Newest articles on The Sacramento Press tagged as "military"

Are you too old to heal?

2012-01-31T04:18:17Z

Most of us have at least one person in our family who has served in the military during wartime. These men and women live amongst us, some suffering more than others, some not suffering at all. As they age their sense of self worth comes into focus, and they struggle to explain themselves to younger family members. Talking about traumatic events experienced during war is stressful and exhausting. So the question is “Should we dredge up old painful memories? Are our grandfathers and fathers too old to heal?”

Apparently Frazier Sheppard and Laverne Shimanek feel you are never too old to heal. Sheppard (US Army, Vietnam) and Shimanek (US Marine, Korea) are both veterans of war and now they reside at Carmichael Care and Rehabilitation Center where Sheppard is President and Shimanek is Vice President of the Resident Council.

Shimanek and Sheppard frequently meet together to decide what would be best for their fellow residents. They then present the idea as a vote, or just try an activity and see how it goes. For some time they have noted a tendency for veterans to huddle together in the facility lobby, family room, or courtyard and talk quietly amongst themselves. Semper Fi, Hoorah, and a sharp salute are shared up and down the hospital corridors. Sheppard and Shimanek brought the idea of creating a social time for vets to Tracy Haroldson, the Activities Director.

Tracy Haroldson’s training in group dynamics led her to suggest a semi-formal meeting once a month using a subject schedule. She named it 'The Fireside Chats' in honor of President Roosevelt who held frequent radio “chats”.

The first Fireside Chat brought 25 veterans down to the activity room. Once the door was closed Sheppard took over, since he had served as one the first presidents of the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) group at Palo Alto in the 80’s. PTSD is a standard side effect for every military person serving during wartime. Firefighters, police officers, and first responders also typically will experience PTSD. He explained what the meeting would entail and then had each veteran introduce himself, state his military branch and the war arena he had fought in. Tracy introduced herself, and shared her experiences with being contained in her neighborhood by the military during the Rodney King Riots in Los Angeles. She recalls hearing gunshots, explosions, and screaming for two weeks. Sheppard felt it important for them to know Tracy’s history; otherwise they would not open up in her presence.

The next item on the agenda was to have each vet bring up any questions or feelings they had at this first meeting. One very dignified calm gentleman broke down in tears and couldn’t speak. Another man who has dysarthria, and therefore cannot speak well, stated his name and his war clearly, with pride. The facility class clown was completely silent and respectful throughout the hour-long meeting.

At the end of the meeting a unanimous decision was made to have the meetings weekly instead of monthly. The need at Carmichael Care far exceeded their expectations. These men desperately need to pour their hearts out at this time in their lives. They have held emotions in check for too long.

The Vietnam Veterans were especially hard hit. Resident, Harry Circle, former Executive Director of the Viet Vet House, explains; “With WWI, WWII, and Korean war, they came home on ships and had time to detox. With the Vietnam War, and since then, our military guys and gals are from jungle to the US in less then 17 hours. There’s no time to adjust. I repeated to myself for several years ‘I’m not in Nam.’ I just couldn’t figure out how to stand down. I still have room to heal. No matter how many classes you take you can always heal.”

Sheppard was deeply moved by the response to the meeting and states “You can share with people who have been in combat. It doesn’t matter how you served. We were all in it together. They taught us how to fight . . . how to kill, but they didn’t teach us how to come back into society. We only knew how to kill, but there wasn’t anyone to kill when we got back. Some guys just lived in the forest. They didn’t detox us! There was no one to talk to.”

Some of the men had careers in the military and believe that helped them recover from their experiences, as they had other military personnel with whom they could talk. They plan to attend the meetings to offer support to their fellow vets.

Shimanek has special expertise to bring to the table. He is a retired administrator of both hospitals and skilled nursing facilities. He hopes other facilities will create similar programs and offers advice; “The biggest problem will be getting the bed-bound men down for the meeting. This is where the administrator or director of nursing really needs to step in. The nursing staff needs to be excited about getting them up. The patient who takes a lot of work to get into a wheelchair will be very conscious of whether or not his nursing aid wants to get him up, and will often refuse. It’s not going to work unless it’s a team effort.”

The hurt experienced by Vietnam Vets is deep and slow to heal, but according to Sheppard he is still healing. Every time a stranger notices his Vietnam baseball cap and thanks him for his service he heals a little more. He recalls coming home from war thinking he would get a hero’s welcome. His father was honored with a parade when he came off the ship from WWII. Sheppard was stunned when the crowd waiting for him to come off the plane at Travis Air Force Base shouted “Baby Killers!” and they burned an American flag. “I couldn’t believe it. After all I’d been through to come back to people burning flags . . . I just couldn’t take that . . . I still can’t.” In the late 1980’s the PTSD group at Palo Alto had a parade for them through Redwood City. “We all marched together through the city and people cheered and shouted ‘Thank You!’ That was the first time anyone had ever said thank you.”

In the nursing home setting a lot of behavioral issues are treated with medications, or are “care planned” to accommodate the behavior. This group goes deeper to the root of the problem . . . to the anger, hurt, fear, shame, and their embedded desire to protect others from the dark side of war. Their pain won’t go away, but talking about it will validate their feelings and create alternate choices for expressing themselves and managing their emotions. Another bonus of this group is it elevates their self esteem. They see themselves as being important to the skilled nursing facility. They also feel honored as they are taken down to the meeting. It is hard to explain, but barbeques and picnic events held in their honor validate their military service, whereas this group setting acknowledges the depth of their sacrifice. This pulls it out from under the rug where it has been shoved for 35 plus years.

For advice on PTSD contact http://www.ptsd.va.gov/public/pages/help-for-veterans-with-ptsd.asp . (If you are feeling like hurting someone or yourself, call 911 or go the nearest VA hospital).

For advice on starting a group meeting at a skilled nursing facility near you, call Carmichael Care Rehabilitation Center (916-944-3100) and ask to speak to Tracy Haroldson.

Heidi Schussman Gilbert, PT

Disclosure: Gilbert is a physical therapist working in a skilled nursing facility. Her specialties are geriatrics, dementia, psychiatric disorders, and neurological injury. Gilbert is also a clinical instructor for the CSUS PT program.

Tuskegee Airmen 70th Anniversary Gala

2011-12-07T01:58:19Z

An evening to remember is an understatement for Saturday evening's gala event at the California Aerospace Museum. This fundraiser for educational assistance event was the place to be.

The Sacramento, California chapter of the Tuskegee Airmen, known as the George S. “Spanky” Roberts Chapter, had its 70th Anniversary Gala event Saturday evening. Present were the Documented Original Tuskegee Airmen (DOTA) and their wives. Also present were the widows of the DOTA's who had passed away.

19 men entered the Tuskegee Airmen Program, with five graduating flight school. These men were Col. George S.”Spanky” Roberts, Lt. General Benjamin O. Davis Jr., Cpt. Edward Woodward, Senior Master Sgt. George Porter, Chief Master Sgt. Lenard Yates, Master Sgt. George Hudson, Master Sgt. Judge Albert, Technical Sgt. Boyd Taylor, Cpt. Alvin (Jack) Johnson, Sm. Sgt. Robert (Bicycle) Wilson, John L. (Mr. Denty) Whitehead, Herman Lawson, Roberts A. Matthews, James (Big Ed) Edmundson, Fred Mclaurin, George Cheaney, Calvin C. (Cal) Hobbs, William (Wild Bill) Campbell. Eighteen of the men are listed here and at the time of posting we were still unable to locate the name of the nineteenth airman.

The tails of the squadron’s planes were painted red, thus earning them the nickname "Red Tails." Between 1958 and 1959 the Tuskegee Airmen were classified as top secret.

"No one knew about the 'RedTails,'” stated George Roberts, son of Spanky Roberts.

With Karen Massie of News10 as the emcee, young and old attended this most exciting event. The music group "Sister Swing" regaled the audience with music of the era.

Each Airman present was introduced with a brief biography of his involvement with squadron. Not only was it an evening of celebration and fundraising for an education fund, it was also an evening packed with rich history and learning.

Tables set up around the event provided books, materials and era clothing for all ages to buy. A raffle and silent auction was also conducted as part of the fundraising efforts. Items ranged from an autographed drawing of a famous P-51 Mustang aircraft with the Tuskegee trademark red tail, and other items of African Americans' history in the military with still much more that was to be auctioned off.

Lt. Colonel Grgurich stated "Spanky" Roberts, after retiring from the military, was recruited by Wells Fargo and became the first African American personal banker for Wells Fargo in California. Wells Fargo Bank donated a check for $1,000 toward the George S. Roberts Tuskegee Airmen Scholarship Fund.

Providing entertainment and services for the event were Theresa Keene, a pianist for the Sacramento Philharmonic Orchestra; music of the era by "Sisters Swing;" Civil Air Patrol Squadron 802; Mirth to Earth; WWII Stars and Stripes History Group and Hannibal’s Catering.

For information or questions regarding the Tuskegee Airmen Sacramento Chapter, contact chapter President Walter Suggs at (916) 768-0343 or Edith Roberts at (916) 723-9968.

View more photos from this event>>

Folsom Veterans Day Parade

2011-11-15T21:56:43Z

Folsom residents saluted its 11th annual Folsom Veterans Day Parade this past Friday. Parade participants gathered at the Target parking lot on Blue Ravine Road and made their way towards City Lions Park.

The theme for this year’s celebration was “Saluting our Newest Generation of Warriors: Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.”

Thousands watched the parade as representatives from the armed forces, the City of Folsom, scout groups, community organizations and residents participated in honoring those who have served our country.

Over 2,000 participants were involved in the parade. Representatives from various JROTC, ROTC, beauty pageants, youth sports and high school marching bands were also included.

People along the route were given small flags and some brought their own to watch the parade. Many large bags of candy and other items were given out to the many spectators along the route.

Floats were created and shown off by several local businesses, schools and military groups.

Many of the scout groups also handed out thank you cards and came up to veterans along the route shaking their hand and thanking them for their service. This gesture made this Veterans Day parade a little bit more personal.

The City Lions Park hosted a reception at the Community Center and served hot dogs and soda after the parade.

Marshalls of the parade, city officials, veterans, military representatives and community members gathered at the Folsom Veterans Memorial for a special service.

Folsom Veterans Day Memorial honors those who have lost their lives serving their country. A plaque on the Veterans Memorial is simple and reads:

In remembrance of all who have served...
especially of those who made the ultimate sacrifice.

The Folsom Veterans Day Parade honors those whose name is inscribed on the memorial and all those who have made an ultimate sacrifice.

Day is done, gone the sun

2011-11-12T01:39:48Z

Veterans Day 2011 ended with cloudy skies above the skyline. A fitting scene for the lyrics of the military song Taps:

"Day is done, gone the sun, from the lakes from the hills from the sky, all is well, safely, rest, God is near.

Fading light, Dims the sight, And a star gems the sky Gleaming bright, From afar, Drawing, near, Falls the night.

Thanks and praise, For our days, Neath the sun Neath the stars Neath the sky,

As we go, This, we, know, God is near."

Writing this I discovered how Taps came to be. See for yourself - CLICK HERE>>>

Bye-Bye to Don't Ask Don't Tell

2011-09-21T20:20:27Z

Last night Sacramento Valley Veterans (SVV), along with LGBT Veterans groups, hosted a celebration at Head Hunters/Kennedy Gallery in midtown. The crowd was enthusiastic for several public figures who dropped by to share their support and happiness that the 18-year long Don't Ask, Don't Tell compromise ended. It allowed homosexuals to serve in the military by keeping our sexual orientation under wraps.

That was 20 years after I enlisted. I'm gay. I served in the US Navy from '73 to '77 and received an honorable discharge at the end of my enlistment.

I've carried a mental smirk about that ever since.

During last night's celebration, emcee Ty Redhouse, SVV President and USAF veteran asked the audience who served in the military?

Lots of hands went up.

Unbeknownst to me, my sister who is also gay, told Ty what I did in the service. He acknowledged me for making naval history when I became the first female to graduate from the US Navy's Scuba Diving School at San Diego's Naval Station.

My co-workers after school were obviously men. They had my gayness figured out and it was not a problem.

And, thanks to Naval Public Affairs, I was on The Mike Douglas Show, What's My Line and in several books.

Now that the appeal has made it ok to be gay and serve our country, the military can continue with its mission. That's all any of us want - to carry on our life's mission.

We gay folks make many sacrifices and contributions just like straight people in the military. I was proud in my uniform and serving in the US Navy for four years.

I'll probably always carry my mental smirk because "I got away with it"!!!

Enough about me.

HERE'S SOME PHOTOS FROM LAST NIGHT:

On display in the Kennedy Gallery are historical photos and articles depicting DON'T ASK DON'T TELL era.

For a video of last night CLICK HERE>>>

Disclosure: I am a gay veteran of the US Navy.

Sacramento Gay & Lesbian Center Celebrates Official Lifting of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Policy

2011-09-19T16:57:01Z

The Sacramento Gay and Lesbian Center is heralding the end of the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” (DADT) policy, which bans gay men and women from serving openly in the military. Congress voted in December to repeal the 17 year old DADT policy; DADT officially ends on September 20.

“Despite last minute attempts by House Republican leaders to delay the lifting of DADT, the discriminatory policy will officially end on Tuesday. This is a great day for America, as the United States takes another important step in the fight for equal rights for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender persons,” said Sara Freid, the interim executive director of the Sacramento Gay and Lesbian Center.

“The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender population in the country has a long way to go to achieve full and complete equality in human rights. However, the ending of DADT is the elimination of one of the major civil rights violations which remains against the LGBT community,” said Freid.

Disclosure: Sara Freid is the interim executive director of the Sacramento Gay & Lesbian Center

Man on the Street: Don't Ask Don't Tell

2011-07-28T06:02:05Z

President Obama recently signed a repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the policy that for the past 17 years has prohibited gay individuals from serving openly in the military. The repeal will take effect in September.

Democratic Assemblyman Roger Dickinson made a public statement expressing his support of President Obama’s decision to overturn DODT.

“Members of our military are serving four or five tours of duty, repeatedly putting their lives on the line to serve our country. These heroic men and women who courageously fight to protect us should not be forced to hide their identities,” he said.

The Sacramento Press asked citizens at Capital Park to share their thoughts on the repeal of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.”

Lisa Batiste, an analyst from South Sacramento, likened DADT to a policy that would ban women from serving in the military, in that both discriminate based on factors other than job performance.

“(Gay service-people) are no different”, she said. “If (you’re) gonna save someone’s life, (you’re) gonna save someone’s life.”

Nancy King, an engineer from Davis, echoed Batiste’s sentiment’s, saying: “If someone chooses to fight for our country, they should be respected.”

She added that being a gay individual in our society is difficult enough without having to hide your orientation from your colleagues.

“You should be able to be honest with the people around you,” she said.

Karl Scheff, a manager from Land Park said he thinks the overturned policy will put us on the path towards being “a more tolerant society.”

Scheff alluded to a study he had read about the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy, which asserted that the majority of service-people would in fact not have an issue with their colleagues being openly gay.

He said he hopes that those service members who are made uncomfortable by the eradication of the policy will “change their attitudes.”

While many of those interviewed were in agreement with Obama’s decision regarding the policy, not everyone said they felt confident that DADT should have been overturned.

Paul Reilly, an engineer from Rocklin, said he felt that DADT was an appropriate way to handle the issue of homosexuality in the military.

“They don’t have to know what your orientation is to do your job, and I don’t need to hear about it either,” he said.

He added that allowing openly gay military personnel could be “disruptive to discipline.”

Volunteer tour guide Richard Getz said he thinks the repeal of DADT is “great,” because gay military personnel “won’t have to hide anymore.”

“(Service-people) serve their country and die, so let’s give them a break,” he added.

What are your thoughts on DADT being terminated? Use the comment section below to weigh in.

Comedian Shayla Rivera comes to Sacramento!

2011-02-09T08:31:39Z

Comedian Shayla Rivera will be coming to Sacramento on Feb. 17 for a four-night run of comedy shows at the Punchline Comedy Club.

This is Rivera’s first time performing at Punchline Comedy Club. She said she has performed once in Sacramento years ago, but she is still new to the city.

“It’s fun for a comedian to go to a city for a first time,” Rivera said. “Sacramento is going to be a special treat for me. I plan to stick my head everywhere.”

A self-proclaimed history buff, Rivera said she is excited to see the different buildings and learn more about the history of Sacramento.

Rivera was born and raised in Puerto Rico. She immigrated to the United Sstates after high school and attended Texas A&M University, where she earned a degree in aerospace engineering.

“I had to shut up and listen and learn to speak the language,” Rivera said. “You learn to observe people, and you find a lot of funny things and learn why people behave this way.”

After receiving her bachelor’s degree, Rivera began working at the McDonnell-Douglas Space Systems at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston for eight years. She said she switched to comedy because she wanted to be more involved and interact with people. Working in the technical field, Rivera said she noticed funny behaviors in people that she also uses in her jokes.

“I really find that every group and every single demographic has something to point at and make fun of,” she said. “Everything that I talk about is the truth. There is nothing funnier than that. I exaggerate a little, but it’s the truth.”

People who take themselves too seriously are great targets for jokes, she added. While Rivera makes many jokes related to the Latin community, she also likes to poke fun at the green movement, smart cars and vegetarians.

“This is what the world has come to: We are more about convenience than about common sense,” Rivera said. “If you look at all my jokes, everything points to that, and I poke fun at myself, things that I do that I find everyone else does.”

In addition to holding comedy shows around the country, Rivera travels to places like Iraq, Kuwait and Korea to perform shows for the military.

“A lot of people here in the U.S. have never left the U.S., so they really don’t know what it’s like elsewhere, so you don’t really get to appreciate your home like you should,” she said.

Rivera said she tries to inspire people through her comedy and also by being a motivational speaker.

Many times people believe in what their parents taught them without questioning it, through comedy and motivational speaking, Rivera said, adding that she tries to question those ideals so people can have a better understanding of what they believe in.

She has also helped many students both in high school and college by offering coaching, and she said she keeps in touch with many students even while she is on tour. Rivera has also held conferences for the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers and has received recognition from various communities.

Some of the awards Rivera has received include The Presidents Volunteer Service award in 2007 and Latino Speakers Bureau Award for Excellence in Motivational Speaking in 2010.

“If you can make people laugh at themselves, that’s really great,” Rivera said. “Anyone can change the world by doing what they love.”

The Punchline Comedy Club is located at 2100 Arden Way, and tickets range from $13 to $19 depending on the time of the show.

The shows are 18 and over, and require a two-drink minimum. For more information, click here.

Museum Mayhem

2011-02-08T01:45:21Z

You know what's better than a museum? A free museum.

You know what's better than a free museum? Twenty-six free museums.

Saturday, two baker’s dozen of the best museums in Sacramento swung open their doors and let in every Tom, Dick and Harry, free of charge. Gratis. Complimentary. On the house. Floated.

Now, my motto has always been "If it's free, I'll take three," so I fought through a wicked head cold and really bad sniffles (I know, I know. Maybe I did take the Waaaaaaaambulance. So what?), and headed down to Old Sac to take my reward. And I took my reward.

I may have to change my motto to the far less catchy, but way more accurate, "if it's free, I'll take six."

The lucky half dozen, in chronological order: The California State Military Museum, Old Sacramento Schoolhouse Museum, Sacramento History Museum, California State Railroad Museum, California State Capitol Museum and The California Museum.

California State Military Museum-
My first stop on this beautiful Saturday morning, it was heavily guarded by a variety of military vehicles parked out front. One of them appeared to be a military fire truck. Be still my beating heart.

I ventured inside and was pleased to be greeted by guns, guns and more guns. For my money, as far as weaponry goes, there may be nothing cooler than the multi barrel machine gun. Maxim guns, battery guns, they have a plethora of these mean looking SOBs on display therein. I wanted to call them all Gatling guns, but it turns out I was mistaken. Volunteer Tom Burke was happy to explain the difference.
The Gatling gun is hand-operated, and the Maxim is self-powered – using the energy from the recoil to eject the spent cartridges. The Gatling gun can fire up to 200 rounds a minute. The Maxim, 600. A multi-barrel gun with an outside power source? 3,000. Dang.
Have you ever seen a .50 caliber machine gun? I have. Have you ever held a Russian submachine gun? Ditto. Thanks to the California Military Museum.

The Schoolhouse Museum-
Whereas the military museum had been well-peopled, the schoolhouse was packed, mostly with children (makes sense, if you think about it). They seemed to all be having a good time, which is something of a coup, considering they were in a schoolhouse on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. I think the free cake may have had something to do with it. The volunteers, all schoolmarmed-out, were exceedingly friendly. They had a peach basket set up on the wall in the corner where a few kids were shooting hoops. I didn't see any of them make it. I'll be honest, I was in and out like a jewelry heist. I like kids fine, but not 30 at a time. God bless those schoolmarms.

The Sacramento History Museum-
Next, I walked across Old Sac to the History Museum, stopping only to grab a free sample of saltwater taffy at the candy store. I'd also stopped there on the way to the schoolhouse. Like I said, if it's free...

I passed the greedy hordes out front panning for gold and entered the museum. I was struck immediately by the old-time printing press to the right of the entrance. There is a certain magic to the care with which the printed word used to be created. What is now so simple was once so labor-intensive (typesetting!). I spent a few minutes watching the old fellows work in the print shop before venturing into the museum proper.

Probably my favorite part of the museum was the section with the old farm tools, like the "Sure Pop Almond Huller" and the "Simpson Butter Cutter." (If you're like me, next time you go up to Apple Hill, be sure to check out the Larsen Pioneer Farm Museum. It's fantastic.)

I also really enjoyed the exhibit on Sacramento landmark Dunlap's D ining Room. . . they just don't make places like that anymore, and it's a shame.

By the time I left, the museum had reached capacity, and a small line had formed out front.

California State Railroad Museum-
A couple of my most vivid early childhood memories involve trains: playing with my grandfather’s train sets in the attic of their home in Portsmouth Ohio; and a family train ride I took from New York City to Ohio, during which we played canasta and I saw a man open a beer bottle using his eye socket.

I also used to take the train up to school in Eugene, Ore. I love trains. If it were economically and logistically feasible, I would do all of my traveling by rail. It's really the only way to travel.

Of all the museums I visited, I was probably most excited to visit the Railroad Museum.

It did not disappoint. I even really enjoyed the educational film that plays on the half hour, at the end of which the screen rises to unveil a massive steam engine, barreling through a tunnel blown through solid rock. Pretty dramatic.

I could, and one day will, spend hours meandering through the myriad railroad-related exhibits, but on this day, and in my weakened state, the museum was a bit too crowded for me to fully enjoy it.

Many of the train walk-through exhibits had good-sized lines to get in, and once inside, the people were packed in shoulder-to-shoulder. Neither of these situations was very appealing to me, so I chose to fight another day, and did only a cursory walkthrough, consciously not looking at anything too thoroughly so as to save it for next time. Man, that is nerdy.

I'll be back soon.

State Captiol Museum-
I'll admit it, I was just padding my stats here. I was walking to the California Museum, and this was en route. I spent maybe 10 minutes inside. I was hoping it would be a shortcut, but the doors on the south end weren't open. Doh. Don't get me wrong, it's well worth the visit, but I'd been there fairly recently with some friends from out of town.

The California Museum-
With the Railroad Museum, this was my co-favorite of the museums I visited. The California Hall of Fame is very cool and eclectic (James Cameron, Charles Schultz, Merle Haggard, Barbara Streisand and Mark Zuckerberg are all in the 2010 club. The California Hall of Fame makes for strange bedfellows, apparently.), but my favorite exhibits were the "Uprooted! The Japanese Americans during WWII" and the "Psychedelic Poster Art 1965-1975."

Both exhibits are awesome.

The Japanese Internment during World War II is one of the more embarrassing acts in American history, and it is an episode that is oft-overlooked or glossed over. I remember it being discussed very briefly, maybe in a sixth grade American History class, but we certainly didn't dedicate an entire class period to it, or even a large portion of one. I think, in our history books, we had maybe one secondary paragraph devoted to the internment, set aside in the corner of a page with a different color background.

The exhibit does a great job of showing what internment was like from a Japanese-American perspective, and the volunteers like Sacramento native Mas Hatano, who spent three of his teenage years in Tuli Lake Internment Camp on the Oregon border, do even better.

Said the still spry and extremely sharp Hatano: "The more people know about this, the less likely it is to happen again." It's hard to believe that something like this could have happened here such a short time ago, but a lot less so when speaking with a man who lived through it. I wish I'd had an opportunity to visit such an exhibit, and speak with such a man, when I was a sixth grader.

The Psychedelic Poster Art Exhibit was awesome... ’cause it's psychedelic poster art. I mean, a poster for The First Annual Sacramento Pop Festival, Oct. 15, 1967 featuring Jefferson Airplane and Strawberry Alarm Clock at Hughes Stadium? "Donation $3.00 in advance, $3.50 at the stadium Box off. Come and go as you please, visit psychedelic shops at the festival." Don't mind if I do. If you don't get a kick out of that, I'm not sure we should hang out anymore.

Six museums in just under five hours: I absolutely owned Free Museum Day. And so did many of you: The Sacramento History Museum had 3,233 visitors on Saturday, up from an average Saturday attendance of around 200. The California Museum had approximately 4,000 visitors, up from the same Saturday average of around 200. And the Railroad Museum, which brings in somewhere between 800 and 1,000 visitors on an average Saturday, pulled in 13,742.

As Paul Hammond, museum director for the Sacramento History and Railroad Sector, put it: "This event is a wonderful opportunity for the spotlight to shine on museums in the region. There are so many museums right here in the greater Sacramento area, and this event gives the community an opportunity to sample the many possibilities and become more familiar with them."

And sample we did, voraciously.

Consider my appetite whetted.

Shedding convenience for military families

2010-12-17T02:25:16Z

Rodney Stanhope is living in a shed at Arden Fair Mall, and he isn’t there to shop.

The shed lacks running water or kitchen facilities, and he “showers” with baby wipes. His living space is just big enough for a cot, a couple of camp chairs and a small shelf for his computer.

Stanhope, a Navy veteran and small business owner who normally lives in Placerville, has one mission this holiday season: collecting toys for military families with one or both parents deployed overseas.

“We can’t bring mom or dad home, but we can make sure they have a happy Christmas,” Stanhope said. “Their parents are out there fighting for our freedom and putting their lives on the line.”

Though he partners with the National Guard, he said toys go to children from all branches of the military, and they’re used all across California, distributed through military personnel tasked with helping families of deployed service members.

Stanhope said that after doing this annually for six years, he was ready to call it quits last year, but something changed his mind.

“Travis Air Force Base had a whole division coming home, 1,200 men,” he said. “(A program called Welcome Home Warrior) had Santa, and he had a sack, and the kids each got a toy. Then, when it was all done, they said, ‘And now there’s one more gift,’ and doors rolled up and their parents came out.”

After only being able to collect 300 toys, Welcome Home Warrior turned to Stanhope for the rest.

Witnessing the surprise Christmas gift for the children made Stanhope vow to keep doing it.

“It still gives me goosebumps just thinking about it,” he said.

Last year, he and other volunteers collected 15,000 toys and enough money to purchase 10,000 more toys, but this year has been difficult.

He has been at the shed since Dec. 10, and will stay there until Dec. 22.

“We have a big hole to fill,” he said.

Last year, Stanhope received a lot of media attention after his generator was stolen, but he said he has had trouble getting the word out this year.

Most-needed are toys for toddlers and kids over 14, but everything helps.

To make it easy for people to donate, Stanhope said anyone can bring toys, money and gift cards to the shed, located in the Best Buy parking lot across from Cheesecake Factory, or make monetary donations online.

Stanhope works through Yellow Ribbon America, a national nonprofit organization, so donations are tax-deductible.

The shed is technically open from 8 a.m. - 10 p.m., with uniformed service members on-hand until 1 p.m., but Stanhope said it’s effectively available 24 hours per day.

“I’m used to lack of sleep,” he said with a laugh.

The hardest part, he said, is being away from his wife for 12 days, as they will celebrate their first anniversary at the end of the year. And the cold.

“But that’s nothing compared to the military,” he said. “Some of them are deployed for over a year without seeing each other.”

Jayma Valentine, who spent 20 years in the Air Force as a nurse, brought a gift card to the shed Thursday afternoon.

“I come every year,” she said. “I don’t have kids of my own, so I figure I can give to them and help them get some decent Christmas presents.”

In addition to donations, volunteers are needed.

Nicolas Brown of El Dorado Hills was helping man the shed Thursday afternoon, and he said he came down to support a good cause.

“I’m a big military supporter,” he said. “They’re protecting basically everything we hold dear.”

To contact Stanhope directly, e-mail him at yellowribbonamerica@yahoo.com.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

DISTRICT COURT JUDGE ISSUES IMMEDIATE SUSPENSION OF “DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL

2010-10-13T18:14:21Z

SACRAMENTO , CALIFORNIA - Yesterday, U.S. District Court Judge Virginia Phillips issued a three-page worldwide injunction calling for the Department of Defense (DoD) to suspend all investigations and discharges related to the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) policy. This development comes weeks after Phillips’ ruling that the policy is unconstitutional, going against the First and Fifth Amendments. The Department of Justice (DOJ) is expected to appeal the decision which will carry the case up the Court of Appeals of the Ninth Circuit.

Sacramento Valley Veterans (SVV) member, Anthony Loverde, provided testimony in the bench trial held in southern California in July this year. The Log Cabin Republicans filed the lawsuit back in 2004. Loverde recently released “A Silent Force” which visually documents the impact of DADT on servicemembers.

SVV Vice President and retired Army veteran Tina Stidman provided the following statement upon hearing the news: “We’re extremely pleased with the judge’s decision; however, we have to keep in mind that this is a step in the lengthy process towards repealing this policy.”

“Judge Phillips’ decision is certainly welcome and needed,” said SVV President Tyson Redhouse, “this policy has taxed the nation and cut short the livelihoods of brave men and women who have willingly taken the oath to defend this nation. We cannot let our leaders take the easy way out on this issue. The thousands of silent serving need to hear that there is progress being made. Phillips’ injunction is one of the many important steps needed to bring this policy down.”

Sacramento Valley Veterans (SVV) is urging servicemembers currently serving not to come out but to wait until DADT is repealed.

Sacramento Valley Veterans is a chapter of the American Veterans for Equal Rights (AVER), a nationwide association of active, reserve and veteran servicemembers dedicated to full and equal rights and equitable treatment for all present and former members of the U.S. Armed Forces. For more information on the Sacramento Valley Veterans, visit www.saclgbtveterans.org.

California Capital Airshow 2010

2010-09-13T05:04:21Z

Saturday was a big day for 4-year-old Ryan McCulloch of Roseville, and he knew it. He stood next to his father on the Mather Air Force Base tarmac, his eyes fixed, his hands tentatively gripping the barrier that kept him from getting closer to the object of his adoration: a 500 horsepower, hydraulically powered, 62,000-pound, fire-breathing robot dinosaur.

Ryan and his father, Marshall McCulloch, were two of an estimated 100,000 people to visit the California Capital Airshow this Patriot Day weekend, an annual two-day event that nearly doubled in size since last year. With more than 250 performers, 138 aircraft in the air and on the ground for close examination, and dozens of booths to visit, there was a lot for aviation fans to see and do.

Several days before the event, Marshall showed his son an Internet video of Robosaurus breathing fire and eating cars.

“He hasn’t stopped talking about it since I showed him that video,” Marshall said. “He never wakes up early. This morning, he was up at 6 a.m.”

Ryan didn’t speak — perhaps he couldn’t just then. He continued to stare, his face full of awe, at the 40-foot-tall dormant metal dinosaur.

The dinosaur isn’t remote-controlled. To pilot Robosaurus, a person must enter a cockpit located inside the head. Once inside, the pilot places his arms inside controllers that control the robot’s arms much like the “mechs” found in science fiction. If the pilot moves his arms, the robot copies the movement. At the tip of each of the pilot’s fingers is a two-way switch used to control other functions of the robot, including Robosaur’s hands and mouth, which have a combined crushing power of 68,000 pounds. It can also shoot fire from two hot-air balloon burners located near the robot’s mouth. It’s basically a giant toy.

Pilot of the beast Mark Hays said Robosaurus “gives the gift of imagination” by bringing to life something that most people can only dream of.

“That’s one of the great things about Robo,” he said. “It brings out the kid in all of us.”

At first look, the airshow appears to be little more than a spectacle, but to the pilots at the event, it’s an opportunity to impart something sacred. It’s a way for members of the military to meet with the public and give something to the community. The weekend’s events represent billions of dollars of research and development, though California Capital Airshow itself is non-profit and the cost to enter is comparable to a night at the movies. One of the less obvious premises to the event’s existence is one of culture and passion: to pass the torch to the next generation.

Airshows are indispensable because they inspire young people to join the field of aviation, said Dean Hudson, pilot of one of the aircraft on display, the KC-10A Extender, a tanker and cargo aircraft used to refuel other aircraft on-the-fly.

“When I was a kid and I dreamed of being a pilot, I went to airshows,” Hudson said.

Hudson always liked playing with model airplanes and things like that, he said. But it wasn’t until about seventh or eighth grade when he saw his friend’s pilot father donning full pilot gear that he was really taken away with the idea of becoming a pilot himself. That’s why the face-to-face interaction that happens at airshows is so important, he said. It puts a human face on the industry.

Highlights of the weekend included aerial performances from an F-22 Raptor, an out-of-production fifth-generation fighter jet considered by some to be the Michael Jordan of fighting machines for its speed, agility, stealth and unmatched fighting capabilities.

Also making a flight appearance was a U-2, a reconnaissance aircraft with a 103-foot wingspan originally spurred into development by the Cold War.

Event organizer Michael McCabe said performances like these made the airshow better than the Discovery Channel. McCabe was one of the people originally responsible for bringing airshows to Sacramento, several years ago.

“It requires so much support and it’s so complex—it’s not usually at airshows,” he said of the U-2. “The pilot inside is wearing a space suit.”

As the ominous-looking black craft quietly soared overhead, McCabe explained that it’s kept at the Beale Air Force Base in Marysville and they decided to bring it out for this show.

“It’s all about them showing their support and their thanks to the Sacramento community,” he said.

Aviation fans who were old enough to remember World War II were in for a special treat as four of the remaining seven operable P-38 Lightning aircraft were at the show.

When World War II veteran Robert Putnam, 90, saw a P-38 sail by the crowd, his eyes lit up.

“I saw a plane like that in a dogfight over North Africa,” he said, nearly laughing.

At 19, Putnam was called to active duty after the attack on Pearl Harbor. He served in the 34th infantry division of the Army and saw action in the European Theatre as his division pushed North through Italy. After returning home safe, Putnam spent 35 years working for the Air Force as a jet mechanic including nine and a half years at McClellan Air Force Base, doing engine overhauls and engine testing on jets like the F-105, F-106, F-86 and the F-111.

Around 3 p.m. on Saturday, it began to get really hot on the airfield. The black, cracked tarmac bathed every observer staring up at the planes in waves of radiating heat. Many gathered beneath the shade of giant wings of aircraft parked near the flight line. Wing-shaped arrangements of people could be seen scattered about the field.

Putnam, for his age, seemed unperturbed by the heat and in apparent good health, quickly getting to his feet, removing his hat and placing his hand over his heart as brass horns began to play as part of a ceremony.

Putnam said he enjoyed the show and thought it was amazing. As he watched, he shared anecdotes from his youth, fighting from the ages of 19 to 25 in Europe: tales of violence and loss, nearly losing his own life to aircraft not unlike the seemingly innocent planes looping through the air, amusing the crowd at that very moment.

“But you’ve just got to laugh at stuff like that,” Putnam said. “It’s the only way to get through it.”

Photos by MaverickPhotography.us and SacMav.com

"The Way He Walked"-Story of a Sacramento Purple Heart Veteran:By Eunice Bridges

2010-08-03T04:54:52Z

ON March 28, 2010 our mother, Claudia Mae Bridges threw her own birthday dinner get together at our oldest sister’s home in Carmichael. Her invited guess included her children, grand-children, great-grand-children and friends. March 25, 1931 was the birthing of something wonderful for this is the day that would be celebrated on March 28th. Claudia Mae Bridges was married to the late Rev. Josh Bridges, Sr. whom together brought their family of ten to California. Rev. Josh Bridges, Sr. had served in the military in Mobile, Alabama at Brookley Field from 1942 to 1945. Brookley Field had closed its doors to many air force men and women which caused the Bridges’ family to transfer to California settling Mr. Bridges at McClellan Air Force Base in North Highlands where he had retired in 1982.

After many letters and attempts to receive his Purple Heart from Congressman Osa, Mr. Bridges finally received some medals but not until after his passing in November, 2003.

It was the way he walked that would keep Claudia Mae praying for her family. When you speak to his children it can be said “How often I would hear my father’s voice out of nowhere. “Its not for you, you will find yourself hooked on the same demons they are on” or “You’d better watch yourself and who you hang around with” “do not let everyone in and out of your house” we have come to the understanding of the meaning to that one. It was our spiritual house we were to guard. How Claudia loved the wisdom of our father, Rev. Josh Bridges, Sr.

Claudia Mae and Rev. Josh had two more children born in California which made up the twelve. The branches began to spread throughout the family welcoming fifty-six grand-children and fifty-five great-grand-children.

It’s the way that Claudia Mae Bridges still walks gracefully with the Lord as she continues to pray for her family.

Eunice Bridges

Photos by: Ray Johnson/Npaphoto.com

Photo 1: Bridges Family Portrait

Photo 2: Claudia Mae Bridges, holding up photo of her late husband Rev. Josh

Sacramento’s LGBT Leadership Applauds the Striking of DADT

2010-05-28T03:51:09Z

Sacramento, CA – May 27, 2010 – Today the Senate Armed Services Committee voted 16-12 to allow the repeal of the long-standing ban on gays serving openly in the U.S. Military.

This evening the United States House of Representatives voted on striking down “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and with a vote of 234 Yea and 194 Nay, the repeal bill passed. In the end 5 Republicans voted for it and 26 Democrats voted against. The bill needed at least 218 votes to pass. After the results were announced, applause rang out in the otherwise stoic House Chambers.

The highly controversial issue will move to the full Senate floor sometime this summer.

In a statement released by Wendy Rae Hill, the newly appointed Executive Director of the Sacramento Gay and Lesbian Center, Hill exclaimed, “I am proud of our Nation's Leaders. One's sexual orientation should not be a factor in serving and protecting our country.”

Ken Pierce, a spokesperson for Equality Action Now, a Sacramento grassroots civil rights organization says, “There are thousands of brave LGBT service members who are currently serving in all areas of military service. Soon they will be able to be truthful about who they are without fear of losing their job. I don’t think repealing this bill will do any kind of damage to morale in the military. Remember we are about to join a long list of countries, all of them allies that did away with discrimination long ago. They realized the importance of retaining highly dedicated and skilled men and women rather then booting those key personnel to the street. Finally we may be able to truly change, Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell to “Don’t Ask, Don’t Care”.

Sacramento Valley Veterans Reactivated

2010-05-26T06:19:40Z

SACRAMENTO VALLEY VETERANS REACTIVATED
Aims to Represent, Advocate for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender (LGBT) Veterans & Servicemembers

SACRAMENTO , CALIFORNIA - The Sacramento Valley Veterans announces its new Board of Directors and aims to reach out to local LGBT veterans and servicemembers through activism, advocacy, and outreach.

The group was originally founded in March 2004 and sponsored the installation of a commemorative brick at the Veterans Memorial Plaza in May 2006. The brick honors the memory of all LGBT veterans. The Sacramento Valley Veterans held social events at local restaurants and participated in local patriotic events. This year, the group will take part in Sacramento Pride’s parade and festival on the Capitol Mall.

The new Board of Directors is comprised of representatives from all the services. Tyson Redhouse, a former U.S. Air Force intelligence analyst, is the group’s President. Tina Stidman, a retired U.S. Army transport operator, is the Vice President. U.S Marine and Gulf War veteran Ray Allen is the group’s Secretary. The group’s treasurer is Charles Peer, a retired U.S. Navy storekeeper.

“This Board of Directors brings together a talented group from all services and all eras,” said Tyson Redhouse, the group’s President. “With our combined experiences, we will seek to represent and advocate for LGBT veterans and servicemembers. The contributions of our LGBT veterans will be honored and we will be there for those who are currently serving.”

###

Sacramento Valley Veterans is a chapter of the American Veterans for Equal Rights (AVER), a nationwide association of active, reserve and veteran servicemembers dedicated to full and equal rights and equitable treatment for all present and former members of the U.S. Armed Forces. For more information on the Sacramento Valley Veterans, visit www.saclgbtveterans.org.

Rare Grouping of World War II Jeeps at the California Automobile Museum

2010-04-24T16:33:36Z

The California Automobile Museum is temporarily home to all three mass-produced World War II military jeeps. The 1941 Bantam Reconnaissance Car (Jeep), 1943 Ford Military Jeep, and 1943 Willys Military Jeep are great examples of American innovation during the war years that are rarely seen together.

In July 1940, the U.S. Army issued a challenge to the nation’s automakers to produce a light, cross-country reconnaissance vehicle described as a “quarter-ton, 4X4 truck.” Ford, Willys-Overland, and American-Bantam took on the task but only American-Bantam was able to produce a prototype in the short amount of time the military required. However, Bantam’s limited production capacity made it impossible for them to produce the number of vehicles the Army needed. The government shared the design with Ford and Willys-Overland and all three companies produced what would become known as the “Jeep.” These Jeeps became the primary vehicle of the U.S. Army and Allies during World War II and the postwar period.

These Jeeps won’t be in one place for long. The 1941 Bantam Reconnaissance Car is part of this month’s Car Club Cavalcade featuring American-Bantams and is on display until April 30, 2010. The 1943 Willys Military Jeep is part of the newest exhibit, Drive Fast, Take Chances: Birth of the Hot Rod and is on display until July 5, 2010. The 1943 Ford Military Jeeps is part of the Museum’s permanent collection.

For more information about the Museum visit www.CalAutoMuseum.org or call (916) 442-6802.

Local effort to support the troops

2010-02-16T21:31:06Z

Under a slew of military flags, banners and pictures of troops, volunteers at Cal Expo collected care package donations Friday. They were members of the Defenders of Freedom a local nonprofit organization that assists servicemembers and their families.

Toiletries, games and DVD's were among the most requested items by troops serving around the country and overseas. The items were being assembled into care packages for troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.

"Both my sons serve in the Army," said Maria Elena Szlachciuk, founder of Defenders of Freedom. "These items, combined with letters and cards, can lift a soldier's morale."

The California chapter was founded in 2007 after a similar chapter started in Dallas in 2004. Szlachiuk runs the foundation with the help of her family and other volunteers.

Carol Bostick's son is a sergeant in the Marine Corps. She has seen him off twice, as he boarded a plane bound for Iraq.

"What we do here makes an impact," said Bostick. "Letters and care packages are a huge encouragement for the troops."

The foundation's nonpolitical tasks don't stop at care packages. Szlachciuk and her group welcome returning troops at Sacramento International Airport, spend time with wounded soldiers and educate the public on about the military.

"The American people need to be reminded that troops are still overseas," she said.

After watching an early morning newscast on about the Defenders of Freedom, Mike Petrillo loaded 150 T-shirts from a car show into his truck and drove from Vacaville.

"It turned out to be a nice day for the drive and the shirts can go to soldiers overseas. Perfect day," he said.

The Defenders of Freedom accept cash and donations. For information and to learn about requests from troops, visit their website.

Saluting college veterans

2010-01-30T07:25:24Z

Sacramento State has the second-highest veterans and their dependents student population of any California State University and University of California campus. With more than 1,200 veterans and dependents taking classes there, the Student Veterans Organization is one of the highest profile clubs on campus. Its first spring meeting is Monday.

Active since fall 2007, SVO is dedicated to helping veterans and their families in every facet of college life. From class enrollment to complicated government forms, theSVO assists members every step of the way.

"This is my version of a fraternity," Air Force veteran Dustin McMillan said of the group. "Commonalities we all share, like the military, provides the base to build on."

A special forum, Veterans Cafe, begins this spring. Every other Monday on the CSUS campus, the cafe will hold workshops for all students. Topics will include health care, jobs and veteran women's rights. Each cafe session will feature a speaker who is an expert in their field.

"This is an outlet for questions," said Army veteran and club president Janelle Adams. "This brand new concept is a chance for faculty and students to receive an answers to their questions from the (authoritative) source."

Veterans Cafe is just one of the semester's activities. Plans also include a canned food drive benefiting homeless veterans in the community and fund-raisers such as a crab feed and car washes.

SVO also provides leisure activities. In addition to tailgating before every home football game, the club plans to tailgate before River Cats and Stockton Thunder games.

The administration at Sac State also offers programs for veterans and their dependents. The Veteran Advisory Council was designed to develop programs for returning veterans.

"Sac State realizes the growing issues facing veterans today," said Adams. "With an increase of returning female veterans, sexual assault and other abuse is possible. These are issues theSVO has addressed in the past and we will continue to address in the future."

Students who are veteran or their dependents are encouraged to join the club, as are students from Los Rios Community College. Though the club promotes veterans' rights and educates members about state and federal programs, it has other advantages as well.

"I have made so many lifelong friends here," said Vice-President Ryan Roebuck. "They are my friends, support group and most importantly, family."

The SVO can be reached through its website.

Capital Airshow gearing up for you

2009-09-11T11:06:41Z

Sacramento, CA- All the hard work throughout the year of the Capital Air Show staff began to show it's fruit today as a myriad of aircraft flew in to Mather Field to participate in the fourth annual Sacramento Capital Air Show.

Out on the tarmac, barriers and safety fences were being put in place, displays began to take form, the sound system that runs the entire length of the flight line was assembled and pilots took to the air to get a feel for the topography of Sacramento.

Tim Baker flies a stunt plane for Geico; he's been passionately flying for them for six to seven years and has done 22 air shows. Not only is Tim the pilot, he is also in charge of the displays. "Geico works me hard", stated Baker, "but I love our relationship."

Dean Wright is the team leader for the Patriots, sponsored by Fry's. Dean retired from the Air Force two years ago. During his tenure with the Air Force he flew such planes as the A-10 Wart Hog, the Stealth and many other high end aircraft. Speaking of their jets, "they don't have the power of the F-16's, but they run like a Timex" stated Wright. Later in the day Thursday, the Patriots gave a training for several Metro Fighters on how to rescue a pilot from a fighter jet and the dangers of working a fighter jet rescue. If a firefighter reached in and accidently pulled the ejection lever, he could be run through with one of four steel rods that are meant to jettison the canopy during in flight ejection.

After the Thunderbirds touched down and got their planes squared away, Mayor Dan Skoglund presented the Thunderbids with a key to the city. The Thunderbirds then presented him with a Thunderbirds framed and autographed poster.

Kirby Nesser is the "Right Wing" pilot for the Thunder Birds. Born in Nebraska, Kirby grew up going through school as a straight A student. He received a congressional appointment to the Air Force Academy where 24 units is a typical semester load. Upon finishing Academy, they asked him what he wanted to do in the Air Force. Kirby said, "I don't know". They said, "how about flying"? Kirby said "Okay". "What would you like to fly" they asked. "I don't know" replied Kirby. They finally narrowed it down to fighter jets. As Kirby excelled as a pilot, he later applied for the Thunderbirds and he has been with them for the past two years." I still don't know what I want to do when I grow up" quipped Kirby with a grin.

Friday, the pilots will go through a full rehearsal, so if you are in the Rancho Cordova area, keep your eyes to the skies for a wonder pre-show.

If you are attending the Capital Air Show, it is VERY strongly recommended that you utilize the transit system to access Mather Field. If you have purchased your tickets already, your transportation is free. Taking the light rail, you will want to detrain at the Mather Station. There, express buses will be waiting to rapidly transport you directly to the gate via an express route. The transportation has been very well thought out and is actually quite easy. As you leave the airfield via your express transportation, you will see the massive grid lock of cars attempting to leave the parking lots, and you will no doubt say…"Wow! Those people should have taken the RT." You will be back to your point of origin before they get out of the parking lot.

You can get all the air show information by visiting http://www.californiacapitalairshow.com/

Don't forget to use sun block and you may want to bring a folding chair. To see interviews with some of the pilots and several of the aircraft practicing CLICK HERE

Parkour traces Sacramento

2009-08-20T06:44:13Z

I walked onto the quad of Bella Vista High School on a Sunday afternoon to a sight of 20 or so men climbing walls, running like cheetahs on all fours and swinging from trees.

This was the Sacramento regional parkour practice, led by a SFparkour.com representative, Victor Lo Forte. He has been a practitioner of parkour, or traceur, French for tracer, for three and a half years and has led the Sacramento group for about two years.

"From what I understand, it's basically the discipline of training one's mind and body to prepare oneself to overcome obstacles in an environment," Lo Forte said.

Parkour is said to be rooted in early 20th century French military practices. Georges Hébert, a World War I naval officer, developed a notion of physicality that embraced use of the body and its environment for developing strength useful to society.

These principles were the foundation for his "Natural Method," which incorporated the fusion of the mental and physical to overcome obstacles via climbing, running and jumping (to name a few). His method contributed to the development of the French parcours du combattant, or military obstacle course.

As a young teen, David Belle, considered the father of parkour, picked up Natural Method ethics along with his gymnastic and martial arts training in France.

Many of the young men at the Sacramento parkour practice admire Belle and have adopted the Natural Method as part of their training.

"Parkour is training your flight response," said Sacramento State student Jake Anderson.

Lo Forte commented on one of the many purposes of parkour, to "be strong to protect your family and friends."

"We’re not trying to hurt anybody, we’re training to be strong, and that really helps the community," he said.

Though not a spectator sport, it is difficult to explain what exactly traceurs are doing to people who gather round their concrete playground.

"I usually point them to YouTube and Casino Royale," Anderson said. "I tell them parkour is the study of the most efficient way to get from point A to point B."

This efficiency calls for climbing walls, not walking around them.

"If you're in a dead-end alley, you look back and forth and don’t look up," Anderson said. "People don’t look up, they don’t look at their environments anymore."

He described parkour as a way to think of our built environment with a critical lens. "We create our environments to be quick and easy for what we’re raised as," Anderson said. "Parkour shows us that there are actually easier ways than we’re raised, things people don’t think of."

The Sacramento traceurs have tried practicing in the Downtown Sacramento area, but have found security and business owners to be hostile to the activity. "If they tell us to leave then we leave," Lo Forte said.

"I’d say ground-rules for anywhere are be respectful of the environment, don’t wreck things, don’t leave litter behind, clean up after yourselves," he said. "There is a big thing in parkour community called the leave no trace campaign. We don’t want it to look like we’ve been there. We don’t want to get kicked out of places."

Parkour training also focuses on overall health and well-being. "It might save their lives," Lo Forte said. "You never know if they might get addicted to drugs or end up in jail."

"I wanted to get in shape," said Robert King, a telecommunications technician for Sacramento County. "Since I started in January, I lost 40 pounds."

"A lot of people are sitting home and they don’t get any sensory input; they don't smell the dirt on their hands and the sun on their face," Lo Forte said.

This was the case for 15-year-old Jonah Saysourivong. "Before this I was a big-time gamer and would play Call of Duty for 42 hours straight," he said. "I definitely know other kids my age are drinking alcohol and smoking, and that’s one thing I’d never do."

The health benefits and the body's adaptation to unique movements is of great interest to Anderson as a kinesiology student. "They should talk about it in anatomy classes and in physical therapy classes. I think that doctors should know it, gymnasts, athletes," he said. He hopes to introduce parkour in his dance and martial arts classes at Sacramento State.

Lo Forte also aspires to introduce parkour skills to the police force. "These things will be helpful for them and hopefully they will realize that and hire some of us to train them in the future," he said.

In the middle of practice, a group of young men started tumbling and performing a series of flips in the air and over others lying on the ground. The freedom of movement in a creative way like this is called free-running, often associated with parkour.

"Parkour is strictly what's the most efficient way from one point to another; free-running is adding flair and flips," Anderson said.

Though there were not any females present at the practice, they are encouraged to participate as traceuse, French for female tracers.

Robert King encouraged me to try a technique to get over a 7-foot wall during practice, but I settled for swinging and balancing on rails on my own time. I found that I was using my environment rather than living around it. Though we all live in our environments, traceurs live their environments.

For more information, click the following link:

Practice at Bella Vista High School, meeting Sundays and Wednesdays at 4 p.m.

Disabled Veterans Win Huge Battle to Eliminate 'Good Faith' Efforts & Save Tax Dollars

2009-08-04T17:06:50Z

Disabled Veterans Win Battle in “Good Faith” Fight to Save Taxpayers Money

Disabled veteran companies and taxpayers are both winners in recent changes promoted by California’s wounded warriors. The non-profit California Disabled Veterans Business Alliance has fought the Good Faith Effort (GFE) provision in State contracting as a useless diversion actually keeping business away from Disabled Veteran Business Enterprises (DVBE). Now, the State has acted on the recommendations of the Alliance in coordination with DGS and other state agencies and has passed legislation to eliminate the GFE effective 28 July 2009.

By promoting equality with the State of California’s Small Business preference and eliminating the GFE, taxpayers will save money and disabled veterans have greater access to State contract opportunity. The DVBE Alliance and many veterans organizations know many veterans were giving up in pursuing guaranteed State contract opportunity because of ‘false fronts’ in good faith programs and massive amounts of paperwork previously required for certification.

By eliminating the GFE more opportunity for DVBE is created and there are lower costs for taxpayers, saving thousands of hours wasted in preparing bids and reducing the waste in paperwork According to recent Federal reports, “Small businesses are the lifeblood of the economy in the United States. Based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the Office of Advocacy at the U.S. Small Business Administration documented that small businesses accounted for over 92% of the net new jobs created between 1989 and 2003.”

Other recommendations in the Alliance memo sent to DGS in early June 2009 include simplifying the legislation on Commercial Useful Function and eliminating the need for DVBE to submit tax returns for recertification annually. We need to make the Public Contracting Code and the Military and Veterans Code look alike so that laws and regulations for small business and DVBE are basically the same.

For more information visit www.cadvbe.org <http://www.cadvbe.org> , or call Rich Dryden, Executive Director, California Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise Alliance at 916-446-3510.

Accounts of unrest in Honduras

2009-07-16T07:32:54Z

Hours before Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was forcefully exiled to Costa Rica on June 27, he met with seven delegates from Sacramento.

The seven were: Bill Camp, executive secretary for the Sacramento Central Labor Council (SCLC); Bud McKinney, a sheet mill worker; Chris Bender, a union representative; Greg Larkins, president of IBW Local 340 and a political organizer for the SCLC; Arturo Aleman, a consultant, Kate Allen, a graduate student at UCLA and summer intern for the SCLC and Dion Archuleta, a canner at Campbell Soup in South Sacramento.

The following is an account of their experiences in Honduras over a three-day period in which an alleged coup d’état took place.

Background

The SCLC helped to deliver medical supplies and facilitate medical outreach to Honduran communities with limited accessibility. Because of their aid to Honduras, an invitation was extended to 12 members of the SCLC to observe ballot procedures, which would take place in Honduras on June 28. Five of them were unable to attend, according to Bud McKinney.

Bill Camp’s brother, Tom Camp, a doctor in Alabama, helped with relief efforts in Honduras after the wrath of Hurricane Mitch in 1998. He encouraged Bill Camp to visit Honduras with him and served as a connection to a native doctor, Dr. Luther Harry Castillo. Dr. Luther Castillo's passion to help the underprivileged was the driving force that inspired Bill Camp to build a clinic.

In partnership with several members of various unions, Camp was able to gather the resources to build the clinic in Honduras with the California Honduras Institute for Medical Education and Support (CHIMES) over the course of two years.

In 2005, as a result of these efforts, Bill Camp began building a clinic in Ciriboya, a remote village on the northern coast of Honduras.

McKinney found out about the organization while working on a health proposition with Camp at the SCLC in 2005. He was interested in the mission of the clinic and joined Camp in clearing out the initial site and communicating with local elders about having them contribute labor to its construction.

A hospital was opened in late 2007. "The hospital and the [eleven] doctors that it employs provide health care to about 20,000-25,000 people in the area," McKinney said.

Camp made it clear that it is the only hospital in Honduras operated by Garifuna people, the indigenous population.

In 2007, a chance run-in with Patti Garamendi provided Camp with the opportunity to invite Lt. Gov. John Garamendi to Honduras with less than a week's notice. They scheduled a visit, and shortly before Garamendi arrived, it occurred to Bill Camp, "Oh lord, the Lieutenant Governor is coming to Honduras and I don't even know if the roads are open!"

Garamendi was able to attend the dedication ceremony for the completion of the clinic and meet Dr. Castillo, a primary force in building the hospital. "John's real contribution was going and having all the public attention," Camp said. The dedication ceremony attracted press attention both in Honduras and in the United States. He added that Garamendi "had put [the hospital] on the map."

A second-floor addition later the next following year was cause for another dedication. This time, President Zelaya attended and committed to compensating salaries for any three of the 11 doctors. "When they get the checks, they just split them eleven ways," Camp said.

Leaving for Honduras: Day 1

On June 21, the SCLC received a letter signed by Patricia Rodas Baca, the Honduran foreign minister, inviting members of the SCLC by name to participate in a fully funded trip to observe balloting procedures around the country for the survey that was to take place on June 28.

Other than the U.S. ambassador, the seven from Sacramento were the only observers to fly in from the United States. There were about 80 international delegates in total, according to Bill Camp.

The delegates arrived in Honduras on June 27 and were directed to a press conference with President Zelaya and his cabinet members soon after their arrival.

At the time of the press conference, President Zelaya had dealt with battling the Honduran Congress and the Supreme Court over the legality of holding a non-binding survey. Camp said it was essentially, "An effort to hear from the public. Do you think we should have a vote in November about the question, yes or no?, Do you want to have a constitutional convention?"

The Honduran Supreme Court ruled the survey illegal the week it was to occur and threatened arrest of anyone wanting to change the constitution.

At the press conference, Chris Bender said, "they handed out the portions of the constitution and the law that they felt made this legal."

These excerpts were handed out on paper, including Title XII, which is the portion of the constitution in question in regards to the legitimacy of the survey.

Aleman explained the process that Zelaya envisioned would pan out in regards to a future referendum. He said Zelaya intended to hold a survey of the people with the survey scheduled to take place on June 28 to gauge whether they wanted to have a vote in November, on election day, to decide if they then wanted a constitutional congress. From this decision, a constitutional convention may or may not have convened after the installation of the new administration in 2010.

"It had no effect of law," said McKinney said about the survey. The survey was fundamentally a public opinion poll, and the immediate consequence of the vote would have no legal effect on the constitution or the law.

"We were to observe how the election was being conducted, so if the media wanted to have an outside view of how this was handled– was it appropriate, were people being coerced, threatened or intimidated– we would be able to speak as outsiders in terms of our perspective," Camp said, commenting on how the Honduran Department of Foreign Relations outlined the duties of the delegates.

"The only thing we went down there to do was ensure that the vote was free and fair," McKinney said.

Outside of the press conference, McKinney was conversing with locals. "I talked to people outside of (the) Presidential Palace,” he said. “There were a lot of volunteers milling around."

These volunteers were delivering ballot boxes to about 15,000 precincts all over Honduras, after a group of unarmed citizens seized them from the military. The ballot boxes were dispersed the week before, and McKinney had witnessed the last of them being transported.

After the press conference, all of the international delegates gathered for a dinner with Zelaya and his cabinet members. Each place setting had a microphone, allowing observers to question Zelaya.

One question posed to Zelaya was if the referendum was about extending his presidency. McKinney, paraphrasing Zelaya, said he responded, "No. On Jan. 27, my term is up. I will hand over my sash to the duly elected president of Honduras."

Over the course of the press conference and dinner, the seven spent about five hours in the presence of Zelaya.

"There was no expectation that he would be kidnapped," Camp said.

A Turn of Events: Day 2

The next morning, on Sunday, June 28, Camp and Bender were to report to the airport to fly out to a village and observe voting procedures.

While waiting, the two received word from Dr. Castillo, "Take off your hat, take off your vest, take off your badge; put them in your satchel. I’m coming to pick you up to take you back to the hotel -- there's been a coup."

For the duration of the trip, the majority of the group members remained in their hotel, two miles away from the Presidential Palace.

“The streets were calm, there was no troop presence, there was no real unrest where we were at,” explained Larkins, political organizer for the SCLC.

At 8 p.m. Sunday, Dr. Castillo picked up three of the group members, Allen, Camp and Archuleta, and took them to the Presidential Palace, where protests were taking place.

Allen described the scene after a thunderstorm had set in. "[The protesters] were under these tarps in the middle of the street and there was a truck with a bullhorn and they were chanting along to Zelaya's name right in front of the gates of the Presidential Palace, and behind the gates were all these guards in riot gear."

According to Allen, there were about 200 protesters at the time of her visit, and the three were able to engage in conversation talk with some of the protesters. Allen turned her attention to Camp., "Suddenly they're going 'Sí se puede!' (Yes, it can be done!) and Bill is leading them in a chant of 'Sí se puede' in front of the gates of the Presidential Palace," Allen said.

"Our job is to encourage the heart," said Camp.

Anti-Zelaya protesters took to the streets as well, however, Allen said, "We couldn't stay long because there was going to be a curfew at 9 p.m., instituting martial law."

Returning with a Cause: Day 3

On Monday night, June 29, the seven arrived safely back in California.

"Immediately when we got back, we started calling all the union people we knew and said, ‘you gotta get a hold of the National Security Council and the Secretary of State's office,’ " Camp said.

McKinney received word that Honduran labor unions were gathering support to take protesters to the street, despite the military’s attempts to machine-gun tires of buses. “The AFL-CIO is in full support of labor’s participation in the retaking of democracy in Honduras,” he commented.

"When workers are being destroyed in Honduras...that really is an injury to all of us," Camp said.

Upon their arrival, Camp received an e-mail from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights with an urgent message. 29 people had been listed as targets for detention by the interim government. Dr. Castillo is on this list, but has evaded capture so far, according to McKinney.

In addition to others, Patricia Rodas Baca was detained and later released.

Camp said he believes they "got them released because we got the National Security Council and the Secretary of State's office saying, 'You can't hurt this individual,' and somehow that went down through the chain of command."

An Update on Current Efforts

McKinney has been in contact with doctors at the hospital in Ciriboya. "Everything seems to be normal at the hospital,” he said. “The doctors are a little apprehensive that if the coup goes very long they will cut funding."

He also said that the Cuban government is pulling out Cuban doctors out of from Honduran clinics, and fears the same may happen with the doctors in Ciriboya.

McKinney is also in communication with Dr. Castillo, who staged a protest against the military’s shooting of civilians with First Lady Xiomara Castro Zelaya on July 7.

"The question is how do we get the head of the labor council in Minneapolis, or Rochester, or St. Louis to understand that this is their fight as well as the Honduran workers?" Camp asked.

As of July 13, Telesur, McKinney's main source of television coverage of the events in Honduras, has been expelled from coverage by the interim government.

Furthermore, the military seized ballots from a rural city that had held the vote through the coup, according to an anonymous source of McKinney’s.

McKinney reflected on his trip: "I didn't go to support the referendum or Manuel Zelaya. I had pretty mixed feelings," he said. "I went down there to observe democracy. I went there to make sure the people had a fair vote in both directions."

McKinney explained that he did not want to see the referendum forced on the people, and he did not want to see people "stuff ballot boxes" either.

"It was in a sense an unbelievable experience, but it was also a calm experience in the thrust of the chaos," Larkins said.

The group plans on making another trip back to Honduras Aug. 6 and hopes peace comes to the nation by then.

LINKS:
Project CHIMES
AFL-CIO position, press release
Honduran Constitution, spanish

Review: Transformers - Revenge of the Fallen

2009-06-26T17:50:27Z

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Directed by Michael Bay

By Tony Sheppard
Capitol Weekly

Describing this movie is an almost pointless exercise. It’s not going to be seen—or not seen—because of what critics think, or based on minor details like logical storytelling and plot coherence (or the lack thereof). It’s a movie that will be raved about by fanboys and by those who just dig 150 minutes of sequentially coordinated but also oddly disjointed special effects. In that regard, it’s a visual orgy of arbitrary excess.

That arbitrariness often comes in the form of clashes between the signature “alien robots” with no real sense of logic as to who is likely to win in any such encounter. That the Autobots win more on balance than the Decepticons seems to have very little foundation other than the old movie phenomenon that suggests that good guys are stronger and shoot straighter than bad guys. We are somewhat reliably informed that Optimus Prime (a juggernaut of a good guy) is going to win any reasonably fair fight, which makes one wonder if it’s really that fair, but you could reverse the outcome of almost any other clash without really affecting much or noticing the difference.

You’d have to watch the movie at about quarter speed to actually pay close attention to the robots as they make their extraordinarily complicated transformations from vehicles or appliances to hyper-articulated fighting machines. There isn’t an ounce of subtlety in the movie – not that any is expected from either the material or the director. The first sight of Megan Fox, for example, is in short shorts, from behind, as she stretches across a custom motorcycle. If she’s the objectified object of lust, and she is, then most of the other characters are just as broadly painted archetypes.

This is a movie that stalls in the midst of a headlong quest for the ultimate weapon for an unlikely romantic interlude, and which can somehow take us through the back wall of the Air and Space Museum directly into an airplane graveyard somewhere in the desert. It’s clearly more of a commercial for the US military and Chevrolet than for Mapquest or MENSA. But Shia gets sweaty, Megan gets skimpy, his parents provide moderately comic relief, robots share b-movie witticisms as they pound on each other, and many, many, many things explode. And those are what will ultimately matter as it takes the box office crown for a week or two.

Fallen Soldier Comes Home

2009-04-19T20:51:02Z

Fallen soldier, Staff Sgt. Bryan Hall, was welcomed home today. Hall was returned from overseas to Dover Air Force Base, then flown to Sacramento Executive Airport this morning. A procession followed Hall’s hearse from the airport to south Highway 99 and ended at Elk Grove Funeral Chapel.

Staff Sgt. Hall was killed in Iraq with four other soldiers when an explosive laden truck careened through an Iraqi police headquarters.

Community members lined the freeway and side roads waving flags and welcoming our fallen soldier home; but perhaps the most striking exhibit was the firefighters and apparatus that could be clearly seen atop every freeway overpass on the route. If you knew nothing about what was going on, you knew something significant was happening as you drove down 99 and witnessed firefighters standing atop their apparatus, at attention, aerial booms raised half staff on the fire trucks awaiting Hall’s return. Engines, trucks, ambulances and other apparatus participated from Sac City, Consumnes and Elk Grove fire departments.

Assembly Committee Passes Legislation to Keep JROTC Program in San Francisco School District

2009-04-03T04:59:26Z

AB 223 and 351 passed through Assembly committee hearings on Wednesday afternoon at the Capitol. At least 100 San Francisco high school students stood lining the hallway outside room 126 to support the bills. Some were wearing military attire, and others wore stickers on their shirts that read “I love JROTC”. Inside, meanwhile, the Assembly Education Committee heard each bill, both involving San Francisco’s Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program.

AB 223, introduced last month by Assemblywoman Fiona Ma (D-San Francisco), is an urgency measure, meaning that with a two-thirds majority vote in both the Assembly and Senate, it will require the San Francisco Unified School District to make JROTC courses available for students between grades 9 through 12.

AB 351, an urgency measure authored by Assemblywoman Mary Salas (D-Chula Vista), would authorize the governing board of a school district to exempt students involved in JROTC programs, along with those involved in other activities such as drill team or color guard, from physical education requirements.

The San Francisco Board of Education passed a resolution in November 2006 to phase-out all JROTC programs in San Francisco schools by the end of the 2008-09 school year, proposing to replace them with alternative motivational career programs.

The four members that had chosen to phase-out the program are no longer a part of San Francisco’s school board. Current board member Jill Wynns says that those members were opposed to the program’s militaristic association, and were concerned that the program was discriminatory toward gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender students.

School board member Rachel Norton says that although she opposes the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on gays in the military and military recruiting in high schools, JROTC instructors have reassured her that the program does not recruit students, and “Gay, lesbian or transgender students or instructors are never turned away.”

Ma introduced AB 223 in response to the 55 percent voter passage of Proposition V in the November 2008 election, which urged SFUSD to retain the program in San Francisco schools.

Several members of the Assembly committee, including committee Chairwoman Julia Brownley (D-Santa Monica), stated that regardless of the committee’s stance on the JROTC program itself, it is not appropriate for the Legislature to mandate the program within a single school district, as AB 223 would require, because it is a “local control” issue that the school board should have authority over.

Citing prior court cases, Ma argued that although legislative policy encourages local responsibility over public education, “educational operation of the public schools remain matters of the statewide, rather than local or municipal, concern.”

Assembly committee member Jeff Miller (R-Corona) supported Ma’s argument, stating “We all, I think, agree that local control is sacred and needs to be protected; but this is a situation [where] San Francisco needs some help.”

“The question you have to ask yourself is ‘Where do the voters go if the locally elected officials will not abide by what they say?’” said Miller, referring to the passage of Proposition V.

Unless AB 223 passes, San Francisco’s JROTC programs are scheduled to end by June of this year. According to Norton, the committee charged with constructing a replacement program for the JROTC has failed to do so thus far.

“The students have been the losers here…I have never spoken to a student who was a JROTC cadet in San Francisco Unified that did not support this program or want it to go on,” says Wynns.

The San Francisco school district has participated in JROTC for 90 years, offering programs at seven public high schools, five of which are in Ma’s district. According to Ma, 90 percent of JROTC students pursue higher education, 90 percent are minorities, and over 50 percent are women of color.

Opponents of the bill testified before the committee, many arguing that other leadership-oriented programs should be implemented instead of JROTC, linking the JROTC program to potential military recruitment.

Karen Bernal, candidate for Progressive Caucus chair of the California Democratic Party, says “The idea that the state would mandate such a program here is nothing short of fascistic to me…This is the military industrial complex and our educational system at play.”

Ma states, however, that less than three percent of JROTC students enroll in the military.

Lt. Colonel Robert L. Powell Jr., a JROTC instructor, claims “Our instructors aren’t even allowed to [recruit]. We have no quotas that we have to meet.”

Both bills will now be scheduled for hearings by the Appropriations Committee.

Military Veterans Need New Policies to Help Service-Related Asbestos Disease

2009-03-17T15:27:37Z

Out of the millions of brave military veterans who have given service to their country, hundreds of thousands were exposed to asbestos. Used throughout the 20th century in many industries, asbestos gained immense popularity because of its innate flame resistant, durable and versatile qualities. It made it an ideal choice for many military applications. The value of asbestos was so high that did not get phased out until the 1970’s.

Sacramento is no stranger to military bases, with the Navy, Army and Air Force all having bases in the city to some degree.
Asbestos use greatly impacted the Navy. Prior to World War II, many shipyards in the country constructed their vessels in hopes of creating the largest naval fleet in the world. While they succeeded in their goals, asbestos use was large and rapid. Shipyard workers, sailors and tradesman aboard these ships were wrongfully exposed aboard navigation rooms, sleeping quarters and mess halls. These shipyards were vital in efforts to build and repair ships on the west and east coasts of the country. The military also used asbestos as insulation aircraft, vehicles and buildings.

Although asbestos exposure does not always lead to an illness, frequent and long term exposure will greatly raise those risks. Many veterans have been plagued by peritoneal mesothelioma, a rare but severe lung ailment contracted only through asbestos exposure. Factors that affect mesothelioma life expectancy include age of diagnosis, latency period and cigarette smoking. Many veterans do not develop their disease until they have reached middle age because asbestos-related illnesses typically have a latency period lasting 20 to 50 years. This has lead to mesothelioma lawyer firms protecting and advocating the rights of victims.

Asbestos manufactures have been heavily criticized for concealing and not acting enough to inform the public of the dangers associated with asbestos exposure. The asbestos scandal has been one of the more formidable cover-ups that took place in the 20th century.

Asbestos exposure still remains a threat to soldiers who are stationed in countries throughout the world. In Iraq, over $194,000 worth of asbestos was imported into the country in 2003. Soldiers not only face daily threats while performing standard military operations, but also are at risk for potential exposure because fierce desert sands and winds can carry asbestos dust for miles.

At the present time, mesothelioma or asbestos-related diseases are not recognized as a service or job-related ailment. Veterans can still apply for Veteran Affairs (VA) benefits for their wrongful illness, but must provide proof demonstrating that it happened at the time of their military service.

With the new presidential administration one month into their first term, many are hopeful for an adamant change in policies towards asbestos use and veteran compensation. With the recent Presidential address to congress, President Obama signaled a change in Veteran Affairs compensation.

It appears that until there is a vehement change in policies enforced on a federal level against the use of asbestos, it will continue to inflict damage and harm to yet another generation of innocent by standards.