2008 Nov Dec

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Because People MaterProgressive News and Views November / December 2008

Inside this issue:Editorial. 2Social.Studies.Famiy.Style. 2Giving.That.Helps.Others. 2Too.Big.To.Fail. 3Male.Violence,.Financial.Terrorism. 3Kuehl.on.Schwarzenegger. 4Working Harder, Geing Nowhere . 4Georgia.on.My.Mind. 5Peter.Camejo.Remembered. 7

El PorvenirWater for Nicaragua. 8Sacramento NOW. 8Gimme ShelterAordable Housing.9Free.Gaza.Movement. 10Trends.in.the.Media.Marketplace. 10Nuclear Weapons Policy. 11Peace.Arts.Xchange. 11Sacramento.Area.Peace.Action. 12Global.Warming. 13Book.Review:.Fidel.Castro,.My.Life. 14Something.Fishy.at.McClellan. 14Calendar. 15

Progressive.Media. 16

By Paula Lomazzi and Patsy ByersRelocalize Sacramento! is an imperative, and its also

the name o a grassroots group in Sacramento thats parto the movement away rom globalization and towards amore rational and rewarding use oenergy and other resources. Relo-calization promotes the local pro-duction o ood, energy, services,and goods, to meet primarily localneeds. It strengthens a communityseconomic and ood security bymaking that community moresel-reliant and less dependenton dwindling oil supplies. It alsostrengthens community and the sense o belongingto the place where you l ive. It is a global movement thatis neither nostalgic nor isolationist. So very much o oureveryday lives depends on material inputs rom outside

our region (such as chemicals that are used to puriy oureveryday drinking water), and so much o our by-prod-ucts and reuse is shipped away to become someone elsesproblem or prot (such as landll waste trucked toNevada and recyclable paper going to China). We needto close the loops!

Relocalize Sacramento! was ormed in June o 2003.We started by educating ourselves more about ourlocal resources and our regions reliance on non-localinputs. We had a water study group to explore this mostbasic o all our survival needs, with eld trips to a waterintake acility and our regions wastewater treatmentplant. We have hosted a series o Eat Local Potluckswith guest speakers on sustainability, sharing delicious

stu rom the Sacramento oodshed. At the last twoEarth Day celebrations, weve had a table o ree ruit

and vegetable starts, hoping to encourage recipientsto grow some o their own, and we also gave away Stop

Junk Mail postcard packets andthe notorious Sacramento seedballs (like the ones made o clay andcompost in a workshop on alterna-tives to biotech and corporate oodproduction during the 2003 Agri-cultural Ministerial conerence, andthen conscated as potential ter-rorist projectiles by the SacramentoPolice Department).

We have become a local voice or local action. We needmore actual action and more people to act. We all mustadjust our lives to the new paradigm orced on us duringthis very unique decade in human history. Please join us

in this endeavor, either by recommitting yoursel to morestringent conservation, recycling, and encouraging oth-ers, or by joining our group or our activities.

We meet regularly on the rst Sunday evening oeach month. Keep abreast o our activities with ourwebsite: www.relocalizesacramento.org . You can alsoparticipate in our online projects via our wiki: www.relocalizesacramento.wikispaces.com, where we seekto educate each other about our most vital systemsand local resources, and maintain a calendar o localsustainability actions and events.

Patsy Byers and Paula Lomazzi are among the ound-

ing members o Relocalize Sacramento! who invite you tojoin them.

By Bob Metcal

Can cardboard, aluminum oil, and a clear plastic bagbe used to cook and bake as well asyour gas/electric stove and oven?

I you answered yes, you knowabout solar cooking, something Ivedone regularly during Sacramentossolar season ever since 1978.

I you answered no, consider

putting solar cooking on your list othings to discover in 2009. You willlearn an amazing, environmentally riendly skill, and youwill also realize why this knowledge needs to be spreadto the 2.5 billion people in sun-rich developing countrieswho are using wood or cooking at a non-sustainable

rate, and suering respiratory and eye damage rom thesmoke o res.

Te repository o inormation on solar cooking isound with Sacramentos non-prot organization, Solar

Cookers International (SCI),ounded in 1987. Initially promot-ing solar box cookers, in 1995 SCIdeveloped the ultra-simple CooKitsolar cooker. With a CooKit, a clearplastic bag replaces glass as theheat-trapping device, and a simple

panel replaces the box.Using a CooKit is simple. Food isplaced inside a darkened, covered pot. Te pot is placedinside a clear plastic bag and set in the center o theCooKit acing the sun. CooKit panels direct sunshinethrough the plastic bag to the dark pot, where light isabsorbed and converted to heat. Te plastic bag trapsmuch o the heat and acilitates cooking most oods in2-3 hours, with no stirring needed during cooking.

Remove the pot with hot pads, take o the lid, watchthe steam roll out, and see the perectly solar-cookedood. Its an experience that continues to delight me evenaer more than 6,000 solar-cooked meals.

Because no water is needed or vegetables, ruits, meatand sh that already have plenty o water, solar-cookedoods have a great avor as oods cook in their ownjuices. Bread and cakes can also be solar-baked with a

CooKit.Go to a village in a developing country, and two

daunting challenges ace amilies every daythe lack owood or cooking, and unsae local water sources. SCIsCooKit can contribute signicantly to solving both othese problems, as it is doing in SCIs Kenya projects nearLake Victoria. Heating contaminated water in a CooKitto 65C pasteurizes it in a manner similar to milk pas-teurization. o veriy that 65C has been reached, SCIdeveloped a reusable, wax-based water pasteurizationindicator (WAPI) that is included in the project.

Villagers also have been taught how to check theirwater sources or contamination by testing or the ecalindicator bacterium, Escherichia coli, using two simplemethods Ive assembled into a Portable Microbiology

Energy Descent? Global Warming?We need to relocalize, now!

Relocalizationpromotes the local

production o ood,energy, services,

and goods, to meetprimarily local needs.

Solar Cookers InternationalTapping into the sun or cooking in

Sacramento and worldwide!

consider puttingsolar cooking on

your list o things todiscover in 2009.

Relocalize Sacramento!members inside a pipe outsidethe wastewater treatment plant on one o the groupseld trips.Photo: RelocalizeSacramento!

A Relocalize Sacramento! potluck.Photo: Relocalize Sacramento!

Woman and child with CooKit in Nyakach, Kenya.Photo: Bob Metcalf

Bob Metcal shows 2004 Nobel Peace Prize WinnerWangari Maathai the Colilert test results rom watertested at the Arican Women and Water Conerence,Nairobi, Kenya, July, 2008.Photo: Bob Metcalf

See Solar Cooking, page 13

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Because People Matter November / December 008 www.bpmnews.org

People MaerVlume 17, Numbe 6Published Bi-Monthly by the

Sacramento Community forPeace & Justice

P.O. Box 162998, Sacramento,CA 95816

(Use addresses below forcorrespondence)

Ediial Gup: Jacqueline

Diaz, JoAnn Fuller, Charlene

Jones, Jeanie Keltner, RickNadeau

Cdinaing Edis f

is Issue: Jacqueline Diaz

and JoAnn Fuller

Design and Lau:

Ellen Schwartz

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On the cover

A Tulsi Solar Box Cooker being

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cook pizza. See story on Solar

Cookers on page 1

Photo: Karyn Ellis

Jacqueline Diaz and JoAnn Fuller, Co-coordinating Editors for this issue

We appreciate your support! Please fll out this orm and mail to:BPM, 403 21st Street, Sacramento, CA 95814

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Learn the true news and thenTeach Peace

Check out www.teachpeace.com thewebsite o the same-named organiza-tion in Davis. I youre a teacher, youllbe especially interested in their materi-als or teaching peace to people o allages. But here we want to point out thesites other extensive resources. Alongwith important articles rom the worldpress on crucial topics in the news (likeRussia, Georgia and Ossetia), there isalso an extensive library o all the latestpolitical documentaries to watch with aclick o your mouse.

Put Your MoneyWhere Your Mouth IsGift-giving that helps others

and the environment

By Dorothy L. Wake

UNICEF (United Nations Childrens Fund)www.uniceusa.org/shop

Heier Internationalwww.heier.org ;Works with communities worldwide to endhunger and poverty and care or the earththrough gis and training that moves amilies tosel-reliance.Sierra Clubwww.sierraclub.org/storeMADREinternational womens human rightsorganization. www.madre.org.The Breast Cancer Sitewww.thebreastcancersite.com

The Hunger Sitewww.thehungersite.comThe Rainorest Sitewww.therainorestsite.com

The Animal Rescue Sitewww.theanimalrescuesite.com; great gis orkids, including nger puppets

Note: You can sign up or daily reminders to

click onto the last our sites to help und mam-mograms or women in need, to help eed thehungry, to help preserve rainorests around theworld, and to help care or rescued animals livingin shelters or sanctuaries.Want your git-giving to help locally?Make donations to local organizations such asood banks, Sacramento Childrens Home, andWEAVE in the names o those you are giing.Many organizations send cards inorming peoplethat donations have been made in their names.And you can visit your local post oce to askabout participating in Operation Santa Claus,which is a great way or amilies or work placesto collectively contribute to kids in need. HappyHolidays!

We homeschool our daughters. Tere were manyreasons that led to this choice, but none thatreally had to do with disliking school. I attended,beneted and sometimes enjoyed my public

school experience. My husbands experiencewas similar. Yet when we weighed the possibleschooling options or our kids, continuing todirectly support our daughters learning beyondthe time they grew to school age seemed likethe best option or our amily. And so ar, we arehaving a great time.

Many people think o homeschoolers and pic-ture kids sitting at the kitchen table with work-books, or think o homeschoolers as deprived osocial interaction. Certainly there must be someamilies who are doing lots o workbooks or whowould just rather hang at home, but in our com-munity there are many more amilies who are outall the time, avoring experiential learning overworkbooks.

My daughter also takes classes with other

homeschoolers sometimes, and this is how Idiscovered that there is one thing that bugsme about traditional schoolsocial studies.I realized this when my daughter and I werethinking over classes or her to take and I beganto begrudgingly read the descriptions or thesocial studies ones so she could decide betweenclasses in various disciplines. Tese social studiesclasses all seemed ne, but I was concerned aboutperspective. Whose version o history would mydaughter be studying?

I just didnt like the idea, and thankully, she

didnt pick a social studies class this year. Nev-ertheless, this experience gave me ashbacks oyears o schooling where I wondered i I wouldever hear anything about mysel as a Chicana and

o being the only kid on the le side o the debatein my less-than-diverse classes. But quickly I letout a sigh o relie, thankul to be homeschooling.

Our social studies plan while our daughtersare still young is to share historical, culturaland political inormation and experiences withthem. We wont be plotting out goals or pullingor them to make specic discoveries throughcritical thinking, but I cant say theyll go withoutbiaswithout experiencing our own perspectiveon things (which is what most school social stud-ies classes pretend to do).

Our hope is that as they get older, theyll con-tinue to choose their own readings and gureout or themselves what seems most plausibleor real to them. Until then, Id just as soonskip getting to see them in cute little pilgrim or

Indian outts in a Tanksgiving play or recitingthe story o Plymouth Rock. Instead, this yearour Tanksgiving plan is to participate in theIndigenous Peoples Sunrise Gathering at Alca-traz, commemorating the islands occupation byAmerican Indian activists in 1969. Luckily, youdont have to be a homeschooler to join us. Go towww.alcatrazcruises.com/website/

sunrise-gathering.aspx.

Jacqueline Diaz is a mother, teacher and poetliving in Sacramento.

Te editors or this issue o BPM invite youto read about the important issues o the day ascovered by olks who live and work in Sacramen-to. Despair about global warming? Be inspiredby the work o Solar Cookers International, and

others who are working rom here to make liebetter everywhere. Need some good news aboutthe uture o nuclear weapons? We have it. Won-der what happened to the pollution at the ormerMcClellan base? Heres an update. Conused

about the coverage on the ghting in Georgia?We include inormation and places to get moreinormation.

Our writers cover many o the important issueso the day, rom healthcare to the nancial crisis

to housingall rom an alternative and progres-sive point o view, as usual. But we dont stopthere, we also tell you who is working on theseissues locally and how you can get involved!

Plus we list ideas or where to buy your holiday

Social Studies, Family StyleNo pilgrim costumes for this family!

By Jacqueline Diaz

gis, such as the locally produced PAX peacecalendar or a CooKit solar stove.

Dont orget, this paper is built on the volunteereorts o many olks. We need olks to write,edit, and deliver the paper. Or you could help by

introducing others to BPM with a gi subscrip-tiononly $20 a year!

Coordinating Editors,Jacqueline Diaz and JoAnn Fuller

Make a Holiday Contribution to BPM

Mail donations to P.O. Box 162998, Sacramento,CA 95816

Help sustain local, progressive print media!

Got time? Because People Matter is always in needo distributors and other volunteers. Please [email protected] or call Paulette at422-1787 or more inormation.

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www.bpmnews.orgNovember / December 008 BECAUSE PEOPLE MATTER

By Roger White

O

ne question that hasnt been asked muchabout the current nancial crisis thatcould turn into a depression is who has

more o a moral claim on public dollars? Strug-gling single moms on welare? Or corporatebanking titans whohave been deemedtoo big to ail byWall Street analystsand corporatists inWashington?

Looking at theheadlines over the lastew months about thebailouts on Wall Streetbrought me back to1995 and the debateover welare reorm. Back then, we heard a loto talk about dependency, the irresponsible lie-

styles o single mothers on public assistance andthe sanctity o middle class values.While much o this talk came rom the con-

servative establishment, it was a Democraticpresident along with a signicant number oDemocrats in Congress that made the passageo so-called welare reorm possible. In that casethe political class had come to a broad consen-susthe days o big government were over (atleast in service o the poor) and rom now on

it would take about 35years o aid to poor olk on

welare to match what justthis installment o Bushs

bailout o Wall Street willcost taxpayers

Whos Too Big To Fail?Corporate welare vs. poor peoples welare

Amidst the worst nancial crises in UShistory, I recalled a book by June Ste-phensen, Ph.D., published in 1991,Men

Are Not Cost-Eective. Dr. Stephensen, a researchpsychologist and author o many other books,demonstrates howmen are bankruptingour country.

Stevenson nearlytwo decades ago setthe annual cost o maleviolenceeverything

rom murder to whitecollar crimesat $300billion. Now, update that gure (undoubtedlythreeold) and add what ended up being over$800 billion the middle class is being orced topony up to bail out Wall Street and pay or dealsweetenersa bag ull o goodies ranging romtax breaks or NASCAR racetracks to childrenswooden arrow makers. In an attempt to makethis bailout more palatable to Main Street, con-cessions were made by lawmakers. For example,we will get shares in these toxic assets thatthe rich need to quickly dump and the FederalDeposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) willraise the insurance on our savings to $250,000.(How many readers have $250K in the bank?)Many dont realize that the FDIC has up to 10

years to pay up on that insurance. Te taxpayersugar daddies and sugar mommies can nolonger aord these kept menpredators o allstripes, rom the Wall Street big boys, to the menentrenched in warare, to the common thugs whoare raping, murdering, robbing, and plundering.

Bushs monstrous bailout plan gives broadauthority and a blank check to the tune o $700billion to unelected appointee reasury SecretaryHenry M. Paulson, Jr., raising the national debt to$11.3 trillion. Additionally, Bush demanded thatthe program be shielded rom judicial review.Interestingly, according to Hungtonpost.com(Chinas Investment House, 12/13/2007), Chinapurchased $700 billion in US long-term assets.A huge and growing category o purchase has

been the agency bond. Tese are bonds made o

Male Violence, Financial errorismTaxpayer sugar daddies, sugar mommies asked

to bail out kept men of Wall Street

By Dorothy L. Wake

a ew members were

even told that there wouldbe martial law in America

i we vote no.Rep. Brad

Sherman, D-CA.

See Bailout, page 6

those seeking government help would be madeto work, and would be stripped o their privacyand labor rights. Essentially, they would be made

wards o the state in exchange or the $300 or sodollars they received every month. Tese people

werent like us andreally didnt deserveour compassion orsupport. Tey weretoo small to matter,so to speak. Why worryabout them?

Now, when corporatebanks and investmenthouses started drop-ping like ies andlooking or handouts,

bailouts, debt packages and other congura-tions o tax-payer monies in the late summer o

2008, the talk coming rom the responsible olkswas quite dierent. Instead o hearing about thedepravities o a permanent over-class that hasgrown dependent on government contracts,tax subsidies, and, when needed, bailouts, wewere told by people like Henry Paulson and BenBernanke that companies like AIG and BearStearns (etc.) were just too important to be leto the vagaries o the market and that the $700billion was a rescue, not a bailout. Te nationally

syndicated conservative talk show host HughHewitt said it best, Sure, were in avor o the reemarketexcept when were against it!

O course, the conservative House Republicansand progressive House Democrats who votedagainst the bailout were immediately admonishedby olks like the moderate Republican politicalcommentator and proessional political classsuperego David Gergan to grow up, but theirarguments or being against the bailout werenever seriously engaged. Instead, we all were eda steady diet o ear o what might happen i wedidnt hand out public dollars to the rich. Eventu-ally the propaganda campaign worked, and theHouse voted in avor o the bailout. Whew. Tatsaved the day. Now we can sleep at night, right?

In all, the ederal government spends about$20 billion each year on the emporary Aid toFamilies with Children program. Tats $20 bil-

lion or poor, single women with children eachyear compared with $700 billion or rich corpora-tions and their stockholders or now. Put anotherway, it would take about 35 years o aid to poorolk on welare to match what just this install-ment o Bushs bailout o Wall Street will costtaxpayers.

And when we actually compare what singlemothers who are permitted to stay home with

See Corporate Welare page 6

loansoen home mortgage loanssoldto government sponsored enterprises, oragencies, like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.In other words, they are US mortgages. Isit just a coincidence that the current bailout

amount is theexact amount oChinas purchaseo mortgageloans? Answer:Probably not.Its reasonable

to surmise thatthe US wouldwant to cover Chinas purchase gone badin order to continue receiving loans romthem to und the Iraq war.

US Senator Bernie Sanders (D-V)argued or an alternative plan to cope with thecollapse o nancial institutions. Putting MainStreet beore Wall Street, the plan includedimposing a surtax on the wealthiest 400 US am-ilies that garnered a $670 billion increase in theirwealth since President Bush has been in oce.Sanders and others argued that the middle class,whose standard o living has declined, shouldnot be paying or these bailouts. Additionally,Sanders called or stronger oversight o nancialinstitutions and an end to Bushs deregulation

policies; a break up o huge businesses, likeBank o America, that are swal lowing up otherlarge corporations; and an immediate economicstimulus package which would put people backto work rebuilding our crumbling inrastructureand moving us to energy eciency and sustain-able energy. But unlike Sanders, most lawmakerschose to sell out Main Street to prot WallStreet.

I would have added to Sanders plan: Nochance or these criminals to receive goldenparachutes, obscene buyouts, or any other bene-ts. Rather, charge these nancial terrorists withcrimeseverything rom domestic terrorismagainst the people to raud to inuence peddling

Man who requested anonymity protesting the $700 billion-plus bailout onOctober 6 at the corner o Fruitridge Rd. and Freeport Blvd.Photo by Dorothy L. Wake

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CAAC Goesto the Movies

ALMoSt EVEryMoNthte Cenal AmeicaAcin Cmmieesws ineesingand infmaivevides n scialjusice, labsuggles, and smuc me! Call see was plaingis mnWE ALSO HAVE A

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Over the past several months, State Senator Sheila

Kuehl has posted a number o essays on her website

regarding current state governmental issues that present

inormation not usually available in newspapers. What

ollows is rom the recent Essay #14, Arnold Sweeney

odd Schwarzenegger.On September 30, the Governor nished

wielding his veto pen and, in one sweeping move,eliminated virtually every health reorm measurethat would have regulated the health insurancecompany monopoly.

Health reorm was not alone, bill aer bill thatwould have beneted consumers, drivers, peoplewho breathe, people who drink water, and justpeople who rely on their state government to pro-tect them, had its throat cut. Like the crazed andvengeul barber in Sweeney odd, Arnold slashedaway at bills in a renzy that he said over and overreected his anger at getting a late budget. Is thisany way to run a state? Te obvious answer is no.

o add insult to injury, his press release

breathtaking in its hyperbole and misdirec-tionwas titled (try not to laugh) Gov.Schwarzenegger Signs Urgently Needed Legisla-tion to Protect Consumers rom Unair HealthCare Practices.Tis title takes even his chutzpahto a higher level. He protected no one exceptthe insurance industry. He chose a ew bills thatdidnt really bother the industry and pretendedhe had protected consumers. Nothing could beurther rom the truth.

Its important to understand that vetoes ohealth reorm legislation have very serious conse-quences. Because o these vetoes, there will con-tinue to be very little regulation o the runawayhealth insurance market and no protections orconsumers.

Universal Health CareO course, everyone expected Arnold to veto

SB 840, the Universal Health Care Act. His ownplan, which ailed to make it through the StateSenate Health Committee, which I chair, wouldhave provided a major give-away to the healthinsurance companies by requiring every Calior-nian to buy health insurance or ace a penalty,

Arnold Sweeney Todd Schwarzenegger Slashes Health ReformDont be fooled, this guy is not on your side

By State Senator Sheila Kuehl

He [Gov.

Schwarzenegger]protected no

one, exceptthe insurance

industry.

By Charlene Jones

Recent events reinorce what many peopleeel when paying bills these days, prosper-ity has escaped most Americans. Increas-

ingly, ederal policies strengthen an Americansocial order dominated by a wealthy aristocracy.Currently, more than one-ourth o US workersearn poverty wages. While their productivityduring the past several years grew by 11%, realwage gains amounted to nothing.

In Te End o the American Dream, WorkingHarder; Falling Further Behind, a Septemberwww.Truthout.org posting,Lee Sustar summa-rizes documentation romTeState o Working

America 2008-2009, published by the EconomicPolicy Institute, and Te Big Squeeze: oughimes or the American WorkerbyNew Yorkimes reporter Steven Greenhouse to underscorehis conclusion that living standards are decliningat a rapid pace.

For the rst time since the Census Bureaubegan tracking such data, the real incomes omiddle-class amilies are lower at the end o thisbusiness cycle than they were when it started. Atthe other end, the richest 1% saw its annual earn-ings almost double rom 1979 to 2006. Te top0.1% did ar better with annual earnings increas-ing 324%.

For most Caliornians, state budget policiesand practices have made this actuality no less

painul.In addition to what was slashed beore

the state budget could be signed in September,Schwarzennegerpenned over $500 mil-lion in line item vetoesto hobble basic servicesand protections thatimpact millions. AsRepublican legisla-tors pledged no newtaxeswhich in eectresults in costing ami-lies more, rom parkingand garbage collectionto school lunches and

tuitionmany, includ-ing Caliornia countygovernments, were hit hard again.

According to the Caliornia Budget Project,multiple years o state unding reductions haveundermined critical human services programs.Ination aects counties in the same way itaects amilies, by eroding purchasing power.Prices counties pay or uel, utilities, employeehealth coverage and other basic operating costsrise. Nonetheless, the state has not unded coun-ties or actual operating costs or most humanservices programs since 2000-01, requiringcounties to do more with much less.

While the governor sustains this practice or2008-09, the states chronic budget problems

continue to take a toll on human services pro-

grams. His line item cuts will also signicantlyaect seniors, childrenand adults with disabil-ities, thousands withmental health needs,community organiza-tions, acilities andworkers who providesupports and services,according to CaliorniaDisability CommunityAction Network.

Some examplesinclude: Home

Delivered Meals,Congregate Nutri-

tion Program, Senior Community Employment,Longterm Care Ombudsman and SupportiveServices Program, Multipurpose Senior ServicesPrograms, Alzheimers Resource Centers, Link-ages, Brown Bag Program, and the Senior LegalHotline. Te governor also reduced unding bymore than $11 million or Adult Protective Ser-vices. Te APS reduction is especially signicantbecause o its impact on people with disabilities,mental health needs, seniors and their amilies.

CalWORKS, Caliornias welare to work pro-gram that serves thousands o low-income chil-dren and amilies, lost an additional $70 millionon top o what the legislature cut in its budget

with no caps on premiums, except or those whomake less than $25,000 a year. He has been con-sistently hostile to the Medicare-like plan in SB840 and vetoed it (or the second time), citing astudy that did not even relate to the bil l.

Vetoes o Bills His Sta Worked

On With Members

Te Governor stunned most o the reormadvocates by also vetoing billshis sta had been working onwith authors, and which reectedportions o his own bill. Tereare several examples. Let mebegin with one o my own bills,SB 1440. In 2006, I brought a billrequiring health insurers to spendat least 85% o their premiumson care or their enrollees, whichgarnered a restorm o opposi-

tion rom the insurance industry, and ailedin the Assembly. Late in 2007, the Governorincluded this provision in his own bill, and, whenthat ailed, his sta and mine worked together ona stand-alone bill. We took several amendmentsat his behest, all avorable to the industry, but hevetoed it anyway, as a part o his bloodbath ohealth reorm. Ten he had the audacity to writea nasty veto message saying the bill was a one-sided, piecemeal approach to healthcare reorm,and adding that his bill would have been a totalsolution. Well, it would have been a total disaster,but hes still smarting rom not getting it.

Veto o Policy RescissionIn another stunning deeat or consumers,

Arnold vetoed an important bill, AB 1945, that

would have banned rescissions by insurancecompanies o policies when misrepresentations byapplicants were not intentional and companies hadcompleted their (very thorough) investigations othe application. Instead o signing a bill that wouldhave actually done something, Arnold had thetemerity to tout his administrations agreementsin which companies promised that they wouldnt

do that any morebut his standards are muchweaker. Insurance companies can continue torescind your policies whenever they take a back-ward look and discover a misstatement on yourapplication. Poo, you never had a policy and must

pay or all services rendered, yoursel.

Veto o Balance BillingHe vetoed a bill that would have actually

aected the practice o balance billing underwhich health care providers nowroutinely bill patients when theydo not receive ull amounts rominsurance companies with whomthey have not contracted. Tebill would have required a partialpayment to the provider whileworking it out between the doctorand the insurance company. Tepatient would not have beenbilled. As a consequence, balance

billing is allowed to continue.

Other VetoesHe vetoed another important bill by that would

have improved access to the Major Risk Medi-cal Insurance Program, the last chance optionor those unable to get insurance because oserious medical disorders. He vetoed every billthat would have added mandated coverage inCaliornia policies (which insurance companiessaid were Just oo Expensive), maternity services,mental health services, hearing aids, inbornerrors o metabolism, HPV vaccinations, youknow, the sort o things you assume you might becovered or.

Few Bills Signed But No Reorm

Te Governor did sign a ew incremental bills,ones that would not shake up the industry toomuch, and then, ballyhooed them as i he hadsigned real health reorm legislation. He signeda bill, which, most amazingly, he claims endsthe practice o balance billing under whichhealthcare providers, receiving only a pittance

See Schwarzenegger, page 6

See Caliornia Budget, page 7

Working Harder, Getting NowhereWhat Caliornias new budget really means

line item cuts will

signicantly afect seniors,children and adults with

disabilities, thousandswith mental health needs,

community organizations,acilities and workers who

provide supports and

services.

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www.bpmnews.orgNovember / December 008 BECAUSE PEOPLE MATTER

By Richard Nadeau

he song Georgia On My Mind has beenone o my avorites or many years. I haveseveral versions o the song on CD. But

lately it has been another Georgia on the ar east-

ern shores o the Black Sea that I have been wor-ried about. She does not bring me peace o mind.Te worry emerged rom hearing and reading theocial American media and newspapers go intoone-sided rants about the unprovoked Russianmilitary attack on Georgia last August. Unpro-voked? It was almost as i we were right back inthe middle o the Cold War again, and our oldnemesis, the growling Russian bear was back, andthe Americans and Georgians were the innocentsstrolling in the woods.

Te Bush administration made hilarious hypo-critical speeches about respecting other statesterritorial integrity in the 21st century. A slew ohostile and alarmist American rhetoric rom bothpolitical parties was ollowed by the arrival oAmerican warships carrying aid to Georgia. A USNavy warship anchored in the southern Georgian

port o Batumi. Later the heavily armed guided-missile destroyer USS McFaul arrived. Te arrivalo the warships came aer a partial withdrawalo Russian military orces rom Georgia. Tisaer a Russian military invasion o Georgiabutonly aer Georgia itsel had launched a bloodymilitary incursion into Ossetia last month. TeGeorgian assault caused tens o thousands oSouth Ossetians to ee into Russia. Some observ-ers claim that Russian-US relations are at theirlowest point since the end o the Cold War.

Like every American o my generation, Ilearned to hate the Russians throughout mywhole lie, as Bob Dylan sang it in his song,With God on Our Side. Te evil and godlesscommunist empire was seen as the source o al l

evil in the world and conversely America was thesource o all good and light. In the ace o suchan evil enemy, every American intervention onevery continent was blessed with the impeccablelabel o deense. All North/South conicts weredressed up as East/West conicts. Americandeense spending grew rapidly.

From the end o World War II until the implo-sion o the Soviet Union in 1991, the US pursueda policy o containment, oen using the veryexistence o the Soviet Union to wage counterin-surgency wars in the third world against popularliberation movements. In the process, it turnedLatin America into what author Greg Grandincalled in his bookAn Empires Workshopa darkand violent history o the use o imperial powerand the reality o US sponsored coups, support

or Contra terrorists, death squads, and mas-sacres. A sordid history indeed! Documents nowshow that the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, whichollowed the botched CIA-sponsored Bay o Pigsinvasion o Cuba in 1961, nearly caused a nuclearwar. We are lucky to be alive today because theSoviet Union ultimately backed down rom themilitary conrontation.

In addition to numerous US oreign inter-ventions (both covert and overt) and regimechanges, the Cold War containment policyinvolved several components directed at theSoviet Unionsurrounding the Soviet Unionwith US military bases and American riendlystates or client states, maintaining an ocial rststrike nuclear policy (and a concomitant deen-

sive anti-ballistic missile program known as Star

Georgia On My MindGeorgias integration into NATO is at the heart of the crisis

With US encouragementand direction, NATO

expanded into the BalticRegion and the ormer

Soviet Republics who wereencouraged to join and

become part o the USmilitary alliance.

Wars), and last but not least, the developmentand expansion o NAO (North Atlantic reatyOrganization) in Europe.

As author Steve Breyman pointed out inan essay published in Counterpunch (Sep-tember 22, 2008), the benets o NAOmembership include hundreds o thou-sands o troops, thousands o tanks andaircra, hundreds o warships, and thou-sands o American, British, and perhapsFrench missiles and bombs ready or

members collective deense. Breyman getsto the heart o why Georgia is on my mindwith the ollowing assertion: Te threatto use nuclear weapons rst in a conictis the cornerstone o NAO deense doc-trine. Te end o the Cold War did notbring an end to NAOS horrid rst usepolicy. I Georgia is integrated into NAO,it automatically becomes part and parcelo the American rst strike strategy.

One would think that NAO wouldhave been disbanded aer the breakupo the Soviet Union, as occurred with theWarsaw Pact. Instead, with US encourage-ment and direction, NAO expandedinto the Baltic Region and the ormer

Soviet Republics who were encouraged tojoin and become part o the US militaryalliance. Te NAO military attack onthe ormer Yugoslavia in the late 1990sagainst strong Russian and UN objectionsmust have stimulated Russian national-ism among ruling circles. Tey likelyperceived it as an expansion o an aggres-sive American military power into theirormer sphere o inuence. Additionally, itis not inconsequential that NAO is nowheavily involved in Americas growingcommitment to the intensiying war inAghanistan.

Te recent US eorts to place 96 PatriotMissiles in Poland (now a signed deal),and attempts to place the accompanying

radar equipment in the Czech Republic,have increased Russian ears o being surround-ed and being vulnerable to a rst strike nuclearattack. Both Poland and the Czech Republic aremembers o NAO. Georgias integration intoNAO is at the heart o the crisis.

It is also important to note that the crisis hasoccurred in the wider historical context o anocial US policy o world domination and glob-al military superiority, unilateralism, a looselydened global war on terror, and a declaredpolicy o the right to wage pre-emptive war andengage in the rst use o nuclear weapons any-where and everywhere.

It is the same historical context in which

See Georgia Crisis, page 6

GEORGIA

Map showing South Ossetia in black c ircle.Map: www.nationslonline.org.

A reugee girl rom the Georgian region o South Ossetia sits on a bed aterher arrival to Russian territory in Vladikavkaz, the capital o Russian NorthOssetia early on August 4, 2008. Reugees have been le aving South Ossetiaor days now, anticipating possible heavy conict.Photo: KAZBEK BASAYEV/AFP

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Some of the

Places You Can

Find BPMSacramento AreaCoffee Works

Crest TheaterDimple Records,Arden Wy

Flowers RestaurantGalleria (29th & K)GrindersHart Senior Center

Lido CafeLight Rail:65/Folsom4th Ave/Freeport

Los Jarritos

Lunas Cafe & Juice BarMercy Hospital, 40th/JPancake Circus, 21st/

Broadway

Planned Parenthood:Franklin Blvd, WattAve., 29th St.

Queen of TartsQuick Market

Sacramento Bagel,47th/H

Sacramento NaturalFoods Coop

Sacramento PublicLibrary (Main & manybranches)

Starbucks (B'wy & 35th)The Beat

The Bread StoreTime Tested BooksTower Theater (inside)Tupelo (Elvas & 57th)

Underground Books(35th St. near B'way)

Weatherstone CoffeeChico Area

DavisBogeys BooksEspresso Cafe RomaDavis Natural Food CoopNewsbeat

University MallGrass ValleyBriar PatchSacred Bee

Greenhaven areaBuckthorns Coffee,7465 Rush River Dr

For a complete list, visit

our web site:www.bpmnews.org.Where would you like tosee BPM?Let Paulette Cuilla know,

916-422-1787.

Bailoutfrom page 3

their kids while receiving assistance doraisethe next generation o childrento what bankspeculators and nancial engineers do, it shouldbecome clear that our next steps should be to letmarket discipline work its will on the bankingindustry, orce those individuals in companieslooking or a bai lout to nd honest work beorethey see a red cent rom the public till, and bail-out sub-prime victims and elderly retirementinvestors who trusted Wall Street with their liesavings. While Congress is at it, they should alsoget rid o the work requirement in the welarereorm act. Tere is no bigger job than raisingkids. Child-rearing is the real institution thatstoo big to ail.

Roger White is a criminal justice researcher

with the Service Employees International Union.He lives in Sacramento.

Corporate Welarefrom page 3

and bribery. One thing Id gladly help pay or istheir nice long stays in the big house!

In the Youube video, Fear-mongeringexposed by Mr. Sherman on C-SPAN (www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaG9d_zij8), Rep.Brad Sherman (D-CA) describes the panic tacticsused to scare legislators to pass the bailout bill:Te only way they can pass this bill is by creat-

ing and sustaining a panic atmosphere. Manyo us were told in private conversations that i wevoted against this bill that the sky would a ll,the market would drop 2-3,000 points the rstday, another couple thousand the second day, anda ew members were even told that there wouldbe martial law in America i we vote no.

Teres inormation to back up RepresentativeShermans disclosures. Te Bush administration,in violation o ederal law strengthened in 1878by the Posse Comitatus Act, is preparing to use

the US military to maintain order within ourborders (www.cnn.com/008/US/10/0/army.unit/index.html). According to anArmy imesarticle, the soldiers could be called upon to quellcivil unrest.

Howard Zinnhistorian, political scientist,social critic, activist, and playwrightstates,Tis current nancial crisis is a major way-sta-

tion on the way to the collapse o the Americanempire (www.truthout.org, 10/02/08). DavidSirota, best-selling author oTe Uprising, wrote,We now ace market orces uninhabited bydemocratic governance. Tis bailout, marketedas a speed enhancer, is an aggressive attempt todiscard democracys checks and balances.(www.alternet.org, 10/04/08). An $11.3 trilliondecit certainly is one way to erode or eliminateFranklin Roosevelts New Deal and more recentsocial saety netsSocial Security and Medi-

Schwarzenegger from page 4rom an insurance company or services whenthey dont have a contract with such a company,sends a bill to the patient or the balance o thecost. Although there were several stronger bills,he signed one that disallows such a practice onlyor Healthy Families and Access or Inants andMothers programs, both o which are paid by thestate! So YOU can be balance billed. He doesntcare about that so long as the state cant be.www.sen.ca.gov/kuehl

Editors Note: Te veto o SB 840 brought to aclose six years o Kuehls authorship o the historiclegislation, but not the end o uture attempts. SB840s passage by the legislature in 2006 markedthe frst time in US history that a single-payeruniversal health care plan was brought to a gov-ernors desk. Kuehl credited the bills success to itswidespread network o active supporters and thedeterioration o the ragmented health insurancesystem. Proponents announced the legislation willbe introduced next year by Assemblymember MarkLeno, who is expected to be elected to the StateSenate in November.

Georgia Crisisfrom page 5

care programs, etc.Will the bailout help the system unction more

smoothly? Probably not, stated John Pitney,American politics proessor, Claremont McKennaCollege (Sacramento Bee, 10/05/08). Conrm-ing Pitneys prediction, on October 6, the Dowdropped nearly 800 more points. Stay tuned.

Te bully boys have had a big party to which

we werent invited. But were being orced to payor their party and clean up aerwards. Te menwho have had it their way or way too long havegone way beyond not being cost-eective. Teseguys are virtually breaking our backs. Enough!

o track the US national debt and each citizensshare o this debt, visit brillig.com/debt_clock/.

Dorothy L. Wake is a Sacramento area writerand poet, and author oMother Jones, Revo-

lutionary Leader of Labor and Social Reformwww.xlibris.com orwww.amazon.com .

the US has essentially abandoned the GenevaProtocols, abolished the ABM treaty, tried toblock the establishment o the InternationalCriminal Court and reused to ratiy its statuteaer it ailed. Currently, the US is involved in twobloody protracted and expensive wars withoutexits in Aghanistan and Iraq, and has beenthreatening military action against Iran in spiteo Irans cooperation in stabilizing Iraq.

Some argue that Russias historical ties with S.Ossetia are a actor. Others, like Michael Klare,note that the eorts by the Georgian administra-tion and Western oil companies to route the oilroutes rom Azerbaijan and the gas lines romurkmenistan (which transits Georgia) throughurkey instead o hooking them up with Russianpipelines, played a greater role in generating thestrong Russian response. Competition over NRGpipelines and delivery systems are a part o thestory.

Finally, the overstretched nature o US militaryinvolvement in Iraq and Aghanistan may havebeen a actor in the Russian decision to militarilyintervene in the Georgia/Ossetia crisis. Americasconvulsive domestic economic crisis and nan-cial meltdown on the home ront, partly causedby the long expensive wars, is another actor.

Te recent Georgia crisis during the ChinaOlympics showed just how shallow those oldhate the Russians prejudices that Dylan sangeloquently about have been buried, and howeasily they can bubble to the surace with theslightest stimulation. It is also relevant that thecrisis occurred in the context o the 2008 US

presidential election and brought many moldyCold Warriors to the surace yelping or McCainselection bid. Tey were all screaming or bloodand punishment. Te established media providedthe accompanying dramatic music and the dra-matis personae. Nevertheless, it is important tolook at the historical contextual realities and thepower politics behind the crisis beore passingjudgment.

Richard Nadeau has been a peace and envi-ronmental activist since the 1960s. He lives inSacramento and is an editor with Because People

Matter.

Further Reading and References

"Russia Never Wanted War" by Mikhail

Gorbachev, OP ED,New York Times:

August 18, 2008.

Russia and Georgia: All About Oil

by Michael Klare,Foreign Policy in

Focus: August 13, 2008.

South Ossetians ee cellars or saetyin Russiaby Dmitry Solovyov Reuters,August 11, 2008.

Russia Bashing Goes Prime ime:Reinventing Te Evil Empire,by SteveLendman, COUNERPUNCH: August25, 2008.

A Question For Candidates: Geor-gia In Nato? by Steve Breyman,

COUNERPUNCH: September 12,2008.

Ossetia-Georgia-Russia-U.S.A.owards a Second Cold War? by NoamChomsky, COUNERPUNCH: Septem-ber 12, 2008.

Te Georgian Dogs o AugustOrSmucks o Our ime by Saul Landau,ZNE: August 28, 2008.

How Te US Invited A War in SouthOssetia by Eric Walberg, COUNER-PUNCH: August 12, 2008.

Bushs War in Georgia by Mike Whit-ney, Inormation Clearing House: August8, 2008, www.inormationclearing-house.ino/article078.htm

Michael Klare notes

that the Georgianadministration and

Western oil companies toroute the oil routes rom

Azerbaijan and the gaslines rom Turkmenistan

(which transits Georgia)through Turkey instead o

Russian pipelines, played agreater role in generating

the strong Russianresponse.

8/14/2019 2008 Nov Dec

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www.bpmnews.orgNovember / December 008 BECAUSE PEOPLE MATTER 7

Place an ad oryour business or

nonprot group:Business cardsize ads only $40

(or $30 i run inmultiple issues).

Call 446-2844 ormore ino.

bill. Te unding would have gone to counties oradministration costs, employment-related ser-vices and child care or CalWORKS recipients.

Te governor also made reductions o over $7million to mental health community-based ser-vices dealing with managed care and additionalreductions to the Caliornia Discount Prescrip-tion Drug Program and several line item vetoesto specic programs overseen by the Departmento Public Health including public and ennviron-

mental health, Childhood Lead Poisoning Pre-vention and Prostate Cancer reatment Program.Year aer year, state policymakers orce ser vice

providers to tighten their belts. In the short run,this helps close chronic budget gaps. However,there will be long term and more intractable con-

Caliornia Budgetfrom page 7

By Dan Bacher

Camejo, the son o a Venezuelan businessman

and a veteran o the anti-war movement as wellas numerous battles or social justice and humanrights, was one o the best political debaters Iveever seen. Most recently, he became a nationallyknown socially responsible investment planner.

He was a vocierous opponent o the PatriotAct and other attacks on our civil liberties andrights since Camejo was a leader in the FreeSpeech Movement in the 1960s at UC Berkeley.

I really think the Patriot Act violates ourConstitution, said Camejo. It was, it is, an illegalact. Te Congress, the Senate and the presidentcannot change the Constitution.

He was also a great advocate o the need orthird-parties in a country dominated by a two-party system thats controlled by the rich corpo-rate elite. Camejo was also a erce ghter or air

Pee Camej speaking in Sacamen in 2003.Photo: Jim Prigof

Peter Camejo, Green Party

gubernatorial and vice-

presidential candidate

and longtime progressive

political activist, passed

away in Folsom on Sep-

tember 13 at the age o

68 ater a long battle withlymphoma.

Peter Camejo Passes AwayHonoring a progressive political activist and leader

Everyone who met Peter, talked with Peter, worked with Peter, or argued with Peter,

will miss the passing o a great American. Ralph Nader

election laws and practices in the US.

Aer Camejo ran as the Socialist Work-ers Partys (SWP) presidential candidatein 1976, he continued to advocate orthird party participation by helping oundthe Green Party. He was the Green Partycandidate or Caliornia Governor threetimes, in 2002, 2003 and 2006. And in2004, he ran or Vice President as RalphNaders running mate.

Peter Camejo was a man o great pas-sion and boundless compassion or thepoor, uninsured workers and or immi-grant workers in their struggle or justiceand legalization, said Mike Wyman,2006 Green Party candidate or AttorneyGeneral. He became a leader in the envi-

ronmental justice movement and helpedorganize communities o color aroundenvironmental issues that aected themdirectly.

Peter was a riend, colleague andpolitically courageous champion o thedowntrodden and mistreated o the entireWestern Hemisphere, said Ralph Nader.Everyone who met Peter, talked with Peter,worked with Peter, or argued with Peter, willmiss the passing o a great American.

Camejo was born in the US and grew up inVenezuela. A man o many interests, he was alsoon the 1960 Venezuelan Olympic team.

He was an author o books on investment andhistory including Racism, Revolution, Reaction,

1861-1877, Te Rise and Fall o Radical Recon-struction, Caliornia Under Corporate Rule, andTe SRI Advantage: Why Socially ResponsibleInvesting Has Outperormed Financially.

Peter is survived by his wie Morella, hisdaughter Alexandra, his son Victor, three broth-ers Antonio, Daniel, and Danny, and three grand-children Andrew, Daniel and Oliver.

sequences, both scal and human. Failing to pro-vide counties with unding, and continuing to cuthuman services programs will l ikely contribute toincreased poverty and an escalated slide in stan-dard o living. Te rising cost o ood and uel, thedisappearance o aordable health care and loss ohomeowners wealth in the mortgage crisis alongwith a woeully under-unded saety net meansclass inequality in Caliornia and across the USwill become even greater. Caliornias budget

action does little more than belie the Americanmyth o upward mobilityi only one works hardenough. See www.cdcan.us and www.cbp.org.

Charlene Jones is a consultant who writes orBPM.

Best Burgerth b and fi a dcibd a lndayBiting into this east, thefrst thing you notice is thatyou can taste the bee. TeFrench Ground Steak Burgerw/cheese is the thing to order.Tat is a mouthul to say,and its defnitely more thana mouthul to eat. Featuring

Harris Ranch Steak reshlyground and ormed into a1/3 lb. patty. Stop by soon.Naionwid Fz Ma1930 H Street, Sacramento(H and 20th Streets) 444-3286.Just remember H20 stands orH and 20th Street

8/14/2019 2008 Nov Dec

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8 Because People Matter November / December 008 www.bpmnews.org

By Hillary HodgeTe National Organization or Women (NOW) is

known or its politics. Te president o the organizationat the national level, Kim Gandy, was recently a gueston the Comedy Channels Colbert Report discussingtheir endorsement o Barack Obama or president.NOWs signs can be seen in history books at ralliesor the passage and ratication othe Equal Rights Amendment, aswell as or the legalization o abor-tion, or pay equity, and or peace.NOW has an inamous reputationor being a group o loud and wildwomen. Tats why the Sacramentochapter might surprise you.

Sacramento NOW, currentlyheaded by mysel and HeatherMinton, has its roots in com-munity service in the River City.For years, members o this political organization havecommitted their time to projects at the local womenshomeless shelter and to ending domestic violence. Techapter has done clothing drives to collect interviewsuits or women entering the workorce. It has donatedtime and money to Women ake Back the Night, anannual demonstration and education project to raiseawareness about how violence permeates the lives owomen worldwide.

Recently, the television news media highlightedSacramento NOWs response to a series o sexualassaults that took place in downtown Sacramento. Te

women o the chapter organized and paid or a public

sel-deense class in order to help women eel sae andempowered in their community. NOW hosted world-amous sel-deense instructor, Midge Marino, and shutdown the street to symbolically and literally reclaim thestreets as sae. Te event was attended by a number owomen rom many dierent backgrounds.

Sacramento NOW is involvedin a number o undraising proj-ects or a number o causes. Techapter recently participated inthe Sacramento AIDS walk. I lovewhen my riends, amily, com-munity and belies come together,said Jennie Reiken the organizingvolunteer or NOWs participa-tion. Te AIDS walk was anotherheart warming event that we wereprivileged to be a part o. It was

wonderul to gather, laughing together and walking ora good cause. Sacramento NOW also had memberswalking to raise money in the American Cancer Soci-etys Breast Cancer Walk as well as Sacramentos walkor mental health.

All o Sacramento NOWs endeavors are organizedand participated in by volunteers and the chapter isalways looking or resh aces and new ideas. Each oneo NOWs ront women has a day job and the women oNOW have made their activism their paid work as well.Te employment roles or the leadership vary as muchas much as the women in them but outline the progres-sive and caring politics at the heart o the chapter.

By Virginia Wenslaf

W

hen JoAnn Fuller told a riend and me thatone o the ocuses or the next issue o BPMwas going to be good news projects, we both

immediately agreed you should include El Porvenir!Many BPM readers are already amiliar with EP

because its Founding Mother, Carole Harper, is along-time Sacramento resident when shes not living inNicaragua. But below is a brie summary or those notamiliar with this terric organization.

El Porvenir is a non-prot organization whosemission is to improvethe standard o living opoor people in Nicaraguathrough sustainable sel-help water, sanitation,and reorestation projects.In 1990, it was incorpo-rated in Caliornia as anonprot organization eligible or IRS tax-deductiblecontributions. Over the past 18 years, EP has grownrom an eort to provide clean water or one Habitat orHumanity project village to an organization that sup-ports sel-help projects in many villages. Tese projectsutilize simple technology and locally available materialsand can be repaired and maintained by the community.Now, EP has 13 sta in the eld, and carries out 70 ormore projects each year in 6 dierent regions. Teirreorestation program has provided or the plantingo over 300,000 trees, and EP has served over 75,000people in more than 380 villages!

As an example o the need or EP assistance, only oneo every eight amilies has potable drinking water inWiwili, Nicaragua, in the northern part, bordering onHonduras where EP opened a new region in January2008. Its dicult to reach, and in an extremely poorregion, but thats why it was chosen.

El Porvenirs goals are to improve the health o poorpeople, especially the children, and to reduce inantmortality; to lessen the physical burden on women andchildren o carrying water; to support sel-help, com-munity-initiated eorts in rural villages; to transer to

the villagers skills whichthey can use to improvetheir lives; and to pre-serve the watersheds on

which the water projectsdepend.

How does EP work?EP does not initiateprojects; they respondto requests or assistancerom rural villages. Vil-lage residents elect theirown water committee,provide all labor on avolunteer basis, andtake responsibility orthe long-term mainte-nance o all projects. EPencourages the commit-tee to include women

among their members,provides technical exper-tise and education, andunds the primary mate-rials needed to completethe projects. Sta visits the projects periodically aertheir completion, to veriy that they are still in goodworking order, are being maintained by the community,and continue to provide or the communitys water andsanitation needs.

Te Nicaraguan Director o Operations receivesproject proposals and approves them. Te Board oDirectors, all o whom have either lived in Nicaraguaor traveled there to visit EP projects and sta, approvesunding, determines policy and budget or the orga-nization, and provides administrative and undraising

services on a volunteer basis. Carole Harper recentlyretired rom her long-time role as president or a verywell-deserved rest aer her years o dedication to EP. EPrecently moved its headquarters to an oce in Denverand also has an oce in Managua.

How can you get involved or contribute to this greatorganization? Donate money online at the website orto the address below. Volunteer. Or travel with an EP

work tourgroups o 10-15 people who share lie in aNicaraguan village and work with villagers on a water,sanitation or reorestation project. Or join an educa-tional tour o the projects. Or a special birding tourto see Nicaraguas splendid birds. I youre 55 or older,you can sign up or an Elderhostel Service Project trip(www.elderhostel.org or costs and details).

One great suggestion: I you drink bottled water, n-ish o your last bottle. Ten keep relling it with tapwater, and each time you rell it, donate the amountyou would have spent on bottled water to EP. Youll help

both EP and the environment at the same time!You can contact El Porvenir at ino@elporvenir,org ;phone 303-861-1499; address 1420 Ogden St., #204,Denver CO 80218. At the website www.elporvenir.org you can donate directly or nd out about upcomingtours.

Virginia Wensla is a long-time activist and member

o the Central America Action Committee.

El Porvenir has

served over75,000 people in

more than 380villages!

SacramentoNOWs endeavors

are organized byvolunteers and the

chapter is always

looking or resh acesand new ideas. Between the work and volunteerism, one would think

that Sacramento NOW would have no time to party. Onthe contrary, the chapter is very excited to be hosting anElection Results Roll-in Party the night o November4th at the Badlands night club. Te price o admissionis $25 per individual ticket and the party is open to thepublic. Te proceeds rom the event will go to acilitateNOWs dedicated and continuing community service.Or join us or monthly meetings on 3rd Tursdays, 7pm, at the Hart Senior Center at 915 27th Street (27th &J Street). We discuss eminist news, actions, and oppor-tunities. Te SacNOW board meets weekly on uesdaysat 6:00 pm. www.sacnow.org.

Hillary Hodge is a member o Sacramento NOW.

Sacamen NoW membes in fnf e AIDS Quil.Photo courtesy Sacramento NOW.

A nished well in Las Lajas, Nicaragua.Photo courtesy El Porvenir.

El PorvenirProviding clean water and better lives or rural Nicaraguans

Sacramento NOWBringing positive change to local women

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By Rachel Iskow

B

eing homeless should not be a crime.Having shelter should not be out oreach or those who have ew nancial

resources. Parents should not have to stand byas their children develop diseases due to theunsae homes in which they live. Racist neigh-bors should not have the power to stop the con-struction o developments which will providehousing or low-wage workers. Housing haslong been a market commodity in this country,with prot as the drivingorce. As long as the priceo having a roo over oneshead outstrips the abilityo households to pay orit, housing will continueto be an economic andsocial justice issue.

What is our job asprogressives when itcomes to housing?

First, advocate or sae,aordable housing inour communities. Tereis an insucient supplyo housing aordableto people o dierentincome levels. Communi-ties need a larger supplyo multiamily housingbuilt or households o all sizes and types.Show up at public hearings where approvals or

multiamily housing developments are beingconsidered. Write letters to the editor on theneed or housing that low-wage workers, low-income seniors, and disabled people can aord.

In November 2006, Caliornia voters approvedProposition 1C, which made available undingor housing aordableto low- and very-low-income residents othe state. In Novem-ber 2004, votersapproved Proposi-tion 63, the MentalHealth Services Act,

which made availableunds or services andhousing or mentallydisabled homelessindividuals. Te hous-ing and homelessnesscrisis had become realor Caliornians, andwe all wanted to bepart o the solution.Fast orward to today.Financial subsidiesare available, advo-cates and nonprotdevelopers are putting

housing deals togeth-er, but the processhas slowed down andmany times stalls to ahalt because o racismand ear. It is requentin our own regionthat neighborhoodopponents o spe-cic housing develop-ments show up at public hearings and sway thevote o elected ocials. It is critical that progres-sives show up at these same hearings, ocus onthe need or housing or low-wage workers, the

disabled and elderly. It is critical that we dispel

myths about who lives in aordable housing.I there is a proposal to locate housing or thepoor in your neighborhood, get involved, turnout to meetings, and then welcome your newneighbors once the development is constructed.

Second, demand that owners o rental housingbe held account-able or the physicalcondition o theirproperties. Owningand renting hous-ing is a business. Itshould be regulated

as such. Restaurants,barber shops andnail salons are allinspected regularlyor health and saetyviolations. Tere isno such proactiveinspection require-ment or rentalhousing in mostjurisdictions in thiscountry, in spite othe act that dete-

riorating housing conditions, such as mold and

water intrusion, is well documented to lead tochildhood illness such as asthma. Low-incomepeople in ear o eviction, especially non-Eng-lish speaking immigrants who dont know theirrights as renters, are orced to pay rent to livein deplorable conditions. In Sacramento you

can nd neighborhoodswith blocks and blocks ohomes in unsae condi-tions. Property ownersshould not have the rightto be in business i theydont meet basic hous-ing and saety codes.No home or apartment

complex should get sodeteriorated that it hasto be demolished.

In the City o Sacra-mento, housing activ-ists, advocates or thepoor and neighborhoodassociations lobbied ora proactive rental hous-ing inspection ordinanceor almost two years.Earlier this year, aerbeing stalled by electedocials, the City Council

nally voted to approvea rental housing inspec-tion program. All rentalhousing will be inspectedonce every ve years,and i any part is oundunsae, the owner willhave a limited amounto time to x the prob-lem. I not, the owner

will no longer have the right to be a landlord.All owners o rental housing will be requiredto register a local contact with the city and therenters. Tis helps put a stop to the commonproblem aced by renters o properties owned

by out-o-area or out-o-state owners. Tere isno such inspection program in most jurisdic-tions in the region. Progressives are neededto advocate or ordinances in SacramentoCounty and elsewhere. See below on how to getinvolved. Ordinances like these make a hugeimpact on the quality o lie or amilies withoutresources and without other housing options.

Want to get involved locally? Tere are ampleopportunities. Email [email protected] and the sta o the Sacramento MutualHousing Association will plug you in. Wellmake you aware o public hearing dates, pro-vide acts or letters to the editor, or help youget involved in the struggle or rental hous-ing inspection ordinances and policies thatsupport the homeless. Do you like to workdirectly with people? We can hook you upwith volunteer opportunities in our housingcommunities. We seek volunteers who under-stand technology and can teach computeruse to low-income youth and adults, who cansta homework clubs in our mutual hous-

ing community rooms; and who want to helpus get resh, aordable produce to amilies.

With your help, we can put sae and aordablehousing and communities at the top o the localagenda!

Rachel Iskow is the Executive Director o Sac-ramento Mutual Housing Association (SMHA).Te mission o SMHA is to develop housing that isaordable to a diversity o households. Our hous-ing builds strong and stable communities throughresident participation and leadership develop-ment. SMHA is currently housing over 2,600 low-income people in Sacramento and Yuba counties.

Find out more atwww.mutualhousing.com.

Gimme ShelterYou can make a diference in our local community!

It is critical that we dispel

myths about who lives in

afordable housing.

Mutual Housing at Lemon Hill in South Sacramento, nearHighway 99 and Stockton Boulevard. Lemon Hill has74 units made up o one, two, three and our bedroomapartments and townhomes, serving amilies below50% and 60% o area median income.Photo: www.mutualhousing.com

Interior o a unit at Los Robles in South Sacramento, nearHighway 99 and Florin Mall. Los Robles has one, twothree and our bedroom apartments and townhomesserving amilies below 50% and 60% o area medianincome.Photo: www.mutualhousing.com

Victory Townhomes, opened in 2003, is a communityo 21 three and our bedroom townhomes. It boasts acomputer lab, community room, beautiul grounds withplay equipment, and is the rst multi-amily afordablehousing complex in Sacramento to use solar energy.Photo: www.mutualhousing.com

Norwood Estates (opened in 1993) and Annex (opened in2001) is located in Del Paso, near Highway 80 and SilverEagle Road, with 59 units made up o one, two and threebedroom apartments. This propery serves amilies below50% and 60% o area median income.Photo: www.mutualhousing.com.

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Peace Arts XchangeWorking for peace, one month at a time

By Cara Bautista

his year and the next have opportuni-ties or nuclear disarmament the likeso which we havent seen in decades.

With the 2008 elections behind us, and a newadministration scheduled to reevaluate nuclearweapons policy in 2009, growing support or aglobal eort to eliminate nuclear weapons, anda Congress that has cut unding or new nuclearweapons, we have a window o opportunity tochange US nuclear weapons policy.

Troughout its tenure, the Bush administra-tion has reiterated a nuclear posture that neitheraddresses our modern security needs nor is inline with international non-prolieration senti-ment. Te administration has proposed, time andagain, plans or a reurbished nuclear stockpileand inrastructure that would support the mostoensive US nuclear posture in the last 60 yearsand encourage development o nuclear weaponsby other nations. Such plans would remove

nuclear war rom the realm o the unthinkable,and place it into the real world o tactical warplanning. Te last eight years have distorted theworlds dialogue on nuclear weapons. Instead otalking about when and how to make reductions,we have been ghting back a new build-up.

Now is the time to call or US leadershiptoward a nuclear weapons ree world.

o do this, we are building on several oppor-tunities. In January o 2007, our unlikely gures

took up the cause o nuclearabolition: ormer Senator SamNunn, Clintons Secretary oDeense William Perry, Reagans

Secretary o State George P.Shultz, and last but not least,Nixons right hand, ormer Sec-retary o State Henry Kissinger.Tese men authored an opinioneditorial that appeared in theWall Street Journaloutlining steps the US musttake to lead the world towards total disarmament.In their words, this would be a bold initiativeconsistent with Americas moral heritage, thatcould have a prooundly positive impact on thesecurity o uture generations. Tese surprisingallies, with their weighty credentials, gave newlegitimacy to the cause o nuclear abolition in away that ew could.

Te useulness o the US nuclear arsenal is

increasingly in question. Nuclear weapons canwipe out millions o people, millions o amilies,in the blink o an eye. Fear o the terrible powero nuclear weapons has dened US oreign policyor too long, rom the Cold War, to the war inIraq, and the threat o war with Iran. Enemies othe past, such as the USSR, either no longer existor dont pose an imminent threat. Furthermore,our main security concerns dont come romnations with clear borders. Oversized and agingnuclear weapons stockpiles are a liability to USsecurity, contributing to threats o accidentallaunches, nuclear prolieration, and nuclearweapons alling into the hands o terrorists.

We can turn the end o the Bush administra-tion into a deeat o the Bush nuclear doctrineand a reerendum on the uture o the US nuclear

arsenal. Will the next presidents nuclear weaponspolicy deer to Bushs reckless vision, embrac-ing a new generation o nuclear weapons andthe doctrine o preemptive attack? Or, will thenext president reject the mistakes o the pastand advance a new agenda or a world withoutnuclear weapons?

For the rst time in history, both presidentialcandidates in the 2008 elections endorsed thevision o a world ree o nuclear weapons. Both

McCain and Obama sup-port reductions to ournuclear weapons arsenal.Both supported a global

treaty to ban the produc-tion o ssile material orweapons. Tese areas oagreement mean that therewill be a signicant oppor-tunity to restore American

leadership towards a nuclear weapons ree worldin the next administration.

o truly make the world saer rom the nuclearthreat, the next president and Congress will needto quickly take concrete steps to back up thisvision: As the cornerstone Strategic Arms Reduction

Treaty (START) between Russia and the US

expires next year, work with Russia to ensure

verifable reductions in both nuclear arsenals.

Take nuclear weapons off of hair triggeralert.

Secure loose nuclear material and weapons

throughout the world.

End nuclear weapons testing by ratifying the

Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.

US security interests lie in promoting globalstability and cooperation, something that cantbe done with nuclear weapons. Te US doesnot need nuclear weapons. In act, America andthe whole world will be saer as we take steps toachieve a nuclear-weapons -ree world.

Peace Action West advocates or a oreign poli-cy that embodies the best values o the Americanpeople. As a membership organization with closeto 50,000 supporters, we oster broad-based civicactivism to create a strong voice or peaceul

and pragmatic solutions to global problems. Ouractivities serve as a bridge between the public andthe ocials who make decisions that aect thelives o millions o people.

Cara Bautista is the Deputy Political Director,Peace Action West

Contact Peace Action West:www.PeaceActionWest.org510-849-2272

New President, New Nuclear Weapons Policy?Te door opens to a nuclear weapons free world

We can turn the

end o the Bushadministration

into a deeat othe Bush nuclear

doctrine.

Cofee rom

Nicaragua

Support Sacramentos

sister city, San Juande Oriente, Nicaragua,by purchasing organicwhole-bean coffeegrown in the rich

volcanic soil on theisland of Omotepe,Nicaragua.Thanks to the efforts of

the Bainbridge-OmotepeSister Island Associationin Washington, we areable to bring you this

wonderful medium roastcoffee.

Your purchase helps thefarmers on the islandand helps support

Sacramentos longrelationship with SanJuan de Oriente.All prots go directly

back to the Nicaraguan

communities.$9.00 a pound.Available in Sacramentoat: The Book Collector,

1008 24th St.

The Agni II, capable o delivering nuclearwarheads, on display in New Delhi, India.Photo Raveendran/AFP

Registered Representative for securities and

Investment Advisory Representative, ProtectedInvestors of America.

If you are a tenant andyou are worried that your

landlord has allowed the rental prop-erty to go into foreclosure, see this

site for information that might help

you!

www.tenantsforeclosure.blogspot.

com/

Alison Brennan is a long-ago tenant

activist. She lives in Sacramento.Peace Arts Xchange Presents2009 Children's Peace Calendar

You can pick up your 2009 calendarsIn Davis: Nestware at 204 G Street

Avid Reader at 617 Second Street

In Sacramento: Avid Reader at1600 BroadwaySacramento Area Peace Action ofce at 909 12th Street, #118

They make great holiday gifts.Suggested donation: $12 each.

For more information on the calendars,contact Janice Nakashima at (916) 393-7690

2009 is the h year the PeaceArts Xchange (PAX) Calen-dar Group has created a wallcalendar. For the third year, theillustrations come rom school chil-dren, drawing and painting theirvisions o peace.

In 2005, a SMAC ArtScapes grantgave the project enough unds tomeet its costs, but it ailed to gainapproval as a sanctioned Sacramen-to Unied School District activity.With a quick glance at the PAXwebsite, the group was deemed too

political! Since then, sympatheticteachers and parents have providedthe resources and support to enablethe children to make the art.

Selecting the work to be pub-lished rom the numerous submis-sions has been the hardest parto the project. Plans or the nextcalendar are stil l incubating. Itsan all-volunteer eort. I youd liketo contribute to it, please [email protected] .

I youd like to buy the 2009 cal-endar, and have a daily reminderto work or peace at home and inthe world, they are available at Te

Avid Reader, in both Sacramento

and Davis, Nestware in Davis, andSacramento Area Peace Action.

8/14/2019 2008 Nov Dec

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1 Because People Matter November / December 008 www.bpmnews.org

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

Latin America: Unity on the RiseBy Gloria La Riva

Aer more than 60 years o US dominationpost-World War II, with military coups, dictator-ships and misery or hundreds o millions opeople in Latin America, the deepening resis-tance to this domination has led to hope or realchange. A series o elections in the rst decade othe 21st century has ushered in l eist and pro-socialist governments throughout the continent.It is a reection o the masses in motion, who aredemanding radical economic and social changesin their homelands.

A turning point was Hugo Chvezs electionin 1998 and the Venezuelan peoples adoption

o a new constitution in 1999, with itsguarantees o employment, housing, education,social equality, and state control over Venezuelasvast oil resources. With oil resources no longersiphoned into Wall Street coers but instead usedor internal development, the Venezuelan peopleare enjoying major improvements in housing,jobs, universal education and healthcare.

o be expected, the Bolivarian Revolutionhas incurred the wrath o the US government,which has been intent on destroying Venezuelas

progress. Te US engineered a coup in April2002, and in December 2002, a sabotage o theoil industry that crippled the country. Tere havebeen several documented assassination attemptson Chvez and the opposition is receiving mil-lions o dollars in National Endowment orDemocracy (NED) unding.

Although the Venezuelan people proved theirpower by returning Chvez to the presidencyaer the coup, and are the driving orce o theirrevolution, Venezuela could not have survivedWashingtons oensive without the assistance oCuba.

Cubas and Venezuelas alliance was ormalizedin July 2004, by a groundbreaking pact calledthe Bolivarian Alternative or the Americas, orALBA, as it is known by its Spanish acronym.

Signed in Havana by Fidel Castro and HugoChvez, the agreement is the antidote to the so-called Free rade Agreement o the Americans. Itprovides or Cuba and Venezuela to marshal theirhuman and material resources or the benet oboth peoples and also all o Latin America.

Tere are now 14,000 Cuban medical person-nel in Venezuela, who provide ree healthcare tomillions. Illiteracy was eliminated in a two-yearmassive literacy campaign directed by Cubanteachers.

Cuba and Venezuela ormed OperationMiracle, with the aim o curing six million blindor severely-impaired people throughout LatinAmerica and the Caribbean. Te aected indi-viduals are own into Cuba where their vision is

restored by surgery and other treatment. Aer

several days, they return home, with their vision

intact. Already almost one million poor peoplehave been treated.

Is it any wonder that the people o Latin Amer-ica and the Caribbean eel such solidarity withCuba and Venezuela? Bolivia, under Evo Moralespresidency, and Nicaragua, under Daniel Ortegaspresidency, have now ormally joined ALBA. Itis sae to say that Morales and Ortegas elections,as well as that o abare Vsquez in Uruguay,Raael Correa in Ecuador, and Fernando Lugo inParaguay, were inspired by Venezuelas and Cubasalliance, resistance and development.

A Long Way from Operation CondorTis progressive development

is remarkable when we review thehistory o US imperialist policy

in Latin America, a region it haslong considered its backyard.Te US has militarily intervenedin Latin America dozens o timesto repress popular resistance torepressive governments, deendUS corporations, and overthrowdemocratically elected govern-ments including GuatemalasJacobo Arbenz in 1954 and ChilesSalvador Allende in 1973.

Using billions o dollars in mili-tary and economic aid to right-wing governments, Washingtonsought to crush popular insurgen-cies and revolutionary struggleacross Latin America. Trough a

US-directed policy o extermina-tion, through mass disappear-ances, kidnappings, and massacre,in Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Brazil,El Salvador, Nicaragua, Paraguay,Uruguay, Venezuela, Colombia

and Peru, tens o thousands o students, peasantsand workers were brutally murdered.

A return to civilian governments in the 1980sand 1990s did little to al leviate the peoples su-ering. Instead, reactionary elected leaders, likeCarlos Andrs Prez in Venezuela, and CarlosMenem and Fernando de la Rua o Argentina,pursued economic policies in line with IMF andWorld Bank demands. Teir disastrous neo-liber-al policies embodied in Free rade and Structural

Adjustment Programs largely bankrupted theircountries wealth.While the US government continues to try to

overthrow progressive governments like thoseo Chvez and Morales, our task as part o theprogressive, anti-war movement in the UnitedStates is to demand the withdrawal o US militaryin the region, and an end to US aggression inLatin America. We cannot allow Washington toturn back the clock in Latin America and theCaribbean.

La Riva, who is a union activist, flmmaker,

presidential candidate, spoke in Sacramentoon September 7, 2008. She has met with HugoChvez and Evo Morales and traveled extensively

to Cuba.

In the Military

& Need Help or

Want to Get Out?

GI Rights Hotline: 800-394-9544; [email protected],

www.objector.orgCourage to Resist: 510-

488-3559,www.couragetoresist.org

Book ReviewTe yranny of Oil: Te Worlds Most Power-

ful Industryand What We Must Do to Stop Itby Antonia Juhasz

From Kirkus Reviews (Reprinted with permis-sion o Kirkus.)

Big Oil has turned our democracy into aarce, claims liberal activist and Institute or Pol-icy Studies ellow Antonia Juhasz, author oTe

Bush Agenda: Invading the World, One Economyat a ime, in this timely, blistering critique o theworlds most protable industry.

Nearly a century aer the 1911 breakup oStandard Oil rust, notes the author, a recon-structed trust comprised o a handul o poweruloil companies ormed through recent corporatemergersmore than 2,600 in the US petroleumindustry rom the 1990s to 2004now dominatesmuch o the decision-making o the Americangovernment. During the eight years o the Bushadministration, this oiligarchy o wealthy rmshas spent billions o dollars on political contribu-tions and lobbying to ensure that it is coddled,subsidized, protected, and preserved by the USgovernment.

Juhasz argues that oil companies have madepossible, and directly participate in, the unregu-lated speculation in oil utures that has helpeddrive oil prices upward (at a time when availablesupplies in storage tanks exceed global demand).Despite their assertions to the contrary, theyare not interested in green a lternativesmostinvest less than 1% o total capital expenditureson alternative energybut only in nding moreoil in places (tar sands, oil shale, oceans) whereextraction will be costly and harmul to the envi-ronment. Further, says the author, their quest tocontrol world oil reserves was one o the causeso the US invasion o Iraq and or a massiveongoing realignment o the US military, withbases and deployments ollowing the worlds oilsupply and transportation routes.

Inspired by muckraker Ida arbells landmark1904 bookTe History o the Standard Oil Com-pany, this white-hot polemic explores manyo the industrys complex and secret practices,including zone pricing, which sets wholesale andcompany-owned gas-station prices accordingto geographic zones (and explains why gasolineprices can vary greatly among stations within aew blocks). Juhasz believes a growing populistmovement will demand Congressional actionto break up the current spawn o Standard Oil:ExxonMobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Mara-thon, Valero, Shell-US, and BP America.

Explosive uel or the raging debate on oilprices.

Antonia Juhasz spoke in Sacramento on Octo-

ber 30, 2008.

Blivian public-wks wkes fm ou, pesing in LaPaz f bee benefis and cndiins, Jul 30, 2008.Photo: Gloria La Riva

Get your STOP WARLawn Sign!

Order from SacPeace,916-448-7157

Sliding scale $5-10.

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Time Tested Booksnow buying

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By Rick Bettis

Global Warming is at the top o the agenda

or most environmental groups, such asthe Sierra Club and the Union o Con-

cerned Scientists, as well as numerous other orga-nizations and many nations, states and provincesand local governments throughout the world. Forexample, the League o Women Voters Agendaor a New Administration calls or immediate,highest priority comprehensive actions to combatclimate change. It has been recognized as a seri-ous threat not only to the natural environment,but also to the economy and public health andsaety.

Global warming can occur in natural cycles;however, research clearly demonstrates that itis now being primarily caused by emissions ohuman-generated greenhouse gases (GHG).

Tese emissions, o which 80% is carbon dioxide,include methane, nitrous oxide, and water vapor,are thickening our atmosphere which traps out-going reected inrared solar radiation, causingwarming.

Even though these acts are still not acknowl-edged by a ew, such as George W. Bush, thescientic community is in nearly unanimousagreement that the looming crisis is l argely man-made. Following exhaustive studies, the UnitedNations-sponsored Intergovernmental Panel onClimate Change (IPCC), composed o 2,000 othe worlds most respected scientistsm agreed.Te IPCC was the co-recipient o the NobelPeace Prize with ormer Vice President Al Gore,whose book, traveling presentation and lm, AnInconvenient ruth, brought this issue vividly to

public attention.Inormation predictive o this problem has

been available since the 1950s. During the CarterAdministration in the 1970s this writer partici-pated in technical studies underwritten