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DFA September 6th 2006 Meeting notes
Linked to groups: Democracy for America/Gainesville
Greetings DFA/Gainesville!Thank you Fred for the meeting notes!!
We had 19 folks in attendance this month. We hope to see more of you next time!
The general election is November 7th. Please consider voting absentee!
September 8th Noon - Democratic Unity Day on the steps of the Hippodrome State Theatre. Its purpose is to gather ALL candidates from the primaries to join together and show party unity.
September 20th - A World Café ---local "think tank" ALL encouraged to come. We need you!!!
7 - 8:30pm
Al Gore Film discussion / Sustainability for Alachua County
300 East University Avenue
Every Thursday-- next to the Hippodrome/Maudes area 7 - 8:30pm (www.conversationcafe.org)
Wes' suggestion: we will be sending letters congratulating our successful and unsuccessful primary and school board candidates: Chuck Chestnut, Deb Cupples, Clint Robinson, and Ed Jennings, Jr. We would also like to send PUBLIC letters to some of their opponents stating that they may want to consider rethinking their positions since they won by such slim margins: Tina Pinkoson, Ginger Childs, Lee Pinkoson, etc.
Mae Leone is donating $400 for the ACDEC to be able to buy two cell phones for short-term phone bank use until the midterm election. To donate toward the cause, you can send a check to ACDEC, Attn: Mae Leone, PO Box 223, Gainesville, FL 32602.
Stephanie Sims of the UF College Democrats had two event announcements: Senator Russ Feingold will speak this Sunday at 1:30pm in Jacksonville at the Fine Arts Center at the University of North Florida (she has free tickets contact Steph for more info ufcollegedemocrats@yahoo.com ) Also, Accent will be bringing the Rev. Al Sharpton next Tuesday evening at the O'Connell Center.
WGOT is getting underway for more info contact Fred Sowder phredkid@bellsouth.net
The Astronomy Dept at UF & Williams Elementary School & The Cotton Club Museum and Cultural Center are partnering together for an evening of Stargazing, food and fun: "The Stars Shine on East Gainesville" September 29th starting at 6:30 pm for more info contact Vivian Filer: vlfiler@bellsouth.net This should be FUN!
Speakers:
Barbara Ferguson "Talk Watch" - gets information out to talk radio shows that rebut the majority of the area talk hosts on WSKY (97.3fm) and WBXY (99.5fm). Please contact Barbara for more info barbara2pack@yahoo.com Help make an impact!
Beth Michaelson - Nutrition workshop Friday September 8th from 7 to 9pm. The topic will be cholesterol myths with speaker Sally Fallon. The importance of nutritional foods will also be discussed. The workshop will continue all day Saturday with other topics by Sally. This will be at PK Yonge and it's $10 for Friday and $35 for Saturday. For more information, contact Beth at 376-0309.
Eileen Roy - Alachua County School Board - thanks everyone for their support of Deb & Clint's campaigns. It was a steep mountain to climb and we should hardly be disappointed with the close result. Concurrency is a major issue and developers gave much money to both incumbents.
Anyone wishing to participate in the School Board Watch Group can get more information from Eileen at raroy4@bellsouth.net
Dave Bruderly - thanks for your support so far as well as the endorsement of Democracy for America. October 1st will feature many speakers at the Dancing Horse Farm in Ocala. See www.bruderly.com for more info. With only a few hundred thousand dollars in donations, we can overcome an incumbent with a two-million dollar war chest.
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By Charlie Grapski on Sep 19, 2006 3:54 AM EDTA Tribute to Tonight's Show (The Colbert Report, Monday Sept. 18th, 2006)
WHAT HAVE THE ARABS EVER DONE FOR US?
[A Reply to George Bush; With some apologies to Monty Python]
What have the Arabs ever done for us?
ZERO.
That's right. Zero. And that ain't nuthin'.
Without the Arabs we wouldn't have the memories and ancient classics of human thought; the wisdom of Socrates - put to death in a democracy so tainted with fear, for nothing more than having an idea; the warnings of falling prey to sophism - the art of making the weaker argument seem the stronger - destined to bring an unaware democracy to decline; the wisdom of Aristotle, with ethics and politics inseparable, he taught the theory of constitutions, their rise, their fall, and the causes of each.
Upon that foundation - the wisdom of prior ages preserved and passed on to us when our own had grown dark and bleak; when we had forgotten who we were and where we were going - Madison laid that of our nation. We had learned from the past the mortal disease to which popular governments had always fallen; and discovered through our reason therein the potential of a cure. Our Constitution now lays dormant, as if a dark age had once again befallen. Its form remains … but an empty shell, a mere façade. Ideas were what informed it, infused it, gave it life - they were its substance, its sole. Who will remember them for us this time?
Yes, the Arabs gave us ZERO. But I'm not talking zip, nada, nuthin'.
They gave us that concept of a number that wasn't. And they preserved for us a dream of a world that wasn't but could be. They valued what we had forgotten. Ironic - they, appearing so different; yet to whom we are forever indebted for our "culture." They gave us concepts on which we built our economies, our technologies, our prosperity … and preserved for us the idea of polities capable of nurturing and preserving our true happiness. If not for them would we have seen the light emerging from out of that dark age back then?
They gave us the dream of America: the recognition that we were not destined to be subjects to the interests of a ruling few; the belief in a practical striving for a common good; the recognition of our nature to progress - tomorrow can indeed be a better day; if, that is, we remember who we were and what we were striving to become. They gave us the America schools taught us to be proud of; the America that could lead by example without force. They saw ideas that transcended cultures, connected us as mankind, and enabled us to again value freedom, equality, justice and the common good. That dream remains a possibility. But we have gotten lost along the way. In pursuit of our individual "American dreams" we have lost that which united us, that which could unite all, that which made us more than a nation, but a hopeful experiment for all mankind. They remembered this for us then when we had forgotten; who will remember for us today?
You may think the Arabs gave us nothing; that we have no common dreams; no indebtedness; no bond. That we are an "us" and they are a "them" and that is what we are destined to remain. But you, my friend, have forgotten, somewhere along the way, who you actually are - and more importantly - could be.
Good night and good luck.
Charlie Grapski
a citizen