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LJDC September 2019 – Book Recommendations

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This Month’s Book Recommendations

drawdown

Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming by Paul Hawken
Publisher: Penguin Books (April 18, 2017) 256 Pages
The 100 most substantive solutions to reverse global warming, based on meticulous research by leading scientists and policymakers around the world.In the face of widespread fear and apathy, an international coalition of researchers, professionals, and scientists have come together to offer a set of realistic and bold solutions to climate change. One hundred techniques and practices are described here—some are well known; some you may have never heard of. Read More

democracy inc

Democracy Incorporated: Managed Democracy and the Specter of Inverted Totalitarianism, by Sheldon S. Wolin
Princeton University Press; New edition (August 29, 2017) 376 Pages
Democracy Incorporated remains an essential work for understanding the state of democracy in America. Wolin portrays a country where citizens are politically uninterested and submissive–and where elites are eager to keep them that way. At best the nation has become a “managed democracy” where the public is shepherded, not sovereign. At worst it is a place where corporate power no longer answers to state controls. Read More

The LJDC Monthly Meeting – August

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The LJDC Monthly Meeting
Sunday, August 11, 2019
2 – 4:30 pm

nancy casaady

PROGRAM:  “Truth in Ten” by The Climate Reality Project
SPEAKER: Nancy Casady

Former General Manager, Ocean Beach People’s Organic Food Co-op (1996-2016)
Member, State Board of Food and Agriculture (2012 – to present)
Married, mother of five
Nancy and her husband Derek (President, La Jolla Dem Club) are now full-time climate activist.
Nancy and her daughter, Jennifer, and her granddaughter, Megan, all attended former Vice President Al Gore’s November 2018 Climate Reality training and became qualified to present the program’s amazing slide show–“Truth in Ten”. Come prepared to see a clear path forward in the fight to address the climate emergency.

peters

Additionally, Congressman Scott Peters will drop by the meeting to discuss with the La Jolla Democrat Club members.

Scott Peters serves California’s 52nd Congressional district, which includes the cities of Coronado, Poway, and most of northern San Diego. First elected in 2012, he currently serves on the House Committee on the Budget and the House Energy and Commerce Committee, where he advocates for investment in basic scientific research, supports the military’s goals to enhance their energy security, and fights for commonsense healthcare reforms that work for families and small business owners. 

Scott Peters is a civic leader who has made improving the quality of life in San Diego his life’s work. As a Member of Congress, Scott’s emphasis has been promoting and expanding San Diego’s innovation ecosystem, advocating for San Diego’s pivotal role as a partner in the national defense, and making government work again. Ranked the 4th most independent Democrat in Congress by the National Journal, Scott Peters understands that business problems have bipartisan solutions, and is never afraid to work across party lines to build consensus and get things done.

Community Room @ AMC La Jolla 12 Theater
8657 Villa La Jolla Drive
San Diego, CA 92037 Map

picnic

The Joint La Jolla Democratic/Club Pacific Beach Democratic Club Picnic will be Sunday, August 4th from 4 to 7 p.m. at Kate Sessions Park, high atop Lamont Street at Soledad Road in north Pacific Beach. The club will supply beer, wine, sodas and water along with one main dish. The rest of the food is potluck from the members. The club will also provide chairs, 2 tables and a popup shade shelter. LJDC members come and enjoy with our neighboring democrats.

August’19 Books

Posted on by admin Posted in 2019 Newsletters, Book Recommendations
winners take all

Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World,
by Anand Giridharadas
Knopf; First Edition, First Printing edition (August 28, 2018) 304 Pages
The New York Times bestselling, groundbreaking investigation of how the global elite’s efforts to “change the world” preserve the status quo and obscure their role in causing the problems they later seek to solve. An essential read for understanding some of the egregious abuses of power that dominate today’s news. More

just giving

Just Giving: Why Philanthropy Is Failing Democracy and How It Can Do Better,
by Rob Reich
Princeton University Press (November 20, 2018) 256 Pages
Is philanthropy, by its very nature, a threat to today’s democracy? Though we may laud wealthy individuals who give away their money for society’s benefit, Just Giving shows how such generosity not only isn’t the unassailable good we think it to be but might also undermine democratic values and set back aspirations of justice. Big philanthropy is often an exercise of power, the conversion of private assets into public influence. And it is a form of power that is largely unaccountable, often perpetual, and lavishly tax-advantaged. More

LJDC Monthly Meeting – July

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The LJDC Monthly Meeting
Sunday, July 14, 2019
2 – 4:30 pm

briggs

PROGRAM: The Case Against Expanding the San Diego Convention Center
SPEAKER: Cory Briggs
The initiative to expand the convention center will be on the  Primary Ballot in March, in spite of the fact that citizens approved Proposition L, requiring such measures to be on the general election ballot in November when voter turnout is greater.

Attorney Cory Briggs began practicing law in 1995 with Mundell, Odlum & Haws in San Bernardino, California, where he primarily litigated commercial and employment-related disputes. In 1998, he moved to Washington, D.C., and added environmental law and regulatory compliance to his practice while pursuing graduate degrees and teaching at The George Washington University Law School and the University of Maryland. Cory returned to southern California in June 2002, and his practice now balances small/family-owned business law with public-interest and government-accountability litigation.

This Month’s Book Recommendations

vote for us

Vote for US: How to Take Back Our Elections and Change the Future of Voting,
by Joshua A. Douglas 
Prometheus Books (April 9, 2019) 350 Pages
In contrast to the anxiety surrounding our voting system, with stories about voter suppression and manipulation, there are actually quite a few positive initiatives toward voting rights reform. Professor Joshua A. Douglas, an expert on our electoral system, examines these encouraging developments in this inspiring book about how regular Americans are working to take back their democracy, one community at a time. More

give us the ballot

Give Us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America,
by Ari Berman
Farrar, Straus and Giroux; 1st edition (August 4, 2015) 384 Pages
Countless books have been written about the civil rights movement, but far less attention has been paid to what happened after the dramatic passage of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) in 1965 and the turbulent forces it unleashed. Give Us the Ballot tells this story for the first time.
In this groundbreaking narrative history, Ari Berman charts both the transformation of American democracy under the VRA and the counterrevolution that has sought to limit voting rights, from 1965 to the present day. More

June ’19 Books

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This Month’s Book Recommendations

Our History Is the Future – Standing Rock Versus the Dakota Access Pipeline, and the Long Tradition of Indigenous Resistance
By Nick Estes
Published by Verso (Mar 05, 2019) 320 Pages
How two centuries of Indigenous resistance created the movement proclaiming “Water is life”
In 2016, a small protest encampment at the Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota, initially established to block construction of the Dakota Access oil pipeline, grew to be the largest Indigenous protest movement in the twenty-first century. Water Protectors knew this battle for native sovereignty had already been fought many times before, and that, even after the encampment was gone, their anticolonial struggle would continue. In Our History Is the Future, Nick Estes traces traditions of Indigenous resistance that led to the #NoDAPL movement. Our History Is the Future is at once a work of history, a manifesto, and an intergenerational story of resistance. More

Fight Like a Mother – How a Grassroots Movement Took on the Gun Lobby and Why Women Will Change the World
by Shannon Watts
HarperOne (May 28, 2019) 304 Pages
Fight Like a Mother is the incredible account how one mother’s cry for change became the driving force behind gun safety progress. Along with stories of perseverance, courage, and compassion, Watts shines a light on the unique power of women—starting with what they have, leading with their maternal strengths, and doubling down instead of backing down. While not everyone can be on the front lines lobbying congress, every mom is already a multi-tasking organizer, and Shannon explains how to go from amateur activist to having a real impact in your community and beyond. Fight Like a Mother will inspire everyone—mothers and fathers, students and teachers, lawmakers, and anyone motivated to enact change—to get to work transforming hearts and minds, and passing laws that save lives. More

LJDC – June 2019

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The LJDC Monthly Meeting
Sunday, June 9, 2019
2 – 4:30 pm

PROGRAM:Sunrise Movement and the Green New Deal
SPEAKER:  Karl Aldinger

The Green New Deal is breaking new ground in the political fight for government action on the Climate Crisis.  Learn about the policy that the Sunrise Movement, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez & many others are promoting to take bold action on a grand scale. Karl Aldinger is a climate activist, policy advocate, and serves as a volunteer Hub Organizer for Sunrise Movement – San Diego. 

At the recent LJDC Exec Board Meeting, it was purposed to ask at the June monthly meeting, for club members to consider volunteering for the roles of Parliamentarian, Hospitality chair or committee member, and executive board Nominating Committee members.

The Exec. Board suggested having a 2020 Democratic Candidate Debate watching party for club members on June 26 and 27. Details will be discussed at the general meeting as to where, when and how.
See more info: Which Democratic Presidential Candidates Have Qualified for the First Debates?

Community Room @ AMC La Jolla 12 Theater
8657 Villa La Jolla Drive
San Diego, CA 92037

Update – LJDC May Meeting

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The LJDC Monthly Meeting
Sunday, May 19, 2019
2 – 4:30 pm

atkins

GUEST SPEAKER:
California Senate pro Tempore Toni Atkins will lead off the program Sunday. She is our Senator, representing District 39, which includes La Jolla.
She is a historic figure in California as the first woman to head the Senate and the first openly gay person to lead the Senate. She is also the only person to have been Speaker of the Assembly prior to becoming the Senate leader.

petterson

PROGRAM:
WHAT IS HAPPENING?
SPEAKER:Dr. Cody Petterson will discuss the relationship between our climate crisis, our political crisis, our economic crisis, and the evolving ideological struggles within the Democratic Party.

Mark it on your Calendars!
Hope to see you on Sunday.

Community Room @ AMC La Jolla 12 Theater
8657 Villa La Jolla Drive
San Diego, CA 92037 Map

LJDC May Meeting

Posted on by admin Posted in 2019 Newsletters, General Meetings

May 2019

The LJDC Monthly Meeting
Sunday, May 19, 2019
2 – 4:30 pm

PROGRAM: WHAT IS HAPPENING?
Dr. Petterson will discuss the relationship between our climate crisis, our political crisis, our economic crisis, and the evolving ideological struggles within the Democratic Party.

petterson

SPEAKER: Dr. Cody Petterson is an anthropologist and environmental activist. Born and raised in La Jolla, he attended La Jolla Elementary, Muirlands Junior High, and La Jolla High. He received a BA from UC Berkeley, an MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and a PH.D. in Anthropology from UCSD. He is president of the San Diego County Democrats for Environmental Action and serves on the boards of the San Diego River Conservancy and the Resource Conservation District of Greater San Diego. He lives with his wife and two children in La Jolla, where he enjoys his passion for native habitat conservation and restoration.

Community Room @ AMC La Jolla 12 Theater
8657 Villa La Jolla Drive
San Diego, CA 92037 Map

May ’19 Books

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This Month’s Book Recommendations

Against Charity, by Julie Wark and Daniel Raventos
AK Press (January 9th 2018)
Charity is not a gift. Gift-giving implies reciprocity, an ongoing relationship. When requital is impossible, the act of giving remains outside mutual ties and charity becomes yet another manifestation of class structure, a sterile one-way act upholding the status quo.
Vacuuming up all the profits thanks to a weak labor movement, lower taxes, and tax havens (thanks, lobbyists and loathsome politicians!), the global elite then turn around and remake the world in their own image with charitable donations that speak more of mean-spiritedness than generosity. Postmodern versions of nineteenth-century charity aim to keep wealth and power in a few hands, mocking our desire for greater income equality.
Daniel Raventós and Julie Wark argue for an unconditional universal basic income above the poverty line and paid for by progressive taxation to both eradicate poverty and empower recipients—the result being the human right of material existence. The burning issue is not charity but justice. More

bigheat

The Big Heat: Earth on the Brink by Jeffrey St. Clair and Joshua Frank
Published by AK Press (January 4th 2019)
The world as we know it is undergoing a sudden and violent transformation, unlike anything the planet has experienced since the Cretaceous Extinction. The evidence is all around us: vast droughts that last decades, super-storms and floods that destroy cities, dwindling aquifers, vanishing glaciers, toxic water supplies, raging wildfires, obscure new diseases, vanishing species and indigenous communities. Our planet is changing faster than evolution can keep up. The forces driving this radical transformation are not natural. The earth has been brought to the brink by a greed-based predatory economic system that chews up anything in its path and spits it out to the bitter end. Environmental journalists Jeffrey St. Clair and Joshua Frank take you on a sobering field trip through the danger zones; from the strip mines of Appalachia to last refuge of the grizzly, from the dirty fracking fields to the world’s most dangerous place, the Hanford Nuclear Site in the Pacific Northwest. The Big Heat charts the battle lines for the future of the planet, from corporate villains to corrupt politicians and the fearless environmentalists who are standing up against the pillaging. This is an unflinching chronicle of the last fight that really matters. More

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April’19 Books

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The Making Of Donald Trump, by David Cay Johnston 
Melville House (August 2, 2016)
The culmination of nearly 30 years of reporting on Donald Trump, this in-depth report by Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter David Cay Johnston takes a revealingly close look at the mogul’s rise to prominence — and, now, ultimate power
Covering the long arc of Trump’s career, Johnston tells the full story of how a boy from a quiet section of Queens, NY would become an entirely new, and complex, breed of public figure. Trump is a man of great media savvy, entrepreneurial spirit, and political clout. Yet his career has been plagued by legal troubles and mounting controversy. More

biased

Biased – Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think, and Do, by Jennifer L. Eberhardt, PhD
Published by Viking (Mar 26, 2019) 352 Pages
You don’t have to be racist to be biased. Unconscious bias can be at work without our realizing it, and even when we genuinely wish to treat all people equally, ingrained stereotypes can infect our visual perception, attention, memory, and behavior. This has an impact on education, employment, housing, and criminal justice. In Biased, with a perspective that is at once scientific, investigative, and informed by personal experience, Jennifer Eberhardt offers us insights into the dilemma and a path forward.More

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