Had a fantastic experience here in Washington DC for the Tobacco End Game Summit. I found my people from every corner of the USA and from several other countries trying to save lives by fighting an industry that has the PRIVILEGE to PEDDLE POISON. Where is the outrage at 8 MILLION preventable deaths a year?
I took a few other days here in DC to see museums and I got a start by going to the National Gallery. What a gem, and what a reminder of how beautifully this French-inspired city was laid out. I was so reminded of wonderful times in Paris when I sat in the drizzle on the National Mall. I saw incredible works and experienced zen in the halls of this most gorgeous building as well. I’m sure the pictures won’t do it justice.
Americans have so much to be proud of in our society with the right context put to the art of our culture, and that was very clear in the depictions of black and indigenous Americans, even though the gallery was very heavily European-influenced. Reading the fine print and discovering what is behind art history reveals so much. I hope to see a variety of museums while I’m here.
Feel free to check out the Q2 issue of the Glen Cove Community Association newsletter for our neighborhood. I write a President’s Letter article, but this quarter I had to include the sad story of the fire on January 18. I’m still proud of how professional our team delivers this online periodical each time. See Slideshow version here.
Trying to enjoy yet another sci-fi series (3 Body Problem) and there is CONSTANT smoking in the 2024 scenes. How many tobacco executives produced this? It’s disgusting, distracting, unrealistic and of course like in the Avatar movie, these are PhD’s smoking? What does that tell us? There’s nothing redeemable or necessary about these characters smoking of course. It’s all product placement. Tobacco truthteller organizations have noticed a huge uptick in smoking in movies and shows. It’s intentionally put in there as it always has been by one industry trying to sell poison. We need to make this outrage public. It was very easy to find an article on this: https://mashable.com/article/3-body-problem-smoking
Happy to be fostering a vision-impaired dog, Bonnie, that was in the HSNB shelter for about a year. Those who know me know I have a soft spot for blind dogs like the two I recently lost among the five that tragic day. Bonnie seems to have accepted me into her fold and her love of other dogs will hopefully soon be reciprocated by Snoopy, who is clear on his boundaries, but who is also more than tolerating her!
There was a short Smoking Ordinance Workshop for Retailer “education.” It was presented by City Attorney’s Office of the City of Vallejo on the forthcoming Tobacco Retail License (“TRL”).
It’s important to me to document the activism being done in fighting for tobacco control in my city. This is a video and presentation intended for tobacco retailers in Vallejo about the forthcoming TRL our coalition has been fighting for. For the record no tobacco retailers showed up (there are well over 100 in our city of 125,000. There were two callers on Zoom, but I believe they were both members of our coalition.
At the end of this presentation, you will hear me ask a question about the criminal enforcement portion of this proposed TRL. For the record, I object to the criminalization of clerks in these situations and intend to make that point to City Council when this is first read, among other things where I feel the TRL falls short. I also feel strongly that the city MUST mandate at least one yearly check for all tobacco retailers for this ordinance to have any teeth, regardless of their possibly having to get creative to hire a non-profit organization or someone to assist with it if the staffing is inadequate in certain years. Furthermore, I believe a yearly report of what was and what was not done must be presented publicly to City Council so that there is accountability regardless of where this ordinance goes.
A foster home was secured for this little lovebug brindle Frenchie with the blue-green eyes. I named her Freckles. There was no microchip (until the one put in today) nor identifying collar. The collar she had on was getting too tight anyway, as she’s definitely still growing. I’m sure she will get great care, a consistent diet, and be highly sought after. I fear she was stolen from someone and may have been rejected for breeding due to her deformed ear, but who knows. I’m glad I got to spend a few days with her until I was able to put her cute little pudgy body into the safe arms of a staff member at HSNB. She gives great kisses and will hopefully have a very long life. I’m just glad she’s not in the street and at risk of getting harmed anymore. She’s such a tender puppy and trusts everyone. In some of these pictures, you can see her on the backyard “hillside” behind Snoopy and me.
We had a hybrid meeting in Fairfield, California the day I moved into my rental (so I was exhausted), but this was important for me to attend in person. My introduction of the keynote speakers starts at 00:21:45. I was happy to have a hand in suggesting that we do this as a “End Game” theme. The awards are given at 2:29:00.
Snoopy and I got approved to rent a house nearby in the Westpointe development of Glen Cove neighborhood in Vallejo starting next week. I’m glad I got approved, but of course it’s bittersweet under the circumstances. Having just become president of the community association for a second term, it made sense that I stay in the neighborhood, and my own home will be accessible for me to tend to the garden. I can also check mail with a modest bike ride. Thank you for all of the support my communities have given me. There is a lot to rebuild, but I feel weird asking for things. Last night I got a whole seven hours of sleep for the first time in two weeks since this nightmare began.
This e-card from fellow tobacco control activists really blew me away with its sweetness. It’s certainly nice to get such warm kudos for something one loves doing in otherwise dark times in one’s life. I’m so lucky to have found these volunteering opportunities here in the Bay Area and Solano County given that fighting Big Tobacco has been a passion of mine for decades.
Good job and good publicity for the upcoming Betty White fundraiser for HSNB in today’s Vallejo Times-Herald. Nice to get our picture in the paper from last year’s dinner.
