health care... it's on everyone's mind

So, I'm going to participate in a petition delivery --- of 80 double-sided pages of signatories to help my blue dog congressman understand that real health care reform is what we want. At least 375,000 folks across the country. The action day is Thursday, but since we'll be on the road to Colorado, I'll do it tomorrow.

I support a single-payer health care plan, hands down, no compromise. That's me. But if 170 fellow constituents in my district signed something that our congressman needs to see, I'm gonna make sure he sees it.

and for a good laugh (if it wasn't so true):

The Meaning of Your Calendar

So then I ended up sending this out -- an expansion of the thought on previous post.

Subject: [iedopna] The meaning of your calendar
Date: Fri, 19 Jun 2009 10:01:55 -0400

Dear Peace People!!

I have thought about reaching out to all of you and checking in on a few things that I've been thinking about for a while now -- then I received an email that talked about the importance of your "calendar" and "budget." Specifically, the idea that where a person spends their time and money speaks volumes about who they are and what is important to them.

"...I used to say that a budget tells you what and who are most important to a family, a church, a city, state, or nation. And that’s certainly also true about a calendar. Who or what is most important?" - Jim Wallis, Sojourners

The campaign for a Department of Peace actually embodies this idea of priority: if we say that violence reduction is necessary, if we wonder if there are better solutions than what we're doing now (because it seems to not be working all that well), then we need to spend some resources (time and money) to making these things happen and answering these questions. As a nation, we need to focus on how to create peace nonviolently in our communities, nation and world. That's what we're asking for when we're asking to create a Department of Peace at the highest level of our government.

"One little person giving all her time to peace, can make news. Many people, giving some of their time, can make history." -The Peace Pilgrim

So, I give time and money on the campaign. Not all my time. Not all my money. Which is good, because then I'd have no money for food, clothes, my home, you know, the details of life. Plus, doesn't it seem like budget issues are on the forefront of everyone's mind? And time, well as a new mom, my calendar has never been so entirely blank and yet been so busy.

But I give some time and money because it's important to me. I don't want to make news, I want to make history. I want to make violence history. For a lot of reasons. And these reasons change, and more reasons pop up all the time. Ethan, my 6-month old, is an example of a new reason. You probably have a lot of good reasons for joining this group, being in this group or staying in it.

Some of you know the story about how I first got involved in the campaign. I watched, kept an eye on the website (thepeacealliance.org), looked for a local group (there wasn't one) and generally had interest in the idea (though I didn't know many details). I did this for over two years.

Did you ever hear the story about the pig and the chicken? One is committed and one is interested. When it comes to breakfast, eggs and bacon, for instance, the chicken is interested, the pig is committed. Haha. Luckily the campaign doesn't ask for the kind of commitment the poor pig has to give.

So in January of 2006, I received an email about a conference call discussing a day of lobbying on Valentine's Day here in California. I had a phone. I shuffled some things around (namely dinner) and was on that call. It wasn't like it was meant to be, it was just that peace was important to me and my calendar didn't reflect that. I'd emailed friends, taken "ACTION" online with a petition, letter, etc. My friend Sean calls it "armchair activism." So I made the call happen!

The call was for organizing a plan to visit all of the Senatorial offices across the state and deliver a Valentine cookie for peace -- A Department of Peace. Between Sen. Boxer & Sen. Feinstein, there's 11 or so offices across the state. The ONLY office where a volunteer was not going to visit, was here in the Inland Empire (Sen. Boxer has an office in San Bernardino).

Finally, it came to two essential questions. If not me, who? And if not right now at this moment, then when?

I was scared that I didn't know what I was talking about, I had plans already and had to go way out of my way to get to San Bernardino, and I had just a little time to print out the packet and put it together in some sort of cohesive, presentable fashion. Plus, spending $30 on a heart-shaped cookie didn't sound appealing either. I had just taken a break from sales and had very little extra money. But then I got over myself and just decided to do it. And that, as they say, is that.

I had moved from interest to commitment. There's a brief summary of some things that we've done since at the new IEDOPNA website

It's been three years. My ability to give has waxed and waned depending on what is going on. Two years ago, I spent the summer in Northern California training for a new job to learn community organizing, I've spent the last six months learning what my friends had told me about how time-consuming and energy-depleting taking care of baby can be was true. So, I realize, we do what we can, as we can.

But, we define what is important to us overall when we look at our calendar and our budget. If we don't, we run the risk of giving time and resources to things that we don't value.

Get to the point already, right?

Overall, since I made the decision in 2006, my calendar & budget reflects my commitment to peace. And yours can too. There is so much to be done. We have yet to get a local congressional sponsor for the bill. Besides Marcia Taack, there are no other Team Leaders helping to coordinate news and information, or organize actions. This group is about the opportunity to GIVE to the cause of peace.

I would be honored to hear your answers: Are you interested in peace? Are a committed to peace? How are you willing to open up your calendar (and/or your budget) to reflect that interest and commitment? How can I support your effort?

If not you, then who? If not now, then when? Let's make history today.

Peace!

how you spend your money and your time

I once coined the phrase, “A budget is a moral document.” But being a dad to Luke and Jack, I now have a new phrase, “A calendar is a moral document.” ... I used to say that a budget tells you what and who are most important to a family, a church, a city, state, or nation. And that’s certainly also true about a calendar. Who or what is most important? - Jim Wallis, Sojourners

To say that I agree with the above completely, doesn't even come close.

Orwell was only the beginning...

so watching, listening, hearing news... about all sorts of things - how prop 8 passed and was upheld because it means the end of civilization if people are in love and want to be married, things like "the CIA 'lied' to me and I've always been supportive of an investigation (someone else do it) we'll do oversight" (or rather, just watch though they're both part of the job), "it is torture/it isn't torture, but if it was, it worked so it was worth it," I'm not racist if I say her food is weird, but she is because she mentioned her heritage"...

so I looked up words like Doublethink is the act of holding two contradictory beliefs simultaneously and fervently believing both (and I had incorrectly called it hypocrisy), cognitive dissonance, and discovered a new one too "true believer syndrome" and my brain almost exploded because some people will always talk louder and longer, no matter how faulty their case and we've got a lot of work to do.

anyway... this op-ed/article is funny.

Arrests on Capitol Hill over Single Payer Health Care Issue

I've been busy...

to look at this blog you'd think I haven't been busy. I have... check out ethanluc.blogspot.com.

So to catch up ---

• I've gone green on the baby front - cloth diapers, reused clothes, breastfeeding exclusively, reused gear
• I've donated clothes
• I've been free-cycling (check out freecycle.com and join your local group)
• We had a green Easter basket
• held a couple of Dept. of Peace campaign local meetings to kick-start the local effort
• and am going to a FREE Depeche Mode concert... it's a must -- we gotta go!! see the video for their newest song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bsXOcK9_Cw

Black Friday's Foreseeable Tragedy

Dear Mr. Zorn,

Like you, I was shocked and saddened to hear about the tragic death of Wal-Mart employee Jdimytai Damour in Long Island, New York on Black Friday.

The very next day, on a television show, entitled "The World's Stupidest Shoppers" footage from years past showed frenzied shoppers rushing overwhelmed clerks, limited security staff, with fist-fights, trampled customers and more, and it was not surprising to see that many of these instances took place at Wal-Mart stores. Watching the show, what was most surprising was that it had not happened before. While his death was an accident, it was absolutely preventable.

One untrained worker should not have been asked to control a crowd of thousands by himself. If Wal-Mart had provided appropriate security, Mr. Damour would be with his family this holiday season. In fact, the Boston Globe estimated this Tuesday that the additional security would have only cost Wal-Mart around $6,000.

It is not the responsibility of taxpayers to fund police protection for the crowds that gather to spend money at your stores. It is Wal-Mart’s responsibility.

If Wal-Mart or any other company plans to profit by creating a sales frenzy, it must also be responsible to pay whatever it takes to protect its shoppers and workers.

In the future, I urge you to do everything in your power to see that Wal-Mart protects the safety of its customers and employees so that something like this tragic incident does not happen again.

Respectfully,

Gil & Bobbi Jo Chavarria
Fontana, CA 92335

Write your own letter!: http://action.walmartwatch.com/page/content/accountable