Since we updated the Forum website in January 2010 there have been a  number of projects in progress.  It was a difficult decision to report as these projects evolved or to wait until some approaches completion or near completion.  When it is difficult to decide or when there is indecision, Time wins!  And the Spring stepped in.

So much for a preamble!

What has been happening with Ramona Forum?  With inauguration of President Obama in January 2009, there was a general feeling of accomplishment among Forum members.  There was a lull in public visibility and activity.  We plunged into gardening as part of our general philosophy about sustainability.  We did a report on PEACE GARDEN in October 2009 followed by a short winter progress report in January 2010.  We did limited Sunday demonstration.  Letter writing was a major project.

OUR LETTER WRITING EFFORTS:

We plunged into a deliberate attempt to influence public opinion through letter writing.  As Ramonans, we concentrated our effort on the pages of Ramona Sentinel, and occasionally on the pages of North County Times.

The issues that attracted our members are

• healthcare reform,
• continuing war in Afghanistan,
• Tea Party groups’ rightist ideological stands,
• immigration reform
• civility in political dialog:
• barter system

Here is a list of letters/commentaries that were published:

Date	Author	Theme
11/19/2009	Patterson	“We change course or America Sinks”
1/7/2010	Duttaahmed	“Is this what Founding Fathers envisioned”
1/7/2010	Patterson	“Drilling for an Answer”
1/21/2010	Patterson	“Questions Chambers Choice of Guests”
2/11/2010	Susan Zambrano	“Response to Ramona Tea’d Party”
2/18/2010	Ron Zambrano	“Reader Calls for Real Public Debate”
3/11/2010	Selkovitch	“Letter Writers are not alone in Ramona”
3/18/2010	Duttaahmed	“Avoid Hyperbole”
4/1/2010	Susan Zambrano	“Tea Party Suggestion”
4/15/2010	Ron Zambrano	“Respect Each Other in Legitimate Debate”
4/15/2010	Duttaahmed	“Let’s find Solutions”
4/15/2010	Selkovitch	“Tea Party Questions”
4/22/2010	Patterson	Congressman to Attend TEA Party event
5/6/2010	Patterson	“Real Fix Needed for Real Problem”
5/6/2010	Bisbikis	“I Read the News Today”
5/6/2010	Selkovitch	“Republicans Have a Plan”

Dave’s letter to North County Times dealt with use of troops within USA.  In support of our causes, notable letters from other than forum members were from James McNamara and J. Garcia.  Our heartfelt thanks to them.

In our limited demonstrations on Sundays, some of us wanted to challenge the values of the fellow Ramonans with posters like:

• Did you have enough of war?
• Greed is evil,
  organized corporate greed is anti-national
• How much profit is good profit?
• Because the healthcare reform costs
  do we let the uninsured die without treatment
• War will not make us safe
  Middle East Peace might

DAVE’S COUP on DUNCAN HUNTER Jr.

Our president, Dave Patterson, recently staged a sort of coup on Duncan Hunter Jr.  In a Tea Party meeting in Ramona, he asked Representative Hunter Jr. whether the natural born (in USA) children of (one or more) parents of illegal immigrants are entitled to US citizenship.  The obvious reference was to the Amendment #14.  The answer (in the link watch and listen from 2 min on)  from Hunter Jr. was “NO”, which he later tried to explain by saying that he wanted to change the Constitution to deny citizenship to children of illegal immigrants.  One of us wrote a long commentary, which we are posting under ‘Special Commentary/Editorial’ on our ‘Pages’ section of our website.  Listen to Dave Patterson’s original video posted on You Tube, which was later picked by the Turkey Democrats.  There were almost 100, 000 total ‘hits’.

PEACE GARDEN

We devoted a lot of our energy in making the Peace Garden a success. With the knowledge and experience we gained last year, we planned a better garden for this year.   A frame was built to protect vegetables from rabbits and squirrels. (January 2010 Report) Inside the frame, we planted winter vegetables like spinach, lettuce, Swiss chard, peas, onions, garlic and similar vegetables.  Straw bale enclosure advocate was Rose.  

(Nancy by Rose’s straw bale garden, with potatoes, cilantro, lettuce and spinach)

We are now into the summer vegetables. Tomatoes, beans, eggplants, and peppers, both sweet and hot ones, are in the plans. Some are already in the ground.

Gathering by the Garden Side

Forum members love to gather by the garden side. (watch)  Usually we meet , work, discuss—often animated!— different topics, listen to invited speakers, eat, drink, socialize (watch) and sing (watch and listen to this parody!).  We  meet once a month, usually last Saturday of the month, by Garden side.

Meeting dates and times are circulated among Forum members through e-mail.  If you are not a Forum member, or just want to know about our activities, please use our ‘contact us’ form to become a member by letting us know about you and your e-mail.  There is no membership requirement other than your commitment to progressive causes.

WEDNESDAYS — SPECIAL EVENTS AND REGULAR MEETINGS

This year, as part of Our Second Wednesday Special Event Nights,  we showed two documentaries:

• Ceasar Chavez
• Capitalism: A Love Story (by Michael Moore)

We meet (most) Wednesdays for our regular meetings.  Besides organizational affairs, we have visitors to discuss issues or to listen to them.

Meeting dates and times are circulated among Forum members through e-mail.  Second Wednesday Special Events are also announced in ‘Our Town’ section of Ramona Sentinel.   If you are not a Forum member, or just want to know about our activities, please use our ‘contact us’ form to become a member by letting us know about you and your e-mail.  There is no membership requirement other than your commitment to progressive causes.

FOR THOSE WHO MISSED THE FEATURE ON US (RAMONA FORUM, THAT IS!) IN NORTH COUNTY TIMES, HERE IS THE LINK

http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/ramona/article_48d5b5a5-5836-58ab-959e-a08a0dcc6c18.html