ACT Celebrates 40 Years! · 2014-05-12 · Page two The Phoenix October, 2013 Wonderings and Wanderings By Inman Moore Peace In Our Time On a recent Saturday, it was such a pretty

OOnn -- LLiinnee OOnn -- LLiinnee

The Official Publication of ACT P. O. Box 40074, (626) 795-2798

Published by Chuck Hains & Sally Beer

Volume 41 Number 9

October, 2013

ACT Celebrates 40 Years! With thanks to Bill and Claire Bogaard who opened their home for our celebration, the daycould not have been more perfect. ACT Co-Chairs, Anthony Portantino, Felicia Williams and Wendy Soltes served as the MC’s for the program. We heard greetings from Council Member Steve Madison, Assemblyman ChrisHolden and Dr. Jack Scott (who received a standing ovation!) We welcomed ACT members from far away – Al & Rosemary Lowe, Lucy Clark, Melissa Boggs, Janice & Victor Laruccia Cheryl Miller-Heitman, as well as many old friends including Delano Robinson from ACT’s past. We dined on great food prepared by Barbara Paul. Images on panels designed by Wendy Soltesshowcased events that shaped ACT’s past and brought to the present our most recent political

Page two The Phoenix October, 2013

participation. Big thanks to Bobbie Moon forsewing the vivid table topers. And a shout outto Chuck Hains for designing our 40th logo.

Our Committee Chairs, Anne Wolf and FredRegister, kept our committee members en-gaged and working hard. Our thanks go out toLinda Centell, Ed Washatka, Dolores Hickam-bottom, Jeanne Register, Ralph Hurtado, JonFuhrman, Anthony Portantino, FeliciaWilliams and Barbara Paul for participatingon this committee.

We had many volunteers who helped with theday’s event – thanks go out to Sally Beer,Julianne Hines, Barbara Lamb, Teresa Lamb-Simpson, Jamie Simpson, Joe Pardee, TomSeifert, Roger Wolf, Ann Hickambottom, John& Brooke McLean, and Joanne Wendler.

Thanks to everyone who attended, and to allwho so generously sponsored our event, aspecial thank you is given. Because of yourfaith in ACT and your willingness tocontribute to our Political Account, ACT cancontinue to support progressive candidatesand causes. The work goes on, the dreamcontinues!

-- Wendy Soltes

Our Best and Brightest A number of our generous 40th Anniversarysponsors remembered friends and loved onesfrom ACT’s past with their sponsorships. Wethink that was a lovely idea and that the hon-orees deserve another mention: George Mc-Govern, John & Jean Kulli, Judy Boggs,Joe Wyatt, Toby Osos, Pat Rostker, AnnHains, Elbie Hickambottom, Elsa Hodge,and all of ACT’s Community Heroes. Weremember these good people as a major part ofACT’s history.

ACT Endorsement Ballot Results Here’s how we voted on the ballot in the Sep-tember Phoenix: PCC Board District 1 Votes

Dianne Philibosian 51 (96%) Alex Keledjian 1 Ross Selvidge 1

Altadena Library Board Steven Lamb 0 Meredith McKenzie 45 (98%) David Tuck 36 (77%)

At our October 3 meeting the Steering Com-mittee voted to make contributions to thecampaigns of the three endorsed candidatesas follows: Philibosian - $2,000; McKenzie andTuck - $250 each.

2013 Steering Committee Meeting Calendar This is the Steering Committee meeting schedule for the remainder of 2013. Co-Chair Anthony Portantino is scheduled to chair each of these meetings.

Thursday, November 7 Thursday, December 5 (Annual Holiday

Potluck) All members are welcome and urged to attendSteering Committee meetings. Check ThePhoenix Calendar and our website for meet-ing locations, http://www.ACTPasadena.org. NOTE: We have gone back to the first Thurs-day of the month schedule for all future Steer-ing Committee meetings.

UDH News Please note that our Pasadena Area United Democratic Headquarters’ Oktoberfest Fund-raiser has been canceled for 2013.

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Wonderings and Wanderings By Inman Moore

Peace In Our Time

On a recent Saturday, it was such a prettyday that I walked through the Caltech Cam-pus, stopping at the Garden of the Associatesto visit my old philosopher friend Ten Jin. Heis a very famous Japanese philosopher datingback to the late 9th Century. His bronze sta-tue is in the garden where he is sitting astridea water buffalo and reading a manuscript.Ten Jin was a little ticked off with me. Hesaid, “Listen, if you are going to refer to me inyour column as you did last month, you shouldat least get my name right. It is not twowords. It is one word, ‘Tenjin.’” I replied, “Butthere is a plaque right here at your statuestating that Dr. Edwin Schneider in 1967provided the money for your statue and itspecifically gives your name as Ten Jin whichis two words!” “Well,” he replied, “I shouldknow my own name. It is one word, ‘Tenjin’.” His logic was pretty reasonable. We all like tohave our names spelled and pronounced right.I have an unusual first name, “Inman.” Oftenwhen I call someone who does not know me Iwill say, “Hello. This is Inman Moore.” Attimes I get the response, “hello Ed.” I can un-derstand wanting to get your name right. So,“Tenjin” it is and evermore shall be. But I digress. Tenjin could see I was distress-ed. “What seems to be your problem?” he ask-ed. I replied, “Tenjin, peace seems to be sucha tenuous thing today. Everybody is upset.Nations are saying very unkind things to oneanother. There is a deep suspicion that othercountries are made up of bitter bullies out toget us. There is war in Syria, much unrest inEgypt and Libya, the Iranian problem, andseveral other African nations are at each

other’s throats. North Korea is threateningSouth Korea, and the beat goes on. Tenjin hasit ever been thus? Why can’t we live in peace?”Tenjin responded by asking a question. “IsAmerica a peaceful nation?” I replied, “Yes, Ithink so.” “Well,” he said, “Have you everbeen in a war?” “Yes,” I said, “We have beenin a war.” “And how many times?” askedTenjin. Now, as I thought about it, it really shockedme. “Well,” I replied, “There was the Revolu-tionary War, the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War, the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II,Korean War, Vietnam War, Persian Gulf War,Afghanistan War, and the Iraq War. And, as Ireflect, a number of other minor conflicts.”“So,” said Tenjin, “It seems you are not exactlya peaceful nation. You have been at war al-most as much as you have been at peace. Withthat in mind what are you doing to promotepeace?” I replied, “We are spending huge a-mounts of money to protect us from other na-tions. Our military budget for 2012 was 729billion dollars.” “And what amount are youspending to promote peace?” asked Tenjin. Ireplied, “With all the agencies of the UnitedNations, which are supported by various de-partments of our government, the total wegave the UN last year was over 7 billion dol-lars. Of course, we also support other agenciessuch as the Peace Corps. Tenjin furrowed hisbrow in deep thought and then spoke, “Youare spending 729 billion for protection and 7billion plus for peace promotion.” Doesn’t thatset off an alarm that in the 21st Century youshould be doing more to promote peace?”What could I say? He sounded so right! May-be, as a starter, we should ask our Presidentto put more emphasis on the United Nations.After all, 193 nations of Planet Earth aremembers, and the two remaining nations areobservers. It’s about time we learned moreabout living with one another rather than kill-ing one another.

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Monday, October 7.

Most observers, myself included, didn'tthink we'd get here, with the government shutdown for 7 days now and our national debtquickly approaching its statutory ceiling.Most think that, somehow, we'll find a wayout. To be honest, though, I'm pretty pessi-mistic.

I thought the moderate bloc of 20 - 30 HouseRepublicans would have, by now, pulled usback from the brink. Yet in vote after vote,they've hung with Speaker Boehner. Therewere several procedural votes on which theycould have indicated their uneasiness, withoutsubstantively embarrassing the Speaker, orsimply voted "Present" as a protest. But thathasn't happened, and frankly doesn't seemlikely to happen this week either.

So is it up to the Speaker to show the "heroic

flexibility" that Iran's Ayatollah spoke of injustifying his government's supposed new will-ingness to negotiate? The Speaker seems to be moving away from afocus on Obamacare, talking this weekendabout the overall budget deficit and entitle-ment programs, which are much more thetraditional Republican pet peeves (and moreamenable to negotiation and compromise set-tlements). That would appear to be a recog-nition that the President is not going to moveon the substantive issues of Obamacare. How-ever, other members of Boehner's caucus re-main fully fixated on Obamacare. They be-lieve they are winning the public relationsbattle, calling merely for "fairness" in post-poning for individuals the same features thatthe President unilaterally postponed for bigbusiness. Of course, that's not quite exactlytrue, but it's close enough for them to get by inmedia sound bites. The Republicans seem im-pervious to the data that increasing numbersof voters (going from 63% in one poll to 70% ina more recent poll) don't agree with their posi-tion of shutting down the government unlessthe President gives in. Even more interestingare the polls that show 30 or more Republicandistricts are now highly competitive, thanks tovoter anger over the shutdown. One wouldthink, given that a shift of 17 seats wouldswitch control of the House, that Republicanswould have started having second thoughtsabout their grand strategy. Those polls notwithstanding, the hard-coreReps repetitiously argue that clear majoritiesof voters oppose Obamacare; yet they neverquite get around to explaining how, if that istrue, the President managed to get re-electedwith a margin of over 5 million votes, andDemocrat Congressional candidates actuallygarnered a million more votes than Republi-can candidates (though the configuration ofHouse districts allowed the GOP to retain con-trol of that chamber). Many of the hard-core

PPoolliittiiccaall NNootteess

by Jon Fuhrman


Republicans seem truly to believe that Obama-care is an existential danger to the country asthey know it (or knew it, perhaps), so any col-lateral damage from a government shutdownor credit default is minor compared to whatthey see as being at stake. Underneath that perception, I think, is also a desperation, a frustration at losing (and par-ticularly at losing to President Obama), and not understanding why they are losing, de-spite their absolute moral certainty that they are right. This tends to justifying using what-ever levers of power they have left, regardless of the destructive impact that might have.

night on October 17th, when we supposedlywill hit the ceiling? My guess, at this point, isthat there will have to be some sharp, externaljolt to shake the system, but I hate to imaginewhat that might have to be. The irony here is that, were it not for the bud-get and debt crisis, there might be substan-tially more focus on President Obama's foreignpolicy successes. Just this week, internationalinspectors began actually dismantleing someof Syria's equipment for manufacturing poisongases, and they termed promising the docu-mentation received so far on the inventory andlocation of Syria's poison gas arsenal. This is

What makes me increasinglypessimistic, though, is that, asthe stalemate continues, eachside becomes more and more in-vested in winning, or at least insaving face. One RepublicanCongressman apparently re-marked that they have to get"something" out of this face-off, even though he had no idea whatthat "something" might be. ThePresident believes he is right -- if he gives in to "blackmail", therewill be no end in sight. (And Ithink he is absolutely, exactly spot on; ask anyparent whose 3-year old has thrown a tempertantrum in a supermarket aisle, demandingcandy from the rack -- if you give in once, thechild will repeat that behavior endlessly.) Onthe Republican side, the longer the stalematelasts, the more invested the party becomes,and even moderate Republicans are reluctantto make the party (and themselves, by impli-cation) look foolish or impotent. So what might move the two sides off thedime? Will the Dow have to drop 1,000 pointsin one day? Will debt holders have to driveinterest rates up a full point in one day asthey sell off Treasuries en masse? Will GOPmoderates finally stand up and say they'vehad enough? Do we need to wait until mid-

really pretty astounding. It wasonly weeks ago that we startedthe United Nations process, withskeptics arguing that the Russiawould delay and obfuscate ad in-finitum. Yet here we are, just afew weeks later, with inspectorson the ground, actually startingthe destruction of Syria's entirepoison gas complex.

Then, for the first time in 44 years, an American President hasspoken directly to an IranianPresident, and the prospects for

serious negotiations about Iran's nuclear pro-gram seem real. Again, skeptics disbelieve theIranians and discount the likelihood of anyreal progress. But we've broken the ice, andthere seems a real possibility for progress forthe first time in decades. Finally, the Israelis and Palestinians are talk-ing about a two-state solution. Again, skepticsabound, here and in Israel and in Palestine.But the talks are moving, despite severalevents that, in past years, could easily havecaused a temporary or permanent disruptionin negotiations. Further, there are even hintsthat some real progress is being made. Taken together, these amount to a stunninglyspectacular change in the climate of the Mid-

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dle East. Obviously, lots of problems remain:Egypt is still a mess; we're still trying to sortout the moderates from the hard-core amongthe Syrian rebels, all of whom seem to belosing some ground to Assad; Iraq remainsriven by political and sectarian violence;Afghanistan seems to be making little pro-gress toward a viable democracy. Yet, sixmonths ago, who would have guessed we'd bemoving toward eliminating Syria's chemicalweapons arsenal, toward a rapprochementwith Iran, and toward a negotiated settlementbetween Israel and the Palestinians -- withhardly anyone noticing! Here at home, we have an election coming upin November, with hardly anyone noticing.Three of four Pasadena City College Trusteesup for re-election were unopposed, so thoseareas won't even have an election (at least itsaved the College some big dollars). OnlyArea 1 (La Canada, West Altadena, LindaVista, San Rafael and Southwest Pasadena)has an election, with ACT member DiannePhilibosian running against Ross Selvidge andAlex Keledjian. Alex is a 19-year old who wasthe student trustee on the La Canada schoolboard; to his credit, he has been working hishome community hard, and he won the en-dorsement of all the La Canada school boardmembers, and some other prominent Repub-licans as well. La Canada will likely producethe most votes in the race (in part becausethey also have a school board election thisNovember, whereas there is absolutely noth-ing else on the ballot in Pasadena and only theAltadena Library Board in West Altadena).But Keledjian will have to overcome voters'natural skepticism over electing a person soyoung to a board that oversees a $200 millionannual budget. Some of the problems on campus -- in particu-lar the adversarial relationships developedwith the teacher's union leadership -- makePhilibosian a perfect pick for the job. Both her

experience as a trustee, and Chair of theBoard of Trustees, of the University of thePacific, and her experience at CalState North-ridge in bringing together stakeholders withadversarial interests and perspectives andfinding solutions acceptable to all, seem de-signed specifically to prepare her for the chall-enges she may face at PCC.

The biggest challenge all three candidatesface, of course, is to interest voters in theelection. Turnout, sadly, is likely to be wellunder 20%, and it's that high only because ofLa Canada's school board election being on thesame ballot. So if you know anyone over onthe west side of town, or in La Canada, remindthem of the upcoming election -- just a fewvotes could make the difference.

-- Jon Fuhrman

Steering Committee Changes We welcome Dale Gronemeier to theSteering Committee. He has agreed to chairthe Outreach Committee and to serve on theResearch Committee. (John McLean had toresign as Outreach chair due to time con-straints.) Also – Ralph Hurtado has submit-ted his resignation as Research Committeechair and Sally Beer will resign as RecordingSecretary at the end of the year. We are look-ing for volunteers to take over these spots.Please contact Jon Fuhrman at 626-795-5255or [email protected] if you are in-terested.

Special Thanks to Our Sustaining Member:

Neal Wrightson, Pasadena

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From 41st District Assemblymember Chris Holden

Dear ACT Friends,

Congratulations to ACT on 40 years highlighting the valuable contri-butions from so many committed activists whohave brought progressive leaders and issuesinto the highest levels of public policy. Theanniversary celebration was a huge successand I was glad to be a part of it. As I near the completion of my first year inthe Assembly, I want to convey my apprecia-tion to my friends at ACT for the privilege ofrepresenting them in the 41st Assembly Dis-trict. Over these past ten months I believe the Leg-islature has made progress on many impor-tant issues: we passed an on-time balancedbudget for the third year in a row, we expand-ed funding for education and extended accessto health care. I have worked to improve the business climateof the state, support our veterans and developfunding for domestic violence shelters. Otherbills would streamline airport rental agree-ments, boost California’s farm products, andsafeguard the work of architects. I was verypleased to join Sen. Carol Liu on her bill toend decades of speculation by ensuring thatthe 710 freeway surface route is no longer anoption.

As you know, all Californians will be requiredto have health insurance beginning in Janu-ary 2014. If you don’t have health insurance,learn how Covered California can help you.I’m working with Sen. Liu and NAACP-LA ona “Town Hall Meeting” to explain how Califor-

nians can purchase affordable, high-qualityhealth insurance. Join us Thursday, October17, 4 – 6 pm at the Jackie Robinson Center inPasadena. I will be addressing city and town councils inthe weeks ahead and I look forward to seeingyou out in the community. I’ll be at the Alta-dena Town Council on October 15, South Pas-adena City Council the next night, October 16and Pasadena City Council on October 21.

Of course, there is much left to do as we workto make California an even better place to liveand work. I look forward to working togetherin the months and years ahead.

-- Chris R. HoldenAssemblyman. Holden represents some 420,000people in the foothills communities of Altadena,Pasadena, South Pasadena, Sierra Madre, Monro-via, San Dimas, La Verne, Claremont, and Upland.He can be reached via his website at: www.asm.ca.-gov/holden and fill out the contact form.

November Phoenix Deadline The deadline for the November Phoenix willbe Sunday, November 10. As always, senditems to Chuck at [email protected].

Mailing preparation will be Thursday, Novem-ber 14 at a location to be decided.

ACT pasadena.org Check the ACT webpage, ACTpasadena.org,for the online version of The Phoenix. Itusually is available soon after the mailedversion arrives. It’s in color and may haveitems that didn’t fit in the mailed version.

Please contact [email protected] your suggestions for items to include onour web page.

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From 25th District State Senator Carol Liu...

Sacramento Update

I am pleased to report that Governor Brownhas signed all 10 of my bills that passed theLegislature this year. These measures, whichwill become effective on January 1st 2014,include: ● SB 116 extending the Emergency Food

Assistance Program check-off on state in-come tax forms. These taxpayer donationsgenerated nearly $350,000 for food bankslast year.

● SB 238 allowing the Supervisor of theAngeles National Forest to vote as a SantaMonica Mountains Conservancy Boardmember on matters related to projectslocated within or affecting the Forest.

● SB 247 eliminating unnecessary testing ofsecond graders and requires the CaliforniaDepartment of Education to find assess-ments in English and mathematics thatare more relevant to the learning abilitiesof these young students.

● SB 416 authorizing CalTrans to fast tracksales of surplus properties purchased dec-ades ago for a planned State Route 710extension through Los Angeles, Alhambra,South Pasadena, and Pasadena. The homeswill never be needed to make room for anextension, and the sales will generaterevenue for local transportation projects.

● SB 571 and SB 789 helping the CaliforniaArts Council to continue raising funds withan Arts special interest license plate andcreating a new state income tax check off

for the “Keep Arts in Schools!” fund.

On the home front, I am continuing my Super-intendents and stakeholders roundtable meet-ings on implementing the new Common CoreCurriculum and my Public Safety roundtablemeetings with local law enforcement as wecontinue trying to meet the challenges of re-alignment.

Also this month, I’m off on my second annualstatewide anti-poverty tour highlighting Com-munity Schools that partner with local govern-ment and non-profit providers to deliver wrap-around services to at-risk students and theirfamilies. I am so proud that Pasadena Cityand Unified School District are collaboratingto implement a community schools strategy.They will serve as a model for the state as weseek recommendations on removing barriersand facilitating implementation.

Finally, don’t forget that this is the time I be-gin assembling my legislative agenda for nextyear. If you have bill ideas or problems thatmight be solved with legislation, please con-tact my district office at 818-409-0400.

Sen. Liu represents about 930,000 people in the 25thSenate District, which includes Burbank, Glendale,Pasadena, La Cañada Flintridge, La Crescenta-Montrose, Altadena, San Marino, South Pasadena,Sierra Madre, Monrovia, Duarte, San Dimas, LaVerne, Claremont, Glendora, and Upland.

Welcome New and Returning ACT Members:

Brenda Berg & Armando Gonzalez, Glendale

Ken Meidema & Julie Reiz, Pasadena Dr. Mark Esensten & Sandra Haynes-

Esensten, Pasadena

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From 43rd District Assemblymember Mike Gatto

Greetings from Sacramento!

Creating Tools to Protect Communities from Contamination

It is unfortunate to see so many once livelyand lush communities in California strugglewith environmental decay and hazardouswaste contamination due to commercial use. These contaminated sites, known as brown-fields, are often costly and time consuming torestore. Many of these properties go untouch-ed and unused for years, despite prime loca-tions in the heart of city-centers and transitpaths. They also pose a health risk to individ-uals living or working nearby, and have along-term impact on the environment.

Earlier this year, I proposed a bill that wouldgrant local government the power to hold par-ties responsible for contamination of proper-ties and require these individuals to pay fortheir clean-up. This bill, called AB 440, alsoprotects tax payers and subsequent purchas-ers from liability for unanticipated contamin-ation found on a site, giving developers thecertainty they need to pursue investment in asite. Without this certainty, developers areunlikely to invest in otherwise financiallyrisky projects. AB 440 gives local governments the legaltools they need to remediate contaminatedareas and pursue new economic opportunities.This power will allow cities to repurpose ex-isting properties and recover properties thatare currently unsightly and wasteful, insteadof building new developments on pristine,open spaces at the outskirts of town. Several

properties have already been rejuvenatedusing similar powers in the past, including theMTA orange-line busway in the San FernandoValley, which replaced a contaminated rail-road right-of-way with a hybrid-powered bus-way system, bike path, and pedestrian walk-way.

I believe that rehabilitation of communities isgood for our neighborhoods, good for the econo-my, and good for the environment. That’swhy AB 440 has inspired a rare showing ofbipartisan and cross-sector unity, with organ-ized labor, business organizations, local gov-ernments, and environmental advocates allexpressing support. By extending greaterauthority to local governments, we can cleanand recycle contaminated property, bring jobsand housing to where people need it most, andhelp bring our cities into the 21st century.

Mike Gatto is the Chairman of the AppropriationsCommittee in the California State Assembly. Herepresents Burbank, Glendale, La Cañada Flint-ridge, La Crescenta, Montrose, and the Los Angelesneighborhoods of Atwater Village, East Hollywood,Franklin Hills, Hollywood Hills, Los Feliz, andSilver Lake. www.asm.ca.gov/gatto

From ACT Co-Chair Anthony Portantino Dear Friends,

It was great to see so many old and newfriends at the ACT 40th Anniversary party atthe Bogaard’s home. Great hosts, wonderfulactivists and elected leaders came together fora terrific afternoon. The always amazing JackScott was a great keynote speaker as heshared political and policy war stories for allto enjoy.

The 7th Annual San Gabriel Valley HIV/AIDSSummit is just around the corner. Every year,

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I join with City of Hope to put on this terrificevent. It’s free to the public so go on line andregister. We continue to focus on youth andwill be joined by outstanding HIV/AIDS non-profits from around Los Angeles County andstudents from Blair and Montebello HighSchool’s Health Academies. It’s October22and registration begins at 8:30 AM.

http://aidssummit.eventbrite.com/

I’m having a blast teaching some PoliticalScience at USC where I have been impressedby the students and their interest in govern-ment and public policy. There’s even anotherNew York Giants fan in the class. I learn fromthem as much as I hope I’m sharing withthem. Thus far, we’ve covered topics rangingfrom education, healthcare, jobs and the econ-omy. Yes, I’m officially a member of the Tro-jan family as a Scholar in Residence/VisitingFellow. Other than the coffee mug on mydesk, I have not purchased any regalia yet,but I guess I need to.

In addition, I’ve been bringing some of mypolicy interests to the small screen via my talkshow; The Question Is with Anthony Por-tantino. You can catch it on the CaliforniaChannel 101 (Saturday and Sunday at 7:30PM) or through my Facebook page dedicatedto the show. There are three shows on line atthe moment and a fourth will premiere onOctober 15.

https://www.facebook.com/TheQuestionIsWithAnthonyPortantino

I’ve had great guests discussing such things asHIV/AIDS, Prison Realignment and FertilityPreservation. Yes, if you thought you kneweverything you needed to know about makingbabies you still need to see my show. It coversthe topic of insurance coverage in the wake ofcancer treatments that impact fertility. WhenI learned that some young women and menwill forgo treatment so as not to become in-

fertile I became passionate about making thepreservation of fertility a part of insurancecoverage. I was pleased and honored to haveDr. Karine Chung, the head of USC’s fertilitypreservation program and Alice Crisci, thefounder of a nonprofit called Fertile Action tellus all about advances in science and the move-ment that Alice started when she faced breastcancer at age 31.

Later in the month, I’ll be tackling runawayfilm production with guests from the Califor-nia Film Commission and the productioncrafts. This is an issue near and dear to me asI came here from New Jersey precisely to workin film and TV. A new topic premieres the15th of every month.

On the family front, Sofia is endeavoring tofollow me into film work as a recent graduateof UCSB. Bella’s AYSO soccer team is calledMaroon 12 and can be found on the MuirNorth and Rose Bowl Fields every Saturday. Icontinue to referee games, though 15 yearsolder than when I first started; I take muchlonger to recover now. Ellen is busy with hercareer and taking care of everything in mywake. Ellen and Bella’s Girl Scout troop isworking on an exciting “Air Fair” event –focusing on the environment and air quality.

-- Anthony

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An ACT Member’s Provocative Look Back… I am 94 years old going for 100, and I havebeen looking back over my life. War after warafter war after war --100 years of war. Nowwe are talking about bombing Syria and whatto do about Iran.

Who are we to shake a righteous finger atnaughty Syria and their insignificant use ofchemical weapons? Hiroshima, Nagasaki, MyLai, Iraq, napalm, agent orange, clusterbombs, drones, indiscriminate sale of wea-pons. Do as I say, not as I do. We are theterrorists. Everybody hates us.

We are the world's biggest exporter of wea-pons. We sell to all—friend or enemy. Hey,don’t get excited. It’s good business

Drones. Seems a cowardly way to fight. Andwhen we strike there is always some collateraldamage or murder of innocent human beings. Each strike creates more terrorists.

Here it is a tranquil Fall day in Pasadena. Does anyone remember that we are in a majorwar, that we are killing and being killed? It’snot in the news. There is no draft. We arepleasantly sheltered from reality.

I just read a good book, Mighty be ourPowers by Leymah Gbowee, which inspiredthe award winning documentary Pray theDevil back to Hell. This is about themassive uprising of Liberian women to stopendless war in Liberia. They were successfuland now have a woman president, EllenJohnson Sirleaf, Africa’s first female head ofstate.

We are living in a Man’s World. I wonderwhat a Woman’s World would look like. Ladies?

- Grace Tiessen

Calendar Oct 18 Friday Morning Progressive Friday Discussion Group at CoCo’s 9 a.m. Restaurant, 77 N. Lake Ave.,

Pasa. Call Inman Moore for info at 626-795-2201.

Oct 22 Portantino HIV/AIDS Action Tuesday Summit at Cooper Auditorium, 9 a.m.–noon City of Hope, 1500 E. Duarte

Rd., Duarte.

Nov 1 Friday Morning Discussion Friday Group. (Details same as 10/18.)

Nov 5 VOTE! Local Elections include- Tuesday ing PCC Board and Altadena 7 am–8 pm Library Board.

Nov 7 ACT Steering and ADC Meeting Thursday at the home of Jeanne and Fred 7 p.m. Register, 2345 Midlothian Dr.,

Altadena. Three PCC Board members are invited to speak. Coffee at 7 p.m.; meeting at 7:30 p.m. Everyone is welcome.

Nov 8 San Gabriel Valley Democratic Friday Women’s Club meeting at the 10 a.m. Altadena Library, 600 E. Mari-

posa St., Altadena. Assembly-man Chris Holden will provide a Sacramento Update. Everyone is welcome.

Nov 15 Friday Morning Discussion Friday Group. (Details same as 10/18.)

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Is There a Red Check on Your Address Label? Your continued membership in ACT/ADC is important to us, so a red check on your address label on this Phoenix is to remind you that we have not yet received your 2013 ACT and/or ADC dues. Please use the form below and mail your check c/o ACT/ADC, P. O. Box 40074, Pasadena, CA 91114-7074 ASAP. Or renew online at http://www.actpasadena.org/. If you have any questions about your membership contact Jon Fuhrman at [email protected] or 626-795-5255.

P.S. Many thanks to our 2013 members in 244 ACT households. Your membership contributions keep us going.

I'd like to join both groups for one low price! (Checks payable to ACT/ADC) � $40 Single � $70 Single Sustaining � $25 Each additional member per household � $90 Double Sustaining � $15 Student or limited income � $150 Patron � $275 Benefactor I'd like to join ACT (Checks payable to ACT) � $35 Single � $60 Single Sustaining � $20 Each additional member per household � $85 Double Sustaining � $15 Student or limited income � $125 Patron � $20 Gift Membership (NEW!) � $275 Benefactor I'd like to join the Arroyo Democratic Club (Checks payable to ADC) � $35 Single � $60 Single Sustaining � $20 Each additional member per household � $85 Double Sustaining � $15 Student or limited income � $125 Patron � $275 Benefactor

Extra Contribution � $ ___________ Political Account (for endorsed candidates and issues) � $ ___________ Operating Account (for organizational costs) $ __________ Total enclosed Name Home Phone

Address Office Phone

City ZIP

Email address

Mail to ACT, P. O. Box 40074, Pasadena, CA 91114-7074

Documents

ACT Celebrates 40 Years! · 2014-05-12 · Page two The Phoenix October, 2013 Wonderings and Wanderings By Inman Moore Peace In Our Time On a recent Saturday, it was such a pretty