Announcing Bike/Ped Summit Keynote: Janette Sadik-Khan

Janette Sadik-Khan

We don’t have all the details worked out, but we’ve got some great news for the 2010 Bicycle and Pedestrian Summit: our keynote speaker will be Janette Sadik-Khan!

Sadik-Khan currently serves as the Transportation Commissioner for New York City. She has overseen an unprecedented effort to make New York City friendlier for bicycling and walking. From Summer Streets ciclovia-events to Madison Square to Ninth Avenue, New York’s streets are being transformed from auto-centric to people-centric. It’s an inspiring story, and Sadik-Khan is the department head that’s making it happen.

If you’re unfamiliar with “JSK” I recommend checking out this 10-minute video interview with her at Streetfilms. It’s inspiring!

I knew Janette from when we attended Occidental College together in the early 1980’s. She was a courageous activist at the time, one of the leaders in pressing for the college to divest from companies doing business in racially segregated South Africa. She was a very strong role model in inspiring my budding political consciousness and my activism.

The date is still somewhat tentative (more details soon) but it’s most likely that Janette Sadik-Khan will be speaking the evening of Thursday March 18th 2010. The bike/ped summit will probably take place mainly Saturday March 20th. Locations for additional details/confirmations to be announced soon.

Announcing the 2010 Bike Summit!

London Bicyclist - image: Wikimedia

The Urban and Environmental Policy Institute  has just gotten started on the 2010 Bike Summit. One big change is that we’re planning to make it both a bicycle and pedestrian event! We’ve just started work, so we  haven’t confirmed a date or location yet – but it’s likely to be similar to last year – around March 2010 in a central transit-accessible location like LA Trade Tech College. Here’s the event web page – same as last year – and it’s a wiki, so if register, you can contribute materials to the site.

We’re trying to get a couple of great inspirational out-of-town speakers, and we’ll be hosting plenty of local workshops. If you have ideas for speakers you’d like to hear and/or topics you’d like to learn about or present, please add your suggestions to the idea page for the 2010 L.A. Bike / Ped Summit.

Vote on Oats video for Farm to School to win $10K

Quaker Oats/Goodbite.com “Awaken Your Senses” Challenge
With a click of the thumbs-up button under the Cherries video, you can help Jen win $10,000 to benefit the National Farm to School Network.

Twelve food bloggers shared their favorite food memory via a video diary posted at YouTube.com/QuakerTalk. Website visitors will vote for their favorite oatmeal topping, and the blogger associated with the winning topping will receive $10,000 to donate to the charity of their choice.

To help Farm to School, just watch Jen’s video here and click the thumbs-up button that appears at the bottom of the frame – then tell your friends and family so they can help, too!

Voting on the video runs until Thursday, October 22nd at 11:59pm.  The idea is to mobilize supporters to vote for Jen so that we make it into the semi-finalist round.  Voting for the grand Prize (10K!) will then take place among the 3 semi-finalist on 11/9/09.

So how can you help?

1) Visit Quaker Talk on YouTube (just click the link) by this Thursday, October 22nd.

2) Click on the Vote or Watch & Vote button.

3) Select Jen’s video (it isn’t always in the same position depending on how you get there, so you’ll have to actually READ for her topping: Cherries Jubilee) and click on the GREEN THUMB to vote for her topping!

4) Spread the word.

Help nourish kids and communities!

“Meet Stephen Hemsley” – Huffington Post

Friends and Colleagues:

Stephen J. Hemsley is one of the most powerful people you’ve never heard of. But Health Care for America Now (HCAN) hopes to change that.

Hemsley is the CEO of United Health Group, the nation’s largest health insurance company and a key player in the industry’s effort to thwart health care reform.  In my article today Huffington Post, “Meet Stephen Hemsley,” I profile the man, his company, its neglect of policy-holders, its abuse of doctors, and its political influence-peddling. 

“First They Came For ACORN”

Friends and Colleagues,

I just posted this piece, “First They Came for ACORN,” about the need for progressives, and Democratic Party politicians, to stand up for ACORN, or else the Right will pick off each progressive and liberal group one-by-one.  This is based on the famous poem by Pastor Martin Niemoller, written about the passivity of people of conscience during the Nazi regime.

I would also recommend reading John Atlas’ article, “What Is ACORN?” Harold Meyerson’s Washington Post column, “For ACORN, Truth Lost Amid the Din,” and David Morris’ article on Alternet. I also recommend watching Jeremy Scahill’s appearance on the Rachel Maddow Show on Friday about the many corporations with government contracts who are chronic lawbreakers, but who the Republicans are NOT trying to defund.

A Good News Night

Our own Peter Dreier was a featured expert on the Rachel Maddow show talking about his recent report on ACORN and refuting the rightwing campaign against ACORN and our healthy school food Organizer, Elizabeth Medrano, discussed and analyzed the school food crisis on a PBS Special Report on Health Care with Tavis Smiley.

Manipulating the Public Agenda: Why ACORN Was in the News, and What the News Got Wrong

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:

Peter Dreier, E.P Clapp Distinguished Professor of Politics and Urban & Environmental Policy Program director, Occidental College, (323) 259-2913, dreier@oxy.edu

Christopher Martin, professor of journalism, UNI Department of Communication Studies,
(319) 273-7155, martinc@uni.edu

Note: Read “Manipulating the Public Agenda: Why ACORN Was in the News, and What the News Got Wrong” online at www.uepi.oxy.edu/acornstudy

Accurate reporting sidelined as mainstream media repeats allegations of Republican Party operatives and politicians

Recently released study finds widespread inaccuracy in the reporting of an alleged “voter fraud” scandal involving ACORN

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa — An independent study by two prominent academics, released this week, found repetition of unverified allegations and distortions was the rule in national reporting of a purported “voter fraud” scandal involving the community organizing group ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) during the 2008 presidential campaign.

“Big Insurance – Sick of It” protests nationwide

Friends and Colleagues:

The movement for health care reform is picking up steam. Today,  Health Care for America Now (HCAN) is sponsoring protests in about 150 cities, targeting 3 major insurance companies, including the nation’s largest – WellPoint  — an arm of Blue Cross-Blue Shield.   The protest messages: “Big Insurance: Sick of It” and “If the Insurance Companies Win, You Lose.”

I’ve written an article for Huffington Post  about today’s day of protest and about WellPoint, one of the poster children for health care reform.

If you want to find out where and when a protest will occur in your city, or get emails about future protest events, go to the HCAN website.

In the next few days  and weeks , I will post pieces on the other major health insurance companies,  as the protests escalate around the country, focusing public attention on the efforts by the insurance industry to thwart real reform and wield influence to get conservative Democrats in Congress to oppose Obama’s plan.

A victory for real health care reform is possible. Join up with HCAN – a broad coalition of community, religious, labor, MoveOn, and other groups – to shift the political momentum for a progressive solution to the health care crisis.

facts & figures for parking day LA tomorrow-

In honor and anticipation of Parking Day L.A. tomorrow, here are some facts about parks & parking and cars in our city and region.

• Only 34 percent of children in the City of Los Angeles live within walking distance of a public park.  See the Trust for Public Land’s Parks for People campaign for reports and maps of park distributions in L.A. County.
• There are 6500 miles of streets and 800 miles of alleys in the City of Los Angeles, but just 134 miles of bike paths and 321 miles of bike lanes.
• The City of Los Angeles has mandated minimum parking requirements for commercial buildings since 1946, leading to a proliferation of parking lots and increasing the costs of new construction. New housing also has minimum parking requirements.
• In Los Angeles County, there are 7 parking spaces for every registered car.
• 27 freeways and highways criss-cross the County.

Join us in Eagle Rock near the intersection of Eagle Rock and Colorado blvds between 8-3 if you get a chance.

Obama’s speech: “Go Out And Make Me Do It” – Huffington Post

Friends and Colleagues:

I’ve posted this column, “Go Out and Make Me Do It,” on Huffington Post  last night. It is an analysis of Obama’s speech on health insurance reform. I said it was a “call to action,” emphasizing that he opened the door for activists to mount a ground war to take on the insurance industry and push Congress — especially the handful of recalcitrant Democrats – to support a public option. The title is one of my favorite political quotes: FDR’s request, said to activists who lobbied him to be bold, to “go out and make me do it”