Pancho's Blog

Agustin Valdez June 6th 2010

2010-06-08T17:33:00.001-07:00

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone, Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone, Silence the pianos and with muffled drum Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come. Let the aeroplanes circle, moaning overhead Scribbling on the sky the message 'He is Dead'. Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun. My abuelito is gone.

Virgen del Guadalupe Pillibloging

2009-12-11T17:37:00.000-08:00

Society lost in Irony

2009-12-11T12:55:00.001-08:00

Now that we have a black president who just won the Nobel peace prize, he uses the occasion to speak of war and why its necessary. Good god this decade ended with the irony of ironies. Starting with a president elected by a Supreme Court with Justices his dad had picked, to a Terrorist attack on 9/11 masterminded by former CIA operatives and now this slap to the mind. Have we evolved completely from 1990's cynics to full blown Ironists? Everything I see is filtered through this prism and we're so overwhelmed by it that we just let it go. Comedy news shows tell more new now, The Ratings leader of News is anything but a news channel. I hope the next decade returns us to some sense of honesty but I know how alluring the power of denial and laughing off the yucky parts of life are. Even when the true is upon us, like the WMD's in IRAQ we couldn't confront it like rational people. We've passed the buck on and allowed our lives to be more filled with the failings of another people (black men in particular are scrumptious to America, (Kanye West, Tyson, OJ, Micheal, Tiger) plus our celebrity women) than with rationally taking step to make people/things better. Why should I its all fucked up anyways or I didn't make it that way/not my fault.
For years I've been wondering if it was me who was becoming more cynical with age or if everyone was doing their damnest to get more snarky. The real irony is that our pop culture makes allusions to the reality but is swallowed up by the Irony filter that makes death the actual true behind its significance (ie the Dixie Chicks, Kanye's Katrina outburst). We all chuckle because we're all in on the joke but the joke is on us not just politically but also morally. I don't mean this in a religous sense because even though the Right Winged/Conservative Irony sphere continues it contantly needs to create its own space to not be swallowed up by the main stream Irony. In someway I blame the internet for being the breading ground to transform our cynisim into complete and uter ironic contempt. Because it appeals to our lower standards and not our higher points of humanity we are letting the zeligest of our new cyberlife (what's your status say now) blind us to the irony of being completely disconserned and disconnected in the new overly connected world. We take picture not for the picture and memory's sake but to post it up. On one level I think its good it makes people think of what they present of themselve and maybe where they want to go for "that profile picture", but our short sightedness of this cultural movement is going to be the defining point of my generation. What new spaces of personal relationship and global ones will either further endanger the world or help save it. Now isn't that Ironic.

a reflection

2009-12-09T13:12:00.000-08:00

with the rise and fall of the great bi-racial class of famous people like Tiger woods and my recent discovery of Stuff Educated Chicano a pattern that I still haven't put my head around is surely happening. From the Super Racial/ reaction of the new Post-Racial political world by the Tea Party folks the landscape of race in the United States is completely in flux. Granted that any landscape of race is evolving and de-evolving with and in contradition to the times but in this time of the watershed moment of Obama comes the simmering and full blown reaction to the change and new found resentment of the unknown future for all cultural groups. The neutering of the left poltical culture has a void that has been capitalized on by a viciam hood obessed society and political movement that values the Loudest winnier over the morally or jusifibly correct without much limits to they're tantrums. Yes republican/ tea baggers I mean you.

New and only features

2009-12-08T10:31:00.000-08:00

I've been remunerating that I want to write more then sporacticly on my blog but had no real focus outside of just documenting my family's travels and or pictures. The Friday Pilliblogging will be started again but the newest and most exciting for me is that I've decided to add a thematic focus to some of my writing. Apparently I'm something of a Pop Culture critic, I'd like to say I'm good at it but its really more of trying to intellectualize the rapidly and yet ever present moods and currents in our American culture through the vast regions and types. And in a way trying to capture a small sliver of what I believe is a emerging world culture, not the UN/ Legalistic/ Government/ Olympic world culture but the uneven social connections that is being sped up by technology and global events. The unique position of the United States in being at once a foundation for and antianthem to the world culture is of particular interest to me even though I don't think my writing can every give it the justice it deserves.

I had a great name for the new Popular culture piece and I can't remember it. If people would comment and leave suggestions I'd love to hear them. And now back to remunerating about the culture wars and how it effects the world we all live in.

Guillermo M. Silva

2009-11-08T10:58:00.000-08:00

Guillermo M. Silva

E-mail Visit Guest Book

Silva, Guillermo M.
Guillermo was born November 19, 1920 in Salina Cruz, Oaxaca, Mexico. Guillermo is survived by sons, Jesse & Linda, Walter & Teresa, Armando & Mona, Alfonso & Beatrice, and Roger & Estella, and a brother Roberto, sisters Guadalupe and Guillermina, twelve grandchildren, two great grandchildren and nieces and nephews. Guillermo was predeceased by his wife Maria Dolores Silva, parents and brothers. Guillermo, prior to retirement, was a tradesman and completed several years of college. He was also a member of the Free and Active Masons in various Lodges in Phoenix, AZ for several decades. Guillermo was a two-time Past Master of the MONTEZUMA LODGE No. 35. F.8 A.M. in Phoenix, and a founding member and first Senior Warden of the HISPANOS UNIDOS MASONIC LODGE 83, and other lodges. Visitation will be held at Whitney & Murphy Funeral Home, 4800 E. Indian School Rd. on Sunday, November 8, from 5:00 to 9:00 PM. An honorary Masonic Ceremony will commence at 5:30 PM, followed by a Rosary at 7:00 PM. The Funeral Mass will be on Monday, November 9, at 10:00 AM at St. Francis
Xavier Catholic Church, 4715 North Central Avenue. Interment will follow immediately at Greenwood Memory Lawn Cemetery, 2300 W. Van Buren.

Published in The Arizona Republic on November 7, 2009

Post 500

2009-08-07T10:36:00.000-07:00

WOW

2009-05-12T10:57:00.001-07:00

http://img2.pict.com/01/18/06/f2cc3c3e9c355a5631783c9669/SOqD0/2zcg.gif

Zombies on my Lawn

2009-04-27T08:06:00.001-07:00

El Gran Silencio no piensa callar

2009-04-23T09:07:00.001-07:00

Jueves 16 de abril de 2009 9:38

Victoria Infante [victoria.infante@laopinion.com]

La banda tiene planeado editar un disco nuevo este año. (Foto: suministrada)

No tener una disquera o una compañía distribuidora no siempre es desventaja para los artistas, como sucede con El Gran Silencio.

La banda de rock en español ha sabido aprovechar las circunstancias adversas para su propio beneficio. No en balde tiene casi 20 años de existencia, lo que la convierte en una de las agrupaciones mexicanas más veteranas de su género.

Como un ejemplo de su método de supervivencia, EGS decidió editar y promocionar por su cuenta su último disco, que fue grabado en vivo durante un concierto que ofreció en el parque Fundidora, en Monterrey, México, en 2008. Se incluyeron todos los éxitos, entre ellos el ya clásico Dormir soñando y dos temas originales, Se va y Timbalero. El material todavía no está disponible en Estados Unidos.

"Lo que pasa es que para las disqueras es difícil promocionar a un grupo como nosotros, o puede ser caro… porque no sólo nos tienen que promover en las estaciones de rock, sino en las de música folklórica, música popular, música electrónica o hip-hop", dijo vía telefónica desde Monterrey Tony Hernández, líder del grupo.

Esto porque aunque EGS está catalogada como una agrupación de rock en español, su música es más bien de fusión, con reminiscencias de funk, ska, cumbia, polka, rap, pop y todo lo que se le ocurra a sus integrantes.

"El horizonte [musical] es muy amplio; entonces les da miedo invertir en un grupo como el de nosotros. Ya no toman riesgos las disqueras", sostuvo el vocalista, cuya banda tocará hoy en un antro de Witthier y mañana en el festival de Coachella.

Ahora mismo, EGS ha desarrollado un método para vender sus CDs. Simplemente, los lleva a sus tocadas, pone una mesa, y un miembro del equipo se dedica a venderlos. Tony dice que en una noche llegan a vender entre 100 y 300 álbumes, o hasta más.

"Y con una disquera es imposible que en un día en una tienda vendas mas de 100 discos", dijo el artista, y explicó que mientras que para una compañía de discos es un fracaso vender 25 mil copias de un artista, para un grupo, vender 5 mil álbumes sin intermediarios, es todo un triunfo.

"Porque el dinero es íntegro y te da para hacer un nuevo disco; no inviertes tanto en la promoción, sólo en los shows, y te manejas con los fans directamente, ¿no?", sostuvo.

La banda regiomontana está a dos años de celebrar 20 años de trayectoria. Aunque la gira por California incluye a nueve integrantes, sólo cuatro de ellos -Tony, su hermano Cano (guitarra) Isaac "Campa" Valdez (acordeón) y Ezequiel Alvarado (batería) son los miembros que han estado desde hace 15 años. Los cinco restantes son músicos invitados.

En puerta está un disco nuevo, que Tony promete saldrá a la venta este año y que tendrá una distribuidora que lo llevará a Estados Unidos y Europa, donde EGS tiene muchos seguidores.

Tony acredita la longevidad de su banda a la diversidad de ritmos que incluye en cada disco. De hecho, desde su nacimiento, EGS se distinguió por la inusual mezcla de sonidos rockeros con ritmos de música mexicana, como banda y norteña.

"Cada vez que hacemos un disco tratamos de que tenga todos estos ritmos, que tenga un horizonte musical más amplio, porque si sólo tocamos ska o hard core o punk es muy estrecho", explicó el músico.

Esto para las disqueras es una desventaja por lo antes expuesto, pero para EGS ha sido una oportunidad para atraer a sus shows a todo tipo de público. Por ejemplo, Dormir soñando es una mezcla de ranchera con batucada brasileña, mientras que Chúntaro Style es una cumbia revuelta con tambora. Y qué decir de Círculo de amor, que es un bolero con rap o Déjenme que estoy llorando, un rock pesado con rap.

"Tratamos de hacer algo que nos nazca y buscar la canción que pueda hacer la diferencia sobre lo que ya hemos hecho", dijo el entrevistado.

Precisamente esa diversidad en sus discos es lo que le ha creado a EGS una sólida base de seguidores, los mismos que pidieron su presencia en el importante festival Coachella, que se efectúa en Indio, California, del viernes al domingo.

"Desde el año pasado nos habían invitado, pero no pudimos ir por problemas de visa, pero este año todo salió bien", dijo.

Como premio a su paciencia, todo parece indicar que EGS tocará en el mismo escenario que lo hará mañana Paul McCartney, la carta mayor del evento de este año.

Tony espera con ansias ese día, porque existe la posibilidad de que se tope tras bambalinas con el legendario ex Beatle, su muso cuando no le sale una canción.

"Gracias a él tocamos mucho. Cuando siento que algo está mal musicalmente me pongo a estudiar la música de los Beatles, más que nada la de Paul", contó el vocalista. "Luego me vuelve a entrar la chispa de seguir adelante".

Fwd: Friday Pilli Blog

2009-04-17T14:11:00.001-07:00

Lots of stuff to do this weekend, Garden cleaning and reorganizing. Although I missed the Teabag parties I think were doing ok politically. Co-worker is going to retire soon and I'm trying to get into some program somewhere.

Otherwise here is post 497 and another Pilli picture dump.

I'm official?

2009-04-09T09:50:00.000-07:00

Think I must be since I now have business cards from work. Exciting and somehow oppressive.

Sigue lloviendo

2009-04-08T16:58:00.000-07:00

Over it

2009-04-07T15:13:00.000-07:00

I've been struck by the saying that Obama pulled from the bible during his inauguration, "It is time to put childish things aside." These last few weeks have been very destructive to my spirit on a number of levels. Almost all of the tangible foundations of the last 15 years in my life have in less than 25 day been destroyed and altered beyond what I can comprehend. The doors that made those times in my life exciting, enjoyable and at times profound have crumbled to pieces. Signs of their collapse has been evident for sometime and not unexpected but the pillars falling so quickly so abruptly has unsettled the very core of my being. The past has wilted away to a sliver of nostalgia and regret. So my morbid mind and soul lament the guiding lights of my youth, the page turns with my eyes full of tears at what forever is lost.

To mourn the past I plan to let go of my attachments to it, the unrealistic nostalgic pipe dreams that feel at once uplifting and heavy to my soul. So I'm done with it and with some many things of before but now serve no purpose, I'm over it.

Hootie & Blowfish - Time
Time, why you punish me?
Like a wave bashing into the shore
You wash away my dreams.

Time, why you walk away?
Like a friend with somewhere to go
You left me crying

Can you teach me about tomorrow
And all the pain and sorrow
Running free?
Cause tomorrow's just another day
And i don't believe in time

Time, i don't understand
Children killing in the street
Dying for the color of red
Time, hey there red and blue
Wash them in the ocean, make them clean,
Maybe their mothers won't cry tonight

Can you teach me about tomorrow
All the pain and sorrow
Running free?
But tomorrow's just another day
And i don't believe in...

Time is wasting
Time is walking
You ain't no friend of mine
I don't know where i'm goin'
I think i'm out of my mind
Thinking about time

And if i die tomorrow, yeah
Just lay me down in sleep

Time, you left me standing there
Like a tree growing all alone
The wind just stripped me bare, stripped me bare
Time, the past has come and gone
The future's far away
Now only lasts for one second, one second
Can you teach me about tomorrow
And all the pain and sorrow
Running free?
'cause tomorrow's just another day
And i don't believe in time

Time, why you punish me?

Hard times?

2009-03-24T12:52:00.000-07:00

Gosh, is all I have to say, and that I feel a bit numb to what is going on around me. Life altering changes both good and bad. I felt this most acutely when after tying to clean and loofing around the house I started watching college basketball when the news of the police being shot was first broken. A uneasy tension fell on me as I hoped they were just shot and not dead. But like the sober news that was later told the threads of my friends and family's lives has turned from initial sad news to even worse news. But life continues ahead undetered, Pilli is fully recovered from her bout with the flu but much like getting Obama in office there is going to be a period of time that all the crap that was hidden before will be coming to light. Its painful and super unsettling to our detached public and person pyche to be confronted by so much horrific and bad news, 6 people killed this weekend, agh...sick family members and ridiculous economic times. I pray for help for everyone but damn, it feels like things are starting to fall apart all over.

Ghe-toes

2009-03-09T10:24:00.000-07:00

Sunday was a nice day until, while starting our clean up after gardening during the mid-day Marisol dugg a digging fork into her shoe and pierced her poor toe. She braved the day and after being checked out is recovering at home at the moment. ***Update*** The toe was cleanly pierced and no bone was touched but the cuts did not require stiched, Mari has been toughing it out.

Wicked Sucess!!

2009-03-07T09:30:00.000-08:00

So on Thursday night we set out at 7pm to the Orpheum Theater in SF for the 8pm showing of Wicked. After dressing up and making it over the Bay Bridge we arrived with 15 mintutes to spare. Once in our seats Pilli was a bit blase about the event as she didn't really know what to expect. We admired the building, ate some snacks and remarked on the stage and all its various parts. Having been in the mists of a long and eventful week this was the great climax. Once the show began Mari and I were both enthralled while Pilli was trying to grasp the words in the songs and all the activity at once. Since we sat in the Balcony we were right under the Main spotlights and Pilli would look up to see the stagecraft that created the illusions on stage. The first few dark numbers were not that inspiring to her but once the college/high school musical parts began she beamed with joy at the song and dance. From there on we enjoyed the Musical until the last half hour when Pilli's long overdue bedtime became a drag on her and she told me she was sleepy but still wanted to finish watching. Overwelmed at all the events from the show she fell asleep once we got home and ask if next time we could go when it wasn't a school night.

Closing in on 500

2009-03-05T10:51:00.000-08:00

So although not all the post since I've started this are true posts, mostly pictures, I am at 490 in terms of posts to this blog. It got me thinking that one I would have reached that much sooner had I tried to write more consistanly but that I need to use this more as an outlet for my thoughts and mind. Plus I need to bring back the Pilli blogging she is so big now at 7 years old but we've been so busy and lazy that its tough to do it so regularly. I will be trying have lots of things to write and little time to do it. I'm exicted because Nnamdi is going to visit and just chill next week, Mari is finishing the Masters part of her PHD and pilli is that star of the week. Ezra just was in town last weekend and we had a great Karaoke night with my long lost prima/tia Blanca who lives in the City, it was grand. Well back to work for a bit then I'll be back to preview our family night.

Febuary blogging

2009-02-26T16:02:00.000-08:00

Here is my from time to time blogging, now from a work that I have been at for 1 full year. Feels wierd its my first 9-5 office job where I've just been here. Budgets and economy suck, lost a 1.5 TB hard drive and am now trying to rebuild it. I am broker than crap and need to make more money to make the bills. Although I like my job and the co-workers. well this i hope again and again is the beginning of posting regularlly but we'll see.

Christmas 08

2008-12-22T11:41:00.001-08:00

Got an early christmas gift of being demoted and not fired but the knives are out. We've had a great holiday season aside from that and hope to have a good Christmas with my abuela in Gridely and then a good time in Phoenix. Need to work on lots of stuff but am happy to be where we are.

Merry Xmas

Election 08

2008-10-29T10:21:00.000-07:00

I have hope that Obama will win. I worry because past elections my team has lost and breaking out of a slump is never easy especially when the other team cheats so much and so easily that you almost want to compmise yourself to cheat as well. What I am proud of is that the dems have fought back but not gotten into the mud like the Republicans have, I think this election has been a teaching moment to show how craven and desprate the R's tatics have been. I will pray and continue to pray for Change knowing how hard that change will be after so many years. La union hace fuerza. Fight till the end!

wow what a record!

2008-09-29T14:11:00.001-07:00

Bad record to break... 777 down on the Dow.

so I heard -

"i mean, a president mccain would first call for the president of the NYSE to resign on monday, order troops to take it over on tuesday, pull back on wednesday, suspend being president and lead a march to new york on thursday, and decide to put a token investment of his wife's billions in a stock on friday...and cancel the weekend until things let up"

Sent from my email account, a miracle made possible by John McCain.

on a lighter note

2008-09-29T12:19:00.000-07:00

Please check this website out its a good friend and future co-madre.

www.liyunalvarado.com

Great poet

The shoe has dropped

2008-09-29T12:17:00.001-07:00

The final shoe had dropped on these Republicans, they will not go quietly into the night and they shouldn't but in that light they voted against the initial bailout plan. The economy is going to go to crap and it will be the extra fault of Republicans for not doing anything. If the Democrats hold together they can come out as the true super majority since the stock market will drop 6 to 7 hundred points and lots of new companies will start cutting jobs. Paint the failure as Bush and McSame's because there is no way they save it against there House members…welcome to the new political reality.

Sent from my email account, a miracle made possible by John McCain.

Atilana Altar

2008-08-25T11:38:00.001-07:00

bad picture but she made it without any prompting.

ObAmA

2008-08-14T22:45:00.000-07:00

More fotos

2008-08-01T16:03:00.001-07:00

a few more photos.

Pilliblogging

2008-08-01T15:40:00.001-07:00

Pilli at the San Diego Zoo with her awsome Grandparents.

the O pushback

2008-08-01T00:27:00.001-07:00

80's flashback

2008-08-01T00:23:00.003-07:00

Muppet

Friday Pilli blogging

2008-07-11T08:20:00.000-07:00

Pilli at Kids' Club about a month ago being the center of attention.

Late lunch...

2008-07-09T13:34:00.000-07:00

working hard at the county while taking a lunch. yes its one of those working lunchs. Thinking about work, money and grad school. My girls are in AZ so the day is mine. Going to a Masters in Public Administration meeting tonight get info see about the cost then planning to go to the gym get by balln' in. Had a rough night last night losing 5 games straight due to my pulled glute. Damn having a pulled butt hurts and I hope after streaching I can have my game leg back. My game was on in spots but not enough to finish the games...I've never sweet so much either so I must have been working hard. We'll see about the Masters meeting thinking about a MBA too. Will give a good weekend update then seasonal one soon. lunch is over...

Ciuapilli in Tiburon

2008-07-01T16:38:00.000-07:00

and being a tortilla monster!

Working 9 to 5

2008-06-27T11:11:00.000-07:00

Have moved to Martinez in terms of Job and am enjoy it. Comute is 25-30 minutes but is not bad except of course for the amount of money gas has increased. Anyways will be updating and more often ... oh will pilli blog today!

Abuelita Atilana

2008-06-10T00:55:00.000-07:00

RIP.

Have it all

2008-02-09T01:29:00.000-08:00

on constant repeat in my ipod from the scrubs soundtrack.

Jeremy Kay - Have It All

Some days I feel like crying
It don't matter if it's rain or shine
I feel like my heart was broken
At least a million times

Some days I wake up dreaming
Feels like I've never even woke
I answer life's big questions
As if it's one big joke

Maybe it's too soon to be sure
But I really do believe that someday
We're gonna have it all
So I try to hard to keep the rhythm of a train
Rolling right along
When the ride gets rough you got to carry on
Carry on

Some days I feel like singing
I sit back and just groove the day away
Maybe pick up a guitar
And play what I want to play

Maybe it's too soon to be sure
But I really do believe that someday
We're gonna have it all
So I try to hard to keep the rhythm of a train
Rolling right along
When the ride gets rough you got to carry on
Carry on

Today I feel like laughing
Seems to be no reason at all
And if the world stops spinning
I'm not afraid to fall

Maybe it's too soon to be sure
But I really do believe that someday
We're gonna have it all
So I try to hard to keep the rhythm of a train
Rolling right along
When the ride gets rough you got to carry on

Maybe it's too soon to be sure
But I really do believe that someday
We're gonna have it all
So I try to hard to keep the rhythm of a train
Rolling right along
When the ride gets rough you got to carry on
Carry on

RIP

2008-02-06T14:43:00.000-08:00

i took his classes too... and he was a Stone trustee...

H. Bradford Westerfield, Influential Yale Professor, Is Dead at 79

By DOUGLAS MARTIN
Published: January 27, 2008

H. Bradford Westerfield, a Yale political scientist whose courses attracted 10,000 students, mostly undergraduates, among them President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, died on Jan. 19 in Watch Hill, R.I. He was 79.
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Michael Marsland/Yale University

H. Bradford Westerfield about 1995.

The cause was complications of Parkinson’s disease, his son, Leland Avery Westerfield, said. H. Bradford Westerfield lived in Watch Hill and Hamden, Conn.

Dr. Westerfield’s former students in four decades of teaching, who also included Senators John Kerry and Joseph I. Lieberman and assorted cabinet officers, White House advisers and intelligence officials, often cited his influence in framing their approach to public policy.

Mr. Cheney repeatedly said Dr. Westerfield helped shape his hard-line approach to foreign policy. But an article in The Nation in 2004 reported that Dr. Westerfield came to regret the hard-nosed lessons Mr. Cheney said he had learned. Dr. Westerfield explained that his own politics had become much more dovish since advocating uncompromising anticommunism in classes Mr. Cheney attended, transformed in large part by America’s troubles in the Vietnam War.

Dr. Westerfield characterized the current Bush administration as overly confrontational, calling that “precisely the wrong approach.”

He was known for writing and teaching about foreign policy with a particular emphasis on espionage, offering one of the first courses at any American university on intelligence and covert operations, which students playfully christened “Spies and Lies.”

At his death, Dr. Westerfield was the Damon Wells Professor of International Studies. He appreciated the fact that Mr. Wells had been his student, his family said.

Holt Bradford Westerfield, a descendant of William Bradford, second governor of Plymouth colony, was born on March 7, 1928, in Rome, where his father, Ray Bert Westerfield, an economics professor at Yale, was on sabbatical.

The younger Dr. Westerfield graduated at 16 from the Choate School and at 19 from Yale, where he was president of the political union and the debate association.

He earned his doctorate from Harvard, where he studied intelligence services. His thesis became his first book, “Foreign Policy and Party Politics: Pearl Harbor to Korea” (1955). He taught at Harvard and the University of Chicago and spent a year studying Congress as a fellow of the American Political Science Association.

In 1957, he joined Yale as an assistant professor of international relations, and stayed there until his retirement in 2001. He later held college teaching and research positions in England, Australia and the United States.

His books included “The Instruments of America’s Foreign Policy” (1963), and selections from an internal publication of the Central Intelligence Agency, which he edited as “Inside C.I.A.’s Private World: Declassified Articles From the Agency’s Internal Journal, 1955-92” (1995). The C.I.A. chose him to edit the book partly because he was independent of the agency.

Dr. Westerfield held several Yale administrative positions, including director of undergraduate studies and director of graduate studies.

In 1960, he married the former Carolyn Elizabeth Hess, and the Rev. William Sloane Coffin Jr., then the Yale chaplain, officiated at a communion service held in conjunction with the marriage ceremony. Dr. Westerfield and Dr. Coffin later engaged in lively debates on Vietnam, with Dr. Westerfield the hawk and Dr. Coffin the dove. At the time, Dr. Westerfield said he was worried about a communist takeover of the United States.

When he later rejected his more bellicose views, he said he had no regrets for the earlier militancy. “I don’t blame myself any longer for having misled those students,” he said in The Hartford Courant in 2003.

In addition to his wife and his son, Leland, who lives in Greenwich, Conn., Dr. Westerfield is survived by his daughter, Pamela Westerfield Bingham, of Manhattan; his brother, Putney, of Hillsborough, Calif., and four granddaughters.

Si Se Puede!

2008-02-03T21:10:00.000-08:00

For Obama

2008-02-02T12:31:00.001-08:00

Son of the universe

2008-02-01T01:20:00.000-08:00

Alison Owings

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My Hillary Problem: Redux

Posted January 31, 2008 | 05:52 PM (EST)
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In the months since I wrote "My Hillary Problem" for this space -- a pondering that moved hundreds of readers to toss bouquets or vitriol, often toward one another - the Democratic presidential race has narrowed itself to three candidates (Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Bill Clinton), the war in Iraq has become- - so we are told -- of secondary concern to voters, and, on a miniature scale, "My Hillary Problem" has become "my problem with some Hillary voters."

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According to polls, two groups of voters who lean more toward Clinton/s than Obama are Hispanics (or Latinos, depending on where you live) and older women.

As to Hispanics/Latinos, I would have guessed a supposedly devout and devoted family man would be a great candidate for a supposedly devout family-centric culture, but who knows? I would have guessed the race card would upset people whose own coloring has not always been their ticket to success, but who knows? The Hispanic/Latino demographic is not for me to deconstruct.

I do know, though, about being an older woman, for as I allowed in post past, I am about Hillary's age. And I know well the stated reasons for supporting her. From what I have gleaned in conversations with fellow Older Women, and reading or hearing interviews with O.W.'s, their support comes largely from variations of the following points: It's time for a woman because men have screwed up the world. She is smart and tough. I'm sick of her being belittled and made fun of in "the media." I got mistreated at work/home marriage, too.

I hear you, I hear you, I want to, and sometimes do, say. Yes, it's unlikely any woman has been unaffected by some form of sexism - to put it mildly -- from men. Yes, the personal carping about Hillary, especially her appearance, is infuriating. David Letterman's juvenile nastiness must make him one of Hillary's top vote getters. (If he is not on her payroll, he should be.) Yes, she is tough and smart. (Whether Hillary voters would use the same logic to support a tough and smart Republican woman is another matter.) Yes, much of the world is screwed up and men have done much or most of the damage -- although I back off from absolving women, especially in industrialized nations, from complicity. And yes, in theory it is high time for people besides white males to be president.

All the arguments to vote for Hillary make sense, except one thing.

A vote for Hillary Clinton is a vote from Barack Obama. And Barack Obama is not the problem.

He has nothing to do with mistreating or mocking any women, including her. Surely his grudging, weary, "You're likable enough," cannot hold heft against her belittling his ideas about "hope." Surely we need not deconstruct a non-handshake. And do we want to compare such minutiae with the humiliations Bill Clinton has visited upon his wife?

Barack Obama, furthermore, is not a man who screwed up the world (let us keep in mind his opposition to this horrible war, and Hillary's unrecanted vote for it -- and her shameless posturing of late that they really had the same position all along). He has not, as far as I know, ever been disrespectful of women. He met his wife when she was his supervisor at a Chicago law firm, clearly respects and honors her, has been portrayed by former students as an encouraging teacher of constitutional law to women and men, and -- at least according to him -- has told his daughters they can be whatever they set their minds to. As for issues important to women? Not every man gets a 100% approval rating from his state's Planned Parenthood on abortion rights votes -- Barack Obama did in Illinois. Planned Parenthood says his "present" votes, chastised by Hillary Clinton, resulted from a strategy it worked out -- as he always claimed. (Yes, Illinois's NOW PAC disagrees and supports Clinton.) We also know that Barack Obama worked for poor people, which by default includes women and children.

All in all, is Barack Obama any less of a feminist than Hillary Clinton?

Is Hillary Clinton, in turn, any more of a civil rights advocate than Barack Obama?

We know that before her 35 Years of Experience began, she gave the commencement speech at Wellesley and lit into the previous speaker, the country's then only African-American Senator, Edward Brooke, on the subject of protest. We also know of her recently saying Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (dark!) needed the savvy of Lyndon Johnson (light!) to pass the voting rights bill. The opposite-ends-of-the-political-spectrum columnists Mark Shields and David Brooks both say the race card undeniably came from Hillary Clinton. And we know that following Obama's enormous win in the South Carolina primary, her husband -- whom she has made her major spokesperson -- brought up the fact that Jesse Jackson (dark!) won the primary earlier.

I found that remark, frankly, demeaning to everyone: both Clintons, Obama, Jackson, and South Carolina voters.

Yet despite the race card, or placard, played against Barack Obama, and despite various distortions of his record, he has behaved with remarkable dignity and forbearance. On the issue of race, as in other matters, he has not stooped to conquer. He also has accepted Hillary Clinton's apology about remarks from her campaign referring to his acknowledged past drug use, did not join the pile-on on about her almost crying in New Hampshire, and has only relatively recently given the impression that, damn it, enough is enough. (This is written just before the Jan. 31st debate.) Maureen Dowd, the take-no-prisoners columnist of The New York Times, even called him "the more emotionally delicate candidate, and the one who has the more feminine consensus management style." Whereas "Alpha Hillary," in her view, was "abrasive and secretive" as First Lady in terms of the health care issue, and sees herself as "tough enough to command armies" in the war she helped enable President Bush to start.

Most of us voters probably have made adjustments, and some have made changes, in our support of various candidates. Most of us probably say that issues matter the most, yet on some level indulge our infamous American "gut level" subjectivity in choosing a president. In the past, I resisted, but let 'er rip now. When I listen to the debates and speeches, does Hillary's candidacy make me feel more Glad to Be a Woman? No. Does Barack's candidacy make me feel more Glad to Be an American? Yes.

Perhaps "American" is too narrow. Another Older Woman, a Romanian-born aesthetician, told me she knows nothing ("Nahthink!") about politics. No choice in the election? I asked, from under the steam in her tiny treatment room. Well, she finally said, she has not paid attention to the Republicans very much, and thinks Hillary is very smart, but wonders if she is "a little bit too cruel." She does not want to offend me if I like Hillary, she continued, applying a mask to my face. "But I love Barack."

Before the mask sealed my lips, I quickly asked why.

She replied in her lovely heavy accent, while gesturing with the jar of mask goop and a brush.

"He could be from my country. Or he could be from Italy. Or he could be.... " After naming several countries, she concluded, "To me, he is a son of the universe."

That'll work.

things that happen

2008-01-29T22:24:00.000-08:00

Richmond/El Cerrito/Berkeley

CHAIN REACTION KNOCKS OUT POWER: At least 2,000 PG&E customers in Richmond, El Cerrito, Berkeley and Albany lost power Monday after accidents at Gilman Street and
Advertisement
Eastshore Highway in Berkeley and on Interstate 80 at the Gilman Street exit that knocked down phone and power lines.

About 12:30 p.m., a city-owned vehicle in the area of Eastshore Highway and Gilman clipped three power poles and one light standard, California Highway Patrol spokesman Officer Sam Morgan said. The power line attached to one pole began to dip over I-80. A truck on the freeway snapped the power line, leading to one or two minor collisions.

It was unclear Monday evening which city's vehicle clipped the poles; Berkeley police are investigating.

Onramps and offramps to I-80 at Gilman remained closed Monday evening while PG&E and Caltrans worked to repair the power line and clean up debris in the area.

The accident affected traffic in the area, Morgan said, but no injuries were reported.

As of 6 p.m., about 60 Berkeley customers in the area between Fifth Street and I-80, between Page and Harrison streets and in the Berkeley Marina area remained without power, according to PG&E spokeswoman Susan Simon.

-- Shelly Meron

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kid oakland

2008-01-22T19:41:00.001-08:00

Barack Obama and the 50 State Strategy
by kid oakland
Tue Jan 22, 2008 at 06:42:46 PM PST

It was a blustery and, at times, rainy afternoon here in Berkeley California but that didn't stop Ron, an avuncular and dapper volunteer with an ironing board from working the corner of Ashby and College Avenue.

When I approached Ron he smiled and explained he'd been doing GOTV since he stood up and opposed Ronald Reagan in 1980. Today he was registering voters on the last day to register before the Feb. 5th CA primary. And, as you could tell from the big O attached to his ironing board, Ron was signing up volunteers for Barack Obama.

Ron had a ton of young people registering to vote today and, from what I saw when I put my name on the list, about 50-60 volunteers signed up for Obama. (He'd given out another 100 home made info sheets to others.)

Now, that doesn't tell you anything about who Californians will choose in the polls on February 5th, but that coincidence of young people, new voters, new volunteers and hard core volunteers like Ron tells you a hell of a lot about the campaign of Barack Obama...

* kid oakland's diary :: ::
*

I want to say something simple and clear.

There's one campaign that has been distorting and smearing the record of another's since the results of the Iowa caucuses. There's a reason for that.

When everybody pays attention to the lies and distractions, there's no way Hillary Clinton can't win. Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton know that, and that why they are distorting everything they can about the record, integrity and campaign of Senator Barack Obama.

The reverse, however, is not necessarily true. When people pay attention to the actual message and candidates...well, there's a strong likelihood, but no certainty, that folks will vote for Barack Obama.

That's why Ron's out on the corner of Ashby and College in the rain registering voters and signing up volunteers for Barack Obama.

::

Take the fake, engineered, and hyped brouhaha about the comments of Senator Obama regarding the legacy of Ronnie Reagan. Do you know what Barack Obama said BEFORE he mentioned Ronald Reagan in that interview? Do you know the real context of his remarks?

It's not surprising that you might not. Senator Clinton and President Clinton and a whole bunch of other people simply don't want you to hear them.

Barack Obama was talking about the 50 State Strategy:

I think that we're shifting the political paradigm here. And if I'm the nominee, I think I can bring a lot of folks along on my coattails. You know, there's a reason why in 2006, I made the most appearances for members of Congress. I was the most requested surrogate to come in and campaign for people in districts that were swing districts, Republican districts where they wouldn't have any other Democrat.

That was based on their read of the fact that, you know what, this is somebody who can reach out to independents and Republicans in a way that doesn't offend people...I don't want to present myself as some sort of singular figure. I think part of what's different are the times.

That sounds pretty true to me. Barack Obama did do that. (But hey what do I know, I only spent the entire year of 2006 following local Congressional races and reaching out to local bloggers in all 50 States.)

However, it was what Barack Obama said next about Reagan being a "paradigm shifting" candidate that bothered alot of bloggers. So much so that they said a lot of ludicrous and presposterous things about Senator Obama that would make you think, for example...that there was no truth to his claim that he "made the most appearances of members of Congress" in 2006 on the campaign trail, that would make you doubt that Barack Obama, not Hillary Clinton or John Edwards, was the "most requested surrogate to come in and campaign for people in districts that were swing districts, Republican districts where they wouldn't have any other Democrat."

Certainly, those bloggers have a self evident case against Barack.

I mean, if you were a fan of Ronald Reagan and thought Republicans had all the good ideas for the last 15 years, why would you spend 2006 traveling around the country, of all things, you know, trying to elect Democrats?

::

When it comes to the 50 State Strategy we know where Hillary Clinton stands. Heck, she's got Terry McAuliffe, a guy who is completely and totally opposed to Howard Dean, the 50 State Strategy and the netroots movement, as her campaign chair.

But that's not what I want to focus on. Bill and Hillary keep asking Barack Obama and his supporters to enunciate an answer to this question: but what have you done?

Now, they don't want you to actually answer that question. To mention the fact that Senator Barack Obama from day one in the Senate surrounded himself with powerful advisors like economist Karen Kornbluh, his chief policy advisor, or Samantha Power, Anthony Lake and Susan Rice, his foreign policy team. They don't want you to mention how Senator Obama reached across the aisle to work on immigration reform with Senator McCain, or his work with Dick Lugar on terrorist threat reduction, or his work with Tom Coburn to pass the Coburn-Obama transparency act (something every netroots person should know about), or his worldwide trips as a member of Foreign Relations Committee focusing on strategies to stop the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The Clintons...you know...to fit Barack Obama into their "do-nothing" meme...am I the only one that finds that insulting?...would have you ignore Senator Obama's work with Russ Feingold to pass the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act enacting lobbyist reform in Washington for the first time in a generation. (In fact, the Clintons make fun of this bill on the campaign trail.) They won't mention Senator Obama's work with John McCain on a bill that reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 2/3rds by 2050, or his work with Senator Chuck Schumer on election protection issues in the wake of 2006. Or his veteran-oriented amendment to the SCHIP bill that Bush vetoed last fall.

Now, the Clintons don't mention this, because, you know, Barack Obama basically is an empty suit. He does nothing.

And yes, of course, in the process they are also ignoring Senator Obama's service in the Illinois State Legislature, where, once again, to believe Senator Clinton, Barack Obama never voted for anything. Except, of course, he did. In fact, Senator Obama has held elected office since 1996, the longest of the three remaining major candidates. Hell, he's held elected office since the administration of Bill Clinton!

Per Senator Obama's wiki page:

As a state legislator, Obama gained bipartisan support for legislation reforming ethics and health care laws. He sponsored a law enhancing tax credits for low-income workers, negotiated welfare reform, and promoted increased subsidies for child care. Obama also led the passage of legislation mandating videotaping of homicide interrogations, and a law to monitor racial profiling by requiring police to record the race of drivers they stopped. During his 2004 general election campaign for U.S. Senate, he won the endorsement of the Illinois Fraternal Order of Police, whose president credited Obama for his active engagement with police organizations in enacting death penalty reforms.

Clearly, Obama's a slacker!

Finally, I do think I have to mention this as "doing something" despite this huge taboo about mentioning the reality of some of our history as a nation. Senator Barack Obama is currently the only African-American in the United States Senate. One person out of one hundred elected officials. That counts as doing something, too, in my book.

But that's not the core message I want to convey tonight. Because "Reagan-loving" Senator Obama...so clearly unfit to be our nominee...did something else that the Clintons really don't want you to know about. He did something so outlandish, so atrocious, that the Clintons and their brigades of enablers on the blogs find it anaethema to mention. So they don't.

In 2006, Senator Barack Obama did more than any other candidate running for President to elect Democrats and win back majorities the United States Senate and House of Representatives. In 2006, Senator Barack Obama embodied the 50 State Strategy.

Far from doing "nothing," In 2006, Barack Obama helped us win majorities in both houses of Congress.

::

Don't take my word for it.

Here's Barack Obama in Colorado in October 2006 campaigning for Ed Perlmutter in his campaign to win an open seat in Congress. (Ed won, btw.)

Here's Barack Obama in Cleveland, Ohio in November 2006 campaigning for Senator Sherrod Brown. (Who won, btw, noticing a trend here?)

Here's Barack Obama campaigning in Louisville, Kentucky for Democrat John Yarmuth in his campaign to defeat GOP incumbent Anne Northup in September 2006. (Yarmuth won.)

Here's Barack Obama in Richmond Virginia campaigning for Senator Jim Webb, November 2006:

Here's Paul Hodes, another member of the class of 2006 endorsing Barack Obama in New Hampshire and using that occasion to talk about Democratic Unity:

Here's Patrick Murphy, another class of 2006 member that Barack campaigned for talking about Barack this January in New Hampshire:

And finally, here's Senator Claire McCaskill, Senator Obama's newly minted national co-chair, talking about endorsing Barack Obama, who campaigned for her in Missori in 2006.

And here's a quote you should not miss from that interview:

Q: Senator, you said in your announcement when you decided to endorse Barack Obama that it was actually your daughter that pushed you in that direction, right?

Senator McCaskill: You know I was actually home the night of the Iowa caucus, and I was laying on the couch and I was crying during his entire speech and my 18 year old daughter looked at me and says, "Mom, how can you look yourself in the mirror, you really believe in this guy, and you're in a position that you should be helping, you know, get up and go do it!"

Sheesh, these folks are just real. And, you know, knowing something about the netroots from my work these last years...that's kind of like us. And, yes, Senator Barack Obama worked his ass off to help elect every last one of them and many more candidates in 2006.

I wonder why these videos aren't being played on all those blogs echoing the Clintons lies and distortions and talking about how Barack Obama loves Reagan and thinks that the Republicans had the best ideas for the last fifteen years? I mean, am I missing something about the 50 State Strategy? Did we just jettison that out of the netroots platform?

I'd like to know.

Okay, I know, people play political football with campaigns. It's just politics. Shit happens.

But if enough people who know better stay silent about Senator Obama's hard work on the ground in 2006 on the 50 State Strategy...there might not be a 50 State Strategy for very long.

That's something to think about.

::

Now, I'm a sucker for local candidates and campaigns. And, all that being told, I'm also a sucker for volunteers standing at ironing boards...like Ron today.

I first registered to vote here in California standing at just such an ironing board on Sproul Plaza at the University of California. Heck, I spend election day every year doing the exact same thing as Ron, campaigning in front of a card table at the West Oakland BART station.

But what I want to leave you with tonight is a powerful message. Young people, volunteers, new voters, grassroots activists...all of that is not enough. It's a powerful sign that a candidate's campaign is moving people to get off their ass and get something done. (To, as the Clinton's say, do something.)

But that's not enough to spell victory in any given election.

It's not enough, but it sure tells you a hell of a lot about the campaign of Senator Barack Obama.

If you support the 50 State Strategy, if you want to send a message that you understand what it meant to mobilize the vote in 2004 and 2006 and elect Democrats, if you want to work on the legacy of Howard Dean, then it behooves you, if you live in a Tsunami Tuesday state or one that comes afterwards, to think about reviving the spirit of 2004 and 2006 where you live.

I'll being doing exactly the same thing.

If you can't do that, I've heard word that Senator Obama could use your donations or your time if you've got some of either to spare.

I don't know what the California results will be primary night, February 5th. I'm no prognosticator.

I also know some pretty powerful powers-that-be are stacked against the guy I support. But when I saw that ironing board with the big O on it out in the rain today...I knew exactly what I was going to be doing come election day.

Tags: 2008 Elections, 50 State

hope

2008-01-20T23:17:00.000-08:00

Remarks of Senator Barack Obama: The Great Need of the Hour
Atlanta, GA | January 20, 2008

The Scripture tells us that when Joshua and the Israelites arrived at the gates of Jericho, they could not enter. The walls of the city were too steep for any one person to climb; too strong to be taken down with brute force. And so they sat for days, unable to pass on through.

But God had a plan for his people. He told them to stand together and march together around the city, and on the seventh day he told them that when they heard the sound of the ram's horn, they should speak with one voice. And at the chosen hour, when the horn sounded and a chorus of voices cried out together, the mighty walls of Jericho came tumbling down.

There are many lessons to take from this passage, just as there are many lessons to take from this day, just as there are many memories that fill the space of this church. As I was thinking about which ones we need to remember at this hour, my mind went back to the very beginning of the modern Civil Rights Era.

Because before Memphis and the mountaintop; before the bridge in Selma and the march on Washington; before Birmingham and the beatings; the fire hoses and the loss of those four little girls; before there was King the icon and his magnificent dream, there was King the young preacher and a people who found themselves suffering under the yoke of oppression.

And on the eve of the bus boycotts in Montgomery, at a time when many were still doubtful about the possibilities of change, a time when those in the black community mistrusted themselves, and at times mistrusted each other, King inspired with words not of anger, but of an urgency that still speaks to us today:

"Unity is the great need of the hour" is what King said. Unity is how we shall overcome.

What Dr. King understood is that if just one person chose to walk instead of ride the bus, those walls of oppression would not be moved. But maybe if a few more walked, the foundation might start to shake. If a few more women were willing to do what Rosa Parks had done, maybe the cracks would start to show. If teenagers took freedom rides from North to South, maybe a few bricks would come loose. Maybe if white folks marched because they had come to understand that their freedom too was at stake in the impending battle, the wall would begin to sway. And if enough Americans were awakened to the injustice; if they joined together, North and South, rich and poor, Christian and Jew, then perhaps that wall would come tumbling down, and justice would flow like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream.

Unity is the great need of the hour - the great need of this hour. Not because it sounds pleasant or because it makes us feel good, but because it's the only way we can overcome the essential deficit that exists in this country.

I'm not talking about a budget deficit. I'm not talking about a trade deficit. I'm not talking about a deficit of good ideas or new plans.

I'm talking about a moral deficit. I'm talking about an empathy deficit. I'm taking about an inability to recognize ourselves in one another; to understand that we are our brother's keeper; we are our sister's keeper; that, in the words of Dr. King, we are all tied together in a single garment of destiny.

We have an empathy deficit when we're still sending our children down corridors of shame - schools in the forgotten corners of America where the color of your skin still affects the content of your education.

We have a deficit when CEOs are making more in ten minutes than some workers make in ten months; when families lose their homes so that lenders make a profit; when mothers can't afford a doctor when their children get sick.

We have a deficit in this country when there is Scooter Libby justice for some and Jena justice for others; when our children see nooses hanging from a schoolyard tree today, in the present, in the twenty-first century.

We have a deficit when homeless veterans sleep on the streets of our cities; when innocents are slaughtered in the deserts of Darfur; when young Americans serve tour after tour of duty in a war that should've never been authorized and never been waged.

And we have a deficit when it takes a breach in our levees to reveal a breach in our compassion; when it takes a terrible storm to reveal the hungry that God calls on us to feed; the sick He calls on us to care for; the least of these He commands that we treat as our own.

So we have a deficit to close. We have walls - barriers to justice and equality - that must come down. And to do this, we know that unity is the great need of this hour.

Unfortunately, all too often when we talk about unity in this country, we've come to believe that it can be purchased on the cheap. We've come to believe that racial reconciliation can come easily - that it's just a matter of a few ignorant people trapped in the prejudices of the past, and that if the demagogues and those who exploit our racial divisions will simply go away, then all our problems would be solved.

All too often, we seek to ignore the profound institutional barriers that stand in the way of ensuring opportunity for all children, or decent jobs for all people, or health care for those who are sick. We long for unity, but are unwilling to pay the price.

But of course, true unity cannot be so easily won. It starts with a change in attitudes - a broadening of our minds, and a broadening of our hearts.

It's not easy to stand in somebody else's shoes. It's not easy to see past our differences. We've all encountered this in our own lives. But what makes it even more difficult is that we have a politics in this country that seeks to drive us apart - that puts up walls between us.

We are told that those who differ from us on a few things are different from us on all things; that our problems are the fault of those who don't think like us or look like us or come from where we do. The welfare queen is taking our tax money. The immigrant is taking our jobs. The believer condemns the non-believer as immoral, and the non-believer chides the believer as intolerant.

For most of this country's history, we in the African-American community have been at the receiving end of man's inhumanity to man. And all of us understand intimately the insidious role that race still sometimes plays - on the job, in the schools, in our health care system, and in our criminal justice system.

And yet, if we are honest with ourselves, we must admit that none of our hands are entirely clean. If we're honest with ourselves, we'll acknowledge that our own community has not always been true to King's vision of a beloved community.

We have scorned our gay brothers and sisters instead of embracing them. The scourge of anti-Semitism has, at times, revealed itself in our community. For too long, some of us have seen immigrants as competitors for jobs instead of companions in the fight for opportunity.

Every day, our politics fuels and exploits this kind of division across all races and regions; across gender and party. It is played out on television. It is sensationalized by the media. And last week, it even crept into the campaign for President, with charges and counter-charges that served to obscure the issues instead of illuminating the critical choices we face as a nation.

So let us say that on this day of all days, each of us carries with us the task of changing our hearts and minds. The division, the stereotypes, the scape-goating, the ease with which we blame our plight on others - all of this distracts us from the common challenges we face - war and poverty; injustice and inequality. We can no longer afford to build ourselves up by tearing someone else down. We can no longer afford to traffic in lies or fear or hate. It is the poison that we must purge from our politics; the wall that we must tear down before the hour grows too late.

Because if Dr. King could love his jailor; if he could call on the faithful who once sat where you do to forgive those who set dogs and fire hoses upon them, then surely we can look past what divides us in our time, and bind up our wounds, and erase the empathy deficit that exists in our hearts.

But if changing our hearts and minds is the first critical step, we cannot stop there. It is not enough to bemoan the plight of poor children in this country and remain unwilling to push our elected officials to provide the resources to fix our schools. It is not enough to decry the disparities of health care and yet allow the insurance companies and the drug companies to block much-needed reforms. It is not enough for us to abhor the costs of a misguided war, and yet allow ourselves to be driven by a politics of fear that sees the threat of attack as way to scare up votes instead of a call to come together around a common effort.

The Scripture tells us that we are judged not just by word, but by deed. And if we are to truly bring about the unity that is so crucial in this time, we must find it within ourselves to act on what we know; to understand that living up to this country's ideals and its possibilities will require great effort and resources; sacrifice and stamina.

And that is what is at stake in the great political debate we are having today. The changes that are needed are not just a matter of tinkering at the edges, and they will not come if politicians simply tell us what we want to hear. All of us will be called upon to make some sacrifice. None of us will be exempt from responsibility. We will have to fight to fix our schools, but we will also have to challenge ourselves to be better parents. We will have to confront the biases in our criminal justice system, but we will also have to acknowledge the deep-seated violence that still resides in our own communities and marshal the will to break its grip.

That is how we will bring about the change we seek. That is how Dr. King led this country through the wilderness. He did it with words - words that he spoke not just to the children of slaves, but the children of slave owners. Words that inspired not just black but also white; not just the Christian but the Jew; not just the Southerner but also the Northerner.

He led with words, but he also led with deeds. He also led by example. He led by marching and going to jail and suffering threats and being away from his family. He led by taking a stand against a war, knowing full well that it would diminish his popularity. He led by challenging our economic structures, understanding that it would cause discomfort. Dr. King understood that unity cannot be won on the cheap; that we would have to earn it through great effort and determination.

That is the unity - the hard-earned unity - that we need right now. It is that effort, and that determination, that can transform blind optimism into hope - the hope to imagine, and work for, and fight for what seemed impossible before.

The stories that give me such hope don't happen in the spotlight. They don't happen on the presidential stage. They happen in the quiet corners of our lives. They happen in the moments we least expect. Let me give you an example of one of those stories.

There is a young, twenty-three year old white woman named Ashley Baia who organizes for our campaign in Florence, South Carolina. She's been working to organize a mostly African-American community since the beginning of this campaign, and the other day she was at a roundtable discussion where everyone went around telling their story and why they were there.

And Ashley said that when she was nine years old, her mother got cancer. And because she had to miss days of work, she was let go and lost her health care. They had to file for bankruptcy, and that's when Ashley decided that she had to do something to help her mom.

She knew that food was one of their most expensive costs, and so Ashley convinced her mother that what she really liked and really wanted to eat more than anything else was mustard and relish sandwiches. Because that was the cheapest way to eat.

She did this for a year until her mom got better, and she told everyone at the roundtable that the reason she joined our campaign was so that she could help the millions of other children in the country who want and need to help their parents too.

So Ashley finishes her story and then goes around the room and asks everyone else why they're supporting the campaign. They all have different stories and reasons. Many bring up a specific issue. And finally they come to this elderly black man who's been sitting there quietly the entire time. And Ashley asks him why he's there. And he does not bring up a specific issue. He does not say health care or the economy. He does not say education or the war. He does not say that he was there because of Barack Obama. He simply says to everyone in the room, "I am here because of Ashley."

By itself, that single moment of recognition between that young white girl and that old black man is not enough. It is not enough to give health care to the sick, or jobs to the jobless, or education to our children.

But it is where we begin. It is why the walls in that room began to crack and shake.

And if they can shake in that room, they can shake in Atlanta.

And if they can shake in Atlanta, they can shake in Georgia.

And if they can shake in Georgia, they can shake all across America. And if enough of our voices join together; we can bring those walls tumbling down. The walls of Jericho can finally come tumbling down. That is our hope - but only if we pray together, and work together, and march together.

Brothers and sisters, we cannot walk alone.

In the struggle for peace and justice, we cannot walk alone.

In the struggle for opportunity and equality, we cannot walk alone

In the struggle to heal this nation and repair this world, we cannot walk alone.

So I ask you to walk with me, and march with me, and join your voice with mine, and together we will sing the song that tears down the walls that divide us, and lift up an America that is truly indivisible, with liberty, and justice, for all. May God bless the memory of the great pastor of this church, and may God bless the United States of America.

Christmas 2007

2007-12-20T23:46:00.000-08:00

this christmas blog is a long time coming and here is some picture of ciuapilli's great 6 year old birthday party at the albany village. We had a great thanksgiving at my grandmother's up by Chico and when we left pilli cried asking me not to leave and that's how I felt too. but were planning on the same for christmas but with some added snow up in the mountains as long as we don't get lost like that family in paradise. I sad not to have been able to go to Oscar's first lead in the play of miracle on 34th street. hopefully my interview for a job went well and I get a job soon. pero if not going to still be studying for the LSAT and we'll see where that takes us. well like little timmy said before, god bless every single one of us.

Overnight musings

2007-11-13T01:42:00.000-08:00

I'm frustrated with life... not that things are well they just could be better. I'm in month 3 of my job search and although I have a part time overnight job, my struggles with full time employment have soured my mood as Christmas roles around. This is the first Christmas that ciuapilli is going to remember and truly enjoy but were tight on money so we're going to make a strong effort to make it as fun as possible. Halloween was great and our neiboors are being great. I can't wait for thanksgiving and to hang out with my family. I'm sad to not be able to attend my cousin's ocsars theatical debut but I do hope there are other opportunities. Oh and I have decided to apply to law school this coming spring so I will be starting to study hard. Well goodnight.

Avenal progress

2007-09-27T16:02:00.000-07:00

If I ever had the funding and the commitment from people like the Santino's did to the newspaper I would like to keep it going even underground just for the community, plus a local location where all the Progress's could be digitized into PDF so future people could read them or use them for research. The voice of this great little city has been quieted for now.

End of an era comes with this issue

By Progress Staff
The staff at the Progress has been looking toward this issue with bittersweet thoughts - we are sad knowing the community will now be forced to get their news in other ways, but happy that now we won't be facing that deadline every Monday.

Over the past 25 years, we - Joe and Arlene Santino - have worked sometimes overtime to get the news to you our faithful readers.

Our work with local newspapers began with submitting news items for the church page and then evolved to that of a stringer doing little league and then meetings as a stringer for the Record.

We sat at a computer much of the day on May 3, 1983 at the Coalinga Record only to lose all our work when the brick wall fell in as the 6.7 magnitude earthquake hit, just as we were leaving town.

Over the years, we have covered meetings in both Avenal and Coalinga - city council, school boards, planning commission and even recreation. Arlene did the meetings and Joe covered sports.

Many photos have also been taken of students receiving honors, scholarships, on the field and in the gymnasium.

There were wins and losses and championship games, we were there to cheer them on and cry with them.

Many graduations - pre-school, middle school, high and adult school. We were there for each of you.

We tried to bring you the good news and temper the bad news.

There was the curb and gutter project, that tried many a person's soul, as it seemed to never end, and work to get the landfill permitted to allow for the city to make money and residents a less costly means of refuse pickup, we were there with you.

The fun times - Old Timer's Day, what has become Avenal's annual celebration, and now the great Independence Day celebrations.

Avenal is young as a city, but mature as a community. It continues to change day by day. With those daily changes, support for the newspaper waned leaving the owners little choice but to discontinue printing.

Many are angry, sad and disappointed. This will all get easier as time goes by.

As time goes by newspapers, sadly, are becoming a thing of the past. It isn't a good thing, because as the newsprint goes, so will our freedom of speech go.

We will be here as residents, but no longer writing the history of Avenal as a newspaper. We will join you in other endeavors free of that weekly deadline.

Good-bye for now.

(Sept. 26, 2007)

Sad note for small towns

2007-09-22T14:21:00.000-07:00

For as long as I can remember my home town has had a paper. it will stop publishing next week and I'm very sad at the news.

Progress to cease publication Sept. 26

By Progress Staff
Lee Central California Newspapers announced last week that two of its weeklies, the Avenal Progress and the Twin City Times, will cease publication at the end of this month. The last issue will be printed Sept. 26.

"Both of these publications have a long history in their city, and with the people they serve. However that number has dwindled to the point where it no longer makes sense to publish," said Randy Rickman, publisher of LCCN and the group's daily newspaper, The Sentinel.

Lee Central California Newspapers will continue to publish The Sentinel, as well as its remaining weeklies, the Selma Enterprise, Kingsburg Recorder, Coalinga Record and Lemoore Advance.

Subscribers to the Avenal Progress will be offered alternate subscriptions to the Coalinga Record or a refund. They will continue to receive weekly advertisements and information through the Central Valley Guide.

The move comes as LCCN pursues other long-term opportunities, said Rickman.

"This move will position us better to take advantage of the tremendous growth in online and niche publications," he said.

Lee Enterprises, with headquarters in Davenport, Iowa, is a premier publisher of local news, information and advertising in primarily midsize markets, with 51 daily newspapers and a joint interest in five others, rapidly growing online sites and more than 300 weekly newspapers and specialty publications in 23 states.

With the acquisition of Pulitzer Inc. in June 2005, Lee became the fourth largest newspaper company in the country in terms of dailies owned, and grew from 12th to seventh largest in terms of total daily circulation.

(Sept. 19, 2007)

Clean house

2007-09-18T11:24:00.000-07:00

one of the procratiantion things I've started doing is actually a good hobby I usually for get to do. I just finished cleaning the house and am about to go pick up pilli from school I hope her PE went well. Will post new pictures from the Reunion later tonight.

Thank yous

2007-09-17T02:27:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to thank the people that commented on my blog, it always surprises me that there's people that do read my blog. Thanks. But in keeping up with the blogging I'd like to quickly explain why there was nothing on Saturday or Sunday. My wife and I had guests over, which now officially breaks the record number of guests that we had when we lived in Phoenix by a long shot and we've only lived here in Berkeley for a month, how sad that fact is. We had a great time with your friend Amy and some other fellow Alumni at Part 4 of our 18 part House Warming lecture series this one taking place on el dia del Grito. Alvaro didn't make it but we still had a blast and now that Pilli is sleeping on a regular schedule because she has morning kindergarten we get some nights of her in bed. Fun times plus her Tio Gabby made a guest appearance from Phoenix and although brief it was wonderful to be able to share our new home. On Sunday we went to church after nursing a semi cruda and were welcomed to our new church by the 25 year anniversary of the padre whom proceeded to use the homily as his recounting of his experiences which is not typical but nice to know a bit about our new spiritual guide. I got a good feeling about the church although wasn't able to get completely into it because Ciuapilli is at that age where she gets bored easily but understands things more complexly, thus I was trying to explain to her parts of the mass to which she responded with gusto that she wanted to be a part of it all, especially receiving communion. The waiting till her first communion did not sit well with her but she understood. Then a small festival at our new village complex with a pony ride and petting zoo. The location of the family housing is great and we are blessed with very kind and ambiable neighbors one of which brought us Zuchini bread. All in all another great weekend, now to the job hunt.

Another Anniversary remembered

2007-09-14T10:50:00.000-07:00

6 years ago I became very depressed. A depression that I still struggle to break out of on most days. Six years ago so many tremendous things happened around the same time. So much so that I buckled and most of my former character collapsed. The prospect of being pregnant for our senior year was not a completely welcome one but one that we geared up to handle together as a very green but hopeful couple. Doubts were all around us but so was the hope and the help, from our friends from our professors and school, so much so that we dubbed it our Yale family that helped with classes, laundry, and childcare. But juxtaposition to the help and the inevitable fear of becoming a family and parents came events completely out of our hands. August ended with a cousin in an accident going home and another in jail. September 11th happened while I sat on the cusp of our Senior year in Accounting class, that evening I think my personal dam began to overflow. How could we bring a child into this madness into the foolish world that resulted from the attacks. The prospects of graduating and getting decent jobs evaporated that morning the economy would be stuck for while and still our baby grew. When she was born the hope returned but only for a while again as classes began again the dark vibration of postpartum gripped my wife but the chuckles of the baby would shake those away. Suddenly my cousin in the accident died on the road to recovery. In a whirl we were back in California for the funeral of my cousin introducing my family to our new daughter at the bleakest of times. My hopes and dreams were shattered by so many unfixable things that fear invaded my heart and planted the seeds of doubt so deep that nothing has been able to kill the roots of it. The move to Arizona only helped to feed this illness and breed the accompanying depression that coupled with a depressed spouse made for an unhappy home. That's not to say we both didn't try but the joys of Arizona came in spurts and aside from our daughter they mostly came from outside sources but within me the apathy to live fogged my joy. 3 years later SoCal came in a whirl as I knew once a sink cut a gash on my head that I need to change although the follow through of that change was not there the job in California was the impetus of that change. While enjoying my new line of poorly paying work, my spouse's will also broke and the calamity of being in Arizona crashed upon the family. My obsession for the next calamity since 9/11 was linked to my being hooked to the depressing news cycle that was like m&m or soda, tasty but not filling, I've indulged myself in useless toys and artifacts. Then the final year in Arizona made the hope of California like a fleeting moment that was wrapped up in the crash of our marriage in late September. This crash has made me scared of change any even the kind that I know is necessary to move forward, the finding a job and getting back into school so I can become a Lawyer that at times is all I want and in a flash I let go of those ganas as if it were a fish following the current. Why now that we are in California and my spouse is out of her depression can I not move forward with conviction? Why do I still feel the fear of six years ago and the hopelessness of the following spring a spring that never came for me. That void I think will exist in me for ever but I wonder if the wound of it will heal. I wish I were the blaming type but I'm an internalizer and a lingerer that has not let go of the past or the wrong decisions that I have made. Once upon a time and in flashes I'm confident to the point of being arrogant but that was a part of me that helped me get through Yale and High School. The highs and lows of my life have been extreme and usually very closely aligned to one another. Near fatal illness/ wining the lottery, birth of my child/ death of a family member. I don't hold anger but the saddness of those incomplete times in my life, the joy of being a college freshman was not to be mine, the joys of being a senior were not either, and sharing the beauty of my daughter with the hope of recovery with my cousins in LA and in jail were not to be mine either. Those moments came and went and slowly but firmly have broken my spirit. Now being back were I once was well is a strange feeling. Not the this is not the same feeling of my surroundings I expected most of that and enjoy exploring the changes, no the change is in me. Dean Loge once told me or emailed me the story of returning to the same camp ground in Vermont year after year and that each time it was not exactly the same and he wondered if it was the site or himself having changed through out the year. In this vain I write this to expose the unhealthy ruts I have fallen into to see that I'm back but not well as I once was or hope to be. Hope is returning though with the adventures of my daughter in kindergarten and with a neighborhood of good people and children, she seems at peace and in place here. My family is enjoying being in closer proximity with us here in California and the joy of life has returned to my spouse, now the project and focus is on myself, which after so many years of neglecting myself its a small paradox in exactly how to do it. The list of things to do are compiled and yet still I procrastinate, why? I don't know... the fear of getting to a good place and having something terrible shatter it to bits? Probably, I don't want to lose anymore happiness but the happiness is not as bright or vivid (without Tide) as it should be so I must fight to move it forward. That is one of the big reasons for my 5 year delay in writing my essay something like most that I should have done years ago. At cultural connections I was famous for reading Dr. Seuss - Oh the places you will go. That book inspires me now to move forward because as god's creatures we must.

If I continue to write here it will be a sign I'm moving forward if not then the fear will still be gripping my soul, but I promise to fight it.

6 year Anniversary

2007-09-07T02:04:00.000-07:00

In the Bay

2007-08-21T12:59:00.000-07:00

Very happy to be back in California, now i just need a job.

Chicano Minute

2007-08-08T03:12:00.001-07:00

Monday Videos

2007-07-30T01:23:00.000-07:00

new videos for you to watch and comment on.

Pilli blogging will comence once again this week. 2 more till we move.

new videos watch them...

2007-07-12T23:33:00.000-07:00

Cumbia Lunera by el Gran Silencio perfomed by fans

this cumbia video is great! check out the spinning dip at right before the half way mark i think that couple is the best.

Avril's Girlfriend song is catchy

Dissapointment

2007-07-05T16:50:00.000-07:00

I wish these observations weren't true but Villaraigosa just became the next Henry Cisneros. Damn you gore jr.... I'm still pushing for Obama but we'll see what happens.

Managing Disappointments

by Steve Soto

I’ll cut to the chase and say it, even though most of you will disagree: Al Gore’s chances for a successful entry into the presidential race ended the moment his troubled son was pulled over and busted once again. You can disagree all you want, but the truth is that the media has a new club to use against Gore. His son was busted in a Prius going over a hundred miles an hour (wow, who knew?), possessing marijuana and prescription drugs that weren’t his.

We can bleat all we want about how this is a family matter and is irrelevant to whether or not Gore is the best candidate in 2008, but anyone who really believes that is doing their best to ignore the reality that the GOP, the Mighty Wurlitzer, and their ilk have fresh meat to beat us over the head with. The right-wing talking points write themselves: “they must be bad parents”; “he can’t even guide his son let alone guide a country”, yada-yada-yada.

It’s over folks. Gore needed a reentry without distractions and without providing his political opponents in the media any ammunition. That isn’t possible now, and the Gores need to focus on family matters at this time.

And while we are on the topic of disappointments, Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is a slug who can’t seem to keep his zipper up. Take a hike mayor and forget about running for governor of California. You will never get my vote. And please don’t insult my intelligence with that “it’s a personal matter” bullshit. It’s not personal but rather a reflection of character and judgment, or lack of the same. There are plenty of politicians who manage to stay faithful to their spouses, who deal with the same temptations and challenges without wrecking a marriage, a family, or an administration of supporters. Just as Clinton showed a character flaw and poor judgment, Villaraigosa has done the same. It’s ludicrous for Democrats to blast Rudy Giuliani for treating his wives as toilet paper but to then give Villaraigosa a pass for infidelity.

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Steve Soto

Grand Canyon Visit

2007-06-23T09:54:00.000-07:00

I'm DONE!!

2007-06-07T16:14:00.000-07:00

I'm ready to dance and come on out. Senior ESSAY Done!!

Mo'Money Mo Problems steals the song so well

My new favorite song

East Coast Classic

Lety Graduating

2007-06-06T14:10:00.000-07:00

Graduation Pictures

2007-06-06T13:38:00.000-07:00

Pictures from Wellesley and Boston.

The future

2007-06-06T01:30:00.000-07:00

We are moving to Berkeley so and I'm overwhelmed by a season of graduations, Gabriel's, Ciuapilli's and Biggest and Bestest Graduation at Wellesley. For my sister Leticia whom I am so proud of, more pictures will be coming on the blog. I have decided I truly want to go to law school hopefully in the next 3 years. Getting a master would be good but it needs to be in the bay. I don't know what will happen but I'm exicted that what will happen will be good. Plus were going to the reunion in New Haven. I need to finish before then and I will but I just wanted to write about the excitement and other things are shaping up for the future.

Wellesly Graduation

2007-06-05T22:56:00.000-07:00

Pictures from the departure flight and moving out.

Mario Kart movie

2007-06-05T22:53:00.000-07:00

Steve Gilliard RIP

2007-06-03T11:35:00.000-07:00

Orcinus does one of the best jobs to remember Steve.

Steve Gilliard, 1966-2007
Saturday, June 02, 2007

--by Sara

It's not news to anyone that the Internet is an emotionally complicated place. It binds us tightly to people we may never see in person. It makes us care about things that are farther away than we might ever imagine. It gives us communities in which we can celebrate and grieve things that those we share our meatworld homes with may not understand.

I'm coming up hard against all those walls today. My birthday -- the last one of my forties -- dawned with the news that one of my favorite online friends-I've-never-met, Steve Gilliard, died this morning in a Manhattan hospital.

It was not unexpected. Steve was already on kidney dialysis, and had survived a previous heart surgery. So those of us who were part of his blog's lively online community were deeply concerned when took ill in late February with a heart valve infection. A valve replacement surgery followed; and when he came to, it became clear that he'd had a stroke during the operation. From there, things went downhill, with moments of hope cycling with despair.

In terms of grandeur and prestige within Blogtopia, The News Blog was similar in many respects to Orcinus -- a down-home two-person blog with a strong perspective, loyal following, and Technorati rankings right in the same range. It was my second online home after this place -- a home I shared with a group of regulars who were as eclectic and lively as the subjects Steve covered, and whom I came to regard as some of my best online friends.

Gilley's main contribution to the progressive conversation was his incredible depth as a military historian. That was the blood and bone of his blog -- careful explanations of strategy and tactics, illustrated with annoted satellite pictures of Baghdad neighborhoods showing what our troops were facing, and interlaced with stories from other wars throughout history in which troops had found themselves in similar situations. It was the kind of interpretive, explanatory war reporting Americans used to get before Vietnam: here's where we're going, what we're doing, what we hope to achieve. And, too often, Gilley's analysis -- simply by showing us the players, the field, and the scoreboard -- also showed us with perfect clarity why we were going to lose.

His blogging voice was brash and authoritative -- just what you'd expect from a lifelong New Yorker. We gave him no end of shit for the bold pronouncements and predictions he'd occasionally issue, which would often enough turn out to be dead wrong. But when he wrote about New York politics (he was merciless on Giuliani, and it's one subject on which we will be poorer without him), he had a way of making even an expat on the opposite coast care about the local political oddities of the Big Apple. Reading Gilley on NYC was like reading Molly Ivins on Texas. You could only sit back, mute, at the gobstopping wonder of it all.

Earlier in his career, Gilley worked for several years in Silicon Valley; and he and his blogging partner, the lovely and talented Jen, made scathing critiques of the tech industry's overhyped anything-goes corporate culture. As an African-American man, Gilley knew the same lesson that I'd learned as a woman there: Any time an employer starts making the office "more like home," it's because they never intend to let you go home. The day they put in the gym and hire a chef for the employee cafeteria, your life, as you once knew it, is over.

Beyond that: any time a company starts making noises about how the "old rules don't apply" to them, it means they have no intention of respecting the values those old rules represented. Those of us who depend on scrupulous attention to those traditional employment rules to protect us from abuse, exploitation, and discrimination should not welcome this announcement as happy news. It means they're going to screw you. Gilley knew -- and was gutsy enough to say right out loud -- that rich white West Coast boys with Stanford engineering degrees can be every bit as racist and sexist in their business practices as any southern cracker.

We had several rather heated arguments about this before he convinced me he was right. I don't think I ever conceded the point outright, but he got me to re-think those years of my life, and frame them in a way that helped me get some peace. I'll always owe him for that, and I regret that I didn't thank him for it.

What happened to The News Blog after Gilley took ill was one of the more remarkable experiences I've had in my online life. Within hours, TNB's commenter community seamlessly stepped up and found a way to keep the thing going -- and then kept it up, day in and day out, for nearly four months. Part of it was that we didn't want to lose each other's good company; but most of it was that we knew the blog was Steve's life and livelihood, and we wanted him to have it to come home to when he got well.

Steve, of course, didn't make it easy. He took all the access and account information with him into his initial coma. But a system emerged as Jen found workarounds, and a volunteer webmaster stepped in, and all of us took turns submitting stuff that we thought was in keeping with Steve's vision of the blog. Two of us emerged as the blog's strongest voices, launching what should by rights become stellar blogging careers (Lower Manhattanite and Hubris Sonic, let me know where you land); but we all chipped in with the usual mix of tech and humor and Steve's signature food blogging to keep several posts going up per day.

A lot of blogs have meatspace metaphors for the kind of "place" they are -- whiskey bars and whaling shacks and public streets and cozy salons. TNB had been, perhaps, a sort of busy midtown coffeehouse with a raucous group of regulars. But when Steve went into the hospital, it transformed into a 24-hour vigil of close friends hanging out in the waiting room of a Manhattan hospital, keeping each other fed and entertained while worrying, praying, and waiting together for the news.

And today, we got the news we dreaded most. Gilley is gone. The News Blog has gone dark. Jen told us from the first week that it would be closed down if Gilley died, and I expect she'll stick to that.

And the rest of us are left counting our losses. There are too few African-American voices in the progressive blogosphere anyway, but Steve's was simply irreplaceable. I've lost an online community I valued deeply. We'll mourn together for a while, and then scatter. It's the way of things in the online world: the feelings we have for people are very real; but sometimes, we're forced to reckon with the reality of just how ephemeral the connections that bind us are. The contradiction is not one that is sitting comfortably today.

It is the most beautiful of June evenings here in Vancover. My family's getting ready to take me out. We'll take a walk through the rhododendrons and heron rookery in Stanley Park, then find a seaside restaurant for dinner, and maybe go see a movie or take in the scene down on Robson Street. For a few hours, we'll celebrate what's been achieved in 49 years -- a loving and sturdy marriage, handsome children, a comfortable home, work that suffices, money enough, more good things to come.

And I'll resolve more firmly to drop some weight, watch my blood sugar, get those heart checkups...and keep blogging. If we're going to fill the silence left by the loss of Steve Gillard's great big voice, we're all going to have to keep ourselves strong, stay healthy, and learn to speak up a whole lot louder for what's right.

Updated with corrected information on Gilley's health. He wasn't diabetic.

3:40 PM Spotlight

Zonald

2007-05-28T15:36:00.000-07:00

Another Lopez goes down!

2007-05-14T13:28:00.001-07:00

George Lopez, the first Latino to lead a television series successfully, isn't laughing.

ABC, he said, has "unceremoniously" canceled his self-titled comedy, which over the years chronicled his personal life from his sad childhood growing up with an abusive grandmother, to his alcoholism and kidney transplant.

"The George Lopez Show" will live on in syndication, but that's not making Lopez feel better about not getting the chance to tell one final season of stories. Lopez said Steve McPherson, ABC president of prime-time entertainment, called him over the weekend to explain that "financially" it wasn't working out, that the network would lose money if it picked up the show again.

That explanation was painful to hear, Lopez said, considering the way the network has shuffled his show over the years -- four different time slots in five years -- and putting it up against "American Idol" time and time again.

It all contributed to the show's low ratings, a point not lost on Lopez who noted that this season his show out-performed two freshman comedies that were renewed: "Notes from the Underbelly" and "Knights of Prosperity."

"I’ll take the good and the bad," Lopez said. "I took the five years of good and I did a lot with the good. My popularity, I was involved in charities, I overcame my illness, all on TV. I shared all of that with America—every secret I had. Every personal feeling. Every emotion. Everything was open to the show. And what happens?"

Lopez said he attributed the cancellation in part to the fact that the show is produced by Warner Bros. Television, and not ABC Television Studios. Using some colorful language that cannot be printed in a family newspaper, Lopez scoffed in particular at another ABC pickup: "Caveman," about two brothers and one best friend, described as sophisticated cave dudes living in modern-day Atlanta, who will continually find themselves at odds with contemporary society.

"I get kicked out for a...caveman and shows that I out-performed because I’m not owned by [ABC Television Studios]...So a...Chicano can’t be on TV but a...caveman can?" Lopez said. "And a Chicano with an audience already? You know when you get in this that shows do not last forever, but this was an important show and to go unceremoniously like this hurts. One hundred seventy people lost their jobs."

For his part, Lopez will be fine. He has an HBO special and a movie coming in the summer, and a deal with Warner Bros. to produce television movies.

"TV just became really, really white again," he said.

--Maria Elena Fernandez

Wii addiction

2007-05-08T15:27:00.000-07:00

Bumping in the Ipod

2007-04-30T18:03:00.000-07:00

Ilegales - La Otra

Pilli story time

2007-04-30T16:07:00.000-07:00

Pilli blogging

2007-04-30T01:38:00.000-07:00

Long time no blog her pictures, here's her picking veggies at a local farm and at Cesar Chavez day making a friend with her parasol. I'm trying to keep it up. Going to Avenal this weekend for Old Timers Day.

Mari's Friday videos

2007-04-27T01:18:00.000-07:00

White and Nerdy

Gwen Stefani - Sweet Escape

paletero man

Wenesday night videos

2007-04-25T17:58:00.000-07:00

Me & you

Say it Right

Signs

these should keep the internet me occupied (PS) pilli blogging is on its way back.

Momas and Papas

2007-04-25T01:48:00.000-07:00

I hate mondays but this song helps.

California song that got me through Yale

Scrubs

2007-04-25T00:57:00.000-07:00

This is by far my most favorite show, it reminds me that things will be ok because its a sitcom but that weird situations do happen to relationships and with life. The dark humor is what I thrive off on. Much in the way that the Harry potter books deal with the bubble that we lived in at Yale. But anytime you have a chance to watch especially now that there in reruns on all kinds of stations. Anyways heres a clip from the show.

Nnamdi - My Chocolate Bear

Q-Tip - Vivrant Thing

2007-04-25T00:54:00.000-07:00

Alejandro Sanz & Shakira

2007-04-24T13:01:00.000-07:00

Cupid's Chokehold

2007-04-23T14:02:00.000-07:00

HT Vox i want one

2007-04-20T17:20:00.000-07:00

Great Talib Video

2007-04-19T13:14:00.000-07:00

in the 60's mood - Viva los Monkees

2007-04-18T00:22:00.000-07:00

One of the originally made boy bands. I love Davie Jones... and the line... I need sunshine on my brain.

I'm a believer
Pleasant Valley Sunday

More Laugh-In

2007-04-17T22:51:00.000-07:00

Stomach bruise

2007-04-17T21:24:00.000-07:00

Time Zones

2007-04-17T18:11:00.001-07:00

Friday night accident

2007-04-16T13:59:00.000-07:00

I was in a accident that totaled my car on friday night. I'm sad its gone the escort got me across the country and almost made it for the final trip to cali. I'm ok but my face got a bit of a beating. Here's the picture.

Come on Gloria lets go...

2007-04-07T00:56:00.000-07:00

Weekend Pilli Blogging

2007-03-12T00:09:00.000-07:00

Pilli has been gone for one week. I miss her and her mami. I wanted to share some pictures since there gone and I just scanned one of my favorite pictures ever with my sister.

Read Bulletin

2007-03-11T23:30:00.000-07:00

From: Walter

Date: Mar 11, 2007 8:46 PM
Subject For those of you who dont know
Body: I have finally been given a date for my brigades deployment to Iraq. We will have boots on the ground July 30th, meaning I will be leaving the states sometime around July 15th ish. Right now my Block Leave is scheduled for the last two weeks of June, which is a good thing because if it doesnt change then Ill get to turn 21 at home. We are also already being told to expect an 18 month deployment possibly longer.

For Lety and Tony

2007-03-01T14:35:00.001-08:00

Click through to see the rest.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=3xn4MzEOF2Y

Saturday videos

2007-02-17T16:48:00.000-08:00

its a nice day here,

Friday Pilli blogging

2007-02-16T01:01:00.000-08:00

bad video quality great song....

back in the day 1998 style

2007-02-16T00:42:00.000-08:00

when things were better and life was easier... hootie ruled,

then when the Stile's disease hit their song time got me through the long nights.

this was the first song I danced to after I got better in the future birthplace of pilli.

Candelita

2007-02-13T01:00:00.000-08:00

One of my most favorite ever!

Aunque no sea conmigo

2007-02-13T00:01:00.000-08:00

Song I remember from Ciuapilli's snowy birth.

This last video is dedicated to all the Mecha de Yalies working their butts off to get ECCSF going. La union hace fuerza.

Mil hora

2007-02-12T23:55:00.000-08:00

Got the test in a few hours heres a good Sonora Dinamita Cover of Mil horas by the Agrentina band Los abuelos de la nada. A bit too sexy but the song is great plus a song for lety.

Long week

2007-02-12T00:47:00.000-08:00

So this has been a really long week. Night classes suck and I have an insurance test on Tuesday I need to be ready for all while trying to do like 5 different things for SVrep. Damn I didn't do enough in that regard this weekend. So I'm going to have a tough beginning of the week and hot damn its valentines day...man I can't wait for President's day, so I can just sleep in. Anyways here's a belated pilli picture and a video of a song I didn't know Julieta Venegas had covered with Jarabe de Palo and the original version below that. Plus if you like good fusion music like I do please check out Pistolera a fusion band from NYC who's coming to the southwest at the beginning of March for more info and a taste of there cool song Algo pa que te olvides or something so you can forget. Pistolera.net

Late night video & post

2007-02-05T01:02:00.000-08:00

I post this video because of my weekend at a National Leadership Summit on Immigration Policy
which went very well and fills me with hope to truly get an immigration policy that will give legalization to all the million people that need it in the country.

I am going to be writing more especially my weekly post of pilli pictures so check it out every friday to see what pilli's up to, I'm going to be taking classes for an insurance exam I'm going to be taking in a week or two pretty soon.

Drop a comment if you have a chance.

this other video is dedicated to Denise who has left Arizona for the safer and better confines of Ohio.

I love drew

2007-01-23T15:40:00.000-08:00

Drew Barrymore's nude sprint
Jan. 23, 2007 07:44 AM
Drew Barrymore loves to run naked in Irish fields.The actress - who claims she has outgrown her wild teenage years - admits she still loves to be spontaneous sometimes.Drew confessed to Parade magazine: "I'll drive in Ireland and park my car and run out into the field and rip all my clothes off and just run in the wheat fields naked. That's for no one to see. That's to have that freedom of feeling at one with nature. So I am completely unguarded, still."

The 31-year-old star admits she still finds it difficult to forget her troubled childhood, but is determined to remain positive.Drew, who recently split from her boyfriend Strokes drummer Fabrizio Moretti, said: "It was hard. My childhood lacked structure, stability and consistency. You want to place blame on people, but I don't think it's fair. You're dealt the cards that you're dealt. You can let that be your downfall or a springboard to become something better."For me, I just thought, 'What a waste of time to be angry at my parents. What a waste of time to feel sorry for myself.' The best thing I can do is learn all the things I've learned from them, good and bad, have my own family someday and just keep on going. So many things are thrown at us as human beings, but you can't let any of them get you down, or you're just going to be defeated."After starring in classic sci-fi film 'E.T.' aged just seven, Drew started smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol by the time she was nine, smoking marijuana at 10, and taking cocaine at 12. Drew opened her heart about her childhood drug use in her 1990 autobiography, 'Little Girl Lost'.

I like her and depression sucks

2007-01-23T14:59:00.000-08:00

Mandy Moore: I struggled with depression

Mandy Moore told Jane magazine her depression came on as if "someone had flipped a switch in me."

POSTED: 11:53 a.m. EST, January 23, 2007

Story Highlights• Mandy Moore: Though "positive person," was hit by depression• Says breakup contributed but not only reason• "Writing has been really therapeutic," she says

NEW YORK (AP) -- Mandy Moore has a lot going for her, including a starring role opposite Diane Keaton in the upcoming comedy "Because I Said So." Even so, she says she's grappled with depression.
"A few months ago I felt really low, really sad. Depressed for no reason," the 22-year-old actress-singer says in an interview in the February issue of Jane magazine, on newsstands Tuesday.
"I'm a very positive person, and I've always been glass-half-full," she continues. "So it was like someone flipped a switch in me. I wanted to figure out why."
Moore, newly single after high-profile relationships with actor Zach Braff and tennis standout Andy Roddick, says her recent split with Braff didn't help matters.
"The breakup added to what I was going through, but it's not the complete reason," she tells the magazine. "It definitely doesn't help if you're already in that place ... ."
Moore, who is working on a new record at a studio in Woodstock, New York, and feeling better for doing it, says writing songs "away from friends in L.A. or New York" is good for the soul.
"Writing has been really therapeutic," she says of her music. "These little nuggets that have come up over the past eight months have made me look at things in a different way."
Moore started out as a squeaky-clean teen singer and later crossed over into movies with featured roles in such films as "A Walk to Remember," "Saved" and "American Dreamz."
"I feel bad that people wasted their money on such trite, blah pop music," says Moore about her earlier music.
Moore has been looking inward a lot of late.
"I've been going through this really crazy time in my life -- it's what I imagine people fresh out of college go through," she says. "I'm asking myself life-altering questions, like 'Who am I? Where do I fit in this world? What am I doing, what do I want to do? Am I living to my full potential?' "

Happy thankgiving, Merry Christmas &Happy 2007

2007-01-21T21:21:00.000-08:00

We I've been away from my blog for long time. I just haven't been in a writing mode. Lots to talk about but not wanting to write. Living in AZ again new job as an insurance guy going decently. My organizing job was more than worth all the time and money spent to get a democratic congress elected and working in California. Mari's doing great busting her butt to get her grad school apps done and out and were glad at the progress pilli is making in school she is very inventive and creative. Will probably blog time permitting and I think the Colts will win the super bowl.

Yale Ivy League Champs Beat Harvard 34-13!!

2006-11-18T14:38:00.000-08:00

Final
Yale (8-2, 6-1 Ivy)
Harvard (7-3, 4-3 Ivy)
1 2 3 4 T
7 13 0 14 34
0 7 0 6 13

Yale takes down Harvard for share of Ivy League title

Go sons of Eli!