CA-46: "Dear Republican..."

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Sunday November 02, 2008 · 12:35 PM PST

2008/11/02 · 12:35

"Dear Republican,

Like you, I was proud to be a Republican until the advent of Bush and the Neocons. My family have been active California Republicans since 1859, the year before Lincoln was elected."

eph89

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Saturday November 01, 2008 · 12:58 PM PDT

2008/11/01 · 12:58

If the name Pete McCloskey sounds familiar, you may remember him as a 7-term Republican congressman from California. Paul Norton "Pete" McCloskey, Jr. comes from a long line of Republicans, going back to the 1850s. He served in the Navy, the Marine Corps, and the Marine Corps Reserves, and served our country in Korea.

So why's a former Republican congressman at a rally today endorsing Democrat Debbie Cook for Congress? Because he, like millions of Americans, knows that the Republican party has lost its way. Unlike today's breed, McCloskey has stood up for ethics and our country's future. He protected our environment by co-authoring the 1973 Endangered Species Act. He ran for President on an anti-Vietnam war platform. And he was the first representative to call for the impeachment of Nixon after Watergate. He truly put Country before party.

eph89

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Saturday October 18, 2008 · 9:47 AM PDT

2008/10/18 · 09:47

I've been a member of this community for years, and over that time been proud to support many of the progressive candidates I've learned about on this site. But I always lamented that there wasn't much I could do right here at home. My congressman, Dana Rohrabacher, was too entrenched in the district, and his seat was very safe due to the gerrymandering of 2001 that protects California incumbents.

I can't imagine there's a person left who hasn't heard of Dana Rohrabacher. But if you've by some chance missed out, he's the guy who buddied up with the Taliban, blamed global warming on termites, palled around with Jack Abramoff, sold a screenplay to a fraudulent producer, and hoped that protesting American families suffered the consequences of a terrorist attack. Even today he's back in the news, scoring a "F" for his environmental record.

eph89

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Thursday October 16, 2008 · 5:55 PM PDT

2008/10/16 · 17:55

OK Kos and Kossacks, if you are looking to truly break the spirits of the GOP for years to come, we've got a golden opportunity right in the GOP stronghold of Orange County.

Today, the race in CA-46 between Debbie Cook and Dana Rohrabacher is reported as a statistical dead heat.

eph89

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Thursday July 03, 2008 · 5:23 PM PDT

2008/07/03 · 17:23

What are the chances of an asteroid striking the earth? Well, according to Representative Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach), they're the same as getting a royal flush in Las Vegas (which he says he has). So last year he introduced House Resolution 4917, a bill calling for the creation of a comprehensive program to "eliminate and mitigate the serious and credible threats to humankind posed by potentially hazardous near-Earth asteroids and comets."

Now I'm not about to dispute the odds Mr. Rohrabacher cites, though my gut tells me there's a little bit of statistical trickery there. I see that the odds of a royal flush are 1 in 649,740. And depending on your source, the chances of a good sized asteroid hitting the earth in the next year are 1 in 100,000. Still, I think I'll try my luck in Vegas before digging my bomb shelter.

eph89

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Saturday June 21, 2008 · 1:17 PM PDT

2008/06/21 · 13:17

It's been ten months now since YearlyKos '07 inspired me to find and join a local CSA. I'm fortunate that living in Southern California allows me to receive fresh produce year-round, but at this time of year most every CSA in the northern hemisphere is in full swing.

The experience has changed the way I eat. I no longer keep meat in the house and usually pass it up when dining out. There is no taste that compares to that of a fresh berry just plucked from the vine that morning, or of fresh-picked salad greens with mustard-herb dressing. With the spotlight on crude oil, both for its soaring price and its CO2 by-products, I feel good that I’m doing a little something to reduce its use. My produce travels under 80 miles from farm to my fork, rather than the 200 miles from the Central Valley or the 1500 mile average our other food travels to reach us. When produce is recalled, I don't worry because I know where mine comes from and how it was grown. Eating lower on the food chain allows the vegetables to be used for my direct benefit, rather than serve as feed for animal meat, saving both farm land and the animals. And because the produce is organic, it hasn’t seen any oil-based fertilizers.

eph89

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Friday June 06, 2008 · 6:07 AM PDT

2008/06/06 · 06:07

I begin this diary with a photo of a "handsome man".

Oops, not that one, yikes!

eph89

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Thursday May 08, 2008 · 5:41 PM PDT

2008/05/08 · 17:41

(Cross-posted at Calitics. Although this deals with the upcoming California primary in particular, election of judicial candidates happens in other places. Perhaps you also know someone in California to inform)

Lost in all the presidential primary news is the fact that California has another important primary coming up on June 3rd. Many of us are boning up on Prop 98 and 99 and understanding the importance of our votes on those measures.

But most of us are woefully unprepared for decisions in other contests, especially those for the office of Superior Court judge. And with turnout expected to be light, we could wind up with some very scary judges if people don't pay attention and vote.

eph89

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Friday February 22, 2008 · 8:36 AM PST

2008/02/22 · 08:36

A few weeks ago, a friend sent me an e-mail raving about a book she had just finished. That book was Greg Mortenson's Three Cups of Tea. I had just seen that this book was the first one chosen for my city's new "Huntington Beach Reads One Book" program. So I took the hints, got myself a copy and started reading this fascinating tale.

I won't go into all the details, as gmoke has some excellent diaries on the book here and here. In short, though, it covers the story of a man who unintentionally wound up in a remote Pakistani village, and found himself committing to building a school for the children there. From that small beginning, he grew to know the people of the region and went on to build dozens of schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan, with a specific focus on the education of girls. As he notes, when you educate a boy, you educate an individual. But when you educate a girl, you educate a community.

eph89

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Saturday October 27, 2007 · 9:16 AM PDT

2007/10/27 · 09:16

Eight weeks ago, inspired by the "Forging Links to An Alternative Food Chain" panel at YearlyKos, I subscribed to a local CSA and wrote about that experience. Several folks have wondered how that experience has gone so I thought it was time for an update.

I'll start by saying that the Japanese word for Community Supported Agriculture, teikei hits the nail squarely on the head when it translates as "food with the farmer's face on it". Of all the characteristics of a CSA subscription, this one has had the most impact on me. I know who grows my food, and where it comes from. Ironically, I haven't yet met my farmer, but I feel like I've known her for years through our correspondence, and through the very real connection of food baskets each week. This personal connection took on a new significance this past week when I learned that her farm was right in the path of the Rice fires in Northern San Diego County.

eph89

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Sunday October 14, 2007 · 1:43 PM PDT

2007/10/14 · 13:43

Earlier this year, I wrote about a film my friends had helped to support: "For The Bible Tells Me So". It's a documentary about 5 families of faith and they journeys they've taken upon learning that their child was gay. Yesterday I finally had the opportunity to view the film, and then attend a Q&A session with its director, Daniel Karslake.

I left with one thought to share with you all: See This Film.

eph89

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Saturday September 01, 2007 · 6:40 AM PDT

2007/09/01 · 06:40

It seems only fitting that a panel at YearlyKos regarding food and agriculture would be responsible for sowing seeds of change in my daily life.

I've already written about how helpful I found the Forging Links to An Alternative Food Chain panel. I'm now in the middle of reading The Omnivore's Dilemma, and What To Eat is waiting in the wings. Both of these books do a great service in raising awareness of where our food comes from. Tom Philpott's portion of the panel was a fitting complement to these books, in that he explained how factory farming is dismantling our agricultural infrastructure, poisoning our environment and leading to an increased dependence on an unsustainable model.

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CA-46: "Dear Republican..."

CA-46: Pete McCloskey Stays For Change

CA-46: YOU can oust Rohrabacher!

CA-46: Break Their Spirits in GOP Orange County

What are the chances?

My CSA Survival Guide

A Handsome Man

Judicial Races Matter, Too

Fear vs. Hope With Three Cups of Tea

Food With The Farmer's Face On It - Chapter 2

For The Bible Tells Me So

Food With the Farmer's Face On It