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LJDC – MArch Book Recommendations

Posted on by admin Posted in 2020 Newsletters, Book Recommendations

This Month’s Book Recommendations
The Ones We’ve Been Waiting For: How a New Generation of Leaders Will Transform America, by Charlotte Alter
Viking (February 18, 2020) 368 pages
A new generation is stepping up. There are now twenty-six millennials in Congress–a fivefold increase gained in the 2018 midterms alone. They are governing Midwestern cities and college towns, running for city councils, and serving in state legislatures. They are acting urgently on climate change (because they are going to live it); they care deeply about student debt (because they have it); they are utilizing big tech but still want to regulate it (because they understand how it works). More

The Next Great Migration: The Beauty and Terror of Life on the Moveby Sonia Shah
Bloomsbury Publishing (June 2, 2020) 400 Pages
A prize-winning journalist upends our centuries-long assumptions about migration through science, history, and reporting–predicting its lifesaving power in the face of climate change.
The news today is full of stories of dislocated people on the move. Wild species, too, are escaping warming seas and desiccated lands, creeping, swimming, and flying in a mass exodus from their past habitats. News media presents this scrambling of the planet’s migration patterns as unprecedented, provoking fears of the spread of disease and conflict and waves of anxiety across the Western world. More

LJDC General Meeting – March

Posted on by admin Posted in 2020 Newsletters, General Meetings

The LJDC Monthly Meeting
Sunday, March 8, 2020
2 – 4:30 pm

The Program: Super Tuesday Review and DiscussionA Discussion of the March 3rd Primary Election results by members of the La Jolla Democratic Club and a panel of experts headed by Cody Petterson, a member of LJDC, President of Democrats for Environmental Action, a member of the Democratic Central Committee and a member of the steering committee of the San Diego Sierra Club. Also on the panel will be Fred Rogers, political chairman of the San Diego Sierra Club and Central Committee member and John Mattes, attorney and former reporter for San Diego Channel 5 television, In addition to the Primary discussion there will be a look ahead at the future  of the Democratic Presidential Primary. Bring your thoughts and observations on the results of Tuesday’s Primary election. We will delve into a discussion on candidates, delegates, the convention, polls and potential VPs. Who got what and how many, and what that means coming down the road as we head into the convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin mid July 13-16, 2020. The number of delegates needed for the nomination is 1,990, while the total number of delegates will be 3,979.
Community Room @ AMC La Jolla 12 Theater
8657 Villa La Jolla Drive
San Diego, CA 92037 Map

LJDC January 2020 – Book and Movie Recommendations

Posted on by admin Posted in 2020 Newsletters, Book Recommendations, Current Issues

This Month’s Book and Movie Recommendations

The Great Hack, by Karim Amer, Jehane Noujaim 
If you’d rather not think about how your life is locked in a dystopian web of your own data, don’t watch the new Netflix documentary *The Great Hack*.
But if you want to see, really see the way data tracking, harvesting, and targeting takes the strands of information we generate and ties them around us until we are smothered by governments and companies, then don’t miss the film, which premieres today on the streaming platform and in theaters. Ostensibly, it tells the story of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, but even if you know that sordid tale already, the film is worth a look. It uses the scandal as a framework to illustrate the data mining structures and algorithms that are undermining individual liberty and democratic society, one Facebook like and meme at a time. More

bragg

The Three Dimensions of Freedom, by Billy Bragg
Faber & Faber Social (August 13, 2019) 96 Pages
We live in a world where strongman politics are rising; neo-liberalism has hollowed out political parties; and corporations have undermined democracy. Ordinary voters feel helpless to effect change, resulting in outbreaks of populist anger, and traditional platforms for debate are losing their viability as readers source information online. In this short and vital polemic, progressive thinker and activist Billy Bragg argues that accountability is the antidote to authoritarianism, and that without it, we can never truly be free. He shows us that Freedom requires three dimensions to function: Liberty, Equality, and Accountability – and the result is a three dimensional space in which freedom can be exercised by all. More

General Meeting LJDC

Posted on by admin Posted in 2020 Newsletters, General Meetings

The LJDC Monthly Meeting
Sunday, January 12, 2020
2 – 4:30 pm

Bird Brains,
Inside the Strange Minds of Our Fine Feathered Friends 

Presented by LJDC member Budd Titlow 

It will be a beautiful photographic slide presentation of Budd’s personal story of his love of birds and will offer insights taken from Budd’s forty years of work as a professional wildlife biologist, certified wetlands scientist, international award-winning nature photographer, writer and national workshop and field trip leader. He has conducted more than one hundred surveys of wild bird habitats and breeding bird populations throughout the United States. Anyone who loves nature and the outdoors will enjoy this program. Budd lives with his wife, Debby, on the back side of Mt. Soledad in Pacific Beach.

Also we will discuss our Club’s participation in the upcoming MLK Parade on January 19th. See details below. 

Thank you to all who contribute (or would like to) such hard work in keeping our wonderful club vibrant, relevant and running smoothly! — Derek Casady

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

LJDC November 2019 – Book and Movie Recommendations

Posted on by admin Posted in 2019 Newsletters, Book Recommendations, Uncategorized

This Month’s Book and Movie Recommendations

WOMAN AT WAR
Film by Benedikt Erlingsson
Halla is a fifty-year-old independent woman. But behind the scenes of a quiet routine, she leads a double life as a passionate environmental activist. Known to others only by her alias “The Woman of the Mountain,” Halla secretly wages a one-woman-war on the local aluminum industry. As Halla’s actions grow bolder, from petty vandalism to outright industrial sabotage, she succeeds in pausing the negotiations between the Icelandic government and the corporation building a new aluminum smelter. But right as she begins planning her biggest and boldest operation yet, she receives an unexpected letter that changes everything. Her application to adopt a child has finally been accepted and there is a little girl waiting for her in Ukraine. As Halla prepares to abandon her role as saboteur and savior of the Highlands to fulfill her dream of becoming a mother, she decides to plot one final attack to deal the aluminum industry a crippling blow.

THE WATER DANCER: A NOVEL
by Ta-Nehisi Coates
One World; First Edition edition
(September 24, 2019) 416 Pages
Young Hiram Walker was born into bondage. When his mother was sold away, Hiram was robbed of all memory of her—but was gifted with a mysterious power. Years later, when Hiram almost drowns in a river, that same power saves his life. This brush with death births an urgency in Hiram and a daring scheme: to escape from the only home he’s ever known.
So begins an unexpected journey that takes Hiram from the corrupt grandeur of Virginia’s proud plantations to desperate guerrilla cells in the wilderness, from the coffin of the Deep South to dangerously idealistic movements in the North. Even as he’s enlisted in the underground war between slavers and the enslaved, Hiram’s resolve to rescue the family he left behind endures.
This is the dramatic story of an atrocity inflicted on generations of women, men, and children—the violent and capricious separation of families—and the war they waged to simply make lives with the people they loved. Written by one of today’s most exciting thinkers and writers, The Water Dancer is a propulsive, transcendent work that restores the humanity of those from whom everything was stolen. A Nation Book Review

LJDC Monthly Meeting – November 2019

Posted on by admin Posted in 2019 Newsletters, General Meetings

The LJDC Monthly Meeting
Sunday, November 10, 2019
2 – 4:30 pm

PROGRAM: Endorsements –  Members will consider endorsing candidates in one or all of the following races, as time permits, U.S. Congress, 52nd District, San Diego Mayor and 78 State Assembly District. We plan to endorse for the San Diego City Council District 1 at the LJDC Holiday Party on December 15, 2019.

Annual Elections for the LJDC Offices of President, Vice-President, Second Vice-President, Treasurer and Secretary will be held at the La Jolla Democratic Club’s meeting on November 10, 2019. Although most current officers would like to continue, there might be openings available, and anyone interested in running for office is welcome to do so. If you are interested in any of the above-mentioned positions, please contact Paula (Chair, Nominations Committee) with your request. huldra500@hotmail.com
All nominees will receive full consideration, and if two or more desire the same office, we will conduct a secret ballot at our meeting. Thank you to all who contribute (or would like to) such hard work in keeping our wonderful club vibrant, relevant and running smoothly!

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

LJDC October 2019 – Book Recommendations

Posted on by admin Posted in 2019 Newsletters, Book Recommendations

This Month’s Book Recommendations

Permanent Record, by Edward Snowden
Metropolitan Books (September 17, 2019) 352 Pages
Edward Snowden, the man who risked everything to expose the US government’s system of mass surveillance, reveals for the first time the story of his life, including how he helped to build that system and what motivated him to try to bring it down.
In 2013, twenty-nine-year-old Edward Snowden shocked the world when he broke with the American intelligence establishment and revealed that the United States government was secretly pursuing the means to collect every single phone call, text message, and email. The result would be an unprecedented system of mass surveillance with the ability to pry into the private lives of every person on earth. Six years later, Snowden reveals for the very first time how he helped to build this system and why he was moved to expose it. More

on fire

On Fire: The (Burning) Case for a Green New Deal, by Naomi Klein
Simon & Schuster (September 17, 2019) 320 Pages
These long-form essays show Klein at her most prophetic and philosophical, investigating the climate crisis not only as a profound political challenge but as a spiritual and imaginative one, as well. Delving into topics ranging from the clash between ecological time and our culture of “perpetual now,” to the soaring history of humans changing and evolving rapidly in the face of grave threats, to rising white supremacy and fortressed borders as a form of “climate barbarism,” this is a rousing call to action for a planet on the brink. More

LJDC Monthly Meeting – October

Posted on by admin Posted in 2019 Newsletters, General Meetings

The LJDC Monthly Meeting
Sunday, October 13, 2019
2 – 4:30 pm

titlow

SPEAKER:: Budd Titlow, wetland scientist and wildlife biologist,
PROGRAM:  How 2 Generations Fight the Climate Crisis

Budd and his daughter, Mariah Tinger, together wrote “Protecting the Planet.”  Mariah began her in-depth studies of climate change while pursuing a master’s degree in environmental management at Harvard University’s Extension School. It was her graduate work that got her father interested in doing the book with her.  Budd is an international award-winning nature photographer and widely published writer. He has authored three natural history books, most recently “Bird Brains: Inside the Strange Minds of Our Fine Feathered Friends.”  He has taught ecology, environmental science, birding, and photographyt at the university level. Thom Hartmann says their book is “THE book to read to understand every aspect of climate change, from the politics to the science to the movement.” See Here

protecting

Protecting the Planet: Environmental Champions from Conservation to Climate Change
by Budd Titlow , Mariah Tinger
Prometheus (November 29, 2016) 587 pages
This book tells an inspirational story–a story both of pioneering environmentalists who raised our collective consciousness regarding nature’s value and heroes of today who are working to secure a sustainable future. More

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

LJDC Monthly Meeting – September 2019

Posted on by admin Posted in 2019 Newsletters, General Meetings, Uncategorized

SPEAKER: Jess Durfee
PROGRAM: Looking at Democratic and U.S. Politics at the National Level

Jess Durfee is a Member of the Democratic National Committee. He’s the only Democratic National Committee (DNC) member from San Diego. He is chair of the DNC Western Region, Chair of CA Dem Voter Services Committee, Board of Directors CA State Fair & Cal Expo, Former Chairman of the San Diego Democratic Party Central Committee and a past president of Democrats for Equality, a San Diego Democratic club.
Jess grew up in Oregon, was a teacher by profession and taught in Washington.

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

Campaign Announcement  Our own LJDC Treasurer, Nancy Casady, has announced that she is running as the Green New Deal Candidate for Congress in the 52nd District. Check out her Casady for Congress website for more information on her campaign.

LJDC September 2019 – Book Recommendations

Posted on by admin Posted in 2019 Newsletters, Book Recommendations

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

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