CARA to host anniversary party for Social Security Aug. 17

From our member Nancy Griesser comes this:

The California Alliance for Retired Americans (CARA) and the Central Labor Council of Fresno and Madera Counties will host a celebration of America’s most successful social program -- Social Security, celebrating 75 years this month. The anniversary event is scheduled 11 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 17, in the U.S. Federal Courthouse Plaza, 2500 Tulare St., in Fresno.

The event's goal is to send a message to Senator Feinstein encouraging her to secure Social Security for future generations, and to ensure that attacks on this important family retirement program are not successful. To attend, RSVP to CARA at (559) 905-3521, toll-free at 877-233-6107, or via e-mail to C21generoza@aol.com.

Can you assist with voter registration Aug. 16?

From our member Nancy Griesser comes this:

Mai Thao of SEIU-UHW called today with information about a non-partisan voter registration event that is coming to Fresno next Monday, Aug. 16. The focus is on registering Hispanic voters. A bus will be coming from San Diego to Sacramento and will stop enroute in Los Angeles, Bakersfield, and Fresno. The event will be held at the Fresno County Courthouse (corner of Tulare & M St.) at 5:00 pm.

Mai is hoping people who can help with voter registration will attend. There will be packets in Spanish for potential voters but Mai knows they will need some help understanding what's in the packet. While speaking Spanish would be helpful, others could be there in the important role of showing support.

Interested in helping? To volunteer, please contact MaiThao at (559) 259-1556.

Water-issues film 'American Southwest' to air on KNXT in early September

A note from our Water Issues Team leader, Dr. Bob Merrill: 

As I announced at the V4Change meeting, the movie 'The American Southwest: Are We Running Dry?' will be shown on the KNXT Channel 49 at 8:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept 2, and again at 10 a.m. Tuesday Sept. 7. This is the best movie I have seen regarding the water crisis in the United States. If you see no other movie about water issues, this is probably the one you should see.

The American Southwest is an arid to semiarid region whose population is rapidly growing and threatened by water demands that exceed the supply. Urban expansion and climate change pose a worsening future. The Colorado River is over-allocated and groundwater pumping in areas is destroying riparian habitat as stream flow is reduced or dries up. The history of the Southwest is one of conflict over water that has produced winners and losers and the situation is only going to get worse unless the conflicts between population, agriculture, and environmental needs are balanced. Solutions: Recognition of the problem and education, population, conservation, recycling, rainwater and floodwater harvesting. National water policy dealing with supply and contamination.

Special note to V4CFers:  If you want a serious preparation for the film, here are significant items to look for or examine as they come up in the film.  While the list is exhaustive, it should help you get more out of the time spent watching.

1. Colorado River: How little water reaches the ocean and its impact on life in Colorado delta.

2. Different users of Colorado River water and impact of less water on these users.

3. Magnitude of past droughts. Changes in river as temperature increases; invasive species, pollution, flash flooding, disease organisms in water, etc.

4. Is global climate change already here?

5. Population growth and how much of global water is available to humans and other life forms

6. Manifest Destiny and its role in water crisis.

7. Allocation of Colorado River water in wet years vs. dry years and impact of population growth

8. Is unlimited growth possible and what drives it? Sustainable economy?

9. Sacramento - San Joaquin River Delta: water transfers and levees, plus Endangered Species Act.

10. Geopolitical tensions: Agricultural users vs. Environment vs. urban growth (population).

11. Groundwater and population growth impacts in Palm Springs and Arizona.

12. Law of first use of water. Phoenix area and impact across rest of state. Impact of groundwater withdrawal on streams. Is water management designed to protect streams?

13. Impact of water use on Native American communities in southwest. Water use in dry land farming.

14. Federal vs. state and local government approaches to solving the problem. We have policies for contaminants but not for supply.

15. Solutions: conservation, land use policies, landscaping vs. agriculture, balance between urban People’s needs, industry, agriculture (farming), and environment. Recycling, capturing runoff, desalination (?) Lower personal usage. EDUCATION

Fall service projects the topic of Aug. 3 V4CF General Meeting

The whys and wherefores of three planned Volunteers For Change-Fresno service projects will be the topic of our next General Meeting, scheduled 7-8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 3, in the large community room of the Fig Garden Library, 3071 W. Bullard Ave. in Fresno. The library is on the southwest corner of Bullard and Marks, in the shopping center.

At the meeting, members and guests will be invited and encouraged to commit to participating in one of three service projects, each intended to draw additional attention to a serious issue affecting our community. The projects will fall into the areas of combating hunger, homelessness, and air pollution leading to climate change, and each will take place between Sept. 15 and Election Day.

To make this work, we'll need the participation and commitment of every V4CF member. Expect the finest in 'pleasant persistence' from your fellow V4CFers in gaining that commitment. And stay tuned... we hope to see you Tuesday!

And now, some words of encouragement: A reaffirmation from President Obama

From our friends at the Huffington Post: 

President Barack Obama is urging liberal activists and bloggers to "keep up the fight" to bring change to Washington.

In a video played Saturday at the annual Netroots Nation convention, the president acknowledged that some in the party's left wing have been unhappy with the pace of change. Liberals have been disenchanted on issues from the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to the failure to create a government-run insurance option in the health care overhaul.

The president says in the brief video that the combat mission in Iraq will end in August.

It's a tough election year for Democrats, but Obama warned about returning to Republican policies "that got us into the mess."

He says "change is hard," and he urged hundreds of activists and bloggers in the audience to "keep making your voices heard."

Obama urged the crowd to "consider what we've accomplished," then rolled a clip of Rachel Maddow laying out some of the administration's legislative victories.

Here, see for yourself. (If the viewscreen is not visible below, watch President Obama's statement on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=so-Uuooz-Zo.):



From our member Ruth Afifi comes a great recap of these accomplishments, as seen on the Daily Kos website. A good list to be sure, but no reason to stop working for the Change we've demanded.

Sierra Club: 'Pick up the phones July 28 for clean-energy legislation'

In the wake of Chip Ashley's 'Path to Clean Energy' presentation, Senator Harry Reid has announced -- unfortunately -- that none of the clean energy bills under Senate consideration will be brought to a vote this year. Not the CLEAR Act, not Kerry-Leiberman, not any of the bills Chip discussed at our last General Meeting.

After Sen. Reid's announcement, our friends at the Sierra Club made a call for those concerned to participate in a 'Day of Action' Wednesday, July 28, during which time people will be asked to call their Senators,  'express dismay at this decision and push for a vote.'

Want to participate? Pick up the phone sometime Wednesday, July 28, and let Senators Feinstein and Boxer know your thoughts. The numbers to call?

Senator Barbara Boxer: (202) 224-3553
Senator Dianne Feinstein: (202) 224-2501

Need talking points? Here you go:

• Taking on the climate change challenge NOW will create more economic opportunities than risks for the U.S. economy--will require innovation and products that drive energy efficiency and create new markets. Right now, Germany is producing 86% of the gear boxes used in wind turbines. China has surpassed the US in the manufacture of solar panels.

• Each year we delay action to control emissions increases the risk of unavoidable consequences that could necessitate even steeper reductions in the future, at potentially greater economic cost and social disruption

Shift the heat to the opposition: Help with voter registration July 17

Want to help with voter registration? From our member Linda Traynor comes the following invitation:

The weekend of July 17, Organizing For America and local volunteers are teaming together to connect with voters in Fresno as part of our Vote 2010 Day of Action.

From city streets and rural farms, to suburban parks and local strip malls, we’re doing everything possible to get folks to commit to vote in November’s elections. This commitment is as important as it is simple and could tip the balance in races across the country that could be close.

In 2008, millions of new voters registered and turned out to cast their ballots in the November election, and that was a key part of President Obama’s victory. Our Vote 2010 program is similarly designed to register new voters and get those who cast votes for the first time in 2008 back to the polls this fall.

This is a big challenge, but we have too much on the line to come up short. It’s our job to stand up for President Obama and his allies, to make sure his opponents don’t succeed.

To join us in Fresno’s ‘Vote 2010 Day of Action,’ send your name, e-mail address and telephone number to event organizer Linda Traynor at traynor27@gmail.com. Then sign up at the Vote 2010 Registration Page on the Organizing For America website.