his/her own. There is power in leadership. In fact, not just the power of the person holding the office - but also the power of the people who helped him/her get there. Not everyone has the personality to sit through meetings - learn complex subjects, etc. They turn to others for advice. It's the advice-givers who have the power of influence.

But to serve - that I can understand. When people are motivated by their belief that they can do something to make the world a better place, they take on the responsibility of implementing their ideas just to accomplish their goals. These people tend to listen to their own counsel more. It is their personal goals that they focus upon, and those goals are often established through a value system. When they seek advice, they look to people with similar value systems so they can feel secure that the advice fits well with their goals.

I imagine power-seekers seek advice from other power seekers for the same reason - shared goals. But with those shared goals comes shared power. People seeking power often will do so at the expense of others, so sharing power can be risky.

People seeking to make the world a better place tend to be more willing to share, to be considerate of others in the process of accomplishing their goals. Their goals are not self-serving - they are goals to serve others. Very different from power seekers.

When looking in-depth at candidates, I tend to look at their value systems so I can determine if they are seeking office to serve others or to serve their need for power. It's not clear in black and white. That's why we often look to who are the people the candidate spends time with, where do they get their funding, etc. If a candidate has a long voting record, has held office or some public position in the past, we can also look to their record to see the path from which they come. That helps a lot.

Nationally, we can see that John McCain has taken a path and had a long record that shifts to serve his immediate needs, that he has been sited for poor judgment (the Keating Five trials), that he changes his mind to serve his political ambitions, that he is a self-described Maverick who bucks the system when he feels it will serve his goals, that he tends to shoot from the hip in making decisions, etc. He has a long record of experience and voting that we can look at.

Barrack Obama is much younger, but he also has a long record of choices he has made during his 47 years. His choices have been to serve, and to educate himself on how he can serve better. His theory on creating peace and prosperity by helping people at the bottom live more comfortable lives is based on visits around the world, volunteering in communities and working with world leaders who share his goals for peace. Hungry people are angry people. Comfortable people are peaceful people. Money does not trickle down from the wealthy to the poor. Comfort builds up from the bottom. Building foundations that are strong makes for better buildings. It's a metaphor that works across life. So I can look at Obama's life and see that I admire his motivation.

Locally for my Sonoma County district (5th), I see a young man vs. an older woman. It's easy to see that the older woman has spent many years serving her community as a volunteer and environmental activist. She studies hard and makes decisions based upon information. She's not a politician, she's a person who has served one step short of the panel that makes the final decisions. Her goal is to take her knowlege and experience and be part of that final decision-making process. As politics rips her personal life apart, she is vulnerable to attacks because she's a caring person. The attacks are personal because that's where she is weak. Her strengths have always been professional. I can relate to a person who lets her personal life suffer in order to accomplish professional goals.

The young man is so young, he simply doesn't have a record to examine. His life is so short, any personal short-coming can easily be explained away by youth. It takes years to settle into life. So where is vulnerable, is the company he keeps and the people who financially support him. These are choices he has made, so they become valid reflections on who this young man is. There's so little information, it's the company he keeps that has become the source for identifying who is this young man? That's unfortunate because the man himself gets lost in the proccess. Much like the older woman's personal life ends up identifying who she iswhen it's her professional life we need to examine.

What we learn from this is that if we really are to judge a person on their goals and value systems, we need to spend time with them, learn who they are and basically ignore poltical propaganda. Not easy. These people don't have time to become close friends with every voter.

So how do we learn who they are? We can only listen to the words they speak and write. We have to ignore what others say about them and go with what we observe oursleves. Is this a good person? Does this person live their lives to serve others or to accomplish personal goals of power? Does this person feel good to me? Does this person reflect my goals? Are the priorities of this person ones I can respect and trust?

When we mark our ballots we are passing judgement on every person we choose. We put our faith in his/her aiblity to serve our needs - to make decisions based upon study and information, not to serve peronal goals.

In the case of president - I find it easy to vote for the Obama/Biden ticket because I see two people whose lives have been lived to serve others. I see them seek advice from others who also live to serve.

In Sonoma County 5th District, I find it easy to choose the older woman, Rue Furch, because I have watched her serve our county selflessly for many years. I have watched her study and make decisions that have no peronsl benefit to her, but that benefit others and our environment. Her opponemt, Efren Carillio is young enough that I can wait to watch him as he grows into his life. He will be interesting to watch bcause he is intelligent and ambtious. He won't fade away. We'll have opportunities to vote for him in the future. Right now I want someone who knows for herself, what is good for our county - our home. I trust her with my home. That's the bottom line.

I trust Obama and Biden with my beloved country and my values. I trust Rue Furch with making decisions that will serve our community. I trust people who are so motivated to serve us that they are willing to run through the horrible gauntlet that is poltics. Very sad. I wonder how many good people just don't have the strength to takes this path to a job?

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NORA Proposition 5 Drug Treatment for Youth and Adults

As the Executive Director of the Drug Abuse Alternatives Center (DAAC), the largest provider of publicly funded alcohol and other drug treatment in Sonoma County, I have seen both the positives and negatives of Proposition 36, the precursor to Proposition 5. Overall, in my opinion, Prop. 36, the Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act of 2000, has been a success in Sonoma County and the State as a whole.


Ironically, I, along with many other treatment professionals, opposed Prop. 36 before it was passed. We were concerned that it had been written by outsiders who did not consult with California’s treatment providers and that it did not have strong enough sanctions for non-compliance with treatment, a key argument today by those who oppose Prop. 5.

In fact, I, and many others, turned out to be wrong. In Sonoma County, thousands of individuals have benefited from treatment instead of incarceration and our Public Safety has not been compromised. Statewide, 200,000 have received treatment and UCLA’s study of Prop. 36 not only showed that treatment has worked, but also that it has saved California over $2 Billion since 2000. The only negatives I have seen are that Prop. 36 has been under-funded which has caused long treatment waits and that no provision was made for treatment for youth.

Prop. 5 will improve on Prop. 36 by:

• Providing a systematic treatment system for adults that will unify the current system of Diversion, Prop. 36 Treatment and Drug Courts into one system with three tracks. Track 3, Drug Court, will not be eliminated, as some have said, but will, in fact, be funded at twice the level it is now.

• Providing $65 Million state-wide for funding of treatment for adolescents which will meet the spectrum of youth needs including family therapy, educational and employment stipends, mental health interventions and much more. Prop. 5 will provide services to youth before they get into trouble with the law.

Prop. 5 will do all this without compromising public safety. Judges, not the offender, will determine whether to send the individual to treatment or to jail. Offenders convicted of serious and violent crimes and sex offences will not be eligible.

Prop. 5 will also reform the prison and parole systems. Currently California spends $46,000 per year to house each inmate (twice the national average) and yet our recidivism rate is almost 70%, while nation-wide recidivism is about 35%. By reducing the number of parolees who are returned to prison for dirty urinalysis tests and allowing them to receive treatment, Parole Agents will be able to concentrate their efforts on supervising parolees who were originally incarcerated for serious and violent crimes.

Prop. 5 will do all this with no new taxes and save the State an estimated $2.5 Billion in its first few years according to the impartial and non-partisan Legislative Analysts Office. Our current system is clearly not working. Please join me, the League of Women Voters, the California NAACP and many other organizations and individuals in voting yes on Proposition 5.

Michael Spielman, MFT
Executive Director
Drug Abuse Alternatives Center
2380 Professional Drive, Santa Rosa
(707) 571-2233 x 308

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LETTERS - Efren Carillio - Candidate for Sonoma County Supervisor

This collection of LETTERS comes through Mary Moore who recently co-hosted a Candidate Forum on Social Justice with Sonoma County 5th District Supervisor candidates, Efren Carillo and Rue Furch. One could say that Mary Moore has a career in volunteering on behalf of social justice. Her dedication to the cause is widely known and respected.


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To all: The letter below is from Davin Cardenas and is beautifully put. I’ve been an avowed “radical” myself for almost fifty years now and was probably one before that but didn’t have the insight or words to know it. I sincerely hope that if Efren is sincere in wanting the best for the community he will take these words (and others) to heart and become familiar with those in the past and present who push the system from the outside in order to make change. It is an honorable and effective path and should be respected not denigrated.

Mary Moore
Camp Meeker

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The Committee for Immigrant Rights of Sonoma County couldn't begin to undertake any of the work which we are involved in without a deep love for the people. We wouldn't have created a volunteer organization or 17 month campaign based on the volunteerism of the participants simply because we're "radicals". If one could understand the shared tears, the base building, the frustration and depression, the beauty of solidarity and direct action, the patience and small victories, the tiredness and doubt, the new leaders, the old energy, the hugs, the way we express our deep seated feelings of hope for an amazing future, if one could understand, they wouldn't verbalize false accusations and terrible names.

Our community is not divided in this election cycle, our dreams are simply too big to fit into a nice suit or a ballot box. The Committee for Immigrants Rights is an active (and often vocal) sector of our community, who tries to avoid hierarchies and maintain democratic processes. We are an open expression of civic participation, an ideal that should be embraced and not dismissed. We aren't flawless or immune to criticism, and we aren't radical. Radicals, when their hearts are collective, are much more magnificent. They change societies, they refuse to let ideas be divorced from action, they are relentless in their pursuit of humanity, and they see neutrality as mediocre. We have much work to go, but we are going on, and that's the point. We hope for the best, and that's the basis for our work.

Davin Cardenas
Director, Graton Labor Center

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To all: Here is Alicia's EXCELLENT letter about the recent encounter between Efren Carrillo and Rick Coshnear. I am speaking for more people than myself when I thank her for taking the time to write this. MM

Radical View

Efren Carrillo’s untrue attacks toward immigration rights attorney Richard Coshnear and “radicals” prompted me to set the record straight. Efren states that immigration rights issues are being pushed by “radicals” who were “taking advantage” of people in the Latino community.

I have worked in this community side by side with these “radicals” and in particular with Rick for more than 20 years—from getting workers rights/English classes (SCIU), immigration rights (Pueblo Unidos), education (PODER), safe communities (Sonoma County Faith Based Organizing Project), and community empowerment (Instituto Sanchez Mendoza), to name a few.

Unfortunately, Efren is too young to remember the history of the immigrant community in Sonoma County. He should learn from his elders. They will tell him it was “radicals” who led the fight for the amnesty program that allowed his family to remain in the USA and get their first home.

The Latino community needs a supervisor with a historical understanding of its issues and participation in those struggles to represent our community’s needs. A Hispanic surname is not enough. I support Rue Furch for the 5th District Supervisor.

Next time you have gains in education, housing, workers’ rights---Thank a Radical.

Alicia Sanchez
Sebastopol

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To all: For those of you following the 5th district race, it's now been revealed where the push polling campaign that favored Efren Carrillo was coming from. SURPRISE! The local Sheriff dept. union had to disclose that they spent $7,500 on this supposedly neutral phone polling. Several of us had been wondering who was behind it as anyone paying attention could tell
it was slanted to favor Carrillo. It's no secret that law enforcement is solidly behind Efren even though he loves to portray himself as just another grateful and concerned community member. Carrillo talks a lot about "bringing everyone together" which sounds inspiring and all that. I'd like to say to him that you can't bring people together until you deal with the serious issues that are keeping them apart. His hurtful response last Sat. to Rick was very revealing when we are trying to figure out who actually has the community's best interests in mind. Follow the money and know who the backers are of both candidates.

Mary Moore
Camp Meeker

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A recent letter commends Efren Carrillo as being a "gentleman," "a man of integrity," someone who "treats people with respect and listens to them." Then what are west county voters to make of a recent public forum where Mr. Carrillo personally attacked a fine member of the community, and called him liar while jabbing his finger in the air? No respect was evident there. What are we to make of his use of "push polls," which Wikipedia defines as "a form of telemarketing-based propaganda and rumor mongering, masquerading as a poll?" What of the new hit piece put out by "Friends of Efren Carrillo?" Where is the integrity in that?

Tom Lynch says "Efren Carrillo is being unfairly evaluated by the company he keeps." There is an old saying in Spanish: "Dime con quien andas, y te digo quien eres" (tell me who you hang out with, and I'll tell you who you are). What company does he keep? He doesn't list any endorsements on his website, probably because corporate interests like to keep a low profile; you certainly won't find any grassroots or Latino civic groups listed there. Sonoma County doesn't need corporate politicians. Sonoma County doesn't need Efren Carrillo.

Maria Canas
Santa Rosa

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Re: the Social Justice Forum recently held in Sebastopol.

It is sad that there is conflict in the Latino community over the candidacy of Efren Carrillo for 5th District Supervisor. Efren's rude and disrespectful comments to immigration attorney Rick Coshnear revealed deep anger at some in the community who have questioned his sincerity and positions. I was already leary about some of Efren’s financial and political backers. Nick
Tibbets and Doug Bosco are people we struggled with in the ‘80s when Bosco was Congressman and Tibbets was his aide and main pit bull. Efren’s supporters comprise much of the status quo business interests who have dominated the Bd. of Supervisors for years and have never shown any interest in solving the problems in the local Latino community which Efren claims to
represent. But I was surprised and offended when Efren used the word “radical” in a very unflattering way while referencing the people he thinks are giving him a hard time. I wonder if he has ever considered that radicals have been the engine of social change through out history. Many feel that Jesus was one in calling for more attention to the poor and oppressed. If he is leery of radicals now, one can only imagine how he’ll feel when he gets a little local power and folks get demanding.

When he was confronted by Coshnear he became extremely defensive and could not hide the flashes of anger. The conflict was over his position or non position on the County of Refuge campaign which several groups are trying to bring to Sonoma County. Over the past several months he has taken conflicting positions and Rick was trying to pin him down once and for all.
Because Efren is backed by local law enforcement it is a difficult position for him. But in the heat of anger he accused Rick of making thousands of dollars off of his clients which is simply not true. Rick is a longtime dedicated activist who became an attorney to help poor and oppressed people, not to join a corporate law firm and much of his work is pro bono and contingency cases. Rick is very much appreciated in the community that Efren claims to represent .

The point is that Efren has chosen to ally himself with the very status quo that many of us see as the problem. He is young and smart but he needs to get some living under his belt so that he truly understands the built in unfairness in our economic and political systems and get acquainted with the people who are trying to change that. If he truly wants to serve “the people” then he needs to LISTEN to some “radical” voices as well as those of the entrenched. If he really wants to bring us together he needs to understand and overcome the issues that are keeping us apart. It is that lack of understanding that truly concerns me.

Mary Moore
Camp Meeker

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Crisis in Health Care

Reader Jim Araby has written a fine piece of journalism on the health care crisis in our country. “As any Sonoma county employee can tell you, the volatility in health care is not good for the average American. And just like the problem we are facing in seeking resolution to our financial crisis, we have political leaders grasping at straws to come up with a solution.”-J.A.

Being self-employed, I fall into the category of one payer, one plan, but have recently been rescued by an insurance adviser who is enrolling me in a group plan that will save me $200 a month. Whether you are an employee with an employer provided plan or an individual, if you own a home you have to have health insurance or risk losing everything you've worked so hard to obtain. Rock and a hard place. Thank you Jim for writing on this increasingly important topic.

The Crisis in Health Care
By Jim Araby

Before last week’s meltdown of the financial markets, the crisis in health care was likely the top priority for many voters. We had begun to hear about each of the presidential candidate’s health care plans and the differences amongst them. Whether it was Obama’s plan to cover 30 million uninsured and the costs associated with it or McCain’s plan to cover 5 million uninsured and create incentives that would shift more responsibility to the individual, the debate was heating up. Then the public dialogue around the crisis in health care melted away along with the dividends of the high flying stock trader as the financial market crashed.

But let’s not fool ourselves; this crisis has not gone away. It may have temporarily faded to the back pages of most newspapers and blogs, but the fundamental problems still exist. And if our health care system is to avoid the same fate as the banks that were peddling mortgage backed securities, we need to act now. As any Sonoma county employee can tell you, the volatility in health care is not good for the average American. And just like the problem we are facing in seeking resolution to our financial crisis, we have political leaders grasping at straws to come up with a solution. The only solution that they can see is to absolve themselves from the responsibility of fixing this crisis.

An example is what the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors did last month. They decided that they were going to reduce their obligation to their employees. They did this by cutting the amount of money they were going to pay to insure the workers and retirees of the county and give them a stipend. They did this, in spite of the fact that they were contractually bound to do the opposite. They now wait with bated breadth that the federal government will come in and save them. Well, now that we are going to commit $700 billion to bailout the Wall Street brokers and banks, in addition to the billions committed to the Iraq war, somehow I do not see that happening anytime soon.

The numbers are familiar; there are over 48 million people in the US who are uninsured, 6.5 million in California, and over 50,000 in Sonoma County. Add in the amount of underinsured and the above numbers almost double. As less people every year have access to healthcare, costs continue to increase by double digits. The California Healthcare Foundation estimates by 2016 that healthcare will make up 17% of our Gross Domestic Product. The preceding numbers are dramatic, but what’s even more dramatic is the amount of profits that are being made in spite of this crisis around access to healthcare. In 2006 the combined total of profits made by the California healthcare industry was $3.6 billion. Digest that for a moment, $3.6 Billion! At the same time that patients are losing access to healthcare, hospital and nursing home corporations are making money hand over fist.

And despite these incredible profit margins (some as high as 8%!), turnover rates in nursing homes average 60%! In California’s health care industry we have RN vacancy rates at 16.1% and Respiratory Therapist vacancy rate at 20%. High turnover rates and use of temporary staff by nursing homes and hospitals lead to higher likelihood of severe health violations that result in bad care which then increase the cost of giving that care. In addition to the effect on patient care the industry spends billions of dollars ($4.1 billion in 2006) on recruitment and retraining new staff because of high turnover rates. Do you think that hospital executive takes a cut in his pay? No, they pass that cost to us, the patient/consumer.

So what can we do? The problem we face is not lack of money in the system; it is the way the system is organized. Many people, especially health care workers across the state are already doing something. Health care workers are forming unions and creating alliances with patient advocacy groups and other community leaders to create structures that allow them to work with progressive minded employers. And if the employers do not want to play, they negotiate and struggle until they do.

When hospitals and nursing homes invest in their workforce they reduce their long-term costs and that savings is passed off to us. The top 100 hospitals pay their employees about $3,000 more a year. They use 35% less temporary labor and use 14% less OT. It is no coincidence that most of these hospitals have workers that are part of a union that gives them the ability to have a voice and advocate not only for themselves but their patients. They are not waiting for the government to act, but are forcing their employers to act with them. They are forcing the industry to realign its priorities from making immense amounts of profit to redirecting the additional resources back to where it matters most, with the caregivers and patients.

This year over 75,000 caregivers across California are negotiating with their employers as a part of United Healthcare Workers West to raise the standards of hospitals, nursing homes and clinics. Healthcare workers are doing this so that we can have a more functional health care system. Kaiser is a good example of how employers work with their patients and unionized workers to create a contained functional system. But the fact of the matter is Kaiser and other like systems can’t do it alone. They need your help, so we can create mutual accountability and action to reorganize our health care system, because we know the federal government is not going to do it and our local elected leaders are not either.

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VOTING 2008

Beyond Gender, Race, and Ethnic Origin

I published my opinions on candidates and issues in the October 16th edition of the West County Gazette because people ask me my opinion - then tell me I actually have influence on readers. OK, the if I do - here foes. Here's how I'm voting on issues I have studied so far. I still have a long way to go on the propositions of which I am short on knowledge. So much to learn. So important to vote intelligently. Our world is in flux an that's a very good thing.

VOTING 2008
Beyond Gender, Race, and Ethnic Origin
By Vesta Copestakes

My Voter’s Pamphlet and mail-in ballot sit on my kitchen table, waiting for me to make intelligent decisions – yes or no. In some cases it’s quite obvious to me because I tend to vote with my value system. In others, I need to know more and delve into the text, read the pros and cons, and if I feel qualified to make a sound decision, I mark my ballot. If I feel too ignorant on any subject, I leave it blank.

I won’t vote by gender for a woman just because I’m female and she’s female. She needs to be intelligent, calm, thoughtful, considerate and knowledgeable about the position for which she is running.

I won’t vote for a black or oriental or Indian person just because I want to see more faces among my government officials in charge who truly represent our population. It’s my preference, but that person is more than a person of color or race, s/he is the person I trust with decisions over matters that I know nothing.

I won’t vote for an ethic minority or gay/lesbian person for the same reasons as females and race. Yes, I’d love to see people who have suffered under the prejudices of white male rule come forward and represent their communities. But whoever is running needs to earn my respect and stand above me and the rest of us as qualified for the position.

That means I can’t make easy decisions – like I’ll vote for her or him just to even out the gender/race/ethnic, etc. balance in our government. Over time, I am seeing that balance come about. Some things just take many years to accomplish and I’m a patient person. An unqualified person who fails or blunders does no one any good.

My Ballot – so far:

President/Vice president – Obama/Biden. This is an easy choice for me. These are two very intelligent and strong individuals who remain calm in the face of drama, who take the time to think things through carefully and who have my basic values in their hearts. I watch them with awe and respect. That’s what I want in the leaders of my country. People far superior to me.

U.S. Representative - Lynn Woolsey. If nothing else I admire her right-thinking around the Iraq war and her persistence in working toward goals I find commendable. There have been instances when I don’t agree with her, but what else is new. The majority of the time I feel well-represented by a person who gets things done.

Farm Animals – I’ve never been able to cage an animal. This is a heart issue for me – not an economic one. If I were that animal, how would I feel confined to a small space. Miserable and helpless. No being deserves to feel that way and we as humans have no right to do that to innocents.

Parental Notification – this is so wrong it hurts. It makes girls victims once more. Boys run free, girls pay the price. Many girls c