The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums here.
The Guiding Principles and New Rules document is now in effect.
Trying to create a counter-culture to the miserable status quo. Could use help.
Sky
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Brief history lesson:
Imperial County is located in southern California, cornered by Arizona and Mexico. It was initially settled by white farmers in the 1910's, used to have share-croppers, brothels, laborer camps, etc.
Fast forward to turn of twenty-first century, since 1987, the air quality has been tracked, and it has always been bad. Some of the more toxic pollutants have been reduced, but there is still a lot of bad air (my mom suffers from it, so I wake up and go to bed listening to her cough and clear her throat constantly). Also, unemployment, and lack of state and federal recognition and support seem to be prevalent.
No progress is made in what is some wierd multi-layer, multi-headed beast of government where politics reign. Also, despite the fact that the majority of people here are hispanic, the majority of elected officials are caucasian. (It also seems that what church you go to indicates what will be available to you in life.) Migrants workers are cheap, Mexican field workers who harvest crops that feed the southwest U.S. (they usually are riding buses north at 3 in the morning and live in shacks and shanty towns in Mexicali, Mexico.
Now, after getting laid off from NASA up in San Jose, and seeing how Silicone Valley had the lowest crime rate in the state of California (or was it the nation?) last year, and around the corner is Oakland with California's highest murder rate, I started paying attention to the layout of the community. Anyways, coming home, and seeing how horrible the air quality is down here (Marines train here before deploying to Iraq, a friend of mine from high school mentioned Iraq was "just like home"), I decided to start recording with my camera.
My dad linked me to a woman (Maria Nava) who was running for one of the local Imperial Irrigation District positions, I stepped in and (to my surprise) seemed to have a pretty good grasp of how to run a campaign (and I was just responding to what was talked about). I helped where I could my canidate still lost, but the margin was a lot more narrow then it could have been.
Anyways, to help her, and other canidates that "liked" what I was saying and writing to the newspaper, I began doing a lot of research, doing a lot of writing (kind find my submissions on my Facebook account), AND, most importantly (I feel) began recording public events and meetings and posting those on Youtube.
Now, my behavior in San Jose does not stand out. Here, where we are 10 years behind the rest of the nation (someone remarked last night that that is an improvement, we used to be further behind), the border community of Calexico is the least prosperous U.S. border community (and boasts the nations third highest teen pregnancy rate, for every 100 women, there are 80 men, paper police force, worse commercial sections of town you could imagine), while Mexicali is the most prosperous Mexican border community (the Imperial Valley is too disorganized to fully exploit it's Mexican neighbors like the rest of the nation).
Anyways, my videos of political forums and debates got very little attention. Same for my coverage of govt open meetings (I started with a Native American Casino being considered for Calexico, big crowd draw, after that, nothing). In general, the only people who really knew or seemed to notice or care, were the politicos I emailed regularly (my "think tank"), the (only remaining) newspaper, and my YT fans and Facebook friends.
So, one night, I go to a local museum where a presentation for a "mega port" to be built in Mexico was to be displayed to the public. I introduced myself to the people running the show, not the intelligent engineer who ran two companies and gave the presentation and blew us away with his knowledge and ability to help us comprehend the scope of the project. After the guy's third off-color comment, I quickly tapped him on the shoulder and let him know I was going to upload the video, gave my card to him afterwards.
The next day, his son, VP of operations, calls me, asks I not put the video up. I say I want to meet the guy half way, divide the footage between stuff meant for the public and stuff not meant. He seemed amendable to that idea. (I told him I would be at a charity food drive all that day and to come by, visit, never showed.)
Monday, I go to the guy's office, we agree about what is on the video, but cannot agree on the delivery method. He wanted me to hold off on the video, and eventually started offering me "an exclusive." I felt it was not in my hands, or his, to fully decide what the public should be made aware of, and asked that a representative from Imperial County, the state of California, the state of Arizona, maybe even the state of Baja California, as well as legal experts from the local newspaper and television stations to ensure we were not breaking any laws or exposing ourselves to civil suit.
He thought that a little preposterous (as did my father when I mentioned this to him).
I relented to a county rep, the newspaper, local tv. He (after relating that after 3 hours of us stone-walling each other, I cost him $500 worth of business, to which I apologized) felt I was being ridiculous, that I was not seeing the big picture, that I was "stuck" (in my brain), and eventually, after I submitted that we edit the video right then and there (Me: "Look, I want to give you this thumb drive and wash my hands of this video. I have no desire to get money, or fame, out of this. This was a public event, you said some stuff is under negotiation and should not be released to the public, I understand and agree with that.") and then take the finished product to the local agencies to receive their blessing, his response "Do whatever you want."
And, "See what happens."
He related he was going to give my information to the other entities involved.
Walking out, I finally let the man know that "red flags" went up in my mind when he said don't put the video up, that it was an area I was not familiar or comfortable in, and thus my desire for a neutral third party we could agree on. He made vague threats about the jobs of his staff (we were in a small conference, the door open, and I know at least one or more of his staff heard us talk throughout the whole morning, and heard me repeatedly state that I did not want to have an impact on anyone's job or the money in this project. "I am a peon in this whole thing. I am outside. I do not wish to have an influence or impact on this.")
Anyways, I told the guy I would speak to the county, newspaper, tv, did so. County legal could see nothing wrong. County govt agreed that the company's interest should be protected, but also agreed it was a public event and my equipment and labor. Newspaper agreed with me. Spoke to an advertising executive at Univision (since the local NBC affiliate closed down and relocated to Yuma, Arizona) and he joined the chorus of "There is nothing he can do to you."
By this point, the VP was on a plane flying home.
So I went home, edited the video so it was just the father speaking, no Q's from the audience, no Q-and-A section at the end (hour long video, cut down to about twenty odd minutes). Put those on YT, sent the guy the link in an email and asked for his approval.
He responded with a negative email, declaring he was going to file a DMCA claim against me, gave my information to people, etc. I responded that in the day the video went up, 8 people watched the most of the clips, and no one called me, knocked on my door, or, like with all my driving around on Monday, showed any interest in the video or it's content.
He emailed me back saying I was blocked.
(Oh, if only there was some way to show you guys this video.
)
So, that is one.
This Monday, I go to Calexico city hall for a "Housing Committee" public meeting. I catch the tail end of the city council having a special development meeting. There is a Mexican individual (representing a Mexican charity) that wants to establish in Calexico. The councilman addressing him sounded very serious about not accepting the proposal.
Camera goes on.
But the councilman wanted to not be too hasty in passing judgment and postpone a decision to later. Others chimed in the same.
The Calexico Housing/Planning Commission meeting is interesting, sad, hilarious, and amazing. No agenda, and it took them 40 minutes, and a few mentions of "The Brown Act," before they decide to end the thing.
Afterwards, I approached the council and remarked, "Well, I know this won't get you in trouble," and related to them about my YT videos, to which the old codger uttered once again, "I've been working on councils for years." The chairman, though, asked: "Are you with the Press?"
Me: "No. I was going to take this video and upload it to Youtube."
Chairman: "For what purpose?"
Me: *grinning* "Well, since not everyone can make it to these meetings, to let them know what happened. Also, I find it keeps the politicians honest."
No response, I turned and walked away.
The next day, I go to an elementary school out in the countryside (higher population of caucasians in this school, for some reason), and after giving a bizarre introduction of myself (I was still reeling from Calexico, air quality and being tired, bored with what I was doing), I overhear a lot of money dealing going on, which seems wierd since a few weeks prior, at Day of the Teacher, a good family friend of mine spoke about budget cuts, lay-offs, and how schools and communities are struggling everywhere.
The newspaper, I believe, knows about the two meetings, no mention in paper.
I run into a guy last night, and he mentioned these things to me: "You are way up here, everyone else is down here. If you want to get anywhere in this place, you have to play dumb, kiss a lot of butt, go to the right church. You had better be careful. You could find yourself lost out in the desert somewhere." My actions, while "normal" in San Jose, are "bizarre" here, and many people have no context to understand what I am doing (the "internet" has a couple things going against it, for one, the literarcy rate here, in English, is low, and same for Spanish; then the only information people do hear about the net comes from news, and that would be all the negative stuff; I have started telling people about the business helping aspects of Facebook, and how it helps kids get into college).
I am a "threat" to the establishment here, even though I am unemployed and just roam around the valley with a camera. The fact that I am intelligent, un-attached, and carry the "military pride" on my shoulders, makes me a person that does not fit the norm here where "quiet, reserved, respectful" are considered prized virtues.
I walk in, am quiet, reserved, respectful. Then when people start talking to me, I let them know what I think. I express concern over my fellow citizens, at how businesses are constantly in a state of flux, how the whole economy is haphazard and leaves the larger community in the dark.
Anyways, I am somewhat venting, somewhat bragging, somewhat sharing, somewhat pondering all of this.
I need a job (seems to help in the whole "having sex" issue), and so have been talking to some good people, movers and shakers and motivators. I have been sharing my knowledge, my wisdom, with everyone.
(Asthma and breathing problems are huge down here, so I tell people about the Blood Type Diet, tell them they can find it online, too.)
I have some business models that I have been floating around and think could help me get started (maybe on a career path to politician). Two big ideas, one to start a not-for-profit charity-organizing company, like "Inter-Faith" in San Diego area. (Old college friend worked there.) With that, we could get started by subsidizing and selling solar cookers to the migrant workers for their lunch and dinner meals.
The second idea would be to start a website that has an all encompassing calender (it would function as a hub for a lot of other local websites, and I want to see about getting some Facebook applications involved, too). Get businesses to add themselves for free to a registry, or start paying to get advertising on the website. Somehow or other, I want to start a radio station out of this (family friend ran three at one time, so that for guidance, and the journalist school for the U.S. military also had broadcast journalism, so I can get some guidance from those acquantinces).
The radio station would play modern rock (we got nothing local) and I would like to either host or produce a two hour, live, morning, talk show. First hour, all ages. Second hour, after kids are in school, adult toned. (First show, I was thinking a prominent religious leader, second hour owner of an adult book store, to show the range of material we would cover.) I would then want to have the calender website linked in with this station, maybe even do some streaming audio, then turn the station into corporate ownership, so the workers run it, and the station can be independent, and thus continue to serve the community regardless of what is going on.
Anyways, that is what I am "doing" with my life these days.
I am also trying to get my dad unto the Blood Type Diet, because he keeps eating the wrong foods, and his health is deplorable as a result (and it's even worse because he seems to accept being in discomfort, miserable, breathing with difficulty, overweight....). And I am hoping that once I land a job, I can find a single-story house to move my parents into (stairs is killing their legs).
And if nothing else, I will likely get a job overseas, maintain my residence here, and write letters back saying: "Hope you guys are enjoying the park I am helping to fund."
I am thinking now that I could start writing a book about this place, or at least get ahold of some news agency and ask them to send me a reporter to better fully expose what is going on in this community.
I am also contemplating starting a "movement."
Imperial County is located in southern California, cornered by Arizona and Mexico. It was initially settled by white farmers in the 1910's, used to have share-croppers, brothels, laborer camps, etc.
Fast forward to turn of twenty-first century, since 1987, the air quality has been tracked, and it has always been bad. Some of the more toxic pollutants have been reduced, but there is still a lot of bad air (my mom suffers from it, so I wake up and go to bed listening to her cough and clear her throat constantly). Also, unemployment, and lack of state and federal recognition and support seem to be prevalent.
No progress is made in what is some wierd multi-layer, multi-headed beast of government where politics reign. Also, despite the fact that the majority of people here are hispanic, the majority of elected officials are caucasian. (It also seems that what church you go to indicates what will be available to you in life.) Migrants workers are cheap, Mexican field workers who harvest crops that feed the southwest U.S. (they usually are riding buses north at 3 in the morning and live in shacks and shanty towns in Mexicali, Mexico.
Now, after getting laid off from NASA up in San Jose, and seeing how Silicone Valley had the lowest crime rate in the state of California (or was it the nation?) last year, and around the corner is Oakland with California's highest murder rate, I started paying attention to the layout of the community. Anyways, coming home, and seeing how horrible the air quality is down here (Marines train here before deploying to Iraq, a friend of mine from high school mentioned Iraq was "just like home"), I decided to start recording with my camera.
My dad linked me to a woman (Maria Nava) who was running for one of the local Imperial Irrigation District positions, I stepped in and (to my surprise) seemed to have a pretty good grasp of how to run a campaign (and I was just responding to what was talked about). I helped where I could my canidate still lost, but the margin was a lot more narrow then it could have been.
Anyways, to help her, and other canidates that "liked" what I was saying and writing to the newspaper, I began doing a lot of research, doing a lot of writing (kind find my submissions on my Facebook account), AND, most importantly (I feel) began recording public events and meetings and posting those on Youtube.
Now, my behavior in San Jose does not stand out. Here, where we are 10 years behind the rest of the nation (someone remarked last night that that is an improvement, we used to be further behind), the border community of Calexico is the least prosperous U.S. border community (and boasts the nations third highest teen pregnancy rate, for every 100 women, there are 80 men, paper police force, worse commercial sections of town you could imagine), while Mexicali is the most prosperous Mexican border community (the Imperial Valley is too disorganized to fully exploit it's Mexican neighbors like the rest of the nation).
Anyways, my videos of political forums and debates got very little attention. Same for my coverage of govt open meetings (I started with a Native American Casino being considered for Calexico, big crowd draw, after that, nothing). In general, the only people who really knew or seemed to notice or care, were the politicos I emailed regularly (my "think tank"), the (only remaining) newspaper, and my YT fans and Facebook friends.
So, one night, I go to a local museum where a presentation for a "mega port" to be built in Mexico was to be displayed to the public. I introduced myself to the people running the show, not the intelligent engineer who ran two companies and gave the presentation and blew us away with his knowledge and ability to help us comprehend the scope of the project. After the guy's third off-color comment, I quickly tapped him on the shoulder and let him know I was going to upload the video, gave my card to him afterwards.
The next day, his son, VP of operations, calls me, asks I not put the video up. I say I want to meet the guy half way, divide the footage between stuff meant for the public and stuff not meant. He seemed amendable to that idea. (I told him I would be at a charity food drive all that day and to come by, visit, never showed.)
Monday, I go to the guy's office, we agree about what is on the video, but cannot agree on the delivery method. He wanted me to hold off on the video, and eventually started offering me "an exclusive." I felt it was not in my hands, or his, to fully decide what the public should be made aware of, and asked that a representative from Imperial County, the state of California, the state of Arizona, maybe even the state of Baja California, as well as legal experts from the local newspaper and television stations to ensure we were not breaking any laws or exposing ourselves to civil suit.
He thought that a little preposterous (as did my father when I mentioned this to him).
I relented to a county rep, the newspaper, local tv. He (after relating that after 3 hours of us stone-walling each other, I cost him $500 worth of business, to which I apologized) felt I was being ridiculous, that I was not seeing the big picture, that I was "stuck" (in my brain), and eventually, after I submitted that we edit the video right then and there (Me: "Look, I want to give you this thumb drive and wash my hands of this video. I have no desire to get money, or fame, out of this. This was a public event, you said some stuff is under negotiation and should not be released to the public, I understand and agree with that.") and then take the finished product to the local agencies to receive their blessing, his response "Do whatever you want."
And, "See what happens."
He related he was going to give my information to the other entities involved.
Walking out, I finally let the man know that "red flags" went up in my mind when he said don't put the video up, that it was an area I was not familiar or comfortable in, and thus my desire for a neutral third party we could agree on. He made vague threats about the jobs of his staff (we were in a small conference, the door open, and I know at least one or more of his staff heard us talk throughout the whole morning, and heard me repeatedly state that I did not want to have an impact on anyone's job or the money in this project. "I am a peon in this whole thing. I am outside. I do not wish to have an influence or impact on this.")
Anyways, I told the guy I would speak to the county, newspaper, tv, did so. County legal could see nothing wrong. County govt agreed that the company's interest should be protected, but also agreed it was a public event and my equipment and labor. Newspaper agreed with me. Spoke to an advertising executive at Univision (since the local NBC affiliate closed down and relocated to Yuma, Arizona) and he joined the chorus of "There is nothing he can do to you."
By this point, the VP was on a plane flying home.
So I went home, edited the video so it was just the father speaking, no Q's from the audience, no Q-and-A section at the end (hour long video, cut down to about twenty odd minutes). Put those on YT, sent the guy the link in an email and asked for his approval.
He responded with a negative email, declaring he was going to file a DMCA claim against me, gave my information to people, etc. I responded that in the day the video went up, 8 people watched the most of the clips, and no one called me, knocked on my door, or, like with all my driving around on Monday, showed any interest in the video or it's content.
He emailed me back saying I was blocked.
(Oh, if only there was some way to show you guys this video.
)So, that is one.
This Monday, I go to Calexico city hall for a "Housing Committee" public meeting. I catch the tail end of the city council having a special development meeting. There is a Mexican individual (representing a Mexican charity) that wants to establish in Calexico. The councilman addressing him sounded very serious about not accepting the proposal.
Camera goes on.
But the councilman wanted to not be too hasty in passing judgment and postpone a decision to later. Others chimed in the same.
The Calexico Housing/Planning Commission meeting is interesting, sad, hilarious, and amazing. No agenda, and it took them 40 minutes, and a few mentions of "The Brown Act," before they decide to end the thing.
Afterwards, I approached the council and remarked, "Well, I know this won't get you in trouble," and related to them about my YT videos, to which the old codger uttered once again, "I've been working on councils for years." The chairman, though, asked: "Are you with the Press?"
Me: "No. I was going to take this video and upload it to Youtube."
Chairman: "For what purpose?"
Me: *grinning* "Well, since not everyone can make it to these meetings, to let them know what happened. Also, I find it keeps the politicians honest."
No response, I turned and walked away.
The next day, I go to an elementary school out in the countryside (higher population of caucasians in this school, for some reason), and after giving a bizarre introduction of myself (I was still reeling from Calexico, air quality and being tired, bored with what I was doing), I overhear a lot of money dealing going on, which seems wierd since a few weeks prior, at Day of the Teacher, a good family friend of mine spoke about budget cuts, lay-offs, and how schools and communities are struggling everywhere.
The newspaper, I believe, knows about the two meetings, no mention in paper.
I run into a guy last night, and he mentioned these things to me: "You are way up here, everyone else is down here. If you want to get anywhere in this place, you have to play dumb, kiss a lot of butt, go to the right church. You had better be careful. You could find yourself lost out in the desert somewhere." My actions, while "normal" in San Jose, are "bizarre" here, and many people have no context to understand what I am doing (the "internet" has a couple things going against it, for one, the literarcy rate here, in English, is low, and same for Spanish; then the only information people do hear about the net comes from news, and that would be all the negative stuff; I have started telling people about the business helping aspects of Facebook, and how it helps kids get into college).
I am a "threat" to the establishment here, even though I am unemployed and just roam around the valley with a camera. The fact that I am intelligent, un-attached, and carry the "military pride" on my shoulders, makes me a person that does not fit the norm here where "quiet, reserved, respectful" are considered prized virtues.
I walk in, am quiet, reserved, respectful. Then when people start talking to me, I let them know what I think. I express concern over my fellow citizens, at how businesses are constantly in a state of flux, how the whole economy is haphazard and leaves the larger community in the dark.
Anyways, I am somewhat venting, somewhat bragging, somewhat sharing, somewhat pondering all of this.
I need a job (seems to help in the whole "having sex" issue), and so have been talking to some good people, movers and shakers and motivators. I have been sharing my knowledge, my wisdom, with everyone.
(Asthma and breathing problems are huge down here, so I tell people about the Blood Type Diet, tell them they can find it online, too.)
I have some business models that I have been floating around and think could help me get started (maybe on a career path to politician). Two big ideas, one to start a not-for-profit charity-organizing company, like "Inter-Faith" in San Diego area. (Old college friend worked there.) With that, we could get started by subsidizing and selling solar cookers to the migrant workers for their lunch and dinner meals.
The second idea would be to start a website that has an all encompassing calender (it would function as a hub for a lot of other local websites, and I want to see about getting some Facebook applications involved, too). Get businesses to add themselves for free to a registry, or start paying to get advertising on the website. Somehow or other, I want to start a radio station out of this (family friend ran three at one time, so that for guidance, and the journalist school for the U.S. military also had broadcast journalism, so I can get some guidance from those acquantinces).
The radio station would play modern rock (we got nothing local) and I would like to either host or produce a two hour, live, morning, talk show. First hour, all ages. Second hour, after kids are in school, adult toned. (First show, I was thinking a prominent religious leader, second hour owner of an adult book store, to show the range of material we would cover.) I would then want to have the calender website linked in with this station, maybe even do some streaming audio, then turn the station into corporate ownership, so the workers run it, and the station can be independent, and thus continue to serve the community regardless of what is going on.
Anyways, that is what I am "doing" with my life these days.
I am also trying to get my dad unto the Blood Type Diet, because he keeps eating the wrong foods, and his health is deplorable as a result (and it's even worse because he seems to accept being in discomfort, miserable, breathing with difficulty, overweight....). And I am hoping that once I land a job, I can find a single-story house to move my parents into (stairs is killing their legs).
And if nothing else, I will likely get a job overseas, maintain my residence here, and write letters back saying: "Hope you guys are enjoying the park I am helping to fund."
I am thinking now that I could start writing a book about this place, or at least get ahold of some news agency and ask them to send me a reporter to better fully expose what is going on in this community.
I am also contemplating starting a "movement."
Sky on
0
This discussion has been closed.
Posts
Advising not to help your community is not good advice. This isn't good advice.
Sky, I don't have much I can say to help you, other than the fact that you simply need to get more people involved. You can't do everything by yourself. Start hosting rally's. Try to come up with plans to improve the city. Get people to agree with you, and then things go much smoother.
3ds friend code: 2981-6032-4118
Every community here has about 20% of the population living below the poverty line. We have about 6% empty homes in most places (it seems). So, a small town like Calipat has 92 homes vacant, El Centro has 900 empty homes. There is NO INDUSTRY here beyond construction, service industry, agriculture, and civil services. 15% unemployment, barely anyone graduates high school or goes to college, low literacy.
Also, when you join the military, and swear on that constitution, you tend to take the words and meanings of that document seriously, even after you leave service.
And I am not trying to make people live to my ideals. The average police station here has 1 per 1,000 residents. The national average is 3 per 1,000.
Imperial County, compared to the rest of California, gets no programs, benefits, aid, etc, and we suffer the same problems as other places. Ours are exaggerated since we suffer almost all problems down here.
I have moved, three times, in the past twelve years. And I keep finding myself back here, because I am a product of my environment.
My dad is going to retire in a year or two, and my parents are going to move out of this place. The housing situation is ridiculous, and their savings are tied up in the house, not to mention the local school boards like to play "hide-and-seek" with retirement plans.
Reverend Jeremiah Wright mentioned: "The environment you accept is the environment you create."
I really like that view of things.
I'd advise against it seeing as the blood type diet is utterly, utterly without merit. It's entirely possible the reason your father isn't doing it is because he's not a moron.
This right here. You won't be able to change anything if you're just doing it by yourself, but if you get other people involved you can make a large impact.
I would also suggest starting with something small and easy to digest. That makes it easier for the average person to agree with you, and once you have done that 'baby step' you will start building name recognition, which is really key to getting people involved.
So the only real action is just to get more people on board and keep at it I guess.
Agreed, on multiple levels.
I am contemplating taking steps in multiple directions.
1. The local media.
Though I do not want to gain attention to myself through negative means, which thus colors the "movement" I am trying to generate in a negative way, I do find the allure of sensationalizing things.
You see, when I joined the Army, it was to be a Journalist, which also happens to be the Public Affairs/Relations department of the military. So knowing what is going on "in the prison," as some say, and being able to translate that to the people "outside of the prison."
So, I feel as long as I maintain proper identification of myself, my purpose, goals, and the content I am generating, I am in the right.
NOW, what do I do with that?
I am thinking of making some YT videos targetted to news agencies and possibly celebrities (I saw Sean Penn, Catherine Keener, and "Speed Racer" filming parts of "Into the Wild" down here), and talk about how I feel this community is ignored by the state, and the larger nation, and we are a significant part of California, San Diego, Los Angeles, Palm Springs, Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Tuscon, and even Univision and other Spanish language news agencies.
2. Local opportunities.
Well, as I said above, they are nil.
Just to get a new mall built, near the interstate (finally a smart move), the city of El Centro had to abandon it's road maintenance program for a year. And by the way, the overpass was never upgraded from a two lane, farm access cross-over, which it still is today.
So, create one.
I ideally want to create a radio station, and like I said, produce or host the two hour morning talk show. I would the content broad enough to attract all audiences, and let the callers reflect what the community feels. That will make a lot of people tune in, through-out the day (since we'll also have modern music to listen to, for a change) and coupled with a website and avertising campaign, we are set.
I am pondering starting a not-for-profit charity-organizing organization, like http:// www.interfaithservices.org.
I know a woman who worked there (said she was constantly running high profile dinner engagements and constantly getting job offers) and now her siblings work there. I could go, be mentored and learn the basics, then either get on loan or hire one of their operatives to come assist me (be my San Diego connection) in starting one in the valley.
Check this, a woman connected to Calexico contacts me through Youtube asking if I want to setup a professional service, and mentions this not-for-profit idea. I may go and speak before the city council on this.
There is another player.
Mrs. "Queen" Margaret Webb a Katrina transplant.
She has run shelters, organizations, fund raisers, etc. I am considering bringing her on as an assistant/future manager. She is not sullen from years of oppression by the system, like the rest. She has motivation and fire and spirit. And is quite a decent woman.
Unity in the Community.
Anyways, I think that with us three starting this thing off, we can keep each other on our toes and follow through on something.
There is plenty of cheap land, material, labor, etc around here. We just need to get money flowing in the right directions, in my opinion.
Agriculture is primary.
The population, though, is growing well beyond that, hence the need for other industries, but the education of the populace is non-inviting.
The thread title, however, makes the OP sounds amazing pretentious. Being pretentious isn't good.
It is a fairly poor place to live, yes, which is why there are a lot of poor people that live there. Compare the cost of living to other places. The better a place is, the more it costs to live there. People live there because it is what they can afford, which might not be the best, but it could be worse. Everyone has the chance to get out and improve their life, if someone doesn't do it, they have their reasons and there's a good chance you can't change everyone's way of life.
Regardless, good luck. I'll probably visit the area again at some point in life, and if you can manage to get the smell away from the sugar factory then I'll personally go and shake your hand. Because I don't think I know of anything more foul than driving by that place.
It sounds at this point like you really have a desire to help others, and that's great, but you could try being a bit less... political about it for a while. It might help you come off as being more genuine, and less of a douche.
I'm just glad I'm not the only one who thought that.
I don't think this is a barrier to activity in American politics at all.
I apologize for coming off that way.
There is more backstory, which includes histories, conversations, revelations, etc. Also, I was not trying to bore you guys with too much.
And like I wrote at the bottom, I'm not sure what I am presenting you guys, exactly, but I know when you could use a brain power greater then your own, internet forums is the way to go.
But seriously, I know there are lot of intelligent and wise fellows who frequent these boards, and I am especially curious about getting some people with some civil and law knowledge to perhaps enlighten me (and the local media) to certain things that could be investigated, or at least things that should be better covered and presented to the public.
You see, the biggest problem here is the apathy.
My father remarks on many occasions that the education system is WASP orientated and the hispanic kids here have a Mexican background and culture, so they end up doing poorly, while the white accultured children do better (that acculturation likely occuring through television and church exposure).
So tell people "Hey, we are going to have an election, it's important, there is a lot of debt, lot of screwed up things," and no one shows up, people get bored and talked about other things, no one watches the YT videos (course, almost no one knows, hence my own self-promotion campaign, which I really did not want to do, because that does make me come off as pretentious *sigh*). Or, the usual, we complain, say aloud "Someone should do something," and nothing is done, even when we vote.
But realize this, my friend, when the guy wanted to sue me, I did not feel the need to come in here and say, "Hey guys! Check out this dude who is freaking out and wants to sue me."
I did come share my tale after the words "Be careful with what you are doing" were uttered.
Always good to have a record somewhere that someone can find and use as help....
Yes, this is a common symptom of living in the Imperial Valley.
Yes, I agree there is not a lot "I" can do.
There is not a lot Monique Lopez can do.
There is not a lot Queen Webb can do.
There is not a lot Bob Brock can do.
There is not a lot Maria Nava can do.
But imagine if those people worked together.
And that is where Facebook is going to help us. (I think, it is free, cheap, easy to use, and it allows people to expand and invite, which is what I am seeking with my "movement" idea.)
Unfortunately, "momentum" is the term I would use to describe the way things move down here. As in, at their own pace, and that is usually slow. Simply organizing get togethers is a hassle (hence Facebook).
And thank you, Ceres, for pointing out a wise thing. I will mention my ideas, and express how I would like to work with this woman, or anyone appointed by the city, and learn.
But this is also why I mention me, Queen Webb, and whoever InterFaith gives us (this is all "if").
Essentially, I do not want to walk into a city council meeting with half a concocted idea of what they can do. I want to walk in there with a thought out plan, a business model, and with a clear statement of my own intentions and purposes.
Should I mention: "And if I cannot get employment here, I will get a job as a contractor outside of the country, and just maintain my residence here so my taxes help out the county." ?
I also want to mention that my one "purpose" would be to talk to officials and present them a new way to look at the problems of the community, and this woman agrees with me that it is not building out, but re-shaping what is within.
One out of six asthmatics, classified as having "mild" asthma, die from attacks.
Friend of mine from high school.
Asthma training, with this information.
If you had the knowledge that could save someone's life, would you not share it? What if you had the ability?
And besides, I figure being a politician is a great way to pick up chicks. To hell with "You need to be married for people to vote for you." If women desiring you because you possess power "works," why stand in the way of "nature"?
But seriously, that is one bizarre aspect of politics, the fact that my private life is such a public concern.
Should I go to a nude beach to just make people leave me alone?
Here's some things you could do:
Volunteer to tutor. Offer to help out the local PTA. Don't run for office, because thus far you don't know shit about any of the organisations. Do grunt-work. Make flash-cards for teachers. Clean up trash. Help run a blood drive.
Basically quit this Spider Jerusalem shit and go do some actual work like a grown-up.
And maybe that's the issue. Like the Gang of Daggers story, you're just trying to bring too much to the table, to soon. Like Trowsilla said, you should be focusing on getting a job first, if only so you don't end up in the same homeless shelters you volunteer in. Afterwards, start small. Why change the entire city? It could be just as rewarding to change just one life, or even just help it along, and you can certainly do that.
Look Sky, let me tell you a story. I'm in a band along with three of my oldest friends, and although we get along fine we certainly have our share of disagreements. One member in particular--the guitar/vocalist--is always spreading his focus amongst whatever big ideas are running through his mind. Most recently, at a regular band meeting, he presented a spreadsheet outlining a plan to turn the band into a business, with a business license, "business tax breaks" and other perks he conjured up.
The fact that he had this crazy plan wasn't really a problem--it was the fact that he was supposed to have a t-shirt design made, as that's what he was designated to do at our previous meeting. Instead, he came in with this ri-goddamn-diculous "business" pipe dream, which led to the biggest fight we've ever had. If he had just made a t-shirt like what was required of him, or even had a t-shirt to share alongside the other nonsense, we all could have avoided a lot of drama and hurt feelings (not to mention hurt bodies... it got a little physical).
He's always been like this, though. If we hadn't kept kicking his ass into gear, he never would have learned to play guitar. He would have kept making grandiose plans, none of which would have come to fruition because he failed to get the basics down first. This is the position you are in--you think of yourself as a lone wolf man-with-a-camera and you're gonna change the world, but your grandiose plans are going to be upset by your lack of a foundation.
So get this shit out of your mind and get a job. You claim you want to, but getting a job means you've got to put your hobby of videotaping county council meetings on hold for a little while. It means putting everything on hold and focusing solely on getting a damn job. Once you have some income, you can go back to grandiose hero-complex-driven daydreaming.
With you guys, I guess I could use your guys' help in analyzing acts and actions, making sure that I have thought out all or as many avenues as I can, and that I can develop a better idea of what big thing I can possibly use to help me with the valley here.
I'm not asking you guys to do the work, but to review what I have done, and analyze what I am thinking, help me find problems, weaknesses, etc.
Maybe I have been watching Deadwood and Rome too much.
Volunteer? Check.
Help local PTA? Check.
Grunt-work? Check.
Clean up trash? Check.
Help run a food/charity drive? Check.
Exactly what grown-up work am I not doing?
Or did you just write a post because you wanted to bash on someone you don't know, because it's the internet and you can get away with belittling people who you know little to nothing about, and when you see them trying to do something for the poor and desperate people around them, and they come here seeking support, you think it would be better to name-call and insult the guy instead?
I consider it more "I don't bring an unfinished product" to the table.
Even when I am still working out the kinks, I usually wait till I feel the idea I am proposing is solid. That I have identified ingredients, actions, fallout.
And I am not worried about a job. I will apply for a job outside of the country, considering the way the economy is going.
Incidently, as was reminded to me in an email last night, intelligent people, guys who have gone to college, do not stick around here. That is what keeps a lot of big business and industry away, which is why the tax situation down here is so screwed up, and we have so little funding.
Calexico was enrolling about 300 Mexican students, which gave the education and city as a whole, $1 million. Now they are struggling to make-up the loss, and the city is shuddering as a result.