An Open Letter to Democratic Party "Regulars"

   An Open Letter to Democratic Party "Regulars"

by Zvi Baranoff

I am an American, born and bred. Like most Americans I know, I have a healthy distrust of the political process in general and professional politicians in particular. Nonetheless, I take part in the process, as flawed as it is. I have voted for Democrats. I have voted for Greens. I have voted for Libertarians. I have actively worked on campaigns for candidates I could really get behind. At times I have passively supported candidates because they were not as bad as the "other guy". I have sat out elections when not voting seemed to be the best choice.

The Democratic Party's unofficial slogan - We Are NOT Republicans - really is not appealing enough on it's own to get my whole-hearted support. I am an independent, free thinking person. I'm a lower case "d" democrat. Democracy is a pretty good idea all told and in a more perfect world perhaps the Democratic Party would reflect democratic values in a way which would encourage me to be a upper case "D" Democrat, but that's just not the way it is. In the world as it is, the Democratic Party is an odd coalition and I am, uncomfortably at times, an on again, off again, member of that coalition.

I am currently registered as a Democrat and I voted for Bernie Sanders in the Oregon Primary. I like Bernie and respect Bernie. If Bernie Sanders gets the Democratic nomination I will certainly be a passionate supporter and probably vote for most of the Democratic ticket as well. If things turn out differently, I will keep my options open. Bernie Sanders may influence my vote but he will not control it.

The pundits and analysts do not seem to understand either Bernie Sanders or the nature of his supporters. Try as you might to write Bernie Sanders off as some sort of Utopian, but he is not. Sanders is strategic and pragmatic. I am a Sanders supporter but I am not particularly pragmatic. I am a Utopian and perhaps quite a few other Sanders supporters are Utopians as well.

The Sanders campaign has stirred me enough to catch my interest and give me hope for political progress but as a Utopian my loyalty to strategy will only go so far. My support for Sanders is contingent and nontransferable. The Democratic Party wants my vote, but cannot simply assume to have it. I need to be convinced one election at a time. I have other choices. Utopians have the freedom to act unpredictably, disconnected as we may be from pragmatism. We are motivated by passion and vision. And we are a disorganized element with no leadership. I can speak only for myself because that is what it is like to be an independent, free thinking individual.

I do understand that in the upcoming general election, the next person elected President of the United States will be the person at the top of either the Democratic or the Republican ticket. I am pragmatic enough to know that the "Not Republican" is probably a better option than the Republican. That said, we survived Republican administrations before and four years of Trump would certainly be unfortunate but it would not be the end of the world.

Is the Democratic Party pragmatic enough to understand they have no lock on my vote? I won't be voting for Trump but I always have other choices than voting for the lesser evil. I could just stay home and bake cookies. That's an option you know. Or I could join together with other independent, free thinking individuals and actively rock the vote by supporting an alternative to the Two Parties That Are One. When it is time to place the final bets for this election, how much is the Democratic Party willing to gamble that folks like me will fall in line?

When the Democratic Convention takes place in Philadelphia neither of the two candidates will have enough elected delegates to gain the nomination. Super Delegates are faster than a speeding bullet and can leap tall buildings with a single bound. The Super Delegates will decide which candidate will be at the top of the ticket. The American voters however will choose who is elected in the General Election come November and the Democratic Party cannot win without the support of a significant number of independent voters.

Democratic Party Regulars, you don't know me and probably don't know many like me. Certainly you don't think about folks like myself often, if at all, but you really should. Independent, free thinking individuals ultimately make or break any organization and independent, free thinking individuals determine the outcome of elections...and there are millions of us!

So the Democratic Delegates will meet in Philly - elected Delegates and Super Delegates - but there will also be the Delegation of the People in the streets and the Democratic Party would be wise to pay serious attention to that unelected, self-appointed Delegation of independent, free thinking individuals because they may be the Delegates that ultimately count the most. The Super Delegates can help choose Bernie Sanders to lead the Democratic Party through the election, win the Presidency, gain control of the Senate and improve the Party's position in the House. Or they can place a dangerous bet that may backfire beyond the Party's worst nightmares. The Delegation of the People will be there to remind the Super Delegates - all upper case "D" Democrats - that they need the lower case "d" democrats with them in November.

Democratic Party Regulars, you need to get out your best divination tools and conjure up the spirit of the ultimate insider and true Machiavellian, Lyndon Johnson, because LBJ understood how to build winning coalitions and learned firsthand what happens when a coalition unravels. Here is the question to ask the ghost of LBJ; Concerning the unaffiliated, the independents, the outsiders, the rabble, is it better to have these people inside the tent pissing out or outside the tent pissing in?

LBJ knew all about the big tent and what it feels like when folks like me decide to stay out and piss in. That is how his administration came to it's unfortunate end. That was a long time ago but as Democratic Party Regulars, you must surly know your own history. Now is the time to determine your future. Philadelphia may be the sight of a great Democratic Party or it might just turn into a pissing contest. It is really a matter of choice.

See you in Philadelphia.

New Mythologies and Musing from the Garden In Oregon

Any comparison to Thoreau's Walden need be colored by this fact. In 1844, on a camping trip, Thoreau accidentally set fire to 300 acres of the Concord woods. What a screw up! I have never done anything like that! 

The photos were grabbed off the Internet. I have asked for and received no permission to use them

Oregon Musing 

“Let us cultivate our garden.” 
― Voltaire 

We arrived at Woodpecker Flats on April Fools Day. Dave was fool enough to invite us to stay and we are fools enough to have taken him up on it. How we got to this place at that time is open to interpretation. The story cannot be told in a straight line. The myths that we choose to live by are the myths that we create for ourselves.

So, this is the story about how Alachua Habitat for Humanity in Florida made us homeless and how we came as refugees to Oregon and became pioneers ending homelessness and hunger through direct action. O.K. It's more complicated than that, but we can elaborate further later on. First, these musings from our Oregon garden.

Too much water or not enough? The same question for fertilizer and sunshine.

The real garden question is: How do the deer prefer their vegetables grown?

We are living at Woodpecker Flats located on nine acres in O'Brien, Josephine County, southern Oregon, near the junction of Loony Mountain Road and No Way, not real far north of the California borderline. It is largely wooded - predominantly pine, manzanita (which I am told is related to the blueberry) and more - with some clearings.

The manzanita fruit is edible and has a pleasant tartness, but it causes gastrointestinal upset if eaten in large quantities. It is not much like a blueberry.

The property owner is an esoteric artist. There are some random sculptures and the remains of some old projects including a tree-house that has fallen out of the tree and the Bus Stop to Nowhere.

I began my share of tera-forming with some trails and garden patches. The ground is hard, iron rich and very rocky. I have "harvested" piles of rocks and have incorporated them into garden walls, terraces and a sculpture entitled Big Ben Meets Salvador Dali in the Garden.

Inspiration for my sculpture.

We received some seed packs from a local food bank and some more from a friend in town. Liz had a tin with a variety of seeds marketed as a "Survivalist supply. So, veggie and flower seeds in hand, we are off and running...

My initial garden idea was to create a living art project. Nice, comfortable strolling paths with artistically placed edible plants and flowers along the way. The local deer seem to appreciate the effort. They like to eat the tops off of plants. Marigolds - yum! So now, we have wire fencing around and over everything with the hope that the deer, the bugs, the birds, the wild monkeys (just seeing if anyone is still paying attention) will leave something for us to harvest...and clearly not enough protection. Chomp, chomp, chomp. Fourteen tomato plants decapitated. Peas nearly annihilated. More wire.

I have been told that this region has one of the largest concentration of deer in North America. This may be true. I had an extended conversation with a fairly large deer one recent morning. I asked him if he didn't have enough other things to eat without messing with the garden. He scoffed.

Summer was hot and dry which I assume is about normal. One day, as we sat outside discussing deep thoughts and abstract philosophy we hear a clunk from inside the camper. On examination we find that a glass bottle of olive oil - extra virgin, organic - exploded from the heat. Glass particles and oil everywhere. Glad we were outside.

Josephine County has almost no local government. There is a volunteer Fire Department. The library is funded by donations - it receives no County money - and, the local branch is only open 13 hours a week. I heard recently of a (non-fatal) shooting with a Sheriff Department response time of two hours! Don't know if that is true but it seems plausible. I was told this by a woman who claimed to be a Volunteer Sheriff and Fire Fighter. (She had a handgun on her hip.) She also told me that a tiger had escaped from the local Wild Cat facility, mated with an indigenous cougar and now there are two cubs (tougars?) wandering around. Hmm...seems unlikely to me. What about you? Which reminds me of the story about the guy who walks into a bar with a giraffe...

This police car is parked at the blinking light. 

I have yet to see a cougar or a bear although I am told that both are present. We have had close encounters with deer, hummingbirds, a jack rabbit, snakes, lizards and other sorts of flying, buzzing, hopping, squirming and crawling creatures. And oh yes, that rattle snake certainly got my attention and respect.

The night sky here is incredible! Stars, stars, and more stars. Star travel? Alien visitors? Why not? And it is quiet. Not much traffic in the daytime and even less at night. There are sounds of wild creatures. Also sometimes you hear a neighbor's rooster and there is a donkey nearby that likes to bray. And there is the occasional gunfire - pop, pop, pop - I guess because they can, There was a large amount of helicopter summer traffic. There is a forest fire out there...

July First something miraculous happened. In gardens all over Oregon tomato plants metamorphosed into cannabis plants. According to a new Oregon law, every household MUST grow four marijuana plants. I think that's the law. I know it is something like that. Anyway, glory be, we found four marijuana plants growing in our veggie plot. Thank God for marijuana.

I have begun dismantling an old trailer, saving parts, particularly windows. I have a pile of old tires and a collection of bottles and jars. We intend to build an Earthship greenhouse. It is possible to grow even tropical plants year-round if you get it right. I saw a video of pineapple growing in an Earthship in Canada! Commercial greenhouse? Starter plants? Exotic vegetables? Indeed, why not? Well...have you ever filled even ONE tire with dirt? It is very labor intensive. For labor we have one old man and for tools we have a wheelbarrow and a shovel. We had a few filled before the rains start.   

And then October came and as it went it began to rain. It hasn't stopped yet and Woodpecker Flats has become a river. Much of the garden and all of the paths have washed by our door and our camper has become Huck Finn's raft. We shall see where it floats to. The deer still find us charming and amusing and it is time to start the spring garden.

Poetry as poetry...

10/12/14 by Zvi Baranoff
for the poets still here, the poets no longer here & the poet in each of us

poetry as a political act

poetry as a contact sport

as an act of love

as an exertion of self

as a denial of reality

as an expression of reality

and other realities & possibilities

poetry as revolution & counter-revolution

answering to no one

conforming to no one

street poets

bar poets too poor to buy their own drinks

unpublished or self-publishing poets

taking on the universe

one word, one beat, one syllable at a time

vibrating forever, timeless, boundless

trackless tracks in the sand 

Just Us

Just Us Book Project

This was the idea - and why we came to Philly. Unfortunately, to date we have not been able to find a partnering organization with space that we can work with...so the Project is on hold for now.

The Just Us Book Project is a broad Social Justice program promoting literacy and culture operating on a regional level to bring about positive change both locally and internationally.

The task of The Just Us Book Project is to promote, encourage and organize ongoing book drives regionally on campuses and in schools as well with religious and social organizations and redistribute the collected materials where most needed.

 We believe that culture and literacy have an inherent value beyond quantification and beyond the limits of class stratification. We believe that culture and literacy are basic human rights worldwide.  The Just Us Book Project mission is to expand access.

We will be collecting books with three target groups in mind. We are partnering with the African Library Project to help build pop-up libraries in Sub-Sahara Africa. We are partnering with organizations that send books to prisoners in the USA. We are working hand in hand with various local youth literacy programs.

For donations of 25 or more items, we may be able to schedule a pick-up. Please call or e-mail.

If you are interested in organizing a book drive or getting involved in the effort, please contact us because until there is justice, it’s just us.

The Bookworm & the Nonprofit Corporate Mindset

• The Bookworm & the Nonprofit Corporate Mindset 

Or

The Questions & Answers that Lead to Ending My Job

The questions below were given to each store employee to answer by the new store administrator. I turned in my answers on April 21, 2014. 

On May 5 I was informed that I was no longer a full time, salaried employee. My new schedule would be 20 hours a week. I posted this change on my personal Facebook page. On May 7 I was summarily dismissed.

Write down what you do (not job description):

I process books and other media, develop ongoing relationships to assure regular donations and an understanding of our customer base as well as the concerns and interests of people that donate materials to us. 

I work on an ongoing basis to improve displays of materials in these departments. 

I network with others in our immediate community and the book community worldwide. 

Where do you see changes needed?:

The store is the most public face of Alachua Habitat for Humanity. As such, it should serve as outreach for folks interested in working on projects concerning issues of housing and social justice.  Shopping at a Habitat Store should be an educational experience.                                                                              

We need to do a better job of reflecting the core values of Habitat for Humanity in all aspects of our work. As a nonprofit organization, we have a responsibility to the community at large, especially those that donate to us and those who shop here, that we are serving a higher purpose and the common good. 

Mission-related displays as well as displays reflecting organizational activity need to be regularly updated and prominent.

The organization misses an opportunity when it neglects this valuable outreach tool and is shortsighted when it sees the store only as a funding source. Our “bottom line” must be understood not merely in terms of dollars and cents but also in terms of social good accomplished and a sense of purpose.

Store employees choose to work here because of their personal commitment to Habitat for Humanity's expressed core values. Therefore, Habitat employees should be seen as primarily social activist and not merely retail workers.

Store employees need to be reassured that the money they raise for the organization is well spent, fulfilling the goals of Habitat International. Better two directional communications of accomplishments and goals should be developed. Indeed, store staff should feel a part of the organization to the effect of influencing our development of programs that directly change conditions of poverty.

All Habitat Employees should earn a living wage. No full time employee should suffer with a lack of affordable housing, from periodic food shortages or find they are dependent on charity to fill basic needs.

Concern for employee housing, nutritional needs, childcare needs, etc. should never be considered as secondary, “only personal” or irrelevant. When employees find that they cannot meet their personal needs through their work, there is a loss of productivity. Additionally, retaining good workers requires understanding the needs of the workforce and finding ways to satisfy them.

Retaining workers will become a more prevalent organizational concern as the economy expands and even putting aside all moral issues, the market value of labor increases.

What would you do to increase sales and production?:

A comfortable shopping experience as well as a knowledgeable and happy staff encourages customers to return and also encourage those they know to be supportive of our endeavors.

Creativity and artistic flair should be encouraged from employees.

Gainesville, Florida - January 7, 2014

 

African Libraries Get Gainesville Books

 

Habitat Bookworms is shipping books to Africa and needs your help! 

Habitat Bookworms, the staff and volunteers of the Book Department at the Alachua Habitat for Humanity ReStore - in conjunction with the African Library Project - is gathering and packing books. $500 for shipping will make Alachua County’s first library in Africa possible!

Habitat Bookworms’ first shipment will be sent to Ghana, in Western Africa. Habitat Bookworms expects to follow up with additional shipments as supplies and funds allow.

 

In Sub-Sahara Africa widespread poverty conditions are the norm. Many people are living barely at a subsistence level, existing on incomes of less than $2 per day. In rural African communities the overwhelming majority of the populace live as subsistence farmers in homes that often lack electricity and running water.

 

Habitat International is a nonprofit organization founded in 1976 that believes that every man, woman and child should have a decent, safe and affordable place to live. Habitat has helped build or repair more than 800,000 houses and served more than 4 million people around the world.

 

The African Library Project was founded in 2005 with the purpose of establishing libraries in rural Africa. The African Library Project mobilizes volunteers in the USA to organize book drives to gather useful materials and raise money for shipping. The ALP partners with organizations in Africa that establish and maintain the rural libraries. Since the organization’s founding over a thousand libraries have been established and more than a million books have been shipped with many more on the way!

 

The Alachua Habitat for Humanity ReStore serves as a fundraising mechanism for Alachua Habitat for Humanity. At 2317 SW 13^th Street in Gainesville, Florida, the ReStore sells gently used furniture and household goods, second hand clothing as well as building supplies at greatly discounted prices. This model provides low cost basic needs to the community, reduces the flow of materials that may otherwise end up in landfills and raises money for local building projects. A percentage of the ReStore’s income goes directly to Habitat International to fund the work done worldwide.

For the last two years, the ReStore has significantly expanded the display and sales of books. The book department now consists of over 600 square feet of the store, raising around $4,500 per month. 

 

Recently, the large supply of books has been supplemented with the help of the Friends of the Library, as well as many donations directly from members of the community. With this opportunity, the ReStore has culled many of its older stock of books to make room for the new supplies. Many of these are now earmarked for the African Library Project.

 

The goal of providing the basis of life beyond poverty includes both a healthy living environment and culture that includes literacy and educational opportunities. The work of Habitat for Humanity and the African Library Project dovetail nicely. Both organizations have an active presence in Malawi, Ghana and Zambia. These are each countries where English is the official language or the primary language of education.

 

The Habitat Bookworms are seeking donations to cover the shipping costs of our part in this project. The books will be boxed at the ReStore, mailed to the ALP warehouse in New Orleans and then sent by cargo ship to a distribution point in Africa. The cost of shipping a load of 1000 books is $500 or a mere 50 cents per book! Checks can be made out to Alachua Habitat for Humanity. Please designate African Library Project on the check’s memo line. Cash donations are, of course, accepted as well.

 

This is one more case of small change making big changes; As the Habitat Bookworms are inclined to say, “Building Community One Book at A Time!” or as the African Library Project slogan says, “Changing Lives Book By Book”. To help, please contact the Alachua Habitat ReStore.

 

Contact:

Harold Baranoff, Book Department Manager

Alachua Habitat, 2317 SW 13^th Street, Gainesville, Florida 32608

Phone: 352-373-5728 Cell: 352-870-0384

 

Find the Habitat Bookworms on Facebook @ Habitat Bookworms

The African Library Project can be found on the web @ http://www.africanlibraryproject.org/

The Habitat Bookworms

The Habitat Bookworms

(This was published in the Alachua Habitat for Humanity Newsletter)

Harold Baranoff and Carol Doherty

For Harold Baranoff and Carol Dougherty, the only limitation to their work is "time and space." Both are members of the Habitat Bookworms, the employees of Alachua Habitat for Humanity which manage the book department in the Thrift Store. 

 

"It is not only our responsibility to sell the books," said Baranoff, a seasoned Bookworm, "but to create an atmosphere where members of the community can come together."

 

Baranoff has been a Bookworm and full-time employee with the bookstore for more than two years and has helped evolve the department from a large table with books scattered on it, to organized shelves accounting for over 600 square feet of the store. Dougherty has been a part-time employee with the shop since July of 2013 after volunteering for over a year.

 

In addition, they have created an online sales program, selling textbooks and more valuable books online, in order to make the most profit from their donations. The Bookworms often receive donations of rare books, including a first edition poetry book whose publication dated back to the 1800s. 

 

The Bookworm slogan "Building homes and community one book at a time," clearly holds true when witnessing first-hand the work that Harold and Carol do. 

 

Each month, in-store and online book sales account for roughly $4,500 in revenue. These profits go directly into the Habitat operation building program which provides local Alachua County families in need with access to affordable housing.

 

"I believe in giving the gift of reading, especially to children," said Dougherty. 

 

Originally a large number of donated books came from the closing of two stores in Gainesville, Books Inc. and Wayward Council. In addition to book donations Wayward Council also donated a large number of records which Baranoff and Dougherty used to start a music department in the Thrift Store. 

 

"Wayward Council had an established books for prisoners program," said Baranoff, "and with their donation of books came hundreds of letters from prisoners asking for books." The Thrift Store continued this program and receives daily letters from prisoners asking for books.The cost of postage for this program is supported through community donations specifically for this program. 

 

To find out more information about the Habitat Bookworms check out their Facebook page:

 

https://www.facebook.com/HabitatBookworms

---

My record department



Still doing grunt labor!