This Week's Program: 
Three 10 Minute Talks

Upcoming Events:
Aug 17th: Tom Popp
• AIDS Orphans in Malawi

Aug 24th:  • Dr. Kathryn Riley - Spinal Health

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To District 5170

rev 1.

Whoever thought politics could be so much fun.  

Today greeters were, VAL CARPENTER, PAT GRAY and KIM COPHER  

PP DICK HENNING began the festivities leading us in the righteous version of the Pledge.  We didn’t mean to rush JOHN SYLVESTER, but he eventually got off a peppy, “You Are My Sunshine.”  Seems more appropriate several weeks ago when it was 100°.  PP ROY LAVE gave a very thoughtful Thought for the Day that included a number of “Why do xxxx” like, well, this one wasn’t in his list, but mine:  “Why do we need to put “No Dog Poop” signs all over our yard?”  There was a time when people were more considerate of their neighbors.  Go figure.

PE JOHN MOSS gave Visiting Rotarians a chance to introduce themselves.  We still need a reminder:  Visiting Rotarians get a “Hi whatever their name is, like “Hi Bob!” and Visitors get a welcoming applause.  Remember, our welcome to our guests should be generous and “welcoming.” The program today generated a lot of guests, and visiting Rotarians.  8 or 9 in all. 

President SAM teased us with the thought that one of the un-filled program days might be filled with a Joke Day.  I personally think that would be a memorable program, not necessarily good, just memorable. 

IMPORTANT: Our 2006-2007 Handbook is moving rapidly to the printer.  You have been contacted by a member of the Handbook Committee asking you to verify your information in the handbook. 

PLEASE respond to that request.  If you have not been contacted, it perhaps was shunted into your SPAM folder, and deleted by you without looking at it.  In that case it is up to you to contact JERRY TOMANEK directly with your information.  We will go to press in a few weeks with the information we have.

There was some discussion, although not much, about the thought that we should leave birth year and birth city off the information in the handbook because of the increasing incidents of Identity Theft in our area.  Did you know that that is the #1 crime in Los Altos?  Perhaps we could have another program on how to prevent being a victim of that crime, and what we need to do to determine if we were victimized, and what we should do if we were.  Maybe replace Joke Day with that.  It certainly is no laughing matter.

But to the point, no one really expressed a strong desire to have the information removed from the Handbook, although a number of individuals have already omitted it in the past.  I just thought they didn’t want people to know how old they were, but now I see the point. 

If you want either of these pieces of information to be removed from your listing, contact JERRY TOMANEK via email and ask it to be removed.  Contrary to Pres SAM’s request, we will not put Social Security Numbers in the Handbook.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

August 19, District 5170 will present a class on Sexual Harassment at the Double Tree in San Jose from 10 to 1.  Contrary again to Pres SAM’s comments, this will not be “How To” but rather a “How to Prevent” class.

CLYDE NOEL left a yellow brochure on the tables today to tout the upcoming LEAD class series.  LEAD stands for Leadership Education ADvancement Program, and is sponsored by the Los Altos Community Foundation   Further information can be found on the Los Altos Community Foundation at: http://www.losaltoscf.org.  The actual application is at:  http://www.losaltoscf.org/lead_application.doc

EXTORTION MASTER: Our own Sergeant-at-Arms, HUGH RIDDELL’s theme for the extortion part of the meeting was “High School Exit Exam” so as not to embarrass us.  So much for that.  Of the 8 or 9 questions he asked a number of very unlucky people, I could not answer any of them.  I had a better chance when it was multiple choice, but not much. JACK KELLY, BOB ADAMS, PAT FARRELL, PHIL ROSE and JOHN SYLVESTER were some of the unlucky.  I suspect I would still be in high school, taking the exam for the 49^th time. 

PROGRAM FOR THE DAY:  With the Toastmaster’s timer primed, PE JOHN MOSS introduced PP ROY LAVE for presentation by both candidates for DISTRICT ATTORNEY.  At the onset I was wondering why this race was important.  Does anyone really care about who the DA is?  After all, from the books I read, and the TV shows, the DA is usually a political hack in the pocket of the mayor, and work of the office is done by his/her assistants, Assistant DAs, and Procesicutors.  Right? 

WRONG.  From the presentations, I see that the DA really orchestrates the direction of the Criminal Justice system, who is prosecuted,  and who is bargained out.  Candidates who lean towards ‘bargaining’ over ‘prosecution’ might be attractive to some as saving taxpayers monies, while others see may see it as ‘justice denied.’  We have all heard of extreme examples of each failing.  How about the individual who has a third strike for stealing a loaf of bread and is sent to jail for life?  Or how about the 3 time child molester getting off with probation and an admonition to ‘seek professional help.?

We had two candidates today, Chief Assistant DA – Karyn Sinunu and Superior Court Judge Dolores Carr.  I need to be a bit careful here.  In order to get the complete comparison between the two candidates, it would be best if you had attended the meeting so aptly set up by ROY LAVE and JOHN MOSS.  Both candidates spoke of the similarities and the differences between each other.  I probably would do an injustice to both by trying to summarize their presentations and responses to questions afterwards. 

So I will direct you to each of their websites (in alphabetical order)  www.judgecarrforda.com and http://www.sinunu4da.com

But I will say, this is probably an important race, and you should become as informed as you can about the goals and differences that these two candidates possess.  Remember the old adage:  “You have the government that you deserve” (implicit: based on your participation).

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