"The most consistent and smartest thinking and writing about progressive politics isn't happening in Sacramento, but being churned out day after day on sites and by organizations like Calitics, Orange County Progressive, and the California Budget Project." - CalBuzz
New Orleans may sink into the sea by 2100. Much of Florida may also be underwater by then. Drought will likely become the norm out West, meaning California could no longer provide the food we depend upon. Las Vegas may become downright inhabitable.
No, I'm not fabricating any of this. These will be the consequences of inaction if we continue to delay implementing the solutions we need to solve the coming climate crisis. But for some reason, may of our supposedly wise lawmakers in Capitol Hill are either willfully ignorant of the facts or downright lying about our future.
(The deadline to RSVP is 12:00 PM TODAY! Get your ticket now, before it's too late. - promoted by atdleft)
Looking for some real fireworks this Fourth of July weekend? If so, then head to South County on July 5! Starting at 10:30 AM, none other than John Dean, the constitutional law expert who witnessed Watergate unfold firsthand, will be speaking at a very special Laguna Woods Democratic Club luncheon. Oh yes, and he'll be answering your questions as well!
Jonathan Adler from Laguna Woods Democratic Club sent me a note recently and asked me to share with you what to expect:
It's essentially a "Town Hall" with wide-open Q&A (after his talk) on all the hot current issues he's been opining on in recent years (in his books, op-eds, talks, blog, TV, radio, etc.) that make him, I think, one of our leading voices for restoring Constitutional government.
John Dean will sign any of his books since 2005 (all on sale at the event) - "Worse Than Watergate: The Secret Presidency of George W. Bush," "Conservatives Without Conscience," "Broken Government: How Republican Rule Destroyed the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial Branches" - and, just released June 17 - "Blind Ambition: The End of the Story," updated edition, with a book-size Afterword with startling news-making findings based on newly available de-coded tapes and his own further research on Watergate.
Yes, his talk before the "Town Hall" Q&A will focus on his latest Watergate findings; and yes, some will view those abuses of power as "just history" - although the New York Times said: "Before you know it, you are turning the pages of Mr. Dean's book as if you are reading about Watergate for the first time."
But really fascinating, important, and, I think, even news-making, will be the "Town Hall" Q&A. I expect he'll be asked, and full responses by John, about today's hottest issues on which he's been very outspoken recently, such as:
• the Woo/Bybee/Bradbury "torture memos"
• war crimes prosecution
• secret "rendition"
• "enhanced interrogation" orders
• preventive detention
• Executive power claims by Bush:
• blocking oversight by Congress
• and by FISA
• "signing statements"
• Restoring the Balance of Powers
This'll be his third trip to Laguna Woods in 32 months. He's drawn huge sophisticated audiences here and even asked to be invited back. John has no future talk set in Orange Co. Another strong turnout, July 5, will help assure his return again, and our future chances to visit with him. So, please join us.
DIRECTIONS: 5/405 South, exit #91 El Toro Rd. At exit light, straight on Valencia 0.2 mi. to El Toro. Right. (5 North, same exit, left under fwy; at 0.5 mi cross Valencia.) 2.1 mi on El Toro (cross Moulton, uphill, downhill) to "Calle Corte / Gate 9". Right. Show pass. 0.2 mi to deadend, Sosiega. Right. 0.2 mi to 1st stop sign, Monte Hermoso. Left. 0.3 mi uphill to Punta Alta. Right. Immediate right into big free parking lot. CH 5 entrance obvious; walk straight 150 ft to biggest rm.
Please remember to RSVP at ActBlue by tomorrow at 12:00 PM, as seating is limited. Once you RSVP, you'll receive a printable ticket to take to the Laguna Woods VIllage gate for admission. The luncheon will be at Clubhouse 5 at 24262 Punta Alta (off El Toro).
Again, please RSVP ASAP and we hope to see you there!
Compared with the period from 1960 through 1979, temperatures in the Southwest are expected to rise 4 to 10 degrees by the end of the century.
The chance for longer-lasting heat waves could force the region's residents to use more air conditioning, which would increase the risk of blackouts as electricity supplies become depleted.
The report also warned that the region, already suffering an extended drought as evidenced by declines in Colorado River flow and spring snowpack, should be prepared to face large reductions in spring precipitation by the end of the century. With that, combined with temperature increases and rapid population growth, the Southwest can expect increased competition for water.
The rising temperatures will also lead to more wildfires, and the loss of wetlands will cause more flooding along rivers. Also, ski resort areas will have less snow, cutting recreational opportunities.
While all of this sounds like a doomsday movie script, it is being presented to the public in all seriousness by many of the country's top scientists.
The Las Vegas Sun mentioned this brutal reality today in a hard-hitting editorial on the need for real action on the climate crisis. The whole world is threatened, but we're especially at risk here in The American Southwest. We already have little water, but climate change may end up taking away the little water we have left.
So what can we do? We need to change. We need to rethink the way we interact with this planet.
Welcome to Orange County California, where your unassuming evangelical ministers can openly admit to praying for our President's death. How Christian of him. Thanks to the local OC Weekly for picking up this gem.
Drake said on the June 2 Fox News Radio broadcast that he didn't understand why people were upset with his comments, which were quoted from a webcast of his own daily radio talk show.
"Imprecatory prayer is agreeing with God, and if people don't like that, they need to talk to God," Drake told invisible host Alan Colmes. "God said it, I didn't. I was just agreeing with God."
Here is the text of the piece I wrote about meeting (and kissing) President Obama during his visit to Orange County on March 18th. It was published on the Orange County Register's website a few days ago and is the second most-viewed and e-mailed blog item of the month ~ including an incredible array of venomous comments, many of them directed at me personally! I knew there would be a lot of wing nuts, but I was truly surprised at the volume and tone of those who tried to write coherently, yet failed.
I'm one of those unusual people who is a little larger than I should be in life. Frankly, I don't know how I get away with it.
That's a lie. I know how I do it. First and foremost, I'm a 6th generation Georgian, and my accent helps me in ways you can't imagine. Also, I'm cute, in an odd ol' hippie woman kinda way. And I'm young at heart, very much in tune with my inner child. I love to make people laugh, usually at my own expense. I've always believed that if you smile and act like you know what you're doing, you can get almost anywhere. And that sometimes, you have to make the call to get the results you want.
So have at me, Progressive! I'm a newbie in these parts, but I'm fiercely loyal and trainable, much like my dog Sam. Welcome to my world!
After completing my assigned duties as a volunteer at President Obama's town hall meeting in Orange County on March 18, 2009, it was time for the program to begin and I didn't have a seat. Most of the volunteers didn't have seats; we were expected to watch from alongside one wall, unless we got lucky and found an actual empty chair. But as I was trying to get out of the way of the Secret Service and a stray cameraman, a fella looked up and said, "Oh, do you need a seat? Let me move this stuff."
I was in the front row, to the right of the podium. The invocation was just ending ...
An introduction, and then the President was at the podium, 12 feet away from me. It took everything in my power not to drag out the Velcro and rubber bands to fling myself up there and stick to him. The crowd's reaction was instant, loud, compelling, infectious, frantically and joyously clapping their hands, screaming his name. OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA! I happily joined in. We volunteers had been ... well, let's say"encouraged" to comport ourselves with dignity and composure. Yeah, yeah, screw that, it's O-time now, baby!
I was already crazy nuts. When I wasn't taking pictures, I was watching every move he made. And then he took off his suit jacket. I've always had a thing for a well-constructed man's back in a crisp white shirt. Fine. Mmmm hmmm.
He spoke for about 10 minutes, then took questions from the audience. Without notes or a teleprompter, he answered them eloquently and with genuine emotion. If I hadn't been an Obama Mama before, I was now. I was completely enraptured and captivated.
Someone called out, "I love you," and he replied, "I love you, too," chuckling as he said it. He used the entire stage, moving like a sleek lion, looking into the eyes of 2,000 people, resting on one, then another's face, his hand frequently stretched out as if to try and touch us, or the future.
And then he closed it down, put a stamp on it and mailed it to the world. We were on our feet, screaming for him, and I realized when he stepped down that he was going to walk around the perimeter of green fence rails surrounding the podium to shake hands and press some California flesh.
He started on the far side, away from me. The crowd caught on and the air in the building became thin and frantic. I began to panic; people were starting to rush forward, and I was right up front, but the Secret Service was ON it, looking over and ordering people to back up (nobody messes with the Secret Service).
Denis, the gentleman who had unknowingly saved me a seat, had my camera in his hand. I'd been telling him how much I wanted a picture with the President. Denis kept saying, "Just wait until I tell you. Stay right there and turn this way."
For a few moments, I caught glimpses of the President coming down the line, people everywhere, all over and around him, like when you pour gravy on rice ~ he was saturated with hands, arms, bodies, the Secret Service like a safety net around his back and to the sides.
I looked up into the eyes of the President, and he looked down into mine. I laid my left hand on his bare right arm, thrust my right hand into his, and said, "I've been waiting for you since I was 12 years old. Thank you, Mr. President."
I stood as tall as my 5' could reach (he's 6 feet 90 or something), raised my head and leaned in, and he leaned down towards me. Suddenly, I kissed him on the cheek. I don't know why, I had nothing else to say that wouldn't take 20 minutes, I kissed him, and he didn't pull away. There was one of those kinda-sorta-almost shoulder bumps, not really touching, almost there, so I kissed him again, and again he didn't pull away. And damn, if I didn't kiss him again! He smiled down at me ~ he looked directly into my eyes ~ and said, simply, "Thank you."
It was over. He moved on. My heart was in my head, I was upside down and right side up, all at the same time, down the rabbit hole on the bus being driven by Hunter S. Thompson and every last one of the Founding Fathers. I felt dizzy, yet more solid than I had in years. I wondered why I wasn't crying; I'll cry for a good shoe sale, but not now. There was no reason to cry; I'd had a "moment" with my President, and not just a moment, a FREAKIN' EXCELLENT MOMENT!
My new friend Denis returned my camera, and I looked anxiously ~ he'd done it! I had a picture with the President! Not full faces, but it's me, and it's him. (When did I get so old and jowly?)
"Mr. President." The unbridled absolute joy of saying those words to the man for whom I'd worked so hard ~ now I'm teary-eyed, thinking back. We'd been told repeatedly that as volunteers at an official presidential event, we were representing the office of the President and that our behavior, our work, our actions would reflect upon that office. We weren't allowed to speak to the press; what if someone said something idiotic? It could be an embarrassment to the President.
I flashed on an old episode of "The West Wing," one in which Josiah Bartlett's presidency was in great peril, and a scene from that show suddenly became very real for me. The camera lingered on each of Bartlett's inner circle; one after the other, they repeated the words, "I serve at the pleasure of the President."
