Happy Thanksgiving to you all.
Single Gal started the holiday season off this week by posting the items she felt thankful for. Now I would like to ask you this: What would you like to see happen this coming year that you will be thankful for next Thanksgiving?
I’ll start. Naturally, I turn to politics first.
We have a crucial year in our history as a nation ahead of us and much is at stake. There will be a presidential election and many U.S. Senate and House of Representative seats will be up for grabs. We will certainly have elected new leaders, and not a moment too soon.
I want to be thankful for the end of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and that all of our soldiers are safely home. I want to see Americans enjoy universal healthcare like the rest of the civilized world. I want to be thankful that we have elected new national leaders who will make much better choices—ones that benefit the citizens of our country as a whole, not just themselves, a few cronies and their corporate masters. I would like to see our country regain the respect it had for more than two centuries in much of the world before we went terribly wrong in this new millennium. I want to be thankful that the Constitution is restored as the law of the land and those who have trampled on it are expelled for good from our national government.
Locally, I wish for our city government to base their spending and planning decisions on what is best for the people who live here now, not the ones who may move here in the future, and not according to the dictates of special interests whose special interest is more public money in their pockets. I hope for big improvements in basic services as well as some visionary ideas and civic leadership that will make the city a better place to live.
Most of all, I hope for a healthy, happy year for family, friends and our community, especially our growing community of San Jose Inside bloggers. And, as always, I also fervently wish for plenty of good new movies, music and books, and many concerts, art exhibitions, plays and other activities that make living here a joyous experience.
Now it’s your turn to tell us your Thanksgiving wishes for 2008.
Here’s wishing for the completion of San Jose’s ambitious bicycle trail grand plan! And for years and years of enjoying safe, clean, and car-free bike rides from Alviso to Los Gatos. HT everyone.
Here’s wishing for successful passage of the High-Speed rail bond next November. With passage of the bond measure, San Jose could then start planning for an exciting transit, residential, commercial, and retail district at Diridon/Arena. Happy Thanksgiving all and God Bless America!
There are 6,700,000,000 people in the world. The number of people keeps increasing every year, yet the amount of forests, water, oil and other natural resources continues to decrease. People who want a family should consider adoption, instead of creating more children. People should also recycle all their household waste. Finally, people should act to make their communities better and environmentally friendly regardless of the elected officials in office. Politicians usually are followers and not leaders.
I have lived on or near the Guadalupe, Almaden,and Coyote Rivers all of my life.
In the late 40’s, the dump was the South bank of the Almaden, below Lake Almaden near Blossom Hill and Almaden.
Things pretty much stayed put. There were no plastic water bottles, styofoam cups, bic lighters, drug syrienges, plastic oil and cosmetic containers.
Many brave and caring individuals have formed groups to collect the millions of floating leftovers of Humanity.
Who makes all this stuff? How does it get into our beautiful water ways to the Sea.
No, it’s not the homeless, they don’t wear expensive perfumes in glass bottles, expensive tennis shoes, or change their oil out of Pep Boys and Kragan containers. Or play basket ball and soccer and tennis.
Last week end , I photograged the streach from Minnisota down stream to the tressle at the county building on the Guadalupe River Trail.
What I captured on film is documented in a vedio one can find by going to yahoo and punching in “BAY TRASH HOT SPOTS”.
Since I saw that t shirt in Garberville that read “Stop Bitching! Start A Revolution”! I began to see my world from a differnt perspective.
Seeing my beautiful water ways clogged with fast food and fast life products, made me realize that there had to be a better way, because, the place we used to catch salmon, steelhead and large frogs no longer existed.
Hearing about the award winning Debating Team that bested the Nations biggest and best colleges from the National Hispanic University, I asked the President, Dr. David Lopez if he would be interested in joining this issue. Not only did he like the idea of allowing his eco students to participate in finding a better more universal way to attack this national delema, but immediately formed the core group that will mentor his students.
No! These students will not be in hip boots picking up garbage. They will be using their collective minds to solve an issue, that has not been solved and has already clogged our water ways and placed our San Fracisco Bay at immediate risk.
Next Thanks Giving I would like to see in print, a published report of the solution to this hidden scourge in our society.
I have been inspired by these young talented students, and inpressed by the devotion of Dr. Lopez and his staff, and those that have supported the NHU from it’s infancy.
The answer lies in the minds of our Village Children.
Their Sunshine! Now, thats a Revolution?
The Village Black Smith
Gil:4:
There must be something in the air/and or the water in California that makes people such litterbugs.
I travel a bit, and NOWHERE, abroad or in any other state of our union, is there so much trash along the highways and rivers than in California. Why is that? Anyone venture a guess?
For instance, twice I went to Pinehurst, NC to play golf, a year apart. The drive from Raleigh-Durham airport is about 90 minutes. The first time I saw two pieces of litter along the entire route; and the second, a half dozen or so. On any highway in California you’d see more than that every square FOOT. The Adopt A Highway volunteers can’t keep up with it. It’s a complete disgrace!
Perhaps David Lopez’s students @ NHU can ascertain why Californians are so trashy, and report back to us all.
Great column Jack, I agree with everything you’ve said! I am thankful for so many things like my significant other, my family and friends of course, and I’m thankful for all of you. We may not always agree with one another, but I feel blessed that we have such a great place to express our views.
I would like to agree with George on this one. I’d like to see more people provide homes for the many children that desperately need them, and stop bringing so many children into the world. Our planet and its resources are being drained daily, and by adding more people, when we are living longer than before, I think it is a bit selfish and irresponsible to add more.
I’d like to see more jobs in this area, and I’d like to see the US become more self-sufficient. I hate outsourcing jobs, and I think we’re on the short end of the stick when it comes to imports and exports. I’d like to see more American made products, and food grown here in the US. Too many people are going without work, and I think it’s a crying shame we are importing things we could do here in our own country.
I’d like to see less immigration into the US. We are already overloaded with people and it driving the cost of food, housing, and everything else through the roof. I taught ESL for many years to pay my way through college, and my students told me that in their countries, they had a cap on immigration. They said that they conserved resources, and rising costs of living that way. Funny how much more intelligent foreign countries are in certain areas than we are!
I’d like to see an end to high priced political campaigns, and see us move toward public financing of them instead. May be then we’d have more people run who really do care about the community we live in. It would help reduce the strong hold special interest has over politicians as well. I’m not too thrilled with the Democrats running for President this time, and may actually vote Republican for the first time, but they don’t thrill me much either.
Speaking of voting, I’d like to see them go back to the old punch a hole ballot. Never had much trouble with those, except when they went missing! The new way of voting electronically worries me, so I’m not sure what is really safe anymore.
So, other than bringing our troops home safely, protecting wild life, and reducing animal overpopulation, these are the things I’d like to see changed! Happy Holidays to all of you, stay safe, and may you all be blessed with the necessities in life!
jOHN,#5
It is not only in California. It is in most cities that have a fast moving population near a water way.
The present condition of our waterways indicates to me that this is not something a politician or buracrate is capable of solving.
Concider that being down stream from the head waters is not a good place to be.
The south bank of Gray Goose Slough in Alviso, is the most horrific sight. What was a beautiful bay many years ago is now a trash heap. Our floating deposits from the Santa Clara Valley rivers into the bay.
Young fresh minds will be working on this problem. With our support, they will show us a different perspective. That I am sure of.
We must support the National Hispanic University, Dr Lopez and these brillant students, that know no bounds to succeed in making our Village a better friend to the endangered spiecies of our Valley.
It will take all of us to urge them on by simply caring and supporting their efforts.
The State and our City are broken. It is up to you and I to give our support as best we can.
The Village Black Smith
I am very thankful for still being here since I had pancretic cancer 4 yers ago. Life is to short and it goes by very quickly. Stop and say hello to your neighbors and sit and listen to the birds sing and just enjoy the things we all take for granted.
John:
I liked many of the items on your list.
I’d like to see a grassroots movement to change San Jose back to “at-large” elections so that we can get the best and the brightest on the council. As I have expressed many times before, it makes no sense to me that someone can move from another state, establish residency for six months, and then be eligible to run for council…but someone who has lived in San Jose for 30 years (but lives two streets down, and outside the particular district line) cannot.
Second…I think that the soccer stadium entitlements deal will set a standard for the future of our city. The issue isn’t about whether or not you like soccer, kids playing soccer, or Lew Wolff. The issue is who sets the priorities for the city…AND shouldn’t public capital/entitlements go to the proposals that offer the highest return to the public, AS DEFINED BY THE PUBLIC, rather than by city staff and the well-connected.
Pete Campbell
Kathleen #6 wrote:” I’d like to see more people provide homes for the many children that desperately need them, and stop bringing so many children into the world.”
Go have a talk with the Pope, Kathleen. He’s still pushing that Old Testament command:“Go ye forth & multiply”, which worked when tribes killed each other off (well, I guess they still do in some parts of the Muslim world) but it doesn’t work any longer.
Sprawl, traffic nightmares, declining resources, global warming, AFDC, and many other problems will all get worse unless the entire planet gets closer to zero population growth.
FAT CHANCE in my lifetime.
” I wish for our city government to base their spending and planning decisions on what is best for the people who live here now, not the ones who may move here in the future…”
Easy to write as “Single Gal”, but some of us have kids. I’d like them to be welcome here, and to be able to afford a home.
If you stop planning for new people, they won’t be able to.
Thank you Jack, for your thought provoking post. My Thanksgiving wishes for 2008:
* San Jose adopts a thoughtful, realistic and EFFECTIVE traffic calming policy, citywide. (key word here is effective, as defined by the people who live, work, and play on the affected streets.)
* The Council sees through the “BS-internet-filters-for-all-library-computers proposal and says NO to it
* That we find the money to begin the maintenance work we need to be doing for streets, parks, trees, etc.
* That 1stAct is successful in their endeavors
* Existing and future community members of San Jose realize what a truly great place downtown SJ is and come to enjoy all it has to offer, and often!
* That I help contribute toward the future good of San Jose
* That my Dad recovers fully from his heart attack
* That sanjoseinside.com continues its tradition of providing interesting topics and the bloggers continue offering their interesting opinions.
Thank you,
Tina
MARIAN,
I’m glad you are still here too! Way to go. Cancer is a diffcult bug to kick. Bravo to you!
TINA,
My thoughts and prayers are with your Dad, you and your family. Your Dad will make it!