The Commonwealth October/November 2011

WHAT WOULD LIBERTARIANS DO? pg 10

Jose Antonio Vargas: IMMIGRANT TALE pg 16

BURNING MAN’S LARRY HARVEY TALKS pg 48

Dr. Gloria Duffy on PICNIC TIME pg 54

Commonwealth The

THE MAGAZINE OF THE COMMONWEALTH CLUB OF CALIFORNIA

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OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2011

putting you face-to-face with today’s thought leaders

The Commonwealth Club

Maryles Casto 4 Questions with

Maryles Casto is founder and president of Casto, The Travel Company. She is also a longtime active member and supporter of The Commonwealth Club and is currently vice chair of the Club’s Board of Governors.

We spoke with her to find out why she thinks it’s important to give of her time and money to the Club.

Q

You’re not simply a member of the Club, but have been actively involved in programs and committees, including the Board of Governors. Why did you become involved?

A

Why shouldn’t I be? Why would you want to be a member of an organization if you can’t participate fully?

We’re all volunteers, and we all feel like the reason we were chosen to be on the board is because, through our capacity of relationships, or giving, or knowledge, together we can make an organization much better. I can’t imagine why you shouldn’t get involved.

Q

There are many organizations out there that do great things. Why The Commonwealth Club? What inspired you to become a donor for the Club?

A

I don’t love them as much as I love the Club. I have limited time to allocate for my community involvement, because I’m running a company and I have a family. So I choose the

boards I’m on; The Commonwealth Club is one of them. That’s my passion.

Q

Why is it important to donate and support organizations such as the Commonwealth Club?

A

So that the Club can continue, and so people can continue enjoying what the Club has to offer. The only way the Club can do that is to get the financial resources that it needs. When people participate and through their donations, it makes the Club continue to be healthy.

We need participation, not just presence. Financial support will help the Club. That’s about all I can say: Give, Give, Give.

Q

What would you say to someone who is considering becoming a donor to the Club?

A

Don’t think about it.

Sit down, write the check. There are so many benefits: meeting wonderful speakers; learning from experts on every subject you can imagine; meeting interesting, vibrant members of the community. We’re asking for your support because you can help us to make it happen. Your efforts will make Club programs a reality. Whatever you give to the Club, you will receive in return in the form of wonderful memories and experiences. The Club has made a difference in my life, and I hope it makes a difference in yours.

Inside The Commonwealth Vo lu m e 1 0 5 , NO . 0 6

o c to b e r / n ov e m b e r 2011

page 6

Young Republicans “If the Republican Party were growing in other areas, maybe we could afford to lose millennials. But Gallup did this very damning study: Between 2001 and 2009, Republican identification shrunk in 21 of 25 or 26 areas.”

–Margaret Hoover

Photos by Ed Ritger

Features

Departments

Events

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25 Program Information 26 Eight Weeks Calendar

Democrat vs. Democrat Joan Williams detects a problem with Democratic “messaging”

Maryles Casto

4

13 The New Domino Theory A panel discusses the Arab Spring

16 The Immigrant Challenge Jose Antonio Vargas fesses up

Editor’s Note Immigration After Vargas; an interview with an immigration lawyer

10 The Libertarian Option Reason magazine’s editors Nick Gillespie and Matt Welch

Donor Profile

5

The Commons How important is communication speed? Two approaches

54 InSight Dr. Gloria C. Duffy First Annual Dear Mad’m Picnic

Events from October 3 to December 12, 2011

28 Program Listings 35 Language Classes 47 Late-breaking Events About Our Cover: The major parties are both in turmoil and voter affiliations are in flux. Conservative Margaret Hoover talks about attracting a new generation of voters to her GOP.

18 Those Who Need It Most: Failed by Health Care High-cost beneficiaries

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48 The Match that Started the Fire

Burning Man founder Larry Harvey

52 Celebrate Bastille Day Novelist Cara Black

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Editor’s Note

Commonwealth The

Business offices

Immigration After Vargas

The Commonwealth 595 Market St., 2nd Floor San Francisco, CA 94131 feedback@commonwealthclub.org

John Zipperer

VP, MEDIA & EDITORIAL John Zipperer

Vice President, Media & Editorial

SENIOR Editor Sonya Abrams

Editorial Interns Ellen Cohan

John Dangaran

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS William F. Adams Beth Byrne Ed Ritger

follow us online facebook.com/thecommonwealthclub twitter.com/cwclub commonwealthclub.org/blog commonwealthclub.org

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PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID at San Francisco, CA. Subscription rate $34 per year included in annual membership dues.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Commonwealth, The Commonwealth Club of California, 595 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94105-2805.

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Copyright © 2010 The Commonwealth Club of California.

Tel: (415) 597-6700 Fax: (415) 597-6729 E-mail: feedback@commonwealthclub.org EDITORIAL POLICY FOR PROGRAM TRANSCRIPTS: The Commonwealth magazine seeks to cover a range of programs in each issue. Program transcripts and question and answer sessions are routinely condensed due to space limitations. Hear full-length recordings of events online at commonwealthclub.org/archive or contact Club offices to order a compact disc.

ADVERtising information Mary Beth Cerjan Development Manager (415) 869-5919 mbcerjan@commonwealthclub.org

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W

hen Jose Antonio Vargas spoke to The Commonwealth Club about his announcement that he is an undocumented immigrant (see page 16), many people wondered if he was making a big deportation target out of himself.

I spoke with Lavi Soloway, a Los Angeles-based immigration attorney with Masliah & Soloway, PC (masliah-soloway. com). Soloway also co-founded Immigration Equality, which works to get gay and lesbian immigrants and their partners the same immigration rights as heterosexuals, and he works with stopthedeportations.com, which – well, the name says it all.

Photo by Klaus Enrique Photography

ASSOCIATE ART DIRECTOR Steven Fromtling

ZIPPERER: The Obama administration announced a partial end to deportations for some people. What does it mean?

SOLOWAY: They announced the formation of an interagency working group to take the entire caseload of pending cases to determine if they met the criteria for prosecutorial discretion.

What they’re doing now is something unprecedented. On Attorney Lavi Soloway June 17, they issued a memo that instructed immigration and customs enforcement attorneys and deportation officers to exercise discretion and gave them very detailed guidelines on how to do that. They determined it would be better not to leave those caseby-case determinations solely in the hands [of those officers] but also to implement a system-wide effort that will hopefully bring more uniformity to these decisions.

ZIPPERER: Is this a significant development, or is it just bureaucratic detail?

SOLOWAY: I think it’s a very significant development. If they accomplish it, it will take a large portion of the people facing deportation cases – somewhere between a third and half of all pending cases – and would close [them] out; they close the proceedings, so they no longer continue to seek the deportation. Of course if they commit a crime, the deportation proceedings can be reopened.

ZIPPERER: Journalist Jose Antonio Vargas recently publicly identified himself as a gay undocumented immigrant. Do you think he will be deported under these new rules?

SOLOWAY: Vargas is an undocumented immigrant. What is the likelihood that he would be prosecuted for deportation? I think since June 17, if Vargas meets the criteria set out in the memo, and I think it’s clear that he does, it’s very unlikely that he’s going to be considered a priority for deportation.

ZIPPERER: Vargas admitted having a driver’s license secured by a stolen Social Security number.

He has also admitted having to tell a number of lies so that he could get along in his career. Will that be an impediment in any possible defense against government deportation or prosecution?

SOLOWAY: None of us can actually know, when judgment day comes for him, how those things will be weighted, but I think there’s a tendency in the larger population to not understand what the life of an undocumented alien is. This is not meant to apologize for any lawbreaking, but we have millions of people driving cars in the United States with documents they shouldn’t have.That is the reality, and we have created this reality with our broken immigration system. People have to feed themselves, house themselves, clothe themselves.

ZIPPERER: President Obama has stated that he wants to move toward major immigration reform.

What are the prospects for this happening?

SOLOWAY: I see the prosecutorial discretion announcement as in some ways unrelated to the administration’s strong desire to see comprehensive immigration reform. What’s happened here is that the executive branch has found a way to do its job more efficiently, to use the limited resources of immigration customs and enforcement to remove these individuals who are a threat or a danger to our country. ... To the extent that it makes a lower priority of cases that involve family unification and other humanitarian issues, I believe that also achieves the goals that have already been set by Congress, but it doesn’t give those people any automatic eligibility for benefits or hope for adjustment of status to permanent residence. We must have major legislative reform, or we are always going to be talking about the endgame: Who decides who will be deported?

octo be r/nov embe r 2011

The

Commons

Talk of the Club Photo courtesy of purplemattfish / Flickr

The Speed of Thought Which is better: Fast or slow communication?

I

n an escalating competition between people emphasizing experience vs. thought, we notice that there is a renewed focus on the role that time plays in communication.

For people seeking the exhilaration of rapid-fire ideas, the Club’s Inforum staff has put together an intriguing event on October 3, to be held at the Levi’s Auditorium in San Francisco. It will be the first Commonwealth Club use of a format originated in Japan called Pecha Kucha. Called “In 6 Minutes, 40 Seconds: How to Design a Sustainable Future,” the program will feature a number of thought leaders pitching their ideas for a better world in presentations of 20 images, giving no image more than 20 seconds.

On the other end of the scale is a push to slow down communication.

Granta magazine editor John Freeman

published a “slow communication” manifesto two years ago. In an essay in The Wall Street Journal, Freeman wrote, “[N]ot all judgments benefit from a short frame of reference. ... We need time in order to prop­erly consider the effect of what we say upon others. We need time in order to grasp the political and professional ramifica­tions of our typed correspondence. We need time to shape and design and filter our words so that we say exactly what we mean. Communicating at great haste hones our utterances down to instincts and impulses that until now have been held back or channeled more carefully.”

There are, in fact, multiple manifestos for the evolving slow communication movement. A new one that recently came to our attention is posted on

Blind Item

Can’t Get Away from Those Oil Sands

Singing a happy tune

We’re ground zero for your oil sands pipeline news

W

W

e hear that a CEO of a certain big-name tech company was congratulating his staff on their strong business performance when he shared some praise from a famous friend.

The CEO ran into a well-known singer at an event, where the musician told him how impressed he was to see The Commonwealth Club represented in the tech company’s client list. In fact, he thought “it was great.”

“Who has The Commonwealth Club as an account?” the CEO asked his sales staff. “Good job!”

So our rep got a feather in his cap, though it remains to be seen if we’ll get a discount the next time we do business with that company.

babeler.com, and it seeks to commit followers to thoughtful written and spoken communication, so people have the time to “draft, redraft, think and rethink any communication before sending.”

Maybe Mahatma Gandhi was the original slow movement founder when he said, “There is more to life than just increasing its speed.”

The Club was again in the thick of hen Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited the Club in it on August 30, when Dalton hosted late 2010, she was asked by a panel that discussed the oil sands Climate One Director Greg Dalton about project. The energy executives and U.S. approval for a conenvironmentalists in the troversial pipeline that Reporters were program explicated both would bring fuel to the of the controversy called away from sides U.S. from Canadian oil for the large crowd and the pipeline sands. She answered numerous members of the press in attendance. that the pipeline was program to The people who weren’t likely to be approved, report on a there, though, included because the U.S. needpipeline problem. some reporters who had ed old-style fuel even to change their plans at as it pursued policies the last minute; they were called away to foster greener energy alternatives. to cover a gas leak in some fuel lines in Her response sparked a minor kerConcord, California. fuffle on Capitol Hill, with members of More proof that often The CommonCongress accusing the administration wealth Club is nothing if not timely. of prematurely having made up its mind. octo b e r/no v em b e r 2011

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Young Rep The Socially Liberal, Fiscally Co 6

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Margaret Hoover, the great granddaughter of the president she calls the first “millennial,” makes the case for a broad and tolerant GOP coalition. Excerpt from “Margaret Hoover: A New Generation of Conservatives and the Future of the Republican Party,” July 26, 2011.

Margaret Hoover Contributor, Fox News; Author, American Individualism: How a New Generation of Conservatives Can Save the Republican Party

W

hen you look at the demographic data [for] the 30-and-under generation, they are not Republicans.

The Republican Party is at risk of losing a rising generation of Americans to Democratic and independent voter rolls for the rest of their lives.

The millennials are 30 and under. They were born at the beginning of the Reagan era through the end of the Clinton presidency. They are the largest generation in American history. There are 17 million more millennials than there are baby boomers. It should come as no surprise: They made the difference in Barack Obama’s election, and they are not Republican.

Why is this urgent? Political identity and partisan identity take on the characteristics of cement over time. It starts soft and then it solidifies. They voted for John Kerry in ’04; they voted for Barack Obama in ’08. Republicans, if we’re serious, have 16 months to make inroads with this generation, or we risk losing them.

Now, it will come as no surprise that I find

(Continued on page 20)

publicans onservative GOP of Tomorrow octo b e r/no v em b e r 2011

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Have Democrats lost white working-class voters over “messaging” errors? Williams suggests a new approach. Excerpt from “Why Are Democrats Embattled - And How Can They Win Again?,” June 3, 2011. joan williams Distinguished Professor of Law, Founder/Director, Center for WorkLife Law, University of California Hastings; Author, Reshaping the Work-Family Debate: Why Men and Class Matter

T

he proportion of the white working class that identified as Democrats fell from 60 percent to 40 percent from the mid-1970s to the early 1990s. The percentage that voted Democratic in presidential elections fell absolutely precipitously in a similar period.

This trend has continued in recent elections.

Workers who describe themselves as painters, furniture movers, servers, were far more likely than professionals to report that they were going to vote for George W. Bush.

Obama lost big among working class whites with an 18 percent deficit, about the same as Gore’s four years earlier.

The common explanation for this among progressives is crystalized in the book What’s the Matter with Kansas? It’s that Republicans have led these voters like sheep to vote against their own self-interest. I want to note that the conventional wisdom is that these voters are dim-witted. That’s a conventional stereotype that privileged people have of blue-collar folks. It’s the kind of stereotype that working class people notice.

It didn’t used to be that way. If you look at Coit Tower or Rincon Center, those wonderful WPA murals that we in San Francisco love so much, what you see is that white working class men were the center of the progressive imagination. Fast forward to Homer Simpson, who, as Wikipedia helpfully reminds us, embodies several American working class stereotypes. He’s crude, incompetent and borderline alcoholic. You know, I find Homer Simpson funny too, but then so did whites watching minstrel shows.

The elites value new and exotic foods; the worker values comfort foods, and plenty of it. The elites value education, and build up human capital and go to Europe or Costa Rica. Workers go to Vegas or Disney, instead. All this helps to explain why working class Americans resent the educated and admire the rich. Workers aspire to live the lives they were brought up to live with the tastes they already have, just with

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more money. They don’t want to turn into the educated elite; that would feel like a betrayal. So workers want to own their own little business, and they admire people who have built big ones. That’s why proposals to tax the rich just don’t have political traction.

I’m not saying we shouldn’t; we just should understand how to message them.

Progressives need to be far more selfconscious about the way we enact class status, very unselfconsciously. This comes out

“Conventional wisdom is that these voters are

dim-witted. It’s the kind of stereotype that workingclass people notice.” in our references to food and our references to leisure activities such as hunting, and our references to our vacations. Remember the flap over Michelle Obama’s vacation?

Another principle is that Democrats need to choose universal programs over means-tested programs. In this we will have pushback from economists who say, “Why should we give rich people benefits such as Social Security? Why don’t we just translate Social Security into an anti-poverty targeted program?” The reason why Republicans do that is because they know that that spells doom for any program. Look at the history of Social Security and Medicare compared to the history of welfare benefits, Head Start and Medicaid. That’s why I almost fainted at one point when I heard the president talking about Medicaid, we need to defend Medicaid. Do we choose to message that as defending Medicaid or Medicare? Again, means-tested programs fuel class conflict.

octo be r/nov embe r 2011

Question & answer session AUDIENCE QUESTION: What role do you think education plays in some of these discrepancies in thinking?

WILLIAMS: It’s a complex question. First of all, one of the things that’s confusing to Obama is that the African-American community actually values education more than the white community, if you look at it sociologically. So he often assumes that access to education is the absolute trump goal for everyone. Of course, we have systematically defunded public education for the past 30 years. Some people say this is part of a conscious Republican strategy to get a less informed public electorate. I don’t know if it’s a conscious strategy. But I know the result has been a less informed electorate.

QUESTION: What do you make of the movement of certain governors to dismantle public employees’ collective bargaining rights, and might this help Democrats?

WILLIAMS: The assault on unionization has gone from the private sector to the public sector. My best information is that in Wisconsin, there was a very conscious Republican strategy to try this out as a trial balloon to see if it was going to work. There was a conscious decision about who would take the political hit if it didn’t work, and there was an agreement that it would be the governor of Wisconsin.

There’s an assumption on the part of progressives that now we’ll really show that workers have to stand together and that this is an assault by Republicans. There is some of that. But it signals a divide-and-conquer strategy. I see the Republicans saying, “You lost your health insurance, you don’t have very many hours, your husband got a pink slip; why should they have all the privilege?”

QUESTION: Regarding your thesis, with the emphasis regarding the working middleclass white population: The changing demographics of the country, the increasing Latinos, the increasing Asian population,

Photo by LP-Photomemories / Flickr

you think your thesis applies equally to those groups and, conversely, because of the changing demographics, is it as important to be focusing on the things that you brought up regarding the white middle class?

WILLIAMS: For a long time the conventional wisdom in the Democratic Party was, “Forget the white working class. They’re a bunch of racists, anyway. Let’s get out the poverty vote and the single moms.” How’s that working for you? Have you seen those people’s childcare situations and their job schedules? I mean, come on. Those people are trying to survive day to day. Also, I think that’s undignified for us as professionals to write off. I mean, we’re white people. Are we going to write off other white people? “We won’t deal with these white people cause they’re too racist?” White people are racist.

If you don’t believe it, go take the Implicit Association Test. Writing off a different type of white people because they’re racist is just a simple expression of class privilege.

In terms of changing demographics: The class culture wars are going to get more acute, not less, and that is because of Latinos. Democrats have a real opportunity right here to blow it or win it, and that is with Latinos. I grew up partly in Latin America; they are pretty conservative when it comes to these family values. Certainly as a first step, caricaturing anyone who doesn’t agree with us on these hot-button issues that we feel so very deeply about as simply ignorant is not wise.

QUESTION: Why is Sarah Palin so successful, and how can she be stopped?

WILLIAMS: You know, I really like Sarah Palin. I think she’s brilliant. She knows exactly how to mobilize class conflict in the United States. She knows exactly how to get the progressive elites to put their foot in their mouths. The way to stop Sarah Palin is for us to stop being so stupid, frankly, and to stop falling into the same traps again and again and again, because you know, her playbook is not long. It’s just effective.

Who are the real Americans that she talks about? The white working class. If we defuse the moves in Palin’s playbook by stopping being so clueless about class, she would lose her appeal. She has high negatives anyways.

She is Sarah Palin. Ω This program was made possible by the generous support of GreenLeaf Produce.

DEMOCRAT

VERSUS

DEMOCRAT octo b e r/no v em b e r 2011

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With fiscal austerity in vogue and social liberalism spreading, is this the libertarians’ time? Excerpt from Inforum’s “WWLD: What Would Libertarians Do?,” July 25, 2011.

Nick Gillespie Co-editor, Reason Magazine and Reason.tv; Co-author, The Declaration of Independents Matt welch Co-editor, Reason Magazine and Reason.tv;

Co-author, The Declaration of Independents

In conversation with Joe Garofoli Reporter, San Francisco Chronicle; Author, Politics Blog, SFgate.com 10

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Elephant phot by leodirac / Flickr, donkey by pmarkham / Flickr

THE LIBERTARIAN OPTION

GAROFOLI: Why don’t you define for us, in your words, what libertarianism is?

GILLESPIE: A libertarian is somebody who is fiscally conservative and socially liberal.

That’s one way to think about it. Reason magazine for years has talked about being in favor of free minds and free markets, the idea that the individual matters most and that economic and civil liberties are conjoined; you really can’t have one without the other. Another way, just to throw it out there, is that Matt and I like to define libertarian as an adjective rather than a noun. Being a libertarian is not necessarily checking off your 10 policies that you agree with so you’re a libertarian. It’s an impulse, a pre-political impulse that informs the choices that you’re interested in making as your default setting. Should the individual have more or less opportunity to control their own destiny, to have choices that are meaningful to them? That may not always be the final answer that you give in a situation, but if that’s what you keep coming back to, you just might be a libertarian.

GAROFOLI: Why is this a libertarian moment?

WELCH: A couple of different factors.

One is that independents have never really been as large of a political bloc as they are now. According to the Pew Research Center in their most recent look at this, independents are 37 percent, Democrats are 31 or something like that, and Republicans are 29. Gallup poll, same thing.

We’re doing now in politics what we’ve done everywhere else in our lives, which is reject every brand with the possible exception of Apple Computer. We don’t live in Chevy families or GM families like we did when I was growing up. These things don’t make sense to us anymore; we tailor it to our own individual needs. Politics, more and more, is like the local newspaper: we want to unbundle it. We want to have that experience and it doesn’t make sense to us anymore like it used to. Why should we tether fiscal conservatism [and] the idea that we shouldn’t be growing government and over-regulating things with the notion that we’ve got to make sure that gay people can’t get married?

That’s a great precondition for it all and especially people who are younger than Nick; they’ve been born and raised on the Internet on some level, where there isn’t a lot

of people who tell you what to do, despite the fears of many people that AOL-Time Warner was going to crush us like a bug; that didn’t really turn out that way. These are important preconditions.

As important right now, the two major parties – it’s not like they’re the same party, but once they’re in power they tend to perpetuate the same policies, whether it’s intervention war, drug war, education policy, these types of things. It’s kind of indistinguishable at the practical level there.

GAROFOLI: The talk in Washington is all over the debt ceiling. In your book, you rip on all kinds of government bailouts – the TARP program, car company bailouts – GILLESPIE: The only bailout [we support is] for small magazines of a libertarian persuasion.

GAROFOLI: You ripped on newspaper bailouts too, incidentally.

GILLESPIE: Yeah. You would, too, right?

GAROFOLI: I don’t want the conflict of interest. As you put it, the U.S. can’t afford these programs, because we are “so out of money.” So if people on both sides of the duopoly aisle are saying they fear that the U.S. will go into default, what would you do? Do your raise the ceiling?

WELCH: Cut spending and raise the ceiling. Basically.

GILLESPIE: The fact is that the debt limit is important and you’ve got to deal with that, but to just raise it – as President Obama was talking about doing, and John Boehner had signaled early on that he was OK with that – without any conditions is a problem, because the issue isn’t the debt ceiling per se. It’s that we have been on an unbelievable bender of spending in the 21st century that shows no signs of stopping.

Standard & Poor’s – God forbid you use their ratings when you’re buying any kind of bond that’s a mortgage-backed security – but they said, It’s great if you take care of the debt ceiling, but in three months, if you don’t have a plan in place to trim $4 trillion in future deficit spending, we’re going to downgrade you. What are we doing about the fact that we are persistently spending a lot more money than we’re bringing in?

That’s what we should be talking about.

GAROFOLI: Do you have a proportion or numbers? Like, 25 percent cuts?

GILLESPIE: An understanding is that since 1950 we have averages, in terms of revenue

as a percentage of gross domestic product or economic activity; it’s been around 18 percent despite every attempt to raise it or lower it. It keeps coming pretty tightly clustered around there. We’ve been spending 20 percent. Of course now, because of the recession, receipts are at about 15 percent of GDP and we’re spending about 25 percent, so the gap grows, which is one of the reasons why you want to have a rainy day fund or

“We’re out

of money.

If you’re not talking about making a hard

decision right now, you’re a problem.” – Welch some flexibility. We don’t have that.

In 10 years we can expect to have a tax revenue of about 19 percent of GDP. How do we get there from here? It’s easy. You compound small cuts of about 3.5, 3.6 percent a year of each budget over time. We’re spending about $3.88 trillion dollars now; we’d be spending about the same in 10 years as opposed to $4.7 trillion under Paul Ryan or $5.7 trillion under Barack Obama. If we were spending $3.7 trillion in 2021, that would be about 18 percent of GDP, which is exactly the same percentage that we spent the last two years of Clinton’s presidency.

GAROFOLI: Where would the cuts come from?

GILLESPIE: The big money is in military, Medicare and Social Security. It’s not hard to find fat. We have doubled military spending, basically, since 2001. We have nothing to show for it other than a lot of spent money.

WELCH: And we have a number of departments in Washington, D.C.; we have to make a decision: Do you want even a shadow of the current welfare state/safety net entitlement programs, or do you really want a Department of Agriculture? We’re out of money. You’re going to have to make decisions. That’s why you had a pension reform that almost passed in San Francisco, because you’re out of money. You’ve got to do something. The word unsustainable is being used by people like Barack Hussein

Obama and Ben Bernanke, talking about our current trajectory just on what we’re going to have to pay for 10 years from now.

So if you’re not talking about making a hard decision right now, you’re a problem.

That goes for citizens as well as politicians at this point. If you want your big, fast bullet train to nowhere in the middle of the Central Valley for some reason, OK, great. But you’re going to have to give up a pension system; you’re going to have to do something.

Get rid of all agricultural subsidies right now. Let poor farmers sell us stuff, and start making these kinds of hard decisions.

GAROFOLI: Continuing on that, in the book you say, in virtually all ways in the United States, things have been getting better and better over the past 30, 40 and 50 years. But that’s not true for everybody.

There is very little said in your book about the poorest Americans. What do you do about the folks that live in the depths of poverty – the permanent underclass?

GILLESPIE: One of the things – and this shows you where libertarians have their issues and whatnot – we believe in a governmentally provided social welfare safety net. One of the things is that – WELCH: Not every libertarian does, in case that’s not clear.

GILLESPIE: Private organizations have been doing it and generally can do it better, because they’re more responsive to the needs – both of the people they’re giving money to as well as the donors who want results – as opposed to the bureaucracies.

For the poor, here are the things: One is that you want a vibrant economy because it is true, it’s never good to be poor, but it’s better to be poor now than it was in 1970 by any material measure. But you get rid of things like a public school monopoly that is designed, even if we spend more money on inner-city schools than in many places we do on better schools, those schools are designed to keep people poor. They’re not there for the kids; they’re there for the people who run them. Introduce radical school choice and let people get out of that. Get rid of the drug war, which doesn’t do anything but focus dysfunction and police brutality and weirdness, or lack of police attention, in certain areas and punishes people.

WELCH: Those are a couple of immediate ways to help restructure American society

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An audience member quizzes (l to r) Joe Garofoli, Matt Welch and Nick Gillespie about the libertarian prescriptions for our country’s current ills.

Photo by Ed Ritger

so it’s not rigged against the poor.

GAROFOLI: But you would keep a social safety net. You would keep some sort of entitlement system.

GILLESPIE: It’s not an entitlement. If we got rid of Medicare or Social Security, or instead said: “We are going to help people who are indigent, who can’t care for themselves because of some impairment, or are kids whose parents can’t take care of them, old people who need help.” That is one thing.

We don’t have that. Medicare and Social Security and most entitlement programs go to serve the middle class and the wealthy.

They’re bad at that. Think about it: If you’re young and you could have been taking 12.4 percent of your wages and investing that for your retirement, you would retire in a pretty good situation as opposed to what you get with Social Security. There is no reason that with Medicare, just because you turn 65 you should get free or reduced medical care.

That’s wrong. If we got rid of these programs or changed them drastically, we’d be able to reduce the overall tax burden, which would help things flourish. And we’d have more money and time to focus on helping people who actually need help.

GAROFOLI: So means testing by income.

GILLESPIE: Yeah, and getting rid of these entitlements. Social Security and Medicare are creations of the New Deal and a Depression-era mentality. Medicare was like the last great act of the New Deal. You know what? We live in a different America.

We live in a different world. We don’t need that the way that we did. Seniors are not more likely to be below poverty than above it, as they were even into the ’60s.

GAROFOLI: What about abortion?

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GILLESPIE: What do you need – cash or a check? [laughter] GAROFOLI: About 30 percent of libertarians oppose abortion rights. You say this isn’t a litmus test for being a libertarian.

GILLESPIE: I’m not a big fan of litmus tests. I don’t even like them for the presence of alkali. I find litmus tests are rigid.

WELCH: I am the opposite of a social conservative in every way, shape and form.

I’m easily irritated by people who try to inflict their social conservatism onto public policy. Of all the issues that I have at least an intellectual respect for, even if I disagree with it, it’s anti-abortion from the libertarian perspective. Libertarians are obsessed with individual rights vis-à-vis the government. If someone in their brain sees that individual right adhering to a one-hour-old fertilized egg, I think it’s kind of weird, I don’t agree with it, but I understand where they’re coming from in a way that I absolutely do not for one second understand opposition to gay marriage, for example.

AUDIENCE MEMBER: Considering your definition of libertarianism as fiscally conservative, do you believe that without the Recovery Act and TARP the recession would have been able to pull itself out and would not have fallen into a depression?

WELCH: It’s the great unknowable or unfalsifiable. It gets bumped up. It wouldn’t have just been the depression, but it would have been the depression to end all depressions, I believe, but it’s only a belief because we can’t know if you would have allowed people who made bad bets and bad decisions to go bankrupt, that if you would have rejected the notion of too big to fail as scaremongering by Goldman Sachs – which

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it was on some level, and maybe some of it was honestly felt by a variety of people – and you would have said, for example, “How can we get the government out of the business of guaranteeing 99 percent of new mortgages written in this country and allowed the real estate market to actually clean its toxic assets out and find a bottom?” I think we’d be a lot better off than we are now.

Where we are now is consistently exceeding all worst-case scenarios that were offered at the time for what would happen if we didn’t pass their panic new legislation, whether it was TARP or the stimulus or the Omnibus, which we’ve already forgotten, or George W. Bush’s stimulus, which we’ve also already forgotten. Every one of these things was like, “If we don’t pass the stimulus, unemployment might get as high as 8.8 percent.” We have shot through that.

We don’t believe that this spending program is going to work. We’re going to put our names on the record that that is actually a bad idea, that Keynesian stimulus is not a winner. There’s only one example from history where you can say it might have worked, but it’s kind of disputed, whereas there are many examples of cutting the size of government in tough times, like after World War II in America and New Zealand in the ’80s or Canada in the ’90s, where you cut the size of government in the teeth of a potential recession and, lo and behold, it worked out. You have to let capitalism work, which involves and requires failure and bankruptcy, which is different from liquidation entirely. Ω This program was made possible by the generous support of Dodge & Cox.

w e N The

Y R O E H T O N i m Do

Authoritarian governments have been falling one after the other. Is this the long-awaited awakening of freedom in the region? Or will authoritarianism spring up anew? Excerpt from “The Arab Spring,” July 18, 2011.

NOur ahmedin Egyptian Student Janet penley American Traveler Maher Kalaji British/Jordanian Academic Dr. Abbas Milani Director of Iranian Studies, Stanford University;

Co-director, Iran Democracy Project, Hoover Institution; Author, The Shah

Jonathan Curiel Journalist; Author, Al’America: Travel Through America’s

Arab and Islamic Roots – Moderator

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AHMEDIN: Egypt is a very good window into what’s happening in the rest of the Arab world. What’s happening right now in Egypt has been transcending all borders, starting in Tunisia and not stopping. The one thing I would really like to point out, being an Egyptian and now living here, [is that] the revolution has employed a lot of people but also taken a lot of people out of business.

Rarely have you seen a concentration of revolutions happening in countries so close by. Now [they’re] very similar across the board, and it’s hitting everywhere. It’s infectious on a human level and the one thing I’d really like to stress is that it’s not going to [succeed] overnight.

KALAJI: News has changed a lot from the Middle East. It never used to be like this.

It used to be quite boring and monotone; things have changed. There are 22 Arab countries. We’ve had five uprisings, in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Syria and Yemen.

We’ve had one country with major clashes followed by a clampdown in Bahrain. There have been other small stirrings of dissent in countries like Jordan, Oman, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and Algeria. The thing is there is no [one] size that fits all. We are all expecting it to just crumble like a domino. This has not happened. The more you look at it, the more you realize that the Arab world does not behave as one homogeneous bloc.

It doesn’t behave like this any more than Europe does.

The change seems to be taking its time.

It’s not easy. It’s painful. Thousands have died. Others are still in prison. We have a civil war in Libya. We have a government that uses lethal force in Syria, though they deny it. Bahrain is an interesting one. The whole conflict in the region has developed into something that, in certain countries, has become a bit nasty and bitter.

The pressure in the whole region is driven by two factors at the moment. One of them is the demography of the region. [In] the Arab world, 60 percent of the population is under 30. That’s a huge proportion. In

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Yemen, for example, the average age is 17.9 years; Egypt, 24; Jordan, 21.8; Libya, 24; Syria, 21.5. The oldest I think I’ve got is Tunisia: 29.7. They’re fed up with the status quo; they want change to happen within the region.

The other important factor is that the West – including the United States – cannot believe that it’s a decisive factor within the region. I can’t remember who wrote [it], but they said the president of the United States cannot anymore lift a telephone and call the president of Egypt, for example, and say, “I want you to rein in Hamas.” Things have

“The West – including the United States – cannot

believe that it’s a decisive factor within the region.” –Kalaji

changed. This [Egyptian leader] will, in a few years time, say, “Sorry, I have an election to look forward to; I cannot do what you’re asking me to do.”

Things have changed irreversibly. I was in Jordan recently; the movement is slightly more peaceful than anywhere else, but we still expect bloodshed in different countries.

There are some interesting times ahead.

MILANI: My task is not to talk about Arab Spring specifically but to talk about how Arab Spring looks in Iran and what is Iran’s impact in all of this. The Iranian regime claims that the Arab Spring is in fact a continued reverberation of the 1979 revolution that brought Khomeini to power.

Many Iranian democrats believe that in fact the recent developments in the Arab world are a continuation of the Green Movement that began in Iran two years ago. Three million people came out in the streets in

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Tehran and peacefully demanded to have legal and legitimate elections. They asked, “What happened to my vote?” Whether it is ’79 [or] 2009, I think Iran has been a very key player in these developments.

In terms of what these developments mean for Iran, there are two schools of thought. One says the Arab Spring is the best thing the Iranian regime could hope for; this is the further rise of Islamism, that the Iranian regime is becoming more powerful by the day and they’re the ones that are reaping the most benefits. That’s the narrative the regime would like to give as well. There is another narrative that says the Iranian regime is very much scared of the Arab Spring. [The] Iranian regime is much more in line with Saudi Arabia, that wants to stop the Arab Spring, than it is with the democratic people of Egypt, for example, or with the democratic aspirations of Syrian people.

While it might be too early to determine which of these two narratives is more accurate, my sense is that the Arab Spring is very much to the detriment of the regime in Iran, particularly if Egypt proves to be on a democratic path. In other words, Egypt is a key player. If you look at the history of the last hundred years, there have been three bellwether states in the Middle East. What has happened in these three countries has prefigured what has happened in the Middle East: Turkey, Egypt and Iran.

Turkey is already a democracy. If Egypt can go on the path of democracy – that is a big if. We do not know what the Muslim Brotherhood is going to do; the Muslim Brotherhood has promised to play nice.

They keep talking the right talk and promising the right promises, but I am an Iranian: I remember Khomeini in 1978 talked like Gandhi and then ruled like Stalin. Whether the Muslim Brotherhood’s current democratic posturing is a genuine change of heart or whether it’s tactical is going to be very critical in determining whether these developments benefit the Iranian regime or not.

One of the second most important developments in the region for the Iranian regime is what will happen in Syria. Syria is the only ally the Iranian regime has in the Arab world. It has bought this love at an expensive price. It is estimated that Iran has given Syria approximately $7 billion worth of free oil, money, arms and aid in the last 25 years. It’s not a genuine love; it is a bought love, but it’s a very crucial alliance.

It is through Syria that the Iranian regime helps Hezbollah in Lebanon. If Syria falls to a democratic movement, I think the future of the Iranian regime is much bleaker than it is today. They know it, that’s why they, according to fairly reliable sources, sent Revolutionary Guard troops into Syria to help suppress the democratic movement.

The Iranian regime likes to pick and choose the Arab Spring. There are certain movements that it likes, and it supports those, and certain movements it doesn’t like, it calls those Zionist and American imperialist creations. It doesn’t like the movement in Syria. It claims that it’s all a creation of Israel and American imperialists. It likes the movement in Bahrain. It calls it the most genuine democratic movement of the whole Arab constellation. The regime has not been able to capitalize on these developments for two very important reasons. One, it is undergoing these days one of the most remarkable internal fractures in the history of the regime. Ahmadinejad might well be impeached. Those tensions have made the regime less capable of projecting force.

The best example of how beleaguered they are is that Saudi Arabia sent 1,000 troops into Bahrain, an island 40 or 50 miles off Iran’s coast, a country that was, until 1967, at least according to Iran, part of Iran.

Saudi Arabia sends 1,000 troops to suppress the Shiites of Bahrain and Iran does virtually nothing. That’s partly because of internal strife and partly because the economy is becoming a serious problem for the regime.

Iran has these problems, and it has serious problems with its nuclear program. The

virus that the Israelis and the Americans collectively sent into the Iranian nuclear system seems to have really done damage to it; they cannot seem to get it started. What happened in Japan has increased fears in Iran, it has made concerns about that doubly more serious. The fact that that reactor is sitting at one of the most lethal fault lines in Iran has made the idea of starting it much, much more politically sensitive.

It remains to be seen what the Arab Spring does for Iran. I think it will make the end of this regime sooner than later.

PENLEY: I’m honored to be sitting here

“The question of dignity is central. The Iranian economy was booming when they overthrew the Shah.”–Milani just the traveler, not the expert. Being there while it was beginning to percolate, I didn’t feel it. I was getting more information from people outside with emails: “Are you all right?” “We’re hearing this is going on.” I was going around and people were being people and I was not feeling it until I left.

I was very surprised when all the news began to come out. I was in Aswan on the first of January when they had the suicide bombing in Alexandria. We heard that news, but we didn’t witness what was going on.

I’m excited and hopeful about Egypt.

The overwhelming feeling that I got while I was there was that it’s really no longer about us, the U.S. These are people who are doing it for themselves. It’s their future they’re thinking about, not what we think about their future. I’m heartened by that.

CURIEL: One [audience] question is on the role of the economy in sparking the Arab

Spring, and what is the role going forward?

MILANI: Watching it from outside, my sense of what has driven the Arab Spring is not the economy but it’s the question of dignity. It’s the question of having their rights and dignity denied. I watched one of these rather remarkably elegant Egyptian woman who said, “I’ve lived in my country for 35 years; I’ve never voted in an election that counts. I want to be counted. I want to be a member of the 21st century.”

They have had enough of these corrupt, inept governments that take either the oil money or the rent that they receive from the United States, stash much of it in Swiss accounts or other places and make out of the people, at best, rentiers of the state. The question of dignity is much more central.

That was a question in Iran in ’79. The Iranian economy was booming when they overthrew the Shah. That was the reason in 2009. They are saying: enough is enough.

You’ve played with us, you’ve denied us our dignity long enough. We want our rights.

CURIEL: A lot of people have criticized the U.S.’s role in the Arab region for supporting these governments for so long and, in a sense, tolerating the economic disparity that led to these revolutions. The U.S. on the one hand is quick to enter into Libya but less quick to enter into Bahrain and elsewhere.

One question is, What, if any, should the U.S. role be? Another question is, What is the attitude of those in the Arab democracy movement regarding the West?

AHMEDIN: U.S. citizens have been too critical of Obama and his action or inaction in the region. People really need to note that people on the ground in Egypt are now, for the first time, not looking toward the outside for solutions. No longer are we looking for the cookie-cutter type of democracy, the Western type of democracy that’s been spreading the last 30 years, trying to get that in Egypt. We’re realizing that doesn’t work.

Whatever is going to work, it’s going to be unique to us. What the U.S. has got to be

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A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist talks immigration.

Excerpt from Inforum’s “Jose Antonio Vargas: My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant,” July 11, 2011. jose antonio vargas Former Reporter, The Washington Post; Founder, Define American

In conversation with Phil Bronstein Editor-at-

THE

T N A R IMMIGLENGE CHAL

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Photo by ryanrodrickbeiler / istockphoto.com, Vargas by Ed Ritger

Large, Hearst Newspapers

BRONSTEIN: Tonight’s guest has been a highly successful journalist with a big secret. Jose Antonio Vargas was part of the Washington Post coverage of the Virginia Tech shootings in 2007. He’s gone on to report for the Huffington Post and a variety of prestigious publications, and he snagged a fabulous interview with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg for The New Yorker.

Everything was going well, and then three weeks ago or so, he came out as an illegal immigrant. His credibility, objectivity, personal promotion and character have all been called into question.

He was sent here at age 12 in 1993. He found out when he was 16 that his green card had been faked on a Xerox machine.

I hired Jose a while ago as a reporter, because I thought he was an extraordinarily talented young man. I didn’t ask him questions about his immigration status, and I pushed him for a job six months ago with the Hearst Corp. in New York, because I didn’t know then, nor could I figure out why he never followed up on the job interview.

Before, Jose lived with a secret that was labeled a lie by people including me. Now he has the dubious distinction of celebrity by virtue of his confessional revelations.

We talk about immigrants, but we often talk about a certain kind of immigrant.

How much are day laborers, who are often the public face of immigration, going to relate to you?

VARGAS: It’s been fascinating, hearing the shock from the media and newsroom world.

It’s been, “How dare this immigrant get in this newsroom and not tell us.” The other

part has been, “Oh, we thought we knew what undocumented immigrants were. We had this profile of what they were supposed to look like, or sound like, or be like.”

My question [to myself when deciding to do this] was, What purpose does this story serve? Which as a journalist is always the question. That’s why I decided to do this. Undocumented immigrants often are the day laborers and babysitters and people who make sure we eat lettuce. More than just that, the fact that we have been playing political football has led to the problem being this bad. The only thing I represent is just how incredibly dysfunctional this system is. A lot of other students and a lot of other people – 11 million of us – can tell you that much, from the day laborer to the kid at Stanford Law School. We are not who you think we are.

BRONSTEIN: What would you tell a kid who had a chance at an internship with a fake ID at the Chronicle, or The Washington Post, or came to you for advice?

VARGAS: They’re coming now, and I don’t know what to tell them. You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do. In Tagalog we have a saying that basically means, “Just hold on to the knife.” That’s basically what I’ve been doing. But I am not about to tell people to check boxes that they’re not supposed to check and go to a state to get a driver’s license. I made that choice, and I’m sorry for making that choice. I came to the Bay Area in February and met with a group called Educators for Fair Consideration. It was really the first time I got to meet with a lot of undocumented students. I had not yet divulged my status to them. It was really hard to look them in the eye, because I was in that spot seven years ago.

BRONSTEIN: At the Chronicle, we had a photographer and a reporter who were covering gay marriage right when it [was legalized], and they got married. We decided not that they had a bias we couldn’t overcome, but that they were directly involved in the story and therefore shouldn’t be covering it.

We’re not only concerned about actual conflicts but also the appearance of conflicts.

The issue is that you’re now part of the story, and you’ve now created an advocacy organization. There’s a question about whether I’d assign you today to cover an immigration story. I probably wouldn’t,

because you’re in the middle of the story, not because you have an opinion.

VARGAS: This question of objectivity, which doesn’t exist, is coming head to head with the reality that we are now living in a minority-majority country, in which minorities who, in many ways, are less of a part of newsrooms – most newsrooms in this country are still run by the same

people w h o have been running them for all these years.

Minorities are still not well represented in newsrooms.

BRONSTEIN: Why haven’t you been deported?

VARGAS: When I decided to do this, I knew that this was one of the first things I needed to figure out. What kind of legal advice would I need? I must have talked to about 25 lawyers, many of whom said that this is legal suicide. But I’m ready for everything that could happen. The government hasn’t done anything yet. I haven’t killed anyone or gotten a DUI. I haven’t given them any reason. I’m not high on the priority list in terms of somebody they’re going to target. But being public as I have been, this was a conscious decision on my part, saying, I’m just one story.

BRONSTEIN: Have you made representations? Do you have people who support you, who have talked to people in Immigration?

Do you have inroads there that make you feel a little safer than maybe someone else?

VARGAS: From the legal perspective, it’s been really hard, because in many ways I’ve been playing legal offense. I don’t know what the government is going to do. We

were having a big debate about whether I should pursue something that would just protect me, a private bill of sorts, that gets offered once in a while. We tried to pursue it to some extent to get me some protection, and one of our co-founders, Alicia Menendez, said, “You’re no use to this thing if you get deported, Jose, so we need to get you protection.” But I was like, “I don’t want to come out with this and then all of sudden, it’s going to look like I’m just out to save myself. That’s not the point.” The point was to make a statement and say that whatever situation I’m in, whoever I am and whatever I’ve achieved, I’m still one of these 11 million undocumented people. So we haven’t fully pursued that; I haven’t asked a senator or a congressman for a private bill. At the end of the day, I am not an exception.

AUDIENCE QUESTION: What do you define as an undocumented immigrant who deserves a path toward a green card or being able to stay here?

VARGAS: I was just on a roundtable with George Will, the conservative; he and I actually agreed. He said that every advanced degree in this country should come with a green card. George Will said this.

But not everybody has an advanced degree. What are we supposed to do with the day laborer just trying to make ends meet?

And what do you think a lot of these undocumented students come home to when they come home from school? In many ways, the DREAM Act has been the biggest rallying cry, because it’s the most sympathetic. It’s the one that can make most sense, which is great. But again, I don’t think we’re asking the harder questions. Who are they going home to, and why are they here? We are not going to deport 11 million people in this country. Are we all just going to let them work in a shadow economy and let them live these kind of underground lives?

At the end of the day, as one of those 11 million people, I’d be more than happy to get in some sort of line, some sort of path.

As somebody who’s been contributing to this country, as somebody who’s paying taxes and Social Security, I just want to be in whatever that line is. Ω This program was made possible by the generous support of the San Francisco Business Times.

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THOSE WHO NEED IT MOST: Failed by Health Care Expert panelists discuss ways to decrease medical costs and improve patient happiness for high-cost cases. Excerpt from “High-Cost Beneficiaries: Is Our Health Care Failing Those Who Need It Most?,” July 27, 2011. margot kushel M.D., Associate Professor of Medicine in Residence, UCSF School of Medicine brad stuart M.D., Chief Medical Officer, Sutter Care at Home cheryl phillips M.D., Senior Vice President for Advocacy, LeadingAge;

Past Chair of the Board of Directors, American Geriatrics Society

sarah varney Health Reporter, KQED Radio – Moderator VARNEY: We’ve known about this population for a very long time – so-called highcost beneficiaries: the frail elderly, people with mental health problems who perhaps are homeless, dual eligibles – those who are eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid.

Help us understand why our health-care system is failing these people.

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STUART: The mistake we’re making is assuming their needs are medical. They are to a degree, and the fact that they’re highcost reflects that they’re showing up in our hospitals, so clearly there’s a lot of medical need. But the real question is, can we solve that question by focusing primarily on just their medical situation? The answer clearly is, No. Many of these people are so ill that they’re nearing the end of their lives. But we fail completely to find out what it is that they want. One of our primary innovations is pretty simple. Find out what people want in their personal lives and then tailor their care to suit that.

In our advanced illness management program, we try to focus on people who are very, very sick and tend to call 911 when they have a problem. We try to serve them at home and find out what it is that they really want to key on, and then we get on the same side of the table. I’m thinking of a guy named George, who had heart failure, lung failure, a bunch of other things, kidney trouble. He’d been in the hospital two or three times a year before we picked him up. We had him in our program for five years. He never went back to the hospital and wound up dying at home. His primary personal goal when he entered the program was to be able to walk to the dinner table and have dinner with his family. He never mentioned anything about the hospital or any of his medical needs. We wound up giving him support in ways that allowed him to be independent, happy, comfortable, and stay home. He did turn from a high-cost beneficiary into a more independent, selfsupporting and family-supported person.

We need more of a social work approach than a medical approach to a lot of these people so that we can keep them from having to become patients.

VARNEY: Dr. Phillips, can you talk about some of the services that you find that someone needs to have a graceful ending?

PHILLIPS: One of the areas is called the dually eligible. The dually eligible are those individuals who both receive Medicare, either from disability or because of age, and Medicaid, because of their socioeconomic status. It turns out that this group actually have some very explicit risks and costs.

Just as a comparison, a Medicare person who is dually eligible on average spends around $14,000 a year in Medicare benefits, whereas a non-dual spends on average $6,500. It seems to be a marker for a population at risk. There is a group of this population that aren’t actively dying or even in the process of severe illness but are quickly getting there, because we have a very broken system in payment, communication and fragmentation.

My former organization is On Lok, which is the originator of PACE, a program of all-inclusive care of the elderly, which identifies a group of seniors, 55 or older, who are nursing home-certifiable, but who receive payment from Medicare and Medicaid. The wonder about this program is it

integrates payment, but it [also] integrates the social functioning issues – housing, transportation, meals, social isolation – with the medical component, that turns out to be not the first thing on people’s agenda.

When you integrate the care of the person across the continuum of their needs – not our service – and integrate financing, you can actually do some very amazing things.

VARNEY: Dr. Kushel, I imagine you see lots of people who walk through the door who have uncontrolled diabetes, who have heart disease that’s not being taken care of.

Talk a little bit about what it’s like to talk

“When you lose money

on Medicare and make money on private insurance patients, the handwriting is

on the wall.” –Stuart to a patient about that who has complex medical conditions, who may be homeless or have a tenuous living situation.

KUSHEL: One of the reasons that the health-care system is failing these patients is because of that. I can spend 15 minutes as a primary-care provider talking to a patient who’s homeless, trying to simplify their medical regimen, do what we’re taught to in medical school is an appropriate thing to do for someone who’s struggling with homelessness or substance abuse or mental illness. But none of that is really getting at their primary problem: They’re going to take care of their immediate needs first, which may be finding a place to spend the night.

While we’re trying to simplify their medicines and make sure the $5 copayment isn’t the difference between getting medicine or not, make sure that they can read the bottles, we do all those things, but when I think we’re effective, we actually get at the other problems, so that they do have the mental space to think about their other problems.

VARNEY: Dr. Stuart, you’re working inside Sutter Hospital trying to get your patients not to use Sutter hospitals. Talk about how you have pushed forward this model inside

a for-profit hospital company.

STUART: I’ve been in medicine for 33 years. I think the difference now is those hospitals and health systems that are looking toward the future understand that there is nowhere to go but down if we continue the way we’re going, because what’s happening is older, sicker patients, who are mostly in Medicare, get fairly poor reimbursement. When you come in the hospital, you get a diagnosis-related group payment for your hospitalization.

You don’t make much on the population we’re talking about, the older population with heart failure, cancer. The payments aren’t that great. Every time the person comes back to the hospital and becomes a patient, they tend to stay longer and longer, but the payment is the same. So the losses on Medicare are mounting in hospitals. That doesn’t mean that many hospitals don’t want to get all the patients admitted they possibly can. That thinking is still out there. But systems that are looking ahead are realizing that when you lose money on Medicare and make money on private insurance patients – that’s called cost shifting – the handwriting is on the wall about that approach.

VARNEY: [An audience member asks], How can we best encourage the people who need it the most to take an active role in managing their health?

KUSHEL: It always is best to start with a bias that your patients are trying to do the right things. The programs that have worked have slowly built trust and tried to find out what the patient wants.

The patient may be living under a bridge and hearing voices. But you start by trying to build trust. The case-management programs that have really shown success have had a lot of time to spend with people and slowly build trust and slowly find the hook for that patient. Sometimes that hook is something that’s completely out of the medical system but is just enough to get the patient engaged. We talk a lot about engaging patients. Usually once you do that and you take care of their first order of needs, which is usually finding a place to sleep and food to eat, then you can start moving on. Ω This program was made possible by the generous support of the California HealthCare Foundation.

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Hoover photos by Ed Ritger, elephant (pg 6) by Delfryn Design / Flickr

Margaret Hoover (Continued from page 7)

this deeply troubling, but the reason isn’t just because I’m a Republican. I actually think that the conservative movement and the Republican Party have put forth ideas that are most relevant to this generation, and to the problems in our society and our government that they are most concerned about and that most affect their lives. It’s up to the Republican Party to characterize who these people are, what makes them tick, so that we can reach out to them and connect to them and, hopefully, win their loyalty.

My great-grandfather has informed my perspectives about the party and the conservative movement. He wrote a book in 1922 called American Individualism. He captures in very surprising ways some of the ethos of this next generation.

As long as I can remember, I’ve been

“Herbert

Hoover captures in very

surprising ways some of the ethos

of this generation.”

a Republican. I’ve always, because of my great-grandfather, been a student of his life and legacy, though not many people are. I never knew him. I was born 13 years after he passed away, but my upbringing was

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informed with stories of him. Despite this heritage, I really shied away from participating in politics when I was growing up.

Instead, I studied Spanish-language literature. I studied Mandarin Chinese. I studied abroad in Bolivia and Mexico and China.

When I graduated from college, I moved to Taipei, Taiwan, where I got my first job as a research assistant and editor in a Taiwanese law firm. Everything really changed for me the first day I arrived there, which was September 11, 2001. I realized I wanted nothing more than to be back in the United States, where the deepest expression of patriotism was stirring in my country, something the likes of which none of us had really seen before. I was so moved, as all Americans were, by the words of George W. Bush, and the spirit and leadership of Rudy Giuliani. Everyone was so openly patriotic, including youth. I wanted to be part of that.

I wanted to participate in the functioning of our democracy.

I thought it would be an incredible honor to work for George W. Bush. I shored up a year in Taiwan, returned to the United States, found my way to Washington by volunteering on a Senate race in my home state of Colorado. I landed a job in the House of Representatives for a member of Congress who was brand new from Miami, because he was looking for somebody who spoke Spanish in his Washington office. So that Spanish paid off. Then I had the good luck of getting a job on President Bush’s reelection campaign in 2003 and receiving a White House appointment in 2004. Then two years later I had the chance to move to New York to work for Rudy Giuliani

octo be r/nov embe r 2011

when he was thinking about running for president.

During the course of the Bush presidency, I sensed a mounting anger amongst my friends in my age group against George W. Bush; in the ’04 campaign and during my tenure at the White House, all of the polling confirmed this observation, that during the Bush presidency all of the Republicans really lost the youth vote. I’m used, by the way, to being in the minority of my peers in terms of politics. In fact, I would argue that as a descendant of Herbert Hoover, I’m actually cut out for it. Herbert Hoover has been the whipping boy for economic hard times throughout my life. It’s gotten worse in my lifetime, not better.

Back to millennials. Some say – and I include Rush Limbaugh in this – that it’s not worth going after youth. They will eventually get there. It’s the old, “If they’re not liberal when they’re 20, they don’t have a heart. If they’re not conservative by the time they’re 40, they don’t have a brain.”

If this were true, we’d be off the hook.

But Ronald Reagan is our best icon in this sense, and Ronald Reagan brought an entire generation into the Republican Party. This was the Reagan revolution. He won the youth vote in 1984 by 20 points. So it’s just simply not true that Republicans can’t win the youth vote or have never won the youth vote. Even the first millennials, who were eligible to vote in 2000, split their ticket evenly between George Bush and Al Gore.

It’s worth mentioning that youth’s political views are formed by the failures in politics they know. So they don’t have huge amounts of experience and are often reacting negatively to the failures they’ve come to know and subscribing to something else.

This is one explanation for why they rallied to Ronald Reagan in 1980. They were rejecting the failures of the Carter administration.

Politics is perception. Look, I was proud to work for George W. Bush, and I really defend him, but I also understand why he lost millennials. They believed what John Kerry said, that the Iraq war was the wrong war in the wrong place at the wrong time. They believed that [Bush] failed and the federal government failed in Hurricane Katrina.

Politics is perception. The ethics scandals in the House of Representatives in 2006 – all of these things really contributed to a rift

of youth from the Republican Party and toward what became Obamamania.

Barack Obama really captured the ethos of this generation by talking about a desire to rise above partisanship, an appeal to service, and the resolve to make government work again. Those are things [that] really capture the millennial generation, and areas where we can actually win them back.

One other thing: The Republican Party, if we were growing in other areas, maybe we could afford to lose millennials, but Gallup did this very damning study. Between 2001 and 2009, Republican identification shrunk in 21 of 25 or 26 areas. The only area where we didn’t shrink was in weekly churchgoers.

And we didn’t grow either. That makes this even more imperative. The good part is, we actually have an opportunity, because these things that Obama characterized in his election, there’s pretty strong evidence that they’ve been disappointed. They didn’t turn out in the 2010 election nearly in the numbers that they turned out in the previous off-year election cycle in 2006. They are 37 percent unemployed. His job-approval rating is down 18 percentage points since January 2009. It’s still very high, but down 18 points is a significant chunk.

[There are] issues where the Republican Party and the conservative movement are already basically aligned with the sensibilities of this generation, and we need to connect the dots. But there are a couple issues where we’re already there, we just need to make the case. There are other issues where it’s not so obvious, but I think there’s a strong case to be made, like with immigration reform, American exceptionalism, Islamist supremacy, which was formerly known as the war on terror and is now the overseas contingency operation. What I argue is that American individualism, as embodied by Herbert Hoover, is actually a framework for how we can connect to the next generation.

Meet the millennials

S

o who are the millennials? I’m just going to go to three things that we should know about them.

First, they have a positive view of government. They think government should work and can work. Consider the following question. Agree or disagree: When something is run by the government, it is usually managed inefficiently and wastefully. Forty-two

percent of millennials agree; 58 percent think that the government is really good at running things. That means that Reagan’s “government is the problem” line simply isn’t going to work. Incidentally, invoking Reagan generally isn’t going to work either.

The oldest millennials were eight years old when he left office. So that visceral reaction that people who saw the Reagan revolution get when we invoke Reagan isn’t going to work for this generation.

Second, when it comes to social issues, millennials are the least-traditional generation in America. They adhere least to traditional family structure. They have been raised with more single-parent households.

They are the least religious generation. Only a quarter of them identify with organized religion, though 67 percent of them say they pray every day and they consider themselves very spiritual. And they are the only generation where a majority believes in same-sex marriage. They just couldn’t be bothered at all by sexual orientation as an issue. It doesn’t even faze them, and that is an important generational difference.

Also, the culture wars of the ’90s with women’s rights and abortion rights is not a third rail in politics for them. It just isn’t going to rally them to the polls one way or another. They’ve basically arrived at an organic consensus about abortion. They believe it’s morally wrong, but they don’t believe it should be illegal.

Third, their politics are pragmatic, not ideological. So 40 percent of them call themselves moderate, only 29 percent liberal, 28 percent conservative. But they pride themselves on being pragmatic. I think this is why Barack Obama’s rhetoric really appealed to them. Barack Obama was about not red states or blue states but the United States of America. He was about a government that worked.

Given these three things, the issue for Republicans is how we communicate with them in a way that is going to get traction. For the conservative movement and the Republican Party, the way forward for 2012 is to focus not on social issues but on economic issues and fiscal issues. [Millennials] are 37 percent unemployed or underemployed. While President Obama is still personally popular – therefore [blaming] him personally isn’t going to work – we can make the case for a pro-growth economic

agenda and describe what that means, and then we have some real traction. They’re not working; they’re open to this idea. In these debates about debt and deficits, we should be talking in terms of generational

“We have not punted. The

Republicans are the ones who have taken the

fiscal future of the next generation seriously.”

theft, because the spending that is going on – every dollar that the government has spent is a dollar that you, me and my peers are going to have to pay back, with interest – is nothing more than generational theft. No one my age thinks we’re going to get Social Security or Medicare. The Republicans are the ones who have represented the real hope and change and not Washington politics as usual, because we have not punted. The Republicans are the ones who have taken the fiscal future of the next generation seriously, by offering real alternatives and turning the ship around in Washington in the last 12 months.

There are a couple other issues where we’re already aligned with them, we just need to make the case. One of these issues is education reform. The millennial generation is the most diverse generation in American history. Forty percent non-white, 20 percent have an immigrant parent. The promise of America and American individualism is that everyone – and we decided this a long time ago – will have an equal opportunity to rise above the circumstances of their birth, based on their skills and their talent. Part of that is having a fair shake at a good education.

The fact that 30 percent of millennials are dropping out of high school and the overwhelming majority of them are black and Hispanic, 50 years after Brown v. Board of Education, that our school system is still effectively segregated into poor ZIP codes and rich ZIP codes offends the sensibilities of this generation and has motivated them to service, especially in the form of Teach

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for America, the KIPP [Knowledge Is Power Program] schools and the alternative education movement.

Movies like Waiting for Superman have really galvanized public opinion, especially millennials, and demonstrated the systemic problems in the education system. They are beginning to see that the Democratic Party simply can’t fix it, because their hands are tied by the unions. This isn’t a partisan statement, this isn’t a beating-up-on-unions statement. This is just the fact. Teachers unions donated $40 million to Democratic candidates in 2010. The two teachers unions were 10 percent of the DNC delegates in 2008. It’s just a fact that the real reforms in education across the country are happening in states where Republican governors and Republican legislatures are able to take on the systemic problems, which are really held in place by the teachers unions.

Another area that always ticks high on the Richter scale in terms of an issue they

care about is the environment. [In my book,] I talk about conservative environmentalism and forging a platform that is consistent with our history. The Republican Party has Teddy Roosevelt. He really began the environmental movement in this country. We have a strong legacy of environmentalism in this country. There is no reason we can’t have a pro-market, conservative environmentalism. We can admit that the Earth’s climate is changing while still admitting that global climate change or climate science is inexact.

There was a cover of Newsweek in 1975 that showed the Earth freezing over, because they believed the Earth was getting colder.

Science is inexact, but we don’t need to be global climate change heretics.

The Hoover legacy

W

hen I began to think about how to connect millennials to the Republican Party, I realized that Herbert Hoover embodied much of the ethos of the mil-

lennial generation 80 years before the first of them were born. He was a technologist.

He pioneered and regulated radio waves so that radio could be a thriving commercial industry in this country. He was the first individual – not president – ever to appear on television.

In his mining career, he developed several mining technologies, which at the time, was a cutting-edge career that he actually learned in the heart of the Silicon Valley, at Stanford.

He was a globalist. The millennials are more connected internationally and more globally oriented than any generation before them.

Herbert Hoover, before he was president, had circumnavigated the globe five times, before the advent of aviation, had worked on four continents, visited six. He was truly the most global president that the country had ever seen. Also dedicated to public service.

He was the great humanitarian. This generation, 83 percent of them have volunteered at least once in the past year. They value public

Republicans in

California where to next?

Two years ago, state GOP leaders described their party’s challenges in California. Excerpt from “The Republican Party in California: Where Do We Go from Here?,” July 10, 2009.

Abe Maldonado California State Senator Joe Tuman Professor of Political and Legal Communications, San Francisco State University Tom Del Beccaro Vice Chair, California Republican Party Carla Marinucci Political Writer, San Francisco Chronicle 22

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photo by Yellow Garnet Photography / istockphoto.com

service. And he believed that government could work [and] be part of the solution.

He wanted to try to inoculate the United States from trying on the fad of “isms” that Europe was experimenting with – Bolshevism, communism, socialism. He tried to reverse-engineer America, crystallize it down to its essence. He decided that the “ism” in America was individualism, an individualcentered society that was tempered by the notion of equality of opportunity. He knew that his story, because of that ideal, wasn’t possible in any other country in the world.

He was born a frontier orphan of no means.

He gave a speech [in 1928] here in California called “Rugged Individualism.” He said America had a choice of two futures: choose between “the American system of rugged individualism and a European philosophy of diametrically opposed doctrines, doctrines of paternalism and state socialism. …Every step of bureaucratizing of the business of our country poisons the very roots

of liberalism – that is political equality, free speech, free assembly, free press and equality of opportunity. It is not the road to more

“Herbert Hoover embodied much of the ethos of the millennial generation 80 years before the first of them were born.” liberty, but to less liberty.”

I am struck by how relevant that is to our debates today. These are the themes and the riffs that we hear in the gatherings of the Tea Party. This is the theme and the riff that we hear in the financial regulatory

MARINUCCI: Comment on the general situation of the Republican Party in California. Why exactly are Californians turning away from the Republican Party in droves?

MALDONADO: What is happening to my party? Well, it is no longer the party of Teddy Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln, the party that had ideas, the party that built the park system, the party that went out there and did so much for the American people. It is the party of the extreme hard Right, and it is unfortunate, because the extreme hard Right cannot win in California.

This party can no longer be the party of “no,” because “no, no, no” to everything just doesn’t work. Californians don’t want people to say no. They want someone who will step up to the table, people who have some ideas, who will lead, not have any fear of the Right or the Left, and put Californians first.

DEL BECCARO: I have a slightly different take. Parties do well when they are responsive to the issues of the day and provide meaningful answers. So you could be the most brilliant conservative in the world and have a conservative solution for coastal development, but if you’re running for senator in Kansas, you’re irrelevent. So parties need to be able to provide solutions, and the Republican Party was started because the Whig Party was no longer providing relevant solutions to slavery, and the Republican Party was born to do that.

Californians are generally turning away from parties – “decline to state” [self-designations] are rising – and Republicans are doing a little worse, no question about it. To turn

reform debate, that the over-bureaucratizing and regulation of business saps individual initiative and saps economic opportunity. If this is the choice in 2012, we can make the case in a way that millennials will choose the system of Herbert Hoover’s individualism over the alternative.

Question & answer session with Joe Tuman, professor of political and legal communications, San Francisco State University TUMAN: The millennial generation embraces service to the community, both nonprofit and government-funded. Republicans in Congress tried to close down the Corporation for National and Community Service with a zero budget. How do millennials react to the Republican Party in light of this?

HOOVER: Millennials haven’t been on anything that specific. I could make an ar-

that around, it is simply a question of turning back to issues that are responsive to voters. And there are many issues in California where voters agree dramatically with Republicans.

Take for example Jessica’s Law, which was overwhelmingly supported by Californians and which was a Republican initiative. There are issues related to voter ID, the budget, law and order – there are more than enough issues for the Republicans to do well. They need to market those ideas, and let people know that they are their ideas, and that they will reform government.

TUMAN: I would echo some of what I’ve heard and add a couple different points. I am not partisan in this, so I will speak about the political system. I do agree that the Republican Party and the Democratic Party for that matter and any relevent third party that wants to be relevent have to be responsive and reflect the anxieties of the voters.

[One] thing that conspires against the Republicans [is that] we have a system that reinforces incumbency privilege, and if you have more Democrats in office than Republicans, that’s going to reinforce the advantage that the party has. And it has worked the same when the Republicans had control of the legislature. Incumbency advantage is considerable And when you’re in power, you have very little incentive to change the election rules or anything that would threaten your advantage.

Whether you like Republicans, you have to agree that we have a healthier system when you have an opposition. It creates a robust marketplace of ideas. It gives people choices. Ω octo b e r/no v em b e r 2011

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Herbert Hoover photo courtesy of the Library of Congress

Margaret Hoover is the great-granddaughter of Commonwealth Club member Herbert Hoover. How much have Hoover family politics changed in 80 years?

24

WIthdrew U.S. troops from CentralAmerica;proposed a one-third reduction of the world’s navies; after Japan invaded Manchuria, he refused to recognize territories that nations had gained by military force.

Signed an open letter urging President Obama to “properly resource the war effort in Afghanistan” with sufficient troops; often highlights Islamist radicalism around the world and its impact on people.

Thought laissez-faire economics was too brutal; refused to borrow to pay for welfare programs; believed that public assistance sapped the ambition of otherwise hardworking Americans.

Sees borrowing for social programs to be intergenerational theft. “Skyrocketing deficits and debt that amount to generational theft are staking a claim to the future prosperity of the youngest Americans.”

Believed in equality of races; had first black dinner guest at White House since 1901. His vice president, Charles Curtis, was the first VP with significant Native American ancestry to hold the post.

Says freedom is for everyone; supports equal rights for gays and lesbians, including legalization of same-sex marriage; calls for the GOP to support women’s rights in developing countries.

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gument for the conservative movement where at a time of fiscal distress, we’re trying to shrink government across the board in many, many ways. We can encourage volunteerism and community service without doing it through government. This is the purpose in our country of churches and voluntary organizations, and this vast network, as Herbert Hoover called it, of mediating institutions, community organizations that make up the fabric of our culture.

TUMAN: What I’ve found in my classes is a lot of young people who, like their older predecessors, get what they think about politics informed by watching television. The difference is that many young people get their political information from non-traditional television like Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert.

HOOVER: Which, by the way, is just as ideological.

TUMAN: They’re comedians, not journalists, is the point. Who on the conservative side – HOOVER: We don’t have funny people.

TUMAN: That’s my point. If you’re trying to attract millennials who are probably drawn to these other sources because they’re funny and maybe that’s a way of speaking to young people, is there something to that, about looking for a different way to talk to people and not take yourself so seriously?

HOOVER: Absolutely. I think conservatives take ourselves way too seriously sometimes. But also think about [this]: Is the corollary to Jon Stewart not talk radio? If we’re talking about entertainers who aren’t in charge of the electorate but are making a political case to an audience who’s basically like-minded – though I like watching Jon Stewart; he makes me laugh. These are ultimately entertainers. I agree. I would love to have more funny Republicans. I think the show on Fox News at 3 a.m. called “Red Eye,” those guys are some of the smartest guys on television.

TUMAN: Going back to the question you had from a young person before, this idea that there’s a perception that some people in the Republican Party ignore science and advocate their position in the face of that, if you have a Stephen Colbert or a Jon Stewart, who will sometimes also goof on a position and take absurdist positions, when a young person watches that they know that they’re not doing that because they’re serious, they’re doing that to be funny.

If a Glenn Beck or a Bill O’Reilly takes an absurd position, he’s not being funny. The perception is that he’s doing that and being serious. That creates the impression that it’s an absurd position and we can’t believe that position so therefore we don’t believe you. Is that a mistake with young people?

HOOVER: Yeah. There’s a clear disconnect. Especially if somebody like Limbaugh – I don’t think O’Reilly fits in this category, because he’s just not an ideologue – who, by the way, I grew up listening to. He says if you don’t listen to me for three weeks, you’re not going to get it. You just won’t get me, my personality, my sense of humor. I think that’s true. If you listen to him for a while, you understand when he’s joking, when he’s being egregious, when he’s exaggerating to make a point. Same with Stewart. I think this is what happens when you’re an entertainer. Ω This program was made possible by the generous support of Robert W. Baird.

Programs

For up-to-date information on programs, and to subscribe to our weekly newsletter, go to commonwealthclub.org

OVERVIEW

TICKETs

The Commonwealth Club organizes more than 450 events every year – on politics, the arts, media, literature, business and sports.

Programs are held throughout the Bay Area.

Prepayment is required. Unless otherwise indicated, all Club programs – including “Members Free” events – require tickets.

Programs often sell out, so we strongly encourage you to purchase tickets in advance. Tickets are available at will call. Due to heavy call volume, we urge you to purchase tickets online at commonwealthclub.org; or call (415) 597-6705. Please note: All ticket sales are final. Please arrive at least 10 minutes prior to any program. If a program is sold out and your tickets are not claimed at our box office by the program start time, they will be released to our stand-by list. Select events include premium seating; premium refers to the first several rows of seating.

STANDARD PROGRAMS Typically one hour long, these speeches cover a variety of topics and are followed by a question and answer session. Most evening programs include a wine and cheese reception.

PROGRAM SERIES FOOD LIT showcases pre-eminent chefs and cookbook authors and often includes a mouth-watering meal or tasting.

GOOD LIT features both established literary luminaries and upand-coming writers in conversation.

RADIO, Video and podcasts

INFORUM is for and by people in their 20s and 30s, although events are open to people of all ages.

Hear Club programs on about 200 public and commercial radio stations throughout the United States. For the latest schedule, visit commonwealthclub.org/broadcast.

In the San Francisco Bay Area, tune in to:

MEMBER–LED FORUMS (MLF) Volunteer-driven programs focus on particular fields. Most evening programs include a wine reception.

KQED (88.5 FM) Fridays at 8 p.m. and Saturdays at 2 a.m.

Member-Led Forums Chair

KALW (91.7 FM) Inforum programs on select Tuesdays at 7 p.m.

Dr. Carol Fleming carol.fleming@speechtraining com

KLIV (1590 AM) Thursdays at 7 p.m.

FORUM CHAIRS 2011 ARTS Anne W. Smith asmith@ggu.edu Lynn Curtis lynnwcurtis@comcast.net ASIA–PACIFIC AFFAIRS Cynthia Miyashita cmiyashita@hotmail.com BAY GOURMET Cathy Curtis cathy_curtis2@pacbell.net SF BOOK DISCUSSION Howard Crane cranehow@aol.com BUSINESS & LEADERSHIP Kevin O’Malley kevin@techtalkstudio.com ENVIRONMENT & NATURAL RESOURCES Kerry Curtis kcurtis@ggu.edu Marcia Sitcoske msitcosk@yahoo.com GROWNUPS John Milford Johnwmilford@gmail.com

KOIT (96.5 FM and 1260 AM) Sundays at 6 a.m.

KSAN (107.7 FM) Sundays at 5 a.m.

Health & Medicine William B. Grant wbgrant@infionline.net

KNBR (680 and 1050 AM) Sundays at 5 a.m.

KFOG (104.5 and 97.7 FM) Sundays at 5 a.m.

HUMANITIES George C. Hammond george@pythpress.com INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS Norma Walden norwalden@aol.com LGBT Stephen Seewer stephenseewer@gmail.com Julian Chang

Watch Club programs on KGO-DT Plus channel 7.2 or Comcast 194 from 4 – 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Visit abclocal.go.com/kgo for the latest schedule.

View streaming video of Club programs at fora.tv and commonwealthclub.org/media/video

julianclchang@gmail.com MIDDLE EAST Celia Menczel celiamenczel@sbcglobal.net PSYCHOLOGY Patrick O’Reilly oreillyphd@hotmail.com science & technology Chisako Ress chisakoress@gmail.com

Subscribe to our free podcasting service to automatically download a new program recording to your personal computer each week: commonwealthclub.org/podcast.

HARD OF HEARING? To request an assistive listening device, please e-mail Ricardo Esway at resway@commonwealthclub.org or call (415) 869-5911 seven working days before the event. octo b e r/N o v em b e r 2011

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Eight Weeks Calendar October 03 – November 27 M on

Tue

Wed

October 03

04

05

Noon Jeremy Rifkin FM 5:30 p.m. Defender of the Faith FE 6:00 p.m. Francis S. Collins FE 6:30 p.m. In 6 Minutes, 40 Seconds

Noon Supporting Veterans 6:00 p.m. Joseph Cirincione

10:00 a.m. Dan Akerson and Truckin’ 1:45 p.m. San Francisco Architecture Walking Tour 6:00 p.m. Susan Herman 6:00 p.m. Battle of the Bulge

10

11

12

6:00 p.m. How the World Became Modern FM 7:00 p.m. Dr. Jeffrey Sachs

5:15 p.m. It’s Your Money, So Take It Personally

9:00 a.m. Rethinking Waste in the Bay Area 10:00 a.m. Red Alert: China 6:00 p.m. Club Volunteer Orientation FE 6:00 p.m. The Tai Ji Way 6:00 p.m. International Criminal Court

17

18

19

Noon Reinventing Fire FM 6:00 p.m. General Stéphane Abrial FM 6:15 p.m. Sci Tech Planning Meeting FE 7:00 p.m. Dr. Khaled Hosseini

6:00 p.m. Economics of Good and Evil 10:00 a.m. Windows on the Bay and Salt Works and Beyond

2:00 p.m. North Beach Walking Tour 5:30 p.m. Humanities West Book Group FE 6:00 p.m. Our Summer in Tehran 7:00 p.m. Jim Lehrer

24

25

26

6:00 p.m. Let’s Make Aging Amazing FM 6:00 p.m. Mark Bowden FM 7:00 p.m. Lawrence Lessig FE

Noon Cybercrime 6:00 p.m. Philippa Gregory 6:00 p.m. Achieving a Sustainable HealthCare System 6:30 p.m. Mark Yudof

Noon The Food of Morocco Noon Jeff Merkley 6:00 p.m. Invisible Dynamics 6:00 p.m. Laurence Tribe and Roger Pilon

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November 01

02

5:30 p.m. Middle East Discussion Group FE

6:30 p.m. Social Networking on the Brain

6:00 p.m. Scholasticism and the Design of the Medieval Gothic Cathedral 6:00 p.m. Stocking Up: Grocers and Consumers

07

08

09

5:15 p.m. Death Penalty Focus FM 6:00 p.m. Dava Sobel: A More Perfect Heaven FM

6:00 p.m. From Smilia to Salander 6:00 p.m. Paul Gilding 7:00 p.m. Chris Matthews

2:00 p.m. Chinatown Walking Tour 6:00 p.m. Global Economic Forum 6:00 p.m. Water and Energy 7:00 p.m. Dr. Susan Hockfield

14

15

16

6:00 p.m. Why the West Rules...for Now FM

6:00 p.m. Conscious Leadership

6:00 p.m. Humanities West Book Discussion FE 6:00 p.m. Drunken Angel 6:00 p.m. California 2020

21

22

23

1:00 p.m. Tom Brokaw

5:15 p.m. Threescore and Ten

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Legend

San Francisco

FM

Free program for members

East Bay

FE

Free program for everyone

Silicon Valley

MO

Members–only program

Thu

Fri

S at

Sun

06

07

08

09

14

15

16

20

21

22

23

6:00 p.m. The Changing Face of Media 6:00 p.m. RIO + 20 UN Earth Summit

10:00 a.m. Beyond Petroleum

9:30 a.m. Organic Cheese Tour

27

28

29

30

03

04

05

06

Noon Richard Lester 6:00 p.m. Team Chemistry in Baseball and Technology Noon Supporting Veterans 6:30 p.m. Your Brain on Music

Noon Food Fight FM

12

13

19

20

26

27

10:00 a.m. Drop in, Scale Up? and CA + USA = 55 MPG? 6:00 p.m. You and Your Money 6:30 p.m. The Race for Mayor 2011

13 6:00 p.m. Redesigning Learning 6:00 p.m. Daniel Yergin 6:00 p.m. Environment & Natural Resources Planning Meeting FE

6:00 p.m. Transforming Terror

10 6:00 p.m. Pebble Mine

11

Veterans Day Club offices closed

17

18

Noon Robert S. Mueller III 2:00 p.m. Russian Hill Walking Tour 6:00 p.m. Sun Up 6:00 p.m. What to Do When Words Don’t Work

Noon Jihad Jane FM Noon Dan Miller FM

24

25

Thanksgiving

Day Ater Thanksgiving

Club offices closed

Club offices closed

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October 03–05 Mo n 0 3 | S a n F r a n c i s c o

Mo n 0 3 | S a n F r a n c i s c o

Mo n 0 3 | S a n F r a n c i s c o

Jeremy Rifkin

Defender of the Faith

President, Foundation on Economic Trends; Author, The Third Industrial Revolution: How Lateral Power Is Transforming Energy and Changing the World

We will discuss a classic short story, “Defender of the Faith,” by Philip Roth.

It appeared in 1959 in Roth’s first published work, Goodbye Columbus, a collection of five short stories and a novella that put Roth on the map as a chronicler of Jewish-American life at mid-century.

As a reminder, this is a book discussion group; the author will not be present.

A Revolution in Biomedical Innovation

Rifkin takes us inside the remarkable transformation in the way the world creates and disseminates energy. He shows how Internet technology and the reality of renewable energy are creating a new type of electrical grid, one in which energy is stored and distributed on an individual basis. This “Energy Internet” will fundamentally change every aspect of the way we work and live, says Rifkin. He will explain how the United States can embrace this ambitious vision of the future.

MLF: SF Book Discussion Location: SF Club Office Time: 5:30 p.m. program Cost: FREE Program Organizer: Howard Crane

Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., Director, National Institutes of Health Larry Brilliant, M.D., MPH, President and CEO, Skoll Global Threats Fund – Moderator

Come hear one of the world’s most influential scientists and medical researchers discuss the coming revolution in biomedical innovation – and what it might mean for you. Dr. Collins oversees the work of the National Institutes of Health, the federal agency that is the nation’s largest supporter of biomedical research.

Location: SF Club Office Time: 5:30 p.m. networking, 6 p.m. program Cost: FREE Also know: Underwritten by the California HealthCare Foundation

Location: SF Club Office Time: 11:30 a.m. check-in, noon program Cost: $20 standard, MEMBERS FREE, $7 students (with valid ID)

Mo n 0 3 | S a n F r a n c i s c o

T u e 04 | San Francisco

In 6 Minutes, 40 Seconds: How to Build a Sustainable Future

Supporting Veterans and Taking National Priorities Local

See website for panelists

Pecha Kucha is a method of presentation developed in Japan based on a simple idea: 20 images, 20 seconds per image.

This method is a way of bringing several and diverse leaders together for quick, concise and interesting presentations.

We’re bringing together designers, business leaders, tech giants, poets, scientists and politicians to solve one of the most important issues of our time: How do we build a sustainable future? Join us.

Location: Levi’s Auditorium, 1155 Battery St. Time: 6 p.m. check-in, 6:30 p.m. program, 7:30 book signing and networking reception Cost: $20 standard, $12 members, $7 students

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Deborah Alvarez-Rodriguez, President and Chief Executive Officer, Goodwill Industries of San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin; Board Chair, East Bay Community Foundation Major General Michael Myatt, President and CEO, Marines Memorial Association; Chair, Fleet Week Association Paul Rieckhoff, Executive Director and Founder, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America Ana Thompson, Executive Director, Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation Jane Whitfield, President, Whitfield Consulting – Moderator

Nearly 2 million veterans live in California, with more than 200,000 in the Bay Area alone and tens of thousands of troops returning home over the next year. Collaboration between philanthropy, corporations and government is being hailed as a possible solution for the urgent needs of this population. Joining Forces, a White House initiative, is an attempt to catalyze this collaboration by increasing the national discourse. How can our community unite to support veterans? Experts and insiders weigh in.

Location: SF Club Office Time: 11:30 a.m. check-in, noon program, 1 p.m. heavy hors d’oeuvres Cost: $20 standard, $12 members, $7 students (with valid ID) Also know: In association with United Way of the Bay Area, Google, Pg&E, Northern California Grantmakers, Association of Fundraising Professionals, Tipping Point Community, the Veteran’s Health Research Institute, Swords to Plowshares, and the Grant Humanitarian Foundation.

octo be r/nov embe r 2011

T u e 04 | San Francisco

T u e 04 | San Francisco

Wed 0 5 | S a n F r a n c i s c o

San Francisco Bay: A Look at the Past, Present and Future of Our World-Class Treasure

Shaping a 21st Century Strategy for National Security

San Francisco Architecture Walking Tour

David Lewis, Executive Director, Save the Bay

Lewis says that San Francisco Bay would not be the beautiful natural resource it is today without Save the Bay’s 50 years of efforts to halt massive bayfill and dumping, restoring wetlands and reducing harmful pollution. Learn about current Bay threats and how to protect and restore San Francisco Bay. MLF: Environment & Natural Resources Location: SF Club Office Time: 5:30 p.m. networking reception, 6 p.m. program Cost: $20 standard, $8 members, $7 students (with valid ID) Program Organizer: Kerry Curtis Also know: In association with Save the Bay

Joseph Cirincione, President, Ploughshares Fund; Author, Bomb Scare: The History and Future of Nuclear Weapons

How should the U.S. confront nuclear terrorism and the currently unstable economic and political dynamics in the Middle East? Osama bin Laden’s death and the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq and Afghanistan indicate that the post-9/11 era is ending. While the U.S. defense budget shrinks, strategic priorities rise to importance. Which priorities will remain? Cirincione will explore these points and more.

Location: SF Club Office Time: 5:30 p.m. networking, 6 p.m. program Cost: $20 standard, $12 members, $7 students

Explore the Financial District with historian Rick Evans and learn the stories behind some of our city’s structures, streets and public squares. Hear about the architects who influenced building after the 1906 earthquake. Discover rooftop gardens, Art Deco lobbies, open spaces and landmarks. This is a tour for locals, with hidden gems you can only find on foot! For those interested in socializing afterwards, we will conclude the tour at a local watering hole.

Location: Meet at SF Club Office Time: 1:45–4:30 p.m. tour; no-host socializing to follow Cost: $40 standard, $30 members Also know: Limited to 20. Must pre-register.

The tour covers less than one mile of walking; includes stairs. Questions? Call (415) 597-6720.

Wed 0 5 | S a n F r a n c i s c o

Wed 0 5 | S a n F r a n c i s c o

Susan Herman: War on Terror and the Erosion of Democracy

Dan Akerson

President, ACLU; Author, Taking Liberties: The War on Terror and the Erosion of Democracy

What’s ahead for the “new GM” now that it’s back in the black? The company bet much of its future on the new Chevy Volt, which is now hitting the streets. How are customers responding? Can the U.S. keep up with China’s investment in clean technologies? Join us for a conversation with the man steering the auto giant into the future.

Following the 9/11 attacks, the U.S. government implemented antiterrorist legislation in an effort to fight the war on terror. In recent years, however, civil rights advocates have increasingly argued that these emergency measures may pry too deeply into the lives of not only suspected terrorists, but of nearly all Americans. Herman will examine whether laws and policies, like the Patriot Act, are constitutional and effective, or just counterproductive.

Location: SF Club Office Time: 5:30 p.m. networking reception, 6 p.m. program, 7 p.m. book signing Cost: $20 standard, $12 members, $7 students Also know: Part of the Geschke Family Series on the U.S. Constitution in the 21st Century

Chairman and CEO, General Motors

Time: 9:30 a.m. check-in, 10 a.m. program

Truckin’ John Boesel, CEO, Cal Start Mike Tunnell, Director, Environmental Affairs, American Trucking Associations Alan Niedzweicki, CEO, Quantum Technologies

For the first time ever, commercial trucks will soon be subject to federal standards for fuel efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions. How will that impact buyers and makers of medium- and heavy-duty trucks? California is a center of activity for creating and deploying hybrid and fully electric drivetrains and other technologies. We’ll discuss the move to increase efficiency, create jobs and build a cleaner transportation sector.

Time: 11:30 a.m. program Location: SF Club Office Cost: $65 standard, $45 members. Includes all morning sessions.

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October 05–12 Wed 0 5 | S a n F r a n c i s c o

T h u 06 | San Francisco

The Battle of the Bulge

Drop In, Scale Up? Ed Dineen, CEO, LS9 • Alan Shaw, CEO, Codexis • Jonathan Wolfson, CEO, Solazyme

Andrew Jameson, Military Historian; Former Asst. Vice Chancellor, UC Berkeley

A veteran of the Battle of the Bulge takes us behind the scenes of the biggest and costliest battle ever fought by the U.S. Army, lasting from December 16, 1944, to January 25, 1945. As many as 250,000 German soldiers and 1,000 tanks pushed the Allied line back during a very cold, snowy Ardennes Forest winter. Jameson, who was a decorated 19-year-old sergeant in the battle, will describe with visuals and maps both the German and American perspectives on this historic event.

MLF: Humanities Location: SF Club Office Time: 5:30 p.m. networking, 6 p.m. program Cost: $20 standard, $8 members, $7 students Program Organizer: George Hammond Also know: In assn. with Humanities West

Solazyme’s successful IPO suggests investors are bullish on synthetic fuels made from algae and other sources that can be used in regular vehicles today with minimal technological or behavioral modifications. Such “drop-in fuels” leverage existing capital investment in cars and distribution infrastructure. We look at constraints such as water scarcity to assess the potential for running vehicles on advanced biofuels that don’t compete with food.

Time: 10-11 a.m. program

CA + USA = 55 MPG? Mary Nichols, Chair, California Air Resources Board • Roland Hwang, Natural Resources Defense Council

New auto fuel economy standards call for a fleet average of 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025. Light trucks, which drive much of Detroit’s profits, are subject to a slower rate of improvement. Will California aim for a higher number or match the feds? Automakers say having one national standard for cars is paramount. How will the new U.S. standards compare to other countries? How much will the changes cost consumers?

We take a look at the opportunities and hurdles in driving efficiency in the auto sector.

Time: 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. program Location: SF Club Office Cost: $65 standard, $45 members, $15 students (includes all morning sessions)

T h u 06 | San Francisco

T h u 06 | San Francisco

You and Your Money: A Relationship Built to Last?

The Race for Mayor 2011

Karen McCall, Founder, Financial Recovery Institute; Author, Financial Recovery

It’s no secret that we’re headed down a bumpy financial road. The question is: Will your relationship with money make that road easier or more treacherous? McCall reveals secrets she says many “experts” ignore when it comes to creating a stable financial future, posits that our relationship to both money and work dictates our level of financial fulfillment or success, and shares her own amazing story of financial recovery.

MLF: Business & Leadership Location: SF Club Office Time: 5:30 p.m. networking reception, 6 p.m. program, 7 p.m. book signing Cost: $20 standard, $8 members, $7 students Program Organizer: Kevin O’Malley

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Featuring all 16 declared 2011 SF mayoral candidates See Club website for full list of panelists

November is quickly approaching, when San Franciscans will have to choose a new mayor. Don’t miss a rare opportunity to get up close and personal with the potential heads of the city and watch them address the issues you come face to face with every day: Muni, parks, pensions, open government, the budget and more.

INFORUM and the Summer of Smart are teaming up to produce the electoral event in the race for San Francisco mayor. In this 90-minute program, candidates will get up on one stage to discuss the topics San Franciscans are concerned about most. Ask them your own questions, and hear the Summer of Smart’s contest winners present their own innovative ideas to the mayoral candidates on how to address some of San Francisco’s most important issues. This is a night you don’t want to miss!

Location: SF Club Office Time: 6 p.m. check-in, 6:30 p.m. program, 8 p.m. networking reception Cost: $20 standard, $12 members, $7 students (with valid ID)

octo be r/nov embe r 2011

Mo n 1 0 | S a n F r a n c i s c o

Mo n 1 0 | S i l i c o n V a l l e y

T u e 11 | San Francisco

The Swerve: How the World Became Modern

Dr. Jeffrey Sachs

It’s Your Money, So Take It Personally

Stephen Greenblatt, Author, The Swerve; Professor of English and American Literature, Harvard University

Monday Night Philosophy hosts Greenblatt and his account of how, nearly 600 years ago, a cannily alert man took an ancient manuscript off a library shelf and realized it was the last surviving manuscript of Lucretius’s epic, On the Nature of Things. This rediscovery unearthed ancient but dangerous ideas: that the universe functioned without the aid of gods, that religious fear was damaging, and that matter was made up of atoms in motion.

MLF: Humanities Location: SF Club Office Time: 5:30 p.m. networking, 6 p.m. program Cost: $20 standard, MEMBERS FREE, $7 students Program Organizer: George Hammond

Director, Earth Institute, Columbia University, Special UN Advisor; Author, The Price of Civilization

Valerie Coleman Morris, News Correspondent/ Anchor

Sachs gives a startling critique of the inadequacies of U.S.-style capitalism. He offers a bold plan of reforms relating to sustainable infrastructure, taxes, job training, etc., that he says must be taken to avoid further damage. Sachs was the director of the UN Millennium Project and is the president and co-founder of Millennium Promise Alliance.

Do you control your money, or does your money control you? Morris will review money basics: the process of identifying what you want, why you want it when you want it, and what it takes to achieve it. She will explore how to recover from the recession in a sustainable way, and how to recalculate our relationship with money.

Location: Schultz Cultural Hall, Oshman Family JCC, 3921 Fabian Way, Palo Alto Time: 6:30 p.m. check-in, 7 p.m. program, 8 p.m. book signing Cost: $20 standard, $12 members Also know: In assn. with Oshman Family JCC

MLF: Grownups Location: SF Club Office Time: 4:45 p.m. networking, 5:15 p.m. program Cost: $20 standard, $8 members, $7 students Program Organizer: John Milford

Wed 1 2 | S F a n d E a s t B a y

Wed 1 2 | S a n F r a n c i s c o

Rethinking Waste in the Bay Area

Red Alert: China Time, China Scale and China for a Day

One person’s garbage is another’s gold. Experience how waste is transformed into valuable products through creative re-use and recycling methods on this tour. Meet the leaders responsible for keeping tons of reusable materials out of landfills. We’ll visit transfer stations: Urban Ore, Omega Salvage and other innovative models of sustainability. Join the tour in SF or Berkeley.

Beijing’s huge commitment to clean technologies has quickly made it a major player in solar electricity, batteries, high speed rail and other key sectors. The scale and pace of China’s pursuits is challenging U.S. leadership and reshaping capital flows and markets.

Will China’s green juggernaut eat America’s lunch? What are the most promising clean tech opportunities in China? Join us for a two-part program as we discuss China’s power surge and what it means to the rest of the world.

Red Alert: China Time, China Scale Peter Greenwood, Executive Director of Strategy, China Light and Power Group Stephen Leeb, Co-author, Red Alert Additional panelist TBA Time: 9:30 a.m. check-in, 10 a.m. program

Location: Meet: SF Ferry Building’s NW exit.

Time: Arrive by 8:30 a.m. Bus departs at 9 a.m. Staff has signs for BAGT (Bay Area Green Tours). OR meet in Berkeley at David Brower Center, 2150 Allston Way, 9:30 a.m. End approx.

4:30 p.m. in Berkeley and return 5 p.m. in SF. Cost: $120 standard, $120 members. Includes bus transportation and a box lunch Also know: Must pre-register

Networking break: 11-11:30 a.m.

China for a Day Richard Lim, Managing Partner, GSR Ventures (invited) Additional clean tech investors TBA Time: 11:30 a.m. -12:30 p.m. program Location: SF Club Office Cost: $45 standard, $25 members, $7 students. Includes all morning sessions.

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October 12–18 w ed 1 2 | S a n F r a n c i s c o

Wed 1 2 | S a n F r a n c i s c o

Wed 1 2 | S a n F r a n c i s c o

Club Volunteer Orientation

The Tai Ji Way to Healthy Living

International Criminal Court

The Club can’t function without the dedication of its volunteers. Help us keep public discussion alive. Event volunteers assist with greeting, ticketing, receptions, ushering, collecting question cards and timing programs for radio broadcast. To reserve a space at the next volunteer orientation, please email volunteers@commonwealthclub. org. The privilege of volunteering is reserved for Club members. Please include your name, phone number and membership ID number in the email.

Location: SF Club Office Time: 6 p.m. orientation Cost: FREE

Dr. Alex Feng, LAc, Ph.D., OMD, Founder, Zhi Dao Guan, Taoist Center

Jacob N. Foster, Associate Attorney, Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman LLP

Tai Ji Quan is a Chinese internal martial art that emphasizes working with your qi, or life energy, with precise body postures and natural movements to improve physical health and increase energy. Tai Ji is so versatile that people of all ages can find it useful. Dr. Feng will give a live demonstration of the form, and audience members will be able to participate. He is a grandmaster of this traditional Chinese martial art form.

Less than a decade after its inception, the International Criminal Court is now at the forefront of the response to the most serious crimes of concern to the international community, such as genocide and war crimes. Proponents argue that prosecuting such crimes is necessary to deter violence and despotism, while critics contend that criminal proceedings impede peace negotiations and result in violently desperate dictators. Foster, who worked on Muammar Gaddafi’s arrest warrant, explores the court’s complexities.

MLF: Asia-Pacific Affairs Location: SF Club Office Time: 5:30 p.m. networking, 6 p.m. program Cost: $20 standard, $8 members, $7 students Program Organizer: Sylvie Grillet-Rivera

MLF: International Relations Location: SF Club Office Time: 5:30 p.m. networking, 6 p.m. program Cost: $20 standard, $8 members, $7 student Program Organizer: Linda Calhoun

T h u 13 | San Francisco

T h u 13 | San Francisco

Redesigning Learning: Hope or Hype?

Daniel Yergin: On Energy, Security, and the Remaking of the Modern World

Arnold Wasserman, Chairman, The Idea Factory, Singapore; Founding Principal, Collective Invention, San Francisco Scott Stropkay, Co-founder and Partner, Essential Kevin O’Malley, CEO, TechTalk / Studio – Moderator

In schools from Singapore to San Francisco to Copenhagen, designers worldwide are on a mission to teach non-designers how to use new methods of creative problem solving.

Enthusiasts say that recreating education around principles of “design thinking” is the essential first step toward building “World 3.0” – a life of health, equity and creative fulfillment for 10 billion people, and sustainable on the resources of our planet. Is this hope, or hype?

MLF: Business & Leadership Location: SF Club Office Time: 5:30 p.m. networking reception, 6 p.m. program Cost: $20 standard, $8 members, students free (with valid ID) Program Organizer: Kevin O’Malley

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octo be r/nov embe r 2011

Executive VP and Chairman, IHS Cambridge Energy Research Associates; CNBC Global Energy Expert; Author, The Quest

Yergin’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book, The Prize, established him as one of the foremost energy authorities. He now offers inside stories of the oil market, the rise of the “petrostate” and the race to control the resources of the former Soviet empire.

Location: SF Club Office Time: 5:30 p.m. check-in, 6 p.m. program, 7 p.m. book signing/networking reception Cost: $20 standard, $12 members, $7 students Also know: Part of the Innovating California Series sponsored by Chevron

T h u 13 | San Francisco

Mo n 1 7 | S a n F r a n c i s c o

Mo n 1 7 | S a n F r a n c i s c o

Environment & Natural Resources Planning Meeting

Reinventing Fire: Bold Business Solutions to a New Energy Era

Defense in an Age of Austerity

Please join us for our next opportunity to get together to brainstorm about future programs featuring the themes of the environment and natural resources. All interested Club members are welcome.

MLF: Environment & Natural Resources Location: SF Club Office Time: 6 p.m. program Cost: FREE Program Organizer: Marcia Sitcoske

Amory Lovins, Author; Co-founder and Chief Scientist, Rocky Mountain Institute

Renowned environmentalist Lovins maps business-led pathways for the U.S. to phase out fossil fuels and win the global clean energy race. He envisions a future in which a 2.6-times larger U.S. economy in 2050 might need no oil, coal or nuclear energy, use one-third less natural gas, and save trillions. The transition can be led by business for profit and requires no act of Congress, says Lovins.

He lays out his bold vision.

General Stéphane Abrial, NATO Supreme Allied Commander, Transformation

Though the U.S. has backed away from intervention in Libya, NATO has re-emerged as a notable player in world politics. General Abrial was the first European to be appointed permanently as head of a NATO strategic command. Abrial spent extensive time in the French Air Force, eventually as Air Force Chief of Staff, before being appointed to NATO in 2009.

MLF: Environment & Natural Resources Location: SF Club Office Time: 11:30 a.m. check-in, noon program Cost: $20 standard, MEMBERS FREE, $7 students Program Organizer: Marcia Sitcoske

Location: SF Club Office Time: 5:15 p.m. networking, 6 p.m. program Cost: $20 standard, MEMBERS FREE, $12 Marines Memorial members, $7 students (with valid ID) Also know: In association with the Marines Memorial Association

Mo n 1 7 | S a n F r a n c i s c o

Mo n 1 7 | S a n F r a n c i s c o

T u e 18 | San Francisco

Science & Technology Planning Meeting

Dr. Khaled Hosseini

Economics of Good and Evil

Goodwill Envoy, UN High Commission for Refugees; Author, The Kite Runner In conversation with Mohammad Qayoumi, President, SJSU

Tomas Sedlacek, National Economic Council, Prague; Lecturer, Charles University; Author, The Economics of Good and Evil; Advisor to Vaclav Havel

Join fellow Club members with similar interests and brainstorm upcoming Science & Technology programs. All Commonwealth Club members are welcome. We explore visions for the future through science and technology. Discuss current issues and share your insights with fellow Club members to shape and plan programs for the months ahead.

MLF: Science & Technology Location: Club Office Time: 6:15 p.m. planning meeting Cost: FREE Program Organizer: Chisako Ress

Nearly 7 million readers have been transformed by Hosseini’s The Kite Runner, an extraordinary heart-wrenching story of two boys coming of age in ravaged war-torn Afghanistan and which is now being released as a graphic novel.

Hosseini will discuss his work and his personal foundation.

Location: Cubberley Community Theatre, 4000 Middlefield Rd., Palo Alto Time: 6:30 p.m. check-in, 7 p.m. program, 8 p.m. book signing Cost: $20 standard, $12 members Also know: Underwriter: Osher Foundation

In his best-selling books in the Czech Republic, former advisor to Vaclav Havel Sedlacek shows how economics is woven out of history, myth, religion and ethics.

Come listen to a fascinating ride that will take you from the Epic of Gilgamesh through the Bible and the Greeks to today’s pop culture in film – a fresh look at economics as part of our culture.

MLF: Business & Leadership/ international relations Location: SF Club Office Time: 5:30 p.m. networking reception, 6 p.m. program, 7 p.m. book signing Cost: $20 standard, $8 members, $7 students Program Organizer: Kevin O’Malley

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October 18–20 T u e 18 | San Francisco

Wed 1 9 | S a n F r a n c i s c o

Windows on the Bay

North Beach Walking Tour

Saul Bloom, Executive Director, Arc Ecology • Will Travis, Executive Director, Bay Conservation and Development Commission

Can the Bay Area build on land designated for development in a climate-smart fashion that guards against future weather and financial risk? How can Treasure Island and Hunters Point develop new models for resilient communities and regions? Where do they fall short of a sustainable community?

Time: 9:30 a.m. check-in, 10-11 a.m. program

Salt Works and Beyond Peter Calthorpe, Principal Architect, Peter Calthorpe Associates • David Lewis, Executive Director, Save the Bay • Jack Matthews, Mayor, San Mateo

Is Cargill Salt’s proposal to build 12,000 homes on former salt ponds in Redwood City an example of smart growth, or dirty old development? Calthorpe and supporters say it will preserve half of the former wetlands and provide funds for needed transit and reduce greenhouse gases by putting housing closer to jobs. Lewis and other opponents say it will destroy sensitive habitat and create other headaches. Where can the Bay Area add needed homes while creating resilient communities fortified to withstand possible extreme weather?

Time: 11:30 a.m. -12:30 p.m. program Location: SF Club Office Cost: $45 standard, $25 members, $7 students (with valid ID). Includes all morning sessions.

Join another Commonwealth Club Neighborhood Adventure. Explore vibrant North Beach with Rick Evans during a two-hour walk through this neighborhood with a colorful past, where food, culture, history and unexpected views all intersect in an Italian “urban village.” In addition to learning about Beat generation hangouts, you’ll discover authentic Italian cathedrals and coffee shops.

Location: Meet at Washington Square Park at Saints Peter and Paul Church (Filbert & Powell), along the Muni bus #30 route Time: 2-4:30 p.m. tour; no-host optional socializing to follow Cost: $45 standard, $35 members Program Organizer: Kristina Nemeth Also know: Limited to 20 people. Must preregister. For questions, call (415) 597-6720.

Wed 1 9 | S a n F r a n c i s c o

Wed 1 9 | S i l i c o n V a l l e y

Wed 1 9 | S a n F r a n c i s c o

Humanities West Book Discussion: The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Jim Lehrer

Our Summer in Tehran

Former News Anchor, PBS “NewsHour”; Author, Tension City In conversation with David Kennedy, Professor of History Emeritus, Stanford

Justine Shapiro, Filmmaker; Former Globe Trekker on Public TV Marjaneh Moghimi, Film Producer and Founder, Butimar Productions

Join us to discuss The Hunchback of Notre Dame, by Victor Hugo, as background reading on medieval Paris and its centerpiece, the Gothic cathedral masterpiece justly famous throughout the world.

The discussion will be moderated by Lynn Harris. Neither the author nor Quasimodo will be present.

MLF: Humanities Location: SF Club Office Time: 5:30 p.m. discussion Cost: FREE Program Organizer: George Hammond

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Lehrer has presided over more than 11 presidential and vice-presidential debates.

Drawing on his experiences and interviews with candidates and other moderators, he gives an insider account of all of the backstage drama and reflects on some of the “major moments” and “killer questions” that defined each historical debate.

Location: Lucie Stern Community Theatre, 1305 Middlefield Rd., Palo Alto Time: 6:30 p.m. check-in, 7 p.m. program, 8 p.m. book signing Cost: $20 standard, $15 members. Premium (first few rows) $45 standard, $35 members

octo be r/nov embe r 2011

Shapiro and Moghimi will discuss and show excerpts from the moving film My Summer in Tehran, which was shown on KQED last spring. Accompanied by her young son, Matteo, Shapiro documented her stays with a religious family from the Revolutionary Guard, a secular family and a single mother, until she was told to leave immediately by the Iranian government.

MLF: Middle east Location: SF Club Office Time: 5:30 p.m. networking, 6 p.m. program Cost: $20 standard, $8 members, students free Program Organizer: Celia Menczel

Wed 1 9 | S i l i c o n V a l l e y

T h u 20 | San Francisco

The World’s Most Progressive Climate Change Law: How We Got It and Where Do We Go from Here?

The Changing Face of Media: Can Traditional Sources of Information Survive in the Digital Age? Sponsored by Wells Fargo

Fabian Nunez, Former California Assembly Speaker

Phil Bronstein, Editor-at-Large, Hearst Newspapers John Boland, President and CEO, KQED Lisa Frazier, President and CEO, Bay Citizen

The former speaker of the California State Assembly will discuss California’s Assembly Bill 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act, and related issues. In 2006, the legislature passed and Governor Schwarzenegger signed AB 32, which set the 2020 greenhouse gas emissions reduction goal into law. In 2010, AB 32 survived an initiative challenge (Proposition 23).

Location: Morris Dailey Auditorium, San Jose State University, One Washington Sq. Time: 7 p.m. program Cost: FREE Also know: Part of San Jose State University’s Don Edwards Lecture

As the presence of blogs and Internet reporting expands astronomically, what implications does this have for the business model and future survival of traditional media, including newspapers and broadcasters? A panel of experts weighs in on the challenges facing established media in the current economic climate: the importance of speed over quality, finding credible sources in an online world, and funding writers when millions of amateurs are writing and publishing for free.

Location: SF Club Office Time: 5:30 p.m. networking reception, 6 p.m. program Cost: $20 standard, $12 members, $7 students (with valid ID)

T h u 20 | San Francisco

RIO+20 UN Earth Summit: Can We Put the World on a Path to a Sustainable Future?

Jared Blumenfeld, Regional Administrator, Region 9, Environmental Protection Agency S. Jacob Scherr, Director, Global Strategy and Advocacy, Natural Resources Defense Council Kerry Curtis, Professor Emeritus, Golden Gate University – Moderator

Join two environmental leaders as they discuss the historic gathering in Rio de Janeiro of top world leaders who will examine the global environmental and economic challenges facing the world today. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has declared RIO+20 the most important UN conference in history, citing this planet’s vanishing resources and swelling population. Conference attendees Blumenfeld and Scherr will discuss RIO+20 as a possible turning point for creating a sustainable future for generations to come.

MLF: ENVIRONMENT & NATURAL RESOURCES Location: SF Club Office Time: 5:30 p.m. networking reception, 6 p.m. program Cost: $20 standard, $8 members, $7 students (with valid ID) Program Organizer: Ann Clark

Foreign Language Groups

Free for members Location: SF Club Office

FRENCH, Intermediate Class Thursdays, noon Pierrette Spetz, Graziella Danieli, danieli@sfsu.edu, Linda Cleveland, ljc3003@ yahoo.com FRENCH, Advanced Conversation Tuesdays, noon Gary Lawrence, (925) 932-2458 GERMAN, Int./Adv. Conversation Wednesdays, noon Sara Shahin, (415) 314-6482 ITALIAN, Intermediate Class Mondays, noon Ebe Fiori Sapone, (415) 564-6789 RUSSIAN, Int./Advanced Conversation Mondays, 2 p.m. Rita Sobolev, (925) 376-7889 SPANISH, Intermediate Class Tuesdays, noon Nancy Esteva, tehuanancy33@yahoo.com SPANISH, Advanced (fluent only) Fridays, noon Luis Salvago-Toledo, (925) 376-7830

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October 21–26 F r i 21 | San Francisco

Sat 2 2 | N o r t h B a y

Beyond Petroleum: Lessons from the Gulf of Mexico

Organic Cheese Tour

Bill Reilly, Co-chair, National Oil Spill Commission • Bob Graham, Co-chair, National Oil Spill Commission

How much safer is offshore oil drilling 18 months after the Deepwater Horizon sank on Earth Day 2010? The president’s commission found systemic problems with industry practices and regulatory oversight. We’ll explore what recommendations have been implemented and what else needs to be done to power the U.S. economy while transitioning to safer and cleaner forms of energy.

Time: 10-11 a.m. program

Beyond Petroleum: Navy Seals Leading the Charge Jackie Pfannenstiel, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Energy & Installations • John Melo, CEO, Amyris

The U.S. military has ambitious plans to reduce its dangerous dependence on oil and other fossil fuels. Can the buying power of the Pentagon drive innovation in new energy technologies and create markets? This conversation explores how the U.S. Navy and other military branches can align their intellectual and financial capital to accelerate and broaden the transition to cleaner sources of electricity and transportation fuels for American forces and the American economy.

Time: 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. program Location: Fairmont Hotel, Terrace Room, 950 Mason St. (at California) Cost: $30 standard, $18 members, $7 students (with valid ID)

Learn about the craft of local organic cheese making while touring in a comfortable bio-diesel bus through the countryside of Marin and Sonoma counties. Visit goat, cow and sheep dairies and explore barns, milking parlors and cheese-making facilities, while engaging in dialogue with farmers and cheese makers. There are opportunities to taste and purchase cheese, of course! A healthy organic picnic lunch is included.

Location: Meet at SF Club Office Time: 9 a.m. check-in, 9:30 a.m. depart SF Club Office, 5:30 p.m. return Cost: $135 standard, $125 members. Preregistration required.

Program Organizer: Kristina Nemeth

Mo n 2 4 | S a n F r a n c i s c o

Mo n 2 4 | S a n F r a n c i s c o

Mo n 2 4 | S i l i c o n V a l l e y

Let’s Make Aging Amazing: A New Approach to Aging in San Francisco

Mark Bowden

Lawrence Lessig

Contributing Editor, Vanity Fair; Author, Black Hawk Down and Worm: The First Digital World War

Director, the Edmond J. Safra Foundation Center for Ethics, Harvard University; Author, Republic, Lost

When the Conficker computer “worm” was unleashed in 2008, security experts were dumbfounded. The worm infected 12 million computers, including machines vital to air traffic and banking systems. Bowden explores the struggle between brilliant hackers bent on defeating the worm and those who exploit the Internet, whose origins and intentions remain unknown today.

With the influx of private donations and corporate campaign expenditures continuing to balloon, trust in government is at an all-time low. Lessig discusses the evolution of our “economy of influence,” faulting both Democrats and Republicans and offering a plan to end corruption and restore our trust in the political system. Hear his thoughts on how to stop, correct and change the process.

Location: SF Club Office Time: 5:30 p.m. networking reception, 6 p.m. program, 7 p.m. book signing Cost: $20 standard, MEMBERS FREE, $7 students Also know: In association with the Science & Technology Member-Led Forum

Location: Santa Clara University Time: 6:30 p.m. program, 7:30 p.m. book signing Cost: FREE Also know: In association with The Markkula Center for Applied Ethics

Gayle Geary, Founder, Member and Board President, San Francisco Village

Are you weighing options about where to live and how to meet your wants and needs as you age? With the village movement, we now have the ability to grow older in the homes we love with all the services we need, says Geary. Villages are grassroots, membership organizations; there are more than 50 in operation.

She will discuss how villages are redefining our ideas on aging and why it really “takes a village” when it comes to aging.

MLF: GROWNUPS Location: SF Club Office Time: 4:45 p.m. networking, 5:15 p.m. program Cost: $20 standard, MEMBERS FREE, $7 students Program Organizer: John Milford

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T u e 25 San Francisco

T u e 25 | San Francisco

T u e 25 | San Francisco

Misha Glenny: Cybercrime

Philippa Gregory: The Beginnings of the Royals

Achieving a Sustainable Health-Care System: What Might We Do?

Historian; Novelist; Author, The Other Boleyn Girl and The Women of the Cousin’s War and The Lady of the Rivers In conversation with Dr. Mary Bitterman, President, Bernard Osher Foundation

Elliott S. Fisher, M.D., MPH, Professor of Medicine and Professor of Community and Family Medicine, Dartmouth Medical School

Author; Journalist; Visiting Professor, London School of Economics

Governments and the private sector are losing billions a year fighting an evermorphing, often invisible and smart new criminal. Investigative reporter Glenny has traveled the world speaking with members of military and intelligence communities, police, politicians, lawyers and with the hackers themselves and their victims. He advances often-surprising suggestions for the ways in which the authorities might end the cybercrime epidemic.

MLF: International Relations/ Science & Technology Location: SF Club Office Time: 11:30 a.m. check-in, noon program, 1 p.m. book signing Cost: $20 standard, $8 members, $7 students Program Organizer: Chisako Ress

Acclaimed historian and novelist Gregory illuminates the scandals, battles and political infighting that dot the British royal landscape. She exposes a dynasty rife with complex rivalries, loves and hatreds. Come hear the juicy, intricate details of where the royals began.

Location: SF Club Office Time: 5:30 p.m. networking, 6 p.m. program Cost: $20 standard, $12 members, $7 students Also know: Underwritten by The Bernard Osher Foundation

In medical care, is more always better?

Dr. Fisher will draw on his broad expertise in the use of Medicare databases and survey research methods for health-care evaluation in an examination of the causes and the implications of regional variations in Medicare spending.

MLF: Humanities Location: SF Club Office Time: 5:30 p.m. networking, 6 p.m. program Cost: $20 standard, $12 members, $7 students Program Organizer: George Hammond Also know: In association with the Lundberg Institute and the Health & Medicine and Business & Leadership Member-Led Forums.

tue 25 | East Bay

Wed 2 6 | S a n F r a n c i s c o

Mark Yudof: The Fate of Higher Education in California

Business Success Through Understanding Invisible Dynamics

President, University of California

With budgets being slashed, tuitions on the rise and more students than ever seeking limited UC acceptance, California’s public higher education system is in troubled waters. What does the future of the renowned University of California hold and what does it say about the state of higher education in America? Join us for an exclusive conversation with UC President Yudof and get your questions answered.

Location: Lafayette Library and Learning Center Time: 5:45 p.m. check-in, 6:30 p.m. program Cost: $22 standard, $12 members, $7 students

Malidoma Some, Ph.D., International Speaker; Initiated Tribal Elder, Burkina Faso; Author, Ritual: Power, Healing and Community Dan Booth Cohen, Ph.D., Entrepreneur; Author; Co-founder, US Systemic Constellations Conferences Carolyn Zahner, MSW, LISW, Psychotherapist; Mediation Specialist; Co-founder, US Systemic Constellations Conferences Christie Dames, CEO TechTalk/Studio - Moderator

“Systemic constellations” are an innovative method for perceiving the invisible architecture of human relationships. Understanding how our shared history impacts our collective present empowers us to increase sustainability and productivity in our professional and personal lives. This panel will explore the growing field of cultural, family and ancestral influences on current business, economic and socio-political life in the U.S. MLF: Business & Leadership Location: SF Club Office Time: 5:30 p.m. networking, 6 p.m. program Cost: $20 standard, $8 members, $7 students (with valid ID) Program Organizer: Kevin O’Malley

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October 26 – November 02 Wed 2 6 | S a n F r a n c i s c o

Wed 2 6 | S a n F r a n c i s c o

Wed 2 6 | S a n F r a n c i s c o

The Food of Morocco

Energy Shift

Paula Wolfert, Cookbook Author In conversation with Patricia Unterman, Restaurateur; Food Writer; Chef

Jeff Merkley, U.S. Senator (D-OR)

Laurence Tribe and Roger Pilon: The Constitutionality of Health-Care Reform

Wolfert has had a lifelong commitment to the traditional foodways of Morocco.

Her classic cookbook, Couscous and Other Good Food from Morocco, remains in print after an astounding 40 years. Now, in The Food of Morocco, she presents a definitive guide to Moroccan food, drawing on today’s more accessible ingredients.

Wolfert will be interviewed by another doyenne of good food, Unterman.

MLF: Bay Gourmet Location: SF Club Office Time: 11:30 a.m. check-in, noon program, 1 p.m. book signing Cost: $20 standard, $8 members, $7 students (with valid ID) Program Organizer: Cathy Curtis

Many contend that America should ween itself from foreign oil and invest in clean energy technologies and infrastructure.

Join us for a broad conversation about what Congress could do to promote electric cars, create jobs and spur development of biofuels from forests and agricultural lands.

Location: SF Club Office Time: 11:30 a.m. check-in, noon program Cost: $20 standard, $12 members, $7 students (with valid ID)

Is the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act constitutional? As the litigation on health-care reform percolates up toward the Supreme Court, join legal experts Pilon (the founder and director of Cato’s Center for Constitutional Studies) and Tribe (the Carl M. Loeb University Professor at Harvard Law School) for a debate on the constitutionality of healthcare reform.

Location: SF Club Office Time: 5:15 p.m. networking, 6 p.m. program Cost: $20 standard, $12 members, $7 students Also know: Co-organized by the UC Berkeley Institute for Governmental Studies at UC Berkeley, as part of its year-long series on healthcare reform. Part of The Commonwealth Club’s Ethics and Accountability Series, Underwritten by the Charles Travers Family

T h u 27 | San Francisco

Mo n 3 1 | S a n F r a n c i s c o

Transforming Terror: Remembering the Soul of the World

Middle East Discussion Group

Susan Griffith, Co-editor, Transforming Terror; Author, A Chorus of Stones Karin Carrington, Co-editor, Transforming Terror; Professor of Depth Psychology, Pacifica Institute and JFK University Howard Teich, Author, The Psychology of Light: Healing the Divided Soul Rebecca Solnit, Author, Savage Dreams Michael Nagler, Author, Search for a Non-Violent Future

The editors of “a new anthology of hope” say that we need a new paradigm for responding to terrorism. A powerful collection of essays, sermons and prayers, Transforming Terror’s contributors, including Desmond Tutu, Amos Oz and Mahmoud Darwish, come from a diverse spectrum of cultural, political and religious perspectives and offer a blueprint for change through bearing witness, addressing trauma and cultivating our innate human capacity for compassion.

MLF: HUMANITIES Location: SF Club Office Time: 5:30 p.m. networking reception, 6 p.m. program, 7 p.m. book signing Cost: $20 standard, $8 members, $7 students (with valid ID) Program Organizer: George Hammond

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octo be r/nov embe r 2011

Make your voice heard in an enriching, provocative and fun discussion with fellow Club members as you weigh in on events shaping the face of the Middle East. Each month, the Middle East Member-Led Forum hosts an informal roundtable discussion on a topic frequently inspired by recent headlines. After a brief introduction, the floor will be open for discussion. All interested members are encouraged to attend. There will also be a brief planning session.

MLF: Middle East Location: SF Club Office Time: 5:30 p.m. program Cost: FREE Program Organizer: Celia Menczel

T u e 0 1 | S i l i co n Va l l e y

T u e 01 | San Francisco

Adam Gopnik

Social Networking on the Brain: Neuroscience and the New Media

Staff Writer, The New Yorker; Author, Paris to the Moon and The Table Comes First: Family, France, and the Meaning of Food

How’d our culture become so obsessed with food? Gopnik traces our table ancestry back to France and discusses its evolution. Hoping to create a new dialogue about the way we eat, he explains how food helped us come together as well as why those conversations and relationships were always more important than what was actually on the table.

Location: Cubberley Community Theatre, 4000 Middlefield Rd., Palo Alto Time: 6:30 p.m. check-in, 7 p.m. program, 8 p.m. book signing Cost: $20 standard, $12 members Also know: Underwritten by The Bernard Osher Foundation

Adam Gazzaley, Associate Professor of Neurology, Physiology and Psychiatry and Director, Neuroscience Imaging Center, UCSF Tiffany Shlain, Founder, Webby Awards; Filmmaker, Connected: An Autobiography about Love, Death and Technology David Ewing Duncan, Author, Experimental Man; Co-host, Tech Talk Radio – Moderator

More than a billion people around the world are engaged in a massive and unprecedented experiment in how social media technologies are changing society, commerce, politics, health, innovation, love, work, the arts and more. But what is this new tech literally doing to our brains? How is it impacting who we are as humans, and how is it making us different from previous generations in how we interact with information, our environment and each other?

This provocative panel will feature a neuroscientist who studies the impact of multitasking on our gray matter and those who believe new social networking may be leading us to a more connected and even better world, as well as those who are wary of the physiological and societal impact that social media has on humanity. Come participate in a mind-bending special event, check out clips from the film Connected and be social in the real world.

Location: SF Club Office Time: 6 p.m. check-in, 6:30 p.m. program Cost: $20 standard, $12 members, $7 students (with valid ID) Also know: In association with The Bay Area Science Festival and the Science & Technology Forum.

Wed 0 2 | S a n F r a n c i s c o

Wed 0 2 | S a n F r a n c i s c o

Scholasticism and the Design of the Medieval Gothic Cathedral

Stocking Up: How the Grocer and Consumer Can Take Back Food Choice

Robert A. Scott, Author, The Gothic Enterprise

Sam Mogannam, Owner, Bi-Rite Market, San Francisco Diane Del Signore, Executive Director, Community Alliance for Family Farmers Wal-Mart representative TBA Naomi Starkman, Food Policy Media Consultant – Moderator

The design of the great gothic cathedrals of Medieval Europe is characterized by geometric regularity. The strict adherence to geometry in the design and building of these churches derives from scholasticism, which swept Western Christianity during the Middle Ages. After explaining the origins of scholasticism and identifying its precepts, Scott will explore how these ideas were combined with theological notions about light to produce the Gothic look.

MLF: Humanities Location: SF Club Office Time: 5:30 p.m. networking, 6 p.m. program Cost: $20 standard, $8 members, $7 students Program Organizer: George Hammond Also know: In assn. with Humanities West

What is the grocer’s role in feeding our society? Behind the displays on supermarket shelves is a web of politics, economics and strategic marketing that influences product placement and, ultimately, consumer purchasing decisions. Caught in the middle are American eaters.

Panelists will discuss the path that food takes to get to our table and the role that grocers play in feeding us. They will also explore alternative models and ways to inspire change in supermarkets – what they sell, where it comes from, how it arrives to them and how they choose to merchandise it. By saying “no” to business as usual and “yes” to responsible farmers, ranchers and small producers, panelists believe that grocery retailers can be part of the solution for making healthy, sustainably produced foods more accessible to the shoppers they feed.

MLF: Bay Gourmet Location: SF Club Office Time: 5:30 p.m. networking reception, 6 p.m. program Cost: $20 standard, $8 members, $7 students (with valid ID) Program Organizer: Cathy Curtis Also know: Underwriter: The Bernard Osher Foundation

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November 03–08 T h u 03 | San Francisco

T h u 03 | San Francisco

Energy Innovation and Policy

Building Team Chemistry in Baseball and Technology

Richard Lester, Director, MIT Industrial Performance Center Additional panelists TBA

Energy innovation could offer our best chance to solve the urgent and interrelated problems of climate change and rapidly growing energy demand. But what’s the best way to fill the innovation gap and achieve systemic, transformative change? We’ll discuss ways to accelerate new technologies and implications for government at the national and regional level as well as the role of individual and institutional power consumers.

Jed Hoyer, General Manager, San Diego Padres David Bairstow, Vice President for Product Development, Thomson Reuters Doug LeMoine, Managing Director of Interaction Design, Cooper Kevin O’Malley, President TechTalk / Studio – Moderator

Making a great product isn’t really all that different than making a World Series run. In both cases, the organization must assemble the right mix of talent, motivation, independent spirit and willingness to be coached. The right combination of these qualities results in a team that moves faster, makes better decisions, gets to better outcomes and has more fun. Join two tech veterans and baseball fanatics in dialogue with San Diego Padres General Manager Hoyer.

MLF: Business & Leadership Location: SF Club Office Time: 5:30 p.m. networking reception, 6 p.m. program Cost: $20 standard, $8 members, $7 students (with valid ID) Program Organizer: Kevin O’Malley

Location: SF Club Office Time: 11:30 a.m. check-in, noon program Cost: $20 standard, $12 members, $7 students (with valid ID)

t h u 03 | San Francisco

F r i 04 | San Francisco

Your Brain on Music

Food Fight! The Battle to Bring Healthy Food to the State’s Poorest

Daniel Levitin, Author, This Is Your Brain on Music In conversation with a Musical Guest TBA

Ever wonder what’s going on in your brain when you tune in to your favorite radio station or hum that song stuck in your head? Humans have been creating and enjoying music for thousands of years, but what really creates the experience? Levitin and a musical guest chat, jam and foot tap their way through the story of “Music and the Mind Machine.”

Location: SF Club Office Time: 6 p.m. check-in, 6:30 p.m. program Cost: $30 standard, $15 members, $7 students (with valid ID). Premium (includes priority seating and VIP reception with speakers.

Limited to 75) $65 standard, $45 members.

Also know: In association with The Bay Area Science Festival

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Dana Harvey, Executive Director, Mandela Marketplace Ken Hecht, Executive Director, California Food Policy Advocates Sue Sigler, Executive Director, California Association of Food Banks Additional panelists TBA

“Natural and healthy” chatter pervades much of today’s food dialogue, but this conversation is failing to engage a huge portion of the population. Disenfranchised communities house the highest rates of malnutrition and obesity. The diet offerings in poor neighborhoods are mostly fast food; fresh, chemical-free, unprocessed foods are widely unavailable. Come learn about the extent of the crisis and discover the creative ways that organizations are trying to resolve this issue.

Location: SF Club Office Time: 11:30 a.m. check-in, noon program Cost: FREE Also know: Underwritten by The California Wellness Foundation

octo be r/nov embe r 2011

Mo n 0 7 | S a n F r a n c i s c o

Mo n 0 7 | S a n F r a n c i s c o

1 6 Se p – 0 4 N O V

Death Penalty Focus

Dava Sobel: A More Perfect Heaven

One Room, Many Voices: Prints

by Sherry Smith Bell, Ruth Gendler, Elizabeth Jameson and Sasha Miyamoto

Mike Farrell, Actor; Human Rights Activist

While most know him as Captain B.J. Hunnicutt from the hit tv series “M*A*S*H,” Farrell has been a fierce advocate for progressive political causes for decades. He has served as a board member for Human Rights Watch, and he has been the president of Death Penalty Focus for more than 15 years. He will explain his belief that the death penalty is an ongoing human rights violation and will outline what he calls the punishment’s moral and policy failings.

Author, Longitude and Galileo’s Daughter; Science Writer

Sobel tells the story of the reclusive Nicolaus Copernicus and the revolution he inspired with his heliocentric theory.

Sobel will chronicle the conflicting personalities and extraordinary discoveries that shaped the Copernican revolution, giving us an unforgettable portrait of scientific achievement and of the persistent tensions between science and faith.

Take one studio, add several artists, and what do you get? Duplication is not the answer. The contagious energy of artists working together generates a multitude of responses. This exhibit features the work of Sherry Smith Bell and three artists who have excelled while working with her in her Lafayette studio. Their spirited work is a colorful celebration of the creative spirit. Join us for a “Meet the Artists” reception on Monday, September 26th, 5 to 7 p.m. Free for members and non-members.

MLF: Psychology Location: SF Club Office Time: 4:45 p.m. networking, 5:15 p.m. program Cost: $20 standard, MEMBERS FREE, $7 students (with valid ID) Program Organizer: Patrick O’Reilly

MLF: Humanities/Science & Technology Location: SF Club Office Time: 5:30 p.m. networking reception, 6 p.m. program, 7 p.m. book signing Cost: $20 standard, MEMBERS FREE, $7 students Program Organizer: Chisako Ress

MLF: The Arts Location: SF Club Office Time: Regular Club business hours Cost: FREE Program Organizer: Lynn Curtis

No v 0 7 – Ja n 1 3

T u e 08 | San Francisco

T u e 08 | San Francissco

Homage: Remembering Chernobyl.

Photographs by Jim Krantz

From Smilla to Salander: An Odyssey in Translating Nordic Crime Fiction

The Great Disruption

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, and the effects remain with us. Existing in Chernobyl today is a society holding on by a thread. Having had their homes, their families and community stolen from them, residents now return with a sense of hope. Krantz’s powerful photographs will be on view through January 13th.

MLF: The Arts Location: SF Club Office Time: Regular Club business hours Cost: FREE Program Organizer: Lynn Curtis

Steven T. Murray (a.k.a. Reg Keeland) and Tiina Nunnally, Translators, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo In conversation with Sedge Thomson

The American translators of Scandinavian crime novels have been producing awardwinning translations for books by authors like Henning Mankell, Peter Høeg, Camilla Läckberg, Mari Jungsted and Stieg Larsson since 1984. Come find out how they make their linguistic decisions and learn about literary translation.

MLF: Humanities Location: SF Club Office Time: 5:30 p.m. networking, 6 p.m. program Cost: $20 standard, $8 members, $7 students Program Organizer: George Hammond Also know: With the Center for the Art of Translation

Paul Gilding, Professor, Cambridge University Program for Sustainability Leadership

It’s time to stop just worrying about climate change, says Gilding; instead, we need to brace for impact, because global crisis is no longer avoidable. Gilding asserts that this “Great Disruption” started in 2008, with spiking food and oil prices and dramatic ecological changes. He says we have come to the end of economic growth, version 1.0, a world economy based on consumption and waste, where we lived beyond the means of our planet’s ecosystems and resources.

Location: SF Club Office Time: 5:30 p.m. check-in, 6 p.m. program, 7 p.m. networking reception/book signing Cost: $20 standard, $12 members, $7 students

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November 08–16 T u e 0 8 | S i l i co n Va l l e y

Wed 0 9 | S a n F r a n c i s c o

Chris Matthews

Global Economic Forum: The New Reality – Competitiveness in a Multi-Polar, Interconnected and Interdependent World

Host, “Hardball with Chris Matthews,” MSNBC; Author, Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero David Kennedy - Moderator

Panelists TBA Dr. Shyam Kamath, Associate Dean and Director of Global Programs, St. Mary’s College of California School of Economics and Business Administration – Moderator

JFK is still referred to as “that elusive man” by even his closest friends and family. Matthews pulled away the mystery when he began interviewing those who knew Kennedy best. From childhood to a private battle with Addison’s disease and finally JFK’s White House days, Matthews reveals the man behind the initials.

Location: Schultz Cultural Hall, Oshman Family JCC Arts Center, 3921 Fabian Way, Palo Alto Time: 6:30 check-in, 7 p.m. program, 8 p.m. book signing Cost: $20 standard, $15 members. Premium (first few rows ) $45 standard, $35 members Also know: In assn. with Oshman Family JCC

What are global economic prospects in the new reality of a stalling U.S. economy and stagnant growth in the West? Is the locus of competitiveness shifting from the West to the rising East (and South)? What role can cash-strapped governments play in restoring economic growth and competitiveness? Will Asia and Latin America provide the locomotive for world economic growth? What role can business play in developing countries as global growth and economic activity shifts there? What does rising inequality portend for sustaining economic growth and competitiveness? An outstanding panel of three experts on economics, business and finance will discuss these and other pressing issues in this annual global economic forum. Join an outstanding evening of discussion, debate and deep analysis to understand how the world we are living in has changed.

Location: SF Club Office Time: 5:30 p.m. check-in, 6-8 p.m. program, 8 p.m. networking reception Cost: $20 standard, $12 members, $7 students Also know: In association with Saint Mary’s College of California School of Economics and Business Administration

Wed 0 9 | S a n F r a n c i s c o

Wed 0 9 | S i l i c o n V a l l e y

Wed 0 9 | S a n F r a n c i s c o

Water and Energy: The State Water Project and California’s Electrical System

Revving up America’s Innovation Engine

Chinatown Walking Tour

Dr. Susan Hockfield, President, MIT

Enjoy another Commonwealth Club Neighborhood Adventure. Join Rick Evans for a memorable midday walk and discover the history and mysteries of Chinatown. Explore colorful alleys and side streets. Visit a Taoist temple, an herbal store and the famous Fortune Cookie Factory. There is a short break for a tea sample during the tour.

Raphael Torres, Deputy Director, California Department of Water Resources

Learn about California’s interconnected water and energy systems and the unique aspects of the State Water Project’s response to statewide initiatives including renewable energy and reduction of greenhouse gases. Torres is responsible for management of the SWP, which provides a supplemental water source for 23 million Californians and 750,000 irrigated acres of farmland and directly sustains over $400 billion of the state’s economy.

MLF: ENVIRONMENT & NATURAL RESOURCES Location: SF Club Office Time: 5:30 p.m. networking, 6 p.m. program Cost: $20 standard, $8 members, $7 students Program Organizer: Christie Jordan

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The U.S. rose as an economic power on the strength of its innovation system, pursuing advanced scientific research, turning those discoveries into breakthrough innovations and manufacturing them for markets around the world. To restore American jobs today, industry, universities and government must come together to reinvent and reinvest in key components of our innovation system, says MIT head Hockfield. She will discuss a range of priorities.

Location: Silicon Valley Bank, 3005 Tasman Dr., Santa Clara Time: 6:30 p.m. check-in, 7 p.m. program Cost: $20 standard, $12 members

octo be r/nov embe r 2011

Location: Meet at corner of Grant and Bush, in front of Starbucks, near Chinatown Gate Time: 2–5 p.m. tour Cost: $45 standard, $35 members Also know: Temple visit requires walking up three flights of stairs. Limited to 12 people.

Participants must pre-register.

T h u 10 | San Francisco

Mo n 1 4 | S a n F r a n c i s c o

Pebble Mine: Toxic Gold and Global Impact

Why the West Rules…for Now

Michael Kowalski, Chairman and CEO, Tiffany & Co. Joel Reynolds, Senior Attorney, Natural Resources Defense Council Kimberly Williams, Executive Director, Nunamta Aulukestai Wendy Schmidt, The Schmidt Family Foundation – Moderator

Ian Morris, Professor of Classics, History and Archaeology, Stanford University; Author, Why the West Rules

The proposed Pebble Mine would be one of the largest gold and copper mines in the world, located in southwest Alaska. The proposal is being pushed by a consortium of international mining giants – including Anglo American, Rio Tinto and Northern Dynasty Minerals – and opponents argue that it would generate an estimated 10 billion tons of waste, rife with toxic contaminants, stored in perpetuity behind giant earthen dams taller than the Three Gorges Dam in China, all within an active earthquake zone. It would require construction of major power plants, slurry pipelines, heavy industrial traffic-bearing roads across the mountains, and a deep-water port in Cook Inlet. Some 50 leading jewelry companies, including Tiffany & Co., have taken the “No Pebble Pledge,” committing not to source minerals from the mine. Come hear a panel of opponents of the mine discuss this project that has the potential to re-shape the land, wildlife and people in its path.

Monday Night Philosophy guest Morris will discuss his all-encompassing theory of human history. He is an archaeologist by specialty, and his approach is based on his premise that humans are lazy, greedy and afraid by nature, and that the changes they pursue are designed to satisfy those needs. Morris constructs a “social development index” that he uses to measure and compare epochal changes from the onset of agriculture to the Industrial Revolution.

MLF: Business & Leadership: Environment & Natural Resources Location: SF Club Office Time: 5:30 p.m. networking reception, 6 p.m program Cost: $20 standard, $8 members, $7 students (with valid ID) Program Organizer: Ann Clark

MLF: Humanities Location: SF Club Office Time: 5:30 p.m. networking, 6 p.m. program Cost: $20 standard, MEMBERS FREE, $7 students Program Organizer: George Hammond

T u e 15 | San Francisco

Wed 1 6 | S a n F r a n c i s c o

Wed 1 6 | S a n F r a n c i s c o

Conscious Leadership: Call for a New Paradigm

Humanities West Book Discussion: The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death, the Most Devastating Plague in All the World by John Kelly

Drunken Angel

John Renesch, Futurist; Publisher; Author, The Great Growing Up

Many people are fed up with dysfunctional systems and the so-called leaders that populate them. Global futurist Renesch addresses this issue by describing a new breed of leader and our responsibility in bringing about drastic changes in our society. A longtime advocate of transformational organizational and social change, Renesch has been called a “business visionary” by The Futurist magazine.

MLF: Business & Leadership Location: SF Club Office Time: 5:30 p.m. networking reception, 6 p.m. program, 7 p.m. book signing Cost: $20 standard, $8 members, $7 students Program Organizer: Kevin O’Malley

A book that chronicles one of the worst human disasters in recorded history shouldn’t be so entertaining, but Kelly effectively illuminates the unwashed details of medieval life that contributed to so many of our underlying cultural fears. Lynn Harris will moderate the discussion. The author will not be present.

MLF: Humanities Location: SF Club Office Time: 6 p.m. program Cost: FREE Program Organizer: George Hammond

Alan Kaufman, Author, Jew Boy and Drunken Angel

Got skeletons in the closet? In Drunken Angel, Kaufman recounts the story of the alcoholism that took him to the brink of death, the PTSD that drove him to the edge of madness, and the love that brought him back. With his estranged daughter as inspiration, Kaufman cleaned himself up at age 40, and delivers a lacerating cautionary tale of a life wasted and reclaimed.

MLF: HEALTH & MEDICINE Location: SF Club Office Time: 5:30 p.m. networking reception, 6 p.m. program, 7 p.m. book signing Cost: $20 standard, $8 members, $7 students) Program Organizer: Bill Grant Also know: Underwriter: Osher Foundation

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November 16–28 Wed 1 6 | S a n F r a n c i s c o

T h u 17 | San Francisco

T h u 17 | San Francisco

California 2020: Bullish on the Future of the Golden State

Russian Hill Walking Tour

Sun Up

Muhtar Kent, Chairman and CEO, CocaCola Company

Join a more active Commonwealth Club Neighborhood Adventure! Russian Hill is a magical area with secret gardens and amazing views. Join Rick Evans for a two-hour hike up hills and staircases and learn about the history of this neighborhood. See where great artists and architects lived and worked, and walk down residential streets where some of the most historically significant houses in the Bay Area are located.

Coca-Cola’s Kent, leader of perhaps the most recognizable brand in the world, says to forget the pessimists and naysayers. With an optimism that needs no sugarcoating, he believes that California’s young, diverse and entrepreneurial residents aren’t about to let the state slip into “economic has-been” status. Kent will explain his view that California is destined to spearhead America’s innovative drive and economic revitalization in the new decade ahead.

Location: SF Club Office Time: 5:30 p.m. networking, 6 p.m. program Cost: $20 standard, $12 members, $7 students (with valid ID)

Location: Meet at corner of Union and Hyde streets, outside Swenson’s Ice Cream Time: 2– 4 p.m. tour Cost: $45 standard, $35 non-members Also know: Steep hills/staircases, recommended for good walkers. No street parking.

MUNI 45 bus goes there. Limited to 20. Must pre-register.

Dan Shugar, CEO, Solaria Tom Dinwoodie, CTO, SunPower

California continues to be bullish on solar power, but the sun still supplies a tiny fraction of the state’s electricity.

What’s the best way to scale solar – on the roofs of homes, through utility scale plants, or on commercial buildings and marginalized land? China is having a huge impact on solar technology and markets. What does that mean for U.S. companies and consumers? Join us for a conversation with two solar pioneers.

Location: SF Club Office Time: 5:30 p.m. check-in, 6 p.m. program, 7 p.m. networking reception Cost: $20 standard, $12 members, $7 students (with valid ID)

T h u 17 | San Francisco

T h u 17 | San Francisco

F r i 18 | San Francisco

Changing Threats in a Changing World: Staying Ahead of Terrorists, Spies and Hackers

What to Do When Words Don’t Work

Jihad Jane or Patriot?

Dan Roam, Founder and President, Digital Roam Inc.; Author, The Back of the Napkin and Blah, Blah, Blah: What to Do When Words Don’t Work

Robert S. Mueller III, Director, FBI

As technology and globalization change our world, the threats to our nation’s security are changing as well. The FBI must stay ahead of these changes, in order to protect our safety and prosperity. FBI Director Mueller will discuss how threats are evolving in the FBI’s top three national security priority areas – counterterrorism, counterintelligence and cyber security – and how the Bureau and the country must adapt to defeat these threats.

Location: SF Club Office Time: 11:15 a.m. check-in, noon program Cost: $20 standard, $12 members, $7 students. Premium (priority seating) $45 standard, $30 members

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Nada Prouty, Former CIA Agent; Author, Uncompromised

In business, politics and life, we’re surrounded by “blah” – misleading and unintelligible words. And with the more words we hear, says Roam, the less we understand.

Learn his method for becoming a better communicator through “vivid thinking” techniques. When words are accompanied by the right pictures, we will start to see and understand each other like never before.

Prouty was raised in Lebanon but came to America as a youth. The U.S. was her adopted home, where she became a respected undercover agent, first for the FBI, then for the CIA. She worked on many high-profile terrorism cases until she was accused of passing intelligence to Hezbollah. Her job was taken and her citizenship rescinded. She was eventually exonerated, and the resulting investigation revealed secrets Prouty had worked hard to veil. Hear her amazing story.

MLF: Business & Leadership Location: SF Club Office Time: 5:30 p.m. networking reception, 6 p.m. program, 7 p.m. book signing Cost: $20 standard, $8 members, $7 students Program Organizer: Kevin O’Malley

MLF: MIDDLE EAST Location: SF Club Office Time: 11:30 a.m. check-in, noon program, 1 p.m. book signing Cost: $20 standard, MEMBERS FREE, students free Program Organizer: Celia Menczel

octo be r/nov embe r 2011

F r i 18 | San Francisco

Mo n 2 1 | S i l i c o n V a l l e y

Boom or Bust?

Tom Brokaw

Dan Miller, Managing Director, The Roda Group

Climate change presents huge risks, yet many people assert we are currently failing to address what is a near-term threat to life as we know it. As an investor in clean fuels, Miller posits that renewable technologies can create the mother of all economic booms. Which will it be?

What do we need to do to follow this path? Miller will lay out an updated version of his presentation that has been viewed more than 90,000 times online.

Location: SF Club Office Time: 11:30 a.m. check-in, noon program Cost: $20 standard, MEMBERS FREE, $7 students (with valid ID)

NBC Nightly News Special Correspondent; Author, The Greatest Generation, Boom! and The Time of Our Lives: A Conversation about America

With all of the current political, social and economic challenges facing our country, veteran television broadcaster Brokaw asks: What happened to the America I thought I knew? In an effort to reconnect our families, communities and commitment to civic engagement, Brokaw looks back at his own family history and South Dakota upbringing and discusses the many changes that have transformed society. He offers inspiring stories of Americans who are leading the way for change in their own communities and shares his thoughts on how we can revitalize the promise of the American dream.

Location: Santa Clara Convention Center Theatre, 5001 Great America Pkwy., Santa Clara Time: 12:15 p.m. check-in, 1 p.m. program, 2 p.m. book signing Cost: ALL pricing levels include 1 copy of the book, except student tickets. Regular seating: $45 individual member, $55 individual standard, $70 couple member (1 book per couple), $80 couple standard (1 book per couple), $12 student (with valid ID, no book). Premium seating (priority seating in first few rows): $85 individual member, $85 individual standard, $115 couple member (1 book per couple), $115 couple standard (1 book per couple). No coupons or passes accepted for this event.

T u e 22 | San Francisco

Mo n 2 8 | S a n F r a n c i s c o

Mo n 2 8 | S a n F r a n c i s c o

Threescore and Ten: Changing Views of Aging

Fit to Serve: The Battle to Become the First Openly Gay U.S. Ambassador

Middle East Discussion Group

David Werdegar, M.D., MPH, CEO, Institute on Aging

One of the most radical demographic shifts of the last century is the remarkable growth of an older population. This phenomenon – profoundly reshaping society, science and seniors – is changing perceptions of aging. Dr. Werdegar will identify some of those changes and their significance.

MLF: Grownups Location: SF Club Office Time: 4:45 p.m. networking reception, 5:15 p.m. program Cost: $20 standard, $8 members, $7 students (with valid ID) Program Organizer: John Milford

James C. Hormel, Former U.S. Ambassador to Luxembourg; Author

Hormel grew up feeling different not only because his family owned the Hormel “empire,” but because he was gay at a time when homosexuality was not discussed or accepted. Hormel moved to New York City, became an antiwar activist, battled homophobia, and set out to become America’s first openly gay ambassador.

Location: SF Club Office Time: 5:30 p.m. networking reception, 6 p.m. program, 7 p.m. book signing Cost: $20 standard, MEMBERS FREE, $7 students Also know: Underwritten by The Bernard Osher Foundation

Make your voice heard in an enriching, provocative and fun discussion with fellow Club members as you weigh in on events shaping the face of the Middle East. Each month, the Middle East Member-Led Forum hosts an informal roundtable discussion on a topic frequently inspired by recent headlines.

After a brief introduction, the floor will be open for discussion. All interested members are encouraged to attend. There will also be a brief planning session.

MLF: Middle East Location: SF Club Office Time: 5:30 p.m. program Cost: FREE Program Organizer: Celia Menczel

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November 29 – December 12 T u e 29 | San Francisco

Wed 3 0 | S a n F r a n c i s c o

Mo n 0 5 | S a n F r a n c i s c o

Ethical Destinations: Putting Your (Travel) Money Where Your Mouth Is

Katrina vanden Heuvel

Do Human Rights Have a Future?

Editor and Publisher, The Nation; Author, The Change I Believe In: Fighting for Progress in the Age of Obama

Dr. William F. Schulz, Former Executive Director, Amnesty International USA; President, Unitarian Universalist Service Committee

Jeff Greenwald, Executive Director, Ethical Traveler Malia Everette, Director, Global Exchange Reality Tours

Greenwald says savvy travelers can “vote with their wings,” supporting places that uphold core values like human rights and environmental protection. Every November, Berkeley-based Ethical Traveler releases its often controversial list of The World’s Best Ethical Destinations. Join a discussion of which nations made the 2011/2012 list, how the winners were selected, and why some wildly popular destinations may never make the cut.

Vanden Heuvel challenges the limits of our downsized political debate, arguing that timid incrementalism and the forces of establishment power debilitate American politics but can be overcome only by independent organizing, strategic creativity and determined idealism.

In the wake of the economic crisis, says vanden Heuvel, it is clear that neither one election, nor one person, can wholly reshape American politics.

Today human rights are nominally accepted as a lingua franca of international relations, invoked by politicians, jurists and young people leading revolutions in the Middle East. Schulz will outline the major human rights challenges around the globe and reflect on how our understanding of human rights may change in the future.

Location: SF Club Office Time: 5:30 p.m. networking, 6 p.m. program Cost: $20 standard, $8 members, $7 students

Location: SF Club Office Time: 5:30 p.m. networking reception, 6 p.m. program, 7 p.m. book signing Cost: $20 standard, $12 members, $7 students

MLF: International Relations Location: SF Club Office Time: 5:30 p.m. networking, 6 p.m. program Cost: $20 standard, $8 members, $7 students Program Organizer: Karen Keefer Also know: In association with Northern California Peace Corps Assn. and Unitarian Universalists

Mo n 0 5 | S a n F r a n c i s c o

Mo n 0 5 | S a n F r a n c i s c o

T u e 06 | San Francisco

Holiday Cooking Party with Hands On Gourmet

Insiders Look at Education: Creating Great Teachers

Stephen Schneider Science Award

Keep the holiday spirit alive with an interactive, dynamic, hands-on cooking class with Hands On Gourmet’s personal chefs. Prepare a three-course menu customized to take advantage of the season’s best and freshest ingredients. To start, enjoy an artisan cheese plate, then the cooking class will begin, with coffee and tea to follow with dessert. Bring your own preferred beverage and an apron and prepare to enjoy a convivial atmosphere with fellow guests.

MLF: Bay Gourmet Location: Hands On Gourmet, 2325 3rd Street, #409 (at 20th St.) Time: 6 p.m. check-in/reception, 6:30 p.m. class Cost: $60 standard, $48 members Program Organizer: Cathy Curtis Also know: Public transit routes: 22 bus line, T-Muni Line, Cal-Train (Pennsylvania/22nd)

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John Merrow, Education Correspondent, NPR/PBS; Author, The Influence of Teachers Additional panelists TBA

A panel of high-level educators and experts will discuss what they believe makes a great teacher and what the public and government can do to ensure that standards of excellence are set and adhered to at the primary and secondary level.

Location: SF Club Office Time: 5:30 p.m. networking reception, 6 p.m. program Cost: $20 standard, MEMBERS FREE, $7 students (with valid ID) Also know: Part of the Innovating California Series, sponsored by Chevron

octo be r/nov embe r 2011

Richard Alley, Professor of Geosciences, Penn State

Alley is the first recipient of a new $10,000 Climate One award in honor of the late Stanford climatologist Stephen Schneider. Dr. Alley, host of the PBS Documentary Earth: The Operators Manual, once testified before Congress using his bald head to illustrate ice age cycles and recorded a video explaining geoscience while strumming guitar to a Johnny Cash song.

Location: SF Club Office Time: TBA Cost: $20 standard, $12 members, $7 students Also know: In association with the Science & Technology Member-Led Forum

Mo n 1 2 | S a n F r a n c i s c o

Mo n 1 2 | S a n F r a n c i s c o

Just Added! Mon Oct 3

Middle East Discussion Group

EJ Keller, Personal Chef

Part Two: Practical Approaches to Managing Life Transitions

Make your voice heard in an enriching, provocative and fun discussion with fellow Club members as you weigh in on events shaping the face of the Middle East. Each month, the Middle East Member-Led Forum hosts an informal roundtable discussion on a topic frequently inspired by recent headlines. After a brief introduction, the floor will be open for discussion.

All interested members are encouraged to attend. There will also be a brief planning session.

MLF: Middle East Location: SF Club Office Time: 5:30 p.m. program Cost: FREE Program Organizer: Celia Menczel

This holiday season, Monday Night Philosophy turns to personal chef Keller for a juxtaposition of the culinary cultures in France and the Bay Area. In 1995, Keller and his wife returned to her homeland of France. Captivated by French food culture, Keller spent a decade in French kitchens before becoming a personal chef. Discover his knowledge of French cuisine and insights into the Bay Area’s booming cultural interest in food.

MLF: HUMANITIES Location: SF Club Office Time: 5:30 p.m. networking reception, 6 p.m. program Cost: $20 standard, MEMBERS FREE, $7 students (with valid ID) Program Organizer: George Hammond

Elizabeth Krivatsy, Esq. Mary Radu, MS, MSW, CPCC Ben Yohanan, President, Hatch Retirement Services

This panel continues the discussion of successfully planning for a long life.

Income planning through the phases of retirement and legacy planning are two big questions that inevitably arise. This panel will address “What do I want to accomplish, where do I want to go from here, and What do I want to leave behind?

MLF: Grownups Location: SF Club Office Time: 4:45 p.m. networking, 5:15 p.m. program Cost: $20 standard, MEMBERS FREE, $7 students (with valid ID) Program Organizer: John Milford

LATE-BREAKING EVENTS!

Make an Impact

Thu Oct 27

William Clay Ford Jr.

You may be surprised to hear that the Club has more than 500 members who have been active for more than 30 years. When asked, our longtime members report that listening to speakers like Ronald Reagan, Mikhail Gorbachev, George Bush, Mary Kay Ash, Rev. Billy Graham, Audrey Hepburn, Dwight Eisenhower and Madeleine Albright has been essential to their own personal and professional growth.

They remember more than just speakers : memories of poker nights at the Club, remarkable travels with the Club, and member basketball tournaments are recounted. Today many of the dozens of our longtime members – aged 90 and older – still keep up to date with thought provoking articles in The Commonwealth magazine and continue to read it cover to cover.

Our members are amazing. Over and over again you tell us that you contribute year after year because what the Club does is important for your family and for our national dialogue. You value unbiased, thought provoking, forward-looking programs and want this forum to keep going for another 100 years.

Your continued membership is vital to keeping the light shining on the truth. But membership dues alone cover less than half of what it takes to keep Club programming successful. By contributing a bit extra to the Fall Annual Fund appeal, you help continue the remarkable 108-year history of The Commonwealth Club. Every gift, no matter what amount, ensures that this legacy endures.

Thank you for your continuing generosity. We can’t continue without you!

putting you face-to-face with today’s thought leaders

Executive Chairman, Ford Motor Co. mon oct 10

Becoming Dr. Q: My Journey from Migrant Farm Worker to Brain Surgeon Dr. Alfredo Quiñones-Hinojosa, Neurosurgeon, Johns Hopkins Wed Nov 02

Reid Hoffman and Brian Chesky Talk Biz on Tech Reid Hoffman, Co-founder, LinkedIn Brian Chesky, Co-founder/CEO, Airbnb MON Nov 07

SF Book Discussion: The Finkler Question Check the Club website for full details on these exciting late-breaking events!

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Art and cooperation, the sparks for an ongoing phenomenon.

Excerpt from Inforum’s “Burning Man: A Conversation with the Founder,” July 19, 2011 larry harvey Founder, Burning Man josh mchugh CEO, Attention Span Media; President, Inforum Board MCHUGH: Tell us a little bit about your new headquarters and why [you made] the move into the heart of San Francisco.

HARVEY: We saw real estate values dropping precipitously, which allowed us to move into Market Street. The city had encouraged us to do so, because they’re very much interested in revitalizing mid-Market,

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which is essentially part of the Tenderloin.

We think there are a lot of opportunities to do what we do best. We build a city every year in the desert, and we know something about making urban environments vital.

We plan to do some radical things. Given the present political mood, people are open to new ideas. That’s true across the country.

octo be r/nov embe r 2011

Our “burners,” as they’re called, are being asked to come into the centers of various cities right now. Of course, in the usual pattern, the artists are invited in, and as soon as things get better, they’re escorted out. But it might be possible to break that cycle.

We just founded a new nonprofit. We have the Black Rock Arts Foundation, which is dedicated to spreading interactive, collaborative art throughout the world. Now we’re founding the Burning Man Project, destined eventually to absorb the event itself.

We’re going to give it away. I think this is a wonderful opportunity. It’s interested in everything. The thing about Burning Man, when you look at the variety of people that go there, and all the normal boundaries are

Photo by RenoTahoe / Flickr

down between every department of human knowledge and endeavor, if you ask what possible application the culture we’ve created out in the desert might have to the world, the question is, What wouldn’t it have an application to? Education, urban planning, disaster relief, as well as art. Needless to say, we’re ambitious and we think we can affect the course of things.

MCHUGH: How does it stack up to the average city as far as number of injuries and such in that period of time?

HARVEY: It’s a remarkably safe place, actually. There’s no pavement. And you can’t drive your car. That eliminates most injuries right there. We have emergency response times that would be the envy of any city

that size. We’re very well organized. There’s some typical injuries, but they’re pretty minor. As long as you drink water, you’re probably going to be OK. There’s not a lot of criminal activity. Everyone is really overprovided for, because people, to meet the survival challenge, overprovide, so there’s this superfluousness of goods that people end up giving one another things.

MCHUGH: Can you talk a little bit more about that factor where there is an abundance of goods, and the economic system that exists up there? One of things that you once said was that commerce is not in and of itself the enemy.

HARVEY: To be against commerce is to be against your shorts, your shoes, your shirt.

Hunter-gatherers engage in commerce. We just said that we live in a world that’s been overly commodified, in which every value has been turned into a commodity value, and people don’t have identities. It’s a world full of brands and no identity, a world where you can go about and do your business using your credit card and ATMs and never really look anyone in the eye. A world in which things have been commodified that never should have been commodified, because everybody knows that the most essential things you can’t put a price on. You can’t put a price on love, on the things that make life meaningful. But we live in a world that has done that. The 21st century is going to be about resources and competing, and there’s

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Photo by Arno Gourdoi / Flickr

not enough, not in a consumer world where there’s no limit on appetite.

It’s a philosophic position. We just thought it would be interesting for people to live in a world, as people did at the beginning of the modern world and for all centuries before, where things weren’t relentlessly commodified as they are in our world. The market hadn’t made inroads on

“We thought people should live in an environment where nothing’s

bought and sold, just to see what that’s like.” the process of culture. It hadn’t replaced community. We just thought people should live in an environment where nothing’s bought and sold, just to see what that’s like.

When everyone is giving, people begin to have experiences that are simply revelatory.

They begin to feel like their life has meaning, they begin to feel that they’re in touch with that unconditional reality, which perhaps in their youth they identified as life’s goal,

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when they thought the world might be like their family. It creates this world that’s just saturated with meaningful encounter. Of course, then there’s what Coco Chanel said: The best things in life are priceless, but the next best things cost a lot of money.

MCHUGH: A lot of the leading engineers and innovators in the technology industries tend to meet each other at Burning Man or tend to recognize kindred spirits. The most famous case of that is Eric Schmidt meeting with the founders of Google up there. What is it that makes Burning Man such a haven for that kind of connection?

HARVEY: Think about the culture of Silicon Valley. So much of the tech industry is project-based learning. I think Google gives people time off just to do what they want to do, and the company ends up owning it, but they give them time to explore outside of the framework of this more structured enterprise. Burning Man from the very beginning has been project-based learning.

You’ve got potentially encyclopedic knowledge assembled in this place. Scholarship is fine and the academic model can be useful for certain things, but human beings tend to learn through engaging through projectbased learning.

MCHUGH: Is there a conscious strategy for longevity, that you’ve said, Hey, if this thing [Burning Man] is going to last 20 years, we’ve got to do these three things?

HARVEY: No, but we did remain true to our experience. The whole gifting thing started because people were just sharing things, and it would have been inappropriate and in bad taste to sell anything. Then one day somebody showed up, after we’d grown a little bit larger, and was vending fireworks. Then they discreetly went off a ways so they could do it out of sight. We didn’t think it was evil, we just thought it was tacky. We just stay true to that sort of thing. It would be too much to expect that we said, “Well, we’ll make it completely non-commercial. That’s how we’re going to bond people to our brand.” Not even Rupert Murdoch would come up with an idea like that. We just did that because that seemed to be what made us feel good. Now, with the Burning Man Project, my partners and I are thinking beyond our lifetimes. It is a bit of a legacy project, which is a very interesting exercise. We’re saying: 100 years. And that’s interesting, because if you do that, it makes

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you think differently about the present.

What would make something that durable, what would keep it alive that long? We’ve been alive and grown for a quarter century, so it doesn’t sound like hubris to imagine an entire century, and now we’re in a position of founding an institution that will house and generate culture and function as a community. How we can ensure that it won’t be perverted or subject to internal divisions or perish? That’s a really good exercise too. Start thinking about doing something that lasts for 100 years without you.

MCHUGH: Burning Man has expanded obviously from San Francisco and Nevada and has spread throughout the world. One thing that’s interesting is the Burners Without Borders initiative that happened [in the wake of Hurricane Katrina].

HARVEY: It was very spontaneous. People just left the event and knew what you needed in disasters because they’d been building big things out in this wilderness without any resources. They knew heavy equipment, they understood diesel, they understood water and all that. They just went down there to Mississippi and started doing things, the project, and ended up rebuilding houses, a Buddhist temple that had blown away in the hurricane. It ended up as an entrepot that FEMA wasn’t even capable of organizing.

All of that done very nimbly and on impulse. Joan Baez was there that year singing “Amazing Grace.” People started a fund.

That was just the beginning. We fed their efforts. But this is the Burning Man twist.

Being who they were and the culture they’d come out of, at the end of each day – the landscape was just strewn with debris, you’ve seen the pictures, unimaginable – they’d gather up the debris and at night they’d turn it into art and throw it on a bonfire, because that’s part of our culture. Then the locals started coming round. Pretty soon they were making art out of the crumbled ruin of their lives and throwing it on the fire.

FEMA’s not going to do that for you. Now it’s gone on to do other things around the world, and that came out of Burning Man, this wild, crazy, dissolute party, supposedly.

That’s just but one example of hundreds.

That’s food for thought. Ω This program was made possible by the generous support of Levin Strauss & Co.

The New Domino Theory (Continued from page 15)

very careful [about] is if they play too large a role and then the people end up opposing them, and the people they tried supporting end up being banned and put in prison – as we’ve already seen, all their best friends are in prison right now – it will jeopardize the relationship for years to come.

Personal opinion: America is already a superpower on the decline. They have to be very careful of the action they take right now. That is to say, be supportive of the people, find the grassroots movements. It’s so difficult to find out whom to support.

Even in Egypt itself you have black and white, you have the pro-democracy supporters, and then you have the pro-Mubarak supporters. One is a tiny fraction and the other is a lot more, even though you play it out differently on the media.

Even within the pro-democracy [supporters] you have factions and splits. Within the Muslim Brotherhood you have factions and splits. Right now the U.S. or anybody else, even political parties within Egypt, don’t know whom to fully support, whom to put their chips on. The cookies are going to crumble for a little while longer until we start getting a true sense of who really wants what and who is fighting for what and who is really going to boost their economy. It’s best right now, for the first time maybe ever, for the U.S. to take a backseat.

KALAJI: No one size fits all. Bahrain, for example, hosts the U.S. fifth fleet. You cannot have something seriously happening in Bahrain. The U.S. can exert soft power or harsh power. If you look at the two countries that changed quickly, these were the countries that were receiving large amounts of U.S. aid: Egypt and Tunisia. Libya they could not exert any pressure. Yemen is complicated. Yemen has al-Qaida in there and it’s a tribal system.

They intervened in Libya. Why did they not intervene in Syria? Syria, it’s a very difficult situation. It’s not self-contained. Syria has alliances with Iran and with Hezbollah.

If they start air strikes in [Syria] that will draw Iran, that will draw definitely Israel, and Lebanon because of Hezbollah. So the situation is not as simple as how do you address the situation in one country vis à vis the role of the United States. Each one has to be addressed separately.

CURIEL: One person asked about the role of women in the Arab Spring. Another has asked about the Muslim Brotherhood and Islamists and the potential for them to take over some governments.

KALAJI: When I was in Jordan in April there was a demonstration taking place in Yemen against President Saleh. The same day he made this outrageous comment that women should not be demonstrating with men.

What do you expect happened the next day?

There was a huge, massive demonstration with women in there disagreeing with him on what he said and demanding his removal.

AHMEDIN: When you truly do your homework, and mostly people on the ground are the only ones who truly know, the Muslim Brotherhood don’t pose a genuine threat. Why? It’s because the Muslim Brotherhood don’t have a loyal support.

How they always get their support is because the government has ostracized 85 percent of the population – 70 percent living below the poverty line, 69 percent illiterate. Who has been right there when the government has been turning its back on them is the Muslim Brotherhood. And how have they been doing it? Through charitable solutions: hospitals, mosques, schools, centers, clinics, all of that. That’s how. Once they have a better option the people will drop the Muslim Brotherhood like a hot potato. I just want to let people know to not be too worried; it’s not a genuine support.

In terms of feminism – 29.7 is the ceiling age of people on the ground. People don’t want to look to the older generation so much. Now where we want to guarantee women more rights in every sense of the word, it’s going to start from the youth again, because who are the women in the square? Nobody over 29 years of age. It’s going to come within the people. How can you start teaching more rights? It’s got to start from a human thing in the family.

You have the Islamic edict as well as the new constitution that we’re forming now as well as the old 1976 one; all of those have women’s rights in there. We need the right lawyers to defend those. All the stipulations are there, it just needs to be embedded in people’s minds from a young age. Some say I’m an optimist; we’ll see. Ω

Club Leadership OFFICERS of The Commonwealth Club of California Board Chair Dr. Mary G. F. Bitterman Vice Chair Maryles Casto Secretary William F. Adams Treasurer Anna W. M. Mok President and CEO Dr. Gloria C. Duffy BOARD OF GOVERNORS Richard Otter* Dan Ashley Joseph Perrelli* Massey J. Bambara Hon. Barbara Pivnicka Ralph Baxter Hon. Shirley Temple Black* Hon. Richard Pivnicka John L. Boland Fr. Stephen A. Privett, S.J. J. Dennis Bonney* Dr. Mohammad H. Qayoumi Dan C. Quigley Helen A. Burt Toni Rembe* John Busterud* Victor A. Revenko* Michael Carr Skip Rhodes* Hon. Ming Chin* Dr. Condoleezza Rice Jack Cortis Fred A. Rodriguez Mary B. Cranston** Renée Rubin* Dr. Kerry P. Curtis Robert Saldich** Dr. Jaleh Daie Joseph W. Saunders Evelyn S. Dilsaver George M. Scalise Lee J. Dutra Connie Shapiro* Joseph I. Epstein* Charlotte Mailliard Shultz Rolando Esteverena George D. Smith, Jr. Jeffrey A. Farber James Strother Dr. Joseph R. Fink* Carol A. Fleming, Ph.D. Hon. Tad Taube Charles Travers Lisa Frazier Thomas Vertin William German* Robert Walker Dr. Charles Geschke Nelson Weller* Rose Guilbault** Judith Wilbur* Jacquelyn Hadley Dr. Colleen B. Wilcox Edie G. Heilman Hon. James C. Hormel Dennis Wu* Russell M. Yarrow Mary Huss Claude B. Hutchison Jr.* Dr. Julius Krevans* * Past President ** Past Chair Lata Krishnan Don J. McGrath Jill Nash ADVISORY BOARD Karin Helene Bauer Hon. William Bradley Dennise M. Carter Steven Falk Amy Gershoni

Heather M. Kitchen Amy McCombs Hon. William J. Perry Ray Taliaferro Nancy Thompson

This program was made possible by the generous support of Bank of America. octo b e r/no v em b e r 2011

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Celebrate

Bastille Day

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On the 222nd anniversary of the storming of the Bastille, the SF-based Francophile novelist shares her inspirations. Excerpt from “Bastille Day Celebration,” July 14, 2011.

Photo by y.caradec / Flickr

cara black Author, Murder in Passy and the Aimée Leduc murder mystery series In conversation with cathy curtis Chair, Bay Gourmet Forum CURTIS: Part of the genius of these books is the fact that you keep this thread of [Aimée Leduc’s] mother’s mystery abandonment throughout. I know you didn’t plan to write a series in the beginning. You were writing Murder in the Marais based on a wonderful story of a friend of yours and her mother. How did you know not to disclose all the facts in that? You’ve been able to carry them through the books, and we wait in suspense.

BLACK: I didn’t know I was writing a series. It was based on this passion to write about my friend’s mother, a hidden Jewish child during the German occupation. But in detective fiction, crime fiction, the detective is usually flawed.

There’s a wound, and I’m so tired of alcoholics, [though] other people do it very well. So her wound, I thought, would be this mother whom she yearns for, whom she remembers vaguely and who did have an impact on her, and all the secrets, because her father refused to talk about her mother.

When you lose your parent, when they’re out of your life, it really impacts you.

CURTIS: You are not French, [but] I know you were raised by a Francophile father who loved food and wine.

BLACK: Very much so. He even planted a little vineyard next to our house, and he loved good food. He coerced my mother into making these elaborate French meals that she never would have done otherwise. I remember they went to eat at Le Grand Véfour in Paris, and they had a lunch reservation which they gloatingly told me about many, many times, and sat where Colette had sat.

He was very much into wine. He was one of the founders of the Ravenswood Winery. He was part of the wine club here in San Francisco, and they would go up and harvest, get grapes from different vineyards and mélange it.

CURTIS: One of the most enjoyable experiences in your books is the way that you bring the whole sensory experience of Paris into your writing, and you actually feel like you’re in Paris, living and breathing it. I’ve read about some of your writing techniques, which are fascinating. What did you do? Cook a pot of boeuf bourguignon and have the smells come in when you’re writing, or have a plate of cheese and pâté next to your computer?

BLACK: I have a little digital tape recorder, and when I’m on the bus in Paris, I record all the sounds. I record the conversations. I was on this great bus ride for about 40 minutes, and as we were passing things, this man was telling his daughter about the school he went to when he was young, and then there would be the whoosh of the air brakes, and people getting on, and a child crying. So I often record many things, especially in a café, where people are bringing in the

wine and they’re talking with someone. I want to get the sounds on the streets, in the sewers, when the water gushes, and people with those brooms, and that whooshing sound.

So when I come home to San Francisco and I’m here in the fog in my sweats at the computer, I can put on my recorder and go back to that bus ride, to that café. I take notes when I’m in Paris. But it’s also hearing that.

CURTIS: I know you travel to Paris twice a year to do research. I’ve been there many times, and what I’ve noticed is some of the best food is not French. There are so many wonderful cuisines from all over the world in Paris. We’re so spoiled here [in the Bay Area], so you get a little discriminating. Where do you like to eat, and what type of cuisine?

BLACK: I like street food. I am on the move when I’m there.

I like the falafels on des Rosiers. I like those cheap Turkish kabob places. My son and husband quite like – and I can’t understand it – a baguette with meat and French fries inside.

There’s a name for that. They just inhale those. When my son was young and I took him to Paris, his big thing was the poulet rôti, the rotisserie chicken. I would buy him half a roast chicken, and we would sit in the park and he would be very happy. Even last time, he said, “Would you bring one home on the plane, please?”

AUDIENCE QUESTION: Why did you decide to set [your books] in the 1990s, rather than during this time period?

BLACK: I began writing the book and going off into Paris in 1993. I really knew that time. It also took me three and a half years to write that book and sell the book. It was also a time that I really felt I was being reacquainted with Paris, and there was so much going on.

So much of what is happening today resonates with what began in the ’90s. Jacques Chirac gave that famous speech, 1995, finally acknowledging that France collaborated with the Vichy government, 50 years after the war. No one had said anything before. This was a fissure in the wall of silence that has opened very largely now. There was so much going on then. They were rioting out in the suburbs, burning cars at that time, but CNN didn’t get there until 10 years later.

What we’re seeing now was happening then, and that’s a time I got to know. Especially for Marais, where we had survivors of the Holocaust and World War II. They couldn’t be too aged, or they’d be in walkers. I’ve just kept this episodic in Aimée’s life. I like the fact that they still pay in francs, you can smoke in the cafés, and Aimée uses dial-up. There’s no Google, she can’t Facebook or tweet. Ω This program was made possible by the generous support of The Bernard Osher Foundation.

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InSight The First Annual Dear Mad’m Picnic Dr. Gloria C. Duffy

Photo courtesy of Gloria Duffy

President and C.E.O.

S

tella Walthall Patterson, one of California’s least known but most interesting women writers, was born in Stockton in 1866. Graduating from Mills Seminary at 16, she studied in Paris, becoming a painter and a fine musician. She employed an equal talent for writing to publish in some of the country’s leading magazines, including Collier’s and Century. Stella married Judge Augustus Belcher in San Francisco, living the life of a San Francisco literary socialite, mingling with Jack London and Ambrose Bierce.

After she and Belcher took a hunting trip in the Trinity Mountains guided by a colorful local rancher named Big Jim Patterson, and spooked by the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire, Stella left to marry Patterson in 1907, and took up residence on his spread at Willow Creek in Trinity County. Apparently because Patterson spent his time on cattle, bear hunting and women, in that order, she eventually left Big Jim, too.

A visit to the doctor in the late 1940s to have a hurt leg examined prompted a nurse’s comment that Stella had “young legs.” As Stella told the story, this caused her to think about what she still might do on her “young legs,” as her 80th birthday approached. She decided to move to a primitive cabin on a mining claim she owned along the Klamath River near Happy Camp, California, and to live there alone for a year.

She wrote a book about her experiences, Dear Mad’m, with the title taken from the way she and her rugged neighbor Fred Crook addressed one another – he was “Dear Sir” and she was “Dear Mad’m” from their early meetings, when neither could recall the other’s name.

Dear Mad’m is a charming chronicle of backwoods life, with stories about goats on her roof, a local character named Frenchy who ambles along the road eating garlic, her confrontation with a cougar, surviving a storm and flood on the river, coaxing glorious flowers from her garden without running water, gold mining, a Native American girl who lives by the guidance of Emily Post, and the routine of daily life in her tiny cabin.

Originally published by W.W. Norton, the book is still in print through a small publishing house based in Happy Camp, and it continues to elicit enthusiastic reviews on Amazon from its

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small but loyal following.

In early August, my husband Rod and I attended the First Annual Dear Mad’m Picnic, sponsored by the Happy Camp Chamber of Commerce. The picnic was held on the lawn of the Klamath River Inn in Happy Camp, a tiny hamlet with a giant statue of Bigfoot where you enter town. Stella was a distant relative of my husband’s, and at the picnic Rod spoke about her, drawing on the summers he and his siblings spent with their grandfather, Stella’s cousin, on the mining claim next to Stella’s on the Klamath River, when they were kids.

The best part of our Happy Camp visit was meeting a reallife “Dear Mad’m” named Barbara Brown. In her early 80s, Ms. Brown lives in a farmhouse near Happy Camp that is slightly more modern than Stella’s cabin. Here she combines a self-sufficient rural life with running a publishing house, Naturegraph Press. Naturegraph is the publisher of Dear Mad’m, as well as 100 other titles covering birds, plants, animals, geology, history of the Pacific Northwest, Native Americans, organic gardening and crafts. Titles range from Handbook of California Birds to Barns of Yesteryear and Packing with Burros.

Naturegraph was founded 65 years ago in Los Altos by Mrs. Brown and her late husband, Vinson Brown, an anthropologist, to publish his work and that of his colleagues; the publisher moved to Happy Camp in 1976.

The Naturegraph printing plant is on the grounds of Mrs. Brown’s farm, where she, friends and family work a large organic garden, and keep chickens and sheep. Our first night in Happy Camp, Barbara hosted dinner in the library of the publishing building, with nearly everything we ate coming from her garden, including zucchini, eggs, onions, blueberries, tomatoes, berry pies, even cherry juice made from the fruit of her trees. After we ate, we toured the presses, darkroom, cutting and binding room and other areas of the active publishing enterprise. It was fascinating to see the combination of the farm with the publishing company – a rare model of sustainability in practice.

In addition to publishing Dear Mad’m, Naturegraph will soon release a new title, Dear Mad’m – Who Was She? This biography of Stella was penned by Rod’s cousin, Liz Lizmer, a retired public school teacher from the Bay Area. Rod and I served as witnesses last month when Liz and her husband Pete signed the book contract with Barbara Brown. Soon, the story of this strong and independent California woman writer will become a little better known. Ω

Monterey Peninsula Get Away

February 4 & 5, 2012

Monterey County showcases so many wonderful aspects of California - Salinas Valley’s hillside vineyards, Big Sur redwoods, Pebble Beach’s perfectly groomed golf courses, and Carmel-by-the-Sea’s elite music and art festivals.

Most people don’t know that many California “firsts” also occurred in Monterey, including California’s first theater, publicly funded school, public library, and printing press, which printed The Californian, the first newspaper.

We invite you to an educational and fun getaway – with all the details and transportation taken care of for you!

Saturday, February 4 Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck immortalized the land and the people of the Salinas Valley in his writing. Travel by motorcoach to Salinas Valley to the National Steinbeck Center, and explore the interactive, multi-sensory exhibits and seven themed theaters showcasing his books. Attend a short lecture by the center’s executive director before heading to Cannery Row for lunch. Visit Chateau Julien, a charming winery in the Carmel Valley for a wine tasting and guided tour from the winery owner. Explore Carmel-by-the-Sea – a one square mile community with its peculiar mix of English village, ramshackle beach town, and a cosmopolitan shopping district. Enjoy the art galleries and shops, or take a walk on the beach or scenic coastline. Attend a champagne reception with a local artist in their gallery. Check in to the Portola Plaza, a contemporary-style hotel in Monterey conveniently located adjacent to the wharf and many restaurants. The rest of the evening is at leisure. (L) Photos (L to R) © City of Carmel, UncleBumpy / Flickr, Monterey Tourist Board, Monterey Tourist Board

Sunday, February 5 Enjoy a buffet breakfast at our hotel. For those that want to attend early services at the historic Carmel Mission, the motorcoach is available. Founded in 1770, one of the original 13 Spanish missions in California, it’s considered one of the state’s most outstanding historic monuments. Explore Monterey Aquarium, one of the largest and finest sea-life showplaces in the nation where we have a special behind-the-scenes tour which begins with a private sea otter feeding and training session, and experience “morning rounds” from a perspective that’s usually only available to staff. Continue to the prestigious Lodge at Pebble Beach for a sumptuous buffet brunch at the Stillwater Grille which overlooks the famed 18th hole and Carmel Bay. Afterwards, hear stories from a local golf pro. Relax during our drive back to San Francisco via the scenic coastal route, returning in the early evening. (B,L) Photos (L to R) © Christopher Chan / Flickr, Peter Rivera / Flickr, Monterey Tourist Board, Scotter / Flickr

Cost: $675 per person, double occupancy; $775 single (Price is based on 20 people)

CST#: 2096889-40

Included: 1 night hotel at the Portola Plaza Hotel • Champagne Reception in Carmel-by-the-Sea • 2 Lunches • 1 breakfast • Full sightseeing and admissions as outlined in the itinerary • Guest speakers and special meetings • Full ground transportation via deluxe motorcoach • Bus driver and driver gratuities • Tour Director to accompany the group • All taxes and tips except discretionary tip to Tour Director • Commonwealth Club Host • Outstanding Company For Information & Reservations: visit commonwealthclub.org/travel call (415) 597-6720 email travel@commonwealthclub.org

The Commonwealth Club of California 595 Market Street, 2nd Floor San Francisco, CA 94105

Purchase event tickets at commonwealthclub.org

PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID IN SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA

or call (415) 597-6705 or (800) 847-7730 To request full travel itineraries, pricing, and terms and conditions, call (415) 597-6720 or email travel@commonwealthclub.org

Rabat h Fez

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Erfoud h Ouarzazate

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Marrakech h Casablanca

Moroccan Discovery From the Imperial Cities to the Sahara April 28 – May 11, 2012

Explore Morocco’s ancient ruins, sacred mosques, lush desert oases, imposing Kasbahs and colorful souks while learning about contemporary life, culture and politics. This Commonwealth Club caravan journeys from the imperial cities of Rabat, Fez and Marrakech to the Atlas Mountains and vast Sahara.

• Imperial cities of Rabat, Meknes, Fez, Marrakech • U.S. Embassy briefing in Rabat • Ancient Roman ruins and exceptional mosaics of Volubilis

Private Arabic music concert in Fez • • Medieval mazes in the medina of Fez

• Scenic “Route of a Thousand Kasbahs”

• Sahara sunset excursion and

camel ride on the dunes • Dramatic Todra Gorges and spectacular Atlas Mountains • Kasbah of Ait ben-Haddou • Marrakech’s Djemaa el Fna Square • Visit with a local Imam • Storied Casablanca and Hassan II mosque

Cost: $5,295 per person, based on double occupancy, including air from SFO. Limited to 24 people. CST# 2096889-40 Photo by Peter Adams, David Domingo / Flickr, danielduce / Flickr

For Information & Reservations: visit commonwealthclub.org/travel call (415) 597-6720 email travel@commonwealthclub.org