tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-48174888083420839582024-03-13T23:12:51.500-07:00a voice in Oakland CaliforniaDon Macleayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17083015728635699181noreply@blogger.comBlogger111125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4817488808342083958.post-12088811028677590512022-02-27T12:44:00.002-08:002022-02-27T12:45:47.438-08:00Not Unprovoked <p>When talking about the current Ukraine war, it is hard to know where to start. </p><p>Each side has its own spin. </p><p>The biggest piece of BS that our government is feeding us here in the US is the “unprovoked” part. </p><p>To listen to all the ex-CIA hacks, retired state department hawks and military analysts talking as pundits in our media, NATO, the US and the EU are all a bunch of clean-handed angels while Russia is acting crazy under the leadership of madman dictator Putin. </p><p>Funny how we do not hear much from anyone outside of the narrow band of NATO supporters. The reporting should remind us all of the babies in the incubator story and the clear assurances of an earlier secretary of state about weapons of mass destruction. The same western allies all fell in line then too. </p><p>It would be nice to hear more from China and India, for example, not to mention the Russians themselves. Why don't any of them get interviews, but any American journalist who stands around Moscow in a Dan Rather jacket is treated like an expert? It would be better to interview their translators. </p><p>Our western alliance governments are using this crisis to sweep a lot of their own actions under the rug. </p><p>The eastern expansion of NATO is real, and it has been upsetting every government in Russia since the end of the cold war. It comes with the United States pulling out of established arms control agreements and NATO holding exercises in eastern Europe that are dress rehearsals for an invasion of Russia. </p><p>You will hear a lot of downplay, evasion and change of subject on NATO expansion from our media. </p><p>Things in the Ukraine are not as cut and dried as Mr. Blinken and company like to pretend. </p><p>The overthrow of the Ukrainian government in 2014 was sketchy. Our government was involved but exactly how is not clear. Just because a bunch of telegenic people storm a building it does not mean that some kind of liberation took place, or that it was democratic, or even that popular. </p><p>The political parties that formed the prior government were outlawed and a for a quick minute, so was the Russian language, which is the first language of about a quarte of Ukrainians. A fascist political party was very involved and that is not some Putin fantasy. </p><p>The situation was bad enough that two the Russian speaking areas broke away and we have had around 15,000 deaths in eastern Ukraine in the following years, none of which seem to warrant a tear-jerking report from NPR or any credence from think tank spin doctors. There was little reporting on the oligarch paid private army that initiated the Ukrainian suppression of that Russian speaking revolt. </p><p>So, yes, Russia was hiding the fact that their troops were involved, but they did not create the situation. There is no talk of any of the Russian speaking side of this tragedy now as the west spins up a new past for this old conflict. The problems of the Dombas is described only as a Russian aggression by our press.</p><p>Since 2014 a steady flow of weapons has entered Ukraine. All the purr words about the Ukrainians and all the snarl words about Putin and Russia don’t change the fact that there has been anti-Russian military buildup based in Kiev and that the Russian government has been asking for it to stop. </p><p>Russia has its own lies and dirty deeds in this conflict and our media has been doing its best to underline an exaggerated misrepresentation of them to fit the needs of the hawks. </p><p>For example, we are being told that this aggression against Ukraine is one of a long list. On that list is Georgia. Think what you may of the two regions involved, there is no doubt that Georgia started that war. Look it if up you don’t believe me. Now we are being told the opposite. </p><p>And there is certainly more we do not know. Are there weapons in Ukraine that both sides do not want to talk about in public? </p><p>Russia is clearly the aggressor here. </p><p>Being for a Russian withdrawal is justified. </p><p>But becoming pro-Ukrainian in this war is not.</p><p>There needs to be a negotiated settlement.</p><p>Both sides have legitimate concerns. </p><p><br /></p><p>And to understand this war, we Americans have to stop believing that this war was unprovoked.</p><div><br /></div>Don Macleayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17083015728635699181noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4817488808342083958.post-17148587274503473712021-11-02T16:15:00.007-07:002021-11-02T16:45:45.955-07:00Today's Nicaragua and the US left<div style="text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><o:p> <br /></o:p>The US left is divided over Nicaragua.<br /> One side feels that Ortega and the Sandinistas can do no
wrong.<br /> The other could do a better job explaining itself to the
left and the public at large. <br /><o:p> <br /></o:p>This weekend Nicaragua will hold a farse election under
repressive conditions. The US left is
well placed to either not explain the bad news well, or to tell us that the bad
news is not true. <br /> <o:p> <br /></o:p>I nearly lost my life building that revolution. Be clear that I too wish that the bad news
was not true. But to be a revolutionary is
to have a commitment to the well being of the people, and to seek out the
truth, not matter how upsetting. We have
a duty to know the nuance and contradictions of any political situation in
which we work. Denial is bad psychology
and worse politics. <br /> <o:p> <br /></o:p>A few years back Ernesto Cardinal, my former culture
minister, a poet, and a priest who was on Pope John Paul II’s shit list for
being a member of the Sandinista government, was the star presenter at the San
Francisco “Flor y Canto” poetry and music festival. <br /> <o:p> <br /></o:p>He read some poetry and talked a bit; while doing so he said
that President Daniel Ortega had become a new Somoza. Anastasio Somoza Debayle was the dictator of
Nicaragua that the Sandinistas, including Ernesto Cardinal and his brother (and
fellow priest) Fernando, overthrew in 1979. <br />
<o:p> <br /></o:p>I knew that things were bad in Nicaragua and had been so for
some years, but to say “the same as Somoza” to me meant a lot, especially coming
from a man I respected so deeply. <br /> <o:p> <br /></o:p>For clarification, the Ortega-Murillo marriage are
president and vice president of Nicaragua and also run the current version of the Frente
Sandinista. When people refer to the Sandinista revolution, they are talking
about the period from 1979 to 1990. Some
people think that the current government is a continuation of that revolution while
most independent analysts think that Ortega-Murillo government is repressive
and much to the right of traditional Sandinista views and ethics. <br /> <o:p> <br /></o:p>Recently I have attended two Zoom meetings that both called
themselves a left perspective on the current situation in Nicaragua. <br /> <o:p> <br /></o:p>The first supported the current Daniel Ortega government
treating it like the ongoing triumph of the revolution that I worked for in the
1980’s. It was hosted by a local Veterans for Peace group. <br /> <o:p> <br /></o:p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tb3kPhtM4VY&list=WL&index=16&t=4463s">ICSS
20210801 Revolutionary Nicaragua in the crosshairs of Imperialism Gerry Condon
- YouTube<br /></a><o:p> <br /></o:p>And the second was organized by the North American Congress
on Latin America which opposes and denounces the current Daniel
government. The main takeaway from that
one was to focus on getting political prisoners released.<br /> <o:p> <br /></o:p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MWFNIiQEq0">The
Nicaraguan Crisis: A Left Perspective (October 7, 2021) - YouTube<br /></a><o:p> <br /></o:p>I found the second one disappointing and the first one
seriously misguided. <br /> <o:p> <br /></o:p>The disappointing one more closely reflected my own views,
but I did not find that the answers that they gave would mean much in our
discussions with the other part of the left represented by the Daniel supports. The answers were too dismissive of other
concerns in my view. It felt like a good
opportunity missed.<br /><o:p> <br /></o:p>The first concern they just pushed back on, but did not
really discuss, was the concern about US involvement and support for some of
the opposition that has emerged in Nicaragua. <br />
<o:p> <br /></o:p>Recently a friend sent me a pro Daniel article that got
published on the Black Agenda Report website.
The Black Agenda Report is a damn good show and I doubt that they know
how badly publishing this article damages their credibility. <br /> <o:p> <br /></o:p>The article is called:<br /> <a href="https://www.blackagendareport.com/why-defending-nicaragua-important">Why
Defending Nicaragua is Important | Black Agenda Report</a> by Stephen Sefton 26
Oct 2021<br />It starts with the line:<br /> <i>The U.S. effort to destabilize Nicaragua is an ongoing
crime against that nation's people.<br /></i><o:p> <br /></o:p>Is that really true?<br /> <o:p> <br /></o:p>American Imperialism is an ongoing reality, especially in
Latin America but I do not believe that
the US State Department is trying to overthrow the Danielista government. For all the years since Daniel was elected
back to the presidency, they seemed totally fine with his pro market, pro
neo-liberal policies not to mention his anti-union and anti-farmer strongarm
tactics. US concern for the increasing
authoritarianism and eroding democracy did not even include lip service before
2018. <br /> <o:p> <br /></o:p>For imperialism to be inactive in a Latin American nation
means a lot. The CIA does not just go away. I do not believe that they are
totally dormant at any time. <br /> <o:p> <br /></o:p>So, for the CIA to not be doing anything serious is an important
event. <br /> <o:p> <br /></o:p>The pro Daniel folk point to the grants and scholarships that some of the
opposition leaders received from US based organizations such as the National Endowment for Democracy. The other side waived that aside saying that it is minimal, and it <span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">is true that it is minimal. When the speakers just brushed those scholarships off, they lost an opportunity to explain that
it is NORMAL and LEGAL in international relations to offer students above-board
education in hopes that it will influence the educated in their favor. It is sleezy, but not subterfuge. </span></div><div style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"> <o:p> <br /></o:p>Today’s CIA is built on a long tradition of interference in
the internal affairs of Latin American nations funding political groups, unions
and supporting military coups, insurgencies and US invasions.<br /> <o:p> <br /></o:p>Scholarships is not what we mean by imperialist interference
in other nations internal affairs. In
the past, and in other nations, we have seen and still see, such tactics as
pouring cash into opposition groups, including armed forces and militias (as in
Venezuela recently, and many places, including Nicaragua, historically),
putting the heat on to get a congress to recall a president (Honduras and
Paraguay) and supporting a takeover by the police and military as in
Bolivia. This is today’s CIA. <br /> <o:p> <br /></o:p>I was disappointed that the speakers did not give the
accusation of US intervention more credence and provide a stronger argument as
to why this is not the case in today’s Nicaragua.<br /> <o:p> <br /></o:p>In the course of the conversation there was only a passing
mention that the participants do not support any US government
interference. In my book that should
take top bill with some clarifications.
And we should also discuss the international human rights organizations
that we do support getting involved. <br /> <o:p> <br /></o:p>Keeping the US out of Nicaragua is always important.<br /> <o:p> <br /></o:p>I also felt that the Sandinista critics were too dismissive
of the social welfare aspect of the Daniel version of Sandinistas. It kind of gave away where they fit in the
social-economic pyramid. <br /> <o:p> <br /></o:p>Yes, the nation is poor. Yes, Ortega-Murillo practice savage
capitalism. Yes, the government is corrupt and
people are losing their labor and land rights. But no, roads, schools, sewage,
drinking water and such are not nothing. <br />
<o:p> <br /></o:p>Try living without them! That was true for much of
Nicaragua only 30 years ago.<br /> <o:p> <br /></o:p>There is a reason why the unaccompanied minors turning
up at the US boarder are mostly from Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. Well, two reasons. One is that to be poor in Nicaragua is not as
bad as in those three countries to their north.
The other reason, and I feel it is a big one, is that the Nicaraguan
street is not under the control of the gangs.
The national police, formally called the Sandinista Police are
repressive, but they are also efficient and powerful. A Honduran does not have basic security and a
Nicaraguan does, and both know it.<br /> <o:p> <br /></o:p>A pro Ortega-Murillo friend just sent me a digital election
poster. It lists 20 things that the
government has done since this second Sandinista period began. Some are debatable, most not. <br /> <o:p> <br /></o:p>No-one on the panel mentioned any of that. They just pointed
out that Nicaragua is still dirt poor and capitalist. True. Nicaragua does not have the social network of
Cuba. But it is better than before and
better than the neighbors to the north. <br /> <o:p> <br /></o:p>Poverty and social welfare in Managua is one thing, poverty deep in
the countryside is another. Out in the
rural areas many people still have reasons to support the Sandinistas,
avidly. <br /> <o:p> <br /></o:p>I was happy to see that former Comandante de la Revolución Luis Carrion Cruz (member of the committee of 9) is still willing to speak out and has taken a
good stand. I just wish that he had
done a better job of reaching the American left, as the hosts said that they set out
to do.<br /><o:p> <br /></o:p>The first Zoom meeting I saw, the pro Daniel one, was not
disappointing, it was upsetting, and I feel that it was spreading the
Ortega-Murillo talking points, may of which are lies and distortions. According to this crowd:<br /> <o:p> <br /></o:p><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->The protests were all just US backed
instigations. <br /> <span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->The protestors are pro-imperialist, pro-contra
right wingers.<br /> <span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->There is no repression Nicaragua.<br /> <span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->All the arrests are justified. <br /> <span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->The Nicaraguan government is socially
progressive.<br /> <span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->The US hates Nicaragua because it is
anti-imperialist. <br /> <o:p> <br /></o:p>I think you get the idea.
This crowd was mockingly dismissive of anything that the Ortega-Murillo
has been accused of. Their far-fetched justifications for every arrest and
repressive action were akin to what we hear from the Republicans who just cover
for their leaders even when they zig zag on policies. <br /> <o:p> <br /></o:p>This presentation was also upsetting to me personally. I have met a lot of these people and at one
time they had my respect for what they did to oppose Regan era wars in Central
America. The host was a local group
where we used to hold meetings in person before the pandemic. At one point they
showed a video of two Americans being guests of honor at a Revolution Day event
in Managua. Both don’t speak enough
Spanish to beat their way out of a wet paper bag, yet they felt that “they were
there and saw it for themselves” and could lecture us on the reality of
Nicaragua. It was kind of sad and
pathetic. <br /> <o:p> <br /></o:p>A good friend of mine looked at it and said that she feels
that some people are trapped in their own nostalgia. Being part of the Sandinista revolution was the high point of their lives. <br /> <o:p> <br /></o:p>What bothers me is that some people are very active telling
the US left, and anyone who will listen, that the current Ortega-Murillo is
just great and once again what we are hearing in the press is all just
imperialism up to its same old tricks. <br /> <o:p> <br /></o:p>That seems to be the entire Stephen Sefton writing franchise
brand. After I saw his awful article in the Black Agenda Report, I spent some
time looking him up. He has about a half
dozen pro Daniel articles running in about a half dozen places in the
alternative media.<br /> <o:p> <br /></o:p>I consider that mis-leadership. <br /> <o:p> <br /></o:p>What should the left do? <br />
<o:p> <br /></o:p>Continue to fight for the respect of nations. We should be for noninterference into other
people’s affairs ALL the time, whether we like that government or not.<br /> <o:p> <br /></o:p>We should continue to stand up for human rights ALL of the
time. There are credible, independent
human rights groups and agencies. We
should take their lead, and not that of our State Department.<br /> <o:p> <br /></o:p>And we should educate our own people on imperialism as practiced
by our own country, wherever that may be.
In this case, the history of interference and military intervention
explain much of what hurts the people of Central America today. <br /> <o:p> <br /></o:p>On a personal note, it is hard for me to be objective about
anything in Nicaragua. That place ate up
7 years of my life, 5 years of my employment and 3 years of military
service. <br /> <o:p> <br /></o:p>We left a lot of people dead because we were fighting to
defend the revolution. The revolution
meant education, it meant development, but above all, we had a promise to the
people of Nicaragua that they would never suffer the cruel repression of the
dictatorship again. <br /> <o:p> <br /></o:p>In that, I feel betrayed. <br />
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</p><p></p></div>Don Macleayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17083015728635699181noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4817488808342083958.post-34022174048741154732021-08-22T20:09:00.006-07:002021-08-22T20:13:21.783-07:00Time to vote in the KPFA station board election <div style="text-align: left;"><div>Time to vote in the KPFA station board election </div><div><br /></div><div>And by that, I mean that I am asking you to vote for me. </div><div><br /></div><div>If you are a member of KPFA you can vote for me now. </div><div>Your ballot should have arrived either via email or a post card. </div><div><br /></div><div>If you are not a member, please become one. </div><div>The community radio part of the progressive community needs all of our engagement. It is too late to register to vote for me, but it is not too late to join and help build this local radio station and our national network. </div><div><br /></div><div>A lot of friends have let me know that they are concerned with the age group that KPFA seems to center on. I am concerned too, that is why I am on the board and running for a full term. It takes board members to advocate policy changes. The biggest change that I am standing up for is a change in generations. We need new and younger people on the air, in the production studio and on the board. That way we make needed steps forward and older people like myself can step aside. </div><div><br /></div><div>My other concerns are membership recruitment in general, our spending and fundraising, and better coordination of our news resources, especially local news. </div><div><br /></div><div>Most people have heard of the faction fighting at KPFA. As a current board member, I have to say that it looks worse from the inside than it appears in public. I am extremely disappointed and offended by the antics of the “New Day Pacifica” group even though I know some of them personally and have respect for their work in other parts of the radio station and around town generally. </div><div><br /></div><div>There is a difference between having alternative opinions and being on a warpath to be in charge. Everyone should put their ideas out there; that is what a board is for. There are a few tendencies around KPFA. They are currently called New Day Pacifica. When it comes to fighting for power, there is just one faction who is fighting for control any way they can. There have been attempts to change the rules. There has been a lawsuit. There have been underhanded attempts to close a station (in New York). Meetings are not respected. There are farfetched motions of censure. </div><div><br /></div><div>Members of this faction have some very good ideas and important points to raise. But they need to stop trying to be the only people with a say in the present and future of KPFA and Pacifica. Please do not vote for anyone that they recommend until they agree to stop abusing the system. </div><div><br /></div><div>I personally have thrown in my lot with Rescue Pacifica and I recommend that you vote for the same people that they endorse. Rescue Pacifica is not a faction, it is an alliance of people who want to run the station together with everyone. There are Democrats, Greens and others in this group. For more information visit <a href=" https://rescuepacifica.net/ " target="_blank">https://rescuepacifica.net/ </a>There are some independents running worth a listen. Vicente Cruz is an old friend and a very ethical person who I endorse. Thomas Lord I have never heard of, but I agree with his idea about bringing in youth and scrappy, innovative reporting. </div><div><br /></div><div>Right now, California is going through a fire and water crisis of historic proportions. We need KPFA to be looking into the causes and solutions and keeping people informed. The corporate media gives us a view that they call balanced. That is a balance between agribusiness and real estate developers. Yet environmental biologists agree with the traditions of the native peoples on land management. Alternative media like KPFA should be our front on this issue. </div><div><br /></div><div>Just as we should be out front on all other climate change issues, other environmental issues and be a main source of honest news on race relations, economic justice, military intervention and all the other things that matter to most of the public. </div><div><br /></div><div>So, my message is to help us build our community radio, and its on-line counterpart, to represent the community and cover the news that our people need. You can do that by joining. You can do that by listening and sending feedback to the shows. And you can do that by electing people who want to make something better out of what we have. </div><div><br /></div><div>And I hope to be that person you trust to elect. </div><div><br /></div><div>------------------------------- </div><div><br /></div><div>Over the past weeks there have been some questionnaires and debates. </div><div>We were also asked to make our case in a 1-minute spot. </div><div><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3-GAhlPgM4&list=PLkHN5Oufe4XPCt9LtG9lzC1n9onviaEla " target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3-GAhlPgM4&list=PLkHN5Oufe4XPCt9LtG9lzC1n9onviaEla </a></div><div><br /></div><div>You can see the debates and other information here:</div><div><a href="https://elections.pacifica.org/wordpress/youtube-channel/kpfa-candidate-debates/" target="_blank">https://elections.pacifica.org/wordpress/youtube-channel/kpfa-candidate-debates/</a></div><div><br /></div></div>Don Macleayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17083015728635699181noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4817488808342083958.post-18224368844637406342021-07-13T13:54:00.007-07:002021-07-13T14:04:59.110-07:00 Nicaragua and the crisis in solidarity <div style="text-align: left;"><div>Nicaragua and the crisis in solidarity </div><div><br /></div><div>Perhaps we in the United States would do a better job of making good international solidarity decisions if we had any serious resistance to capitalism and imperialism of our own. </div><div><br /></div><div>There are a lot of things that we as a people could do to stand up for ourselves and oppose what our system, and its government, does here and around the world, but we don’t really. We get a few great marches in at the beginnings of wars and such, but without any socialist opposition political party or other sustained, organized popular movements, the resistance always fizzles out. </div><div><br /></div><div>After a short time, the Democrats switch the public conversation back to something they like better, such as the right to be gay in the military. The Republicans oppose. The press follows. </div><div><br /></div><div>What little popular resistance we have is fragmented, and depends on the legal status of the shrinking remains of our union movement and even more fragmented opposition electoral politics. The spaces that could have been organizations of people’s power are dominated by the bunch of private businesses called the non-profit sector. Very few of our popular organizations even have a voting membership; of those fewer still have real, contested elections for the leadership. Our government is not really a democracy, so what tools do we have to do better with organizations that should belong to the people? </div><div><br /></div><div>As a culture, we do not do grass roots led organizing very well, any more. </div><div><br /></div><div>So, how does a society that does not really have a strong movements practice solidarity with the peoples of other nations that do? </div><div><br /></div><div>For the most part we don’t. </div><div><br /></div><div>What we have instead is individual advocacy work, often embodied by some self-appointed people who set up some of those non-profits. Such groups do a lot sometimes. The boycotts of South Africa back in the day and the current Boycott, Divest and Sanctions movement would be the two big cases of such an advocacy practice making a lot of political noise when noise is needed. </div><div><br /></div><div>Many would say that our Bernie movement, the AOC squad and the other left Democrat efforts being made with some success around the country are that kind of a popular opposition. I disagree on two levels. First is that they depend on our advertising model of expensive campaigns to get elected. Second is because I do not feel that it works. In Oakland we live in an area represented by such heroes as Ron Dellums and after fifty years, I am not sure we have a lot to show for it. </div><div><br /></div><div>In any case, the US practice is that advocates advocate for their thing and for the most part do not represent any consensus of our popular movements. That is not solidarity; it is supporting a cause. </div><div><br /></div><div>What we do not have is some kind of agreement between trade unions, civil rights associations, political parties, immigrant associations, etc. that some part of US foreign policy or some outrageous human rights crimes of other nations should be opposed, by us, now. </div><div><br /></div><div>That would be a real solidarity movement. We only have bits and pieces at best. </div><div><br /></div><div>On the positive side we have had some good “hands off” movements. Now would be a good time to be clear on the hands-off Cuba idea. </div><div><br /></div><div>A wish was expressed that Cuba resolve its current crisis peacefully without external interference. That is not coming from our liberal Democrat left, it is the position of the president of Mexico. He also offered to send food and vaccines to Cuba, if helpful, and expressed a desire to see an end to the economic embargos of Cuba. </div><div><br /></div><div>Less productively we have seen more than a couple “call your congressman” campaigns directed at the internal affairs of other nations. </div><div><br /></div><div>That finally brings us to the current situation with Nicaragua. The last thing any nation in Latin America needs is some kind of self-declared left progressive movement in the United States advocating for US government involvement in their internal affairs. </div><div><br /></div><div>Why be willing to boycott Israel but not Nicaragua? That depends who is doing the boycotting. When it is the United States government in Nicaragua, there is an inconvenient truth that changes everything. </div><div><br /></div><div>The history and current reality of US imperialism in Latin America is a war crime itself. It is a century and a half of invasions, subversions, proxy wars and military coups that we in the US should classify in our history as one of our national shames alongside the genocidal displacement of the Native Americans and the enslavement and subsequent oppression of African Americans. In Nicaragua all those things happened and that nation suffered death and destruction at our government’s hands. We should not be asking our government to sanction Latin American individuals or nations or to be involved in any way any more than a German should be asking their government to sanction Israel. </div><div><br /></div><div>That does not mean that people in the United States should not be aware of, active around and opposed to the recent political arrests and the repressive actions of the Nicaraguan government. It just means that we should be just as adamantly opposed to our own government doing anything about it. </div><div><br /></div><div>So, what can we do, how should we do it? </div><div><br /></div><div>Respecting the sovereignty of other nations does not mean that we don’t choose our own friends. </div><div><br /></div><div>We may not have the mass movement we really need here, but we do have some organizations we can trust to be consistent in supporting human rights and opposing US intervention. Let’s work with them. Let’s convince them that the arrests of the opposition leaders in Nicaragua is really repression. </div><div><br /></div><div>We should be able to form a consensus that demands the release of those political prisoners, the reopening of the media groups and the operation of Nicaragua’s own human rights organizations. </div><div><br /></div><div>And we can tell the Nicaraguan government directly how we feel about it. </div><div>We can get more than a few hundred names on petitions, if we worked on it. </div><div>We can get some unions and grass roots groups to sign on to prison release. </div><div><br /></div><div>We should find our friends in Nicaragua using the same criteria. There are groups and organizations who are asking for civil liberties, but do not want a return to imperialism. We can help them get their voices heard outside of Nicaragua, here and in other nations. Sending some money might help. A popular boycott of Nicaragua’s tourist resorts might help. We should ask our Nicaraguan friends what they would like us to do. If it jives with our values, then we should do it. </div><div><br /></div><div>There are other Nicaraguans who are not the friends of solidarity because they are wanting to impose a right-wing government totally allied with the US State Department that would roll back all that the revolution in Nicaragua ever did. They deserve civil rights and their political prisoners should be released too, but be clear, they would not support democratic rights for anyone else, especially anyone on the left. </div><div><br /></div><div>Both the left and right have allies and friends in Nicaragua, and pretty much anywhere else. </div><div><br /></div><div>Finally, we and those of like mind around democracy and civil rights should make our voices heard, while we respect the fact that Nicaragua needs to sort its own problems out. </div><div><br /></div><div>And we as Americans have a lot of problems to sort out too. </div><div>We would be doing the world a favor if we made some progress here. </div><div><br /></div></div>Don Macleayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17083015728635699181noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4817488808342083958.post-60199112922522820802021-07-06T22:23:00.001-07:002021-07-06T22:23:53.356-07:00Can I have your vote for KPFA Station Board? <div style="text-align: left;"> I am running for reelection to the KPFA Local Station Board because our community needs community radio. As our country drives itself over many social and environmental cliffs our airways are jammed with a worthless discussion between the pseudo left, the center right and the extreme right. Community radio is where more encompassing news and ideas give us one of the few counter balances that we have in our national dialogue. </div><div><br /></div><div>KPFA is in a long-developed crisis of low listenership and low membership coupled with high costs and serious budget problems. In the SF Bay Area, an independent, progressive, community radio station like ours with developed programing and resources should have a much larger audience and support base. We need to correct this and put much more effort into recruiting. </div><div><br /></div><div>We need younger people as members. We need them on the air making new programing. We need them helping to run and lead KPFA and our Pacifica Network. We need more members of every age and background. This should be the job of EVERYONE at the station; the board, the management and all of the shows on the air. Every program should be promoting new members into leadership roles. Every program should be doing outreach out in the community, not just on the air. </div><div><br /></div><div>We also need to put more effort into improving our on-air offer. We need a better plan for the reporting on and regular delivery of local news. The current programming is very split up and individualized when some better cooperation and sharing of resources would give us a better coverage. </div><div><br /></div><div>The constant infighting and multiple attempts by one faction to take total control distracts us from fixing problems. I am not, and will not be part of the dubious actions taken such as the lawsuit, the bylaws takeover attempt, the midnight closure of another member station or anything else that will shut out voices on our governing boards. If that group becomes a minority at KPFA, I will not support the new majority shutting them out as they currently do to everyone else. I feel that to be on a community radio station board is to hold a public trust and will not have anything to do with tactics and actions that are not ethical. </div><div><br /></div><div>On the board I will work for complete and understandable reporting to the board and membership. If needed, I would be glad to server as a board officer to help turn things around. </div><div><br /></div><div>My personal background is that I am 63 years old, of white English-speaking extraction, a machinist, union member, shop teacher, retrained computer network engineer, small business owner, father of two and a polyglot with a deep, antiimperialist international background. Hopefully some of my developed skills and experiences will add to the human resources of our board and our station. </div><div><br /></div><div>It is what we can do, combined with what we are willing to do collectively that will determine the future of the KPFA-Pacifica project. </div><div><br /></div><div>If you are a KPFA member you can help me get on the ballot by signing my nomination. </div><div>For instructions, follow this link: <a href="https://elections.pacifica.org/wordpress/sign-up-to-nominate-candidates/">Sign up to nominate candidates – Pacifica Foundation Election Website</a></div><div><br /></div>Don Macleayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17083015728635699181noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4817488808342083958.post-50798748319142388752021-06-07T15:12:00.001-07:002021-06-07T15:16:21.548-07:00vote NO on the new KPFA/Pacifica bylaws<p style="text-align: left;"></p><div>You might know that I have been a member of the KPFA Station
Board for a few months now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some friends
have been asking me what (the F) is going on at KPFA radio? and what should
they do about these new Pacifica Foundation bylaws changes that they are
getting email and postcards advocating support?<br /> <o:p> <br /></o:p>Vote NO is what I think people should do.<br /> <o:p> <br /></o:p>Why?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because the
proposal is not only about bylaws.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is
also about a long-standing faction fight. The fine print in the bylaws proposal
will put one faction in control and shut everyone else out permanently.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> <br /> </span><o:p> <br /></o:p>Part of the experience of being on the KPFA Board is to get
to see this faction act badly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t
get shocked by much anymore, but this group has really gone too far several
times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The used to call themselves SaveKPFA,
now they have a few other names including New Day Pacifica.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It has been personally disappointing to see
people who I once respected a lot more justify all kinds of questionable maneuvers
to get control of the network and to shut the others out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now they send you a slick post card full of
nice photos of on-air personalities who support their proposal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What you do not see is that they are all in
the same faction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The other factions have
just as many on-air personalities opposing the bylaws, but what you are seeing
is not a debate, it is political advertising.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> <br />
</span><o:p> <br /></o:p>In the short time I have been involved this is the second
time these faction fighters are trying these trojan horse bylaws
referendum.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They have also tried a
lawsuit against our own movement and attempted to shut down a sister
station.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is hard to describe how undemocratically
they run the KPFA board where they hold a majority.<br /> <o:p> <br /></o:p>Are there financial problems at Pacifica?<br /> Of course there are!<br />But the sky is not falling, no matter what you have heard
from New Day Pacifica.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> <br /> </span><o:p> <br /></o:p>Could the stations be doing a better job in programing?<br /> I think so and I wish we were talking about how to make
things better<br />
instead of lurching from takeover attempt to takeover attempt.<br /> <o:p> <br /></o:p>Should we have better, more efficient governance?<br /> Probably, but not at the cost of one side just getting rid
of the other.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> <br /> </span>A change in the bylaws would need to have support from all
sides, not just one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> <br /> </span><o:p> <br /></o:p>Does something need to be done about the constant power
struggle at our community radio network?<br /> <o:p> <br /></o:p>You betcha.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> <br /> </span>I feel that democracy is messy and difficult.<br />And I don’t see how authoritarianism leads to something
better.<br /> <o:p> <br /></o:p>Start by voting NO on the bylaws and then vote for new and
younger voices to our station boards later this year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We need some new leadership and distance from
the toxic dynamic that has been holding us back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> <br /> </span><o:p> <br /></o:p>My seat on the board is filling in for someone who dropped
out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will run for a term of my own
this next election and I will let you know who I think are some of the other
quality candidates.<br /> <o:p> <br /></o:p>And if you are willing to run for the station board yourself
and help make KPFA a better community radio station, please get in touch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> <br /> </span><o:p> <br /></o:p>Yours<br /> <o:p> <br /></o:p>Don Macleay<br /><o:p> <br /></o:p>donaldmacleay@gmail.com<br /></div><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p></p>Don Macleayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17083015728635699181noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4817488808342083958.post-20212710841512569122021-04-28T07:29:00.002-07:002021-04-28T07:29:17.253-07:00On this day in 1987 <div style="text-align: left;"> Veintinueve </div><div><br /></div><div>On April 22 of 1987 I turned twenty-nine years old in Spain. After a very short visit to Forlí I was invited to visit the Spanish coast by two friends from BLINK, the Bristol Link with Nicaragua, one of the solidarity groups where I knew people. </div><div><br /></div><div>Walking along the Spanish beach in springtime was warm weather for the mostly naked northern Europeans. I had never seen a nude beach before and would have enjoyed it more if I had not found my new Italian jacket not quite enough to block the cold. </div><div><br /></div><div>It was near Easter I think, in any case, someone threw some fire crackers. </div><div><br /></div><div>And then I had a memory of no memory. One moment I was feeling kind of out of place with boots, jeans, shirt and jacket standing less than ten meters from women dressed in only bikini bottoms. Next I knew, I was looking at them again from inside a depression in the sand. There was a mound of sand that I had not consciously noticed with a dip in the middle. I found myself poised nearly flat on the ground, touching spider like, only with my hands and feet, peeking over the top of the sand looking for where the gunfire had come from. All I saw was the mostly naked girls and their family exactly where I had last seen them before I had apparently dived for cover. Quickly it came to me what I had done and I dawned on me that the bangs had only been fireworks. Feeling totally embarrassed I stood back up, dusted off the sand and looked around. If anyone had noticed me jump, no one was showing any signs of it around me. I tried to calm myself and walk back down the beach to where we were staying. I felt like I had exposed myself more than any of those girls on the beach. </div><div><br /></div><div>My hosts had some kind of cake for me, as they knew the next day was my birthday. I was too shook up to really feel it and enjoy it. The next morning it became clear to me that I was really an emotional mess. One more thing happened to show that I was there and not really there at the same time. I decided that my birthday present to myself was going to be a train ride back to Italy and distance from anyone who might want to be emotionally close to me. Vacation with lovely women in Spain was too much for me. </div><div><br /></div><div>My walk through Florence in springtime </div><div><br /></div><div>I had had an acquaintance in Managua, an American guy who, like me, had had a connection with Italy. He was a professional baseball trainer in Italy and did much the same in Nicaragua. He threatened to write a memoire of Nicaragua called "Missing Italy". If he never wrote it, he should still. </div><div><br /></div><div>In my own way I had lived the last couple years missing Italy. Going back to Italy was on my mind when fired from the tractor school. When working in El Cuá I was preparing to move to Germany when the job was done, having started my bit of book work on the German language. </div><div><br /></div><div>With the war and the losses of war, I kept telling myself that I was going to live through that war and survive to walk in Florence in springtime. This became a mantra. Friends in Italy knew I had said this. Friends in Nicaragua and Germany knew it too. It was sort of my method to keep my focus and survive the war. </div><div><br /></div><div>I will walk through Florence in springtime = I will live through this. </div><div><br /></div><div>There were many reasons that I went back to Italy from Spain, but I mostly my ticket went there. Beyond that I had no idea what I was going to do, where I was going to work, and only half planned to continue on to Germany to work and finish learning German. I was not thinking about the Florence in springtime pledge. </div><div><br /></div><div>I was more of an emotional mess than I knew, but it was becoming obvious, even to me, that I was not OK and that I needed to calm down, get used to peacetime and just plain get a grip. One of my friends in Brescia tried to get through to me telling me that what I had just experienced was very unusual and well outside of what most people found normal or could relate to. I'm sure she saw signs of me being too close to the edge too.</div><div><br /></div><div>When I got back to Forlí I started putting together the first notes that would eventually lead in a roundabout way to this book. It had taken a moment to come back to Forli and I had not even asked my hosts about how long I might stay, or start the process of finding a job. If you had asked me, I think I would have said I planned to debrief with the Forli solidarity group and go to Germany to find a place to stay and make some money. There ended up being no time to discuss any of that because on my second morning there, everything changed. </div><div><br /></div><div>My host was Italian, sister of the head of the Communist Youth Federation who had originally invited me to visit Forli and connect them to a project in Nicaragua. Their father was the mayor and head of the local Communist Party. It was their mom who had chaired the meeting to decide to support the Cuá-Bocay project. </div><div><br /></div><div>Her husband was a South American and the least political of the bunch. They were very welcoming but we did not know each other well. </div><div><br /></div><div>That morning I came into the kitchen, bribed by coffee and sat alone at the table. The husband got me my coffee and seemed very awkward around me. He left. I started to wonder if maybe my visit here needed to be shorter. It was a small place and they may not have been up for having a visitor, or maybe not up for having me as a visitor. </div><div><br /></div><div>After the jump into the sand in Spain I had lost trust in my own reactions. Other things I had done were making me think that it would be reasonable not to want me around. Maybe they were being too polite by offering me a room? </div><div><br /></div><div>He came back in and sat next to me for a moment. Something was obviously wrong, yet he did not seem upset with me. He asked for the name of the guy I worked with in Nicaragua. I told him that meant a lot of people. Why? He did not answer. Telling me that he would be right back, he left the room again. I heard him and his wife in the next room talking in hushed voices, but not arguing. Someone got on the phone. My mind was on how to collect my stuff and get on the road to Germany. </div><div><br /></div><div>Then they both came back as I finished my Italian breakfast of cigarette, pastry and coffee. They asked me with dispelling kindness to stay seated as sat both sides of me. </div><div><br /></div><div>They placed the newspaper on the table open to a photo of Ben Linder, </div><div>dead in a casket. </div><div><br /></div><div>Funny how one can do well in a crisis even when emotionally broken. From that moment on I went into action. The Forlí branch of the FGCI, (again that is the Italian Communist Youth Federation) took me around to speak out on what was happening in Nicaragua. I got in touch with the solidarity people in the US. Others got in touch with me. </div><div><br /></div><div>My friends and the Communist Party in Forlí took very good care of me, fed me, and housed me and if I had asked for it, they would have provided a doctor. This despite my erratic and irresponsible behavior on all fronts. I feel forever grateful to them all. They even took the time to help me make a phone call to my father. We went late at night to their dad's office because of the time difference. My step mother took the call. She asked where I was calling from and I had to tell her that it was the office of the Communist Party in Italy somewhere. She let me know that the phone was probably tapped and that there were some kind of FBI type guys sitting in a car near the house looking absolutely ridiculous because they did not blend outside a farm house on an isolated dirt road. She promised to let my dad know I was OK. We both knew that I was probably going to go back and that I was not OK, but that was inferred as we ignored our phone tappers. </div><div><br /></div><div>One of the places that the FGCI took me was called a "reader's circle" for the Communist newspaper Unità. These groups would gather for newsmaker interviews and talks. Since I was connected to an international story, they wanted me to meet local Unità readers and talk about what we were doing in Nicaragua on the project and to tell people who Ben Linder was and what my relationship to him was. I got used to it quick. </div><div><br /></div><div>Some of the questions took me by surprise. One man asked me if in the Nicaraguan militia, we had bullets for our guns. I asked him where one would be in the army and not have bullets for their gun. The answer was Italy. To that I told them I would love to join the Italian army and spend my service near the beach at Rimini, which was not far. We got just as much laughter when I was asked how it was we spoke Spanish in Nicaragua, English in the US and French and Portuguese elsewhere in the Americas. I explained that this was based mostly on which imperial power had dominated which areas and that Spain was the top dog in most of the two continents. His reaction was to say that Italy had never done anything like that. The stunned expression on my face joined the laughter in the room and a few people asking the guy what he thought of the Roman Empire. </div><div><br /></div><div>Two questions always came up. </div><div><br /></div><div>1) Come mai? Literally 'how never', but used along the lines of 'how the hell'. </div><div>'Come mai' was the prefix to a sentence about being an American, who worked in Nicaragua and happened to be here and speak Italian. That was the question I was glad that immigration did not ask. I had a good two-word answer that was accepted with a laugh and no request for further explanation: 'una donna' a woman. </div><div><br /></div><div>2) Why? Why have you made this lifestyle choice? Why are you involved?</div><div>To this I had no answer. I did not feel like I had really had a choice and I said so. </div><div><br /></div><div>I knew that the call was going to come. It came. It was Mira Brown and Rigoberto Gadea who made it. Could I come back and help the project get back on its feet after losing Ben? Sure enough. I let them know that I was on the other side of the world, without any money or a job and... and they told me that they could take care of that. The solidarity around the project had grown, people were raising money. Could I come back and make sure that a project would get built in Bocay where Ben had been killed. I would have never asked to go back, but I could not say no. </div><div><br /></div><div>One friend understood entirely that I did not have a choice. It was me to have this kind of life. It was me to help with this kind of thing. It was me to go back. </div><div><br /></div><div>"Florence is there for you any time of year" </div><div><br /></div><div>I promised my friends in Italy that I would be back soon, just as soon as this crisis was over. </div><div><br /></div><div>Sure I would. </div><div><br /></div>Don Macleayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17083015728635699181noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4817488808342083958.post-48512037700960008182021-04-21T10:40:00.001-07:002021-04-21T10:40:33.002-07:00There was no riot in Oakland last night <div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>There was no riot in Oakland last night </div><div>Because a police officer was found guilty </div><div><br /></div><div>The boards on my local stores will stay up </div><div>Because we have unfinished business </div><div><br /></div><div>Now people are claiming that they are going to start </div><div>What should have been finished long before we were born </div><div><br /></div><div>The boards will stay up </div><div>And a black man will stay dead </div><div><br /></div><div>When I heard the words of the verdict </div><div>I came close to tears </div><div><br /></div><div>I grieve for the man who will not benefit </div><div>From the small victory that carries his name </div><div><br /></div><div>He will not take that lover back into his arms</div><div>No child’s eyes will look at him with adoration </div><div><br /></div><div>A friend of mine was murdered by our country </div><div>Long ago his name was known by everyone </div><div><br /></div><div>He too never got to grow old </div><div>Frozen in time as a hero </div><div><br /></div><div>The story gets retold </div><div>Because it is mostly forgotten </div><div><br /></div><div>Pilgrims leave flowers at his grave </div><div>As do I, in solitude </div><div><br /></div><div>Every day three of us are shot by police </div><div>How many are bombed? </div><div><br /></div><div>Our soldiers and our cops are not changing much </div><div>Three generations have learned something from them </div><div><br /></div><div>Fear </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div></div>Don Macleayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17083015728635699181noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4817488808342083958.post-71808065343384959582021-04-15T12:15:00.003-07:002021-04-15T12:21:11.371-07:00Yes Stadium <div>That is YES to the stadium that we already have. </div><div><div>And NO to the Jack London Square deal. </div><div><br /></div><div>When Jean Quan was Mayor of Oakland she told me that she wanted nothing to do with a stadium deal involving a team owner who was also a developer. </div><div><br /></div><div>Is that still the case? </div><div>If so something is missing in the news coverage of the proposed ballpark. </div><div>Considering that there is this guy who is probably on Libby’s speed dial. </div><div><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: DengXian; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/10/11/letter-oakland-as-owner-could-sell-team-develop-the-coliseum-property-for-profit/">Letter:
A’s owner could sell team, develop Coliseum property for profit – The Mercury
News</a> </span></div><div><br /></div><div>There is probably a big difference between what the rich people involved say that we need and the full story of how they will benefit. </div><div><br /></div><div>But that is not why I am opposed to the new park. </div><div><br /></div><div>I just want us to invest in fixing the old one. </div><div><br /></div><div>The Oakland Coliseum complex is two large venues linked to BART, with a freeway off ramp and a direct link to Oakland Airport. There is really nothing structurally wrong with the building and not so much upgrade needed that the A’s have stopped playing their games there. Former councilman Larry Reid used to point out that the site could be modified to include an Amtrack station. </div><div><br /></div><div>So, is Oakland so rich that we can throw a couple stadiums away because the sports press whines about Mt. Davis? How about some better comfort for the people who attend? More efficient and cleaning food services? Clean and modern bathrooms? Better child centers from which on could see the game while the kid played on a slide? A moving walk to BART would be nice too. The sum total of these things will not cost anything like what the new ballpark at Jack London will run us. </div><div><br /></div><div>And we are so rich we can throw away some of our port? </div><div><br /></div><div>The port needs some help. A land grab is not the help it needs. </div><div><br /></div><div>And Jack London Square? Will that put the stadium under the authority of the Port Commission? What kind of transit do we offer there? The ferry to San Francisco? Is this our N-th gimmick to profit off of Jack London Square after spending so much time driving the main draws out of business? A new stadium is supposed to help the vacancy rate? The public has already paid for two white elephants in the area; is three the charm? What does the place look like on days without a game? If we are talking about setting up some kind of full time local business and services there, then why not do it at the Coliseum complex that we have now? </div><div><br /></div><div>So, there are some very practical reasons to upgrade the stadium that we have and invest in our port area in ways that run 7 days a week. </div><div><br /></div><div>So, why is this unwise and expensive project probably going to happen?</div><div><br /></div><div>Money. Developer money. </div><div><br /></div><div>If you are looking for elected officials who are willing to stand up to the developers, do not look at Oakland or anyone who represents Oakland at the county or state. </div><div><br /></div><div>And now the games being played have a long history at our stadium. Most recently a group of A’s owning developers bought out the Alameda County share in a move so bold that even Libby could not put up with it without a fight. </div><div><br /></div><div><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: DengXian; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="https://www.ktvu.com/news/city-of-oakland-sues-county-over-sale-of-coliseum-to-as">City
of Oakland sues county over sale of Coliseum to A's (ktvu.com)</a> </span></div><div><br /></div><div>And the monied interests howled, threatened and got their way. </div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/oakland-drops-lawsuit-vs-county-regarding-coliseum-sale/2118040/">Oakland
Drops Lawsuit vs. County Over Coliseum Sale – NBC Bay Area</a> <br />(I suggest that you watch the video) </p></div><div>Also note the price, 85 million dollars for half? </div><div>Who set that price? </div><div><br /></div><div>This act of welfare for the rich and professional sport blackmail has a long history in Oakland and in professional sports altogether. About 10 years back Desley Brooks, who was then council member for District 6 was kicked off the Coliseum joint operations group to be replaced by Rebecca Kaplan in a move that was never explained. Now Brooks was voted out by a Libby backed candidate. I wonder how he will vote on the stadium “deal”? Before that we had the Al Davis extortion, where Oakland bent over backwards to his list of demands and now the Raiders are in Las Vegas. </div><div><br /></div><div>A few years ago The Onion published a satirical piece where the US Congress threatened the city of Washington DC that they would move the government unless the district paid for a new capitol building. 新华网 The New China News Service repeated the story thinking that it was true. It certainly was no less bizarre than professional sports stadium deals. </div><div><br /></div><div>The Coliseum free ride for big real-estate is attention grabbing and happens in the context of all kinds of development deals helped along by friendly public officials at city, county and state. The often involve public property getting sold to private hands at low cost and with little to no public benefit. This is also an aspect of the state control of our public schools as we are forced to close some of our schools and developers and/or charters pick up properties for pennies on the dollar. If you want to find the ugly side of Oakland government and politics, follow the money going to construction firms, investment companies and banks and of course in the purchase and sale of land. </div><div><br /></div><div>What I wish we had was some kind of independent review process that would investigate all sales of public land to private interests before it is authorized and had the power to stop the loss of public property.</div></div><div><br /></div>Don Macleayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17083015728635699181noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4817488808342083958.post-5010875057712294622021-04-03T09:54:00.001-07:002021-04-05T11:04:49.566-07:00KPFA and the vast conspiracy<p></p><p class="MsoNormal">KPFA and the vast conspiracy</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It has been one of my firm beliefs that people accuse others
of the crimes that they themselves are willing to commit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A prime example is the national Republican party’s
complaints about voting rights.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Republicans accuse the Democrats of wanting to create a
permanent majority for themselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
coming from the folk who have voter suppression laws in a majority of states,
most of which are so gerrymandered that the Republicans hold overwhelming
majorities in their state and federal delegations despite only having a slim
majority of the votes, if that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Yet Republicans accuse the Democrats of gaming the system. <br />
They should, they have gaming the system on their minds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I have found it hard to focus on any one subject trying to
describe the far-fetched arguments and proposals made by the local KPFA board
majority.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, for this bit of writing,
let’s talk about conspiracy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">At this last KPFA meeting we went through the looking glass
to a world where being a local leader of the Green Party was equated to being
an elected official.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>My friend James McFadden sits on the KPFA station
board. He is also elected to the Alameda
County Green Party Council. Greens do
this by county. Democrats elect their
delegates by Assembly District. Who
knows how, or if, Republicans, Peace and Freedom or Libertarians elect their
internal leadership? When they do, the internal party election is usually
tacked onto that party’s specific ballot at Primary time. </p><p class="MsoNormal">[my friend Stan at Peace and Freedom assures me that they do hold democratic, internal elections]</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">KPFA has a very good rule that those on the payroll or who
hold any leadership or elected position inside KPFA or Pacifica Radio cannot be
an elected official or a candidate for elected office at the same time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My own election to the KPFA board left me as
the runner up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of the members of the
station board ran for office in Richmond and I was asked to step up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Many of us in Oakland know of Cat Brooks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She is on the air during the morning show on
KPFA weekdays.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When she ran for Oakland
Mayor, she suspended her employment at KPFA until the election was won by Libby
Schaff.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When I was on a nonprofit board, I voluntarily did not
attend those board meetings when I ran for City Counsel and picked back up
after that election was won by Dan Kalb.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This is all very normal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">At the last station board meeting a member of the faction
formally known as “Save KPFA” accused James McFadden of breaking this rule,
demanding that he resign based on a highly contrived argument that conflates an
internal Green Party election with being a government official.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Then the accusations became bizarre.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It included the idea that the Greens have
some kind of KPFA board candidate training program and together with the
Worker’s World Party they (we) are plotting to take over the station and only
promote radical programming because we want to wreck the station.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It sounded a lot like Republicans calling Joe Biden a
“socialist”.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">At that point, I had to say something about this
vast-Green-conspiracy theory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I pointed
out that my recruitment to the KPFA board was because of my friend Tom Voorhees
asking me to do it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have known Tom
since we met in Nicaragua in the 1980’s and he helped us with our radios there.
This is long before the US Green Party or Save KPFA even existed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And who the hell is the Worker’s World Party?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
If “Save KPFA” hates them, they must be doing something good.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And why does the faction formally known as “Save KPFA” have
conspiracy on the brain?<br />Surprise! They have a very real conspiracy of their own they
are working on.</p><p class="MsoNormal">It is a bylaws scam.
It is the second try at a bylaws scam. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">So, before I explain, hear this.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">VOTE NO ON THE BYLAWS AMENDMENT, IT IS A SCAM</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“Save KPFA” got some of their former opponents to join them
and now call themselves something like United for Independent Radio. They now
have a front group or sub group called New Day Pacifica.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That groups seems to have some serious cash
for on-line promotion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They have gotten
enough signatures to put their bylaws change on the ballot. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Again. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This is the second time that a bylaws change is being attempted
by the same faction.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The idea is simple.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Make sure that they, and only they, are in charge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The bylaws change is to eliminate the
Pacifica Nation Board that we now have, elected by all 5 station boards in the
Pacifica Network.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Voting yes will
appoint a 4-person junta to run things during the transition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The local station boards will be stripped of
all authority.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>New elections under their
new rules will take place sometime.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">So KPFA will become a province of Myanmar?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">One of the people behind this new takeover attempt also
explained why they have good reasons not to hold on-air debates about these
bylaws for the listener members. Instead, we will hold obscure discussions out
of the limelight and broadcast on-air announcements worthy of George
Orwell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Your will find that statement on the front page of the
kpfa.org website.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The New Day Pacifica slick email has a long list of notable
endorsers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(So do the opponents.) Where
does the money come from for such a media campaign?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How did they get the membership list? Will
equal time be given to the other views?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Can they send an email to that same list?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“Save KPFA” sounds like the Republicans, and many Democrats,
when they talk about how the sky will fall if they are not put in total charge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They throw around language where they are the
only competent ones, and everyone else involved in KPFA and Pacifica does not
know what they are doing; thus, disaster is always just around the corner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The last time they tried a bylaws change it got
overwhelmingly voted down.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And now the accusation out of their mouth is “conspiracy”.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I do not doubt their expertise on the subject.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></p><br /><p></p>Don Macleayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17083015728635699181noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4817488808342083958.post-14028162021498252312021-01-04T13:54:00.001-08:002021-01-04T13:54:35.004-08:00No shame<p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">No shame</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">There are times that one knows what one thinks,
but has no idea what to say. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Between our </span><span style="font-size: 13.3333px;">November</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> KPFA Station Board meeting
and the one we had on a Saturday in late December a group of board members from the majority
setup some shell non-profit and then filed a lawsuit to put KPFA into
receivership.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The reason I do not know what to say is
because I am at a loss for words to describe how outrageous a thing that was to
do.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">First and foremost, this was outrageous because
it boiled down to attempted theft of a member owned radio station by a number
of board members acting on their own to get their hands on the considerable
value of the station, the building, and above all it’s license. They had a non profit all set up to sweep the
wealth into; a non profit controlled only by them.</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">It was also outrageous because this lawsuit
was a surprise to the rest of the board, the rest of the KPFA community and the
Pacifica Foundation to which KPFA and the other stations belong. If they had
gotten away with it, a narrow majority at one station, KPFA, would have had
control of all five Pacifica stations. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">It was outrageous because they acted in the
dark and struck by surprise. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Last meeting ended with us wondering if there
was even going to be a December meeting. The
only reason to hold one would be if the bylaws said that we had to re-elect
board officers before the end of the calendar year. There was no mention of an impending lawsuit
wanting to take control. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">So, this meeting had an extra item added to
the agenda. The motion was to censure
and remove the three board members who had sued the organization that they
claim to represent.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The meeting degraded into a shouting match.
When people were not shouting, they were making harsh accusations. A few people dominated the Zoom chat with
nasty comments and attacks on each other’s personal histories on all sorts of
subjects not related to the problem at hand. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I have not seen such dogmatic, sectarian
infighting since I was a young leftist in Montreal in the 1970’s.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">If you have not seen Monty Python, The Life of
Brian, watch it. <br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Friends warned me about the so-called Save
KPFA faction and I should have listened. That clique added some new members and
now has a new name or two, but does not seem to change much. Before I just disagreed with their
proposals. Now I question their sense of
ethics. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">At the December Local Station Board meeting we
heard a lot of why they think that they are the only ones to hold the right
views, but as they went on, we got nothing about why they feel that their lack
of respect for the process was helping anything, or what justified them acting
unilaterally like that. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">So, what do I think? For me, filing that lawsuit is sort of like
suing for custody of the kid and then thinking that you can still sleep in my
bed. How could such a thing not wreck
the relationship? </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In the course of the discussion, we were given
all kinds of interesting arguments that if addressed differently would have
been valuable. Worthwhile discussion should
have been held BEFORE throwing such a bomb.
There were also some strong accusations made by the majority that needed
more support than Trump style belligerence. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Among other things, we were told: <o:p></o:p></span></p><div style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Pacifica’s board is not democratic, so
it can be ignored<br /><o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Only their faction is doing anything
for the station<br /> <o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">That everyone else has “never done
jack shit” for KPFA<br /> <o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">That people who oppose them are part
of the Workers World Party (that I don’t even know)<br /><o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">That “somebody” had to stand up for
the station because nothing is being done<br /> <o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The financial crisis risks losing the
whole network (if so, show us the numbers) <o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> <br /></span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">What did not get an answer to, was the
question “what gave them the right to unilaterally do this”?<br /> </span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> <br /></span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Had the situation that they consider so dire
been brought to the board with supporting documentation and then the board have
been asked to back such a legal action, we would be talking a different story.<br /> </span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> <br /></span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Somewhere in there would have been the step
where the local KPFA board would file a well-documented complaint to the
national Pacifica board, who actually manage the network. <br /> </span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> <br /></span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">By the way, the judge seemed to think the same
thing about these guys lack of standing and lack of support for their
accusations, and then summarily threw the whole receivership request out. <br /> </span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> <br /></span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The December meeting then took a long time
electing board officers because discussion of the lawsuit was all over the
public comments period and the election comments period. In the end, the majority faction fell into
line like Republicans and voted in officers who included a lawsuit plaintiff.<br /> </span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> <br /></span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">A plaintiff in the receivership suit now leads
the local board of the foundation that she just sued.<br /></span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> <br /></span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">We had this in Oakland for many years on the
school board, where the public schools were being run with a pro privatization
majority backed by a billionaire’s movement.
It is only so analogous, but it feels like we are down a similar rabbit
hole. <br /> </span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> <br /></span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">And now we will have to finish discussing the
motion to remove the 3 board members involved next month. I asked for a written abstract from both
sides with links to supporting documentation WELL BEFORE the next meeting. I have no idea if we will get that. I will write the board secretary. <br /> </span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> <br /></span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">So what do I say? <br /> </span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> <br /></span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I have no idea because I don’t know how to
talk to people who have done a thing like that. <br />
</span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">What will they do next? Who will they do it to?<br /> </span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> <br /></span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">We have another week to find a way to talk to
each other. <br /> </span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> <br /></span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Next meeting, Jan 9<sup>th</sup>, 11 AM<br /> </span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">https://zoom.us/j/98653918465?pwd=UkpqZjZQdkNLNmhtU3JPbEJCNzRWUT09<br /></span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">
Meeting ID: 986 5391 8465<br /></span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">
Passcode:<br /></span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">
320657<br /></span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></div><p class="MsoNormal">
</p><p></p>Don Macleayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17083015728635699181noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4817488808342083958.post-54322442566001644722020-12-15T17:50:00.000-08:002020-12-15T17:50:59.058-08:00A stressful meeting <p></p><div style="text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>A stressful meeting</p><div>The weekend before Thanksgiving I attended one of the most bizarre meetings in my short 30 years living in the East Bay and being somewhat active in local politics. </div><div><br /></div><div>It was the KPFA radio station’s Local Station Board. </div><div><br /></div><div>Most of this year I focused on the Oakland school board race, so I ask to be forgiven for not keeping the fact that I was first runner up on the KPFA board election the year prior at the front of my mind. </div><div><br /></div><div>The fact that one can not serve at KPFA in any function and also run for office or be an elected official slipped the mind of one of the KPFA board members as he ran for Richmond City Council. </div><div><br /></div><div>I got a call; he was off the board, and I was on, if I was still willing to serve. </div><div><br /></div><div>Of course I am willing to serve. I feel that it is important to have at least one media outlet that is not corporate or non-profit corporate and really belongs to the community. That might sound abstract, but in practice, it is not. This is the one radio station in our area that the private sector has no influence over. No ads, no donations, no underwriting. That also means that the station does not have a lot of money. The only cash it does have is the dues we members pay. My own contribution is something like $10 a month on automatic payments. That makes me a member and my spot on the board is as a member representative. Staff is also represented. </div><div><br /></div><div>There are some things I would like to see us do better: </div><div>•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Local news. </div><div>•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Investigative reporting. </div><div>•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Recruitment of youth. </div><div>•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Renewal of the on-air cast. </div><div>•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Volunteer reporters. </div><div>And in all these things, I think we need to expand the listener base and the membership. </div><div><br /></div><div>As far as I am concerned, every show currently on the air should be actively doing each and every one of these things or at least actively working to help them happen. </div><div><br /></div><div>Well, we certainly did not talk about any of this during our November meeting. </div><div><br /></div><div>What did we talk about? A good half hour was spent discussing if the public question and comment period would be the first half hour of the meeting or the last. Finally, I proposed that we do it the way the public was expecting that day, and TRY the other way at the upcoming meetings and then discuss how it goes. People went along and we got back to business. </div><div><br /></div><div>That was unnecessarily stressful. </div><div><br /></div><div>There was a part of the meeting that I am not allowed to divulge. Let’s just say that emotionally when it was over that discussion reminded me of a couple’s quarrel where both kept circling back around to where they took offense, with the original molehill built into a mountain based on “how could you” and “this obviously means” type of talk as we all ran around like Asterix and Obilix covering our heads because the sky is about to fall. </div><div><br /></div><div>The offended harped on for a long time but yet did not seem to feel the need to moderate their own language as they decried a member’s language in the light of what they thought it implied. </div><div><br /></div><div>By the time we went back to regular session, it felt like a relief. </div><div><br /></div><div>And then we got to the big item of the day. The report back from the Pacifica National Board. </div><div><br /></div><div>Each local station board elects members to the national board, where most of the administration of the network takes place. I think KPFA had three, but hey, this was my first meeting. </div><div><br /></div><div>My friend, who talked me into running for KPFA board, reported back saying that he works on keeping the antennas working and such stuff, so did not have much to say about the financial crisis affecting the network. It felt as if his work was off topic. Infighting was on topic, but broadcasting was not. </div><div><br /></div><div>Then what we got was not a report; it was an editorial. If the harsh language from before was not enough, we got dismissive descriptions of national board business saying that the national board does not know what it is doing, has no plans and we got several repeats of how KPFA is the only station to raise any money and the other 4 stations are just riding along. </div><div><br /></div><div>By the time the meeting was over, all I really know about the National Board is that the majority of the Local Board really does not go along with the program. </div><div><br /></div><div>Over the past years I had heard a lot of different things about the local board majority at KPFA, most of which I did not pay much attention to. Now I got to see it in person and was really disappointed. There are a couple of people in there that I have known for years and once valued as positive assets to the local progressive community. </div><div><br /></div><div>I do not see how any of this dynamic helps us build unity around dealing with the financial issues or gets us on the track of building a renewed, 21st century radio station that means something to the youth of the San Francisco Bay Area. </div><div><br /></div><div>My 70 year old buddy who talked me into getting involved has told us all, several times, that when he was growing up in the Berkeley Area, KPFA was what people tuned into in order to know what was really going on. </div><div><br /></div><div>KPFA is still sort of that, but we could get off our high horses and do a better job. </div><div><br /></div><div>Next meeting this weekend. </div><div><br /></div></div><p></p>Don Macleayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17083015728635699181noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4817488808342083958.post-71587417216493861472019-12-12T15:36:00.001-08:002019-12-12T15:36:55.302-08:00New tenant on Piedmont Ave
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
There is a
new tenant on Piedmont Ave</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
He has taken
over the now vacant Starbucks on the corner of 41<sup>st</sup>. </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I guess that
there was not that enough money to be made there</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
By the hour,
by the square foot, per barista </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Selling coffee</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
For Starbucks
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Across the
side street </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Gaylord’s
coffee eeks out a living</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Selling coffee
that Russ roasts himself </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
And has very
young people serve to us </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Behind his censored
mural </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Along the wall
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Where some
guests sit outside and smoke </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
When it is
raining, </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
There are no
tables on 41<sup>st</sup> street </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
And the new
tenant in the old Starbucks</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Finds his
shelter almost dry </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
With room
for his bag and bicycle </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
His blonde
hair </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Half beard </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Youthful face
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
And obvious
distress </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Are all
familiar to me </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I’ve seen
him around </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
He has lived
on Piedmont Ave. for a while</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Just not at
Starbucks </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
On a rainy
day </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
Don Macleayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17083015728635699181noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4817488808342083958.post-90359629167498855832019-10-30T16:26:00.003-07:002019-10-30T16:28:40.357-07:00850 words about our fires that the Chronicle did not print<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
We should be outraged to live in a state that alternates
between fires and floods and yet does so little to prevent either. </div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
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</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
So, now it is fire.
Again. </div>
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<br /></div>
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</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
My former mother in law needs to be evacuated for her health
because she needs to breath air without smoke and has health concerns that she
uses electricity to cope with. People died in her town in their last fire. </div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
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</div>
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Last time I wrote on this it was about a flood. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
A town where I like to catch dinner was under a few feet of
water. Many businesses were damaged,
some residences too. That town has been flooded several times. </div>
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<br /></div>
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</div>
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Both the fires and the floods are made worse by bad land
management coupled with ineffective building codes. Our state’s response to these long-understood
problems of fire ecology and watershed protection is the same as our nation’s response
to climate change: insufficient. </div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
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</div>
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We blame climate change, we blame Trumpian budget cuts, we
blame PG&E, all with some justification. </div>
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But the bigger picture is formed with long standing
inconvenient truths. </div>
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We need to set little controlled fires to avoid larger
blazes that get totally out of hand. </div>
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The native peoples have been saying this, the forestry
people have been saying this and environmental biologists have been saying this
since before I was born, and I am not young. </div>
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We need to reforest and replant a buffer distance out from
all of our rivers and streams. </div>
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When it rains it should be an opportunity, not an
emergency. Water needs to slow down in
forested land as it runs off. When you
see high water that is brown with dirt, that is our topsoil washing away out of
an unhealthy watershed. We need
strategically placed reforestation and wetlands to keep the water and land both
healthy, let water seep back into the depleted aquifers, give us fish runs and
become natural fire brakes. And
sometimes water just needs to rise, so don’t build there. </div>
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Why do these two simple fixes not happen? </div>
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My guess is because it requires that two powerful economic
groups be regulated and pay a good share of the cost of change. </div>
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They are the agricultural sector and the building
sector. </div>
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On the one hand, the kinds of land use zoning and building
code upgrades that would turn our regular fire and flood seasons into non-emergency
events will cut into profits. </div>
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And on the other hand, those with large amounts of private
property have a habit of resisting any and all kinds of regulation. They keep us all asking why they should not
be allowed to do what they want with their own land and real estate
projects. </div>
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The question deserves an answer because nobody should be
regulated or restricted without due cause. </div>
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In this case, they should not be allowed to manage lands or build
buildings that easily burn, and there are places where we never should build,
farm or graze cows. In many parts of the
state we have developments that were permitted directly in harms way, or in
ways that make harm. </div>
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The reason the rest of us should have a right to keep business
from repetitively burning down our state is part of the same thinking that does
not allow anyone near a school to build a dynamite factory. </div>
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To be fair, if one thinks about it, a lot of us have
benefited from the housing business and the farm production and have
participated in the lifestyles they afford us. The fixes are simple to
understand, but will have all kinds of complex local issues to deal with when
put into effect. </div>
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We will all have to help pay for the change. </div>
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Now that the state is on fire again, let’s take a moment to
think about how bad it really is. We
need to get out of denial and do as much as we can, the same way we have prepared
for earthquakes. </div>
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Of course, the technical and political part is in no way
easy. We will end up moving whole communities, retrofitting homes, setting
aside land and finding better use for our waste waters as we manage other
difficult changes. Our old water and fire problems exist in a time of other
challenges. </div>
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In many ways climate change, fire ecology and seasonal rain
patterns along with everything we need to do to get off fossil fuels add up to
a serious, statewide rebuild. </div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
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</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
That rebuild is also a great opportunity, but we have hardly
even started. </div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
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</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
Don Macleay, <br />
Oakland</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
</div>
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The author has written more extensively on this subject <br />
<a href="http://donmacleay.blogspot.com/2019/03/california-at-waters-edge.html">http://donmacleay.blogspot.com/2019/03/california-at-waters-edge.html</a></div>
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<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike></div>
Don Macleayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17083015728635699181noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4817488808342083958.post-64522771311355138952019-09-22T14:32:00.000-07:002019-10-01T13:58:13.990-07:00Converting a 98 Moto Guzzi V11ev to all LED bulbs<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>Tools needed: </b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "symbol"; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Metric Allen wrench set </div>
<div style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "symbol"; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Philips and straight edge screwdrivers </div>
<div style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "symbol"; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Needle nose plyers </div>
<div style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "symbol"; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Wire cutters </div>
<div style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "symbol"; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Razor blade </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>Materials needed </b><i>with the links for where I found
them </i></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="margin-left: .25in;">
1 <a href="https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/motorcycle-led-bulbs/motorcycle-h4-led-fanless-headlight-conversion-kit-with-adjustable-color-temperature-and-compact-heat-sink-2500-lumens/4444/">Headlamp
kit</a> </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="margin-left: .25in;">
5 <a href="https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/instrument-cluster-gauge/74-led-bulb-1-smd-led-miniature-wedge-retrofit-car/227/">crimped
base instrument lights</a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="margin-left: .25in;">
3 <a href="https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/ba9s-ba7s/ba9s-led-bulb-5-smd-led-tower-ba9s-retrofit-car/2077/4722/">dash/front
running lights</a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="margin-left: .25in;">
4 <a href="https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/tail-brake-turn/67-led-light-bulb-12-smd-led-tower-ba15s-base/3698/12877/">turn
signal lights</a> </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="margin-left: .25in;">
1 <a href="https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/flashers-load-resistors/electronic-led-flasher-relays-for-motorcycle/787/">electronic
flasher</a> </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="margin-left: .25in;">
2 <a href="http://www.thisoldtractor.com/">diodes in kit</a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRiea24fVsn8K4kS90FnlTL2Aro6z5vltqgNKCLE4wcUt3rXPX5YCDxiNETJzYs7gY6zBoEA78VDJAmxedH7PIsIEymqcjSa5rZMxe4i2TfMjsiFkvhDHVVSEzncgekjQ3MdFdMeDRCH8a/s1600/0913191709.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; clear: right; color: #0066cc; float: right; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRiea24fVsn8K4kS90FnlTL2Aro6z5vltqgNKCLE4wcUt3rXPX5YCDxiNETJzYs7gY6zBoEA78VDJAmxedH7PIsIEymqcjSa5rZMxe4i2TfMjsiFkvhDHVVSEzncgekjQ3MdFdMeDRCH8a/s1600/0913191709.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; clear: right; color: #0066cc; float: right; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #b00000;"></span><br /></a>
<u></u><br />
<div style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-align: left;">
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRiea24fVsn8K4kS90FnlTL2Aro6z5vltqgNKCLE4wcUt3rXPX5YCDxiNETJzYs7gY6zBoEA78VDJAmxedH7PIsIEymqcjSa5rZMxe4i2TfMjsiFkvhDHVVSEzncgekjQ3MdFdMeDRCH8a/s1600/0913191709.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; clear: right; color: #0066cc; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-align: left;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-align: left;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRiea24fVsn8K4kS90FnlTL2Aro6z5vltqgNKCLE4wcUt3rXPX5YCDxiNETJzYs7gY6zBoEA78VDJAmxedH7PIsIEymqcjSa5rZMxe4i2TfMjsiFkvhDHVVSEzncgekjQ3MdFdMeDRCH8a/s320/0913191709.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12.8px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">left to right, tai/brake light, instrument lights, tachometer/speedometer </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12.8px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">illumination and turn signals, each with original and LED replacement</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<i>Note that the normal advice is
to use the same color LED as the lens.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In this case all the instrument lights, headlight,
tachometer - </i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRiea24fVsn8K4kS90FnlTL2Aro6z5vltqgNKCLE4wcUt3rXPX5YCDxiNETJzYs7gY6zBoEA78VDJAmxedH7PIsIEymqcjSa5rZMxe4i2TfMjsiFkvhDHVVSEzncgekjQ3MdFdMeDRCH8a/s1600/0913191709.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; clear: right; color: #0066cc; float: right; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: auto; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRiea24fVsn8K4kS90FnlTL2Aro6z5vltqgNKCLE4wcUt3rXPX5YCDxiNETJzYs7gY6zBoEA78VDJAmxedH7PIsIEymqcjSa5rZMxe4i2TfMjsiFkvhDHVVSEzncgekjQ3MdFdMeDRCH8a/s1600/0913191709.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; clear: right; color: #0066cc; float: right; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></a><i>speedometer - front running lights and tail/brake lights are natural-white
lights.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>The only colored LED is the
amber turn signal. </i></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<i></i><i></i><br /></div>
<div style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-align: left;">
<i>Note #2: I was able to get
everything from Gregory Bender at <a href="http://www.thisoldtractor.com/">http://www.thisoldtractor.com/</a>
and from Super Bright LED’s<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="https://www.superbrightleds.com/">https://www.superbrightleds.com/</a> </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i><br /></i>
<i>Mr
Bender knows his motorcycles and their wires and is who I recommend first for
any electrical work and parts on a Moto Guzzi.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>The Super Bright people have a wide range of parts, most of which Mr.
Bender does not carry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i></div>
<div style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ1D7cB1Q2xHVyD6jcUtySxPRDVSDPljBTrVWQDVAeV0hRCa8eUTSEiZX2D0me_KglRLFW1KfYKOomJ3xbjcf35Ybwl2zlcjIcxrJhgqRZDvfaEGZrUDknenZEPQKqDUYJmEtaRE0Zjkal/s1600/0913191909.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; color: #0066cc; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ1D7cB1Q2xHVyD6jcUtySxPRDVSDPljBTrVWQDVAeV0hRCa8eUTSEiZX2D0me_KglRLFW1KfYKOomJ3xbjcf35Ybwl2zlcjIcxrJhgqRZDvfaEGZrUDknenZEPQKqDUYJmEtaRE0Zjkal/s200/0913191909.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12.8px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">LED tail and turn signal</span>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></i><br />
<div style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-align: left;">
<b style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">The tail and brake lights</b><span style="background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> are the easiest part.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Just change the bulbs for the equivalent
LED’s. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">For the V11, I chose the natural
white LED’s because the back fixture includes a clear window to illuminate the
rear license plate.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Otherwise somewhat better
brightness results come from matching the LED color to the red lens color. These <span style="background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">are the kind that have a twist lock cylinder and two bottom
tips</span>.</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; float: right; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0.5em; orphans: 2; padding-bottom: 6px; padding-left: 6px; padding-right: 6px; padding-top: 6px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 80%; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span><br />
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: &quot; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ1D7cB1Q2xHVyD6jcUtySxPRDVSDPljBTrVWQDVAeV0hRCa8eUTSEiZX2D0me_KglRLFW1KfYKOomJ3xbjcf35Ybwl2zlcjIcxrJhgqRZDvfaEGZrUDknenZEPQKqDUYJmEtaRE0Zjkal/s1600/0913191909.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ1D7cB1Q2xHVyD6jcUtySxPRDVSDPljBTrVWQDVAeV0hRCa8eUTSEiZX2D0me_KglRLFW1KfYKOomJ3xbjcf35Ybwl2zlcjIcxrJhgqRZDvfaEGZrUDknenZEPQKqDUYJmEtaRE0Zjkal/s1600/0913191909.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7c6ssOwvnRNIATMAQHlY8DcaFP9PpfwiTwawUqupNFXgv4_0s0xoC1riQhgDt230t3WjzZYaDFJ2X25sFRlSEiGLYZ_u8S8gIvvgf0eASR1Xi5UbZN_jTs3x2BerBXjRqiE7Lt_dknHWt/s1600/0913191856.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7c6ssOwvnRNIATMAQHlY8DcaFP9PpfwiTwawUqupNFXgv4_0s0xoC1riQhgDt230t3WjzZYaDFJ2X25sFRlSEiGLYZ_u8S8gIvvgf0eASR1Xi5UbZN_jTs3x2BerBXjRqiE7Lt_dknHWt/s200/0913191856.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Original headlight bulb</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b> The headlight</b> is fairly easy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just note that one has to find a place for
the voltage converter and that the back of the light has a round black heat
sink that sits outside of the bulb mirror.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqadCwLg33RWYtaK3l-KozkSt4bdjfk8c2cNtCeLqlm8d2QaJVgEJkaNvyV00wGar9oThxnAFHURHwfCcHzQNsgWonpU17d5Y-A4pFCt0Td76Pp0VWj3b-6o5JycucBAFnHon0588A2ghC/s1600/0913191854_Burst01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqadCwLg33RWYtaK3l-KozkSt4bdjfk8c2cNtCeLqlm8d2QaJVgEJkaNvyV00wGar9oThxnAFHURHwfCcHzQNsgWonpU17d5Y-A4pFCt0Td76Pp0VWj3b-6o5JycucBAFnHon0588A2ghC/s200/0913191854_Burst01.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">LED headlight kit </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
There was room for both inside the V11 headlight assembly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Be careful to not place the converter or any
wires in contact with the heat sink.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
wires on the kit are long enough to also mount the converter out<b style="color: black; font-family: &quot; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></b><i style="color: black; font-family: &quot; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></i><u style="color: black; font-family: &quot; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></u><sub style="color: black; font-family: &quot; font-size: 13.26px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></sub><sup style="color: black; font-family: &quot; font-size: 13.26px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></sup><strike style="color: black; font-family: &quot; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: line-through; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></strike>side the
headlight assembly, but there was no need on the V11.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWt9HjxtJMo2YU6LpuOD5Wx_D_3N5TaCBzhBJ-z-W-c4pTcdqDQP7uvpiM0I5kbazojPls3z3ZxWJ6SmcrAYmKmEEBNEXjKwevivZXcscc5nsgzWt7P67EdIjeed-NA3g4sZPlXQuR5Cbg/s1600/0913191854_Burst01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #0066cc; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhJuCCcfxXMe_mLB3AYwA9IwnjNBZC60QdU5SAFl1deWWzMqMpa2HTkN8ngV16kjyGlEjaG-4h9Y4HztJUW1uzpuJSweRmnFvvT9X7cqxeFlALJpXzwc1TjPYWoACaI6TXNjknqDb3TLIg/s1600/0913191856.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhJuCCcfxXMe_mLB3AYwA9IwnjNBZC60QdU5SAFl1deWWzMqMpa2HTkN8ngV16kjyGlEjaG-4h9Y4HztJUW1uzpuJSweRmnFvvT9X7cqxeFlALJpXzwc1TjPYWoACaI6TXNjknqDb3TLIg/s1600/0913191856.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a>
<b>The front running light</b> is also in the front
headlight assembly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is easy to
change.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Note that the LED is slightly
wider than the bulb we are replacing, but fits through the hole when aligned
correctly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gently wiggle, but DO NOT
FORCE the light in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is a small
rubber ring at the base of the light that requires a small push, but that is
after the rest of the light is all the way inserted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj323_gB7KDK7u5kLSqH1QVmEWAzPCWPQMF-UBS0n16fN3YW1BKA9ijiw0ipASbxIlRdLqYWgRkRcHYSPnlbs6pWzKHIiwodNr_6NF-m6ts9rjaDWv4fyxnRaD4k_rH_Mfp6xHMPjXppb_A/s1600/0913191824a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj323_gB7KDK7u5kLSqH1QVmEWAzPCWPQMF-UBS0n16fN3YW1BKA9ijiw0ipASbxIlRdLqYWgRkRcHYSPnlbs6pWzKHIiwodNr_6NF-m6ts9rjaDWv4fyxnRaD4k_rH_Mfp6xHMPjXppb_A/s1600/0913191824a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj323_gB7KDK7u5kLSqH1QVmEWAzPCWPQMF-UBS0n16fN3YW1BKA9ijiw0ipASbxIlRdLqYWgRkRcHYSPnlbs6pWzKHIiwodNr_6NF-m6ts9rjaDWv4fyxnRaD4k_rH_Mfp6xHMPjXppb_A/s320/0913191824a.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
<b>The tachometer and speedometer lights</b> also only
require changing the bulbs. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is the same bulb and LED as the front
running light, so gently find the path to get the LED in without forcing it in
any way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>The six instrument</b> lights on a v11 are high beam,
turn signal, neutral, oil, generator and low fuel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The turn signal is discussed below.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<br />
For all the others you must change the bulbs
for LED’s with the bulb on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If the LED
does not light up, take it out and reverse it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It should light. This is because LED’s are DIODES and electricity only
flows one way through them.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj323_gB7KDK7u5kLSqH1QVmEWAzPCWPQMF-UBS0n16fN3YW1BKA9ijiw0ipASbxIlRdLqYWgRkRcHYSPnlbs6pWzKHIiwodNr_6NF-m6ts9rjaDWv4fyxnRaD4k_rH_Mfp6xHMPjXppb_A/s1600/0913191824a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; clear: right; color: #0066cc; float: right; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj323_gB7KDK7u5kLSqH1QVmEWAzPCWPQMF-UBS0n16fN3YW1BKA9ijiw0ipASbxIlRdLqYWgRkRcHYSPnlbs6pWzKHIiwodNr_6NF-m6ts9rjaDWv4fyxnRaD4k_rH_Mfp6xHMPjXppb_A/s1600/0913191824a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; clear: right; color: #0066cc; float: right; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></a>Do not change out the low fuel light. Even when off, the level sensor allows enough current to flow through it that the low fuel light will always come on, even with a full tank.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I used a straight edged screwdriver to wiggle the rubber
bulb holders out, and changed them one at a time so as not to get them
confused.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A bit of spit and the same
screwdriver got them wiggled back into place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif4LTPBsqpTbM6Q0TptPaDpR2DA5SpWRYjp888K_kDKK9DRlu_E6HhyphenhyphenQ7HtJhgyS4Ey0HEVG9TmLDspu3g_GoNIt8ua6OeMaYmG94F5X69c_covwya0XaMJWZdE61pB62J7p1BHOsoZTd3/s1600/0913191738a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; clear: right; color: #0066cc; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif4LTPBsqpTbM6Q0TptPaDpR2DA5SpWRYjp888K_kDKK9DRlu_E6HhyphenhyphenQ7HtJhgyS4Ey0HEVG9TmLDspu3g_GoNIt8ua6OeMaYmG94F5X69c_covwya0XaMJWZdE61pB62J7p1BHOsoZTd3/s320/0913191738a.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">empty turn indicator socket</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>The turn signals</b> are the tricky part.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<br />
One can easily do it only half way by only
swapping out the </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
rear bulbs for LED’s. That works, but the front bulbs and the
instrument panel bulb have to stay as they are.<br />
<br />
To make everything LED requires
an electronic flasher and to change the way the dash indicator bulb works using diodes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a little complicated, but not that
complicated and all the materials are readily available. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: -24px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font-family: "quot"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: -24px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Pull out the turn signal instrument light holder
out and remove the bulb.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: -24px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> </span><br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"> 2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Replace all 4 turn signal bulbs with the LED
equivalents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The V11 has amber lenses so
use amber LED’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><u><span style="color: #000120;"></span></u><br /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; float: left; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0.5em; orphans: 2; padding: 6px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: -24px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij0hpxQcWqI-zQAKb5Edbxruo6_EKsfVi2MIPVIThl3HKrg6BHQl4jyK87130vUOaKRUhxM7aZjeNyP8MxR1rk3naRxTDIIz2L7DulBjDne97wHReGJ1HmGQZks3zFeUxe2Wkow8puGI2W/s1600/0913191720.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; clear: right; color: #0066cc; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: -24px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij0hpxQcWqI-zQAKb5Edbxruo6_EKsfVi2MIPVIThl3HKrg6BHQl4jyK87130vUOaKRUhxM7aZjeNyP8MxR1rk3naRxTDIIz2L7DulBjDne97wHReGJ1HmGQZks3zFeUxe2Wkow8puGI2W/s200/0913191720.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 80%; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;">Electronic and standard flashers'</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: normal;">3</span></span></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span></b>Replace the flasher unit with an electronic
flasher.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Crimp on tabs and plug into the
same connections.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Note that red is
positive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The V11 <span style="background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: -24px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">wiring harness had a
red striped positive female</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: -24px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: -24px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">connection.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;">
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: -24px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: -24px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> <b><span style="font-size: small;"> 4</span></b> </span></span></span><b>Test.</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The left and right should flash when the switch is in the right place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If they come on and do not flash
or if nothing comes on, the electronic flasher might be reversed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(don’t forget to turn on the key) </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA6R9gKTLPWZSWHPSzwEmxUvxggzD7r21gEdbW7MmkWpUMyHnKw3Jqn52xwH8zuy3alj_sRbPUnf9It6WxAmV-5Xu-0wd1_yWEryw-WAcfPciKA7Liau5THn1xd2TCXhBRZGoJ1vxXQkwR/s1600/0913191814.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA6R9gKTLPWZSWHPSzwEmxUvxggzD7r21gEdbW7MmkWpUMyHnKw3Jqn52xwH8zuy3alj_sRbPUnf9It6WxAmV-5Xu-0wd1_yWEryw-WAcfPciKA7Liau5THn1xd2TCXhBRZGoJ1vxXQkwR/s1600/0913191814.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Plug the incandescent indicator bulb back
in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Normally, all 4 turn signals will
flash, no matter which side the turn signal switch is clicked on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unplug the incandescent bulb and it should
work correctly. You have now verified that the indicator bulb is connected
between the two circuits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA6R9gKTLPWZSWHPSzwEmxUvxggzD7r21gEdbW7MmkWpUMyHnKw3Jqn52xwH8zuy3alj_sRbPUnf9It6WxAmV-5Xu-0wd1_yWEryw-WAcfPciKA7Liau5THn1xd2TCXhBRZGoJ1vxXQkwR/s1600/0913191814.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; clear: right; color: #0066cc; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: -24px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA6R9gKTLPWZSWHPSzwEmxUvxggzD7r21gEdbW7MmkWpUMyHnKw3Jqn52xwH8zuy3alj_sRbPUnf9It6WxAmV-5Xu-0wd1_yWEryw-WAcfPciKA7Liau5THn1xd2TCXhBRZGoJ1vxXQkwR/s320/0913191814.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">connecting the diode kit to indicator bulb socket<br />
holding what is to become the ground wire </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"> 6.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Cut both of the bulb’s mount leads off leaving enough extra
wire in both directions to strip and make connections.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"> 7.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Temporarily attach the two positive sides of the
diodes to the two wires that used to go to the indicator bulb socket assembly. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"> 8.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Temporarily attach the negative sides of the two
diodes to one side of the bulb socket holder. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"> 9.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><b>Now test the whole thing</b>. Connect the
other side of the bulb assembly to ground ( I ran the ground wire down to the
frame), put the incandescent bulb back in again, and try both turn
signals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now left and right should work
as normal and the indicator bulb should work for both.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> If</span> the system does not work, go back and check the diode polarity and all
connections. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"> 10. </span></span>Replace the incandescent instrument bulb with the LED with the turn signals on and flashing. Same as all other instrument bulbs, the LED will only work one way and may need to be reversed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"> 11. </span></span>Make all the connections permanent using some kind of crimp connectors. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"> 12. </span></span>Close the cover, check that ALL instrument
lights are working correctly before screwing it down. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>Notes on the optical results. </b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Instrument lights are much easier to see during the day,
especially on clear days when the sunlight directly shines on the dash and one has sun glasses on under the helmet visor.<br />
<br />
Part
of the reason to go though the trouble for the turn signals is that one ends up
with an indicator so bright that you will not miss it to remind the driver to turn the signal back
off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The speedometer and tachometer dials are much easier to see
at night, especially when driving in the city and competing with street light
glare.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Brake, tail and turn signals are much more visible to other
drivers day and night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Headlight results are significant, especially with the high
beams at night hitting reflective signs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>Notes on the electrical circuits. </b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The LED’s use much less power in all cases and produce less
heat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Such things as the headlight relay become less necessary,
and now are serving less amperage (flow) than they were designed for, but this
will not cause any functionally problems. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The biggest draw for power on the bike is still the starter
motor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Second was the headlight, but after the LED change, is probably now the horn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The turn signal description and advice is for an MG v11, but
is the same for most motorcycles that use a normal DOT flasher that clicks and have a
single bulb indicator light.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> (see schematic below)</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Resistors are sold to make the turn signals work on the same
old flashers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Despite the name, what
they do is sit parallel to the LED lights and put MORE power through the wires
so that there is enough current for the flasher to work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When only using LED’s in the rear, the front
bulbs are playing that resistor role, and the flash is a little slower.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is really no advantage to using the
resistors and they produce heat. It is no more trouble to just change the
circuit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span>
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background: white; color: black;">This is a
schematic of the difference between the LED turn signals and the incandescent
ones that it is replacing:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background: white; color: black;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNeZHz9A6tQseHwNKbBJi7XaA-0LXsXhlJVvSMQzrQUtOm1ZGRZbQ92H_p1iz05Ug2bVe2flzvj2iPLQxlwecLS9oD_Euv53tXEm8jEY8u-x38hmvjrGPrTSg2LQHe2upMs4B-zlMkiHXU/s1600/v11-turnsignals-diagram.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1223" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNeZHz9A6tQseHwNKbBJi7XaA-0LXsXhlJVvSMQzrQUtOm1ZGRZbQ92H_p1iz05Ug2bVe2flzvj2iPLQxlwecLS9oD_Euv53tXEm8jEY8u-x38hmvjrGPrTSg2LQHe2upMs4B-zlMkiHXU/s640/v11-turnsignals-diagram.png" width="489" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike></div>
Don Macleayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17083015728635699181noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4817488808342083958.post-84199914347588951522019-06-29T11:17:00.001-07:002019-06-29T12:01:18.296-07:00Cheap shots on Spanish <div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;">My guess is that almost all of the
media voices belittling the Democratic candidates for speaking Spanish at the
debates do not speak Spanish themselves. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black;">Of real note are the particularly
snarky comments about “Beto”. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black;">For those of us who do speak
Spanish, Beto told us something that almost all of the English language media
missed. He speaks it well. Very well. Beto grew up in a part of our country
where Spanish is a common language and he has obviously spoken it most of his
life.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black;">So, the college student on NBC’s
coverage giving him advice on how a white person should approach speaking
Spanish and the snide panelist on NPR have one thing in common: </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black;">They both were equating language
with race. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black;">But speaking a language is
something we learn, we do, we participate in. Even our native language is a
learned thing. There are many people who grew up in another nation and speak
the languages of where they were raised because they are from that place and
not the land of their passport or skin color. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black;">Beto grew up along the Mexican
border. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black;">He is no different than the Anglos
in Montreal who speak the language of the French majority (me), or the Mexicans
on the other side of that border who speak English better than your average
student because English is part of their day to day life. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black;">Booker did OK and my first reaction
hearing him was admiration. He had the guts to learn and more guts to risk his
skill level to public exposure. He also told us that his idea of ethnic
minorities included respect for Spanish speaking Americans. Mayor Pete was
competent, as usual, and as a former soldier he might well know a lot of those
Spanish speaking Americans who carry guns for our country. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black;">My overall impression hearing those
putting their Spanish out there was “not bad” and they all showed a good,
honest and intelligent effort. I would not vote for any of them in the primary
because my views are further to the left, but they have my respect for making
the effort. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black;">And the message of all this Spanish
speaking to the Spanish speaking public was loud and clear:</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black;">The Hispanic minority is important
in this election. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black;">That is not a bad message. It did
not deserve the denigration it brought on from pundits taking cheap shots. The
“Taco Bell” comments or talking about Beto “trying to speak Spanish” are both
mean spirited and uninformed, telling us much about what the commentators think
of the politician they are running down while saying a lot about how people in
this country feels about Spanish. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black;">In the United States, Spanish is a
repressed, undervalued language that is often associated with a patronizing and
racist view of Mexicans, Puerto Ricans and other brown skinned people. In the
popular culture speaking French, German, Russian, Chinese and other languages
is high class. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black;">Speaking Spanish is treated as low
class. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black;">I find it revealing that people who
do not speak another language themselves, make fun of other people for not
speaking another language well. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black;">Spanish is considered a crutch for
those who do not speak English well enough in our schools, public services and
politics. In many schools, Spanish is discouraged instead of being taken up to
the next level of literacy. Spanish is what we use to talk (down) to those
people, who are treated as second class Americans. Third class if they do not
have work papers. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black;">Spanish has been the language used
to manage the hired help. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black;">So Beto gets run down not because
his Spanish is substandard, because it is not. He may have been the most
skilled Spanish speaker on stage, including Secretary Castro. No, Beto gets run
down because he is speaking Spanish and is white. The assumption that he does
so poorly might have more to do with the miserable success level of American
college students in achieving fluency. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black;">Projecting? </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black;">Keep in mind that almost 100% of
our media folk come from the less than one third of us who go to college. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black;">My guess is that there is a higher
percentage of bilingual English speakers working in construction and hospitably
than there are holding commentator jobs at NBC. </span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black;">I have a lot of trouble with
English speakers deciding that speaking Spanish in a national debate is
pandering. Somehow all the other talk of minority rights, LGBTQ rights and so
on is taking positions, but somehow, speaking Spanish is suspect. Were they
afraid that Beto was talking about them behind their backs? With that NBC crew,
they all could have. There was one Spanish speaking commentator and I was
pleased to see him start off in Spanish with a couple of the candidates. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black;">Just note something. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black;">Why wasn’t there a voice over or
subtitles to interpret as Spanish was used? </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black;">That is what would happen in a real
bilingual nation. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black;">But for NBC, Spanish was not
important enough for them to be ready for it. Their only provision was to
translate the debate from English to Spanish on Telemundo. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black;">Secretary Castro closed speaking
well, with a native accent. He let us know that he really speaks it. A lot of
people with dark skin and the last name Castro speak no Spanish at all. They
are from the United States and don’t speak Spanish any more than I speak Gaelic
or my half-brother speaks the German that defines his mother’s accent.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black;">Castro did well and I would have to
hear more to know if he speaks household Spanish, the same way I once
only spoke household English, or has the depth of day to day language use that
comes from education, using it at work, using it for politics and having a deep
contact with the culture, economy and daily life of active Spanish speakers. I
am not sure how far that goes for Beto either. All the same, I admire Castro
for speaking up and being positive about speaking his family’s language with
the whole world watching. </span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: black;">I am not sure I would trust my own English under such
a spotlight. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; orphans: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: black;">And I am pleased that candidates
for president of this nation had the courage to make talking directly to so
many Americans with respect for them and their language a priority. </span></div>
<br />Don Macleayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17083015728635699181noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4817488808342083958.post-84859934678088810042019-06-20T10:27:00.000-07:002019-06-20T10:58:06.448-07:00 Blueprint for what exactly? (Oakland schools)<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Last night’s Oakland Unified School District school board
meeting was on two subjects.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>One was a
report on how we are doing with our Blueprint for Quality Schools from the
ad-hoc committee. The other was on the budget, which was presented as an inch-thick
pamphlet in a format that is hard to read. (Do not expect an organizational
chart) </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">My guess is that hardly more than a few hundred people in
Oakland know about our school district’s “Blueprint for Quality Schools”
outside of those who work there.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Yet
this is a plan that the board and district staff have been working on for
years.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>There have been committees
formed, advisory groups consulted and all kinds of surveys and meetings that
supposedly consulted our communities.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>When
you voted in 2016 and 2018, you voted for supporters of the “blueprint”
process, which was already in gear. In earlier versions it was called a “search
for excellence” and other such trial branding.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The stated goal for this plan is an outreach and public
consultation to make our schools better. <br />
<a href="https://www.ousd.org/blueprintforquality"><span style="color: #0563c1;">https://www.ousd.org/blueprintforquality</span></a>
</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The Oakland School Blueprint for Quality Schools is really a
cutback and layoff plan. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The only “better” that they found was the only one that they
looked for.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>I took the survey for
parents.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The only questions were about
what schools to close, how to do consolidation, etc. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">There was always a reason to be dubious about this Blueprint
for Quality Schools process that our school administrators have been pushing
for some years. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Doubt number one is this idea that somehow, we need to
rediscover how to run quality schools. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Really? </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Seems to me that what our political class needs to
rediscover is the need to fund education adequately.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>One could talk about all kinds of things and
most of them start with the word "restore".<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>That is as in we need to RESTORE art, music,
sports, shop, civics, Spanish, sports and and and.... </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">But that is not what the Blueprint is really about. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">It is about cutbacks.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>Add to cutbacks, consolidations, closures, and downsizing.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">It is also about real estate.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The school closures prepare the way for even
more transfer of our publicly owned real estate to these so-called charter
schools.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Those private schools using public money use our public
school buildings. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">And California State law makes it our obligation to give the
charters a home.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Maybe there is another
version of charter schools out there somewhere, but I am talking about the
actual "charters" that California law gives us in practice and the
access they have to our school sites under prop 39 guidelines. Every time I
talk about this with a pro “charter” activist they want to talk about what
charters should be, and not what they really are here in Oakland. Here they are
a bird that lays its eggs in another bird’s nest.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span><a href="https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/ch/proposition39.asp"><span style="color: #0563c1;">https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/ch/proposition39.asp</span></a>
</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The "Blueprint for Quality Schools" view of
efficiency is the same as a bank merger. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">We are now at the phase where we consolidate, close branches
and lay off staff. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">If I heard him right, the principal working on the merger
plan that will give us Elmhurst United School explained how we will now have 3
coaches for the united school when we had 4 otherwise. I hope that I heard him
wrong. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">As if our schools are anything close to sufficiently staffed
before these mergers and downsizing? </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Schools are not a business and the business model is not
healthy for a public service. If they want a Blueprint for Quality Schools in
our schools, they could start by cutting back administrative staff and put more
support staff on the school sites.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The
real plan gives some small concessions to electives that are not available for
all students.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Their idea of an elective that
it is acceptable to underfund includes Spanish.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>Music and art, maybe.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Shop,
civics and practical skills? Don’t even ask.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">We have been doing these short-sighted cutbacks for years.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>At each round of cutback we offer fewer
options to students leaving many parents with little choice other than to “vote
with their feet” as one of the illustrious leaders on the dais put it last
night.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">We have been sold a hand to mouth version of budget scarcity
and the cutbacks that really don't add up to much, but do make more real-estate
available for this so called charter movement. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">And if we did every cutback, merger and downsize in the
Blueprint for Quality Schools, we still would not have the budget stability
that the OUSD board claims.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Sometimes when I listen to OUSD administrators talk about
their fine plans, I feel like I am listening to a landscaping beautification
plan in the path of a forest fire. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The real needs are for better management with fewer
administrators pulling down six figure salaries, better funding altogether,
better financial oversight and certainly, more choices at every school instead
of being forced to choose between schools. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">And we need an audit. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">But the only versions of these kinds of ideas one heard at
last night’s meeting came from dissent from the floor.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>A group of students spoke against
closures.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Later parents and teachers
spoke against the closures. Members of the communities from the schools getting
downsized spoke against this plan as parents and teachers. Many who spoke are
both parents of OUSD students and have been working for the district in one way
or another for many years.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghzinvT5IWbeD1lgdr80TKFQrfNrjUSYlNeDFlqqDsLJ2dg4Fu8qb1SMyFEOwVq6I0Efi2rG_M7YfXdSnqMPdpbko2fqczHdyrh4FBN6vcoIVYRK9afYA4Cn9AnCs79-LPx6RM_2jTHuyi/s1600/no-closures.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghzinvT5IWbeD1lgdr80TKFQrfNrjUSYlNeDFlqqDsLJ2dg4Fu8qb1SMyFEOwVq6I0Efi2rG_M7YfXdSnqMPdpbko2fqczHdyrh4FBN6vcoIVYRK9afYA4Cn9AnCs79-LPx6RM_2jTHuyi/s320/no-closures.jpg" width="240" /></a><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Finally, Megan Bumpus, a union member and dissenting member of
the ad-hoc committee spoke very succinctly against closures in her minority
report, making a clear and well supported case that the closures cost more than
they save. Parent and teacher activists handed out flyers opposing the closures
making similar points.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">If ever there was a day that shows that 5 of the 7 members
on that board are elected with the support of Great Oakland Public Schools
Advocates and other deceptively named pro “charter school” organizations,
yesterday was that day.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The students and public of Oakland do not get better schools
from this “blueprint” but the people who back our school board have more square
feet in the pipeline.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
Don Macleayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17083015728635699181noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4817488808342083958.post-38741622124653926152019-04-07T08:39:00.003-07:002019-04-07T08:39:43.614-07:00Report back from the California Progressive Alliance
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The last weekend in March I attended the California
Progressive Alliance foundation conference.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">By paying $5 a month dues, I have been a member from the
beginning.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>109 members were present to
vote at this conference held in San Luis Obispo with about 300 people in
attendance over the weekend.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>There were
a number of Our Revolution Berniecrats, DSA and “progressive” Democrats along
with a significant number of Greens from across the state among those present.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>We
had guest speakers, proposals, by laws and all that kind of good stuff on the
agenda. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I am suggesting that Greens join the progressive alliance as
individual members, who are the only members with a vote, and that the State
Greens and local County Green chapters sign on as supporting organizations,
which for the moment, don’t have much of a roll. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">There are some aspects of this alliance that give me pause
and there are some serious drawbacks to what we have so far, but despite that I
suggest we engage the process for four reasons: </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">1, There is a strong potential to advance inside state
government some of the agenda and values that we as Greens hold and have been
working on for decades. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">2, This could help us form local alliances to do the same in
our city and county governments contesting local elections with a platform and
a slate of candidates as the Richmond Progressive Alliance initiated. <span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">3, There is a politically inclusive, welcoming atmosphere
and none of the people involved are dissolving their organization affiliations
or asking others to do so.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">4, We Greens have a lot to offer in making this alliance
successful.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>I will go into this more in
depth in my conclusion.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The upsides:<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The fact that this has been happening AT ALL is
a sea change in California politics.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>Here we are seeing the short term after effects of Occupy and the Bernie
Sanders phenomena and the long-term examples of the Richmond Progressive
Alliance and other local efforts turning into some kind of systematic action. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The atmosphere is welcoming, inclusive and
pluralistic.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>(I said that, it is worth
repeating)</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">This alliance has attracted to it many
individuals with practical personal experiences.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>We have former candidates, former office
holders and current office holders along with many others who have participated
in movements that have obtained changes in regulations and laws.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">One of the people who
spoke was Matt Gonzales.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>He had some
very important practical proposals including the need for some kind of think
tank to develop progressive draft legislation and ordnances that would give
progressive elected officials an advance start on implementing our ideas. <span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>This is the kind of practical proposals that
many participants offered. </span></i></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The positions taken set us out on a good
course.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Especially important was the
no-corporate-money commitment and the opposition to the corporate takeover of
government.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>There were other great
positions taken on health care, war, economic development, protecting our
public schools and other items that really matter.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The political direction of this alliance is
clear, and for those who remain Democrats, they have a family problem, but the
progressive left would have no problem with the endorsed platform.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>For those of us akin to myself, who are
socialists, this is a reform agenda, and not explicitly a socialist agenda, but
these are the simple reforms that our reactionary affluent class resists and
that the people really need in their day to day lives.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The downsides:<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">This was an event heavily over representative of
elder white men, including myself. (at 61, I qualify).<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>A group of people of color held a meeting to
discuss this and the related boorishness of a lot of the speakers along with
some inappropriate sexual behavior. I personally, as a working-class person who
is quite outspoken, felt that this event was heavily weighted towards the
highly college educated, many of whom, men and women, white and of color, were
not listening, but just ready to pontificate about their pet projects and
personal ideas.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>When I listened to the
concerns of the people of color, I felt that they were totally justified and in
keeping with what I had seen myself.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>I
also wonder how the younger people there felt.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>There certainly were a few people well under 25 and I was glad to see
and listen to them.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>I hope that they
felt listened to and welcomed to lead as well as join in.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We should not under
emphasize this problem, it cuts across most left political movements in our
nation and certainly the Greens have much of the same problems internally.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>A woman of color put forward a code of
conduct that was adopted, but she personally decided not to continue because of
a man present who was the cause of her “me too” experience.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></i></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">If we are going to
build a state-wide alliance to advance a people’s agenda of environmental
sanity, economic equity and well being and social justice, we need to learn and
get past various forms of elitism, racism and sexism inside our movement to
make everyone welcome as leaders and valued contributors.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></i></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">And if we are going to do it in California, we
have to speak Spanish.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span><br />
This convention did not in any way, shape or form.<br />
<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">There were also some serious process errors that
reflect our individual based, self-appointed politics.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>We in the US do not do organizations well,
especially membership organizations that are transparent and accountable to the
members. Between the Democrats and the non-profits, where would we learn that?
Some of our unions are good, others have staff that shepherds the members. This
group needs to improve our process.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The next time a California Progressive Alliance
meeting is held, I would like to see us voting members consulted ahead of time
as to WHAT is on the agenda before putting out draft proposals.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Those draft proposals need to be provided
long enough in advance to allow for research, amendments and counter
proposals.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Part of the problem of not having time to work
on proposals is that the hand-to-mouth quick solution is to support the
official Democrats at whatever they are doing.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>Some attendees seemed to assume that everyone was a Democrat and that
the internal Democrat agenda was THE agenda.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>When discussed in the Green New Deal group, that was not what people there
decided.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The danger of this Alliance becoming manipulated
is large.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The mainstream Democrats are
good a lip service, empty token symbolism and making themselves look like they
support what the do not.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>When the
Alliance gets popular, the opportunistic careerists will want photo ops. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">And frankly, overloading the agenda and then
cutting short discussion because we do not have the time is a mistake.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>If we don’t have time to discuss things, then
we should not vote on them.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Time would
have been better spent working on our new platform, by-laws and the election of
the steering committee.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Some of the
support items could have been referred to that steering committee for more
in-depth consideration and deliberation and I think that they would have done a
better job than we did as a convention.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>It would have been better to delegate that to our leadership and trust
them to decide. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">A few people spoke to this de facto lack of democratic
process and I would ask the leadership to show more attention to those
concerns.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>“Asking the proposer if they
accept an amendment” is not empowering. Real democracy is about having a
choice, not a managed choice.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">One item on the long list of 17 documents that shows the
shortcomings of last-minute proposals that we don’t have time to discuss, was
support for a pollical party’s reelection in Barcelona.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>I follow the news closely and am probably one
of the few people in that room that had even heard of them before. I also speak
Spanish and have a friend in Barcelona.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>I like them but I have serious concerns about taking sides in anyone’s
internal affairs.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>That was not talked
about.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>And things like keeping our own
government from taking action to overthrow the government of Venezuela was not
on the list. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">A proposal was made to do some kind of racial sensitivity
training as part of our meetings and to have some kind of resources for those
who feel cut out or mistreated.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>I feel
that this is a good idea. I would like to see that idea expanded to include
young people, Spanish speakers and working-class folk.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">These problems of inclusiveness, language use and process
can all be overcome, but it will not just happen by itself.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The proposals made need to be put into action
to expand this movement. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">There are other challenges. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The ideas need to be more flushed out.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Personally, I put myself out there for the education plank
and the “Green New Deal”.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Neither of
which had much of a description.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>There
is good news on both counts.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>As a
writer, I volunteered to write some drafts to begin discussions.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>A Green New Deal action committee formed and
had a long and productive talk and we will be meeting by phone conference call
once a month.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>There is a good mix of
backgrounds and ages in that group.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>An
education group did not meet, I think for lack of time and resources given that
the people of color and other discussions were taking place at the same
time.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>But a couple of us did talk, and
there too we are going to start up a more in-depth proposal.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Hopefully by next convention the different groups will all
have something to contribute with time enough for the members to review and
time enough for discussion at the meeting before voting.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Another challenge is: “Who is going to do all this work?”</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Obviously, this cannot remain an all-volunteer organization
if it is going to be effective.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Gayle
may not want to be paid to chair the steering committee, and I hope she has the
time and resources to work on this for free.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>I suggest that the position include funding for the individual holding
it. Sooner or later we need some other staff for fundraising, on-line presence,
scheduling and organizing, travel, regional meetings, the next convention and
so on. The group needs to raise funds, not a lot, but some. We Greens also
suffer from the lack of a paid, full time, state organizer and fund
raiser.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Finally, there is a question about us participating as
Greens.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We certainly have seen many a liberal Democrat drift away
over the years.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>One of the things we
Greens have to offer is a lot of experience.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>With that experience we can ask for practice, policies and funding that
are based on policy and do not depend on an elected official to be some kind of
hero.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We Greens have also worked on the issues a lot.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>In the school districts, the city
governments, the unions and out in the economy, there are active Greens skilled
in all kinds of governmental policies.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">As usual, there were a number of Greens present, probably as
many as many other groups, and as usual one would not know it.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Mike Feinstein said he counted Greens from Mendocino,
Marin, Napa, Solano, Alameda, San Francisco, Santa Clara, San Luis Obispo,
Santa Barbara, Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The good side of that is that we are not hucksters always
flogging our brand, the bad side of that is one could walk away thinking that
the Greens were not there.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>I think we
Greens should coordinate a bit more, be a bit more visible, but keep on our
good practice of being honest contributors who roll up our sleeves and help
make things work.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">As a political party, we Greens also have the advantage of a
lot of experience of taking progressive ideas to the street through our grass
roots election campaigns.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>I would like
to see more of our former candidates involved in the California Progressive
Alliance to help keep it grounded and focused on public outreach. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And we are the GREEN party.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>There is no small number of environmental biologists, farmers,
firefighters, builders and other skilled people in our party to help develop
the environmental alternative practices that are so needed in these critical
times.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So, I am suggesting that we go in and try to make this potentially
effective project work and at the same time keep our eyes open to the pitfalls
and possible problems that we would work to avoid.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
Don Macleayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17083015728635699181noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4817488808342083958.post-68777868338608489302019-03-13T12:03:00.001-07:002019-03-13T12:03:45.940-07:00California at the water’s edge
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">For Californians, being at the water’s edge is akin to
standing at the edge of a cliff.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>One
needs to back away slowly, making sure you are holding your child’s hand and
avoid standing where the cliff is crumbling away.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">About twice a year I write a rant that has to do with water
use and land management.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Once when it burns.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The other time when it floods.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So, while Oakland teachers were on strike, Trump officials
were before the committee or a sentencing judge and suspect aircraft were on the
ground, Guerneville and the surrounding area was once again underwater.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">This is nothing new there or in many places around California.
Floods hit regularly in places as urban as San Anselmo and as wild as the South
Fork of the Eel River where residents love to place signs way up on polls to
show the 1964 high water mark.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The floods and fires are both natural. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The severity of both is a product of bad land
management.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And bad water management. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Forestry experts, environmental biologists and experts in
related fields have been telling us for over two generations that we should
learn from the practices of the older, native cultures here and preserve creek
beds and set small managerial fires at specific times.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Keeping brush and forest coverage around the water ways, big
and small, is the key to having a healthy watershed.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>This keeps top soil from washing away,
provides natural fire breaks, allows more water to seep back down to the
aquifer and softens the blow from heavy rains.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">A healthy stream is clear water and we all know it.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>A healthy watershed gives us healthy streams
that flow long after the rain stops.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Watersheds composed mostly of fields, pastures and parking
lots are the exact opposite of that.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The
fires burn right past where cows have been allowed to graze to the muddy edge
of the ruined creek beds and across our structures and the rain runs off them as
if it were a tin roof.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Not only was the water
high on the Russian River, it was brown with washed away soil.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And it is no laughing matter.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Homes and lives were lost in Guerneville,
Paradise, Santa Rosa, Ventura and places I don’t know, all in recent times.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>I keep having a reason to write the same
things.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">There is no way that we can go back to the system of land management
that the Yurok and Ohlone peoples had because there are too many of us and too
much has changed.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>But we can go back to
the wisdom behind those ways of life and blend it with what we know as a society
that practices industrial engineering and claims to follow the evidence before
our own eyes.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Once called science.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We need to start a sophisticated reforesting effort and we
need to start yesterday. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And when we think of reforesting, we need to see beyond
trees and think about the whole web of life that thrives in our
environment.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Reforesting is a community
of plants and animals that survive the burns and absorb the rains.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>When we reforest, we need to think of exactly
where we reforest and how that relates to fire and flood.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We also need to make our planning contemplate the extremes.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>There never was a California normal, just an
average between wide swings.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Nature was
already full of big highs and lows out here down wind of the Niño and jet
stream effects.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>We will always see times
of drought and high water and need to make that the measure of our “normal”.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>With climate change, we know that we need to
expect those swings to become wider and the results more unpredictable than
they are already.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We need to carefully back away from the water’s edge and get
out of the way of fire. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And we need to back away from the environmental cliff edge
that we built for ourselves with over a century of playing God with water
channels and fighting fires we should have let burn.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Those high-water marks on the Eel river
reached that high because of aggressive and indiscriminate lumbar cutting. There
are parts of California where the fires burned so hot that little survived
because we fought fires and did not replant a full spectrum of fire ecology trees
and scrub and did not do controlled burns.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">There are places in our state that look like the surface of
the moon they were scorched so bad.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The
Eel river never recovered from its messed-up watershed and in most places a
person can walk across it, most of the time.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">In other words, leaving it alone and letting nature come
back is not a realistic option unless you want to allow enough time for us humans
to die out.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We need to be part of a healing process for our
environment.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">No part of an aggressive reforestation program will keep us
from having fires because we live in a set of natural fire ecology biomes. No
part of reforestation will provide more water, at best it would provide fire
breaks and clean up the water ways while moderating the flows.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">If we are going to fully bring back our rivers to the point
that we can have the salmon run again, some of the water we divert from one
river to another needs to be left where it was.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">But there is another source of water that we mostly ignore. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We are flushing it down the toilet.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Yep, our sewage is a resource we can reclaim.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>How?<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>Two parts, first is to stop the use of cleaners and chemicals that turn
it into poison, and second, it to pump it back uphill and treat it there with
natural methods.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Most people do not know
this, but California has pioneered the use of artificial wetlands and sewage
treatment.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Arcata has a working
model.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Obviously to make such ideas real, we need to spend a lot of
public money and think of environmental restoration and stability as an infrastructure
project, as essential to a modern society as freeways.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And we need to act fast.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>The situation is already a series of disasters.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Real improvement over a short decade or two
requires an aggressive plan.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>To put all
the parts together, I offer this proposal:<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br clear="all" style="mso-special-character: line-break; page-break-before: always;" />
</span>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">The California Integrated
Land and Water Management Plan.</span></b></div>
<div align="center" style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px; text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">This plan would be a combination of pubic works and state land management
codes.</span></i></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Reforest the
watersheds. </span></b></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Set aside a zone of at least five times the waterway
width at the ten-year high-water mark to be reforestation reserve, independent of
ownership.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Ownership need not
change.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Inside that zone, we need to conserve
the natural tree and brush, or replant it if the land has been cleared.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The reforestation of the watershed would apply
to all identifiable stream beds, even the seasonal ones, up to the top of the
watershed.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The set aside land would
never be smaller than 10 meters either side of the waterway.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">If the adjacent land is in agricultural or
pastoral use, a supplemental margin of land equal to the natural set aside,
will be zoned for orchards, lumbar or other soil stabilizing agriculture.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">If the adjacent land outside of the land zoned
for orchards is for grazing, there must be a solid fenced barrier to keep livestock
out.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Land that is suffering exposed soil erosion
needs to be fenced off and have a soil stabilizing cover planted, commercial or
nature reserve, or both.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">In lands that were private and are becoming
natural reserve, develop a system of recreational use for the owners to use for
themselves or to let out as tourism properties.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>Homes already built inside such areas would have public support to
upgrade and modify to have less or no negative impact on the watershed or
reforestation. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">New buildings inside private watershed reserve
areas would have to be built to an environmentally friendly code.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The state would help build environmentally friendly
access, bike paths, raised walk ways etc. to make these areas accessible for recreational
use.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Forest and Agricultural
Land Management. </span></b></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The state would have a schedule of small, local,
controlled burns in areas that are ready.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">State law would prohibit wide pastures or fields
of dried grass or other monoculture fire hazards.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>There would be an obligation to cut and mulch.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Areas that are not prepared for controlled burns
need to be restored.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>This could take the
form or removing, or mulching on site, the dead trees from disease and drought
and undoing the biodiversity damage that a century of fire fighting and
monoculture tree planting has caused.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The restoration of forestry lands will
prioritize biological diversity and stability, fire and watershed management
and the retention of bio-mass.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Tree farming practices will be introduced and
land dedicated to planting lumber farms where it can be the most sustainable and
productive.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>We will intentionally have
farms dedicated to growing lumber in a way that does not allow for a major
fire.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Develop a sustainable
water use cycle </span></b></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Limit water extraction to what allows for
healthy rivers and fish stocks and do not take water out of the aquifer faster
than it can be returned.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Set aside absorption areas to replenish the
watersheds and aquifers.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Regulate the chemicals that go into the
residential and agricultural waters. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Physically separate “grey” water from sewage and
agricultural run-off. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Pump all residential waste water, including
drains, to reclaim facilities strategically located uphill in the various
watersheds of the state.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Process grey
water and sewage separately. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Start a multi-step reclamation process using
this waste water to grow fiber for paper, lumbar (the tree farms) and other
agricultural products that are no part of the food chain.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">In a second step, runoff from the first sewage treatment
would then go into the environment in reserve forests or controlled wetlands in
a way that it would be naturally cleaned before joining back to the watershed
or aquifer.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Treat agricultural run off with artificial
wetlands and reserve land allowing the treated water to go back to the
watershed and aquifers.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Fire Management </span></b></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">State code would regulate fire resilient
building codes that local law could not override.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span><br />
These codes would include: </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 96px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">o<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Ceramic roofing</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 96px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">o<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Nonflammable siding </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 96px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">o<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Fire break landscaping around residential areas </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Environmental buffer zones between urban and
rural areas </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">A retrofit program to bring existing structures
to a higher fire resilient status. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">A system of emergency water sprinklers around
all housing in fire danger areas</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">A full-time fire force that works on land management
between dry seasons and manages the controlled burns during dry seasons.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">A strict enforcement of the fire control
measures indicated in the state land management plan.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Over the years I have made this proposal in different
forms.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Sometimes with more details and
sometimes with less.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>I am sure that
people who actually work in the related fields would do a much better job than
I am doing.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Some of what I am proposing
is probably wrong.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Something else
important is probably left out.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I write this because I want to provoke the discussion.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We need such a law and we need such a plan.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>If not this one, then a better one.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And I dedicate this version of my bi-annual rant to my good
friend who lost his home, his daughters home and a lifetime of their possessions
in Paradise.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>They were grateful to get
out with their lives and we all are respectful of those who did not.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And I think of my friend in Ventura watching the landscaping
burn around the oil wells near her home or my friend who tells me that his old Guerneville
neighborhood was an island for a few days and the whole thing just feels
personal. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Another friend tells me that the only reason he had a
hospital to work at after the Santa Rosa fire, was because heroic staff went to
the roof to stamp out the blowing cinders and keep them from lighting the roof
on fire.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Yep, a hospital with a flammable
roof in a state that is mostly fire zone. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And a couple times every year I visit the South Fork of the
Eel river, long after anyone remembers that I once lived there, and I see those
high-water marks way up over my head in the middle of a small town.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>And I walk the rocky ruins of the depleted
river, and feel that we all must do something.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It is already late.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
Don Macleayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17083015728635699181noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4817488808342083958.post-43244257096814534902019-03-10T13:39:00.003-07:002019-03-10T13:39:46.859-07:00We fight, we win! Win what?
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Now that the seven-day Oakland teachers’ strike is
over my son has gone back to his high school and the local parent-teacher’s
association list serve it telling us what we can do with the wooden sticks that
had been used for picket signs.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">The union leadership has been on the air and on line
claiming a victory.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">The district management tells a story where everything
is back to normal, nothing to see here.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">And on line, there is grumbling.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Only about 60% ratified the contract in a
vote that had lower turn out and a lower margin than the strike vote.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Why the grumbling?<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Let’s start with the money.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>What the teachers were asking for was not
that much to being with.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>They wanted 12%
over the next 3 years, and about 4% back over the year and a half that they had
worked without a contract.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Given the local
cost of living inflation, driven by ever higher rents, the union proposal was
just barely above breaking even, maybe.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">What they got was a 3% ratification raise and 11% over
4 years. <br />
Not bad for collective bargaining, not great for paying rent if you teach.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">But that is only some of the dissatisfaction.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>There were more issues on the table of
importance to the teachers and the public in general.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">They were: </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">the loss of funding and real estate to a
charter movement running roughshod over our public schools, </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">distrust in the district's financial
reporting, </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">school closures and </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">the high cost of upper school
management.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">The group of school officials who stood in front of
the press to give us their version of the settlement probably cost the public
over a million a year, and back in their offices are many more like them.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">So, let’s step back and take a look at the bigger
picture.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">This settlement is a big win GIVEN THE
CIRCUMSTANCES.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Circumstance number one is that the majority of the
school board members are friends of Great Oakland Public Schools (called GO and
GO Advocates for the PAC).<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Despite the
name, they are really advocates of a school choice and charter version of our
school district making our education system Balkanized at best.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>In practice, many privileged people in
Oakland send their kids to either a preferred school or a charter and some of
our schools are being allowed to fail based on some sociopathic Social
Darwinism ideas and practices.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>And of
course, working class students, especially working class students of color, are
getting the short end of the charter movement stick.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">This fact, Circumstance One, casts a shadow and
influences every other aspect of our local problems.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Closing schools?<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>That publicly owned real-estate suddenly becomes available.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The charters and the developers are first in
line for the ugly land grab, and in the Bay Area, anything to do with real
estate development, acquisition or use has become very ugly. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">High priced staff?<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>An amazing percentage of our high price staff and superintendents of
recent years comes from that same GO charter movement.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Every voter in Oakland should know the name
of Eli Broad and know about his academy where he trains administrators to
“reform” school districts according to this privet business model.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>All kinds of people kicking around GO and the
OUSD have this kind of “training”.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>If we
just fired them, we could have our libraries staffed.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">And one could go on and on about GO and its deceptive
antics in our local schools, and I often do talk about these corporate raiders,
but let’s step back and look at a bigger issue still. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">All across our nation, schools are not getting the
resources that they need.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Not the K-12,
not the trade schools, not the Junior Colleges and not the state university
systems.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Why?<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Because rich people have decided to stop paying taxes.
</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">In California we have our property tax “reform” called
Prop 13, which is something of a scam, and the state Democrats do not have the
backbone to either straighten it out, or simply stop taxing real estate just
for value and find some other, more equitable way to raise money.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>In any case, they have not raised taxes where
money is being made and they have not provided an alternative way to fund
schools, libraries, parks, health centers, the arts, youth activities or much
of anything that serves the greater public.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">The long and short of it is lower taxes on the rich
translates to austerity in public services.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Some people think that this is too big a problem to
fix.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Somehow, we should do some more
minor, practical thing first, and…. well I have good reasons not to be a
Democrat.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Let’s just note that currently
the Dems hold both houses of the state legislature and the governorship and
have appointed most of our state court justices, yet somehow, they are not able
to submit some kind of comprehensive tax and equalization system to the
voters?<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">The Republicans had no such self-limiting hesitations
when they pushed their anti-social shift of taxes from the rich to the middle
and lower classes.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>They still talk BS
about Prop 13 as if it saved us somehow and the Trump tax cut as if it was the
engine of our economy.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">So, thinking about how we live in a time when public
spending is always leaving our basic needs begging and the politics does not
really support the “public” in public schools, what the Oakland Education
Association got as a settlement is not bad indeed.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">They got more money than was offered. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">The got some movement on class size and made it a
bargaining item.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">And they got the school board to hold off on school
closure decisions and commit to hold a vote on a charter moratorium.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>(a vote of the board, not the people of
Oakland) District staff tried to say that those items were not subject to
collective bargaining, but they were and the union got a small step.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">State wide, this strike and the one in Los Angeles
just before it has made a shift in the public discourse.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The state Dems might want to pass the buck on
school spending back to the property tax deprived counties and cities, but the
public wants state action and some has come forward.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>It is not enough money and some of the
motives have nothing to do with teachers’ strikes, but there is motion after a
long period of neglect and throwing up their hands at the dreaded Prop 13.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">And locally something great happened. The public came
out in support of their teachers.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">Here in Oakland we had solid student and parent
presence on picket lines and among the general public there is a consensus that
they need higher pay, much higher than 11% over 4 years.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">And after many years of not getting the attention from
the public and press that it deserved, this walking scandal of a trojan horse
school board is getting some scrutiny.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">On the fist day after the strike, the school board met
to vote even more questionable budget cuts and try to qualify for a dubious
state assistance under law 1840.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>Hundreds of parents were there to complain, as were hundreds of students
who skipped their freshly re-opened schools to be at the meeting and demand to
be heard.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">The board did not listen, but the greater involvement
of the public can only be a step towards a better group of decision makers
getting elected next year. Then maybe we get the long overdue independent
forensic audit we need BEFOR deciding what needs to be cut or closed.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">I would call all of those things a partial win, all
things considered. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">The state Dems have already come up with a deflective
half measure that they are calling a “start”.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>If we had a dollar for every one of their first steps never followed by
a second step, we could fully fund the schools.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>This time it is some kind of lame law to make the charters “more
transparent” </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">What we really need is
real district control over district charters. What we have now is private or nonprofit
schools operating with public money on public real estate. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">A real public-school charter:
</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">can be denied</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">is subject to
oversight</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">accepts registered public-school
students assigned to it. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">participates in district
programs. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">has public dispute
resolution.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt "Times New Roman"; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Hires union member
staff. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">There is lots of room
for experimentation and different types of school. That is what a real charter
could be. What we have is not that. What we have is people opting out and
taking public resources with them. A lot of them are not professionals. They
run these "charters" like startups, and akin to a small business,
many fail. Then the students come back to the normal schools who have the
obligation to take all students who register.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">These fake charters need to either come back and
become public schools, or just go off and be private schools that pay their own
way as other private school already do. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">And all the schools need more funding, probably about
double what they get now. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; margin: 0px;">And to do that, the rich need to go back to paying
taxes. </span></div>
Don Macleayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17083015728635699181noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4817488808342083958.post-48801014073039772122019-02-06T10:13:00.000-08:002019-02-06T10:13:08.997-08:00Why Oakland Teachers Might Be Next to Strike<br />
Why Oakland Teachers Might Be Next to Strike<br />
<div id="title" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; color: black; font-family: &quot; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 16px; order: 0; orphans: 2; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; word-wrap: break-word;">
<div class="subtitle" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: &quot; font-size: 14.4px; line-height: 21.33px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; order: 0; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box; order: 0;">More than 80 percent of teachers have cast a ballot — the highest turnout in the union’s history — and 95 percent have voted to authorize a strike.</span></div>
</div>
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: "Martel"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
</span><br />
<div class="pageinfos" id="pageinfos" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; display: flex; flex-direction: column; font-family: &quot; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; order: 0; orphans: 2; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div class="author" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: &quot; font-size: 14.4px; line-height: 21.33px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; order: -1; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
by
<a href="https://progressive.org/topics/don-macleay/" itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" rel="author" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: black; order: 0; text-decoration: none;">Don Macleay</a> </div>
<time datetime="2019-02-06T09:00:00" itemprop="datePublished" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; order: 0;"><div>
<div class="date" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline; font-family: &quot; font-size: 14.4px; line-height: 21.33px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; order: 0; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
February 6, 2019</div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Please follow the link </div>
</time></div>
<br />
<a href="https://progressive.org/public-school-shakedown/why-oakland-teachers-might-be-next-to-strike-macleay-190205/">https://progressive.org/public-school-shakedown/why-oakland-teachers-might-be-next-to-strike-macleay-190205/</a>Don Macleayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17083015728635699181noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4817488808342083958.post-57094151128426681802018-06-30T09:48:00.000-07:002018-07-07T09:38:10.337-07:00Say it ain't so Nicaragua
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">To read some of the “analysis” of the left one would think
that the recent uprisings in Nicaragua are all a part of a well-orchestrated
campaign from the same old enemies that the Frente Sandinista had during the
1980’s and the ones that the Left has in the region since way before that.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Those right-wing actors sure are still busy
and it is easy to look at their fingerprints on other Latin American internal
affairs, especially in Venezuela.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">Are events in Nicaragua another CIA plot?<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">NO, but the CIA is trying to shape events and always has. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">Understanding Nicaragua today is sort of like being involved
in a family break up that involves a lot of denial.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Just as one’s ex will downplay that part
where a fist was slammed on the table and a door was slammed during a stomp
off, many on the left are looking for all kinds of reasons not to believe that
the government of Daniel Ortega is the source of its own problems.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">There are two major denial arguments: </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">1 THE GRAND ANALYSIS.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>This is where someone lectures us on the history of US intervention in
Latin America and tells us what the US actions have been in Venezuela,
Honduras, Paraguay (if they are sharp) and we get some kind of discussion of
the Contra War.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>We are told that today’s
events MUST be seen mostly, or only, in this context, but then are offered few
facts to establish how relevant the overall context is to current events in
Managua.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>This big picture is a great thing to keep in
mind, but the arguments are usually presented backwards going over what the CIA
has done, and likes to do and then rationalizing that this somehow proves that
this is what is going on in Nicaragua today.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">2 CAUGHT IN THE ACT. This is where some statement from
somebody, such as someone stumping for the National Endowment for Democracy
(sort of the CIA’s 501c3) either claims credit they do not fully deserve or
puts forward some of their own protégé’s as “representatives of the
opposition”.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>As Americans we should have
no trouble spotting a non profit over stating their accomplishments.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">There are hard facts and good points in both of these
arguments and behind them lies part of the truth of the current crisis in
Managua, but only part.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>As someone who
worked for the Nicaraguan government in rural development in the 1980’s and who
fought in the Contra War, I have a lot of suspicion of my own aimed at the CIA
and most anything that any part of the US government or it’s wealthy right wing
friends do in Latin America, especially when they open their mouths and tarnish
the word “democracy”.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">There is no doubt that many political operations funded by
the US government and its right-wing friends have never stopped being active in
Nicaragua and have cultivated and sponsored many of the people emerging today
as youth or opposition leaders.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">To think of the US role in Latin America as anything other
than imperialist is delusion.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">But Daniel Ortega and today’s Frente Sandinista has it’s own
inconvenient truths.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">It is an avoidance of certain facts on the ground to call
what is happening there today mainly the result of some kind of grand CIA plot
and therefore dismiss the demands of this uprising against Daniel Ortega, his
family and cronies, and what the Frente Sandinista has become today. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">So let’s stick to some facts on the ground and not think
about what we think it must be because of our understanding of the larger
political context and look at what we know for sure.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">The first inconvenient truth for the Sandinistas, is that
they are not the same Sandinistas.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">The current Daniel Ortega government started when he was
elected president in 2007.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Not only did
Daniel’s politics change during the 17 years that the FSLN was out of power,
the structure of the FSLN changed too.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>It has the name, but it does not have a solid claim on the revolutionary
legacy that it uses as political capital inside and outside of Nicaragua.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">The policy change is much more than their pro Catholic anti
abortion law that took away a Nicaraguan woman’s right to choose.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>During his 17 years in the opposition
wilderness, the ‘new’ Danielista Sandinistas made a pact with the right wing
Liberal Party president Aleman that was accommodating impunity to corruption
prosecutions and also became the neo Liberal’s best friend falling in line with
international (including US) finance and making common cause with the
equivalent of the local chamber of commerce called COSEP in employment, tax and
austerity policies.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">The Liberals, COSEP and the US State Department did not have
a problem with authoritarian Daniel for a long time before these protests.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>It is more they who have changed policies,
not Danielismo.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">So for those who want to blame the US for the resistance to
the Ortega government I ask “why?”.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The
US already had a neo liberal, authoritarian strong man to keep the unions and
farmers from resisting austerity and globalization in Daniel.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Why switch?<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">When the outgoing FSLN government made a property grab on
their way out of power in 1990, many many many long standing FSLN members quit
the party.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Then the FSLN held internal
elections making Daniel the party leader.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">During the entire revolution and the revolutionary
government period, Daniel did not have such power, he was part of a committee
leadership group.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Almost all of the
surviving members of that group, including Daniel’s own brother, are no longer
in the FSLN and do not support his current government.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">There is an organized Sandinista Renewal Movement as an
ineffective split off party, so not even all organized Sandinistas are in the
Frente Sandinista.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Many other former Sandinista
revolutionaries are very vocal public critics of “Danielismo”. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">The Ortega government has become progressively more
oppressive and repressive during the 11 years since he was elected.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The evidence for this has been documented far
and wide with some of the primary investigators having close links to the 1979
revolution and first Sandinista government.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>The reports of human rights groups from inside of Nicaragua have been
confirmed by international human rights groups.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>These are groups that often bite the CIA’s tail and call the United
States out for their crimes in other parts of the world. <span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">The Ortega administration actions range from threats against
the employment of critics and their family members to threats and actions of
personal injury.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Such tactics as false
legal accusations have been documented.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>Critics and opponents have been vilified in the press in such a way that
their personal safety is in danger from the public that believes the
stories.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Attacks on protests and
individual protestors became more and more common.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The pro Sandinista counter protest groups
called “turbas” came back, not as counter protestors, but more like goon
squads. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">There has also been a series of different types of
corruption under this government.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Here
it is hard to tell who is who, what is the truth and what are the rumors.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>There have been all kinds of land takeovers
and accusations of land takeovers.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Many
“Sandinistas” are obviously very wealthy and are publicly involved in a lot of
investment schemes related to government activities.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">Easier to track is the very public stacking of the courts
and strategic placement of pro Daniel appointees in key electoral monitoring
positions, leadership in the army and police etc.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The second consecutive Ortega reelection is
of dubious constitutional legality and even more dubious fairness.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>They claim 72% and nobody wants to discuss
the record low voter turnout.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Daniel was
elected in 07 by a plurality, not a majority, and to be reelected a second time
8 years later with his wife as vice president and many of the other parties
crying foul does not live up to the mandate that he currently claims.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Many observers consider that Daniel and
Rosario got rid of any serious opposition before the vote was held.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">I was in Nicaragua just as the protests started.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The criticisms of the pension reforms had
more to do with wondering where the money had gone than the reform itself.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>There was much talk of Daniel’s son being
involved in investing social security funds in a mixed economy real estate
project that he was involved in.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>There
had been a recent uncontrolled fire in the Indeo Mais nature reserve. There too
the question was less about the incompetence protecting this land and more
about suspicions that burned forests were being handed over to agribusiness,
friends of the government.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Similar
accusations abound around the now bankrupted canal project.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>There is no canal, but the companies still
took the land concessions. <span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">For many Nicaraguans, this government lacks basic trustworthiness.
</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">To argue about the pension reforms on the basis of the
actual proposal is to miss the point.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>But that is often exactly what those who want to blame the whole crisis
on the US try to do.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">All by itself, the current version of the Frente Sandinista
has earned itself a lot of popular distrust and disgust.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>That last election seemed much a sham and his
wife Rosario as Vice President is something of an embarrassment even for his
supporters because she is kind of creepy and weird.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">All that said, the Danielista governments had some serious
accomplishments in building infrastructure, especially in the countryside, and
overall, living in Nicaragua looks a lot better than in the three nations
directly north of it.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Salvador, Honduras
and Guatemala.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">In many parts of Nicaragua, the Frente Sandinista locally is
a mixed bag, and better than the national leadership.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>They contest and win many local
elections.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>They form the local
opposition in many other areas and are more in keeping with the history,
politics and practices of the Sandinista movement.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">In this context the dam broke.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">There giant protests against the pension cutbacks among
students and pensioners, and the general public demonstrated their support in
the thousands, possibly hundreds of thousands.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>The size of the crowds and the results of the polls say the same thing:<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Any honest election held today would sweep
the Danielistas out of power.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The
protest movement has massive public support.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">The next inconvenient truth is that the Sandinistas tried to
put this protest movement down by brute force.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>There is no doubt about this.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>In
the age of the cell phone camera and the international human rights movement
one can no longer hide such a thing.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The
evidence is clear enough that any suggestion that the protestors have set up a
false event or events such as right wing groups did in Kiev or Caracas doesn’t
hold water.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">The Frente set up different types of attacks on different
protestors and over 200 of the protestors and their friends and neighbors are
dead.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>There have also been a few deaths
on the government side.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The police
violence with the help of their para military helpers has been out there for
the world to see.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">And repression failed.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">It is kind of sad and pathetic to see to watch Daniel Ortega
try to put down popular protests when it was he himself and the Frente itself
who once led the people of Nicaragua resisting military repression.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Did they expect people to just back down and
fold?<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>That much of the revolution has
not died.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">It is an outrage to see a government calling itself
“Sandinista” committing such crimes.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>For
those of us who worked for the revolution, it feels like a betrayal because it
is a betrayal of the ideals and ethics of the revolution for which we worked,
fought and many of us died.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">The protest movement has its own inconvenient truths.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">The first of those being that there is no single opposition
movement.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>One could roughly say that
there are three:<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>1 this new civic
alliance brought on by the protests 2 the same old right wing and its foreign
backers trying to exploit the situation 3 disaffected or dissident Sandinistas
who were either already opposing Danielismo at some level or for whom the
violence against the people was the last straw.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">Inconvenient truth number two for the opposition is that
some of the roadblocks are shakedowns by right wing thugs.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Sure, some of the roadblocks are for
neighborhood defense, and some are an aggressive protest tool, but some of them
are run by thugs who seem to be in the pay of right wing groups, many close to
the Liberal Party in some form or another.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">Both sides have employed people from marginal ghetto
neighborhoods who are little better than street hoodlums.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>I have tried to write this avoiding as much
jargon as I can, but now I have to introduce two words:<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>‘tranque’ for roadblock protest and ‘lumpen’
a Marxist word for ghetto trash.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">So there is such a thing as a ‘tranque lumpen’ with petty
criminals calling themselves political activists, stopping traffic, charging a
shake down fee to pass and taking pollical revenge of people they consider to
be “Sandinistas”.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>They should be called
Liberal Roadblock, but they are not.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">On the other side, the Frente has also hired ‘lumpen’ to
attack protestors, not to be confused with the para military Sandinista
volunteers who attack protestors.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>At
least some of the “turbas” counter protestors fall in this category and have
been filmed hitting unarmed protestors with iron bars.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">By no means are both sides equally guilty.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">There are no para militaries on the opposition side.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>There are two definitions of para military.
One is a civilian satellite of the official military or police and the other is
a stand alone force, such as a guerrilla army.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>In this conflict, the Sandinistas have both and the opposition have
neither.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">The right wing thugs are only running some of the roadblocks
and in no way are reflective of the opposition movement as a whole.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>And local threats and harassment
notwithstanding, there is little to none of the systematic attacks on protests,
door to door harassments and targeted attacks on individuals that has been
typical of the pro Daniel side.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">And there have been few killings from the opposition side
whereas the killings reasonably attributed to the police and the para
militaries with them, are the overwhelming majority of all conflict deaths. (a
good guess would be about 300 to 5)<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The
government supporter deaths are in part caused by people fighting back once
attacked.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">In some places the public supports the ‘tranque’ because it
advances the protest, protects the neighborhood, or both, in other places the
public joins the para military to attack the ‘tranques’ and to open the streets
back up for the public to use.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">All over Managua and across much of Nicaragua, the patchwork
of barricades, protests, private groups, police units and petty criminals
having a field day has caused normal life to come to a complete stop.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Work and commerce is basically sabotaged
while there are many places where people fear going out at night.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Some of the old neighborhood civil defense
has come back into action.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">Add to this looting, often encouraged by the government,
sometimes by the opposition and arson or fake arson committed by both sides
with the intention of blaming the other side.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>There has been video of people taking their valuables out of their
offices before a fire that they claimed set by the other side.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">Life for the average Nicaraguan has been seriously degraded
in the last two months both economically and for their physical security.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The Nicaraguan economy has gone from boom
growth to recession.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">Inconvenient truth number three for the opposition is that
not all of the current Frente members and groups are part of the problem and
many of them are under attack from local right wing groups. There have been
death threats on both sides.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">In Managua the Frente is that of Daniel the autocrat.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>In other towns the Frente is the local
government or the local opposition.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>Sometimes that is a very positive thing, and other places we have local
reproductions of the problems in Managua.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>There are also “Sandinista” popular organizations, farmers groups and
trade unions, many of whom do good service for the people at the bottom.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Sandinismo means corruption in one place, it
means civil rights and a new water system somewhere else.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">With both sides doing works of both good and evil in
different places and communities across the country, feelings have
hardened.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The deaths and death threats
cross a line, making wounds that heal slowly, if ever.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">For many Frente rank and file there is total distrust for
anything that has to do with the church hierarchy, the Prensa newspaper, the
chamber of commerce, or the Liberal / Somozista right wing.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>They simply do not believe the reports of
police repression in the cities because it is coming from sources that have
lied to them so often in the past. On the flip side, there are people in the
opposition who just feel that Daniel needs to go right now because of that
repression.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Neither group is feeling
very patient.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">It is no surprise that the big blocking points in the
national dialog negotiations are the Frente demanding an immediate end to
‘tranques’ and the opposition demanding an immediate end to para-militaries. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">I get the feeling that leaders on both sides of this
conflict have made the same political miscalculation: </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">The other side is not legitimate and will be easy to
beat.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">Nicaraguan protests will not be put down by force and Daniel
is not going to resign over roadblocks. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: calibri;">As I write this pro Frente para-militaries and police are
clearing ‘tranque’ roadblocks but the protest movement against the Ortega
government is not beaten and the protests are not over.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
Don Macleayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17083015728635699181noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4817488808342083958.post-90858772433227894122018-05-17T10:27:00.000-07:002018-05-17T10:28:42.551-07:00It is time to change the Alameda County District Attorney
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">It has
been time for a long time. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">In no
other race on the June ballot do we have an opportunity to effect a bigger
change than the one that is made possible by voting for Pamela Price against
the incumbent District Attorney, Nancy O’Malley. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The big
is possible because it is the District Attorney who sets the policy of who we
prosecute, how we prosecute them, how hard we charge them and what we might do
instead of throwing the book at a young offender. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Alameda
County is where hundreds of young people get sucked into a vicious circle of
crime and punishment with failed rehabilitation and parolee recidivism. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The
advice on what we should do to break that pattern is not simple, but it is
usually about the same. It is to both try to not put new people into the
criminal justice system and to try to get those already in and out of jail to
stay out of jail and have a healthy life. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">What
exactly does that look like? </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">1 Setting up restorative
alternatives to a criminal prosecution, where an offender gets involved in a
plan for restitution to victims of their crimes and they are kept in society in
a way that includes them turning over a new leaf and becoming contributor in
the community. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The normal way to do this is to
have a community “group-family” conference where the government, the victim,
the perpetrators and relevant friends and neighbors create an individual plan
for that offender. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">2 Making a place for those on
parole and probation in the community. That is hard because people come out of
jail or prison broke, homeless and disconnected from jobs, family and
community. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The kinds of programs that work
usually involve housing and giving people entering the community from
incarceration some kind of job. Education and cultural participation also help.
</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">So,
what influence does a District Attorney have on such efforts? </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">To
start with, she could decide to not prosecute and do something else instead. It
is the DA who can refer a case to restorative justice group-family conferences
in lieu of prosecution. It is also the DA would has the discretion to deal with
parole violations. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Now
maybe you have heard that we are already doing these things in Alameda County. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">We are,
in pitifully insufficient numbers. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">What
does happen in significant numbers is the old counterproductive prosecution
habits, notably: </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Prosecuting
teens (mostly black) as adults. </span></li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Charging
offenders with the most serious charges possible. Often this comes in the
form of claiming the accused committed multiple charges as part of a
single event. </span></li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Charging
offenders with serious felonies that they did not commit as a way to
coerce a guilty plea to some lesser charge that the accused may or may not
have actually done. </span></li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Measuring
a prosecuting attorney’s success by conviction rate and total number
of people sentenced.</span></li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Asking
judges for the maximum sentence lengths.</span></li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Using
parole violations to take people off the street, often leaving other
crimes unresolved. </span></li>
</ul>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">There
is nothing unusual about such practices in a prosecutor’s office in our
country, and Alameda County is not one of the worst offenders by any means.
Many of these issues are at the heart of the prosecution reform our whole
nation needs. But we do have too much of the business-as-usual prosecution machines
in Alameda and we do not stand out as leaders in finding alternatives to harsh
punishments nor in backing off from ruthlessly sending large numbers of young
people to jail. Take a guess how many of them are black and brown. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">From
the time of the Little Hoover Commission Report on Parole in 2003 the
official advice from our state has been to focus on getting offenders back into
the community. The recommendations of that report have not really been put into
practice. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Similar
recommendations stem from earlier to work done on restorative justice here in
the US, some places in Canada and groundbreaking progress in New Zealand. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Here in
the Bay Area there has been some serious progress based on restorative justice
and community policing, notably in somewhat conservative San Jose and in very
left wing Richmond. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Turning
our criminal justice system around is a much bigger task than what any DA’s
office can do alone. It also requires some serious changes in the practices of
our prison system, reformed policing policies and improved services offered by
state, county and city governments. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">That
said, the one elected official who has the most influence in the chain of
command, and the most power to break the vicious circles, is the DA who who has
the power to prosecute or not. We need more “not”. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Pamela
Price has the background and the desire to make headway on the reforms needed. She
has been working in the courts to counteract the barrage of prosecution that so
many are subjected to. She has been trying to do something about the racial and
economic unfairness in a system that is still way too based on merciless
punishment. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">She may
or may not be able to make the needed reforms but she will try, and I am
convinced that the incumbent has had every opportunity to make progress, but
instead has chosen to be someone who resists change. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The endorsements
that she has received speaks poorly of those endorsing. Such endorsements are
made as political calculations, not a discussion of policies. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Nancy
O’Malley has been part of the problem, no matter what token efforts she has
been associated with, and I think it is time for a more forceful advocate for
justice that is just. </span></div>
Don Macleayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17083015728635699181noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4817488808342083958.post-51939851709490102182018-05-10T22:46:00.001-07:002018-05-10T22:46:19.033-07:00Do not vote Dan Kalb for Assembly
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Do not vote Dan Kalb for
Assembly </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">This June we North
Oakland residents will be voting for a new member of State Assembly, District
15. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">I am advising strongly
that you do not to vote for our current District 1 Member of City Council, Dan
Kalb. It makes me feel kind of like a rat to say bad things about him because
he is a personable, nice guy. I like him, but I am also closer to the process
than other members of the community and feel a responsibility to warn people
off from voting for him. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">I did not always feel so
negatively about Mr. Kalb but over the course of the 7 years that I have been
around him, his office and his political friends, my conclusion is that Dan is
about Dan and his political career first, and we residents come second, at
best. And we should expect second rate constituent service, at best. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Sure, Dan looks like a
wonderful candidate. Looking like a wonderful candidate is usually the first
thing that our mainstream politicians do well. That and raise funds. They
cultivate working relationships into endorsements (called networking) and they
hustle up that pile of cash needed for them to be on the inside and be seen as
“viable” by our local press. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">I know that Dan and his
campaign can cite a long list of accomplishments and show off a chest full of
Democratic Party merit badges and campaign ribbons. But apart from their
marketing valued to his career, do they mean much for us here in North Oakland?
</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Before we get too caught
up in the siren’s call of any Oakland politician’s self-promotion please take a
look at the seven thousand plus people living out in the rain under the bridges
and ask yourself how good of a job are our Oakland elected officials doing on
the list of things that matter to us in our day to day lives. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Call a cop, visit a
school, park your car, get a permit to upgrade your home, file a complaint, buy
or sell a home or do any of those things that we do with the city government
and ask yourself if Oakland is well run. Do we have a good local government? </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">If it all seems fine to
you, walk down the sidewalk with the car glass swept to the curb, past the
people living in the tents and go vote for one of our council members to go
help us in Sacramento. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Dan is only part of the
problem when it comes to Oakland’s disappointing government, but being part of
running Oakland is not much to be proud of. <span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Let’s talk some
specifics about our council member. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Dan Kalb boasts of being
a top environmental advocate. What does he mean by that? I think he means
environmental statements with a city hall signature. He has a background that
should be seen as environmental nonprofit lobbying and he talks it up. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">But insufficient
environmental concern has taken place exactly where the City of Oakland wields
the most authority: code, zoning and permitting. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The Oakland list of
neglected environmental actions is too long to write because it includes
everything from fire abatement to native species, water control to pollution in
our parks and landscaping, from the solar panels on our roofs to the grey water
from our sinks and the list goes on to include every part of what the city
should be doing about the world wide environmental crisis. You will find that
most of these subjects were rarely discussed by our council and by no means is
Dan Kalb a visionary on urban ecology or a vocal advocate of it. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The reality of it is
that Dan and his office assistant Olga come from the Sierra Club group of local
Democrats. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">What has been done in
Oakland is symbolic, token and statistically meaningless, but it does provide
political cover by allowing the claim of “doing something”. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Something is better than
nothing only when it is something real. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Doing “something” to
create an illusion of progress keeps substantial advancement stalled. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Putting forth “something”
is a good way to make oneself look good and it advances a political career. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Another place where the
progress does not measure up to the size of the problem is our new police
commission. Despite popular misconception, Dan Kalb did not write the police commission
proposal. That was done by the Coalition for Police Accountability led by
Rashidah Griange. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">What Dan was involved
with is the watered down version that we voted for in 2016, called Measure LL. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Some key provisions were
cut and the LL version lost considerable informed support including some of the
leaders of our local Black Lives Matter movement and the Oakland Justice
Coalition. Both of those groups felt that the key ability to discipline an
out-of-line police officer was missing. The Measure LL version also gives the
Mayor the right to directly name too many members of the new police commission.
</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Guess who The Mayor
endorses in this race? </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The overwhelming yes
vote for LL shows that there was no political need to water LL down on the
public’s part. The political need to water it down was for the careers of the
politicians involved, including Dan Kalb who may have already had his eye on
the “open” 15<sup>th</sup> District Assembly seat as he ran for reelection to
his council seat. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">One does not rack up the
pages of endorsements that Dan has when one stands up to the police officers’
union or any other public sector union, or the mayor. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The long list of
endorsements are on Dan Kalb’s website. I suggest you take a long look and
think over what each of them means in the way of who he will think of first
before he responds to the needs of the voting public. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Oh, and Oakland Police? Still
under the control of a judge because we still have not implemented the reforms
agreed to back when the Rider’s case was settled in 2003. (yes, 15 years ago) Oakland
continues to pay out for police abuse more than any city in our area. But save
that, want to know another side of the Oakland Police Department? Ask current
or former black and brown youth. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Dan was one of the new
faces on council that was supposed to do something about that. We are still
waiting. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">There has been some
symbolic change, some real change and there continues to be one scandal after
another and not enough of the police accountably that was asked for when we
voted for LL. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Then there is the question
of constituent services. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Want to get a deep laugh
out of a local community activist? Tell them that Olga from Dan’s office will
“get back to you on that”. That will cause any of us to smile, left right and
centrist. (most are centrist) </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Dan is there to press
the flesh, he hold semipublic, symbolic “office hours” but a one on one, in
depth, private meeting does not happen. Sustained support for community
projects is also a weak point. Ever wonder how Telegraph Ave fell off of the
repaving list? Neglected local items is another list too long to write. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">And I know a couple
things from running for office. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">As someone who ran for
local office in 2010, 2012 (against Dan) and 2016 I got to see some of the
process around Dan and his part of the Sierra Club. This is worth a couple
blogs all on its own, but just for this editorial, it forms part of why I lost
trust in, and I will not vote for, Dan Kalb. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">I also have some serious
questions about what our local branch of the Sierra Club has become. It feels
more like a Democratic Party “player” to me, than part of the environmental
movement. I see that they have endorsed our incumbent DA against the woman who
would bring us some real restorative justice practices where they would be most
needed. (Do not re-elect O’Malley, PLEASE vote for Pamela Price) </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Dan’s own endorsements
of others are devoid of public process, consultation with us here in District 1
and based on his “working relationships”. I asked to talk to him in 2015 about
my 2016 school board race and got a yearlong run around. Asking to meet with
him politically got me a “yes” and “Olga will get back to you”. In other words
it never happened. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">If the answer was NO
because I am too left wing, or too Green for him to support, he did not have
the integrity to tell me that. I think he endorsed Jody so that Jody could
endorse him in 16 and now again in 18. I doubt that Dan and Sierra Club support
charter schools and serial budget cuts, but that is what they endorsed. I
learned about it on twitter. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">And what expertise does
the Sierra Club have to endorse candidates for District Attorney and School
Board anyways? Are they now education and criminal justice experts? We are a
long way from David Brower…. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">But that was not Dan’s
first long run around with me. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Unprompted he told me
personally that parolees were going to be one of his priorities once he was on
council. Given my own background, I offered to work on whatever Dan came
up with to help people on parole and probation find a place in our community
after he won the election in 2012. I would have been glad to help and set
politics aside because Oakland should come first and we have a serious problem
with recidivism here. There are young people who need serious attention
following the neglect they received from Alameda County and the California
Department of Corrections. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">I asked Dan about this a
few times over the following years and never heard that anything was happening
from Dan or anyone from his office. Maybe Olga will get back to me about that
too.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Personally I will vote
for Jovanka Beckles. We only have one vote in this one. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">She is one of the three
people running who have serious backgrounds in being a local elected official. The
other two are Dan and Judy Appel. One could say Andy Katz too, sort of. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Jovanka is part of the
Richmond Progressive Alliance success story, so politically I am more in her
camp, and she is the only one who has the hands-on track record dealing with
the problems we know in Oakland such as parolee recidivism, restorative
justice, community policing, the housing crisis, wage equity and so on. Jovanka
was part of the team that gets real results and she is also known for her
active and attentive constituent service. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Jovanka has the
endorsement of the My Revolution (Berniecrats), us Greens and most of the
progressive left. So politically she and I are kindred spirits. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">But that may not be your
cup of tea. A person more attracted to the mainstream Democrats would find a
good person to vote for in Judy Appel with her strong nonprofit advocacy and experience
on the Berkeley School board. Katz also has a respectable background. <span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The other person who
would give me pause voting for her is Buffy Wicks. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">A background pushing a
bill in Washington on behalf of the executive is a long way from being a local legislator,
but others have made that conversion and she is obviously bright and
personable. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">What gives me pause, and
would really give me pause if I were a Democrat, is her history of heavy partisanship
against the Berniecrats and 3rd party folk like me. I am not sure if she would
be there to lead all of us. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">We need someone in
Sacramento who will be responsive to the district across the board. I do not
want to be waiting for Olga to get back to us when we are asking for help with
something that does not get Dan a campaign donation or endorsement. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">And if Dan stays because
he does not make it to the November runoff, we need to see what will get us
more attention in District 1, here in Oakland. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">--------------------- </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">For more information,
please take a look at the Alameda Green Party Voter Guide for the June 2018
election. I did not write the endorsement for Assembly District 15, but I did
write the recommendation for a Yes vote on Measure D and to cast our ballots
for former Richmond Mayor Gayle McLaughlin for Lieutenant Governor. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><a href="https://acgreens.wordpress.com/voter-guides/"><span style="color: #0563c1;">https://acgreens.wordpress.com/voter-guides/</span></a>
</span></div>
Don Macleayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17083015728635699181noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4817488808342083958.post-52343446525535805992018-05-06T20:20:00.001-07:002018-05-06T20:20:03.144-07:00Nicaragua’s vicious circle of distrust
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Nicaragua’s
vicious circle of distrust</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Visiting
with old friends, who are also fellow old revolutionaries, in a rural town
where we all used to live, I found a completely different view of the protests
and the protesters than I heard about in Nicaragua’s cities. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Why
were they so less critical of Daniel Ortega? In part because they did not
believe the reports of deaths, police abuse and goon squads attacking the
protestors. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Anything
that came from the right was suspect. That included the human rights groups
close to the right wing. “63 reported dead?” “Who said so?” </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">I only
got some traction when I said that the pro-Sandinista newspaper confirmed the
numbers of known dead and missing, presumed dead. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Protestors
beaten, tortured and left on the road? Again, who said so? And who are these
protestors? “They must have done something to have deserved it.” “These groups
could not possible all be students.” </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Social
media and mainstream media is highly suspect among rank and file Sandinistas
inside, and especially outside of the big cities. There is a suspicion of spin
and fake news that would seem very familiar to the US based observer. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Added
to this is a long history of being lied to, and manipulated by, the same groups
of right wingers and their cast of characters now crying foul. Most Nicaraguans
know them by first name.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">These manipulation
and lies include recent economic grief caused by members of these private
sector circles. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Some of
that grief comes in the form of land takeovers all over the country by right
wing, “Miami based” Nicaraguans who are trying to get back land that was
confiscated because of their relationship with the Somoza dictatorship. Those “true
owners” have committed all kinds of petty crimes trying to reverse the land
reforms one little parcel at a time, often on land that these families never
owned. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">So when
the private industry council is talking national politics, social security laws
or civil rights, the experience that many Nicaraguans have of them is the
support they give to some local rich reactionaries trying to kick farmers off
of their land. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">And the
private industry council is connected to a list of misdeeds and crimes going
all the way back to CIA intervention and the Contra War. They have earned the
distrust of each generation in their own way over decades. In every part of
Nicaraguan history, the private sector groups have been the friends of the rich
and powerful in a country where there is a deep economic divide and those at
the bottom are accustomed to being treated like shit by the affluent. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">So now
they are for civil rights and are against police abuse? </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Now
they are worried about the old age pensions of poor people? </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">These
people have so little credibility that if they claimed that the sun rose in the
east, an average Nicaraguan would double check with an astronomer and then
wonder what the rich were up to by saying something that was true. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The
Catholic Church has its own public perception problems. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">I have
been asking everyone I know “Who in Nicaragua has broad based credibility
that would engender the trust of both sides if they led up an investigation?” </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Sandinista
friends are slow to say the church, and if they do, they are quick to make
clear that they only mean some members of the church and do not mean the local
church hierarchy. Some bishops are considered too close to Daniel and most
other elder ones have a long history of being close to the CIA, the Contra,
Somoza and the obstruction opposition of the past or right wing Liberal
governments between Daniel’s first period as president and the second. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The
Nicaragua pantheon of scoundrels includes many in black robes. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">It
includes many wearing the red and black flag of Sandino too. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">To
think of the Sandinista view of the political divide as single side is too
simple, and this is ever truer on the other side where people are opposed to the
Daniel presidency in the third term of its second edition for a wide variety of
reasons with a long variety of start dates. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">But
there is enough distrust of the Sandinistas from the rest of Nicaraguans to
categorize the situation as a circular firing squad of suspicion. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Some
rich reactionaries and their thugs were happy with the Somoza dictatorship and
are indeed as sociopathic as the Sandinistas paint them. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">On the
other hand, old distaste over how the land reforms were carried out also stems
from some legitimate claims of abuse. There has never been a serious
readjustment or reconciliation and compensation agreement. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">What
many unfairly expropriated land owners got was a lot of double talk, shifting
of the blame and downplaying any harm that came to those unjustly deprived of
their property. Organization and transparent due process were never a
Sandinista strong point. So many have come from the other side of the land
disputes with built in distrust of the Sandinistas and frankly count their
fingers after shaking hands with one. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Then
come the layers of alienation. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Many of
the people who now do not trust the Sandinista Front are former supporters or
members. Land is hardly the only issue to have come up over the years. Hardball
politics has earned Sandinista supporters and critics patronage or retaliation
from government agencies that should not be making decisions, such as road
paving, based on political party. Step by step, many old Sandinistas have
become former Sandinistas and I have heard repeated talk of how the Sandinistas
have strayed from their ideals of clean and humane government</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">From
the time of the Contra War to today, many dubious actions, policies and
statements of the Front and its leaders have deserved investigation, public
criticism and rebuke, but it never really came. Apologies and restitution are
not part of the public discourse. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">There
has been double talk in lieu of action, there has been back stabbing and
personal gain, there has been no small amount of preferential treatment and
above all, there has been more propaganda than open discussion. People want
answers and debate; they get slogans. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">And one
could rewrite the above switching the names around because most active members
of the political casts have had their hands dirty one way or another during the
post revolution presidencies. Of the former Sandinistas there is little to say.
Many have now become part of the affluent private sector, some were ineffective
dissident intellectuals whose alternative Sandinista movement failed at the
polls and the rest have seemed to just neglect politics and public life all
together. The only one who could have been an alternative leader is buried in a
place of honor next to the national palace. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The
last thing being discussed privately or publically are the details of the
social security reforms that supposedly were at the heart of the debate, the
protests, the student strikes and the suspicion of corruption. Is the fund
bankrupt? Was it honestly depleted or was it used as a piggy bank for
investment schemes? Is the new plan solvent? </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Such
questions are swept aside because so little of what anyone says is believed. The
head of the police was “retired”. Was she responsible for the abuse? Well,
so far the Sandinistas have not admitted to any abuse, nor the use of good
squads, despite overwhelming evidence. They withdrew the pension reforms, but
are not saying anything about oversight of the pension system.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">I spent
an afternoon talking with an old friend who was until recently an employee of
the social security institute. She though that the cuts and adjustments were a
good deal since the flip side was extending health benefits. Most would argue
that the Public Health Service is not worth it, but that really depends on
where one lives. She is rural, and she is one of the people who saw her own
payout cut only six weeks into her early retirement caused because the cutbacks
had cut her. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">That
was the only in depth conversation I had with anyone on the subject, but
another friend, a Sandinista economist disaffected from the Daniel leadership,
told me that he does not think any small country can avoid using neo-liberal
economics today. You will not find that in the press. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">A good
part of every other conversation was about who they did not believe, who they
thought their own side was and what they thought others were “really up
to” and who they “really were”. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">And I
keep asking the same question: </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">“Who
has the trust of the people?”</span></div>
Don Macleayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17083015728635699181noreply@blogger.com0