Location: 10500 Alfred Harrell Highway, Bakersfield, CA

I went out to CALM this morning to get some new pictures of the black bear.  You can see them here or at the MySpace website: profile.myspace.com/stephencoalbear He is a cutie.  No doubt about it.  I also filled out one of their paper ballots to vote for Stephen Coal Bear.

The rest of the park is great as well and for those who haven't been in a while, it's worth the trip.

If you can't make it out there, go to the CALM website and you can print and mail in your ballot from home.www.calmzoo.org

Location: 9000 Ming Avenue #I-4, Bakersfield, CA 93311

Crossposting from Events...

For those of you not familiar with Steven Coal Bear, you can check my previous entries on the left for more.  Stephen is one proposed name for the new black bear out at CALM.  They are having a naming contest for him as a fund raiser and this is a way to hopefully get mor people involved and more attention on the event.

We'll be doing a meeting tonight at 8PM at Russo's at the Marketplace to talk about how to push things to the next level with Stephen Coal Bear.  It should be a fun thing to get in on.  We need all sorts as well, so no matter your field of expertise, your input will be welcome.

Links:  www.calmzoo.org
profiles.myspace.com/stephencoalbear

For those who may have missed it, I posted a brief entry last week on CALM's "Name Our Bear" contest.  http://people.bakersfield.c...


Well, we're taking it to the next level now.

Announcing the launch of Stephen Coal Bear's MySpace page!  http://profile.myspace.com/...

Please take a look at it and let me know if you see anything that should be added or taken away.  And if you have a MySpace account, sign up as a friend!

Doing some searching across the web today I found that CALM is having a name this bear contest.  http://www.calmzoo.org/&nbs... It's a dollar donation to enter, and there seems to be a condition that they want children to enter to win, supported of course by their parents.

I'm a long time supporter of CALM and think they do amazing work.  This contest screams out for a bit of culture jamming.  I called earlier and they seem to want to keep the contest small and local, but a Stephen Colbert contest could bring serious money into a great facility.  What do you all think?  Should we make a bring push to turn this contest into a nationwide effort to get the bear named "Stephen Coal Bear"?

It could turn a 10,000 dollar fundraiser into a 100,000 dollar or more thing.

Gosh, if only he were the smart person he once was.  Is it really 9/11 that made them all nuts or did he really rationally believe things had changed?

It's well and truly over.  I just got done watching a fireworks show over Soldiers' Field from my hotel south of the river in Chicago.  I shook hands with Gen. Wesley Clark and John Edwards.  I met people who are working on progressive causes in a 100 ways in 50 states.  I met Congress people and would be Congress people and will be Congress people.  I sat down for an hour with someone who works for Joe Biden and we talked over drinks about his plans for Iraq, the fate of Kirkuk and how an independent Kurdistan might or might not cause problems in Turkey and Russia.  I saw good friends and made good friends and from the guy who builds adobe houses in New Mexico to the geneticist from Menlo Park, we talked about America.

The thing that touches me most is that over and over again were people in front me who sacrifice their time and energy for their country.  Very few of the people who came get paid for what they do and yet they are everywhere doing what all Americans, regardless of ideology, should be doing.  One person that I met had had a bad experience with the Red Cross while he was working on Katrina recovery efforts and is launching a website to help bridge the gaps he saw there.  Another person put together a group of people to take ideas from bloggers and turn it into legislation that can be passed into law.  Some people simply knock on doors to talk face to face with their neighbors about issues and candidates that inspire them.  But they all are willing to get up, get out and do something for their country.

The panels and discussions were great as well.  Four people talked about food for an hour and a half.  They talked about how small farmers have been hurt because the nearest USDA inspected slaughterhouse closed down and now they have to move their cattle 90 miles instead of 30 miles to be butchered and that that made the difference in being able to stay in business or not.  They talked about the growing monoculture of crops in America and how that makes them (and us) vulnerable to pests and diseases.  We talked about schools used to have kitchens that made food and now they have microwaves.  We talked about those same schools and how at the same time they are turning out kids who can't read, they are also turning out kids who have never had a fresh meal and have no relationship with food other than to open the box.

The Teamsters invited us to a BBQ.  I got to talk to guy named Jim who has been driving a cement truck on the south side of Chicago for 15 years.  He asked me what a blog was and I gave him a web address on my card so he'd know where to go and he'd have a person he could call or email if he had any questions.

I saw people from all walks of life in all stages of involvement with the political process. Some people came from Downtown Chicago and at least one came over an ocean to be here.

The biggest problem with summing up Yearly Kos is that there is no single convention that can be addressed.  Every person walked away with a wholly different experience, that was made up by the chair you chose in the meeting you chose.  In the end, it's not about seeing Clinton or Edwards, Obama or Richardson or even getting to see Gravel. 

It was about about who stood next to you.

Because if you're part of the movement that is building, these are the people who will be standing with you for the next 30 years.  We may never meet again after these four days in Chicago, but each of us will remember that all of us are out there, all doing some part, small or large, for the country we love.

Yearly Kos (yKos) is a yearly conference of the online Democratic activist community that hosts politicians, writers, journalists, bloggers, and activists from every all sorts of liberal and progressive groups.

I got in to Chicago late last night and met up with a ton of friends from all over the country.  The registration desk had already closed, so I spent time catching up, having a few drinks (the Hyatt apparently can't get Coke, and Rum and Pepsi isn't quite cutting it), and then trundling off to bed.

This morning meant breakfast at 6:30 (4:30 California time) and registration just after 7.  Another cup of joe and off to see General Wesley Clark give an electrifying speech at 8am.  If you want to get a look at the thinking of the Former NATO Supreme Allied Commander on Iraq, you've got to watch this video.  http://www.yearlykosconvent...

He certainly challenged this administration but he also made sure that he understood and would not back down from his beliefs that we have ongoing concerns in Iraq and the Middle East.  He spoke warmly of Gen. Petraeus who has a mission and will do everything he can with the orders he has.  While my personal beliefs have not always coincided with the outline put forward by General Clark today, I am certainly not in any place to even suggest that my knowledge of the situation is better than his.  I'll write more at length about what he had to say in the coming days and weeks, but you should invest the time to hear his words for yourself.

After that, it was time for some panels and workshops.  The schedule is here: http://www.yearlykosconvent...

I attended a group of workshops around nuts and bolts campaigning, messaging, polling and ballot initiatives.  What is really fun is getting together with others at the end of the day and hearing about what is going on in other sessions.  One of the beautiful things about the way the blogging community works is that no one person is expected to know everything since there is frankly so much to know.  We have people from all walks of life here and it is really impressive.  I've had offhand conversations with a geneticist, and full time blogger, a grad student in Human Interface Technology, a stay-at-home mom and a programmer for Microsoft.  Sunday, a group of the people who are in the construction trades are getting together for breakfast, so I can't wait to meet all of them.

Tomorrow promises to be a fun day as well.  All of the Democratic Presidential candidates will be here and I hope to get some good pictures to share with you all.  I'll be going to the main panel where they all speak and then off to a "breakout" session with John Edwards.  He's an underdog right now, but he's fighting for the underdogs as well, so I think he's in a good spot.

It's 1:30 am here now and Chuck Schumer is kicking of the day in 6 and a half hours, so it's time for me to get a bit of shut eye.  For those of you who want to check it out but can't make it, the convention is being hosted in Second Life as well:  http://www.yearlykosconvent...