Kennedy: We Owe it to the Kids-(headline from talk/front page Chico paper)

[fed-up]

mods-the headline of the print copy of the front page is different than what is given for the on line version-I like the front page better!
http://www.chicoer.com/news/frontpage

My 17 YO son and I had the privilege of seeing Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speak at Chico State College last night to a packed house of 1,200 people (mostly middle aged and older adults and not the usual college age crowd). I waited in line to ask him a question after his talk, but he was tired from having had a 4 hour flight delay and then missing the next plane, he arrived at SFO at 4pm and somehow managed to get driven through commute traffic which is hellacious at that hour through the Central Valley arriving in Chico minutes before his talk was to begin at 7:30pm) and the person before me ended up getting to ask the last question. :(

I did get to ask him my question while having my book signed:

What is your opinion on genetically engineered foods?
His reply-"I'm scared of them"

It was a pleasure to watch an articulate, well informed caring person speak about the importance of our environment to our future. He said that:
"Democracy cannot survive without an informed public" and that "80% of Republicans are just Democrats that don't know what's going on"
and that the founders of our country: Jefferson, Madison and Adams believed that
"if uneducated, then you are a threat to democracy"



http://www.chicoer.com/newshome/ci_4456863
During Chico visit, Kennedy talks about environment, government
By MELISSA DAUGHERTY - Staff Writer
Article Launched:10/07/2006 12:15:14 AM PDT

Nothing much was off limits during a Friday evening lecture given by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at Chico State University.
He even hinted at seeking political office.

The 52-year-old attorney and activist told a packed Laxson Auditorium that Americans would soon be answering some serious questions from their children if they didn't start protecting the environment.

...snip

He talked about how pollutants have personally affected his family. Three of his sons have asthma. And 18,000 Americans each year, he said, die from unclean air.

...snip

While a stigma has been attached to the term "environmentalist," Kennedy said there's "nothing radical about clean water and air for our children."


...snip



from the article it appears he did discuss electronic voting issues with reporters before his talk, but that was not part of his presentation to the crowd.

additional note, the article states he arrived by limousine, but it was not one of the traditional ones, I didn't check the make/model, but it looked just like a regular mid-sized black sedan (this info included for those that may want to bash his method of transportation)

[mod mom]

1. RFK Jr is a hero! The fact that he and Mike Papantonio are willing to put

their name to the election fraud speaks volumes to it's validity.

[rodeodance]

2. this is true public service (vs. W style)

[fed-up]

3. one person asking a question stated she would walk precincts for him

if he decided to run for office

I was going to say I would volunteer to be a precinct captain if his position was against genetically modified crops/foods if I had gotten to ask my question at the microphone.

So far he and Kucinich are the only two candidates to come out against GMOs...

[ourbluenation]

4. I miss Chico. I'd move back there in a red hot second.

Is he touring Nor Cal? I'm just a few hours away in Mendo county - the first county in the US to ban GMO's. :)

[fed-up]

8. I have no clue what his schedule is-sorry n/t

[Anwen]

5. I missed it!

I live in Chico and sadly didn't know that he was speaking here, or I definitely would have gone. I'm glad to hear he attracted a large crowd, though!

[fed-up]

7. Chico State is doing a great series of speakers on Sustainability-schedule

would love to meet another DUer-stop by the Flea Market-I am "the book lady" by the back door

http://www.csuchico.edu/upe/performance/index.php?page=on_the_creek

NEW LECTURE SERIES THIS FALL DEDICATED TO SUSTAINABILITY AT CSU, CHICO – "ON THE CREEK"

CHICO, Calif. - In an effort to continue to educate the community and to highlight the issues that matter most in today's world, The Office of the Provost at California State University, Chico and Chico Performances are introducing the On the Creek Lecture Series this September.

The lecture series will explore the sustainability issues that affect our world today by featuring reputable and knowledgeable speakers on environmental issues, and government and corporate responsibility. The featured speakers for the 2006-2007 lecture series are: Joel Bakan, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Mike Madison, Denise Low-Weso and Frances Moore Lappé .

Admission to all of these lectures, except for Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is free of charge.

The third speaker in the On the Creek Lecture Series is Mike Madison. Madison will be speaking on Monday, Oct. 16, 2006 at Rowland-Taylor Recital Hall. Madison says, "Although predicting the future is often a murky and doubtful business, there are reasonable ways to go about it. One needs to apply the techniques and principles of ecology to analysis of a household, bioregion, or a nation. These results can then be projected forward." Madison uses this approach to speculate on the state of the Chico bioregion in the year 2020. This event is free and open to the public.

Fourth in the lecture series is Denise Low-Weso who will be speaking on Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2007 at 7:30 p.m. at Rowland-Taylor Recital Hall. Low-Weso's lecture focuses on models of global warming and its implications indicate the next century will be one of massive change for the earth. With the realization that living space, water, agricultural land and energy sources are finite, Low-Weso believes that it is time to embrace long-term sustainability envisionings of the Cheyenne and Indigenous American paradigms and call back the poet into Plato's Republic, allowing language to become a vehicle of sustainability. This lecture is also free and open to the public.

The final lecture in the On the Creek Lecture Series will be from Frances Moore Lappé on Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2007 at 7:30 p.m. at Laxson Auditorium. In her 3 million copy bestseller Diet for a Small Planet, Lappé forever changed our thoughts about the politics of food and hunger. In her lecture, Lappé discusses how citizens here and around the world are discovering the power within themselves to act on democracy's core values and find solutions to our toughest problems. Lappé has published 14 books including Hope's Edge, 2002 winner of the Nautilus award. She has received 17 honorary doctorates and the Right to Livelihood Award, is a cofounder of Food First, the American News Service and the Small Planet Institute, and has appeared on numerous programs, including the Today Show and C-Span's Washington Journal. Lappé will be signing books after her lecture. This event is free, however a ticket is required for admittance. Tickets are available at the University Box Office prior to the lecture.

Purchase or pick up advance tickets for Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Joel Bakan and Frances Moore Lappé in Chico at University Box Office (898-6333, W. 2nd and Normal). Tickets for the Robert F. Kennedy Jr. lecture are also available at Terrace Pharmacy on Longfellow Avenue or in Paradise at The House of Color. For disability related accommodations, call 898-4325.

[JMDEM]

6. Damn... I miss Chico too

I lived there for 10 years, and taught at the college for 3 years until the Enron scandal bankrupted the state and they had to lay off all teachers without a PhD.

Have a Pale Ale for me, will you? I can't even get it where I live now.

[fed-up]

9. Sorry, I don't drink beer-Chico is a great place to live-right now I am

trying to sell my house in the canyon so I can move into town, get out of debt and have more time for activism...