[mpen-dayton4] FW: "Letter to Pope Francis" & "VIDEO: Preventing a war with Iran" & "2016 GOP CLOWN CAR PLUS PAT BROWN SPEECH" and more

FYI.   Best, Munsup

P.S. Please reply back to me with ‘unsubscribe’ on the subject line if you no longer want to receive
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P.P.S. "He who dares not offend cannot be honest" - Thomas Paine
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·         FW: Letter to Pope Francis

·         FW: Robert Reich: "How Goldman Sachs Profited from the Greek Debt"

·         FW: Eric Margolis: "Obama Acts For America's Interests"

·         FW: Susan Milligan: "Biting the Hand that Feeds You: Netanyahu Needs to Remember Who Israel's Friends Are"

·         FW: VIDEO: Preventing a war with Iran

·         FW: Action Page: Tell Congress What To Do About The Iran Nuclear Deal

·         FW: VIDEO: Elizabeth Warren challenged power...big time!

·         FW: CLG Needs Your Help

·         FW: 2016 GOP CLOWN CAR PLUS PAT BROWN SPEECH

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From: James Lucas [mailto:jaimelucas100@gmail.com]
Subject: FW: Revised Letter to Pope Francis.doc

Dear Friends: The letter below was crafted by Catholic Workers and members of our group, Friends of Franz. A number of us went to Austria in 2007 to celebrate the beatification of Franz Jagerstatter, an Austrian Catholic family man who knew his fate when he refused to cooperate with the Nazis in 1943. Since our return we have been active in nonviolent means of communication to bring to light the crimes of our own United States government.

If you are a Catholic or of another Christian denomination and wish to sign on, please read our letter and respond. On September 12, 2015, this letter will be published in National Catholic Reporter, the largest lay Catholic publication in the United States. You need not assist us financially but if you can, it would be good for the cost is $2800.
-------------------------------------------------------

LETTER TO POPE FRANCIS

Dear Pope Francis,

We are Catholics and fellow Christians living in the United States where you will be visiting this September. We respectfully ask that you listen to our request and publicly respond to it with resoluteness equal to the gravity of the matter here raised.

In your recent encyclical, Laudato Si’, you proclaim that “War always does grave harm to the environment and to the cultural riches of peoples, risks which are magnified when one considers nuclear arms and biological weapons.” Visiting the United States, the most prolific polluter and, not coincidentally, the greatest war maker on the globe, is a challenge and an opportunity that we pray you do not fail to take advantage of.

You have rightly denounced the terrorism of ISIS and similar organizations, and you have appropriately named the murder of more than one million Armenians by the Turkish state in 1915 as “the first genocide of the 20th century.” There were no Catholic chaplains in the Turkish military in 1915 and the banners of ISIS are not displayed today in Catholic churches. The U.S. military, on the other hand, is predominantly Christian with one-third of the force Catholic, so that it might be hoped that your denunciation of terrorism and genocide might have a more positive effect here and now. We beg you to speak out just as clearly and publicly denounce the terrorism and genocide that your host country, the United States, is even now inflicting on the Muslim and Christian Arab people of the Middle East and the people of Afghanistan . Decades of aggression including sanctions, bombings, invasions, arming of insurgents, have left millions dead, many more millions displaced and homeless. Assassinations by remotely controlled drones destabilize civil societies and kill thousands of innocents. Thousands have been imprisoned and tortured. Many lands are being made desolate and poisoned, and ancient communities are being devastated.

In September you will be visiting a nation that is committing a trillion dollars to the development and production of a whole new generation of nuclear weapons, threatening unprecedented destruction of creation, while many of its own people lack the means needed to live lives of simple dignity. The global inequality that you decry, wherein the poorest suffer the brunt of diminishing resources and the ravages of chaos in the climate, is not judged by those who control the government and the economy in the United States as a problem to be solved, but an advantage to be defended at all costs. With more than 800 U.S. military bases already around the globe, the lands of indigenous people are still being plundered against their protests to construct even more bases.

We do appreciate the pleas for peace and justice that you and your predecessors have made over these horrible years. These good words are only rarely taught by the Catholic bishops, pastors and educational institutions in the United States . They have been systematically undermined by U.S. Catholic institutions to the point where the vast majority of the Catholic faithful, Catholic soldiers especially, are completely unaware that they have ever been spoken.

At the end of World War II, Albert Camus lamented that, even as an unbeliever, he was one of millions who waited for but never heard any word from Rome against the carnage he witnessed. The condemnation from Rome was voiced, he later discovered, but voiced in a style “not at all clear”.

We hope that you will not repeat the error of your predecessors. “What the world expects of Christians,” Camus insisted, “is that Christians should speak out, loud and clear, and that they should voice their condemnation in such a way that never a doubt, never the slightest doubt, could rise in the heart of the simplest person.”

Pope Francis, we understand that you come to the United States as a diplomat and as a pastor, but in these perilous times we need you here as a prophet most of all. Please do not speak to President Obama, the U.S. Congress, the U.S. Catholic bishops, and the American people, without making a clear denunciation of the complicity of our nation’s government, its people, its institutions and its churches in crimes against humanity and God’s creation.
www.franzjagerstatter.com

Please let us know if you want your name added as a sign-on to the letter to Pope Francis. Organizations as well as individual names would be appreciated.

Suggested donation is $20. If you simply want your name used without a donation, that is acceptable. Simply reply to jgilroy1@stny.rr.com with your full name.

Send check to: Friends of Franz, c/o Jim Clune, Treasurer, 89 Pine St, Binghamton, NY 13901

 

 

From: Judy Burnette
Subject: FW: Robert Reich: "How Goldman Sachs Profited from the Greek Debt"
Subject: FW: Eric Margolis: "Obama Acts For America's Interests" |  Information Clearing House – ICH
Subject: FW: Susan Milligan: "Biting the Hand that Feeds You: Netanyahu Needs to Remember Who Israel's Friends Are" | US News

http://robertreich.org/post/124342268010

"Barack Obama is the first American president to stand up to the Israel lobby since Dwight Eisenhower ordered Israel to withdraw from Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula in 1956-57.Freed of re-election concerns and the need for vast amounts of cash, President Obama finally made the decision to put America’s strategic interests ahead of those of Israel by making peace with Iran. This was a huge accomplishment: the United States has waged economic and political warfare against the Islamic Republic since its creation in 1979. ...."
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article42414.htm

" ... Netanyahu clearly has a bit more to worry about, as Israel is right next door to Iran.  But one gets the impression he would only be satisfied if the United States bombed Iran back to the Stone Age. That's alarming enough, but it's made worse by the fact that Netanyahu seems to think he can order the United States around. And that's not a very gracious attitude from someone whose nation gets $3.1 billion a year from U.S. taxpayers in military funding. That money, which is separate from other aid to and joint programs with Israel, represents about a fourth of the overall Israeli defense budget. To suggest, then, that a nation which has contributed an aggregate $121 billion to Israel is unconcerned with Israel's safety is not only offensive, it's absurd.
http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/susan-milligan/2015/07/17/netanyahu-needs-to-remember-who-israels-friends-are

 

 

From: tbacane
Subject: FW: VIDEO: Preventing a war with Iran

When American politicians fail to stand up for our country (and the president) on matters of foreign policy and world peace, we must wonder are they being blackmailed.  Israel has openly stated that they control America and our politicians.  So what kind of blackmail would cause our so-called leaders to quake with fear and become traitors, child abuse, adultery, theft, tax evasion, murder?  Whatever it is Israel is apparently holding the cards, but it is time to call their bluff and stand up for America!

From: Zack Malitz, Campaign Manager, CREDO Action from Working Assets
VIDEO: Preventing a war with Iran

Republicans are already rushing to sabotage the historic deal struck between the United States, Iran and five other world powers to strictly limit Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for easing international sanctions.

The stakes in this fight are nothing short of preventing a war with Iran, so progressives need to go to the mat to defend the deal in Congress.

We made a short video laying out the state of play – will you watch it and share it with your friends?

Click here to watch the video.



Click here to share the video on Facebook.
Click here to share the video on Twitter.
Click here to share the video via email.

 

 

From: tbacane
Subject: FW: Action Page: Tell Congress What To Do About The Iran Nuclear Deal

We got a huge response to our request that you tell us what position we should take on the Iran Nuclear Deal. And we are pleased to report that the vast majority of our participants respectfully stated their views to us, many with elaborate supporting references, and with many thanking us for asking you to do so.

We can also report that based on that response the overwhelming majority of our participants think we should support the deal struck by President Obama and Secretary Of State Kerry, though a distinct and passionate minority think we should not.

This is clearly a matter of conscience, where sincere well-meaning people of good faith may strongly disagree. So what we decided to do was set up an action page where YOU can select YOUR position on this, and THAT is the message your members of Congress will get:

Iran Nuclear Deal Position Action Page:
http://www.peaceteam.net/iran_nuclear_deal_position.php

Moreover, the action page above has been custom coded to keep a live running tally of the "support" and the "oppose" submissions, so you can check out how the vote is going.

We say let the numbers fall where they will. Let this page be a public demonstration of how many support the Iran Nuclear Deal and how many do not.

Based on the many thoughtful and extended comments we have already received, we are certain our participants will add plenty of their own personal comments on this.

We will note that one of the most persuasive arguments we got in support of the deal came from multiple people with intimate personal experience of Iranian society, observing that "saving face" is a strong cultural imperative there, and that all bluster aside there could never have been a deal that appeared to humiliate Iran.

We might also mention that both Bernie Sanders, who many of our participants have taken much interest in, and Hillary Clinton as well, have both come out in favor of the deal.

For our part, in our last alert we asked the questions we felt needed to be asked. We did in fact ASK you what position we should take, with every intention of following your wishes. And though the numbers were lopsided among the sample of our participants, there were very strong feelings on both sides.

Accordingly, we believe the best way to honor the responses we ourselves got is to put up the voting choice page we have, just like a real democracy. And let the whole country see in one place how many support and how many do not.

You may forward this message to any friends who would find it important.

Contributions to The People's Email Network or ActBlue are not tax-deductible for federal income tax purposes.

 

 

From: Andrew Tierman
Subject: Fwd: VIDEO: Elizabeth Warren challenged power...big time!

I signed the petition linked below. You may also wish to do so.    – AT

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Keith Rouda; PCCC Organizer, BoldProgressives.org

Friday at the Netroots Nation conference, in one of the most powerful speeches of her career, Elizabeth Warren challenged power -- calling for less Wall Street insiders appointed to top government positions, while also calling out structural racism and declaring Black Lives Matter.

Earlier this week, we teamed up with our friends at Democracy for America on this very issue -- asking all presidential candidates to promise an Attorney General, Treasury Secretary, and other appointees who will fight for the little guy and challenge power.

Join thousands of people across the nation on this growing petition -- and please pass this email to friends.

The significance of this speech was not lost on the media. Check out these headlines:

THE NATION: Elizabeth Warren Just Issued a Major Challenge to All Presidential Contenders

TIME: Elizabeth Warren Sends Hillary Clinton a Message

MSNBC: Sen. Elizabeth Warren lays out a 2016 litmus test at Netroots

Sign the petition.

This petition has already made national news, and candidates will continue to hear about this petition from the media

Want to support the Warren wing? Senator Elizabeth Warren says, "PCCC members were with me since the beginning -- even before there was a beginning! Now, we have lots of work to do together." Chip in $3 here.

Paid for by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee PAC (www.BoldProgressives.org) and not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. Contributions to the PCCC are not deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes.

 

 

From: CLG_News
Subject: CLG Needs Your Help

CLG needs the help of its readers to exist.

We haven't sent a support request since October 2014, as we've been busy little bees covering news items that receive 'less attention' in the mainstream media, such as these nuggets: Radioactive water from Fukushima plant again escapes; TEPCO says it cannot stop spill anytime soon 16 July 2015 and US Army considering hollow point bullets for pistols; ammunition use would violate international law 10 July 2015. *Thank you so much to all who have donated online, via the US mail, and also those who contribute on a monthly basis!!* I am sorry that I am behind on correspondence. Please know that we appreciate every contributor!

CLG News -- for the truth you're not being told anywhere else. (Like CLG on Facebook; follow CLG on Twitter.)

Here is an easy way to support CLG's work with a monthly (automatic) donation:

Click here http://www.legitgov.org/donate.html and the 'PayPal Subscribe' button - you can make a recurring donation of five, ten, fifteen, or twenty dollars, etc., per month. Or, please consider making a single donation to Citizens For Legitimate Government.

PayPal takes credit cards and e-checks, even if you do not have a PayPal account.
(If you mail a check, please note your email addy, if you wish to hear back from us.)

Or, please mail a check, money order, etc. to the CLG:
Citizens for Legitimate Government (CLG)
P.O. Box 1142
Bristol, CT 06011-1142
Contributions to CLG (http://www.legitgov.org/) are not tax deductible. Thank you!
(This message can be viewed online.)

 

 

From: albert baca
Subject: 2016 GOP CLOWN CAR PLUS PAT BROWN SPEECH

THE 2016 REPUBLICAN FIELD

This link is worth a read for all good democrats to get a good idea about the people riding in the GOP CLOWN CAR.  Ye haw!!
http://www.democrats.org/the-2016-republican-field?utm_medium=email&utm_source=obama&utm_content=2+-+httpmydemocratsorgThe2016GOPField&utm_campaign=em_20150718_dnc_s2&source=em_20150718_dnc_s2

***

This is an excellent 1959 speech by Edmund “Pat” Brown, daddy of the current CA governor, upon his own inauguration as CA governor.   Remember, it was eleven years after Pat Brown was governor before CA passed prop 13 and the state started going to that place where Sisyphus (Greek Mythology) toiled so hard (Hades) but never got the job done.

I think you can pretty well say the same thing about the USA since Old Tricky, St Ronnie, Daddy Bush and the Shrub.   I think I would even throw in Slick Willie because he let that no good Phil Gramm sweet-talk him into signing away Glass- Steagall.   Luckily Monica Lewinski came riding in on a white horse to save Social Security because the White House circled the wagons to save Clinton's arse and forgot about what Erskine Bowles, et al were planning for Social Security.

http://www.counterpunch.org/2004/10/30/how-monica-lewinsky-saved-social-security/

Notice I didn't say Jimmy Carter.   Carter was much better than the conventional wisdom holds.   Carter had the misfortune of being book ended by two of the absolute worst, Nixon and Reagan, and Reagan dirty tricked him by his deal about the Iranian hostages.   Plus on top of that, Teddy Kennedy splintered the democrats by running against Carter in the primaries.   I remember Carter who never cussed saying about Kennedy when Kennedy announced he was running in the primaries, "I'll whip his ass".

Poor Carter got dirty tricked and splintered plus Nixon's inflation was blamed on Carter by the CW.   Carter didn't have a chance.   So we elected St Ronnie, one of the worst ever.   Twice, no less.   Smart, very smart.

GOV PAT BROWN FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS
http://governors.library.ca.gov/addresses/32-Pbrown01.html

Edmund G. "Pat" Brown
32nd Governor, Democrat, 1959–1967

First Inaugural Address
Delivered: January 5, 1959

MR. PRESIDENT, MR. SPEAKER, MR. CHIEF JUSTICE, GOVERNOR AND MRS. KNIGHT, MEMBERS OF THE LEGISLATURE, AND MY FELLOW CALIFORNIANS:

Where democracy lives, free people speak in strong voices.   Last November, a free people called for a new vision for California.   We begin today the solemn duty and high privilege of translating that vision into public policy and into law.

The election reaffirms our conviction that the people of California are resolved to move forward with courage and confidence.   Offered reaction by the radical right, the voters emphatically declined.   Offered government by retreat, the people preferred progress.   Clearly then, our duty is to bring to California the forward force of responsible liberalism.

The essence of liberalism is a genuine concern and deep respect for all the people.   Not monuments or institutions or associations, but people.   Not one race, or one creed, or one nationality, but all the people.   When people come first and special privilege is scorned, government is truly liberal.

In a liberal atmosphere, the individual stands secure against invasion of his dignity or intrusion on his conscience.   He has the right to require justice and fair play, the right to demand protection from economic abuse and selfish threats to his security.   At the same time, government must not, in naïve good intention, stifle his initiative or smother his growth.   Men must indeed have freedom to breathe the air of self-respect.

A liberal program must also be a responsible program, a reasonable, rational, realistic program.   We must know how much it will cost and where the money is coming from.   Benefits must be measured against burdens.   A program which pampers the people or threatens our solvency is as irresponsible as the one which ignores a vital need.   But we will always remember that there is a difference between responsibility and timidity, and we are resolved to be governed more by our hopes than by our fears.

In the path of responsible liberalism, we walk in the giant footsteps of such memorable governors as Hughes and Roosevelt in New York, Wilson in New Jersey, LaFollette in Wisconsin, Altgeld and Stevenson in Illinois, and Johnson and Warren in California.   Let us mark their example and set our sights to match their achievements.

Here in California, the explosive growth of our population and economy strains the fabric of government.   Between election and inauguration, our population increased by 75,000 people.   We must accept both the perils and the promise of this magnificent growth.   No longer can we afford to stay on dead center, unresponsive and inert.   I pledge a confident, pioneering leadership, ready to welcome growth, pursue its promise, and prepare for tomorrow.

A liberal's duty to be responsible has a special meaning in view of the grim crisis we face in the budget.   From last year's budget, our bleak legacy is a 100 million dollar deficit.   For several years, our State has spent more than it has taken in, and now almost all of our reserves and special funds are exhausted.

I am resolved that our new administration will face our financial responsibilities without flinching.   Before the end of the month, I will recommend an economy-minded budget, and a courageous and fair program to obtain new revenues.   I pledge, however, that we will not sacrifice essential services or narrow our vision for California.

Throughout the world, the cynical creed of Communism slanders democracy with the charge that men are too greedy, too ignorant, or too lazy to govern themselves.   Let us, in our respect and concern for all the people; resolve to prove anew that representative government is the best government.   Let us forge a program which will liberate our human resources and demonstrate the renewed vigor of American society.   In this way, we will answer the slanders of Communism and expose its evil design.

This is a day of proper pride as well as earnest dedication for California Democrats.   Not for 20 years, and only once before in this century, has a Democratic Governor made the inaugural address to the Legislature.   And not since 1889 has there been a majority of Democrats in both houses of the Legislature.

The job of government, however, is not a narrowly partisan undertaking.   I pledge my full co-operation to Democrats and Republicans alike.   I know most of you personally, and I consider this to be one of the ablest legislative bodies in the United States.   My door will always be open so that we can consider together our common problems of State Government.   We must understand each other, trust each other, and work together in harmony.   Where the good of the people is involved, I will expect the support of the distinguished members of both parties, and I hope by my actions to merit it.

In this connection, I express my deep appreciation to Governor Knight, to Mrs. Knight, and to the entire executive family for the genuine co-operation afforded me in the transfer of the functions and duties of this high office.

In obedience to the Constitution, I turn now to specific recommendations.   I lay before you a program which in my considered judgment meets the test of being both liberal and responsible.

First - Guarantee Equal Job Opportunities

Discrimination in employment is a stain upon the image of California.   We must recognize that conduct which degrades any member of society degrades society as a whole.   Every man must finally see the necessity of protecting the rights of others as the most effective security for his own.

I therefore urge you to enact legislation to bar discrimination by an employer or a labor union on grounds of race, creed, national origin, or age.   We should provide the means for conciliation, public education, and enforcement to insure that there are no arbitrary barriers to useful and productive employment.   In truth we are, and in practice we must be, one people, equal in privilege and opportunity.   This is our moral duty.

Second - Protect the Consumer

We are all consumers.   Yet, we have never been able to speak in a single voice because we are disorganized and our needs are so diverse.   Without a forceful spokesman in government, we have little defense against highly-organized special interests.   I therefore recommend legislation providing for the appointment of a Consumers' Advocate, who should be empowered to advance the consumers' interest by public education and by representation before government agencies.

I also urge you to enact legislation to protect people from installment racketeers.   Every year, thousands of Californians are deceived into signing sales contracts which contain unfair provisions and result in outrageous carrying charges.   We need new laws to wipe out these vicious practices.   We need them fair, strong, and soon.

Third - Encourage Economic Development

To keep our economy strong, we need new industries, new payrolls, and new jobs for our expanding population.   Accordingly, I recommend legislation for the establishment of an Agency for Economic Development to launch a vigorous program to bring business here.   By augmenting private efforts to attract new industries, this agency will invigorate our economy and enrich our lives.

Fourth - Safeguard Workers' Rights

The voters have firmly rejected the so-called right-to work law.   In a new and objective atmosphere, let us move forward to strengthen the integrity of the collective bargaining process.   I will soon send you a special message outlining my legislative proposals in detail.   May I say now, however, that I intend to recommend:

• Legislation under which employees in intrastate commerce can choose a bargaining representation
• Legislation specifically outlawing bribes to union officials
• Legislation setting up safeguards concerning union meetings and elections, and providing for the recall of union officers for misconduct
• Legislation preventing loans by unions to their officers, and requiring union officers and management consultants to file financial statements
• Legislation governing the relationship between a local union and its parent organization.

Such laws would be safeguards against the irresponsible minority whose conduct damages all of labor.   But there must be no punitive measures against free and responsible unions, which have brought untold progress and improved living conditions to our State.   Cripple the responsible union and all of the people will suffer.   Strengthen the responsible union and labor can contribute its full energy to the new vision for California.

Fifth - Increase Social Insurance and Public Welfare

In the stern judgment of history, our greatness as a State will largely depend on our sense of responsibility to the elderly, the sick, the needy, the injured, and the unemployed.   I reject the outdated notion that concern for these people is not the business of government.

I believe that the level of unemployment insurance benefits clearly should be raised.   At 1959 prices, no family can meet its basic needs on the $40 per week maximum.   In the last year, there has been forceful evidence that thousands of workers are left stranded if benefit payments are limited to 26 weeks when recessions last longer.   We should lengthen the period of coverage, at least whenever unemployment has reached a given percentage of the work force.

Turning to the Workmen's Compensation Law, I recommend that we take prompt action to correct the striking inadequacy in the vocational rehabilitation provisions for injured workers.   In addition, the amount and duration of benefits may well need to be increased.   The same is true of disability benefits.

In the field of public welfare, we should improve the operation of the 1957 Medical Care Program and insure that it fulfills its important purpose.   One obvious shortcoming in the program is its failure to extend to persons now enrolled in the Aid-to-Disabled Program.   For the disabled person, the need for medical care is especially great and compelling.

Our new laws in the field of social insurance and public welfare must be responsible as well as liberal.   Thus, we must stop short of an extreme, isolated position which would discourage the entry of new wealth and industry and thus injure our economy and our people alike.   But short of this extreme, we will remember that social insurance and public welfare benefits go directly into our life stream and that we serve our economy as well as our humanitarian principles by making California a leader in this field.

Sixth - Establish a Minimum Wage

I urge you to enact legislation which will establish $1.25 an hour as the minimum wage for California workers not covered by the federal law.   Minimum wage laws assure a worker that he will be paid enough to maintain himself in health and decency.   Elementary fairness dictates that this protection should not be denied a person because of the happenstance that he is employed in a local business.   Moreover, a minimum wage law will protect ethical employers from the unfair competition of those who would pay substandard wages.

Seventh - Reform Election Practices

Because elections are the strong heartbeat of democracy, the reform of election practices deserves a top priority.   I urge you to abolish cross-filing in primary elections, and thus strengthen representative government by making our parties more responsible and more responsive to the will of the people.

I also urge you to strengthen our laws providing for disclosure of campaign funds.   The gaps in the present law threaten the integrity of our democratic processes.

In this electronic age, we continue to count ballots by primitive methods.  recommend that existing statutes be broadened to encourage electronic tabulation of votes in all counties of the State.   We must also find a way to shorten our political campaigns and stop every election from being an endurance contest, both for the candidates and the voters.   When we improve the election process, we strengthen democracy.

Eighth - Promote Efficiency in Government

I urge you to adopt legislation to enable us to reorganize and streamline State Government.   Specifically, I believe that the Governor should be authorized to prepare and transmit to the Legislature plans for the reorganization of the executive branch of the State Government.   I also pledge my wholehearted support for your efforts to improve the organization and operation of state agencies.

Not since 1928 have we made a thorough and penetrating analysis of the structure of our State Government.   Today each citizen pays the price of a government which has developed haphazardly in a piecemeal response to the pressure of growth.   We are burdened by layer upon layer of patchwork agencies, and confusing lines of authority.   The time has come for us to modernize State Government and improve its service to our people.

Ninth - Control Crime

Crime and narcotics are ugly companions.   Driven by fear and guilt, the criminal seeks escape through the use of narcotics; in turn, the addict steals to support his costly habit.

As a new approach to this complex problem, I urge you to authorize the Department of Corrections to establish pilot units for narcotic treatment and control in key areas of the State.   This program would provide diagnostic testing and psychiatric aid for addicts released on parole or probation.   By providing these new tools for control and rehabilitation, we take a promising and pioneering step toward narcotics control.   We only endorse futility if we do no more in this field than renew procedures which time has already proven unsuccessful.

Our prisons are dangerously overcrowded.   This not only magnifies the hazards of riots and breakouts, but inevitably produces the frustration of idleness.   In meeting this problem, our first responsibility is the protection of society.   We must initiate new studies to identify those prisoners who should never be released to prey again on an innocent public.   We should also determine whether some prisoners are now kept confined after punishment has served its purpose.   In addition, we should establish new forestry camps and industrial training programs so that after release, every man can offer society an effective skill and regular work habits.

Today's prisoners were yesterday's delinquents.   The California Youth Authority has pioneered in the field of youth correction, but now we must press forward in the prevention of delinquency.   To that end, I will immediately take personal leadership of the Governor's Advisory Committee on Children and Youth to study the early causes of one of society's most difficult problems.   If we can find a way to reach the promise and the core of goodness in our emotionally disturbed children, we strike at the roots of crime.

Tenth - Improve Quality in Education

Both our Constitution and our conscience enjoin us to invest money in young minds, our greatest natural resources.   Specifically, our growth requires us to meet these needs in public education: 18,000 new teachers a year, when we now graduate 11,000; 5,000 new classrooms a year, when we now build 2,500; facilities for 400,000 college and university students in 1970, when we now have space and equipment for but 100,000.

These needs are the challenge of growth.   Let us meet them with adult dedication and ingenuity.   We can attract and retain good teachers, if we offer practical training, adequate professional salaries, and new levels of community confidence and respect.   We must also find the means to provide the physical plants as well as the intellectual climate for learning.

In turn, we have the right to require that our schools shall provide genuine education in a well-taught, disciplined curriculum.   Every child deserves the chance to grow in fundamental knowledge, in special and technical skills, and in insight.   I am determined that California will have the best public schools in the United States.   I am persuaded, as I am confident that you are that whatever we invest in free public education is returned, many-fold, to our economy and to the strength of our democratic government.

Eleventh - Protect Public Health

We live in an era marked by new cures for old diseases and by dramatic new dangers to our health.   Air pollution is a statewide menace.   It threatens the health of people not only in Los Angeles, but in every heavily populated region of the State.   We must recognize that our attack on smog cannot stop at county lines.

I therefore ask that you supply additional funds for concentrated research on the dangerous effects of smog on people.   I call upon the automobile industry to expand and accelerate its research on smog prevention.   I want to serve notice on every industry and every person involved that my administration will take effective action to protect the people of the State.   People are more important than dollars.

Exposure to radiation from nuclear fallout and industrial accidents now threatens all of us.   We should provide funds for the State Department of Public Health to maintain a constant guard against dangerous levels of radioactivity in air, water, food, and sewage.

In addition, I urge that California follow the example of other alert states and establish a coordinator of the many phases of atomic energy development now in process in several existing state agencies.   Failure to act and plan in atomic matters, which are so promising to our progress and so critical for our safety, would be both irresponsible and dangerous.

I also recommend that the Legislature provide funds for the continuation of the Department of Public Health's program to combat alcoholism and promote temperance.

Fifteen years as a law enforcement officer have convinced me that although other problems may be better publicized, none causes more suffering and despair than alcoholism.

Twelfth - Improve the Administration of Justice

There is a logjam in our California courts.   In Los Angeles County alone, the backlog of civil cases climbed to nearly 16,000 in 1958.   Each case has to wait in line well over a year after it is ready for trial.   In other counties, the situation is even worse.   Last October when Chief Justice Warren called attention to this crisis in the courts, we were forcefully reminded that justice delayed, frequently is justice denied.

Automobile accidents spawn a major portion of the congestion in our courts.   For the accident victims, the net result is a grave social loss.   After years of delay and uncertainty, the majority will recover nothing, and financial distress will be added to their pain and suffering.   Those who eventually win their cases may not be able to collect their judgments, and what they do recover will have to be shared with others.

Three decades ago, California pioneered in establishing an expert commission to handle industrial accidents.   Now, the time has come for us to weigh the wisdom of an Automobile Accident Commission to hear and determine claims arising out of auto accidents.   If a commission modeled after our Industrial Accident Commission could provide a prompt remedy and fair compensation for the accident victim, we would reduce suffering and hardship.   If the commission could gain an insight into the causes of accidents and issue safety orders, we would cut down the carnage on the highways.   If, through the creation of such a commission, we could enable our courts to keep abreast of their dockets, we would take a long step toward our goal of equal justice under law.

The limits of this inaugural occasion do not permit a detailed statement of all that is in my mind and heart today.   During the course of this session, I will bring you recommendations on traffic safety, billboards, the redevelopment law, improvements in our recreational program, and other matters.

Before the end of January, I will send you a major message on water.   Development of our water resources is crucial to every segment of our State—the ranchers in our mountain areas, the farmers who make California the Nation's leading agricultural producer, and the homeowners in our population which will grow to 20 million by 1970.   No problem has occupied more of my time in the weeks since election than water.   Striking progress has been made.   I can tell you now that I will soon present a water program which is rational, realistic, and responsive to the needs of all the people of the State.

I will also soon announce appointment of a Governor's Commission on Metropolitan Problems.   For the 85 percent of our people who live in urban communities, local government is often inefficient, costly, and confusing because the necessary services are rendered by overlapping and competing agencies.   The congestion of our streets symbolizes the necessity for a new and coordinated approach to the pressing problems in our cities.   Any approach to these problems must respect our tradition of community responsibility and the high quality of our local officials, but I am convinced that we should make a concerted attack on these acute and chronic problems.

Looking beyond these specific matters, let us recall the warning of the Bible that where there is no vision, the people perish.   Today we see successful industries accepting this judgment.   They search out their most creative minds and put them to work studying distant horizons.

I propose that California follow industry's example and become the first state in the nation to set up a specific research and development program.   I propose that we seek out our most creative minds both in and out of State Government and put them to work on a wide range of long-term problems, such as our crowded airways, the plight of workers frozen in their jobs by pensions which cannot be transferred, discrimination in housing, the defects of the present health insurance program, and on to new problems on the frontiers of space.

As I conclude, I would observe that providence seems intent on making us a great people in a great State.   This destiny of greatness requires of us our best laws and fairest administration.   Let us lead with confidence and compassion as we draw the lines of the new vision for California.   May we pray to God that our virtues grow with California and be durable, and that our vision for California be liberal and responsible.

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Old Al: Has anybody but me noticed that CA has been creating more jobs than TX?   Too bad Molly Ivins is gone.   Wonder what kind of a name she would coin for Abbott?   Or is it Costello?

You gotta read this next one about how Jerry Brown is trying to manage the prolonged California drought not to mention the boo coo of problems from such a large population.

http://www.theland.com.au/news/agriculture/general/weather/the-browning-of-california/2738012.aspx?storypage=0

Old Al: Re all the hell-raising about the Confederate Flag, take a look here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flags_of_the_Confederate_States_of_America
Also see this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_display_of_the_Confederate_flag

Not sure why I threw the last two links in.   I guess it is my opinion (an opinion is like am asshole; everybody has one and it stinks) that the stars and bars flag is more generally associated with slavery (er racism) than with state rights.

 

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