2009 july aug

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Because People MaterProgressive News and Views July / August 2009

Inside this issue:Editorial ....................................................2Thank you Paulete! ..................................2Pastors for Peace Caravan ........................2

My Story:Time for Single Payer ............... 3Support Soapbox ....................................... 3Derailing Obamas Health Plan ...............4

Mimic US Capitalism? .............................4Budget Woes Spark

Death Penalty Decline ...........................5Daniel Singer Millennium Essay .............5Fundamentalists in the Military ..............6Confessions of a Conspiracy Theorist .......7Let Progressive Secretary Write For You .. 7

What To Do With All Those Cucumbers .. 8Growing Sacramentos Future .................8Farms Not Burbs ..................................... 9Visions of a Nuclear Weapons-Free

World ....................................................10Taking a Look at Islam ............................10

Ask A Socially Responsible Therapist .... 11Californians Know What To Do .............11No Hope Ending the War on Drugs .......12Death Penalty Focus ...............................12Caldern Failing .....................................13Whats Up With Homeschoolers ............. 14

Calendar .................................................. 15

By Meg Johnson

In 2002, when the nonprot Sacramento MutualHousing Association (SMHA) was completing construc-tion o Victory ownhomes in North Sacramento, peoplewould oen stop their cars to inquire as to the cost o thehomes, assuming the attractive buildings were market-rate condominiums. Tey were urther intrigued withthe solar panels on each townhome. Most were shockedto learn that the housing would be orrent, and income restrictions wouldlimit occupancy to very low incomeamilies.

In 2002, solar panels were unheardo in rental communities. Victoryownhomes was the rst multiamily

development in SMUDs service area toinstall solar components. In additionto solar panels on the townhomes, thebuilding at the ront which houses alarge community gathering space, oces or organizersand service sta, and a computer learning lab, has a roowith solar roo tiles.

Why did the mutual housing association break thebarriers o installing solar energy components in itsaordable development? Why is the association planning

new housing communities that meet high standards orgreen construction? How will they keep rents low andstill incorporate cutting edge green eatures?

Te choice at Victory ownhomes was an easy one.Low income people are challenged by meeting their util-ity bills each month. Many elderly residents wont turnon air conditioning, at great risk to their health, because

they cant aord to pay the electric bill.SMUD had a special program that,combined with incentives created bythen State reasurer Phil Angelidesunder the Low Income Housing axCredit program, cut the cost o thesolar components by about 50 percent.

In the City o Davis, the mutualhousing association owns land uponwhich it plans to build 69 apartmentsor disabled and low-wage households.

City leaders are committed to sustainable development.Tere is a city ordinance that creates a minimum greenstandard or all new development. SMHAs New Harmo-ny housing development will exceed this standard. TeSMHA believes that exceeding the standard will elicitgood will among city residents, something that aord-

able housing could use. Te SMHAs leaders also want topush the envelope to bring down the cost o operations,resident utility bills and add to the sustainability o thelarger Davis community.

Te sta o SMHA has had to develop new capacitiesin green building methods and materials. Tey becamemembers o Build it Green, the creator o the GreenPointRating System, and the US Green Building Council, thecreator o the Leadership in Energy and EnvironmentalDesign (LEED) Green Building Rating System. Te two

organizations provide training, networking and proes-sional certications to advance sustainable developmento commercial and residential acilities.

By hiring local architects whose sta are certiedgreen designers, including Cynthia Easton, Bob Kuch-man, and Jim Zanetto, the SMHAs recent housingdesigns will be models or other developers. Some stepsare no-brainers. Sensitivity to placement o buildings on

By Rachel IskowCecilias mom lives in a Sacramento inner-city neigh-

borhood lacking a majorgrocery store. She cant aorda car, and many months, shelacks the money or a bus passto get her to a retail center inanother neighborhood whereproduce is sold. Te local momand pop stores a couple oblocks away rom her apart-ment carry bananas, mostly aging, a ew apples, and per-haps wilting lettucethis is on a good day. Te cost othis produce in that small shop is double the price oundin conventional grocery stores.

Cecilia has heard accusations in the media that low-

income moms are not eeding enough ruits and veg-etables to their kids. Tey dont mention the access issue.

Residents o Sacramentos aging neighborhoods havealways had a problem getting ready access to resh andaordable ruits and vegetables. Last year, AlchemistCommunity Development Corporation (ACDC) andSacramento Mutual Housing Association (SMHA) part-nered to bring Sacramentos rst urban arm stand to thecommunity o Alkali Flat. Te year prior, residents oAlkali Flat had mourned the loss o their neighborhoodgrocery store. Access to resh produce became an issueo concern. Leaders o ACDC came up with the urbanarmstand concept as a means o providing that access.

In Alkali Flat, as in other poor and aging neighbor-hoods, armers perceive there is an insucient market tojustiy bringing their produce out or a armers market.

Tis is where urban armstands come in. ACDC and

SMHA proved that the concept could work in Sacramen-to. Te arm stands ulll two goals. Tey provide access

to resh and aordableproduce and because o theway these two nonprotsdesigned the program, thearm stands build commu-nity. Tey encourage resi-dent interaction by bringingin local musicians, by utiliz-ing volunteers, and oering

childrens activities and community organization booths.Unlike armers markets in which armers come to

the people, urban armstands require an intermedi-ary to bring the armers produce to the customers. Intheir urban armstands, the two sponsoring nonprots

purchase organic and conventional produce directlyrom area armers and turn around and sell the produceweekly at arm stands located in public areas. Tese aretypically public parks or mutual housing communitieswith large open spaces.

Volunteers sta the stands, with one paid ACDCemployee coordinating the operations. Trough a grantrom Te Caliornia Wellness Foundation, SMHA pro-vides stipends to neighborhood young people who internin the armstands. Tese youth get training on the dier-ences between conventional and organic produce. Teyalso get customer service skills and benet rom positiveinteraction with adults in their neighborhood.

Tis year, the SMHA and ACDC arm stands arelocated in both Alkali Flat and Oak Park. Te Oak Park

See Urban Farmstands, page 9

Greening Afordable HousingBecause it just makes sense

The SMHAs recenthousing designs

will be models orother developers.

Some steps are no-brainers.

Urban FarmstandsBringing resh produce to low income residents

Residents o Sacramentos agingneighborhoods have always had

a problem getting ready accessto resh and aordable ruits

and vegetables.

New Harmony, a green mutual housingcommunity, is scheduled to startconstruction this winter in Davis.Image courtesy of Kuchman Architects, rendering by

Sawyer Fischer.

See Green housing, page 11

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2 Because People Matter July / August 2009 www.bpmnews.org

Editorial Page

On the cover

Farmstands mean fresh, local

food. See stories beginning on

page 1, continuing on 8 and 9.

Photo courtesy SMHA.

Muriel Strand, Co-Coordinating Editor for this issuePeople MaterVolume 18, Number 4Published Bi-Monthly by the

Sacramento Community forPeace & Justice

P.O. Box 162998, Sacramento,CA 95816

(Use addresses below forcorrespondence)

Editorial Group: Jacqueline

Diaz, Jeanie Keltner, JoAnn

Fuller

Coordinating Editors forthis Issue: Jacqueline Diaz,

Muriel Strand

Design and Layout:

Ellen Schwartz

Calendar Editor:

Chris Bond

Advertising and Business

Manager: Edwina White

Distribution Managers:

Distribution Manager Emeritus:

Paulette Cuilla

Subscription Manager:

Gordon Kennedy

HOW TO REACH US:

Letters, ads or other

business:

[email protected]

HOLD THAT CALENDARITEM!

Please be patient as we switch

to our new format. If someone

will volunteer to format

and post calendar items,

we'll maintain a community

calendar. Meanwhile, check

for peace and justice events at

www.sacpeace.org.

HANG ON TO THATSTORY!

With the new web-based

format, we can run more timely

stories, and readers will be

able to comment on them. We

want your articles, punditry,

opinions, comments andletters! But, we won't be able to

publish any of it until the new

website is set up. Watch for it

at www.bpmnews.org.

HAVE SOME A LITTLETIME?

Our new format will require

much less time from our

volunteers than the paper

version. For Editingwe need

people who are (mildly)

geeky rather than fanatically

grammatical. Editors will

post articles when they are

submitted, though it need not

be immediate. No meetings.

No deadlines. Articles may

be reviewed for spelling and

grammar errors (or not), but

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it, ask owners of other sites to

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Can you help? Call Ellen at

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BECAUSE PEOPLE MATTERis an

all-volunteer endeavor to pres-

ent alternative, progressive

news and views in Sacramento.

We invite and welcome yourresponses.

Please reproduce from any of

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because

Its Not Tat EasyBeing Green

How People MatterAs I write my rst BPM editorial, my mind

wanders back to when I helped start the Sacra-mento Greens, beore the Green Party, when wemet in Dale Crandall-Bears New Society book-store. Why the Greens? Because the integrationo social and ecological sustainability is a keyGreen principle.

A ew years later this newspaper was createdBecause some Sacramentans believe People Mat-ter. People can make a dierence, and peopledeserve consideration rom others.

But how much do people matter? Well, we(usually) matter more to ourselves than to eachother, or to other species, let alone to the planet.

(Although now what probably matters to the eco-sphere would be recovering rom the inection.)Teres no denying that the more people there

are, the less each one matters. Tats the reality odiminishing marginal returns, a undamental oeconomics. Scarcity makes things more valuable,ceteris paribus, and abundance can make theminvaluable, like water or air that we generally take

or granted. Excess can turn anything into a nui-sance or a hazard, like plastic trash or corn syrup.

So people will matter more i they are in pro-portion, which is another way o saying whensocial and ecological sustainability are in har-

mony, when we are living as wewere evolved to live.

Ten, ake dilemmas likejobs vs. environment will oolno one. We will realize that ourtrue needsclean air and water,healthy ood, and shelteraremore important than jobs ormoney, that money can only buywhats or sale. Only Mother Earth can provideor our survival; people can simply share.

But huge orces oppose ecological and socialharmony. One orce is cheap gasoline. We areaddicted to our oil energy slave, who worksor less than 1% o the minimum wage. We arespoiled, hence the petulant comments provoked

by higher energy prices. Te ear and angervoiced by many reect our addiction.Te institution o advertising is an underap-

preciated and ormidable opponent o the clearthinking and non-attached compassion thatsocial and ecological harmony calls or. Newsmedias addiction to advertising income hascontaminated public discourse, and we are so

marinated in public relationss breathless miasmao psycho-social manipulation that the boundar-ies between virtual and reality, between act andction, are ading ast.

Another opposing orce is within us. It is the

dominator culture, a conceptnamed and described by RianeEisler in her book, Te Chaliceand the Blade. Te dominatorculture is the centralized, hierar-chical, authoritarian worldviewthat we are all somewhat inectedwith. Tis toxic mindset is, Ibelieve, more undamental than

our ossil uel addiction.So its really simple. Do you want to be some-

one who matters, who makes a dierence? Tendo unto others as you would have them do untoyou, a policy recommended unanimously byworld religions. Put yoursel in other peoplesshoes, and dont be mean. Be kind i possible, but

denitely dont be mean. Now put yoursel in theshoes o people who look dierent, talk unny,and/or live on the other side o the world, suchas those who are homeless, oreign, reugees, ter-rorists, etc. And also behind the eyes o wolves,mosquitoes, trees and our other nonhuman kin.Tey all have natural and rational reasons ortheir eeling and actions.

hanks to Paulette Cuilla or all her workand years o service. Paulette has been anindispensable help in getting our words

out! She took on the distribution oBPMat atime when our network wasnt working. Shetook an unorganized distribution concept andsomehow got the paper into the hands o readers.She recruited and organized distributors into anecient team.

Not content to let things rest, Paulette strat-egized placement oBPMstands and got newstands into new outlets in our communities. Shealso kept aer those o us distributing the paper,reminding us to do our part!

Te role o Distribution Manager is a behind-the-scenes job that makes it possible or our pre-cious thoughts to have readers, so we thank you,Paulette, or having done this work!

People can makea dierence, and

people deserveconsideration

rom others.

Thank You Paulette!Farewell to our BPM distribution team

From the BPM Editorial Board

And to our loyal, hard-working distributors, manywho have happily pickedup and delivered papers oryears throughout the Sacra-mento region, we thank youor your work and support.

odayBPMis ready ora change, so we are sayinggoodbye to stands, printpapers and distributors. But,we are saying hello to a newonline ormat! We hope that our extended BPMamily o distributors will continue to spread

the word that BPMis going online! Distributorsand readers can continue to read BPMin a newonline ormat coming soon to the webstandnearyou!

Please join the Sacramento Area Black Caucus (SABC), the CentralAmerica Action Committee (CAAC), Black United o Sacramento Val-ley (BUF) and others or an aernoon o riend-ship, as we gather to welcome the Caravan to

Sacramento, and to break bread together at theOak Park United Methodist Church, 3600 Broad-way, Sacramento, 58pm.

Tis 20th anniversary event is a potluck, reeand open to the general public. Please bring adish to share.

We are seeking co-sponsors o $25 (individu-als) and $50 (organizations) to help with the shipping costs and eventcosts. Sponsors will be listed on all outreach materials. Co-sponsors canmake checks payable to: BUF (Black United Fund o Sacramento Valley(a 501c3)). Mail to SABC, P, O. 5528, Sacramento, CA. 95817, Attn: Pas-tors or Peace Event 2009. Please include your name, address, phone andemail contact inormation.

Friends o the Cuban people are also invited to donate essential goodssuch as construction supplies o all kinds (carpentry, plumbing, electri-

cal, painting, etc.) or rebuilding aer recent hurricanes. Educational andmedical books (English and Spanish only), new educational and medical

supplies, unctional computers (Pentium III orbetter) and accessories, bicycles, Bibles in Spanish,

and nonperishable dry oods in actory-sealedpackages are also very helpul. Items are being col-lected at the oce o the Black United Fund: 410444th Street (at 16th Ave.), Sacramento.

Please call 916-484-5025 to arrange a time ora volunteer to receive your donation.Your sup-port and participation are deeply appreciated.

I you want to know more about our work and about upcoming cara-vans please contact John Waller, National Cuba Caravan Coordinator at212-926-5757 or by e-mail at [email protected] visit: www.pastors-orpeace.org.

For more inormation please contact:Faye Kennedy, Caravan Coordinator or Sacramento County

[email protected] or (916) 484-5025

The 20th US Pastors or Peace Friendshipment Caravan to CubaIs coming to Sacramento Saturday, July 11, 2009

Please join us or an

aternoon o riendshipas we gather to welcomethe Caravan and break

bread together.

Tank you again, Paulette and distribution

team, or keeping BPMs print-orm available tothe community or so many cherished years.Details to come about the new online ormat at

www.bpmnews.com.

Paulette in front of the US Capitol with other CodePinkers for the 5th anniversary of the Iraq war inMarch 2008.

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By Cres VellucciI have been very healthy most o my lie. It

all came crashing down in February o this year

when I ound mysel in the hospital withouthealthcare insurance.

Like tens o millions o Americansthegovernment says 48 million are uninsured buthow long can that g-ure remain the samewith millions o peoplelosing their jobs andbenets?I did not havehealth care because Icould not nd it at a reasonable price.

I did receive care, but was le with a $40,000bill or our days o treatment. Hal o the bank-ruptcies in the US are related to medical bills.Millions more Americans dont seek medicalhelp, or simply cannot get it, so they wait until

they die or are critically ill beore seeking care.Tey lose more than their money or credittheylose their lives.

Although I was aware o the health care cr isisin this country, my unexpected stay in the hos-pital gave me a whole new perspective. It gaveme a glimpse o what people can do i they ndthemselves in a similar predicament. In short, notall is lost.

First, seek treatment or an emergency situa-tion whether you can aord it or not. Hospitalemergency rooms cannot deny you care, andyour lie could depend on receiving that care. Youcan deal with the circumstances o the bills later.I waited two days to go to the emergency room. Itdid not cost me my l ie, but it easily could haveI suered a small stroke, and le untreated even

or a mere ew hours can lead to death or perma-nent paralysis.

Second, dont worry about paying the bill. Yourhealth comes rst. Hospitals have what they callcharity payment plans that can allow you to payat a reduced amount, or they can orgive the debtin its entirety.

Teres also the County o Sacramento Medi-cally Indigent Services Program (CMISP)allcounties have similar programs, largely paid orvia Medi-Cal, that can pay medical bills, andaord you aer-care.

Tis program is largely unadvertised, as is thecharity program at hospitals. Its not by accident.People might easily seek care in increasing num-bers i they knew this universal coverage was

available.CMISP can pay or your bills without any co-pay/deductible i you earn something ar belowthe poverty l inein 1984. Apparently, accordingto sta I spoke with, the gures representingcost-o-living have not been updated or 25 yearswhich unairly skews it so you have to be below

dirt poor to escape a co-pay/deductible. How-ever, the co-pay can be very low, and certainly

nothing compared to thousands, or tens o thou-sands o dollars in medical bills. And the countywill give you time to pay.

Tird, investigate other options. As a Vietnamveteran (I was draed),I discovered, thanks toa hospital worker whomentioned it, that Iqualiy or health carethrough the Veterans

Administration. Again, they may have a co-pay,but it is low.

None o this would be necessary, and peoplewould not be unnecessarily dying, i we haduniversal, single-payer health care in place in thisstate, or country.

But dont hold your breath.As was said on Bill Moyers Journal on PBS inMay (www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/05222009/watch2.html), once upon a time Senator Obamasaid he supported universal single-payer healthcare, and that aer the Democratic Party retookCongress and the Presidency (which they have) itwould be ours.

Fast-orward six years, and now PresidentObama, under a ull press o the insurancelobby, is saying single-payer, universal heathcare is impossible. We all know whythe sameHMOs, insurance and drug companies whokilled the health care plan in the Carter and Clin-ton administrations are about to do it again.

Te consequence will be millions o Americansnot receiving desperately needed urgent health

care. Were not talking about losing a chance togo to the doctor with the snifes (never a goodidea whether you have insurance or not). Weretalking about the kind o care one should receiveas a basic human rightto prevent or treat amajor disease or ailment.

What were up against, essentially, is the healthinsurance industrythe people who are on top,who could have an enormous amount o inu-ence, are too araid o the health insurance indus-try. And in some serious ways, they are as in bedwith them as Wall Street and the banks were inbed with the Congress and have gotten their way,with their kind o bailout, said Dr. Sidney Wole,acting president o the non-partisan group PublicCitizen, as heard on the Bill MoyersJournalon

PBS.According to the Center or Responsive Poli-tics, more than $46 million in 2008 was given bythe insurance industry to the campaigns o Dem-ocrats and Republicans to maintain the industryscontrol over health care (www.opensecrets.org/industries/indus.php?ind=F09).

Te Green Party is the only national politi-cal party to support ull universal single-payerhealthcare.

Its a real shame.Single-payer would cover every American

regardless o employment, income, ability topay, age, and prior medical condition. Everyonecould enjoy guaranteed quality health care,including prescriptions, and no American wouldace nancial ruin because o illness or injury.Everyone could choose his or her own physician,health care provider, and health care acility. Itwould cut national health care costs by as muchas a third and reduce what working Americanspay or health coverage.

Medicare (which would be made universalunder Single-Payer) has three percent adminis-trative costs, which is highly ecient comparedto the 15-30 percent administrative costs (prots,paperwork, CEO salaries, etc.) o or-prot insur-ance. Plus, it covers everyone. Private HMOs andhealth insurance companies increase their protsby denying treatment to people with medicalemergencies and by denying coverage to thosethey consider high-risk.

Finally, single-payer would boost the ailing USeconomy and provide relie or businesses, sinceit would cancel the high expense and burden oemployer-based health care benets.

It seems Americans understand. Polls showpopular support or a national health care pro-

gram that guarantees universal coverage (www.wpasinglepayer.org/PollResults.html ).I understand. Im recovering rom my stroke,

and my eyes are wide-open to the need to pushor universal, single-payer health care now, beoreeven more people die on the altar o insurancecompany prots.

My StoryIts time for single-payer, universal health care

I did receive care, but was

let with a $40,000 bill orour days o treatment.

Artwork: Kjersten Jeppesen

Support Sacramento Soapbox!Progressive TV talk show needs your help

With a contribution o $30 or more, you can support SacramentoSoapbox!and get 10colorul little art pieces by Jeanie Keltner.

Soapbox!is Sacramentos only progressive V talk show discussing issues important toBPMreaders. Aired on Channel 17 every Monday at 8pm or 15 years, Soapbox!reaches30,000+ viewers.

Checks can be made out to Jeanie Keltner and sent to 403 21st St, Sacramento 95814.Help keep Soapbox going!

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By Gustavo LopezTe Venezuelan employment rate in 2009

totaled 92.3 percent, which accounts or

12,065,593 employees, according with TeNational Institute o statistics. But strangely, thebourgeois US and Venezuelan media doesntseem to know i this is a good thing or a badthing.

In April 2009, the Venezuelan unemploy-ment rate stood at 7.7 percent according to theNational Statistics Institute. Te US Bureau oLabor Statistics showed the job situation in theUS is not doing as well.

Non-arm payroll employment has continuedto decline in the US, and the unemployment ratehas risen rom 8.5 to 8.9 percent, according to theBureau o Labor Statistics o the US Departmento Labor. Since the recession began in December2007, 5.7 million jobs in the US have been lost. InApril, job losses were large and widespread across

nearly all major private-sector industries. Overall,private-sector employment ell by 611,000 jobs,according to the US Bureau o Labor Statistics.

So, the unemployment rate in Venezuela issignicantly lower1.2 percentage points lowerthan the unemployment rate in the US. But manybourgeois economists, especially the VenEconomycrowda Caracas-based publication and consult-ing rm that analyzes the Venezuelan economy,and much o the Venezuelan bourgeoisie stillbelieve that Venezuela should ape or mimic thepolicies o US capitalistspolicies that produceda world capitalist crisis in the rst place!

Again, according to US Bureau o Labor Statis-tics, job losses were large and widespread acrossnearly all major private-sector industries. Over

611,000 jobs were lost, so this is a tragic situation

or the hundredso thousands o US

workers who losttheir jobs in Aprilalone. But guesswhat the bourgeoisUS and Venezu-elan media andeconomists sayabout the US eco-nomic situation?

Its acorrection.

Yeah, thatsright, they call it acorrection!

In other words,some bourgeoismedia and

economists believe it was correct to put 600,000workers out o work in April. And some o thesemedia and economists are asking, Why doesntVenezuela also correct itsel and throw a lotpeople out o workhow can Venezuela be doingbetter?

Te answer to this question is that Venezuelanrevolutionaries are deliberately economically andpolitically incorrect.

Why, Venezuelan revolutionaries are so eco-nomically incorrect that they intend to reducethe unemployment rate in Venezuela to below 7.7percent.

Gustavo Lopez is a Sacramento activist origi-

nally from Venezuela, and a supporter of BPM.See more from Gustavo Lopez at

www.programabolivariano.com.

By Charlene Jones

Shortly aer the American Hospital Associa-tion (www.aha.org) and Americas Health Insur-ance Plans (www.ahip.org) changed their minds

in May about volunteering to save Americans $2trillion over 10 years, Blue Cross Blue Shield oNorth Carolina hired a public relations rm toderail President Obamas public health plan.

Te Washington Posts May 18 story about BlueCross/Blue Shield revealed a campaign as slick asthe inamous ad couple Harry and Louise whohelped kill health care reorm in the 1990s. Someportion o what consumers, along with their

struggling local and state governments, pay BigBlue or health coverage will und ads aimed atconvincing Americans they will be denied choiceand wait weeks or care because o governmentbureaucratswhile most Americans are cur-rently denied choice and wait or weeks or carein or-prot HMOs. Dizzy yet?

Te health care industry is doing what itsdone or decades when things heat upspend-

ing money where it counts and volunteeringto serve their country only long enough todistract. According to the non-partisan Centeror Responsive Politics, theyve spent more than$134 million on lobbying in the rst quarter o2009 alone. Tey are also suiting up, like doctorsbeore a major operation, with major publicityassaults on any reorm that threatens prots romdisease and dying.

When then-President Jimmy Carter talkedabout controlling costs, according to a May 11New York imes story, drug makers, insurancecompanies and hospitals agreed to help slowthe spiral but bills soared higher than ever a ewyears later. By the early 1990s, Americans werepinched again. Tis time the health industry

nanced one o the most expensive and deviouspublic relations campaigns ever launched. Harryand Louise prevailed and proteering grew.

In saying they can vol-untarily slash $200 billion ayear o the countrys medicalbills over the next decade andstill preserve their prots,

healthcare companies implic-itly acknowledged they wereplotting to eece consumersand have been eecing themor years, wrote David Sirotao Creators Syndicate on May15. With that acknowledg-ment came the tacit admissionthat the industrys businessis based not on respectablereturns, but on grotesqueproteering and wastethekind that can give up $2 trillion and still guaran-tee huge margins.

Huge margins became the mantra o a cost-cutting, prot-incentive health industry culture

championed by Rick Scott, the Sam Walton ohealth care industry, according to Fortune Maga-zine in an April 9 prole. Scotts maneuveringis renowned or a couple o reasons. Columbia/HCA, the company he ounded in 1987, skyrock-eted in a ew short years to become the largesthospital corporation in the country, leavingother providers dead or dying in its wake. Tena US Justice Department investigation into alseclaims submitted to Medicare and other ederalprograms resulted in Scotts orced departure in1997 and a 2003 raud settlement, the largest inUS history, or $1.7 billion.

Prots rom his current investments in healthcare and plastics continue, however, to enableScott to und more propaganda, including theront group Conservatives or Patients Rights

(CPR), according to the Hungton Post. Tegroup hired CRC Public Relations, a key player

in swiboating presidentialcandidate John Kerry. Recent-ly, CPR aired a 30-minuteV documentary in lateMay which, along with $5

million ad campaign starringScott himsel, are both benton scuttling public supportor any meaningul reorm toAmerican health care.

While polls convincinglyshow that Americans, includ-ing Republicans, want majorhealth care reorms, with apublic insurance plan opento everyone, insurance com-panies collect premiums and

co-pays that may well bankroll propaganda todeeat any signicant change to better serve thepublic interest.

Remember, Blue Cross o Caliornia, the larg-

est insurer in the state, was in the news or alleg-edly rescinding health insurance policies basedupon the illegal practice known as post-claimsunderwriting, leaving the insured individualwith the outstanding bills not paid by the healthinsurer. And then only aer exposure by the LosAngeles imes did Blue Cross cease asking physi-cians to alert them to preexisting conditions otheir patients.

Tese are the suits who volunteered, and thendidnt, to help out a nation in a double economiccrisisnot the mortgage crisis but the gapingwound in health caremillions without healthcoverage, thousands losing coverage every day,and budget-busting medical costs the leadingcause o bankruptcy. Dizzier yet? Coming soon,the son o Harry and Louise.

Charlene Jones is a consultant who writes forBPM.

The health care

industry is doingwhat its done or

decades whenthings heat up

spending moneywhere it counts and

volunteering toserve their country

only long enough todistract.

Ready for the Son of Harry and Louise?Derailing Obamas health plan

Mimic US Capitalism? No Tanks!Unemployment rate in Venezuela is signifcantly

lower than in the US

Gustavo Lopez

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CAAC Goesto the MoviesALMOST EVERYMONTHThe Central AmericaAction Committeeshows interestingand informativevideos on socialjustice, laborstruggles, and somuch more! Call tosee whats playingthis monthWE ALSO HAVE A

VIDEO LIBRARY YOU

CAN CHECK OUT.

1640 9th Ave (east

off Land Park Dr)INFO: 446-3304

Peace Action

on the WebKeep up to date

on peace activism

in Sacramento.

Check out

www.sacpeace.org.

By Steanie Faucher, ProgramDirector o Death Penalty Focus

In March, New Mexico took the historic stepo replacing the death penalty with permanent

imprisonmentmaking it the eenth state toabandon capital punishment and the second stateto do so legislatively in the last two years.

New Jerseys legislature passed a similar bill inDecember 2007. In signing the legisl ation, NewMexicos Governor Bill Richardson cited theextraordinarily high costs o retaining the deathpenalty and the 130-plus inmates reed romdeath row since 1973 due to wrongul conviction.He stated, Te sad truth is the wrong person canstill be convicted in this day and age, and in caseswhere that conviction carries with it the ultimatesanction, we must have ultimate condence, Iwould say certitude, that the system is withoutaw or prejudice. Unortunately, this is demon-strably not the case.

At least 10 other states have considered similarmeasures this year, citing the signicant savingsthat could result rom ending the death penalty ;Montana, Nebraska, Illinois, Colorado, NewHampshire, and Kansas are among them. Justweeks ago, Connecticuts legislature passed a billto abolish the death penalty, although GovernorJodi Rell has stated that she is likely to veto.

Also this year, Maryland Governor MartinOMalley called on his states legislature to endthe death penalty citing both nancial and ethicalconcerns. In response, the Maryland legislaturepassed a bill making it extremely dicult to seekthe death penaltystopping just short o outright

abolition. Governor OMalley praised the legisla-tion and indicated that it was a step in the rightdirection.

In June 2008, the Caliornia Commission on

the Fair Administration oJustice ound that Caliorniaannually spends approximately$137.7 million dollars on thedeath penalty. By replacing thedeath penalty with permanentimprisonment, the Commis-sion noted that the state couldsave in excess o $125 millionper year. Te Caliornia State Legislature alsodoled out an additional $136 million this yearor a new death row housing acilityor whichthe total project budget is expected to reach $400million.

Several Caliornia state legislators includingSenator Mark Leno and Assemblyman Jared

Human have called or an end to the death pen-alty. Both legislators have cited the states budgetcrisis as a good reason to consider getting rido capital punishment. In a recent op-ed or theMarin Independent Journal, State Senator Lenoargued, We are cutting the very programs thathelp reduce violent crime, and without them,violent crime may well increase. Meanwhile, wecontinue to waste more than $250 million on anineective and broken death penalty, and its aprice we can no longer aord. For Caliornianswho want to live in sae and healthy communi-ties, the answer is clear. Te time has cometo replace the death penalty with permanent

imprisonment.In a March interview withMarin Magazine,

Assemblyman Human came to a similar conclu-sion, Its time to seriously reconsider the death

penaltyit makes no senserom any angle you approachit. Its hard to make the case itdeters anyone rom crime. Itseven harder to make the casewe can aord it. In so manyways, it is absolutely ridiculous.

Recent polling shows thatCaliornia voters are likely to

agree with them.Te State o Caliornia could save $1 billion in

ve years by converting the sentences o the near-ly 680 persons currently on death row to sentenc-es o lie without the possibility o parole, and bysuspending all new death sentences or a periodo ve years. Tis would also allow the legislature

to consider selling the prime real estate currentlyoccupied by San Quentin State Prison or an esti-mated $2 billion dollarsa goal that has unitedsome Democrats and Republicans, includingSenator Je Denham rom Merced.

Tis countrys scal crisis has made one thingcertain; the death penaltys days are numbered.When that happens, the US will nally jointhe vast majority o countries135 and count-ingthat have abandoned capital punishment.For opponents o the death penalty, that day cantcome soon enough.

For more inormation, please visit www.death-penalty.org.

By Muriel Strand

Te Daniel Singer Millennium Prize Founda-tion annually recognizes an original essay thathelps urther socialist ideas in the tradition oDaniel Singer. Singer, a writer and journalistwho passed away in 2000, was or many years theEuropean correspondent or the US magazineTe Nation. Singers last book was Whose Millen-nium?(1999), a polemic against market unda-mentalism and the rule o capital.

Daniel Singers ideas can summarized asollows:First: By radically transorming the produc-

tion process, capitalism created the potentialor meeting the basic needs o humankind.However, the capitalist system is unable toulll that potential because the satisactiono human needs conicts with the relentlesssearch or maximum prots by a privilegedpropertied elite.

Second: Against a society based on the marketand regulated by the prot motive, socialists

pose a planned economy based on the social-ization and collective ownership o production,distribution and communication.

Third: Only the working people and their alliescan themselves bring about this transorma-tion, beginning with their assumption o statepower and their active participation at the heado this process. Te transormation o societyis only possible on the basis o ull democratic

participation o the working people in thepolitical, economic, and social arenas, as wellas the spread o this transormation through-out the world.

Fourth: Te discredited and now-deunctregimes o actually existing socialism weremere caricatures o socialism, the result o theabsence o democracy, underdevelopment,and the ailure o socialism to spread to theadvanced capitalist countries.

Fith: Because society will be able to meet basichuman needs and gradually reduce the time

required to be devoted towork, socialism will leadto the owering o humanpotential.

Tese principles will

guide the judges in weigh-ing prize entries. Te 2009prize will be $2500 and willbe awarded or the bestessay, o no more than 5000words, exploring the ques-tion: Te global economiccrisis has revealed capital-isms inability to meet theneeds o the vast majorityo the worlds population.Given the experience o thelast century, how can a caseor socialism be made?

Essays may be submit-ted in English, Spanish or

French and will be judged

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Budget Woes Spark Death Penalty DeclineStates across the country consider scrapping the ultimate punishment

Daniel Singer Millennium Essay 2009Annual prize or best essay on a selected topic

This countrys scalcrisis has made one

thing certain: thedeath penaltys days

are numbered.

The global economic crisishas revealed capitalisms

inability to meet the needso the vast majority o the

worlds population. Giventhe experience o the last

century, how can a case orsocialism be made?

by an international panel of distinguished schol-ars and activists. Te winner will be announcedin December 2009.

Submissions must be received by July 31,2009. Essays can be mailed to:Te Daniel Singer Millennium Prize FoundationP.O. Box 2371, El Cerrito, CA 94530Essays can also be e-mailed.Links to the 2008 winners and other inormation

can also be ound on the website: www.daniels-inger.org/.

Essay contest entries must be submitted by July 31,2009.

8/14/2019 2009 July Aug

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By Henry Clark

Most Americans know about the scandal thatrocked the US Air Force Academy a ew yearsago. Very ew are aware that the same tactics used

to proselytize members o the armed orces arestill being carried out today in military acilitiesall over the world.

Te Military Religious Freedom Foundation(MRFF) is a private watchdog organization thattracks the use o tactics such as bullying (includ-ing physical beatings), denial o promotion andpunitive duty assignments to orce militarypersonnel who are not evangelical Christians todeclare themselves as such. Te MRFF has ledlawsuits on behal o dozens o atheists. Jews,Roman Catholics and members o mainstreamProtestant denominations have also been sub-jected to such treatment because o their reusalto submit to these pressures.

According to MRFF, our military ranks do

contain a small but impassioned cadre o evan-gelical Christians who seek theocracy. Tey havemade it clear that, in their view o human destiny,

the ultimate mission o all those who regardthemselves as true believers in Christ are chargedwith the work o Christianizing the armed orcesin this country and abroad.

Te God-and-Country ideology emerging

today is especially alarming or two reasons.First, it is not just an underground activity car-ried out here and there by a ew individuals, butrather a quasi-ocial position being taken byhigh-ranking ocials with positions o greatauthority and prestige. Second, it receives acertain amount o support rom a number opoliticians and media celebrities who audaciouslyviolate the doctrine o Church and State separa-tion enshrined in the Constitution.

It was Major General William Boykin whogained instant notoriety by taunting a Somaliwarlord, boasting, My God is bigger than his.And it was Major General, Pete Sutton andormer Secretary o the Army Pete Geren whoappeared in uniorm promoting a video pro-

duced or Campus Crusade or Christ by Chris-tian Embassy, a undamentalist ministry based inWashington DC that is known to make presenta-tions during military basic training sessions.

A video called Red, White and Blue Spec-tacular prepared by the rinity BroadcastingNetwork eatured Lieutenant General RobertVan Antwerpthe same General appeared in a2003 Billy Graham rallytelevised around theworld on the Armed Forces Network where thebaptisms o 700 soldiers under his commandwere used as evidence o the Lords plan to raiseup a godly army, proclaimed Van Antwerp at theevent.

Political endorsement o the God-and-Countryideology comes rom elected ocials such asRobin Hayes (R-NC), who deended Boykin

or proclaiming that stability in Iraq ultimatelydepends on spreading the message o JesusChrist. As Hayes put it in a speech to the Con-cord, North Carolina Rotary Club, Everythingdepends on everyone learning about the birth othe Savior. Pat Buchanan praised the general orbelieving that Christianity is the true aith, thatJesus is God and that God is guiding America

in this war against Satan. Buchanan went on todeclare that Boykin seems to be exactly the kindo warrior America needs to lead us in battle

against the kind o anatics we ace.Pentagon spokesmen have denounced such

rhetoric and seek to exercise damage controlin its wake. Lieutenant Colonel Rick Franconaresponding stating, in the age o the internet,remarks like these do reach Iraq and the rest othe Middle East and when they are heard inthe light o photos show-ing soldiers posed withtheir ries and Bibles thatappeared in the Fort JacksonCampus Crusade or ChristGods Basic rainingwebsite, Iraqis can hardly beblamed or thinking that theinvasion o their country

really is part o a new cru-sade aimed at Islam.American military com-

manders have equated Godand country in a number oviolent attacks which con-ate religion and war. Onesuch operation is describedin a scary article by JeSharlet in the May 2009issue oHarpers, whichreports that a Special Forcesunit o the First InantryDivision in Iraq was orderedto send an impregnableBradley Fighting Vehicleinto the Muslim holy city

o Samarra with the sloganJesus Killed Mohammedblatantly displayed on itsarmor in giant red Arabicscript. Some o the Iraqiswho reacted to this inam-matory incursion wereannihilated by repower somassive that it destroyed thebuildings in whose windowsthey dared to appear.

Te MRFF is deeplyconcerned about the legaland constitutional issuesposed by these develop-ments. Mikey Weinstein, head o the MRFF, con-

demns such activity as a national security threatinternally to America every bit as ormidable asthe external threat challenging America rom arevitalized aliban and an al Qaida that is nowat least as strong as it was on 9/11. Weinsteinclaims that the MRFF has acquired a ton o irre-utable proo o how our Islamic undamentalistenemies are using, to their ull advantage, themultiplicity o disgraceul instances o uncon-stitutional proselytizing within the US ArmedForces. More than one senior national securityocial has thanked the MRFF or the job it isdoing to expose and denounce the complicity othe US military in massively orcing undamen-talist Christianity upon its own members as wellas the oreign populations.

Every citizen who believes in the importance o

Church and State separation, and everyone whounderstands the enormous boomerang eect oattempting to convert Muslims to Christianitymust see the problem with linking undamental-ist ideology with the military. Tis isnt ction.What we are dealing with here are grim, real-lieanatics who see themselves as deenders o God,implacably determined to shove their tragically

Onward Christian SoldiersFundamentalist orgs mixing church and state

Our military ranks

contain a small butimpassioned cadre o

evangelical Christianswho seek theocracy.

Great HolidayGift Idea!

w w w. H u m o r T i m e s . c o m

it givesus hope -and itsdarn funny

too!

Formerlythe

Current issue available

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No longer distributed free:It was eithergo out of business. The good news:

weve added a lot more great content,and its CHEAP!Just $17.95/year

(12 issues) when you sign up online!

switch to subscriptions or

Last Print Issue of Because People Matter!See back cover for details!

Watch the movie Constantines Sword for moreinformation about right-wing evangelizing in themilitary.

misconceived understanding o Christ down thethroats o everybody in the world. It is a threatwhich truly patriotic Americans must acknowl-

edge, expose and oppose as resourceully aspossible.

Find more inormation at www.militaryrele-giousreedom.org.

8/14/2019 2009 July Aug

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LAST ISSUE!After the July-August2009 issue of Because

People Matter, the paperwill move to a website-only format. Pleasesee the back cover for

details.

Some of the

Places You Can

Find BPM

On the web:www.bpmnews.org

For July and August:

Sacramento AreaCoffee WorksCrest Theater

Dimple Records,Arden WyFlowers RestaurantGalleria (29th & K)Grinders

Hart Senior CenterLido CafeLight Rail:

65/Folsom

4th Ave/FreeportLos JarritosLunas Cafe & Juice BarMercy Hospital, 40th/JPancake Circus, 21st/

BroadwayPlanned

Parenthood:FranklinBlvd, Watt Ave., 29th

St.Queen of TartsQuick MarketSacramento Bagel,

47th/H

Sacramento NaturalFoods Coop

Sacramento PublicLibrary (Main & many

branches)Starbucks (B'wy & 35th)The BeatThe Bread StoreTime Tested Books

Tower Theater (inside)

Tupelo (Elvas & 57th)Underground Books

(35th St. near B'way)

Weatherstone Coffee

Chico Area

DavisEspresso Cafe Roma

Davis Natural Food CoopNewsbeatUniversity Mall

Grass ValleyBriar PatchSacred Bee

Greenhaven areaBuckthorns Coffee,

7465 Rush River DrFor a more complete list,

visit our web site:www.bpmnews.org.

By Jeanie Keltner

How the World rade Center (WC) build-ings came downespecially the 47 story Build-ing 7, which wasnt hit by a plane but collapsed

completely into its ootprint in 6.5 secondsis amajor sticking point in the ocial 9/11 narrative.More than 700 proessional engineers and archi-tects have called or a new investigation becauseo the incompatibility o the ocial pancaketheory with the laws o physics (www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssuAMNas1us&eature=related).Likewise much evidence has been discovered otraces o the explosive thermate at the coll apsesite.

But now a paper by nine scientists publishedin a peer-reviewed physics journal conclusivelyshows the presence in dust samples rom thewin owers o unignited aluminothermicexplosives, whose chemical signature matchesdocumented residues Jones ound earlier

extrapolating rom the samples, there were tonso nano-thermite, which can only be created bysophisticated technology (www.911research.wtc7.net/ essays/thermite/ explosive_ residues.

html).Niels Harrit, the Danish scientist in the study,

called this not the smoking gun, but the loadedgunconclusive proo o demolition.

But almost as intriguing as this evidence is theinormation that has suraced about Te NationalInstitute o Standards and echnology (NIS),the agency that ocially analyzed the WCcollapses.

NIS never even considered the possibility oexplosives, even though re investigation pro-tocol as well as outside scientists demanded it.When a reporter asked why NIS hadnt looked

or evidence o explosives, NISs spokespersonreplied, Right, because there was no evidence othat. Reporter: But how can you know theres noevidence i you dont look or it rst? NIS: I

youre looking or somethingthat isnt there, youre wastingyour t ime

Despite the many con-nections between NIS

and nano-thermites, NISscomplete lack o interest in explosives is not sur-prising when one looks closely at this supposedlyneutral agency. Arden Bementappointed direc-tor o NIS by President Bush immediately aer9/11was ormerly the Deputy Secretary o theDepartment o Deense and an executive romRW, the aerospace contractor, both involved indeveloping and producing nano-thermite.

In addition, the largest contingent o non-governmental investigators working on the NISWC investigation came rom Science Applica-tions International Corporation (SAIC), a multi-billion dollar private contractor known or raudand deceit, which Donald L. Barlett and James L.Steele called the invisible hand behind a huge

portion o the national-security state and theraternal twin o the intelligence establishmentbecause o the many ormer CIA operatives,National Security Administration executives, andPentagon ocials who make up the companywhich proted astronomically in the wars againstIraq and Aghanistan. (www.vanityair.com/politics/eatures/2007/03/spyagency200703).

SAIC also developed and ormulated nano-thermites. Interestingly, SAIC evaluated theWC or terrorism risks in 1986 and also over-saw the late 1990s security upgrades at the WC(www.911review.com/articles/ryan/nist_ther-mite_connection.html).

Tis, o course, is pure coincidence. Unlessyoure a conspiracy theorist.

But then my connection to politics has always

been conspiracist. From the Kennedy and MLKassassinations, to Watergate, IranContra, theS&L collapse and Enronin each event, theconspiracy theory turned out to be the truer

explanation.Conspiracycollusion o

two or more people pursu-ing illegal means to eectsome illegal or immoralendhappens all the time.

Michael Parenti writes,Tose who suer rom conspiracy phobia areond o saying: Do you actually think theres agroup o people sitting around in a room plottingthings Indeed, they meet in rooms: corporateboardrooms, Pentagon command rooms, at theBohemian Grove, in the choice dining rooms atthe best restaurants, resorts, hotels, and estates, inthe many conerence rooms at the White House,the NSA, the CIA, or wherever. And, yes, theyconsciously plotthough they call it planningand strategizingand they do so in great secre-cy, oen resisting all eorts at public disclosure(Dirty ruths, 1996, pp 172-191).

Yet conspiracy theorist is the term o choiceto discredit those who search out better explana-

tions o 9/11used as oen by the le as by theright!Nonetheless, the 9/11 truth movement may

be the largest grass roots movement happeningthese days. With no sponsors or outside unding,and despite mockery, angry denunciations, andtotal media silence, the movement has attractedtruthers o all ages, rom all classes, and romle to right.

Beyond their dierences, truthers are unitedagainst government deception and usurpation opower, illegal wars, and attacks on the Constitu-tion. United by the internet too, with thousandso people investigating, researching, interacting,and by necessity making their own media. Teabsolute and total blackout o this huge quantityo substantiated 9/11 inormation in corporate

news seems, paradoxically, proo its too hot tohandle.

But I am more and more condent that truthwill out.

By Cathy Hodge McCoid

Progressive Secretary is a cyberspace organiza-tion that sends letters to Congress about peace,death penalty, womens right to choose, poverty,ecology, racism and other concerns. Its ocus is

on the current progressive agenda and on makingemail lobbying easy.With a membership o 4000 people, Progres-

sive Secretary revolves around two Quakers,Jim Harristhe Caliornia computer guyandPat Murphythe Florida letter writerliving atopposite ends o the country.

A longtime activist, Harrisa sel-identiedcomputer nerd who has an MS in Electrical Engi-neeringsays Ive been a le winger all my lie.When he started PS, he said he needed someonewho could write, and Pat (Murphy) steppedup to the plate. Murphy is a retired academic, ascholar o Arican and Arican American history.

Jim Harris ounded the organization in 1998when he was recovering rom leukemia and ondisability. He says, I came across a technical

article on how to control sending emails, so Icould send my emails rom a database, with anyreturn address. He demonstrated this to BecausePeople Matterproduction artist Ellen Schwartza long-time riendby sending her an email withher return address on it.

oday, he runs Progressive Secretary romeight computers in his living-room/oce insuburban Sacramento. Since Congresspeoplenow have web sites and do not generally acceptemail, Harris spends much o his time telling thecomputers to enter membership inormation andletters on congressional web sites.

However, they had a hard time at rst, andhad to work out an agreement on the style owriting letters. When Harris was president o

echnical raining Center in San Jose in the

1980s, he learned about mass communication,and those lessons stayed with him. He said, Ibelieve that the rst hal dozen words inu-ence i the reader will read in detail or just skip.Wells Fargo ound that, on a web site, retentiongoes down as length goes up, and that materialin paragraphs o more than ve lines is seldom

remembered.Pat and I worked on our writing style, andPat began to turn out lettersabout 2000 so ar,Harris explained. Hallmarks o PS letters arebeing short and to the point. Harris said, We trynot to do scholarly letters on esoteric topics. Wewant to send the letters you would write yoursel,i you had the time.

Progressive Secretarys volunteers help in vari-ous ways, such as writing, editing, prooreading,testing, and communicating to members and oth-ers. In addition, it takes volunteers to coordinateall o the other volunteers.

Decisions on which letters to write are hearteltby Harris. Tere are so many righteous issuesthat we cannot do. Some o our limitations aresta. I Pat does not eel inspired rom a writing

standpoint, we dont do a letter. I we had morewriters, then someone else might eel inspired.

Harris described the reasons topics areselected. Oen our decision about which letterto write is based on the ocus o our strugglesat this moment. Marx called it a class struggle,and when I was active with the arm workers, wecalled it la Causa or the cause. Whatever youcall it, there is certainly a struggle by most peopleor a better world. On the other side, a smallnumber o people struggle or prot and powerbecause their way o lie depends on it. Testruggle between progressives and reactionarieshas central issues whose time is now. Te econ-omy, health care, and the war are central issues.Many other issues, no matter how righteous, are

not on the public agenda.

Harris said that generally an issue is consid-ered central and timely i major organizations,news media and web organizations are pushingit. Tese organizations include Greenpeace,Common Cause, the ACLU, AFL-CIO, etc. Headded, We could do more issues i we hadpeople willing to take a ew hours to work withus to regularly write letters. Writing is hard.Our FAQ (at www.progressivesecretary.org )has more inormation on letters we do, and ocourse a sign up page.

Harris emphasized that electronic com-munication is not a substitute or other kinds

o activism, like visiting legisl ators, attendingmeetings and rallies and writing to newspapers.o him, el ectronic communication is just amarvelous addition.

Te kind o member Id rather not have issomeone who says, now that I am sending Pro-gressive Secretary letters, I can stop attendingvigils, meetings, etc.

He grinned and said, My ideal memberwho I was just corresponding withis an 83year old guy in Florida, who goes to 2 vigils aweek, to his local Peace center and sends Pro-gressive Secretary letters.

Cathy Hodge McCoid is a cultural anthro-

pologist (Professor Emeritus of Anthropology,University of Central Missouri). She is also Jim

Harriss partner.

Conessions o a Conspiracy TheoristExplosive new 9/11 evidence

Let Progressive Secretary Write For YouAlternative or busy citizens

A paper by nine scientists

published in a peer-reviewed

physics journal conclusivelyshows the presence in

dust samples rom the

Twin Towers o unignited

aluminothermic explosives.

Whatever you call it, thereis certainly a struggle by

most people or a betterworld. On the other side,

a small number o peoplestruggle or prot and

power because their wayo lie depends on it.

8/14/2019 2009 July Aug

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By Karen Hansen and Muriel Strand

Gleaningthe ancient practice o picking over armelds aer the harvestis making a comeback. Joe andChris Millers elds at a Colorado arm were pickedso clean in one day last November that a second day

o gleaning was canceled Sunday aer 40,000 peopleshowed up the rst day.

Tere are Gleaning Projects all around the nation. InSacramento, Valley Vision mentions the Senior Glean-ers in their Report on Food Access in the SacramentoRegion: An Assessment o Access to Healthy Foods InLow-Income Communities o the Sacramento Region,available at http://www.valleyvision.org/

Te Sacramento Senior Gleaners have been receivingand distributing ood donations or almost 33 years.Farmers markets are one source o donations that havecertainly become more important in recent years. www.seniorgleaners.org/

Randy Stannard, the Food Access Coordinator or theSoil Born Farms Urban Agriculture Project (www.soil-born.org) in Rancho Cordova, says, Soil Born donates

(or has donated) regularly to Sierra-Arden Food Closet,Cordova Food Locker, Sacramento Food Bank and FoodNot Bombs. I am pretty sure that River City Food Ser-vices also accepts donations.

Also, Soil Born recently joined with other organiza-tions, community groups and interested community resi-dents to orm a new group called Harvest Sacramento.

According to Stannard, It started rom acouple in East Sacramento that wantedto organize in their neighborhood toglean the many citrus trees that they

saw going to waste. We gleaned about3000 pounds this early spring over 3-4gleaning days.

Te group is beginning to lookor grant unding to acilitate bettercoordination o their eorts, via aweb interace to collect inorma-tion on homeowners with treesthat they want to have gleaned,volunteers who want to do thegleaning, and neighborhoodinormation that will includetoolkits or them to start their own neighbor-hood-based gleaning eorts that tie into the larger eort.

Another local resource or urban armers is the Rapha-el Garden at the Rudol Steiner College in Fair Oaks, and

the biodynamic workshops held there. www.steinercol-lege.yellowpipe.com/?q=node/162.Te Sustainable Urban Gardens website at www.sac-

gardens.org/oers lots o tips or beginning gardeners,as well as the story o how. just two years ago, Sacramen-to Citizens or Sustainable Landscapes insisted that thecity council make ood legal in Sacramento ront yards.

By Kim Glazzard

With the continuing escalation o national and globaleconomic challenges, many Sacramentans not onlywonder what the uture holds, but also at what point theymay need to worry about having money or basics suchas ood to eed their amilies. Sacramentans are blessed,however, to be located in the middle o one o the mostabundant agricultural meccas o the country (i not theworld), at the conuence o two rivers and with a climatewhich supports a nearly 365-day growing season. Teyare in an ideal position to take control o their situationand turn the treasure o Sacramentos rich river-bottomsoil into ood or their dinnerplates.

At the oreront o a movement to see vegetables pavethe ront, side, and back yards where grass is tradition-ally grown, the City o Sacramento, Organic Sacramento,and the Sacramento Area Community Garden Coalitionare spearheading a large-scale movement with aspira-tions o inspiring thousands o Sacramentans to turnmuch o their yards into productive and water-conserv-ing vegetable gardens.

ransitioning conventional lawns into edible organiclandscapes and gardens where our valuable waterresources can be conserved through sustainable waterirrigation practices and with an end-product o oodrather than mere aesthetics, not only makes sense, butis a win-win-win-win situation. Increased gardens canreduce Sacramentos green-waste generation, conserveprecious water resources, reduce stormwater and chemi-cal runo, as well as provide resh and healthy ood orSacramento amilies.

As an initial orientation phase, the City o Sacramentolaunched their Grow Gardens Grow campaign on April18 with a total o our introductory garden trainingsthroughout the city during April and early May. Tis yearSacramento plans to sponsor a series o additional reegardening classes and workshops on various topics such

as soil structure, vegetable gardens, drought tolerant

plants, water conservation, mulching, composting andmuch much more.

Sacramentos Community Garden Coordinator BillMaynard explains We want to give people the basic

tools and encouragement to try to grow things. Every-body thinks they have a brown thumb and cant do it, butthe most important thing is to just get out there and try.

Like any worthwhile endeavor, gardening has its ownlearning curve, but the pure joy o eating ruits and veg-etables that you grow yoursel is well worth the nominaleort and investment in time and resources that it takesto be successul. Additionally, growing gardens can helpaddress major health and obesity concerns by allowingSacramentans access to the greatest nutritional value oreshly picked produceright o the vine. Gardens canalso help build and rejuvenate communities, beautiyneighborhoods, and reduce an areas carbon ootprint.

How much ood can be grown in a normal yard, youmight ask? While advanced bio-intensive methods andcompost teas can greatly improve the quality and quan-

tity o produce, ood yields primarily depend on basic

variables such as the health and composition o the soil,access to sunlight, and attentive care and watering. Teseanti-depression or prosperity gardens need not beconsidered incidental however, as the Victory Gardens oWorld War II produced nearly 40% o our countrys ood

at the time.While the City o Sacramento is taking the lead,

Organic Sacramento, the Sacramento Area CommunityGarden Coalition (www.saccommunitygardens.org), aswell as other community organizations, are all workingto mobilize this eort through outreach and education,arranging supplementary classes and workshops, in addi-tion to initiating sample prototype gardens throughoutthe greater Sacramento community.

Who knows, but i this garden in every yard move-ment takes hold and Sacramentans are able to signi-cantly help supplement their monthly ood budgets,there may again be a sense o hope and empowermentto reestablish at least a semblance o control over Sacra-mentos economic uture.

For additional gardening inormation, go to www.

organicsacramento.org.

What To Do With All Those Extra Cucumbers!!?Share by gleaning and trading locally

Crop swaps are about trading what youve gleanedrom your own garden. Te Oak Park Crop Swap meetsrom June to September, every Monday at 6-7pm atMcClatchy Park, to swap vegetables, ruit, owers, andgardening stories.

Growing Sacramentos FutureGardens yield green thats better than money

Increased gardens can reduce

Sacramentos green-waste

generation, conserve waterresources, reduce stormwaterand chemical runo, as well as

provide resh and healthy oodor Sacramento amilies.

Garden being prepared by students at A.D. Harris High, Panama City, FL.Photo: www.sfrc.ufl.edu

8/14/2019 2009 July Aug

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armstands are produced in collaboration with the OakPark and Curtis Park Neighborhood Associations. Mostarmers markets are cash only. o make the producemore accessible to low-income households, the Sacra-

mento armstands accept electronic benet transers,EBmost commonly known as ood stamps.Soil Born Farms is also operating armstands in several

local neighborhoods, including North Highlands andDel Paso Heights.

o urther expand the program, it is critical thatadvocates push or policy changes that clear present roadblocks. One successul change was state legisl ation spon-sored by local Assembly member Dave Jones. AB 2168,signed into law this year, made it legal or armstands topurchase directly rom armers. Prior to passage o thebill, armers took the risk o breaking the law when theysold to the armstand operators, and even to restaurantsthat needed access to resh, organic produce. Te leg-islation also relaxed restrictive industry regulations onpacking, labeling and grading produce, while still ensur-ing quality and saety o ood. Te new law helps sustain

small arms by providing access to a larger customerbase.

Other laws that have yet to be addressed are thosethat restrict sales to the public, even o resh produce, toplaces that are zoned or commercial use. Tis preventsthe armstands rom being held at community gathering

spaces like churches, parks, and community centers. Tecity o Sacramento is a welcome exception. In the city,unlike in the unincorporated county, armstands canbe held in most public locations and outside apartmentcommunities.

BPM readers are invited to use the coupon in this issueto get a discount on produce at the Oak Park armstandin McClatchy Park (3500 5th Avenue) every Saturdaybetween 10am and 2pm, or in the Alkali Flat armstandheld in J. Neely Johnson Park at F and 11th Streets everyuesday evening rom 4pm to 7pm. Both are communitygathering events, oen with music, ace painting, andhealth and nutrition inormation.

Rachel Iskow is the Executive Director of SacramentoMutual Housing Association. Te Association develops

and operates housing for Sacramento and Yolo counties

diverse households. For more information visitwww.mutualhousing.com

Urban Farmstands rom page 1

Farms Not BurbsHealthy communities still more useulthan sprawlBy Rick Bettis

Te dedicated group o young volunteers at FoodNot Bombs prepares and serves weekly meals to thosein need. Teir name makes a clear and cogent statement

about the need to change our national priorities. Tink-ing o this organization makes me long or a FarmsNot Burbs because the history o land use in the Sacra-mento area has been characterized bypoorly planned urban sprawl.

Tis development pattern is largelya result o our car culture that rapidlydeveloped ollowing World War II.Te private automobile had madeearlier inroads ollowing Henry Fordsinvention o the assembly line, mak-ing cars aordable or many. Howeverduring the post-war period, local,state and ederal governments adopted policies to undmajor road construction projects that accelerated thisunwise trend.

Te decision to construct the ederal Interstate High-way System was made by the Eisenhower administrationin the 1950s. Te largest o these reeways comprised theInterstate Deense Highway System, a road networkintended to provide routes or the transport o militarypersonnel and weapons. Ironically the increased travelenabled by these highways has resulted in our reliance onoil imports with the resulting international competitionand insecurity, and the war or oil syndrome.

Te legislation establishing the Interstate HighwaySystem specically designated these reeways or inter-urban travelbetween cities, and not intraurbantravelwithin a city. However, as the result o pressurerom developer interests, this rule was dropped resultingin the many o-ramps and interchanges that acilitatedurban sprawl.

Prior to World War II, Sacramento, like other cities

throughout the nations had an excellent public transitsystem. rolley routes were within approximately athree-block walk o area locations throughout the city.However, ollowing the war, a consortium includingGeneral Motors, Standard Oil, and Firestone tires pur-chased the transit system in Sacramento and el sewhere.

Tey soon began removing the trolley tracks and replac-ing them with buses manuactured by GM, ueled byStandard Oil and riding on Firestone tires.

Tis was also the era o very inexpensive uel, andaordable, i not always reliable, autos. Prominentamong are cultural icons were such advertising jingles

as See the USA in your Chevrolet. As observed by oneenlightened urban planner, the Executive Director o theLocal Government Commission: we became a society

who will jump in their SUV and drivea mile or two to a health club and geton a treadmill or some exercise.

Included in the many problemscaused by urban sprawl are potentiallycatastrophic global warming due togreenhouse gas emissions, healthdamaging air pollution, overuse oresources such as water and energy,lack o exercise rom walking and

biking, loss o agricultural lands and the availability olocally produced oods, the loss o open space, naturalhabitats, and biodiversity, as well as the economic and

national security issues mentioned previously.Another signicant impact is the loss o a sense ocommunity that can result rom the my home is my cas-tle mentality, in contrast to the neighbors and riendson the ront porch culture o the past. Te current eco-nomic meltdown taking place can in large part be tracedto this seemingly Wild West culture o uncontrolledand unsustainable growth where GM has nally gonebankrupt.

In recent years there has been progress made in theattempt to reverse this trend toward an automobile dom-inated suburbia. Locally the Sacramento Area Councilo Governments (SACOG) conducted a public planningprocess that resulted in the Blueprint conceptual planor growth in six Sacramento county regions or the next50 years. Tis plan was based on such Smart Growthprinciples as making development more compact and

using mixed land uses such as integrating commercialand residential uses to reduce travel.

SACOG has prepared a Metropolitan ransportationPlan based on this Blueprint. Tey are working with andconducting educational workshops or local Planners inan eort to implement the Blueprint principles. Local

governments including the city and county o Sacra-mento have updated their general plans or uture devel-opment based on the Blueprint principles. Tey havealso adopted, or are preparing, sustainability and climateaction plans that are intended to reverse the problemscaused by sprawl.

Te State has also seen some positive action sinceAssembly Bill 32, which was passed in 2006, set stronggoals or the reduction o greenhouse gas emissions.Senate Bill 375, authored by Sacramento Senator Dar-rel Steinberg, will potentially improve chances or statetransportation unding to communities that adopt

plans and policies to reduce sprawl and implement theSmart Growth principles. Similar measures, such as theWaxman-Markey American Clean Energy and SecurityAct, and accompanying land use planning legislation aresitting in the US Congress.

Public awareness and involvement have markedlyincreased. Tere are many conerences and workshopsaddressing these important issues. Examples are recentworkshops on energy conservation and on the imple-mentation o the SB 375 land use l egislation. On July 10there will be a Complete Streets symposium that willexplore ways to enhance the walk-ability and bicycleusage in our communities (see www.lgc.org or moreino).

We have not yet reached the ipping Pointdescribed in the book by Malcolm Gladwell o the samename; however we have turned a corner that can put

us on a path toward healthy, livable and sustainablecommunities.

Rick Bettis is a retired civil engineer. He is a memberof Common Cause, Sacramento Media Group and

League of Women Voters.

Prior to World War II,Sacramento, like other

cities throughoutthe nation, had an

excellent public transitsystem.

20%

off!

25% off your purchase, (Expires 8-15-09)Bringthis coupontothe Urban Farm Stand20%offof your entire purchase!May not be combined with othercouponsor discounts.Locations:Tuesdays 4-7pm, Neely JohnsonPark, F & 11th, SacramentoSaturdays 10am-2pm, McClatchy Park, 34004th Ave.,Sacramento

Upcoming Local Government

Commission Events

Complete Streets:

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Date: July 10, 2009, Sacramento, CA rom 9am

4:30pm On-site registration is rom 8:30am9amor register online www.lgc.org/events/index.html

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Resources orEnlisted Personnel &VeteransDischarges DEP Discrimination

Gay AWOL/UA Harassment

Hazing Conscientious Objection

Call for information from a network of

nonprot, nongovernmental organizations.

The service is free. The call is condential.

The GI Rights Hotline, www.girights.org,

800-394-9544

Free & condential counseling: 916-447-

5706;

www.therapistsforsocialresponsibility.org;

Join Sacramento Area Peace

Action!Send your Name, Address, Email andPhone,

with your check made payable to SAPA:$30/individual; $52/family; $15 low-incometo:Sacramento Area Peace Action909 12th St, Suite 118Sacramento, CA 95814

By Brigitte JaenschAlthough one in ve persons on earth identi-

es as Muslim and Islam is second only to Chris-tianity in the number o adherents worldwide,its a religion about which most o us dont knowmuch. I youd like to know a little more, here aresome reading suggestions.

What Everyone Needs to Know About Islam ,

John L. Esposito, Oxford University Press,

2002, 204 pages.

Tis compactprimer by one oAmericas preeminentIslam authorities is

written in question-and-answer ormat.Georgetown UniversitysProessor John Espositonot only explains thatIslam, Christianity andJudaism are variants othe Abrahamic aith, heincludes basics aboutIslam beginning with

the ve pillars; claries the dierences amongthe sects; discusses some religious practices; anddispels some o our misunderstandings. He cov-ers heaven and hell, Jesus and the Virgin Mary,why Muslim women cover, whether Muslimmen get circumcised and lots more. Te ques-tions are direct and the answers are succinct and

even-handed.

Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Mus-

lims Really Think, John L. Esposito and Dalia

Magahed, Gallop Poll, 2007, 204 pages.

Between 2001 and2007, Gallup Worldinterviewed tens othousands o Muslims in35 predominantly Mus-lim nations. Tis booksummarizes some o thendings in ve easy-to-read chapters that coverwho Muslims are, ithey avor democracy ortheocracy, what makes

a radical, what Muslimwomen want and howIslam can clash and coexist with other religions.

Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide

Terrorism, Robert A, Pape, Random House,

2005, 352 pages.

Among the commonly expounded myths isthat Islam does not value lie. But aer studyingevery suicide bombing which occurred between1983 and 2003, University o Chicagos ProessorRobert Pape discovered that suicide bombingcampaigns are primarily nationalistic, not pri-marily religious. Te goal is to end oreign mili-

tary occupation.Per Proessor Pape,

What creates the coer-

cive leverage is not somuch actual damage asthe expectation o uturedamage. Its an extremestrategy or nationalliberation resorted toonly by groups with noconventional or guerrillamilitary option. Andas or the individualswho agree to become

suicide bombers, they see themselves as sacr ic-ing their lives or the nations good. ... ypically...[they] have better than average economicprospects..., are deeply integrated into social net-works and emotionally attached to their national

communities.

Taking a Look at IslamReading suggestions or understanding

Visions o a Nuclear Weapons-Free World

IN MEMORIAM: Sacramento AreaPeace Action mourns the passing oPallo Defereos, 90, on May 20. Hewas a ounding Board member o theSacramento Nuclear Weapons Freeze(our predecessor organization), andounder o the Sacramento Committeeor Nuclear Arms Control.

August 6 and 9 are the 64th anniversariesof the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and

Nagasaki, Japan, by the United States, the

only nation to have actually used nuclear

weapons in a war. Will President Obama

deliver change in US nuclear weapons

policy?

On April 1, standing next to Russian PresidentDmitri Medvedev, President Obama made thestunning statement that he and Medvedev hadcommitted our two countries to achieving anuclear-ree world. Was he being pragmatic orpessimistic when he added this goal will not bereached quicklyperhaps not in my lietime?

In Prague on April 5, the President said all

nations must work towards the goal o abolish-ing nuclear weapons, and the US has the moralresponsibility to lead because it is the only coun-try that has used nuclear weapons. Tis is a wel-come change rom previous US policy, and hassupport rom, among others, prominent Repub-licans such as ormer Secretaries o State GeorgeP. Shultz and Henry Kissinger, and prominentDemocrats such as ormer Deense SecretaryWilliam Perry and ormer Senator Sam Nunn.

Te President spoke about aggressivelypursuing the ratication o the Comprehensiveest Ban reaty (CB), replacing the soon-to-expire Strategic Arms Reduction reaty (SAR)between Russia and the US with a treaty withadditional reductions, and pursuing a new Fis-sile Material Cut-o reaty (FMC), a treaty tohalt the production o materials used in nuclearweapons.

Tis is heartening news or long-time advo-cates o nuclear disarmament, especially Aboli-tion 2000, a movement to abolish the weaponsby the year 2000 that gained momentum in the1990s (www.abolition2000.org). Te movementran up against a wall o established interests andhas reset its goal to 2020.

In addition to opposition rom conservativesin Congress, however, other nations may resist atreaty or a weapons-ree world i the US doesntconcurrently reduce its conventional militarypower. At a conerence in mid-April, ormerSoviet President Mikhail Gorbachev welcomedPresident Obamas call or the abolition o nucle-ar weapons, but reerred to the huge US deensebudget as an insurmountable obstacle (CharlesJ. Hanley, Associated Press, Apr. 16).

It appears that President Obamas rst step willbe to send the Comprehensive est Ban reaty tothe Senate or ratication. (When President Clin-ton tried in 1999, the Senate vote was 51-48, but atreaty requires 67 votes, a 2/3 majority.)

Vice-President Joe Biden is the point man onthis measure, with much experience in oreignaairs and a major role in herding the Chemi-cal Weapons Convention reaty to successulpassage.

Peace Action is part of an international coali-

tion pressing for a commitment to negotiate anabolition treaty as part of review of the Non-Proliferation reaty next year.

Places like Iraq, Aghanistan and Palestine havepracticed Islam or more than 1,400 years; suicidebombing was unheard o until they were underoreign military occupation.

A Deadly Misunderstanding: A Congressmans

Quest to Bridge the Muslim-Christian Divide,Mark D. Siljander, Harper One, 2008, 222 pages.

Former Congressman Siljander recountshis conversion romMuslim-bashingevangelical Christianto Muslim-embracingollower o Jesus, whoor the past couple o

decades has been tryingto get everybody to getalong. Hes trying todo this by clariy[ing]long-standing Biblicalmisinterpretations andthereby revealing theagreement between the

Bible and the Quran. One can denitely disagreewith Siljanders premise and his approach, but hiseorts are sincere and his journey is interesting;where he goes, the challenges put in his path andthe people with whom he meets.

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Why do activists get busy and dis-

appear rom our groups?

Dear Shauna,I want to know your thoughts about activist

burnout. It seems as i many o our groups are in

trouble, oen held together solely by the sheerorce o will o one organizer. Fewer and ewerpeople are real participants or come to events.

Whats been discouraging is that when we cal land ask what people want, oen its not otheractions, guerrilla warare or silent vigils or pokernights, but rather, they say they are not partici-pating because theyre busy. Not with otherorganizations though, because all o our groupsare in a similar situation.

What is going on?Ellen (not my real name) SchwartzWomens International League or Peace andFreedom (WILPF)

Dear Ellen,

Since burnout is a coreissue aecting many o us inthe activist community, I willrespond to your questionswith thoughts and ideas thatapply generally.

First, though, I want tothank you or all youve done and or inspiringme personally. A gentle reminder to take time toappreciate yoursel and your work.

Some o us tend to take on the bulk o workwherever we are, or personal and social justicereasons, and it can deplete us. Its important toreplenish ourselves by connecting with others,doing what we love, taking care o ourselves,getting rest when we need it, having a centeringpractice, expressing our eelings (as you, Ellen,

have just done), making sure we are heard andunderstood, and balancing our lives.

Another term or burnout is compassionatigue. We seem to be at a particularly di-cult juncture at this time. War, injustice andignorance continue to bleed on. People are con-used by the shi rom the easy-to-abhor Bush/Cheney administration to Obamas, still relativelyunknown, and conusion disrupts momentum.Te destabilized economy is touching morepeople directly, and many have turned evenurther inward as a result. Many i not most o us(non-proessional opinion) are experiencing atleast a mild case o post-traumatic stress disorder(PSD), anxiety, and/or depression.

And yet we go on, because o the importance

o our work.Paul Hawken in Blessed Unrestreports thatthere are well over 130,000 small, diverse groupsworking or human rights and the environmentworldwide. We arent doing the work alone.

On a personal note, our Terapists or SocialResponsibility steering committee, also eelingcompassion atigue, ound that openly talkingtogether about eeling overwhelmed and undi-rected allowed us to reconnect and renew. Shar-ing with our community can reduce burnout.

So, what can we do to help our groups unctionat their highest potential, in a sustainable way?

Instead o specic suggestions, I would like tooer a process I use with clients I call CommonGround: A Friendship Model or Problem Reso-lution, which is a basic way to gure out your

own and others real needs, expand options, andmake (and execute) decisions.

Heres what you can do, alone, with a riend, or(preerably) with members o your group. Get apencil and paper and begin:

Step 1. Write down the problem you want tosolve. For example, How can we get more par-ticipation and decrease burnout?

Step 2. List each persons personal and politicalneeds (take plenty o time on this step!)

Step 3. Brainstorm on paper, without judgingideas as good or bad, possibilities or actions thatmight solve the problem. Include ones you knowyou wouldnt do, like drop out. One possibilitycan be leave things as they are.

Step 4. Cross out any ideas that are unaccept-

able to anyone involved.

Step 5. Choose oneor two or several, or acombination o those le,imagine how they mightbe implemented, and try

them. I they dont work,go back to the drawingboard. Save your list!

Please let us all knowhow things go.

Readers, how have you or your group dealtwith burnout? Please send ideas or thoughts aswell as your questions to BPM [email protected] with Ask A Socially ResponsibleTerapist in the subject l ine.

Disclaimer: Te in-depth therapy part oquestions, i there is one, is not covered in this

column. For anyone seri-ously struggling withanxiety, depression, or

PSD, please see a licensedtherapist.

Shauna L. Smith, MSW,

MF is an author andpsychotherapist in privatepractice in Sacramento and

can be reached at 916-447-5706 or [email protected]. She is coordinator of Terapists forSocial Responsibility www.therapistsforsocialre-

sponsibility.org

Edito

2009 july aug

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