August 2008 Newsletter

Volume 9 Issue 8 August, 2008

News ‘n’ Views Of, By and For Members of the Hubert H. Humphrey Democratic Club

HHHDC August 2008 Meeting

Monday, August 18 , 2008

Coco’s Restaurant

11510 South Street, Cerritos, CA (¼ mile east of the 605 freeway)

Dinner (optional) at 6:00 p.m. - Meeting begins at 7:00 pm

Program: Hon. Debbie Cook, Mayor of Huntington Beach

Subject: Energy Policy

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

Announcements ........................Page 1

Member Corner …….…….…………Page 2

Cartoons ……………..…….…..….……Page 3

Going Green …………….………….…Page 4

Photos …………………………………...Page 5

HHHDC Member Honored ….…Page 6

Internet Pipeline …….……..…..….Page 6

Bill Press Opinion ……..……………Page 7

Advertisements....…….…………….Page 8

Membership Form……….………..Page 10

Announcements

Treasurer position is still open. Please consider nominating yourself

or another club member for this elected position on the eboard at the

next club meeting.

Newest Members: Angela Alonzo, James D. Bugher, Kamlesh

Chauhan, Christopher Duvali, Gabriel Garcia, Luis Marquez, Mauro

Morales, Judith Newkirk, Michiko Oyama-Canada, Jack Rofe, Nick

Heung Kim, Katie Moore.

Debbie Cook, Mayor of Huntington Beach, will be the guest speaker

at the August 18th meeting of the Hubert H. Humphrey Democratic

Club of Cerritos. The meeting will take place in the Garden Room of

Coco’s Restaurant located at 11510 South Street in Cerritos. The

meeting which begins at 7:00 p.m. will include a Q&A session with

Mayor Cook following her presentation which is scheduled during the

second hour of the meeting. You can read more about her campaign

to replace the 46th congressional district seat, currently held by

Dana Rohrabacher, at: http://debbiecookforcongress.com/

Louis Marquez, candidate for Downey City Council, is scheduled to

speak at the 8/18/08 membership meeting. He is seeking the club’s

endorsement.

August, 2008 News ‘n’ Views

Member Corner Text and photos by Marisela Cervantes

Downey City Council Race is On

HHHDC member Luis Marquez has announced his candidacy for the Downey City Council in the upcoming November

election. He is a senior field representative for Senator Alan Lowenthal, working out of the Paramount field offices. A

veteran of Democratic activism, Luis has worked in both the private and public sectors for the past decade and on

some of the major policy issues facing the region. He has secured the endorsements of Senator Alan Lowenthal,

Assemblymember Hector De La Torre, and Downey Council Members Cartozian, Guerra, and Gafin. Luis moved to

Downey soon after marrying wife Alma. They have two year old twins, Maya and Diego. (for pics….

http://thedowneypatriot.net/view_full.php?article=0000002379)

Let Freedom Ring Celebration

HHHDC sold all American Drumstick ice cream cones and chocolate chip cookies along with other items at the July 4th

Let Freedom Ring Celebration in Cerritos. Hundreds of people were in attendance, and many inquired about how they

could get involved with Democratic issues. Newsletter Editor, Mike Stabile distributed a special 4th of July edition of

the June Newsletter and hundreds of commemorative HHHCD pencils. The event was a huge success for HHHDC!

L to R: Mike Stabile, Marisela Cervantes, Beverly Porter & Nikki Noushkam

County Central Committee

On Monday, July 14th, HHHDC members Charlie Ara, Anthony Armendarez, Maureen Alan, Denise Stabile, Nikki

Noushkam, Luis Marquez, Joseph Legaspi and Marisela Cervantes were sworn in as delegates for their respective

Assembly Districts at a meeting in Los Angeles. The County Central Committee is the grassroots arm of our Party

organization responsible for supporting local candidates for office. The terms are for two years.


"Capitalism is the greatest system ever created for alleviating human misery, and yet it

breeds ingratitude. People ask, 'Why is there poverty in the world?' It is a silly

question. Poverty is the default human condition. We are born naked and penniless,

bereft of skills or possessions. The interesting question isn't, 'Why is there poverty?'

It's, 'Why is there wealth?' Or: 'Why is there poverty here but not there?'

Jonah Goldberg in National Review Online - found in the August 15,2008 edition of The Week


Going Green with Norma and Alan

The Global Importance of Local Produce

By Norma and Alan Williamson, HHHDC Members

Did you know that supermarket food travels, on the average, approximately 1,500 miles from farmer to dining

room table? That equals approximately 30,000 pounds of harmful greenhouse gases (for that basket of Fuji apples) that

are damaging our air quality as well as our planet’s climate system. A good, old fashioned solution to this menacing

problem is shopping at Farmers’ Markets.

The Cerritos Farmers’ Market is open on Saturdays from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at the parking lot adjacent to

the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts. Here farmers travel an average of 150 miles to bring their produce to your

kitchen counter. If you’re craving fresh, ripe and tasty fruit and vegetables that are in season, this is the place to shop.

Just remember to bring your own cloth shopping bags and reuse your plastic produce bags. For the truly dedicated

“eco-nuts” you might want to bring your own reusable metal utensils (if you’re eating yummies from the prepared food

vendors, like tamales or polish sausages) and cloth napkins. Also, be ready to cart out any recyclable paper trash, since

our Cerritos Farmers’ Market does not provide recycling containers. So all trash goes into those nasty landfills that are

contaminating our underground water table.

Another alternative to shipping produce from as far away as the country of Chile is to grow your own

vegetables. Our tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans, basil and fruit trees are flourishing in our small garden patch

outside our home. For those green at heart, you’ll want to compost all your produce remains. We invested in a plastic

tumbler style composter (made from recycled plastic) which helps us convert (in an odorless fashion) our green waste

into fresh soil for our garden. This saves us money, instead of buying our potting soil at the nursery, and the earth

worms will love you!

For a garden inspiration, read about the Dervaes family who live in Northwest Pasadena:

(http://www.pathtofreedom.com/). They live on a 66’ x 132’ property and annually produce 6,000 lbs. of their own

food. They grow over 350 different vegetables, herbs, fruits and berries as well as raise their own chickens, ducks,

dwarf/pygmy goats, dwarf rabbits and honeybees. They have been interviewed by New York Times Magazine, and their

slogan is “A Homegrown Revolution, Using Our Hands as Weapons of Mass Creation!”

* * *

Announcement: The "Future is Green" Conference is scheduled for Sept. 14 - 16 at the Long Beach Convention

Center. Sunday, Sept. 14 is free to the public. Over 70 exhibits and 30 clean car displays (unfortunately no electric

vehicles, yet). Go to www.capcoagreen.com for more information.

Here are photos taken at the recent County Central Committee Swearing-In meeting and the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt

Democrat of the Year Awards Dinner, plus a mystery person. See if you can recognize all the people in the photos.


Lou Delgado

Lou Delgado

FF


HHHDC Member Honored

This year the Los Angeles County Democratic Party brought the annual Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Democrat of the

Year Awards to the Queen Mary in Long Beach. The event brings together Democratic activists and elected officials

from throughout the state to honor a man and a woman from each Assembly District for their activism and dedication

to getting Democrats elected at all levels of government. This year our very own long-time party activist, Secretary,

and Newsletter Editor/Publisher Mike Stabile earned this prestigious distinction.

Mike is the son of an Air Force navigator; he earned his MS in Physiology from UC Davis. In addition to his involvement

with HHHDC, he is a member of Progressive Democrats of America, the Union of Concerned Scientists, and the

Association of Retired Americans. In 2004, Mike earned recognition from the Association of Fundraising Professionals

on National Philanthropy Day. Appointed (by Congresswoman Linda Sanchez) as delegate to the California

State Democratic Party for 2007 and 2008, he runs a political blog, "Left is Right (http://mstabile.blogspot.com/) which

has been referenced by the New York Times, The Daily Kos and other progressive political sites. A strong anti-War

activist, Mike has demonstrated against the War in Iraq before and after the conflict began, participating in actions

locally and in San Francisco, San Diego and Camp Casey in Crawford, Texas. Mike and his wife Denise live in Cerritos.

The woman honoree was Gloria Duran, a long time activist and former member of the Los Nietos School Board.

2008 promises to be a big year for Democrats across the country and in our region as we ride the “Big Blue Wave” all

the way to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue were the words of LACDP Chair, Eric Bauman as he inspired local activist to

continue their work to elect Democrats to local offices. Among the attendees was Lieutenant Governor, and 2010

gubernatorial candidate, John Garamendi.

Internet Pipeline

Introducing a new and regular feature of this newsletter. Internet Pipeline will suggest noteworthy internet sites

and newsletters related to Democratic issues and politics, along with updates of our club’s new web site. If you

have any pertinent sites that you’d like to pass on to members, please email the information to the Newsletter

Editor at [email protected].

First off, as a follow-up to a recent club showing of the documentary Black Gold, HHHDC member Gary Chomiak

passes along a link to an organization his church group uses to sell fair trade coffee. The Oromia Coffee Farmer's

Co-op is one of their partners. Here's the link: www.equalexchange.com.

For daily news updates on the important politics in Sacramento, I strongly recommend The Daily Roundup. I

actually subscribe to their daily weekday email newsletter. It has some behind-the-scenes information that you

cannot easily find anywhere else. Here's the link: http://www.capitolbasement.com/.

Megavote lets you track your Senators' and Representative's votes by e-mail. Sign up at this website:

http://www.congress.org/congressorg/megavote/. Each week (that Congress is in session) you will receive:

• Key votes by your two Senators and U.S. Representative.

• Links to send e-mail to your members of Congress using pre-addressed forms.

• Upcoming votes for your review and a chance to offer e-mail input before they vote.

Use this weekly vote monitor to track the decisions made by your elected officials on key issues.

The Relevance of Being Shot Down Bill Press 7/3/2008

It's only July, but already we know the rules of this year's presidential campaign. Actually, they're the same rules that

apply every election: You can say anything you want about the Democratic candidate, but you have to treat the

Republican candidate with kid gloves.

In 2000, for example, you could accuse Al Gore of taking bribes from China, but you could not question George Bush's

use of cocaine. In 2004, it was fine to smear John Kerry's war record, but forbidden to wonder why George Bush never

showed up for National Guard duty.

Here we go again. In 2008, it's OK to suggest, as conservative bloggers do daily, that Barack Obama is a gay, American-

hating, chain-smoking Muslim. But not OK to suggest that just because John McCain was shot down and spent six

years in the Hanoi Hilton does not, in itself, qualify him to be president. Unfortunately, Gen. Wesley Clark learned that

lesson the hard way.

Appearing on CBS's "Face the Nation," Clark began by praising McCain's military service, calling him a "hero" for the

courage he showed as a prisoner of war. However, Clark correctly pointed out, donning the uniform alone does not

make the wearer presidential timber. In choosing a president, what's important is the judgment that a candidate has

shown and his experience in making executive decisions.

Host Bob Schieffer persisted. Didn't his being shot down give McCain an advantage over Obama? Whereupon General

Clark gave his now-famous answer: "Well, I don't think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification

to be president."

Ironically, Clark didn't say anything John McCain hadn't already said himself. I've heard him, several times, entertain

audiences with the same self-deprecating, joke: "It doesn't take a lot of talent to get shot down. I was able to

intercept a surface-to-air missile with my own airplane."

But for his comment, Clark was not only condemned by the McCain campaign, he was thrown under the bus by his

own candidate. Why? Clark did nothing wrong. He merely told the truth. Yes, we honor every man and woman who

wears the uniform. We especially honor those who are shot down and taken prisoner. But that doesn't mean they're

all qualified to be president.

Again, what counts is judgment. How much judgment did John McCain show when he suggested it would be OK for

American forces to remain in Iraq another 100 years? When he opposed the latest version of the GI Bill? When he

supported the CIA's continued use of waterboarding? When he condemned the Supreme Court's granting prisoners at

Guantanamo Bay the right to challenge their confinement in civilian court "one of the worst decisions in the history of

this country" Some former fighter pilots might have shown better judgment on those issues. This one did not.

The way Gen. Clark was treated was unfair. But what's more unfair is the double standard applied to Democratic and

Republican candidates. Why is John McCain's military service out of bounds in 2008, when it was considered perfectly

fair to challenge John Kerry's war credentials in 2004, or Max Cleland's in 2002?

And notice this big difference. In 2004, the so-called "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" didn't stop at Kerry's readiness to

be president. They called him a phony. They questioned the very authenticity of Kerry's service in Vietnam and the

medals he was awarded. They suggested he was somewhere else, and never wounded. It was all a pack of lies. Gen.

Clark, by contrast, never challenged -- indeed, he praised -- McCain's service in Vietnam. He merely questioned its

relevance to the Oval Office. Big difference. Clark's criticism is legitimate. The Swift Boat attacks were not.

But this is not the only double standard we've seen regarding the Swift Boat veterans. To his credit, John McCain

condemned their tactics in 2004. To his total discredit, he has embraced them in 2008. McCain has named Bud Day,

one of the most vitriolic Swift Boaters against John Kerry, to his campaign "Truth Squad." And, according to USA

Today, so far McCain has accepted almost $70,000 in campaign contributions from Swift Boat associates. Whatever

moral outrage he felt toward them four years ago disappeared once he needed them as his own attack dogs.


Joseph Cho, Ph.D.

Tel: (562) 547-4434

P.O. Box 4115

Cerritos, CA 90703

[email protected]

The Lucy and Joseph Cho Foundation


Our HHHDC Newsletter is available on your computer!

Please send your email address to: Mike Stabile at

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2008 HHHDC OFFICERS

AND COMMITTEES

2008 Executive Board

President Nikki Noushkam 562-712-4072

Vice-President Marisela Cervantes 213-445-1152

Treasurer Ulla Herman 714-5227589

Recording Sec. Mike Stabile 562-505-5807

Committees

Legislative Floyd Allen 562-746-7569

Newsletter Editor Mike Stabile 562-505-5807

Membership Beverly Porter

Historian Charlie Ara 562-865-4075

Parliamentarian Marisela Cervantes 213-445-1152

Got an Ad?

We’ve got the space!

Check out details on Page 8

New advertisers are needed for the

newsletter. If you are interested, or know of

a person or business who would like to

advertise in our fine publication, please

contact the President, Nikki Noushkam, for

details and instructions. As a no-cost bonus,

all ads placed in the newsletter will also

appear on the club’s new website once it is

officially open for business later this year.

THIS PAGE IS INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK (other than this comment about it being left blank)

PLEASE JOIN US!

Please fill out the information below and return it with your annual dues to:

HHHDC Membership * 11245 183rd Street #136 * Cerritos, CA 90703

Make your check payable to: Hubert H. Humphrey Democratic Club (or HHHDC).

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August 2008 Newsletter

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