9.11.18 The Eleven

September 11, 2018 by albertkaufman Leave a Comment

The Eleven 9.11.18

Greetings!

Well, how about that – Summer was here and now it’s waning! Booo! I hope you had a great one – quick – write me back and tell me something fun you did this Summer!

I had a pretty great Summer. Lots of music festivals ( see below for 2 reviews ) – mixed with trying to keep up with work and clients + tons of neighborhood activism! It all went well – I’m still digesting all of the experiences/people (that’s me & my music buddy, Alex down there)/camping/music/new songs/new friends/and a chance to continue saying goodbye to Ben Bochner – through a series of concerts, tributes and learning his songs. Here’s the most recent show I was a part of – with Tim and Karly at Artichoke Music.

If you’re a long-time Eleven reader you’ll know that I’m a huge proponent of focusing on population growth. The Portland Mercury had an article about the work of The Voluntary Human Extinction Movement (VHEMT), recently. I’ve been a supporter of VHEMT since I learned of them in 1995 – our motto is ” live long and die out “. A while back I digitized a short, never-released film called Thank You for Not Breeding – by Nina Paley which shows VHEMT‘s founder Les Knight and underscores the population issue in a clear way. It has 4 cute animated shorts, too. Nina, btw, is showing a new movie called Seder Masochism which I’ve been watching the creation of. Really neat stuff.

Thank You For Not Breeding - a short film by Nina Paley

Give this a watch if you like movies and learning about an important topic.

POLITICS

Like everyone I’ve been paying close attention to (DO NOT LOOK AWAY) the shenanigans of the Republican party as they continue to lie, cheat and steal their way through 2018. I’m hoping, that donating and working towards mid-term elections in November will change the tide of our politics and hopefully send a message to the rest of the world that people can still count on the United States to be a rational actor on the world stage. I encourage you to work to make sure you and your fellow citizens have access to voting throughout the country. Republicans have been doing everything they can to steal that right for many years and that’s why we’ve had the politics; the Supreme Court; and the tax cuts for the rich that we’re suffering under now. Climate change is coming on strong and Republicans are not doing what’s necessary to protect us (or other species) from the worst of it – so, vote accordingly . I am talking to everyone I know about encouraging those who don’t normally vote to start making the effort – this has to do with all of us – ask everyone you know if they’re registered to vote and if they plan to vote and talk about it. If you want to talk to me about it – great, write me back! For those in Portland, I’ll be hosting a voting party a few days after we get our ballots in the mail – join in – it’s fun to vote together as a group and I suspect we’ll have a candidate or two in the house to say hello.

HERE’S HOW TO HOST A VOTING PARTY

Btw, local elections matter more than ever this November. This election features some initiatives and candidates that need your backing (and stopping) and attention. Democratic Governor, Kate Brown is facing a tough re-election. She’s a great governor. I’ll share my voting recommendations in a future 11. And, feel free to dip your toes deeper in the water. Politics can be great fun – it’s a good way to meet people who care and often who end up running things. What’s the next baby step for you? What’s in your way?

Out of all the things I did this Summer I think the most inspiring had to be the World Domination Summit ( WDS). I am finding that’s what I’m chewing on right now. I’d love you to join me there next year. It’s currently got me thinking about changing my dating strategy and upping my game in that arena. I’ve been doing OK Cupid for a while, but I think I might follow Dustin Main’s example and put up a special web page and tell you about it. If you’d like to help me get the ball rolling, please send me a testimonial about Albert 🙂 Thanks.

WDS has me thinking about who I am and what I have to offer in the world. Sometimes life is like that – you do something and that provides you with a mirror view of yourself. The me I experience when I’m around a lot of motivated and enthusiastic world-changers is different than my day-to-day life experience. Anyway, I’m still chewing and I’ll have more about this going forward. I do know for sure it’s helping me in my weight and fitness goals and I’m excited to see what areas it helps me to improve. Recommendation: attend a Meet-up group.

I have a lot more to say, and this feels like a good time to say goodbye. It’s Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. I wish you a sweet one – we celebrate with apples and honey (give it a try!)

Take care and keep up your good work.

Albert

Strummit 2018

Here’s my review of Strummit 2018. This was my 3rd visit to the festival and I think I’m on board for more more more! Here are some of the highlights and some suggestions to make the festival even better. Well before the festival began this year…

Vote! Ballot Endorsements for 2014 Election in Oregon

October 24, 2014 by albertkaufman Leave a Comment

Vote!

Ready to send in your ballot, but not sure about all the measures? A group of us put together the ballot endorsements below just in case you wanted suggestions in filling out your ballot. After studying the issues, here’s our 2 cents worth:

People

YES for Jeff Merkley, Earl Blumenauer, and John Kitzhaber. For local Oregon races, we generally recommend OLCV’s candidate endorsements.

Candidates

Measure 86 – Post-secondary education fund – YES

OPB story

Measure 87 – Employment of state judges – YES

Oregonian endorsement

Measure 88 – Driver cards – YES!!!

Let’s join California and Washington to create a route for everyone on the roads to take a driving test and access car insurance.

Causa of Oregon endorsements Campaign website

Measure 89 – Can’t abridge rights based on sex – YES

Chief petitioner statement and summary

Measure 90 – Change general election nomination process – NO!!!

This is a tricky but important one. Per election scholar Josh Berezin, “It solves none of the problems it aims to solve. This is a basically a play for business interests to get business Democrats and corporate Republicans elected. This NW Labor Press article about the measure from a union perspective explains it very well. Other states with this system — Louisiana, California, Washington — have seen the costs of “primary” elections go up (a candidate has to communicate with the entire electorate, not just the candidate’s party members), with no increase in voter participation among independents. It has also led to the dreaded situation in which, say, a strongly Democratic district ends up with two Republicans in the general election! Happened in California in 2012. Imagine 4 Democrats and 2 Republicans running in the same primary where the top 2 emerge. Four Democrats split the Democratic vote into smaller pieces than the two Republicans; the two Republicans “win” the primary. Pretty crazy.”

Measure 91 – Legalize marijuana – YES

It’s about time, Oregon! Campaign website.

Measure 92 – Label GMOs – YES!

Here comes the money flood. This was beaten back in WA and CA. This is about your right to know what you put in your mouth and who you support with your pocketbook, not whether GMOs should or should not be part of our food system. Let’s win it in Oregon. Here’s the campaign website.

Local government

Portland – parks bond – YES!

Metro – Extends amendment that prohibits Metro-mandated density increases in single family neighborhoods – TOSS UP

This amendment was originally introduced and passed back in 2002 as an alternative to a draconian measure from anti-planning group Oregonians in Action to strip Metro of its planning authority (which failed). The measure that passed had a 12 year sunset clause and a requirement that Metro put it back on the ballot before then, so here we go again. Metro can’t dictate density increases anyway; that level of detail is up to individual cities and counties. So a YES vote keeps Metro from doing things it can’t do anyway. And a NO vote lets this silly amendment sail off happily into the sunset. Either vote sounds fine to us.

Portland – public school levy renewal – YES

Cheers,

– Eli Spevak, Noelle Studer-Spevak, Jim Labbe, Josh Berezin, Lee Dayfield, Linda Robinson, Albert Kaufman, Ted Labbe, Kelly Rogers

Filed Under: Voting Party Tagged With: no on 90, vote, yes on 88, yes on 89, yes on 91, yes on 92

Register to vote online in Oregon NOW!

October 9, 2014 by albertkaufman 1 Comment

Vote

Sensible Changes Coming to Oregon – Be a part of history!

Let’s legalize marijuana – I want to see us sending less people to jail for no good reason. Labeling GMOs also makes sense. Voter registration in Oregon ends on 10.14 – don’t miss this historic opportunity!

Ed: 11.13.19 – Recreational Cannabis is now legal in Oregon! We won!

I’d love to legalize marijuana here in Oregon in a couple days. There are so many reasons this makes sense – not putting people in jail unnecessarily (freeing funds for other actual problems) – creating all sorts of job – making it easier for people who need marijuana-related products for healing to receive them, legally – reducing peoples’ intake of alcohol (more on that another time, but I see a connection) – hemp may be the best answer to a lot of problems we face today – climate change, clear-cut logging of Oregon forests for paper products. Anyway, I think I could probably brainstorm about 100 reasons why this will be good for Oregon (tourism) – feel free to add your thoughts in the comments section below. The news media mainly focuses on tax revenue – but I think that’s just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the positives!

We have 5 days left to register to vote here. And then, we get our ballots in 9 days, and then we vote.

We will also vote to Label GMOs (poison), which would delight me. As far as I can tell GMOs are poisons that are increasing the rates of cancer. By labeling any products that have them – I believe it will force food companies to reformulate their products (as they’ve done in other countries) so they can avoid having to include a GMO label. I learned about this and more in the film GMO OMG which has been showing around town. The film-makers are making screening rights free for anyone who wants to host a gathering on the topic – it’s quite brilliant and I highly recommend viewing it if you’re interested in learning more about the issue.

Some relevant links to share:

Vote yes on 91 – Legalize It! Vote Yes on 91 – Endorsers
Vote yes on 92 – Label GMO (poison) – YES!

91: Video with Rick Steves

92: Lively Video about GMOs by my friend, Dana Lyons

Thanks for your efforts to get everyone you know registered to vote. Know someone who has moved in the last 2 years? Know someone who turned or turns 18 before election day? Send them this link, thanks!

https://secure.sos.state.or.us/orestar/vr/register.do?lang=eng

Both of these campaigns can also use our $-support and any time you can spare to Get out the Vote (GOTV) – Bring a posse with you for best results 🙂

Filed Under: Vote Tagged With: 91, 92, GMOs are poison, marijuana, online voter registration, Oregon, register to vote, register to vote online, tell your friends, time running out, vote, voter registration, voting, yes on 91, yes on 92

National Voter Registration Day – 9.25.12

September 25, 2012 by albertkaufman Leave a Comment

Voter Registration Day!Happy National Voter Registration Day. Time to make sure everyone is registered to vote. Here are some resources.

National Voter Registration Page: https://nationalvoterregistrationday.org/

Want to vote early? here are the details for each state: spread it! https://www.longdistancevoter.org/early_voting_rules#.UGHR044ly9d

Please post this further – ask everyone you know in person – “Are you registered to vote?” Many people move around and don’t register at their new place. This election is an important one – we need everyone to vote – to make their voice heard. Thanks!

Filed Under: Voter Registration Tagged With: elect, election, go do it, time to vote, vote, voter registration, voting

Wafflin?

October 23, 2010 by albertkaufman Leave a Comment

Waffles are for eating! Stop Wafflin

Here ya go, waffling on voting this election? Here are some good reasons to stop waffling and start looking for a stamp.

Peace.

https://albertideation.com/2010/10/08/election2010/
https://trishandharold.blogspot.com/2010/10/dont-lose-your-chance-to-vote-in-this.html
https://tabarnhart.net/not-voting-tantamount-treason

Filed Under: Election 2010 Tagged With: find a stamp, send it in, vote, vote now, voting, wafflin, waffling?

This Fall’s Elections are important, please don’t sit them out

September 12, 2010 by albertkaufman 2 Comments

Elections

We have elections coming up in November. Please make sure you are registered to vote. And, let’s talk about who’s running, and who deserves our vote. This would not be a great time for the US to have the Republicans running anything in Washington, DC. During the Bush years they sent us backwards and the damage they did was great. Let’s work to make sure that the Democrats retain power in Washington, DC. Help me with this, will you?

Filed Under: Election 2010 Tagged With: Bush, Democrats, Election 2010, Obama, register to vote, Republicans, vote, voting