Progressive Democrat Issue 139: THOUGHTS

This week I am focusing a little more on local stuff because a fair amount has caught my attention in various states. But I start with some very critical national actions: supporting real democracy in Burma and discussing alternative energy as an investment.

Remember, visiting some of the advertisers and shopping at palces like Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble from this site helps to keep me going here. And if you want more political blogging, please visit Culture Kitchen.

Here is this week's newsletter.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

SUPPORTING DEMOCRACY IN BURMA

MAKING MONEY ON ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

DEFEATING A RIGHT WING EXTREMIST IN TEXAS

NY STATE FOCUS: Support a fellow blogger running for office

NYC FOCUS: EVENTS

VIRGINIA FOCUS: Actions and Events

TEXAS FOCUS: Solar energy for Texas

NEW JERSEY FOCUS: Upcoming Election

CALIFORNIA FOCUS: The ass-biting republican initiative is back

FIGHTING BURMESE DICTATORSHIP

The Burmese dictators are hoping we all forget about the recent massacre of students and Buddhist monks. And all the companies that work with the Burmese dictators (Chevron most prominently among American companies) also hope we forget. I want to make sure people do NOT forget and that Chevron (and Texaco) feels some heat for their eagerness to do business with corrupt, brutal dictators.

As Bush continues the economic sanctions against Cuba, one wonders why the far more brutal, far more repressive dictatorship of Burma doesn't get much harsher and longer lasting sanctions from the US. We have from time to time applied sanctions on Burma, but the right wing ecstasy over sanctions against Cuba seem so far out of proportion to the situation in Cuba, and the half hearted sanctions against Burma always seem to be too little, too late given the brutality of the regime.

First off, let's remember that there IS a democratically elected government of Burma...and they never were allowed to take power. Aung San Suu Kyi IS the democratically elected President of Burma. Instead of taking power she has been held under house arrest by the dictators. Aung San Suu Kyi is not only the rightful leader of Burma, but she is also the world's only imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize winner.

The Burmese dictators are more brutal than the Iranian theocrats, and democracy is arguably healthier in Iran than in Burma (which is at best damning with faint praise). Yet we focus on Iran. Bush has spent more time condemning Hugo Chavez, unquestionably the democratically elected President of Venezuela who has committed no atrocities (even if I am concerned about his seemingly wanting to become President for Life) than he has spent condemning the blatantly blood thirsty and anti-democratic Burmese dictators. You can read about the US sanctions against Burma (originally imposed by Clinton) and its loopholes, as well as Chevron's support of the dictators here.

You want brutal. There is a Daily Kos diary, complete with a disturbing picture and links to very good coverage of Burmese news, that will give you an idea of the levels of brutality we are talking about.

We cannot forget the brutality of the Burmese dictators. We can't forget that Aung San Suu Kyi is the rightful leader of Burma. And we can't forget that if we don't act against the dictators, we risk enabling them, particularly when we support companies that do business with them.

Keep up pressure on Chevron. I am at the point where I really do recommend boycotting Chevron for as long as they are dealing with the military dictators of Burma. From the research I have done, Arco, BP (recent events aside, I guess) and Citgo are among the best of the bad lot that are oil companies. Chevron, Texaco, Shell and Exxon/Mobil are among the worst of a bad lot. Your dollars can make a statement if you spend them at the better companies.

Write Chevron and Texaco and tell them you are offended by their connection with dictators who imprison Nobel Peace Prize winners and who slaughter peacefully protesting students and monks.

Conatct Chevron here, or phone them: 925-842-1000

Contact Texaco here, or call them: 1-800-689-3998

Let these companies know how you feel about Burma and let them know that it will affect your opinion of their brand.

Please support the US Campaign for Burma.

This is our chance to have a small impact on the democracy of another nation. It will take time, but the eyes of the world are now on Burma. Let's keep them there.

MAKING MONEY SAVING THE EARTH

I have often discussed the various actions we can do as individuals to help mitigate global warming. But today I am realizing that I have often left out one thing. Investing. I started investing in alternative energy in a very tentative manner years ago...with mixed success. I had avoided wind and solar because I felt other things looked more promising (e.g. geothermal). Honestly, I seldom put much in and the overall result was so-so.

But recently I have started investing more aggressively in alternative energy stocks, this time primarily wind and solar. I know from my scientific reading that really both are pretty well current technologies, with wind ahead of solar in terms of practicality. But I also figure if we are going to address global warming in the next ten years we had better start treating alternative energy stocks more seriously. Since I started investing in such stocks early this year, I have made LOTS of money on alternative energy. I am proud to say I am profiting off being a part of the solution.

To date when I blog about global warming solutions I focus on compact fluorescent bulbs, purchasing energy from alternative sources, carbon offsets that help build alternative energy infrastructure, and, my main focus this past year, tree planting. (My most recent coverage of all this can be found here for more info). Five years ago my wife and I changed all our bulbs (more or less) to compact fluorescents. The result was immedate: a one third decrease in our energy bill that persisted. Yes, before anyone says it, I know compact fluorescents contain some mercury and we have to consider proper disposal. When you buy them, make sure you investigate where in your area you can dispose of them safely.

Two years ago my wife switched our energy provider (through Con Ed, our power provider) to an all wind power company, making our energy usage, not counting our building's heating, which we have no control over, alternative energy. This costs us about 50 cents per month extra, which is more than worth it.

These two things, combined with the fact that we don't own a car (we use the NYC subways to get everywhere), means it isn't that hard to offset our carbon usage. This year I wanted to plant trees for carbon offset. Depending on the calculation I used (different sites have different, widely divergent, methods of calculating carbon footprint) my family of four only had to plant 6-24 trees to be carbon neutral this year.

So far this year I have planted more than 100 trees, in Kenya, Israel and Palestine (yes...those last two chosen TOGETHER for symbolic reasons). I will probably plant more, so I am offsetting other people's carbon usage as well.

But the other thing I did this year, was invest in alternative energy stocks. This is the result:

A solar stock I invested in has gained more than 250% since I first bought it. Now I bought it three times, sold two of those lots (each time over 100% profit) but continue to hang on to the remaining lot that is, last I looked, almost 270% profit. There are few investments I have made this year that come anywhere close to that! This one started out respectably and has skyrocted to over $100 per share by now.

A wind energy stock I invested in has gained about 70% since I bought it. Quite respectable, but this one is still more speculative than the sepctacular solar stock I have already profited so nicely from.

Another more speculative wind energy stock I bought (one of those dubious "penny stocks") is down around 2% since I first bought it.

Also playing with another penny stock in a wind energy company (don't worry...I don't put a lot into these tiny stocks, mind you) is down around 20% from where I bought it. Well, that's what you get when you play with penny stocks.

However, nother penny stock in a company that does semiconductors and photovoltaics (so isn't strictly a solar company) is up around 20% from where I bought it.

The largest  gainer was the one I picked to put the most money in because it seemed the best investment, so even if all the others tanked completely (which two are certainly not) I would still be way ahead.

I don't recommend stock investing unless you have money to spare. Even good companies can be subject to vagaries of the market that are not rational, so the whole thing winds up being scarcely rational. But I find being rational does mean you pick good stocks more often than not...though I have not always acted on it. (My biggest missed opportunity was ALMOST investing in Entremed, a company I had been watching because I knew the science behind it, the day before it jumped massively...I would have made a fortune had I listened to my instincts!)

And all of the stocks I mention would be considered speculative even by stock invesnting standards. But I think it really important to realize that investing in alternative energy stocks IS a very important way we can help deal with our energy problems and, if done right and with lots of luck, can mean profits, not losses. The amount of money I donated to plant more than 100 trees is a drop in the bucket compared with what I made from investing in these stocks.

Mutual funds are the best way for inexperienced (or even experienced) investors to get into stocks. I once invested in an alternative energy mutual fund but it didn't do so well. But that was many years ago and the performance of such funds seems better now. I have not done much research into such funds, but some of the top ones are the following:

http://www.winslowgreen.com/fund/default.aspx

http://www.powershares.com/products/overview.aspx?ticker=PBW

http://tools.thestreet.com/tsc/quotes.html?pg=mutualfunds&sym=GAAEX

http://tools.thestreet.com/tsc/quotes.html?pg=mutualfunds&symb=NALFX

I cannot outright recommend any of them because, again, i have not done enough research on them. But at first glance they look pretty good and I will be considering investing in them.

Finally, let me add that I cannot know how long these companies will continue to do well (on average). One thing I try to do is cash in my initial investment when a stock does particularly well then hold on to the rest, so any loss is lost profit and any further gains risks no initial principal. Of course this doesn't always work, but overall it has worked well for me.

Investing during the Clinton years allowed me to buy a co-op apartment in Park Slope Brooklyn. Had I waited a mere 6 months longer to buy, rising housing prices and the Bush economy would have made it impossible for me to buy. So the Clinton years did well by me. The Bush years hit us hard (though at least we had bought our home!). I only started making a profit when I started investing in foreign stocks. I did well on that. The only other area I have profited in during the Bush years has been alternative energy stocks. Foreign stocks and alternative energy...the only stocks that did well for me during Bush's presidency.

We have less than ten years...maybe only 5 years, to act to mitigate global warming. We have to do all we can. It feels really good when you can help the world while making some bucks in the process.

Revisiting the Katrina 11: Targeting Joe Barton

This is continued from last week because Joe Barton really is one of the most disgusting, corrupt and extremist Republicans out there...and we really need to defeat him.

Liza's recent Culture Kitchen article on a humorous side to Republican Joe Barton's (TX-6) opposition to healthcare for Amreica's children rang a bell for me. I remember this Joe Barton. His current crusade is denying Amrerica's children healthcare, but in the past he has been cold-hearted in a different way. He was one of the Katrina 11, the 11 Republicans who voted “No” on the bill that Congress approved and Bush signed to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina. These are the cold-hearted bastards who would willingly see Americans die for the sake of more tax cuts for the wealthy and for Halliburton profits.

I have a long memory, even for fast moving politics. I have yet to forgive the Katrina 11 (really the Katrina 10 since we defeated one of them in 2006...maybe even the Katrina 9 if we count one who moved from Congress to Governor). I plan on making the Katrina 11 the focus of my 2008 efforts. Sounds like Joe Barton is the one to start with.

Joe Barton is one of those cold-hearted bastards who put Halliburton and tax breaks for the wealthy before the needs of Katrina victims. Only now his target is also America's children. But even THAT isn't new. Barton was one of the Republicans who worked so hard to block the Combating Autism Act in 2006. His actions were so deceptive and so awful, that Don and Diedre Imus (no left wingers themselves) were pissed off and offended. Dierdre Imus called Barton a "snake" and "liar," feeling he broke his promises regarding the Autism bill. So Barton has a history of right wing extremism when it comes to America's children.

But Barton is more than just a cold-hearted bastard who refuses to help children and Katrina victims. He is also anti-science. He has received hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions from oil and gas industries then, when he was chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, he proceeded to go after climatologists whose work helped us understand global warming. Joe Barton has been bought and sold by the oil industry and has become one of their main attack dogs against scientists. As a scientist myself with a wife who is a climatologist, I am probably as pissed about Barton's anti-science attacks as the Imus family is about Barton's anti-children stands. The Union of Concerned Scientists discussed this back in 2005. Here is a quote from their statement:

The scientific community has weighed in strongly. The National Academy of Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science—which rarely take stands on Congressional investigations—have sent letters of concern to Rep. Barton, as have 20 leading climate scientists. Fellow legislators of both parties also have criticized Barton’s approach as “misguided and illegitimate” and “a transparent effort to bully and harass climate change experts who have reached conclusions with which you disagree.” Representative Boehlert (R-NY), chairman of the House Science Committee, and Representative Waxman (D-CA), ranking member on the House Government Reform Committee, both have submitted letters protesting the tone and content of this investigation.

Rep. Barton’s motivation for the investigation is unclear, other than his long-standing ties to the fossil fuel industry and the hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions he has received from ExxonMobil and other companies with fossil fuel interests.

In addition to the gas and oil industries, the top donors to Barton are energy companies. And what does he do in return? As chairman of the House of Representatives' Energy and Commerce Committee, he inserted special provisions into 2002 energy legislation to let near-bankrupt Westar Energy split off its regulated utility from its heavily indebted other businesses--a split that would facilitate saddling ratepayers (that's regular Americans) with $1 billion Westar's non-utility debts. So he is MORE than willing to let a failed energy company leach off taxpayers, but is not willing to give money to poor black families who lost all they had in hurricane Katrina. Please see this article for Barton's Westar scandal as well as other aspects of his disgusting corruption. Public Citizen wrote the Department of Justice about what they call the "Westar bribery scandal" back in 2004. They specifically include Joe Barton, along with Tom DeLay, in their complaint. An excerpt from Public Citizen's complaint:

The basis of the original complaint stemmed from internal communications released by Westar Energy (Westar) in May 2002. These communications explicitly detail efforts by the named Westar executives and Bornemann, their chief D.C. lobbyist, to buy “a seat at the table” in congressional dealings through a schedule of $63,000 in campaign contributions. The particular “seat” they sought was in congressional negotiations over the energy bill, where Westar was seeking the repeal of the Public Utility Holding Company Act (PUHCA) and the inclusion of a provision that would exempt the company from Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) oversight if PUHCA were repealed. The executives planned a major financial restructuring of its operations and did not want the SEC to interfere in the plan when the executives sought to allegedly secretly enrich themselves.

The repeal was included in the House-passed energy bill that year. In the subsequent House-Senate conference negotiations on that legislation, the special exemption for Westar from SEC regulation was quietly inserted by Rep. Barton, with the support of then-Majority Whip DeLay and former Energy and Commerce Committee chairman Billy Tauzin.

But new documents, released as part of an investigation by the House ethics committee, further implicate Westar’s D.C. lobbyist Bornemann and top Westar executives in this plan to make campaign contributions for the purpose of obtaining legislative access and preferential treatment. This new evidence warrants a formal investigation into possible violations of the anti-bribery statute by the Westar executives, its lobbyist and the House congressional leaders who may have been influenced by the plan.

For being such a cold-hearted bastard (even though he might have a sense of humor about it) for repeatedly hurting America's children, for his refusal to help Katrina victims even as he helped failed energy companies and Halliburton with massive amounts of taxpayer money, and for his anti-science stands, I place Joe Barton at the top of my Katrina 11 list and I ask you to help me defeat him (and other Katrina 11 Republicans) in 2008. Early money can help defeat these most extreme of right wing fanatics.

NY STATE FOCUS: Help a fellow blogger run for office

This is also from last week (though this time I am excerpting) because this is a good guy well worth our support.

My Dear Friends,

I am running for the office of Town Supervisor in the town of Stephentown, Rensselaer County, NY.

It's all Howard Dean's fault.



Here we are three and a half years later and we are preparing to turn control of ostensibly solid republican Stephentown over to Democrats. Good things start with just those first few steps.

We have a blog web site for the Stephentown Democratic Committee (contributions gratefully accepted).

And I've just created a candidate page over at DFA-Link.

Shortly after Gov. Dean ended his Presidential campaign we hosted him for a speech in Albany, NY. During this speech he urged, as he always did, that we each look around us and see how we could get involved. Run for office yourself, he said. Or, join your local democratic committee. Or, work on behalf of a local candidate.

For me the opening was obvious. There was no Democratic Committee in my town and hadn't been in about 8 years. So I spoke with a few folks I knew in town that felt as I did and we formed a committee. Our first task was to win the town for John Kerry in 2004.

86.4% of Democrats turned out to vote in 2004. 78.8% of the entire town showed up to vote. George Bush won this very Republican town but only by a total of 38 votes, 692-654, when it was all totaled up.

In 2003 the republicans ran unopposed in town elections with votes totals ranging from 343-0 to 411-0.

In 2005 we held our local town and county elections. We ran 2 young men for Town Council and both won by almost a 2 to 1 margin...

We also elected a man named Bob Jacon, a Dean supporter, to a newly created County Judgeship. This position had been created at the behest of State Senate Majority Leader and County Boss, Joe Bruno, so he could shuffle his hand-picked, incompetent, District Attorney into it. We beat him in the town and the rest of the county...

This year we are running a slate of 4 candidates for Town Offices:



Terry Sykes for Highway Superintendent



Bill Jennings for Town Council



Scott McEwan for Town Council



and me, Andrew C. White, for Town Supervisor.




The Supervisors seat is an open one as 16 year incumbent Mike Angley is retiring. First term Councilman, Tom Sherman, is running on the Republican line against me for Supervisor. Incumbent Councilman Larry Eckhardt will be joined by Independence Party member Mark Prescott for Town Council. Incumbent Highway Superintendent Neil Gardner is also running for re-election... for now at least...

Stephentown is considered a Republican bastion. A small rural hilltown with about 1750 voters. There are just under 700 Republicans, just over 400 Democrats, a smattering of third party members, and about 460 unaffiliated voters. Ever since we started working this town in 2004 those unaffiliated voters have shown where their real interests are by voting Democratic at all levels of government.

In fact a small but significant number of Republicans in town have been consistently voting Democratic as the Republican party has moved further and further away from the values that it once held.

Stephentown (pdf map) is in the southeast corner of Rensselaer County, the home of the highest ranking Republican left in New York, Uncle Joe Bruno. Rensselaer County has a roughly 50-50 split of Democratic and Republican voters but is dominated by Republicans at the town, city, county, and state levels of government due to Joe Bruno's control of the purse strings and his minions manipulation and control of third parties (and, on occasion, some demorats as well).

We are on the verge of taking the most Republican of towns out from under Uncle Joe thereby setting the stage for the end of Uncle Joe's career and obstruction of Gov. Eliot Spitzer and reform minded Democratic State Senators from actually working on solving the dysfunction of New York State government.

At the same time we strengthen the hold of newly elected Democratic Representative Kirsten Gillibrand on her district.

It's all local.

Locally, what this campaign is really all about, is modern day republicanism writ small. Cronyism, closed government for the benefit of a few rather than all citizens in town. As seen in the article linked above there appears to be some serious issues of possible illegal activity, corruption, fraud, unpermitted mining, cronyism, no-bid contracts, etc in the Highway Department. The State Attorney General's office has just accepted a plea deal with one player and appears to be poised to charge the incumbent Highway Superintendent. The Town Council has previously looked the other way until various parts started to become public. Attempts by the new Democratic members to reign in the abuses have been shunted to the side and they have been locked out of the decision making process...

This is what it is all about. We can do it here. And if we can do it here. You can do it whereever you are.

NYC FOCUS: A Few Events

MEET AND SUPPORT NORMAN SIEGEL for NYC PUBLIC ADVOCATE

LINDA STEIN & ANN SNITOW

cordially invite you to a fundraiser in honor of NORMAN SIEGEL

Please come meet the People’s Advocate, and show your support for his campaign for NYC Public Advocate.

Wednesday, October 29th, 2007, 6:00 to 8:00pm

at the studio of Linda Stein 100 READE STREET

Bet. West Broadway & Church St. (Reade is one block north of Chambers St.)

Subways: A or C to Chambers St.; R or W to City Hall;

1, 2, 3 to Chambers St.; 4, 5, 6 to Brooklyn Bridge

PARKING ON SOME SIDE STREETS AT 6 PM; ON READE STREET AT 7 PM

Suggested Contribution: $25 to $250


Drinks & Refreshments will be served

RSVP to Theresa Canter at 212-448-6271


Why Are We Still in Iraq – And How Can We Get Out?
Sunday, November 4th, 5:30 PM

The Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats, Democracy For New York City, and Independent Neighborhood Democrats, with many others (list belelow) present A Town Hall Meeting with the Brooklyn Democratic Congressional Delegation

Bring your questions and comments to:

Old First Church
Corner of 7th ave and Carroll St.
Park Slope, Brooklyn

Moderated by DFNYC Exec and CBID President Josh Skaller.

Invited Congressional Members:

Yvette Clarke

Jerry Nadler

Ed Towns

Nydia Velazquez

Anthony Weiner

Co-Sponsored by:

Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats; Independent Neighborhood Democrats; Lambda Independent Democrats; Democracy For New York City; 57th Club; Park Slope Greens and the Green Party of Brooklyn; Vietnam Vets Against the War (NY/NJ); Ethical Culture; Rev. David Dyson; More joining all the time!!


Democracy for NYC November 2007 Linkup
WEDNESDAY,November 7, 7PM

East Village/LES, *New Linkup* Julip, 9 Avenue A, betwn Houston and 2nd Street, with host Tracey Denton 7pm

Upper West Side, The Parlour, 250 West 86th(btwn Broadway & West End), with host Merle McEldowney,7pm

West Village, Kettle of Fish, 59 Christopher St. (near 7thAve.) with hosts Abhishek Mistry and Judith Ren-Lay,7pm

Upper East Side, Molly Pitcher's Ale House, 1641 2ndAvenue @85th Street, with host Barbara Pearl, 7pm.

Astoria, Queens, at Sanford Diner, 30-13 Broadway, withhosts Costa Constantinides and Jeremiah Frei-Pearson.Note: this Linkup will begin at 7:30.

Sunnyside, Queens, at The Grind, 39-24 Queens Blvd. in the back room, with host Dan Jacoby, 7pm

Bayside, Queens, The First Edition, 41-08 Bell Blvd, right near the LIRR stop, with host Steve Behar of Democrats for New Politics, 7pm

Park Slope, Brooklyn, Ozzies, 249 Fifth Avenue with host Josh Skaller, 7pm

Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, Wycoff Bennett Homestead, 1669East 22nd Street, 7pm with host Annette Mont


Klezmer, African and Bluegrass music all in one evening! Fighting for a better Brooklyn!

The Klezmatics, Kakande, and Demolition String Band
Thursday, November 8
Doors at 7pm
Brooklyn Lyceum
227 4th Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11215
(718) 857-4816
$20 in advance, $25 at the door
For online tickets, go to http://www.dddb.net/klezmatics

Several local merchants, such as Erica’s Rugelach and Maria’s Mexican Bistro, will be donating food, baked goods, and drinks to the show.


CONGESTION PRICING HEARINGS

Got this from Straphangers Campaign:

Chapter 384 of the Laws of 2007 established the New York City Traffic Congestion Mitigation Commission, a 17-member body directed to undertake a review and study of plans to reduce traffic congestion and other related health and safety issues within the City of New York.

As part of its statutory mandate, and to provide the opportunity for maximum public involvement, participation and comment, the Commission is conducting this series of public hearings to be held in each borough of the City of New York, on Long Island, and in Westchester County.

Persons wishing to present pertinent testimony to the Commission at any of the above public hearings should complete and return the enclosed reply form as soon as possible. It is important that the reply form be fully completed and returned so that persons may be notified in the event of emergency postponement or cancellation.

Oral testimony will be limited to five (5) minutes’ duration. In preparing the order of witnesses, the Commission will attempt to accommodate individual requests to speak at particular times in view of special circumstances. These requests should be made on the attached reply form or communicated to the Commission as early as possible. In the absence of a special circumstance, witnesses will be scheduled in the order in which reply forms are postmarked.

Twenty copies of any prepared testimony should be submitted at the hearing registration desk. The Commission would appreciate advance receipt of prepared statements.

York College Performing Art Center
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
6:00 PM
94-20 Guy R Brewer Blvd Between Liberty &
Archer
Queens, NY

Hostos Community College - Main Theatre “C” Building
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
6:00 PM
Corner of 149th & Grand Concourse
Bronx, NY

New York City Tech Klitgord Auditorium
Thursday, November 1, 2007
6:00 PM
285 Jay Street
Brooklyn, NY

College of Staten Island – Williamson Theater Center for The Arts
Monday, November 5, 2007
6:00 PM
2200 Victory Boulevard
Staten Island, NY

For more info and for the application, click here (PDF)

Virginia Focus: Virginia Organizing Project Events and Actions

The Virginia Organizing Project (VOP) is a statewide grassroots organization dedicated to challenging injustice by empowering people in local communities to address issues that affect the quality of their lives. VOP especially encourages the participation of those who have traditionally had little or no voice in our society. By building relationships with individuals and groups throughout the state, VOP strives to get them to work together, democratically and non-violently, for change.

El Proyecto de Organizar Virginia (VOP) es una organizacion de base a nivel estatal dedicada a luchar encontra de la injusticia dandole poder a la gente en las comunidades locales para que puedan exponer sus preocupaciones que les afecta en su vida diaria. Como una organizacion no partidista, VOP especialmente fomenta la participacion de aquellos que tradicionalmente han tenido poca o ninguna voz en nuestra sociedad. Estableciendo relacion con grupos o personas individuales atraves del estado, el VOP sigue luchando para que trabajemos juntos, democraticamente sin violencia por cambio social.

Find action alerts from VOP here.

Here are some upcoming events throughout Virginia:

November 16, 2007, 6:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Westminster Presbyterian Church, Charlottesville
Social Justice Bowl IV. For more information, contact Sally Bastian at 434-984-4655 x229 or bastian@virginia-organizing.org.

November 17 - January 18, 2007
Shalom Retreat House,Hanover County
Virginia Organizing Project Leadership Institute. For more information, contact Cathy Woodson at cwoodson@virginia-organizing.org or (804) 261-7497.

November 26, 2007, 5:30 p.m.
Petersburg Library - 137 S. Sycamore Street-- 2nd floor meeting room
Petersburg Virginia Organizing Project Chapter Meeting

TEXAS FOCUS: Solar Powered Texas

In line with my focus on alternative energy, I'd like to highlight an organization in Texas pushing for solar power: the Texas Solar Energy Society. Their mission statement "is to increase the awareness of the potential of solar and other renewable energy applications and to promote the wise use of these sustainable and non-polluting resources." They have lots of information on alternative energy including how you can help build renewable energy infrastructure by purchasing green energy (my wife and I do this here in NY State).

The Texas Solar Energy Society has chapters in:

El Paso

Houston

San Antonio

North Texas

And Central Texas.

Check them out, help them out and go green in Texas.

NEW JERSEY FOCUS: Democracy for America Endorsements

This comes from New Jersey for Democracy. First remember that an election is coming up. Off year elections have HORRIBLE voter turnout, which means more than ever, YOUR VOTE COUNTS. It is the chance for progressives to have real upset victories. So, with that in mind: GET OUT AND VOTE ON TUESDAY NOVEMBER 6th!!

And here are some endorsements from Democracy for America for New Jersey progressives:

DFA National Endorsements in New Jersey

Ed Zipprich for Red Bank Borough Council

Ed Zipprich has been a Democracy For America activist for years; he's attended the DFA Training Academy and Night School. A leader of Monmouth for Democracy, and a member of the New Jersey Stonewall Democrats and Democracy for New Jersey, Ed has helped to build New Jersey's progressive community from the grassroots up. Let's show him our thanks by helping him win his race:

Visit Ed's website

Gina Genovese for State Senate, LD-21

Gina Genovese, running for State Senate from the 21st-- that's in Union, Essex, Morris and Somerset Counties-- was the first Democrat ever elected as Mayor of Long Hill, and became the highest-ranking openly gay official in the state. During her tenure, she opened the budget process to the public and signed the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement. Gina has opened doors for the LGBT and progressive communities in her town while working to build a sustainable future. Visit her website to help her get to Trenton!:

Visit Gina's website

Loretta WeinbergSenator Loretta Weinberg for State Senate, LD-37

Senator Weinberg is considered New Jersey's "Godmother of Progressive Politics. For more than 30 years, Loretta has stood up for social justice, human rights, the environment and the health, wealth and happiness of New Jersey's working families. That's why she's received the endorsement of nearly every leading environmental, labor, LGBT, health, consumer, progressive and women's organization in Bergen County and the state. The DFA members of Bergen Grassroots endorsed Loretta Weinberg unanimously, and the NJ4D Executive Board followed immediately with its unanimous support as well. Loretta's progressive values are strong and clear, and she has spent her life translating that into action and policy. DFA is proud to stand with Loretta Weinberg -- she's always stood with us!:

Visit Loretta's website

New Jersey for Democracy - A grassroots organization of volunteers, activists and concerned citizens devoted to empowering New Jerseyeans to become involved in the democratic process.

NJ4D Endorsements


Linda Mastellone for Flemington Borough Council

Linda Mastellone is another great home-grown DFA candidate. She has been a member of Hunterdon DFA since 2004. Linda's campaign is grassroots-driven; her platform centers around zero-based budgeting, revitalizing "Main Street", and working with the tenant community. She's currently the Associate Director of Events for the Middlesex County Regional Chamber of Commerce. Linda's victory would give Democrats a majority on the Flemington Council. Let's show what the grassroots of New Jersey can do by helping her get elected:

Visit Linda's website

GET OUT AND VOTE ON TUESDAY NOVEMBER 6th!!

CALIFORNIA FOCUS: Republicans Stealing Elections Again

Well, when people were saying that the California Electoral Vote Initiative (which had been pushed on California by an Ass-Biting (literally) Republican from Missouri) had died a well deserved death, I predicted it would be back. Well, the Republican Ass-Biter initiative to steal elections is indeed back, as reported on Daily Kos.

This initiative basically messes with the electoral system without fixing it. This kind of change either has to be done in EVERY state, or not at all. Anything else is just unfair and inappropriate and contrary to our founding father's intentions with te electoral college system. Now many would rather abolish the electoral college system. That would be fine too. But to manipulate it for partisan reasons is just plain wrong.

Contact your state representatives (Dem AND Repub...including Arnold himself...this is a FAIRNESS issue). And contact your local news media to give them your opinion of this unfair messing with California's electoral vote that came from Missouri.