Photo by Patrick Mills Highland Hospital (artist, co-worker and friend)
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Another Year
Door closed, curtain pulled, light off. When I finally got through to the bed it looked more like a shroud than a patient. A crisp white sheet stretched from the patient’s head to toes. The only noise and movement in the room came from the IV pump, the alarm sounded and the LCD flashed “occlusion” on the panel. Actually, the bag of IV fluids had finished running. I made as much noise as possible pushing back the curtain and I turned on the light and then stood at the bedside letting the alarm sound. I stood a full minute before the sheet spoke, “are you going to turn that damn thing off?” “I’m sorry, I’m not a nurse; I’m a physical therapist are you going to walk with me?”
Reality is that which we can’t make go away. It’s like the bumper sticker said “Froto lost, and Bush has the ring” many of us have a strong urge to leave our current state of affairs. And we do try: drugs, wine, curtains, luxury vehicles, cruises, casinos, blankets, TV, escaping has become such a big part of our lives that many have forgotten what we are running from. A year of violence and failure for Oakland, our children our dying, what could be worse.
This year hundreds of parents, grandparents, girlfriends, boyfriends and siblings spent their days at Highland at the bedside, pulling back the sheet, bringing in food, helping the patient get washed up and to the bathroom and home. Caregiving is a “no glamour no glory,” type of a job; it is also what holds a community together and makes Oakland a wonderful place to live. Politicians hate hospitals they don’t understand illness, adversity or how strong or brave people are. Families and parents don’t have the luxury of wallowing in their losses, Highland’s families spent the year fighting to keep us here, to keep us well and to keep us together.
Reality is that which we can’t make go away. It’s like the bumper sticker said “Froto lost, and Bush has the ring” many of us have a strong urge to leave our current state of affairs. And we do try: drugs, wine, curtains, luxury vehicles, cruises, casinos, blankets, TV, escaping has become such a big part of our lives that many have forgotten what we are running from. A year of violence and failure for Oakland, our children our dying, what could be worse.
This year hundreds of parents, grandparents, girlfriends, boyfriends and siblings spent their days at Highland at the bedside, pulling back the sheet, bringing in food, helping the patient get washed up and to the bathroom and home. Caregiving is a “no glamour no glory,” type of a job; it is also what holds a community together and makes Oakland a wonderful place to live. Politicians hate hospitals they don’t understand illness, adversity or how strong or brave people are. Families and parents don’t have the luxury of wallowing in their losses, Highland’s families spent the year fighting to keep us here, to keep us well and to keep us together.
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Dirt List- Your Tax Dollars at Work
1,448,905 - Population Alameda County (2005 census estimate)
48,219 - Oakland Coliseum Seating Capacity
4,000 - Inmate beds at Santa Rita Prison
360 - Juvenile Hall Beds
236 - County Hospital Beds (Highland)
250,000 - Conservative estimated number of uninsured in Alameda County
That’s 1 hospital bed for every 1,000 uninsured people in Alameda County.
Based on these numbers the sick and dying should seriously consider going to a Raider’s game and kissing their ass good-bye or getting arrested and trying to get the dialysis or chemotherapy from the robustly funded county prison system.
48,219 - Oakland Coliseum Seating Capacity
4,000 - Inmate beds at Santa Rita Prison
360 - Juvenile Hall Beds
236 - County Hospital Beds (Highland)
250,000 - Conservative estimated number of uninsured in Alameda County
That’s 1 hospital bed for every 1,000 uninsured people in Alameda County.
Based on these numbers the sick and dying should seriously consider going to a Raider’s game and kissing their ass good-bye or getting arrested and trying to get the dialysis or chemotherapy from the robustly funded county prison system.
Wacktivists Wule!
As you may or may not know and as you undoubtly could care less; I have embarked on a journey of self-discovery. Do you want to hear what I learned about myself? That’s a rhetorical question, you don’t really have a choice. Actually, I find almost anything more interesting than self-discovery and last evening as I scrupulously avoided self-examination in bed with a candy bar and a New Yorker magazine, I inadvertently discovered myself, printed in black and white. I’m a wacktivist, Nick Paumgarten wrote a piece called “Dirty Wikitricks,” there I was in black and white.
Why wactivism you wonder. Well, wacktivism works. I started my career as a worker wonk. Pass out the flyers spread the message from the committee, don’t offend, follow Wobert’s Wules of Worder and walk in step. I have trouble with authority, wules and worder. See wacktivism is all waction, gives the politicians the willies. When you refuse to play by their wules you create a clear and present danger, which is the next best thing to a big fat campaign contribution.
Politicians know, I’ve heard them say, “That Ann Nomura, she’s a wacko.” Wong bucko, I’m a wackivist and I’m your worst nightmare.
Why wactivism you wonder. Well, wacktivism works. I started my career as a worker wonk. Pass out the flyers spread the message from the committee, don’t offend, follow Wobert’s Wules of Worder and walk in step. I have trouble with authority, wules and worder. See wacktivism is all waction, gives the politicians the willies. When you refuse to play by their wules you create a clear and present danger, which is the next best thing to a big fat campaign contribution.
Politicians know, I’ve heard them say, “That Ann Nomura, she’s a wacko.” Wong bucko, I’m a wackivist and I’m your worst nightmare.
Thursday, November 30, 2006
The Working Wonk
I confess I have a real interest in healthcare policy. It’s a professional problem, I’m trained as a physical therapist, I evaluate and treat function. This means I see people with disabilities newly acquired, chronic and progressive. So I have to understand resources and insurance and more importantly how the Feds, the State, and the private insurers keep patients from the drugs, equipment, services and income benefits they need.
See a patient is unlikely to be able to focus on strengthening their amputated limb, if they can’t get MediCal to pay for the prosthetic and if they will be homeless because the Feds feel that the loss of a limb is not enough get disability. Social Security is a mother, basically you’ve got to die these days to get disability or be white with legal representation. And MediCal under Arnie is getting just as ugly. You get sick and die slow of cancer and Arnold will take that house from your kids, to pay for that meatball salvage surgery, a broken hospital bed, and medication.
See, I work with the most rationed population on the planet, insurance don’t want em, the Feds dumped em, the State keeps thinking up new ways to drop em and the County, Dave Kears, still wants to close the county hospital to cut costs.
As activists fight for the Holy Grail, the Single Payer System, now, “California One Care”, the Terminator has decimated MediCal putting public hospitals at higher risk for closure and the public at higher risk for a preventable illness or death. The cheap bastard sends the MediCal payments to Highland Hospital late, causing huge cash flow problems; now, you know the muscle bound meat head sends the prison payments out on time. Us wonks have to find a way to make it a single fight.
Right now volunteer activists have to divide their time between causes, helping patients fight the bureaucratic MediCal system to get their meds and care and explaining the wisdom of a single payer system to their friends and neighbors. To be truly successful we must combine the struggle of the sick for service with the struggle of the wonks for a workable system. How about MediCal for all Californians it protects the public and the public hospitals and keeps Arnold from shooting our benefits out from under us.
Blogs for Healthcare Wonks
Health Access Weblog
The Health Care Policy Blog
See a patient is unlikely to be able to focus on strengthening their amputated limb, if they can’t get MediCal to pay for the prosthetic and if they will be homeless because the Feds feel that the loss of a limb is not enough get disability. Social Security is a mother, basically you’ve got to die these days to get disability or be white with legal representation. And MediCal under Arnie is getting just as ugly. You get sick and die slow of cancer and Arnold will take that house from your kids, to pay for that meatball salvage surgery, a broken hospital bed, and medication.
See, I work with the most rationed population on the planet, insurance don’t want em, the Feds dumped em, the State keeps thinking up new ways to drop em and the County, Dave Kears, still wants to close the county hospital to cut costs.
As activists fight for the Holy Grail, the Single Payer System, now, “California One Care”, the Terminator has decimated MediCal putting public hospitals at higher risk for closure and the public at higher risk for a preventable illness or death. The cheap bastard sends the MediCal payments to Highland Hospital late, causing huge cash flow problems; now, you know the muscle bound meat head sends the prison payments out on time. Us wonks have to find a way to make it a single fight.
Right now volunteer activists have to divide their time between causes, helping patients fight the bureaucratic MediCal system to get their meds and care and explaining the wisdom of a single payer system to their friends and neighbors. To be truly successful we must combine the struggle of the sick for service with the struggle of the wonks for a workable system. How about MediCal for all Californians it protects the public and the public hospitals and keeps Arnold from shooting our benefits out from under us.
Blogs for Healthcare Wonks
Health Access Weblog
The Health Care Policy Blog
Friday, November 24, 2006
Medicare Part "D" Update
OK, I can't keep up with the laundry; much less my insurance but as someone with senior parents, Medicare matters to me. I plan to follow this discussion, can democrats help us get the drugs we're all going to need? Or will drug companies squeeze every last penny out of us while we die?
Here's the article in the Wall Street Journal
Click here
//online.wsj.com/public/article/SB116433566682731718-2PuOEDMNnOZDd_BZFUN__QFfHuc_20071124.html?mod=blog
Here's the article in the Wall Street Journal
Click here
//online.wsj.com/public/article/SB116433566682731718-2PuOEDMNnOZDd_BZFUN__QFfHuc_20071124.html?mod=blog
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Reverend Jesse Jackson Saving the Medical Center
Reverend Jesse Jackson in front of Highland Hospital with patients and staff August 12, 2004
Thanksgiving
Thank you for the House. Thank you for the Senate and thank you for America for waking up and smelling the snark.
Corruption was a big theme nationally and locally. The Oakland Perata developer machine has been packaging developer subsidies in feel good school and library bonds. Oaklander’s have finally said no. Measure “N” (a developer funded library construction bond) got voted down. A neighborhood Nimby email list compared Perata’s quarry cronies to Halliburton. The Oak to Ninth development has catalyzed radicals like the Sierra Club and the League of Women Voters, to fight the power and Oakland City Council, feeling the political heat has begun talking about resuscitating the ethics committee.
The Bay Area bond business is finally getting some scrutiny. Measure “A” (the fund the public hospital bond) is one of the only honest bonds. What money the Medical Center gets, gets spent on patient care. The only real credibility issue is having the County Supervisors suck millions out of the Medical Center in phoney “debt” payments. The County has taken a “blame and drain” approach to the Medical Center, steal the cash and then blame the hospital for any service failures or budget shortfalls. Measure “A” put a price on the Medical Center’s head. Every one of those overpaid under-worked county bureaucrats wants a piece of the bond money and they may get it yet.
Still tis the season to DT, OD and give thanks. Thank you friends and neighbors for Measure “A” and for giving us crutches, codeine, and the ability to care for one another for another year.
Corruption was a big theme nationally and locally. The Oakland Perata developer machine has been packaging developer subsidies in feel good school and library bonds. Oaklander’s have finally said no. Measure “N” (a developer funded library construction bond) got voted down. A neighborhood Nimby email list compared Perata’s quarry cronies to Halliburton. The Oak to Ninth development has catalyzed radicals like the Sierra Club and the League of Women Voters, to fight the power and Oakland City Council, feeling the political heat has begun talking about resuscitating the ethics committee.
The Bay Area bond business is finally getting some scrutiny. Measure “A” (the fund the public hospital bond) is one of the only honest bonds. What money the Medical Center gets, gets spent on patient care. The only real credibility issue is having the County Supervisors suck millions out of the Medical Center in phoney “debt” payments. The County has taken a “blame and drain” approach to the Medical Center, steal the cash and then blame the hospital for any service failures or budget shortfalls. Measure “A” put a price on the Medical Center’s head. Every one of those overpaid under-worked county bureaucrats wants a piece of the bond money and they may get it yet.
Still tis the season to DT, OD and give thanks. Thank you friends and neighbors for Measure “A” and for giving us crutches, codeine, and the ability to care for one another for another year.
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Sunday, November 05, 2006
Jenny Said
When I am called upon to participate in this great democracy of ours, I often consult with my Highschool English teacher, Jennifer Stone. When asked about America under George Bush, Jenny said, "It's government of the penis, for the penis, by the penis."
Barbara Selfridge’s Crib Sheet for November 7, 2006
Feel free to pass this along -- and pass your opinions back to me, since I’ll probably change at least one of these votes before the election.
Phil Angelides, gov. I like the Green’s Peter Camejo, but I need this Democrat who fights to raise taxes on the rich and fund human needs.
John Garamendi, lt. gov. The Bay Guardian thinks conservative Republican McClintock has a shot, but then again, they’re supporting all the Dems.
Debra Bowen, secy of state. A close race and an important vote for the Dem fighter for fair elections.
Laura Wells, controller? Wells is one of the Greens who helped put Instant Run-Off Voting on the Oakland ballot, but John Chiang, Dem, needs votes to win.
Mehul Thakker, treasurer. Why vote for pro-Swartzenegger Lockyear if his Republican opponent’s a can’t win unknown? The Green’s a social investor.
Jack Harrison, atty gen. Peace & Freedom because I don’t trust Jerry Brown (tho my man in Sacto says the Republicans think they can win this race).
Tom Condit, insurance commish. Smart Peace and Freedom insurance expert.
Betty Yee, state bd of equalization. A hard-working incumbent.
Marsha Feinland, senator. Feinstein’s way too pro-war/anti-rights. Vote P&F.
Barbara Lee, congressperson. The best.
Edward Ytuarte, state senator. I’m glad Sandre Swanson got the Dems nod, but Peace & Freedom Ytuarte has a rep as an effective disability advocate.
Judges
Note, the Bay Guardian and others say it’s a mistake to target judges unless they are malcreants, discriminate or otherwise use the system illegally. The Greens say judicial selection should be reformed and non-endorse Carol Corrigan. I still target judges myself. (Quote’s from lawyer friends.)
Joyce Kennard--Yes. A conservative who has since moved left, now one of the more liberal of the 7 Supremes.
Carol A Corrigan--Yes? The Greens say not another Republican-appointed former DA, but I heard she was smart and funny with tremendous integrity.
James J Marchiano--Yes. Great.
Sandra L Margules--Yes. A Gray Davis appointee.
Paul R. Haerle--No. A Wilson appointee, former chair of the CA Republican Party.
James A Richman--Yes. Appointed by Wilson, works with Loaves & Fishes (Catholic charity for the homeless) and Downs Syndrome Connection.
William R McGuiness--No. A Wilson appointee with only DA experience.
Peter Siggins--Yes? Schwarzenegger’s former Legal Affairs Secretary and Assistant Atty Gen under Lockyear.
Ignazio John Ruvolo--No? A Republican.
Patricia K Sepulveda--Yes. Tho conservative.
Maria P. Rivera--Yes. A Gray Davis appointee.
Barbara Jones--Yes. Great.
Superior Court Judge, Office #21: Denis Hayashi. The public interest lawyer who worked on and won so many civil rights cases. (Note: it’s okay to vote FOR a judge in a contested race!)Alona Clifton, Peralta bd. The Greens like Abel Guillen, but the incumbent’s an African-American woman who’s doing a good job.
Courtney Ruby, Oakland auditor. Because the incumbent’s hard to work with.
Rebecca Kaplan, AC Transit bd. A great smart Green.
Andy Katz, EBMUD, ward 4. An environmentalist running unopposed?
State Propositions
1A--Highways Uber Alles. NO. The road construction industry wants to stop sales taxes--the only tax regressive enough to sometimes appeal to Republicans--from ever funding human needs.
1B--$19.9 Billion for Highways. NO. Costly short-sighted fix for a post-oil future.
1C--$2.9 Billion for Low Income Housing. Yes. Cuts in housing funds = more homelessness.
1D--$10.4 Billion for School Facilities. Yes? IMPACT says no, that local bonds meeting locally assessed needs would work better (repeal Prop 13!).
1E--$4.1 Billion for Disaster Prep. No? Why pay Brownies to do heckuva jobs when Prop 84 does it better?
83--Lifetime Ankle Bracelets for Misdemeanor Sex. NO. The felony part of this package already passed, so this is just the non-violents--like 19-yr-olds who sleep with their 17-yr-old girlfriends--unhelped by lifetime punishments.
84--$5.4 Billion for Environmental Projects. YES. Goes a long way.
85--Torture Pregnant Teens from Dysfunctional Families. NO. So mean.
86--Make Tobacco Addicts Pay for Kid’s Health Care. Yes? I favor methadone/ tobacco clinics, but anything that hurts tobacco companies saves lives.
87--Make Big Oil Pay Back $4 Billion to Subsidize Alternative Energy. YES. See 1A and 1B if you think the oil industry has never received gov’t hand-outs.
88--A Chicken-Shit Regressive Property Tax. NO. To raise money for schools, repeal Prop 13 and/or tax by value, not the same $50 for a home or a power plant or a 500-unit apartment bldg.
89--Make Corporations Fund Elections, Not Buy Them. YES. Go democracy!
90--Compensate Corporate Criminals for Lost Profits If Caught. NEVER. Disguised as don’t take my home, but if this had been law 100 years ago, taxpayers would still be paying off mill-owners hurt by child labor laws.?? on M, the Stockbrokers’ Dream. Oakland’s closed-club pension fund wants to stop being conservatively invested.
No on N, the Developers’ Dream Dressed as Library Upgrades. Shouldn’t there be a city-wide discussion about what we want to do with the Kaiser Convention Center’s lakefront property and/or the also desirable site of the current main library? Or should we just accept whichever developer proposal comes first? Should we pay them $100 M to build a bottom floor library and then let them collect $$$ on high-rent units on all other floors?
YES on O, Instant Run-off Voting. More than ending costly run-off elections, this will end voting out of fear: Greens could vie with Dems without the bugaboo of a Republican victory. A good precursor for representational democracy.
Phil Angelides, gov. I like the Green’s Peter Camejo, but I need this Democrat who fights to raise taxes on the rich and fund human needs.
John Garamendi, lt. gov. The Bay Guardian thinks conservative Republican McClintock has a shot, but then again, they’re supporting all the Dems.
Debra Bowen, secy of state. A close race and an important vote for the Dem fighter for fair elections.
Laura Wells, controller? Wells is one of the Greens who helped put Instant Run-Off Voting on the Oakland ballot, but John Chiang, Dem, needs votes to win.
Mehul Thakker, treasurer. Why vote for pro-Swartzenegger Lockyear if his Republican opponent’s a can’t win unknown? The Green’s a social investor.
Jack Harrison, atty gen. Peace & Freedom because I don’t trust Jerry Brown (tho my man in Sacto says the Republicans think they can win this race).
Tom Condit, insurance commish. Smart Peace and Freedom insurance expert.
Betty Yee, state bd of equalization. A hard-working incumbent.
Marsha Feinland, senator. Feinstein’s way too pro-war/anti-rights. Vote P&F.
Barbara Lee, congressperson. The best.
Edward Ytuarte, state senator. I’m glad Sandre Swanson got the Dems nod, but Peace & Freedom Ytuarte has a rep as an effective disability advocate.
Judges
Note, the Bay Guardian and others say it’s a mistake to target judges unless they are malcreants, discriminate or otherwise use the system illegally. The Greens say judicial selection should be reformed and non-endorse Carol Corrigan. I still target judges myself. (Quote’s from lawyer friends.)
Joyce Kennard--Yes. A conservative who has since moved left, now one of the more liberal of the 7 Supremes.
Carol A Corrigan--Yes? The Greens say not another Republican-appointed former DA, but I heard she was smart and funny with tremendous integrity.
James J Marchiano--Yes. Great.
Sandra L Margules--Yes. A Gray Davis appointee.
Paul R. Haerle--No. A Wilson appointee, former chair of the CA Republican Party.
James A Richman--Yes. Appointed by Wilson, works with Loaves & Fishes (Catholic charity for the homeless) and Downs Syndrome Connection.
William R McGuiness--No. A Wilson appointee with only DA experience.
Peter Siggins--Yes? Schwarzenegger’s former Legal Affairs Secretary and Assistant Atty Gen under Lockyear.
Ignazio John Ruvolo--No? A Republican.
Patricia K Sepulveda--Yes. Tho conservative.
Maria P. Rivera--Yes. A Gray Davis appointee.
Barbara Jones--Yes. Great.
Superior Court Judge, Office #21: Denis Hayashi. The public interest lawyer who worked on and won so many civil rights cases. (Note: it’s okay to vote FOR a judge in a contested race!)Alona Clifton, Peralta bd. The Greens like Abel Guillen, but the incumbent’s an African-American woman who’s doing a good job.
Courtney Ruby, Oakland auditor. Because the incumbent’s hard to work with.
Rebecca Kaplan, AC Transit bd. A great smart Green.
Andy Katz, EBMUD, ward 4. An environmentalist running unopposed?
State Propositions
1A--Highways Uber Alles. NO. The road construction industry wants to stop sales taxes--the only tax regressive enough to sometimes appeal to Republicans--from ever funding human needs.
1B--$19.9 Billion for Highways. NO. Costly short-sighted fix for a post-oil future.
1C--$2.9 Billion for Low Income Housing. Yes. Cuts in housing funds = more homelessness.
1D--$10.4 Billion for School Facilities. Yes? IMPACT says no, that local bonds meeting locally assessed needs would work better (repeal Prop 13!).
1E--$4.1 Billion for Disaster Prep. No? Why pay Brownies to do heckuva jobs when Prop 84 does it better?
83--Lifetime Ankle Bracelets for Misdemeanor Sex. NO. The felony part of this package already passed, so this is just the non-violents--like 19-yr-olds who sleep with their 17-yr-old girlfriends--unhelped by lifetime punishments.
84--$5.4 Billion for Environmental Projects. YES. Goes a long way.
85--Torture Pregnant Teens from Dysfunctional Families. NO. So mean.
86--Make Tobacco Addicts Pay for Kid’s Health Care. Yes? I favor methadone/ tobacco clinics, but anything that hurts tobacco companies saves lives.
87--Make Big Oil Pay Back $4 Billion to Subsidize Alternative Energy. YES. See 1A and 1B if you think the oil industry has never received gov’t hand-outs.
88--A Chicken-Shit Regressive Property Tax. NO. To raise money for schools, repeal Prop 13 and/or tax by value, not the same $50 for a home or a power plant or a 500-unit apartment bldg.
89--Make Corporations Fund Elections, Not Buy Them. YES. Go democracy!
90--Compensate Corporate Criminals for Lost Profits If Caught. NEVER. Disguised as don’t take my home, but if this had been law 100 years ago, taxpayers would still be paying off mill-owners hurt by child labor laws.?? on M, the Stockbrokers’ Dream. Oakland’s closed-club pension fund wants to stop being conservatively invested.
No on N, the Developers’ Dream Dressed as Library Upgrades. Shouldn’t there be a city-wide discussion about what we want to do with the Kaiser Convention Center’s lakefront property and/or the also desirable site of the current main library? Or should we just accept whichever developer proposal comes first? Should we pay them $100 M to build a bottom floor library and then let them collect $$$ on high-rent units on all other floors?
YES on O, Instant Run-off Voting. More than ending costly run-off elections, this will end voting out of fear: Greens could vie with Dems without the bugaboo of a Republican victory. A good precursor for representational democracy.
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Wildlife
I live a few of blocks above MacArthur Blvd and Fruitvale Avenue, a little house with lots of trees, huge Eucalyptus trees in the back. A couple of stories high they make creepy creaking sounds in the wind. We can’t afford to remove them or the 30 foot dead stumps so I plant vines on the stumps. We put the exercise bike in front of the bedroom window, it looks out the back of the house on the trees and stumps and the backside of the houses behind us. With the light off in the bedroom the dirt on the window glass is hardly noticeable, and you can watch the light change in the trees and street behind the house.
Fifteen minutes into my very brief very slow work-out an owl swooped down and landed on top of a stump and peered down toward my compost pile. OK, I might have a slight rodent problem but I also apparently have a biocontrol strategy.
Amazing the things we don’t see in Oakland, particularly the politicians. We have some seriously low vision or quite possibly blind politicians. Oakland has epidemic levels of violence spreading like the flu through our community and I’m getting emails from my council person about the next festival and great Oakland eats. Whatever the Oakland City council is smoking I want some. Even Chip Johnson (Chronicle journo and Don Perata lapdog) has noticed.
The fear, the frustration, the uneasiness, the denial, the grief, the pain and the physical damage touches us all we just deal with it differently. Anyone who thinks they can live in the middle of this much murder and mayhem and not have it touch their life lives, lacks either vision or conscious or in the case of our local leaders, both.
Politicians can build walls or bridges and Oakland seems intent on building walls, it’s an “us and them” approach. More police, more prisons, more condos, more yuppies and less poor people. Why fix the schools when we can subsidize luxury housing. Why take care of minority teenagers when you can attract people who can send their kids to private schools. Don’t fund the county hospital; have the hospital fund the County Government so they can put up prisons and billboards.
So what causes this type of “social epidemic?” How do you propagate such violence and despair? This isn’t a virus and it’s not spread by spinach, or birds or even dirty needles; the greed, the arrogance and the corruption of the Oakland City Council and the County Board of Supervisors fuel this decay. What we have is what you get when City and County government refuse to build and support schools, hospitals and community services which meet the needs of children, families and working people.
Fifteen minutes into my very brief very slow work-out an owl swooped down and landed on top of a stump and peered down toward my compost pile. OK, I might have a slight rodent problem but I also apparently have a biocontrol strategy.
Amazing the things we don’t see in Oakland, particularly the politicians. We have some seriously low vision or quite possibly blind politicians. Oakland has epidemic levels of violence spreading like the flu through our community and I’m getting emails from my council person about the next festival and great Oakland eats. Whatever the Oakland City council is smoking I want some. Even Chip Johnson (Chronicle journo and Don Perata lapdog) has noticed.
The fear, the frustration, the uneasiness, the denial, the grief, the pain and the physical damage touches us all we just deal with it differently. Anyone who thinks they can live in the middle of this much murder and mayhem and not have it touch their life lives, lacks either vision or conscious or in the case of our local leaders, both.
Politicians can build walls or bridges and Oakland seems intent on building walls, it’s an “us and them” approach. More police, more prisons, more condos, more yuppies and less poor people. Why fix the schools when we can subsidize luxury housing. Why take care of minority teenagers when you can attract people who can send their kids to private schools. Don’t fund the county hospital; have the hospital fund the County Government so they can put up prisons and billboards.
So what causes this type of “social epidemic?” How do you propagate such violence and despair? This isn’t a virus and it’s not spread by spinach, or birds or even dirty needles; the greed, the arrogance and the corruption of the Oakland City Council and the County Board of Supervisors fuel this decay. What we have is what you get when City and County government refuse to build and support schools, hospitals and community services which meet the needs of children, families and working people.
Sunday, October 22, 2006
Chiori Santiago Benefit
Chiori a Bay Area writer, artist and someone with a real talent for bringing people together is fighting cancer and medical bills. Insurance is not enough these days. She babysat my brother and I, her family lived across the street from us. Every boy on the block had a crush on Chiori and most still do. Come help an artist, a family and a community.
Sunday October 22
5-9 pm La Pena Cultural Center
3105 Shatuck Avenue Berkeley
Sunday October 22
5-9 pm La Pena Cultural Center
3105 Shatuck Avenue Berkeley
Check or cash donations 10 dollars and up sliding scale
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Today's News
More on Highland's new infusion center, from Rebecca at the Tribune
http://www.insidebayarea.com/search/ci_4509810
http://www.insidebayarea.com/search/ci_4509810
Yesterday's News
Creating new services and expanding healthcare access is hard in good times. In spite the County Supervisors sucking revenue out of the Medical Center like swarm of hungry mospquitoes the Medical Center was able to upgrade and expand services for cancer patients.
The new face of the uninsured is well, middle class, middle income and middle aged. Your HMO has a plan and it doesn't include paying for comprehensive cancer care. The Medical Center's leaders have decided not to hide from the chronically and expensively ill. In a great show of moral as well as operational leadership they have upgraded and expanded treatment options for cancer and other chronically ill patients.
Read all about it in the Tribune
http://www.insidebayarea.com/search/ci_4499634
The new face of the uninsured is well, middle class, middle income and middle aged. Your HMO has a plan and it doesn't include paying for comprehensive cancer care. The Medical Center's leaders have decided not to hide from the chronically and expensively ill. In a great show of moral as well as operational leadership they have upgraded and expanded treatment options for cancer and other chronically ill patients.
Read all about it in the Tribune
http://www.insidebayarea.com/search/ci_4499634
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Barbara Selfridge
Dear fellow victims of election-thievery,
I thought you might be interested in what I'm doing to try to fix the November election. I'm looking for future fertile grounds for impeachment, big-time.
1) I went to Act Blue, a web-site that lets Democrats craft their own little PACs. I gave money to a bunch of Democrats and progressives who each have a shot at flipping some Republican seat. I started with a list of recommendations from Barbara Boxer -- Jim Webb, VA; Claire McCaskill, MO; Bob Casey, PA; Jon Tester, MT; Sherrod Brown, OH; Sheldon Whitehouse, RI; Jack Carter, NV -- and then added Ned Lamont in Connecticut, Jerry McNerney in Stockton (the big show-down race in northern CA), and a bunch of other progressives I read about on the Act Blue web-site.
It was awfully easy and I suspect that the $5 I gave each of those candidates will put them in my pocket for the rest of their political lives.
2) I'm going to do my crib sheet early, disseminate it wide, and also widely disseminate the crib sheets of my friends (Nathan!). I really believe in this and wish that the pre-election period could be full of us sharing personal knowledge and debating political issues -- that's not the campaigning that needs to be reformed: it's what the big-ticket campaign financiers are drowning out. People have confused voting booths with closets -- we should all be OUT.
3) I'll sport an election bumper-sticker/yard sign. When I was a kid, my parents pointed at any car that had bumper stickers from rival candidates: "the battle of the sexes," they laughed, and maybe now couples don't share bumpers any more, but I think it's sad that people don't share their predilections Is this a democracy or a police state? (yeah, yeah, yeah)
4) I'll work on a campaign. My friends Melody and Stan are spearheading an "election sesshin" in which Buddhists and non-Buddhists (like me) move in together and use meditation and mutual support to sustain each other during the intensive get-out-the-vote work of the last two weeks before the election. Last year I joined them for a few days as they campaigned for Darlene Hooley in Oregon. This year they're closer to home, campaigning for Jerry McNerney against Bush-lackey Richard Pombo in Stockton, and I plan to join them for a couple of short stretches within that last stretch.
If you're interested in joining us, let me know. I'll send you a copy of the invite with all the contact info.
5) I'll vote. I signed up for absentee voting, which I don't really like because I like going to the polling place with Wendy and her dog and seeing other neighbors and inciting riots when I ask people if they expect a paper ballot, etc. But election day phone banking is really useful, especially for people who put off thinking about the election/reading the voter guide and then feel like they don't deserve to vote. YOU DON'T HAVE TO VOTE IN EVERY RACE, I tell them. (I'm so politically savvy!)
I humbly invite you to join me in all these activities. It's possible that as my friend Mike says, fascism has already arrived and we'll feel stupid looking back at all the work we did for an election we couldn't have won anyway. But that's like believing Richard Nixon when he said he was watching the superbowl and couldn't be bothered paying attention to the protesters and then twenty years later you find out that those protests stopped a planned nuclear assault. The Republicans are campaigning with a "Stay home -- Don't vote!" strategy and I think it behooves us not to agree.
----xxoo yr electioneering Bárbara
I thought you might be interested in what I'm doing to try to fix the November election. I'm looking for future fertile grounds for impeachment, big-time.
1) I went to Act Blue, a web-site that lets Democrats craft their own little PACs. I gave money to a bunch of Democrats and progressives who each have a shot at flipping some Republican seat. I started with a list of recommendations from Barbara Boxer -- Jim Webb, VA; Claire McCaskill, MO; Bob Casey, PA; Jon Tester, MT; Sherrod Brown, OH; Sheldon Whitehouse, RI; Jack Carter, NV -- and then added Ned Lamont in Connecticut, Jerry McNerney in Stockton (the big show-down race in northern CA), and a bunch of other progressives I read about on the Act Blue web-site.
It was awfully easy and I suspect that the $5 I gave each of those candidates will put them in my pocket for the rest of their political lives.
2) I'm going to do my crib sheet early, disseminate it wide, and also widely disseminate the crib sheets of my friends (Nathan!). I really believe in this and wish that the pre-election period could be full of us sharing personal knowledge and debating political issues -- that's not the campaigning that needs to be reformed: it's what the big-ticket campaign financiers are drowning out. People have confused voting booths with closets -- we should all be OUT.
3) I'll sport an election bumper-sticker/yard sign. When I was a kid, my parents pointed at any car that had bumper stickers from rival candidates: "the battle of the sexes," they laughed, and maybe now couples don't share bumpers any more, but I think it's sad that people don't share their predilections Is this a democracy or a police state? (yeah, yeah, yeah)
4) I'll work on a campaign. My friends Melody and Stan are spearheading an "election sesshin" in which Buddhists and non-Buddhists (like me) move in together and use meditation and mutual support to sustain each other during the intensive get-out-the-vote work of the last two weeks before the election. Last year I joined them for a few days as they campaigned for Darlene Hooley in Oregon. This year they're closer to home, campaigning for Jerry McNerney against Bush-lackey Richard Pombo in Stockton, and I plan to join them for a couple of short stretches within that last stretch.
If you're interested in joining us, let me know. I'll send you a copy of the invite with all the contact info.
5) I'll vote. I signed up for absentee voting, which I don't really like because I like going to the polling place with Wendy and her dog and seeing other neighbors and inciting riots when I ask people if they expect a paper ballot, etc. But election day phone banking is really useful, especially for people who put off thinking about the election/reading the voter guide and then feel like they don't deserve to vote. YOU DON'T HAVE TO VOTE IN EVERY RACE, I tell them. (I'm so politically savvy!)
I humbly invite you to join me in all these activities. It's possible that as my friend Mike says, fascism has already arrived and we'll feel stupid looking back at all the work we did for an election we couldn't have won anyway. But that's like believing Richard Nixon when he said he was watching the superbowl and couldn't be bothered paying attention to the protesters and then twenty years later you find out that those protests stopped a planned nuclear assault. The Republicans are campaigning with a "Stay home -- Don't vote!" strategy and I think it behooves us not to agree.
----xxoo yr electioneering Bárbara
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