DNC Day 3

Add to our group list (from the first posting): Fidel Acevedo, Sylvia (don't
know her last name, will fill in later), Stan Merriman, Mary Kay (again
not sure of her last name), and of course our own Anna DelPrado
(our group's official National Delegate to the convention).

Pretty busy day today. Helped the volunteers in the office by
running down the street (3 blocks) and buying groceries

Good news: the volunteer staff area was so busy they didn't
have time to go get food.

Bad news; the volunteer staff area was so busy they didn't
have time to go get food.

They felt *much* better when I brought them goodies; they put together a shopping
list which was so big I had to borrow a cart from the store and push it the three
blocks to our dorm.

Felt weird pushing a cart down a Boston street (got a few strange looks), and
the staff got a chuckle out of seeing me come through the door with
a cart .. but they were very happy to have sustenance and seemed to have
their spirits lifted by same :-)

Main point is: the spirits here are very high, and Dot Maven (head of the
Kucinich campaign nationally) gave a very inspiring speech to all of
us (to be passed on to all of you out there!) that we're a part of a group
that won't go away and will do *anything* reasonable to get work done.

And it doesn't hurt that we (the Texas Delegation) are making our presence
felt in many ways. One high point (of many) today is that we attended the
Boston Social Forum (see http://www.bostonsocialforum.org/news.php)
which was an incredible gathering of all sorts of folks.

Dennis gave two speeches there (unfortunately I missed both due to
my helping out "at home"), but most of the rest of our group heard
him live).

He was asked what he "got" from endorsing Kerry ... the answer
he gave (I'm told) is that Kerry told him that "The White House
will be a Department of Peace" (apologies in advance if I'm misquoting
Dennis here; others in our group will let me know if I'm
quoting inaccurately).

He explicitly acknowledged the efforts of the Kucnich Texas group (YAY!)
in getting the Department of Peace resolution passed on the floor
of the Texas Democratic Convention. Many people I spoke with made
a point of thanking us for our efforts (Texas).

Another interesting group that I hope to start coordinating with
is the "Backbone Campaign" (see http://www.backbonecampaign.org/).

Idea is to give awards ("backbone awards") for those politicians
who have shown a backbone (i.e., taken a risk) in supporting
Progressive stances. The "good" BackBone Award is a nicely-designed
plaque with an animal skeleton mounted on it.

On the flip side is a "BackBone Citation" which is given to
those politicians who have either backed down from committments
to Progressive Causes or have ignored same.

Apparently this campaign has been getting noticed and has actually
achieved some minor (at this point) successes by chiding
(mild term here) politicians in the Northeast via these
notices.

Along with the awards and citations, the group is keeping track
of "BackBone Quotient" for a (currently small) area of the
country, but wants to get other parts of the US to participate.

Lastly, the main spokesperson for the group (or at least a major
voice) is (I kid you not) a guy named "Bill Moyers" (yes, that's
his REAL name).

I got to speak with him for about half and hour this evening
and he admitted that leaving messages from Bill Moyers to
various groups usually gets a call back ASAP :0

Imagine getting this going tied to a KPFT program!

Boggles the mind, eh?

As expected, we're all having fun, working hard
at networking, and bragging on ALL of us back home
as to how wonderful it is to be part of such a
hardworking and caring group (yes, that is YOU
who are reading this).

And I'll say again how proud I am to be in the
company of the "Texas Contingent" from all over the state :0

On a much more somber note: the security here is *incredibly* tight.

Some points made at our Volunteer Coordination meeting tonite:

* Interstate 93 (about 10 miles' worth) will be completely
closed from Monday through Thursday (it runs within a very
short distance of the convention center).
* Manhole covers will be welded shut in some areas.
* Random searches will be conducted on all trains (statistically
every 8th passenger), and passengers with "large bags" (ill-defined)
will be asked to be searched. If a person refuses to be searched,
that person will be kicked off the train and arrested for trespassing
if he/she refuses to leave the train.
* We were strongly advised to stay away from the area titled the "Free Speech
Zone", a fairly small (25,000 sq. ft from one source) that has a 12-foot
wire fence with barbed wire at the top.

It also features two *very* small entrances (only two), and will have a
covering on the top (tarp or whatever) ostensibly for weather but
coincidentally completely opaque from any kind of surveillance
from the air.

Again, we were encouraged for safety reasons NOT to use this
area (only "free speech zone" anywhere near the convention center), but
of course we were not ORDERED not to use the space (yes, the campaign
is again showing its principles here).
* We were told that there definitely would be / are snipers posted on the roofs
of various buildings (no specifics, but I'm not sure we have any at this
point).

Sorta scary ... I'm definitely *not* planning to take any particular risks
while out and about.

I think we'd all appreciate a bit of communication to
whatever Higher Power you utilize to have us all return home safe
and sound.

The security atmosphere reminds me, though, of
the recent Mark Fiore FLASH animation entitled
"Remain Calm" (Minister of Fear)" at

http://www.markfiore.com/animation/fear.html

More later ... and I have about 150 pictures (digital) so far that
I'm trying to figure out how to post :-)