because people matter july-aug 2009

8/14/2019 Because People Matter July-Aug 2009

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Because People Mater Progressive 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 .. 7What 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 JohnsonIn 2002, when the nonpro t Sacramento Mutual

Housing Association (SMHA) was completing construc-tion o Victory ownhomes in North Sacramento, peoplewould o en 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. Victory ownhomes was the rst multi amily 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, o ces or organizersand service sta , and a computer learning lab, has a roo with solar roo tiles.

Why did the mutual housing association break thebarriers o installing solar energy components in itsa ordable 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 a ord to pay the elec tric bill.SMUD had a special program that,combined with incentives created by then 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 a ord-

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 twoorganizations provide training, networking and pro es-sional certi cations to advance sustainable developmento commercial and residential acilities.

By hiring local architects whose sta are certi edgreen 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 a orda 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 o blocks away rom her apart-ment carry bananas, mostly aging, a ew apples, and per-haps wilting lettucethis is on a good day. Te cost o this 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 anda ordable 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 o Alkali 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 insu cient market to justi y 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 ul ll two goals. Tey provide access

to resh and a ordableproduce and because o theway these two nonpro tsdesigned the program, thearm stands build commu-nity. Tey encourage resi-dent interaction by bringingin local musicians, by utiliz-ing volunteers, and o ering

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 nonpro tspurchase organic and conventional produce directly rom 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 Cali ornia Wellness Foundation, SMHA pro-

vides stipends to neighborhood young people who internin the armstands. Tese youth get training on the di er-ences between conventional and organic produce. Tey also get customer service skills and bene t 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 recent housing designswill be models or other 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 a ordable ruitsand vegetables.

New Ha m n , a g een mu ual h usingc mmuni , is scheduled s ac ns uc i n his win e in Davis.Image c u es f Kuchman A chi ec s, ende ing b

Saw e Fische .

See Green housing, page 11


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

Editorial Page

On the coverFarmstands mean fresh, localfood. See stories beginning onpage 1, continuing on 8 and 9.

Photo courtesy SMHA.

Muriel Strand, Co-Coordinating Editor for this issuePeople Mater

V lume 18, Numbe 4Published Bi-Monthly by theSacramento Community forPeace & JusticeP.O. Box 162998, Sacramento,CA 95816(Use addresses below forcorrespondence)

Edi ial G up: JacquelineDiaz, Jeanie Keltner, JoAnnFuller

C dina ing Edi s fhis Issue: Jacqueline Diaz,Muriel Strand

Design and La u : Ellen Schwartz

Calenda Edi :Chris Bond

Adve ising and BusinessManage : Edwina WhiteDis ibu i n Manage s: Distribution Manager Emeritus:Paulette Cuilla

Subsc ip i n Manage : Gordon Kennedy

How to ReacH Us:

Le e s, ads hebusiness:[email protected]

HoLD tHat caLeNDaRIteM!

Please be patient as we switch to our new format. If someonewill volunteer to formatand post calendar items,we'll maintain a communitycalendar. Meanwhile, checkfor peace and justice events atwww.sacpeace.org.

HaNG oN to tHatstoRY!

With the new web-basedformat, we can run more timelystories, and readers will beable to comment on them. Wewant your articles, punditry,

opinions, comments andletters! But, we won't be able topublish any of it until the newwebsite is set up. Watch for itat www.bpmnews.org.

HaVe soMe a LIttLetIMe?

Our new format will requiremuch less time from ourvolunteers than the paperversion. For Editing we needpeople who are (mildly)geeky rather than fanaticallygrammatical. Editors willpost articles when they aresubmitted, though it need notbe immediate. No meetings.No deadlines. Articles maybe reviewed for spelling andgrammar errors (or not), butin general the content willbe the responsibility of thewriters. Distribution is also

transformed: we need people topromote the website, to email

their friends, put it on theirFaceBook pages, Twitter aboutit, ask owners of other sites tolink to it, hand out businesscards with our web address.

Can you help? Call Ellen at916-369-5510 or email [email protected].

Because PeoPle Matter is anall-volunteer endeavor to pres-ent alternative, progressivenews and views in Sacramento.

We invite and welcome yourresponses.

Please reproduce from any of the written contents, but do credit the author and BPM .

Printed at Herald Printing byGraphics Communication UnionDC2 pressmen.

because

Its Not Tat Easy Being GreenHow People Matter

As I write my rst BPM editorial, my mindwanders back to when I helped start the Sacra-mento Greens, be ore 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 key Green principle.

A ew years later this newspaper was createdBecause some Sacramentans believe People Mat-ter. People can make a di erence, 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 in ection.)Teres no denying that the more people there

are, the less each one matters. Tats the reality o diminishing marginal returns, a undamental o economics. 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 like jobs 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 buy whats 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 anger voiced by many re ect 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 thedominator 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 in ectedwith. 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 di erence? Tendo unto others as you would have them do untoyou, a policy recommended unanimously by world religions. Put yoursel in other peoplesshoes, and dont be mean. Be kind i possible, but

de nitely dont be mean. Now put yoursel in theshoes o people who look di erent, talk unny,and/or live on the other side o the world, suchas those who are homeless, oreign, re ugees, 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 work and years o service. Paulette has been anindispensable help in getting our words

out! She took on the distribution o BPM at 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 ane cient team.

Not content to let things rest, Paulette strat-egized placement o BPM stands and got newstands into new outlets in our communities. Shealso kept a er 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 di erence, and people deserveconsiderationrom others.

Thank You Paulette! Farewell to our BPM distribution team

From the BPM Editorial BoardAnd to our loyal, hard-

working distributors, many who have happily pickedup and delivered papers oryears throughout the Sacra-mento region, we thank youor your work and support.

oday BPM is 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 BPM amily o distributors will continue to spread

the word that BPM is going online! Distributorsand readers can continue to read BPM in a newonline ormat coming soon to the webstand nearyou!

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

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 a er 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 help ul. Items are being col-lected at the o ce 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] or visit: www.pastors-orpeace.org.

For more in ormation 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 ana ternoon o riendshipas we gather to welcomethe Caravan and break bread together.

Tank you again, Paulette and distribution

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

www.bpmnews.com .

Paule e in f n f he US Capi l wi h he C dePinke s f he 5 h annive sa f he I aq wa inMa ch 2008.


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

all came crashing down in February o this yearwhen 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 andbene ts?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 be ore seeking care.Tey lose more than their money or creditthey lose 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 a ord it or not. Hospitalemergency rooms cannot deny you care, andyour li e 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 i e, but it easily could haveI su ered a small stroke, and le untreated evenor 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 pay at 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 or via Medi-Cal, that can pay medical bills, anda ord you a er-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 un airly 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 county will give you time to pay.

Tird, investigate other options. As a Vietnam veteran (I was dra ed),I discovered, thanks toa hospital worker whomentioned it, that Iquali y 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 a er the Democratic Party retook Congress 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 healthcare. 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 in u-ence, are too a raid 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 Wol e,acting president o the non-partisan group PublicCitizen, as heard on the Bill Moyers Journal on

PBS.According to the Center or Responsive Poli-tics, more than $46 million in 2008 was given by the 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 e cient comparedto the 15-30 percent administrative costs (pro ts,paperwork, CEO salaries, etc.) o or-pro t insur-ance. Plus, it covers everyone. Private HMOs andhealth insurance companies increase their pro tsby 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 o employer-based health care bene ts.

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, be oreeven more people die on the altar o insurancecompany pro ts.

My Story Its time for single-payer, universal health care

I did receive care, but wasle t with a $40,000 bill or our days o treatment.

A w k: Kje s en Jeppesen

Support Sacramento Soapbox! Progressive TV talk show needs your help

With a contribution o $30 or more, you can support Sacramento Soapbox! and get 10color ul little art pieces by Jeanie Keltner.

Soapbox! is Sacramentos only progressive V talk show discussing issues important toBPM readers. 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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Peace Actionon the WebKeep up to dateon peace activismin Sacramento.Check outwww.sacpeace.org.

By Ste anie Faucher, ProgramDirector o Death Penalty Focus

In March, New Mexico took the historic stepo replacing the death penalty with permanentimprisonmentmaking 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 legislation, NewMexicos Governor Bill Richardson cited theextraordinarily high costs o retaining the deathpenalty and the 130-plus inmates reed romdeath row since 1973 due to wrong ul 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 con dence, Iwould say certitude, that the system is withoutaw or prejudice. Un ortunately, this is demon-strably not the case.

At least 10 other states have considered similarmeasures this year, citing the signi cant 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 di cult to seek the 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 Cali ornia Commission onthe Fair Administration o Justice ound that Cali orniaannually 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 Cali ornia State Legislature alsodoled out an additional $136 million this yearor a new death row housing acility or whichthe total project budget is expected to reach $400million.

Several Cali ornia state legislators includingSenator Mark Leno and Assemblyman Jared

Hu man 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 the Marin 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 anine ective and broken death penalty, and its aprice we can no longer a ord. For Cali ornianswho want to live in sa e and healthy communi-ties, the answer is clear. Te time has cometo replace the death penalty with permanent

imprisonment.In a March interview with Marin Magazine,

Assemblyman Hu man 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 a ord it. In so many ways, it is absolutely ridiculous.

Recent polling shows thatCali ornia voters are likely to

agree with them.Te State o Cali ornia 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 li e without the possibility o parole, and by suspending all new death sentences or a periodo ve years. Tis would also allow the legislature

to consider selling the prime real estate currently occupied 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 in ormation, please visit www.death-penalty.org.

By Muriel StrandTe Daniel Singer Millennium Prize Founda-

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

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

tion process, capitalism created the potentialor meeting the basic needs o humankind.However, the capitalist system is unable toul ll that potential because the satis actiono human needs con icts with the relentlesssearch or maximum pro ts by a privilegedpropertied elite.

Second: Against a society based on the marketand regulated by the pro t 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 trans orma-tion, beginning with their assumption o statepower and their active participation at the heado this process. Te trans ormation o society is 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 trans ormation through-out the world.

Fourth: Te discredited and now-de unctregimes 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.

Fi th: 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 willguide 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 majority o 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

Pizza by the slicePIECES Te most delicious and socially responsible

pizza in town Jeanie Keltner

1309 21st St between M and N

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 scal crisis has made onething certain: thedeath penaltys daysare numbered.

The global economic crisishas revealed capitalismsinability to meet the needso the vast majority o theworlds population. Giventhe experience o the last century, how can a case or socialism 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 in ormation

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

Essa c n es en ies mus be submi ed b Jul 31,2009.


6/16


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 usedto 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 military personnel 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 re usalto 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 emergingtoday 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-o cial position being taken by high-ranking o cials with positions o greatauthority and prestige. Second, it receives acertain amount o support rom a number o politicians and media celebrities who audaciously violate 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 uni orm 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-Country ideology comes rom elected o cials such asRobin Hayes (R-NC), who de ended Boykinor proclaiming that stability in Iraq ultimately depends 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 o the 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 battleagainst the kind o anatics we ace.

Pentagon spokesmen have denounced suchrhetoric 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 o the Middle East and when they are heard inthe light o photos show-ing soldiers posed withtheir ri es 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 o violent attacks which con-ate religion and war. Onesuch operation is describedin a scary article by Je Sharlet in the May 2009issue o Harpers, whichreports that a Special Forcesunit o the First In antry Division 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 in am-matory incursion wereannihilated by repower somassive that it destroyed thebuildings in whose windowsthey dared to appear.

Te MRFF is deeply concerned 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 disgrace ul instances o uncon-stitutional proselytizing within the US ArmedForces. More than one senior national security o cial has thanked the MRFF or the job it isdoing to expose and denounce the complicity o the 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 e ect o attempting to convert Muslims to Christianity must see the problem with linking undamental-ist ideology with the military. Tis isnt ction.What we are dealing with here are grim, real-li eanatics who see themselves as de enders o God,implacably determined to shove their tragically

Onward Christian SoldiersFundamentalist orgs mixing church and state

Our military rankscontain a small but impassioned cadre o evangelical Christianswho seek theocracy.

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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 resource ully aspossible.

Find more in ormation at www.militaryrele-gious reedom.org.


7/16


8/16


By Karen Hansen and Muriel StrandGleaningthe ancient practice o picking over arm

elds a er 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 a er 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 look or grant unding to acilitate bettercoordination o their e orts, via aweb inter ace to collect in orma-tion on homeowners with treesthat they want to have gleaned, volunteers who want to do thegleaning, and neighborhoodin ormation that will includetoolkits or them to start their own neighbor-hood-based gleaning e orts that tie into the larger e ort.

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/ o ers 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 only wonder what the uture holds, but also at what point they may 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 con uence o two rivers and with a climatewhich supports a nearly 365-day growing season. Tey are 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 ore ront 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 basictools 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 nominale ort and investment in time and resources that it takesto be success ul. Additionally, growing gardens can helpaddress major health and obesity concerns by allowingSacramentans access to the greatest nutritional value o reshly picked produceright o the vine. Gardens canalso help build and rejuvenate communities, beauti y neighborhoods, 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 o World War II produced nearly 40% o our countrys oodat the time.

While the City o Sacramento is taking the lead,Organic Sacramento, the Sacramento Area Community Garden Coalition ( www.saccommunitygardens.org ), aswell as other community organizations, are all workingto mobilize this e ort 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 in ormation, go to w ww.

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 water resources, reduce stormwater and chemical runo , as well as provide resh and healthy ood or Sacramento amilies.

Ga den being p epa ed b s uden s a A.D. Ha is High, Panama Ci , FL.Ph : www.sf c.ufl.edu


9/16


armstands are produced in collaboration with the Oak Park 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 bene t trans ers,EB most 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 success ul change was state legislation 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 they sold 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 sa ety o ood. Te new law helps sustainsmall 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 Saturday between 10am and 2pm, or in the Alkali Flat armstandheld in J. Neely Johnson Park at F and 11th Streets every uesday evening rom 4pm to 7pm. Both are community gathering events, o en with music, ace painting, andhealth and nutrition in ormation.

Rachel Iskow is the Executive Director of Sacramento Mutual Housing Association. Te Association developsand operates housing for Sacramento and Yolo counties diverse households. For more information visit www.mutualhousing.com

Urban Farmstands rom page 1

Farms Not BurbsHealthy communities still more use ulthan 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 statementabout 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 by poorly planned urban sprawl.

Tis development pattern is largely a result o our car culture that rapidly developed ollowing World War II.Te private automobile had madeearlier inroads ollowing Henry Fordsinvention o the assembly line, mak-ing cars a ordable 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 edera l Interstate High-way System was made by the Eisenhower administrationin the 1950s. Te largest o these reeways comprised theInterstate De ense Highway System, a road network intended to provide routes or the transport o military personnel 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 Highway System speci cally 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 citiesthroughout 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 manu actured by GM, ueled by Standard Oil and riding on Firestone tires.

Tis was also the era o very inexpensive uel, anda ordable, i not always reliable, autos. Prominentamong are cultural icons were such advertising jinglesas 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 potentially catastrophic global warming due togreenhouse gas emissions, healthdamaging air pollution, overuse o resources such as water and energy,lack o exercise rom walking and

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

national security issues mentioned previously.Another signi cant impact is the loss o a sense o community 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 andusing 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 e ort 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 Security Act, and accompanying land use planning legislation aresitting in the US Congress.

Public awareness and involvement have markedly increased. Tere are many con erences 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 morein o).

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 putus on a path toward healthy, livable and sustainablecommunities.

Rick Bettis is a retired civil engineer. He is a member of Common Cause, Sacramento Media Group and League of Women Voters.

Prior to World War II, Sacramento, like other cities throughout the nation, had anexcellent public transit system.

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25% off your purchase, (Expires 8-15-09)Bring this couponto the Ur ban Farm Stand 20% of f of your entire purchase!May not be com bined with other coupons or discounts.Locations: Tuesdays 4-7pm , Neely Johnson Park , F & 11th , SacramentoSaturdays 10am-2pm , McClatchy Park , 3400 4th Ave., Sacramento

Upcoming Local GovernmentCommission Events

Complete Streets:The road to safer, healthier, livable communitiesDate: July 10, 2009, Sacramento, CA rom 9am

4:30pm On-site registration is rom 8:30am9amor register online www.lgc.org/events/index.htmlSheraton Grand Hotel 1230 J Street (corner o 13thand J) Sacramento, CA 95814

Implementing SB 375:What local governments need to know about climatechange legislationDate: July 30, 2009, Sacramento, CA rom 9am4:15pmOn-site registration is rom 8:30am9am or regis-ter online http://www.lgc.org/events/index.htmlSheraton Grand Hotel1230 J S t reet (co rner o 13 th and J)Sacramento, CA 95814


10/16


Sacramento Area Peace Action (SacPeace)916-448-7157 [email protected] www.sacpeace.org

Resources orEnlisted Personnel &VeteransDischarges DEP Discrimination Gay AWOL/UA Harassment Hazing Conscientious Objection

Call for information from a network of nonpro t, nongovernmental organizations.The service is free. The call is con dential.

The GI Rights Hotline, www.girights.org,800-394-9544

Free & con dential counseling: 916-447-5706;www.therapistsforsocialresponsibility.org;

Join Sacramento Area PeaceAction!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 o Americas preeminentIslam authorities is

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

the ve pillars; clari es the di erences 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 andeven-handed.

Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Mus-lims Really Think , John L. Esposito and DaliaMagahed, Gallop Poll, 2007, 204 pages.

Between 2001 and2007, Gallup Worldinterviewed tens o thousands o Muslims in35 predominantly Mus-lim nations. Tis book summarizes some o thendings in ve easy-to-read chapters that coverwho Muslims are, i they 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 SuicideTerrorism , Robert A, Pape, Random House,2005, 352 pages.

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

tary occupation.Per Pro essor 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 sacri c-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 o Pallo 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 andNagasaki, Japan, by the United States, theonly nation to have actually used nuclearweapons in a war. Will President Obamadeliver change in US nuclear weaponspolicy?

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 li etime?

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 De ense Secretary William Perry and ormer Senator Sam Nunn.

Te President spoke about aggressivelypursuing the rati cation o the Comprehensiveest Ban reaty (C B ), replacing the soon-to-expire Strategic Arms Reduction reaty (S AR )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 military power. At a con erence in mid-April, ormerSoviet President Mikhail Gorbachev welcomedPresident Obamas call or the abolition o nucle-ar weapons, but re erred to the huge US de ensebudget 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 rati cation. (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 oreigna airs and a major role in herding the Chemi-cal Weapons Convention reaty to success ulpassage.

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, A ghanistan and Palestine havepracticed Islam or more than 1,400 years; suicidebombing was unheard o until they were underoreign military occupation.

A Deadly Misunderstanding: A CongressmansQuest to Bridge the Muslim-Christian Divide, Mark D. Siljander, Harper One, 2008, 222 pages.

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

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

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


11/16


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Why do activists get busy and dis-appear rom our groups?Dear Shauna,

I want to know your thoughts about activistburnout. It seems as i many o our groups are introuble, o en 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, o en its not otheractions, guerrilla war are 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 a ecting 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 work wherever 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 relatively unknown, and con usion 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-pro essional opinion) are experiencing atleast a mild case o post-traumatic stress disorder(P SD), anxiety, and/or depression.

And yet we go on, because o the importance

o our work.Paul Hawken in Blessed Unrest reports 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 speci c suggestions, I would like too er a process I use with clients I call CommonGround: A Friendship Model or Problem Reso-lution, which is a basic way to gure out yourown and others real needs, expand options, andmake (and execute) decisions.

Heres what you can do, alone, with a riend, or(pre erably) 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 possibility can 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 line.

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

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

P SD, please see a licensedtherapist.

Shauna L. Smith, MSW, MF is an author and psychotherapist in private practice in Sacramento and

can be reached at 916-447-5706 or gushauna@ yahoo.com. She is coordinator of Terapists for Social Responsibility www.therapistsforsocialre-sponsibility.org

Editors note: watch our website, www.bpm-news.org , or uture columns o Ask a Socially Responsible Terapist.

Ask A Socially Responsible Therapist By Shauna L. Smith

Its important toreplenish ourselves

by connecting withothers, doing what welove, taking care o ourselves

the site will lower energy use by maximiz-ing sunlight in the winter and shade inthe summer. Landscaping that clusterstogether plants that need similar levels o irrigation can signi cantly decrease waterusage. Using building materials that arelocally produced, are toxin- ree or low-toxin, and are manu actured with renew-able resources, purchasing energy e cientlighting and appliances, and installingair ltration systems inside the housingall contribute to improving the health o residents and a sustainable community.Locating housing near public transporta-tion decreases use o cars by residents.

Architect Jim Zanetto said, We recog-nize the signi cant contribution buildingsmake to global warming and environmen-tal degradation generally and eel obligatedto minimize these impacts. Te answer isnot to halt housing or low-wage workers. Lack o access to a ordable housing near jobs c reatesits own environmental problems, as people are

orced to drive long distances to their places o employment. Low income people cant a ordnewer vehicles. Tey are driving older vehiclesthat lack modern energy e cient eatures, thuscontributing at a higher rate to air pollution i wedont provide housing convenient to their jobs.

More in ormation on the Mutual HousingAssociations green building e orts is available ontheir web site at www.mutualhousing.com or callWendy Carter at 916-453-8400 ext. 11. Readersmay visit solar community Victory ownhomes,located at 1075 Dixieanne Avenue (at Lexington)in North Sacramento.

Mu ual H using wi hs la panels.Ph c u es SMHA

Green Housing from page 1

Cali ornians Know What to DoA way to help Cali ornia lawmakersbalance the budgetBy Willie L. Pelote, Sr.First published at InsideBayArea.com

Now that Cali ornia voters have handed Gov. ArnoldSchwarzenegger and his cadre o special interests anotherresounding special election de eat, proponents o public services, scal responsibility, child care and mental health pro-grams are gearing up or the battle over the 2010 state budget.

Schwarzenegger has threatened deep cuts, but a majority o voters throughout Cali ornia oppose cuts to public services

such as roads, public transportation, environmental regula-tion, water storage, programs or the disabled, mental healthprograms, child care, public schools, health care and highereducation, according to a poll o registered voters taken April16-26, 2009.

Te same poll also ound that voters avor cuts to the statesprison-industrial complex and would support higher taxes onthe wealthy and speci c industries like oil, tobacco and alco-hol. Tese ndings o er a working blueprint or a progressivestate budget in 2010.

State spending on prisons should be cut, and Schwarzeneg-gers November 2008 proposal to enact an alcohol tax, oilseverance tax and a sales tax on services such as amusementparks and entertainment and sporting events should berevived.

Independent analysis by the Cali ornia ax Re orm Associ-ation has also shown that it would be possible to immediately raise $13 billion by: (1) restoring the states high income andcorporate tax brackets to their levels under Republican Gov-ernors Ronald Reagan and Pete Wilson, and (2) instituting atax on carbon dioxide pollution.

Tat would shore up about two-thirds o the $20 billionbudget short all that analysts say Cali ornia now aces.

Te remaining $7 billion or so can be obtained throughthe a orementioned cuts to prison spending and higher taxeson oil companies, alcohol and tobacco producers and pro es-sional sports teams, the same special interests that bankrolledthe May 19 special election ballot measures in order to avoidindustry taxes that could help to balance the budget, accord-ing to the Sacramento Bee.

Willie L. Pelote, Sr. is an assistant director of the AmericanFederation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO, the largest public sector union in the country. For more

information, visit www.calafscme.org.

In the Military & Need Help or Want to GetOut?

GI Rights Hotline: 800-394-9544; [email protected] www.objector.org

Courage to Resist: 510-488-3559,www.couragetoresist.org


12/16


Noon HourWitness Against the

Death Penalty.Tird Mondays12noon to 1pm.

11th and L StreetsState Capitol

INFO: 455-1796

Sacramento Soapbox Progressive Talk ShowAccess Sacramento,Channel 17 withJeanie Keltner.

Monday, 8pm, Tuesdaynoon, Wednesday, 4am.Now in Davis, Channel15, Tuesday, 7pm.

Mention Because People Matter or Sacramento Soapbox whenmaking a purchase, and 50% o the purchase price will be

donated to that project!

By Roger WhiteTe initial euphoria surrounding George Bushs

departure and the election o the rst Black presi-dent in US history is just about over. For decadespeople advocating or an end to the war againstdrugs have been ghting an uphill battle againstlaw-and-order conservatives and a liberal estab-lishment that has shown more ambiguity thanmoral clarity on the e ects that harsh en orce-ment practices, mass incarceration and deadly oreign policy programs have had on communi-ties o color all over the globe and many poor andworking class whites in the US.

Obamas election gave many o us a reason tobe hope ul. He had expressed some support orpot decriminalization in the past. Hed also co-sponsored the Second Chance Act in Congress,a law providing resources to prisoner reentry e orts across the US. Obama also signaled thathe would end Drug En orcement Administra-tion (DEA) raids on cannabis clubs that were in

compliance with their own states medical marijuana laws. He even admitted to smoking pot andsnorting cocaine in his youth. Finally, a leaderwho would be a partner in the development o new approaches to drug policy.

Well, not so ast. Over the last hundred daysweve seen the new president develop plans toratchet up drug war border en orcement, con-tinue DEA raids o cannabis clubs in compliancewith their states medical marijuana laws andsco at online advocates o pot decriminalizationat a town hall on economic recovery. I this iswhat we have to look orward to rom the Obamaadministration on drug policy, itll be a long threeand a hal years or drug re orm advocates.

Perhaps the most ominous sign that theObama administration plans a business asusual approach to war on drugs oreign policy was a www.WashingtonPost.com story on April24, 2009, indicating that the White House wasrequesting a $350 million appropriation romCongress to send National Guard troops to theUS Mexico border to expand the US militarysrole in the war on drugs. Tis $350 million isin addition to the massive $1.4 bil lion MeridaInitiative anti-drugtra cking plan that Congresssigned o on a year ago. Te Merida Initiativeunds military and law en orcement e orts inMexico and several other Central Americancountries. But according to the article the earabout Obamas request or the extra $350 millionis that the [US] military could use the money toset up a parallel counter-narcotics program with

little oversight.

On the campaign trail, Obama, in an e ort toappeal to critical Latino constituencies in borderstates, was adamant about notwanting to militarize the border.In the wake o increased drug war violence in Mexicos border towns,and stories about kidnappings inthe US linked to Mexican drug car-tels, Obama has seized the oppor-tunity to increase the presence o armed US personnel at the border.Te cover story that concern overarms tra cking into Mexico romthe US has driven the request romthe White House to und a newwave o contingency border sol-diers, has little credibility. US-basedarms dealers dont walk their way to the Mexican border with duf ebags o M-16s. Tey use airplanes and ships to

smuggle their contraband south. Any seriousattempt to disrupt arms smuggling would have tostart where all serious attempts to disrupt smug-gling rings startwith the banks and legitimatecorporate manu acturers.

But so ar Obama has been unwilling to takeon drug money laundering by major banks orillegal gun distribution by arms manu acturersin the US. On the second point his virtual silencehas been dea ening. In the midst o the worstmass murder wave in over a decade, the presidenthasnt even pushed or a renewal o the assaultweapons ban. It should be no surprise that high-powered military arms are nding their way tothe cartels.

Another campaign promise rom Obamawas to end DEA raids on medical marijuanashops that are in compliance with their stateslaws. Since Obama has taken o ce the DEA hasraided our acilities in Cali ornia. Teir latestraid o Emmalyns Cali ornia Cannabis Clinic inApril, 2009 makes clear how loosely they plan tointerpret their own conditions or ederal drugen orcement. Aaron Smith o the MarijuanaPolicy Project claimed despite the DEAs vagueclaims about violations o state and ederal laws,

they apparently made no e ort to contact thelocal authorities who monitor and license medi-

cal marijuana providers.It appears that the problem was

all o these Bush holdovers nestedin the DEA that were ollowingthe old policy o targeting clubs incompliance with their own statesmarijuana laws under MicheleLeonharts direction. When askedabout the discrepancy betweenthe Justice Departments newly announced hands o policy or cannabis clubs and the DEAscontinued raids, the response romWhite House spokesman Nick Shapiro was that Obama continuesto appoint senior leadership to llout the ranks o the ederal govern-

ment, he expects them to review their policies.

Breathtaking. I have a plan. Fire all the Bushappointees in the DEA tomorrow. Let the careerbureaucrats run the place until you can nd adecent, progressive replacement or, better yet,abolish the agency altogether. Now, I dont getpaid to consult or advise the president but Imwilling to give that pearl away i it saves onecannabis club worker rom spending a day in jail, court or prison. And i anyone is in the dark about how low this issue alls in the hierarchy o priorities or Obama, consider that its three anda hal months into his administration and he stillhas not picked a DEA replacement or Leonhart.

Could this be symptomatic o a larger attitudi-nal problem? Obama knows that any reasonablesounding president must be music to the earso anyone who has been against the police statetactics and repression at the heart o the drug warover the last eight years. Could it be that our ownPresident Obama doesnt eel any particular needto respond to civil libertarians with any urgency because well be satis ed with whatever bones hethrows our way? My suspicion is that the answerto the above question is a yes which means weneed to raise the bar on Obama rather than low-ering it.

No Hope Ending the War on DrugsObama signaled lef, turns to the right on drug war

There areominous signsthat the Obamaadministration plans abusinessas usual approach towar on drugsoreign policy.

by Muriel Strand

The Empty Chair: Death Penalty Yes orNo, a documentary lm about the deathpenalty, will be shown on Thursday, July 15,2009, 6-9pm, at the Sierra 2 CommunityCenter, Curtis Hall and Courtyard, 279024th Street, Sacramento. Death penalty ex-pert Ellen Eggers will lead a Q&A discussionafter the showing.The lm tells the stories of four familiesconfronting the murder of loved ones andvoicing different perspectives on the deathpenalty. The movie also features SisterHelen Prejean, author and spiritual advisor

to those condemned to die, and DonaldCabana, former death row warden in Missis-sippi.Among the family members featured in thelm are Renny Cushing, whose father wasmurdered; Suse and Peter Lowenstein,whose son was killed by a terrorist plane-bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland; SueNorton, who chose to forgive the man whomurdered her step-parents; and Susan GoveRamunda, a tireless advocate for capital

Death Penalty Focus FundraiserDocumentary & discussion

punishment whose daughter was murdered.Each family member retraces the crime that

took their loved one, the trial that followed,and their personal response to the punish-ment that was given to the person convictedof the murder.Rafe Tickets for a DVD Player, as well as forDVDs, books, and CDs related to the deathpenalty will be offered to attendees. All of

the funds raised will go to Death PenaltyFocus.Information: www.deathpenalty.org Contact: Christine Thomas at [email protected] or 916-730-2489


13/16


Cofee rom

NicaraguaSupport Sacramentossister city, San Juande Oriente, Nicaragua,by purchasing organicwhole-bean coffeegrown in the richvolcanic soil on theisland of Omotepe,Nicaragua.Thanks to the efforts of

the Bainbridge-OmotepeSister Island Associationin Washington, we areable to bring you thiswonderful medium roastcoffee.

Your purchase helps thefarmers on the islandand helps supportSacramentos long relationship with SanJuan de Oriente.All pro ts go directlyback to the Nicaraguancommunities.$9.00 a pound.Available in Sacramentoat: The Book Collector,1008 24th St.

By Jaime Daz

Hooray or the war on terror! Hooray or thewar on drugs! Tese battle ronts continue toshow success a er success dont they?

Te media has shownMexican military o cersarrested or working withBeltran Leyvas organiza-tionthe Gul Cartel andin December o 2008 evenbeauty queen Miss Sinaloa,the girl riend o a gangster,was arrested while traveling with narco-tra ck-ers because they were working with the Gul Car-tel. Gul Cartel members are continually beingextradited to the US; Al redo Beltran Leyva, nowbehind bars, is the leader o the cartel.

Well, it sounds like a happy ending, right? Notreally. Because the Gul Cartel is only one o themany Mexican drug cartels in the country

attacking and weakening one cartel only increas-es market-share or the others. Te Calderngovernment argues that they are winning this waron drugs even i the majority o the drug dealersbeing arrested, extradited, killed and harassedtend to belong to Beltran Leyvas Gul Cartel.

Tere are daily accounts about the escalating violence in Mexico being ueled by arms thatcome in rom the US. And the violence itsel isdeemed a clear indication by Calderns govern-ment that the war on drugs and terror is beingought and won, and that brave Mexican soldiers,police and civilians are giving up their lives inde ense o their country.

But escalating violence means Mexicans can nolonger travel sa ely outside o their own homes.Shootouts and murders along the highways con-necting cities and towns have become common(www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/ jan/02/obama- aces-mexican-drug-war/ ).Gangs and narco-tra ckers extort and kidnapopenly and reely as they regroup and expandtheir operations into other parts o the country.On Mexican Independence Day in 2008, sev-eral civilians, including children, were killedby grenades thrown at the celebrating crowdsin Morelias plaza (www.cbsnews.com/sto-ries/2008/09/16/world/main4454035.shtml ).Te attack was said to be narco-related.

o o set illegal importation o arms used by cartels, the US plans to send armored vehiclesto bolster the Mexican army. But i you ask USor Mexican o cials, Mexico has not become aailed state. Clouding Mexican sovereignty is aUS mantra that became apparent with the BushAdministration and somewhat continued by the

Obama Administration that claims US e orts

and support o the war on drugs must bestrong to prevent Mexicos narco-tra cersrom entering the US market, even i thismeans compromising Mexicos sovereignty.

But how did thisMexican war on drugsbegin? Didnt it seemlike this problem usedto be a lot less violent?

In July o 2006, theMexican presidentialelections were in ull

swing and the race was close. On ElectionDay, ormer Head o Government o the Fed-eral District, Andres Manuel Lpez Obrador,and the ormer Governor o Michoacn,Felipe Caldern, were neck and neck and itlooked as i a recount would be inevitable.

Despite the small and contested 0.56 per-centage point lead that was used to declare

conservative PANista (Partido Accin Nacio-nal) Felipe Caldern the victor, Partido dela Revolucin Democrtica candidate LpezObrador and his supporters struggled torally international observers and Mexicanlaw to their cause, but the media and US o cials

painted Lpez Obrador aslittle more than a sore loser.Te resultthe Michoacano PANista was deemed the win-ner and exiting President Foxle the presidency in the handso a ellow party member.However, the actual Mexicanpeople were much less inclinedto rally behind Felipe Caldernas their president-elect.

Sound amiliar?Having won the elec-

tion, whether legitimately orillegitimately, Felipe Caldernencountered a country deeply mistrust ul o him and hisparty. He even had to sneak into o ce to take the presiden-tial oath. Whats a president todo in such a situation? Who tolook to as a role model? Bush!O course!

And so began his campaignagainst the drug cartels andtheir evil ways. At least that isthe smoke and mirrors pre-

sented to the public, becausein reality, the war against thenarco-tra ckers has really

been applied against only one cartel and any opposition to this rule has been attacked in thisever-expanding war on drugs. Trow in someH1N1 hysteria and guess what happens? TeMexican people are scared and want to eel sa e.Calderns approval ratings in June, 2009 reachedan all-time high (www.newsdaily.com/stories/tre5506n8-us-mexico-calderon/ ).

But who is bene ting rom this violence? WillMexico nally be ree o drug dealers nar-cotrafcantes and their cartels once the violencewinds down? What has Mexico lost by trusting inCaldern?

We know the Mexican people have lost peacebecause o this new violence. We know the Gul Cartel continues to take heavier losses than any other drug cartel. We know Governor LpezObrador lost the election. We know the UScontinues to build a wall at the border wherehundreds o lives are lost every year. Te sumo all these errors eventually leads to the sameconclusion that history has taught us time andagainpeople get hurt in con icts, poor peopleusually bear the brunt and drug problems persist.Yet we ail to listen to historys lessons and insiston repeating them.

For example, take Colombia in the 1980s.Former Senator Pablo Escobar had his immunity status removed so that he could be prosecuted asthe leader o the Medelln Cartel. He ordered the

executions o any judges, police, army soldiers,

in ormers and anyone else who dared attack him.He ordered bombings in the capital o Bogot.His goal was to terrorize the nation into submis-sion and it almost worked.

Back then in Colombia, government o cialsargued that this was a war against a drug baronand that the country was winning. Increasedbloodshed and violence were seen as a positivesignthe government was winning; when arat is cornered, it ghts. And so the bloodshedcontinued and the government sought the help o los PEPEs(a group comprised o right-wing para-militaries, competing drug cartels rom Cali, andother evil elements that su

because people matter july-aug 2009

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