The District of California

Here are a few words and pictures about Memorial Day on the Mall.

This is the California Pillar at the National World War II Memorial. The gold rose in the lower left corner opening is from my garden.

While the National World War II Memorial is a monument for the ages, we are lucky that some of the people it honors are still around to talk about that time.  Herman said he was a sergeant in the US Army during World War II and had landed on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day. He also fought in the Hurtgen Forrest, which became infamous because the nearly impenetrable and fiercely defended terrain had essentially no strategic value. History of Hurtgen Forest

Herman told me he could still vividly remember details like the intense smell of pine the and closed-in feeling of the place. He believes leaders should never lose touch with the direct consequences that their decisions have on the people under their command .

Herman was one of the vets talking about his experiences serving in Army during World War II

John is a WWII vet whom I met last year on Memorial Day.  He was a sailor who served  on the USS BALLOU AP-157.  He recalled getting a terrible case of seasickness as he was first sailing out from the CA Coast, but after that, he never had another problem with it – unlike many of his shipmates.

John, USN WWII

As I was heading back from a visit to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial , I saw two men selling some books. It was Vietnam vet, Major George Durgin and his son (also George). It turns out they are from SoCal. George Sr. proudly showed me his wristwatch which had a bold “SC” in red and gold on its face.

I picked up a copy of his book, The Delta Dogs about his experiences as a commander of a US Army infantry company during the 1969 Tet offensive.  I look forward to reading the book and doing a post on it.

Near the Vietnam War Memorial

With gratitude to all who protect and defend us.

California is constantly brewing up complex and often contradictory blends of ideas, affiliations and movements. People who do not recognize the Golden State’s deep internal polarities and conflicting interests, will be continually surprised by what the state does on issues ranging from food to marriage.

The District of California wants to showcase and understand these dynamics from across the ideological spectrum. This blog is open to ideas as long as they are interesting, authentic and, ideally, game-changers.

That was a long wind up to say that I’ve spoken with someone who is running for Congress in CA who has some very interesting ideas that are worth sharing. His name is Adriel Hampton 10th District (D-Dublin). (I’m not a resident of this district.) What initially caught my attention about him is that he is very active in and attuned to Gov2.0 issues. From what I can tell, his political views are in tune with my own, but even if if they were not, he clearly is doing a lot of thinking about the role of technology in government. A crucial and timely topic.

Here are some comments he made to The District of California. This blog looks forward to following his efforts.

“In terms of the idea of ‘Candidate 2.0,’ I think that what is most powerful about my campaign is outreach to non-traditional actors in an attempt to expand the playing field on issues that are important to each and every one of us.”

Adriel Hampton For Congress

“I am deeply concerned that from Eisenhower to the Free Speech movement to today, we really have been consistently losing the war against ‘the system’ of entrenched and wealthy interest groups and political structures that absolutely don’t care  for the lives and struggles of everyday folks from the middle class on down. In this country we hardly even have a class war, since the upper class has been so well entrenched. And, we’ve been largely bought off, with an ever-present need to look after our individual welfare, with flashy media, with Hollywood – 24 and American Idol.”

“I’m running for Congress because the only alternative I see to deep cynicism is to keep on fighting. As Mario Savio said, ‘you’ve got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you’ve got to make it stop’.”

Tim O'Reilly Gov 2.0 Sketch

“I am a futurist, a digital native, and the kind of liberal advocate for issue-based politics and government reform that is needed for these times. I am finding on the campaign trail that President Obama has really helped to awaken non-traditional political actors, and these folks are joining my campaign as volunteers by the day. We are tired of politics as sport, when so many people’s liberties deeply depend on change.”

The battle for water in California has always been fierce, but the stakes have perhaps never been higher. This is not a dry policy debate, but really goes to the heart of who we are and how we move forward in CA and in The District of CA. The California Water Wars have a long, complicated and controversial history. What I am going to do in this series of posts is present to you brief vignettes that show this issue in different lights from practical to cultural concerns.

Dave Sellers, who is a top-flight NorCal artist and sport fisherman, has some unique perspectives on this subject. He is also a friend and I own several of his works. Here are some of his thoughts in words and pictures.

Dave's Word and Image Fly Fishing on the Russian River

In Dave’s words:

“In California, a mighty little fish called the delta smelt has distilled a question of values more than any creature in our state. It is a species of fish nearly extinct but was once abundant. The rapid decline of this species of smelt is viewed by fisherman as a clear indication of the death knell of California’s great anadromous fisheries in our states greatest rivers. It is also viewed by environmentalists and fishers alike as the best tool available to halt abusive water management. To growers, this endangered little fish is seen as an obstacle, without which our “priorities” can be properly redirected toward generating subsidized agriculture income and the jobs that go with it.”

“In the west we still posses a vestige of the frontier spirit in both our mythology as well as our souls. The forces of the wild are the essence of this mythology. Without the direct or even remnant representations of our wild past, we are left wanting. Our souls impoverished, and for me, my work is left without purpose. This is why I spend so much time outdoors when my calculations instruct me that I have many lifetimes of reference at my disposal in my studio and my time is best spent at the easel. But at that point I too would be redirecting my “priorities” toward a shallow end. I fish, I paint, I hike and generally take every opportunity at my disposal to be outdoors. I have grown to learn that our outdoor heritage is not only rich in it’s past but essential for our future and I do all within my power to convey this simple truth in my work. Perhaps I am asking too much of my limited abilities as an artist but my hope is that I can communicate a fragment of the profound inspiration I experience in nature through my work and help those unimbued with a such inspiration to begin to see, to feel, and want to preserve what is our most precious inheritance.”