Forum members have been  active in writing Guest Commentaries and Letters to the Editor, especially in Ramona Sentinel and in Ramona Patch, on various issues.  If you missed reading them, some of the essays are available under Postings: Members’ essays.

The latest is our booth on the opening day at the Ramona Fair on August 28.  The Budget-Pig was first displayed in Ramona

Here is the pig and its creator, Sam!

Rodeo Parade.  It was recognized by many on lookers at the Fair,  Others took a great interest.  It could become the most photographed object at the Fair!

In order to build public awareness towards the impending danger of Americans losing their safety net in Social Security and Medicare benefits, Ramona Forum members have been demonstrating at 10th and Main on Sundays at 12 noon to 1 PM for the last two months and will continue to do so until both chambers of the Congress stop some of their members’ ill-conceived moves.  The Americans pay for Social Security and Medicare benefits.  It is not a charity.  Congress should leave the Trust fund alone, and not tamper with the funds.  Rather they should consider stop paying these benefits to wealthy Americans, who do not need the benefits — the so-called “means testing” formula.

On May 21, Ramona Forum participated in Ramona Rodeo Parade with our almost legendary (!) Budget-Pig—or, is it Pig-Budget!—that is now displayed in front of our booth at the Fair.

It was of interest to many, with applause too.Special thanks to Sam Hasz, the tractor driver, for his creativity, artistic talent and hard work.  Also to Rene and Alice Buelna for working to finalize the float, and Tetsuo Matsui for having our back!  Although they could not ride, dutta and his granddaughter, Erika (and their dog!) were there for a big send off!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-F99-UUSYdE

For a great report click to this link too. ( http://ramona.patch.com/articles/ramona-parade-was-awesome-photo-gallery?upload_started=1306036384#video-6186818)

Since our last report (please see the report below), Ramona Forum members continued demonstrating in front of Bank of America and Chase against their Foreclosure Policies.  It resonated with many Ramonans, including those that were directly  affected by foreclosures initiated by these two institutions.

Two Forum members, Dave and Tetsuo, participated in this years Gay Pride Parade in July.  What Dave wrote afterwards is a matter of pride for all of us: Last weekend I marched in the San Diego Pride Parade with my colleagues in Veterans For Peace (VFP).  Marching in the Pride parade is an exhilarating experience because we were surrounded by over 50,000 very joyous people.  At the end of the parade VFP setup a booth and nearby were a group of Christians with signs and a bullhorn declaring the 50,000 people participating as sinners set for damnation.  The Christians were peddling fear, anger and hatred.  In contrast, and what was catching my eye over and over were same sex couples walking hand in hand almost exclusively with faces brim with joyousness.  Every time I would see a happy couple I would look back and see the Christians peddling anger.  When I saw a couple obviously in love, I would look back at the Christians and see hate.  When I saw the couples smile easily at others and themselves, I would look at the Christians and see fear.  Love vs. hate, happiness vs. anger, acceptance vs. fear, what a contrast being relived over and over all day long.  In the end, the Christians gave up and left one by one, like the vipers rolling off the Ark, to sew their hateful version of Christianity somewhere else.  I was relived to see them go, and reveled more in the love and happiness that was everywhere.  If you get a chance to go to the Pride event next year, don’t miss it because you’ll come home a happier person.  That is if you stay away from those mean people that call themselves Christians.

Dave Patterson
Ramona, Ca

Peace Garden also went through an overhauling — better protection from animals eating all our vegetables, box-planting instead of ground planting with the enclosure and increase in varieties, complete with Nancy’s accents with flowers!  As always, Dave, our fearless leader was in the lead.  The plantings outside the enclosure did not fare well.  We experienced shortage of members, who were able to work in the garden — two of our gardening enthusiasts’ work hours have changed; two are going through cancer treatment; couple of others are nursing health problems;  and some are busy with illness of family members or other family commitments and chores.  It was not lack of enthusiasm rather the unavoidable circumstances of this year.  Please contact us, if you would like to be involved with the Peace Garden.  By the way, we are not totally successful to stop the animals to eat our vegetables!  (Editor’s comment:  I was not really hopeful!)

Our monthly (almost regularly!) Peace Garden gatherings are well attended.  It is lot of fun — good friends, good food topped by Armida’s classic espresso coffee from authentic Italian espresso maker, good conversation, camaraderie, and some work in the garden too!

We are still meeting on first and second Wednesdays of the month at the Library at 6 PM.  As most of the readers know that Second Wednesday is our Special Event Night — March 9 we had a presentation by Prof. George Mantor on Foreclosure Crisis to a well attended gathering; April13 we showed the documentary “Inside Job”, an eye-opening look at our economy;May 11 two representatives from Veterans for Peace narrated their experience of a VFP sponsored Gaza Trip; June 8 we showed the documentary “The End of Poverty” that explored the cause of the problem with interviews from social thinkers, including Nobel-laureates and probable remedies; and July 12 we showed the film “A Day Without A Mexican“.

George Mentor speaking.

A section of the attendees

Join us on Second Wednesdays of month at the Library.  Send your name and address to be included in our e-mail list.

Here is the latest from Dave Patterson on Home Foreclosures sent to Ramona Sentinel:

In October 2007 Ramona lost more than 500 homes to the Witch Creek fire, a devastating blow to our economy and the vitality of our community. Since 2007 approximately 360 families in Ramona have lost their homes to foreclosure with a similar negative effect, and there are currently 140 more foreclosures initiated. These numbers do not include short-sold homes. Projections for 2011 are worse than 2010 with the potential for another 5 million homes foreclosed nationwide in the next few years. With Ramona suffering at what may be the highest foreclosure rate in the county, we find ourselves at the tip of the iceberg. So we ask the question; at what point will the Ramona community reach the breaking point with the onslaught of home foreclosures? Are 500, 600 or 1,000 foreclosures enough to make our town look like a movie set for the Grapes of Wrath?

Many of us at the Ramona Forum believe that we cannot sit by and watch our community crumble as good hard-working families are sent to the street. For years we have been desensitizing ourselves to the high rate of foreclosures in Ramona with derogatory views of those foreclosed on. “They deserved it, they were reckless, or they weren’t savvy enough to protect themselves.” What we are seeing now is the loss of homes for families that worked hard all their lives and played by the rules. In response, the Ramona Forum will confront the high rate of home foreclosures in our town because it’s time to stop the hemorrhaging.

Here are some examples of how unjustified many foreclosures are. The banks may allow a short sale at the current reduced value of the home, or will foreclose and resell at the reduced value, and may not negotiate with the homeowner to keep them in the home on a new mortgage at the reduced value. This is unjustifiable in our view because there are a number of ways that the bank can profit from a re-negotiation of the loan, including equity sharing. In equity sharing the homeowner is given a new mortgage at the lower value, but when the homeowner sells, the bank and homeowner share any accrued equity. In such a case the homeowner stays in the home, and the bank makes a profit. Negotiations like this are what we seek for Ramonans that wish to stay in their homes. We do not need any more of our good residents made homeless when alternatives are available through honest negotiation. Therefore we are asking the banks to step up to the shared responsibility in our community, and stop foreclosing in Ramona.

To accomplish this goal the Ramona Forum will begin staging demonstrations in front of the Bank of America. Bank of America is the largest and oldest bank in town and we want them to set a new standard for all our banks. We want the Bank of America to publicly announce a commitment to stop foreclosures on homes in Ramona and negotiate first. And we want them to follow through on that commitment.

We hope that the citizens of Ramona will join us on the sidewalk in a peaceful and non-violent manner. We will film testimonials of people foreclosed on recently or currently in foreclosure. We will offer a petition for bank customers, demanding that the bank make negotiation the priority in the foreclosure process. When the Bank of America announces their plan to make keeping homeowners in their homes the #1 priority in Ramona, we will move the demonstrations to Chase, Wells Fargo and so on. “Stop foreclosures in Ramona, Negotiate first” is our demand. Demonstrations will be every Friday from 4 to 6PM in front of the Bank of America. The first demonstration is on Friday February 11. If you are in foreclosure or know someone who is, please join us and help to make the demonstrations a success. Contact us at 760-207-9139. It’s time for all of Ramona to join hands to help save our town!

Dave Patterson

President, The Ramona Forum

760-207-9139

As Spring approaches we are working on new season of Peace Garden.

We are standing up for homeowners fighting to keep their homes being foreclosed.  Here is part of the News Release from Ramona Forum President.

On 2/4/11 4:49 PM, Dave Patterson wrote:

In October 2007 Ramona lost more than 500 homes to the Witch Creek fire, a devastating blow to our economy and the vitality of our community.  Since 2007 approximately 360 families in Ramona have lost their homes to foreclosure with a similar negative effect, and there are currently 140 more foreclosures initiated.  These numbers do not include short-sold homes.  Projections for 2011 are worse than 2010 with the potential for another 5 million homes foreclosed nationwide in the next few years.  With Ramona suffering at what may be the highest foreclosure rate in the county, we find ourselves at the tip of the iceberg.  So we ask the question; at what point will the Ramona community reach the breaking point with the onslaught of home foreclosures?  Are 500, 600 or 1,000 foreclosures enough to make our town look like a movie set for the Grapes of Wrath?

Many of us at the Ramona Forum believe that we cannot sit by and watch our community crumble as good hard-working families are sent to the street.  For years we have been desensitizing ourselves to the high rate of foreclosures in Ramona with derogatory views of those foreclosed on.  “They deserved it, they were reckless, or they weren’t savvy enough to protect themselves.”  What we are seeing now is the loss of homes for families that worked hard all their lives and played by the rules.  In response, the Ramona Forum will confront the high rate of home foreclosures in our town because it’s time to stop the hemorrhaging.

Here are some examples of how unjustified many foreclosures are.  The banks may allow a short sale at the current reduced value of the home, or will foreclose and resell at the reduced value, and may not negotiate with the homeowner to keep them in the home on a new mortgage at the reduced value.  This is unjustifiable in our view because there are a number of ways that the bank can profit from a re-negotiation of the loan, including equity sharing.  In equity sharing the homeowner is given a new mortgage at the lower value, but when the homeowner sells, the bank and homeowner share any accrued equity.  In such a case the homeowner stays in the home, and the bank makes a profit.  Negotiations like this are what we seek for Ramonans that wish to stay in their homes.  We do not need any more of our good residents made homeless when alternatives are available through honest negotiation.  Therefore we are asking the banks to step up to the shared responsibility in our community, and stop foreclosing in Ramona.

To accomplish this goal the Ramona Forum will begin staging demonstrations in front of the Bank of America.  Bank of America is the largest and oldest bank in town and we want them to set a new standard for all our banks.  We want the Bank of America to publicly announce a commitment to stop foreclosures on homes in Ramona and negotiate first.  And we want them to follow through on that commitment.

We hope that the citizens of Ramona will join us on the sidewalk in a peaceful and non-violent manner.  We will film testimonials of people foreclosed on recently or currently in foreclosure.  We will offer a petition for bank customers, demanding that the bank make negotiation the priority in the foreclosure process.  When the Bank of America announces their plan to make keeping homeowners in their homes the #1 priority in Ramona, we will move the demonstrations to Chase, Wells Fargo and so on.  “Stop foreclosures in Ramona, Negotiate first” is our demand.  Demonstrations will be every Friday from 4 to 6PM in front of the Bank of America. The first demonstration is on Friday February 11.  If you are in foreclosure or know someone who is, please join us and help to make the demonstrations a success. Contact us at 760-207-9139.  It’s time for all of Ramona to join hands to help save our town!

Dave Patterson

The Ramona Forum

760-207-9139

More reading -

http://www.businessinsider.com/2009/1/75-of-latest-bank-of-america-bailout-paid-merrill-lynch-bonuses-bac

Most foreclosures lack standing, the bank never “produces the note” to show they can legally foreclose — incl. BoA

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/22/whos-got-the-mortgage-pro_n_294169.html

Had enough of Wall Street banks in general? Local banking alternatives abound…

http://moveyourmoneyproject.org/

…(to) GAIN A BETTER UNDERSTANDING…BY HEARING BOTH SIDES OF THE ARGUMENT BE ABLE TO DECIDE FOR THEMSELVES…

This is what Ramona Forum promotes — a better understanding by knowing both sides of an argument — KNOW AND then DECIDE,  yourself!

RAMONA FORUM IN THE NEWS, AGAIN!

http://npowebsite.net/pp/pp.asp?Mode=Flyer&ID=10242

http://www.eastcountymagazine.org/node/5402

Recently Ramona Forum is in the news.  [As if we were not!]

http://ramona.patch.com/

http://eastcountymagazine.org/node/5252

http://www.aolnews.com/local/Ramona/CA/92065?pageNum=3&pgHnd=1295153323157762

AND

Dave’s commentary was published in the Ramona Sentinel print edition and in their website (the first from the Forum) as well.  This is followed by a letter that was not published by the Sentinel, but the contents are appropriate in view of the tragedy in Arizona (though written just before the tragedy) and in our current national dialog.

Progressives have not lost the 2010 election.

Democrats did.  Of the progressives, who ran as ‘principled’ real Democrats, only two persons lost the 2010 election.  More than fifty percent of most of other Democrats, who sacrificed their own principle to look different, lost the election—probably they did not have any principle, other than an urge to some-how-win an election.Since the election, there have been many a soul-searching discussions and commentaries on print, broadcast, Internet and other media.  We at Ramona Forum are no exception.  We are continuing our deliberations.  In the mean time, we have picked a number of good discussions.  We are reprinting two of them—one from Rabbi Lerner and the other from Ms. Helen Philpot—in the main body.  I believe you will enjoy the both.  We would like to have your comments through our comment or contact us links.  if you so permit, we will publish those for everybody’s benefit.  Later we will put them in separate pages, but linked.

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Higher Ground Helen Philpot | November 10, 2010 at 8:06 AM | Tags: Chris Coons, Christine O’Donnell, John Boehner, Michele Bachmann, President Barack Obama, Rick Perry, Sarah Palin, Sharron Angle | Categories: Uncategorized | URL: http://wp.me/p5xSC-LJ

Margaret, you tell Howard that I’ll close up shop when he stops watching FOX.  I may be old, but I am not dead and this sure as hell isn’t my first time to the rodeo.  My voice just got louder and my fat ass isn’t going anywhere until Jesus calls me home.

The thing about politics, Margaret, is that these days there really is no middle ground.  Not a single candidate won their seat with a mandate.  Show me a candidate who took 100% of the votes and I’ll show you a candidate with a mandate.  For example, even Mr. Coons up there in Delaware represents 40% of voters who preferred a witch.  And Governor Perry down here in my state is still the Governor for over 2 million Texans who voted for the other guy.  Which one do you think  is looking for middle ground today?

Senator Coons told people,  ”I’m honored and humbled by the confidence expressed by the voters of Delaware today, but now the hard work begins. I’ve said all along that this campaign is about Delaware’s families and the challenges they face.”

About that same time Perry was telling reporters, ”When the outcomes of this election are certified, we will see a substantial conservative presence in both the Texas House and Senate.  We are one day closer to seeing the changes we want in Washington.”  He then set out to do the hard work Texans elected him to do… sell his book.  By the way, in his book he writes, “If you don’t support the death penalty and citizens packing a pistol, don’t come to Texas.  If you don’t like medicinal marijuana and gay marriage, don’t move to California.”

Now that’s bringing the country together …

For there to be common ground, both sides have to be looking for it.  Kind of hard when the new Republican leader John Boehner has declared that Republicans will not compromise.  Funny.  They’ve been compromising on their principles about smaller government for years.  Why change now when compromise is exactly what we need?

Sometimes I just scratch my head and wonder how much better life would be if Americans still had to turn a page in a newspaper rather than flip a channel on the boob tube to get the news.   But such is life.  You live and you learn.  And at my age you learn too  much.  For instance, I have learned that when Democrats over-reach, we end up providing health insurance coverage for children who have pre-existing conditions.  When Republicans over-reach, we go to war.

When a liberal activist judge over-reaches, a disenfranchised group of Americans have their constitutional rights restored.  When a conservative activist judge over-reaches, the country’s elections get handed to corporations on a silver platter.

Sour grapes?  Maybe.  I never said I was without prejudice.  In fact, I have openly admitted to being a bitch.  But the difference between my being a bitch and Sarah Palin being a bitch is huge.  When I am a bitch,  a few people get a good laugh over an old lady’s blog writing.  When Sarah Palin is a bitch, some of God’s most beautiful handiwork gets reduced to a line item on Exxon’s annual report.

I have lived all my life speaking my mind.   And I don’t intend to stop now.   You want to know what I really think?  I think Fox News has no problem telling lies.   And I think a whole lot of white people don’t like having a black President.  And I think gay people scare straight people.  And religious people forget the basic teachings handed down by the founders of their religion.  At the crossroads of every major religion, you’ll find the Golden Rule.   Too bad they’ve deleted it from their GPS.

Do you really expect me to believe that a bunch of Republicans were swept into office because Democrats covered pre-existing conditions for children?  Or because Health Insurance Companies can’t drop you when you are no longer profitable?  Or that Cap and Trade is killing our country?  Please.  I bet you can’t find 10 Tea Party voters who can even tell you what Cap and Trade is.  I know for damn sure that bitch from Alaska can’t.

Michele Bachmann is a lunatic who wants Democrats investigated.  Sarah Palin quit her job as Governor so she could get rich.   Sharron Angle told a bunch of hispanic students that they looked a little Asian – as if the Asians got together with the Hispanics to create a bigger voting block ???  I mean what the hell was that all about anyway?

Wake up America.  John Boehner is orange for goodness sakes.  Orange people don’t have to be asked because you can tell just by looking at them.   Where is Michele Bachmann’s investigation on orange people?

And this lot is better than Obama?  I’m not buying it.

Ten percent of the vote came out of a nation frustrated by unemployment.  The other 90% remains divided.  As soon as the jobs return we’ll be back to dealing with the hard problems:  Racism.  Sexism.  Ageism.  Religious fanaticism.  Ignorance…ism.   And Sarah Palin.

Two years ago, the pundits predicted that the Republican party had become a regional party reduced to the southern states.  Clearly they were wrong. Why?  Because hate has no boundaries and Sarah Palin found a flight out of Wasilla.

Today the pundits are saying that Democrats are out of touch with the main stream.  Guess what?  So were abolitionists.   Pundits come and pundits go.  I’ve been around for more than 80 years.  Deal with it.

For everyone who is currently considering removing their Obama sticker from the back of their car… for every Democrat who made the effort to get out the vote and today is feeling a little down… for every progressive American who is thinking about moving to Canada…. I say this:

Christine O’Donnell might not have been a witch, but Sarah Palin is definitely a bitch.   Three steps forward.  One step back.

We’re still two steps ahead of the game with a Senate and a White House.  Washington will be grid-locked for the next two years, but the ground war just came to the States.  Democrats need to stop looking for middle ground and start looking for higher ground.  And for goodness sakes, grow a pair and quit apologizing for it.

As I see it, the Democrats have one job between now and the next election -   figuring out how to get those who stayed home mad enough to get off their asses.    Democracy isn’t a spectator sport.  I mean it.  Really.

Add a comment to this post

(this comment link is for Helen)

This month we will demonstrate against the ‘campaign of fear’ launched by certain groups within the Country.  The demonstration takes place every Friday at Rt. 67 and Mussey Grade Road in Ramona starting at 4 PM.   As part of our campaign against the ‘campaign of fear’, we have created a poster.   First, we want you to take a look at this poster.  We have received a number of  e-mails, many from strangers to the Forum, expressing their appreciation of the poster.  Here it is.  If any one of you would like to have a copy, please let us know.  Come join us.

Here is a link to another site.

• A congressional candidate forum on Wednesday, September 22, 2010 at 6 PM.  The event will take place at the Sizzler Restaurant in Ramona, in which three of the four candidates of the 52^nd Congressional district are going to participate.  As per Ramona Forum’s mission, the event is to let the Ramonans find out where the candidates stand on issues confronting the community and the Nation.

A report of this successful meeting is posted at the end of these announcements.

Next programs:

• Ramona Forum Lecture series: The topic is Liberation Theology.  The speaker is local Theologian and Pastor, Rev. Steve Islander.  He will talk on what Liberation Theology is, what it isn’t, which is currently being framed by some in the media as a counter-productive, anti-American system.  This is an opportunity for the Ramonans to hear from an expert on the subject.  The Lecture will be at the Ramona Library conference room Wednesday October 6, 2010, 6 PM.  Contact Dave Patterson for more information, 760-207-9139.
• Ramona Forum second Wednesday Special Event: On Wednesday October 13, 2010, the Forum will present array of videos as informational on economic affairs of the nation, followed by audience discussion lead by Forum experts.  The information presented are in depth and not often presented in mainstream media.
• Gathering at the Peace Garden site on October 2, 2010 at 4 PM.  (Please note that this time is a change from previous one)  Garden planning for the coming season will be the focus, combined with a general meeting.  And we have not socialized for a while!

We are also planning few demonstrations at Rt. 67 and Mussy Grade Road.  Details will be forthcoming.

Here is the chronology of events again:

September 22: candidate forum

September 29: No regular meeting

October 2: Peace Garden gathering

October 6:  Lecture on Liberation Theology

October 13: Economic affairs informational

October 20: Regular Wednesday meeting

REPORT ON CANDIDATE FORUM: On Wednesday September 22, 2010, we hosted a very successful Candidates Forum for the 52 congressional District. Two of the three candidates, Michael Benoit (Libertarian) and Ray Lutz (Democrat) were present. Unfortunately, Representative Duncan did not attend, which seemed to be consistent with his pattern of dictating terms of engagement.
After a brief introduction by each of the candidates, they answered questions from the audience, both of them showing more than adequate knowledge of the subjects they were dealing with.
Their relationship was always cordial and provided an educational environment for the audience.

Mike Benoit gave responses that were always consistent with his Libertarian philosophy, attacking any intrusion by government into the private lives of citizens.

Ray Lutz on the other hand exhibited a more pragmatic approach, and, while defending his full support for Capitalism, recognized the dangers of a laissez faire approach, and the need for government intervention.
On social issues, there was very little disagreement.

This audience was denied the opportunity of knowing where Duncan Hunter stood on issues of their concerns. We will not know whether his often-expressed views on audience concerns reflect lack of experience as was alleged, or whether those are his own or repetition of his father’s views.

ADDENDUM TO THE REPORT: We are known to be partial to members of Forum family!  Our Rose sent her assessment of the meeting, but I cannot resist publishing the entire e-mail!  Here it is:

Thank you for organizing the debate / discussion with Ray Lutz and Michael Benoit.  It was very well attended and provided and excellent environment for serious discussion.  Too bad Duncan couldn’t be there.   I was also disappointed that there was not a single reporter for any media outlet.  I tried to take notes to submit to PATCH, which is an online blog currently being developed by AOL.com News to cover local events; my notes were minimal at best.   Susan estimated 48 people in attendance; does that seem like an accurate estimate?  I will submit with my notes.    I am not an active letter writer, but I drafted the following ideas.  If anyone would like to take the idea & submit, be my guest!  We could call it “An Open Letter to Duncan”.   ————-Thanks to the Ramona Sizzler, we were provided with a forum for discussion and debate of the concerns of the constituents of the 52^nd Congressional District.  Thank you, Ray Lutz and Michael Benoit for attending and thoughtfully discussing the issues, allowing voters to have a better understanding of their views. It is very helpful to hear the views of the candidates of the goals each would pursue if elected.
We missed Duncan Hunter Jr.  It would have been helpful to hear his response to the questions also, as he is currently our Representative.  And we missed the presence of a reporter or media representative that could have provided coverage of the event to those that were not able to attend.
The questions came from the attendees and were not pre-screened to fit the agenda of any one candidate.  Both candidates had equal time to respond. The question I found most interesting was concerning how is it that candidates make promises to be “different” from life-time professional politicians and promise to not be influenced by Washington Lobbyists – what would each of the candidates do differently in order to be able to adhere to that promise?
Ray Lutz had an interesting idea of using the new telecommunication technology to stay physically present in the district of representation, while attending all of the meetings in the Capital to vote and discuss the issues by telecommuting.  He could then be present and listen to the needs of the community that vote him in rather that in closed-door sessions with powerful lobbyists.
That brought up another question in my mind for Representative Hunter.  Could you please give us an accounting of the time for which we pay you?  Specifically, how much time do you spend with lobbyists?
I hope you will answer this question completely, and look forward to your presence at another planned discussion forum.

On Wednesday, July 14th at 6:00 pm at the Ramona library, the Ramona Forum will present two video’s on the events that led to the country’s financial disaster and the urgent need for Financial Reform. The first video will highlight  Professor Black of Michigan University  and the second  Felix Salmon of Reuters.
The video’s will be followed by an informal discussion led by Ramona’s resident author Ralph Cates and the Forum’s economic expert Ron Zambreno in which the audience are invited to participate.
All are welcome and admission is free.

This announcement has also been published in Our Town section of Ramona Sentinel

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:

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

Here are few issues:

• Thoughts of many—if not majority—of Americans and their support of issues defy concept of human rights, social justice and fairness to all, Americans and beyond.  Progressives, read ‘A look At The Year 2009’ and join the dialog.
• Health care reform bill has not been passed yet.
• Financial Reform regulating Banking, Insurance, and other financial industries has been diluted to the point of no reform, at best reform on the fringes.  There is no bill yet.
• Ambivalence of Americans on Energy issues still lingers.
• Unemployment is high.  “Shovel ready” initiatives are still slow.  Small business loan is tangled up with financial reform quagmire.
• Human Rights to all Americans are still denied.
• More Americans support war in Afghanistan.
• Powerful bankers, insurance companies, oil companies, and the like have formed unofficial cartels and are challenging the people’s wishes.

The issues are as grim as it was in 2009 and during Bush era as well.

The Public Option is as elusive as ever, most likely it will not be in the final version.  The health insurance companies may still be out of reach of SEC.  Senate does not want Anti-trust Law provisions extended to the health insurance companies.  Senator Max Baucus took six months to try for Republican participation in Health reform, which eventually produced no Republican participation.  And the President, the majority leader, and the Democratic caucus looked on, but Baucus was not asked to stop trying even after six weeks!

Real Financial Reform regulating Banking, Insurance and other financial institutions has evaporated because all—okay, almost all— the members of the Congress are beneficiaries of these financial institutions.  When the bill will come out of the reconciliation, if the current trend continues, there could be reform only at the fringes, cosmetic that is.  The financial institutions will remain as big as ever.  The cliché will remain the same: they are too big to let them fail; otherwise they will bring the country down!  In the meantime, the banks are doing everything other than what they are supposed to do—LOANING money to small businesses and the public.  Homeowners were hoodwinked, in the first place, to take a loan they cannot pay (I am not absolving the homeowners of there responsibility, but it is much more than that) and then they are not being helped with a reasonable way out.

There is enough reason to start a Public (Federal) Bank network.  And a Public Health Insurance company network.

Energy situation still remain the same.  We, the drivers, conserve only marginally—we do not slow down, we do not do planned, consolidated driving, and we are still after bigger cars and trucks! Progressives, read ‘A look At The Year 2009’ and join the dialog.

Human rights to Homosexuals and other groups are still denied.  Imposition of one’s values over others is still acceptable.

War will not keep us safe.  Peace in Middle East might take the lifeblood out of the Jihadi movement and terrorist activities, and create a favorable attitude towards America and Americans, which might make us safer.

Our expectation from President Obama is real change, not on the fringes.

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