Two days ago I made a case for current CA Secretary of State Debra Bowen to be Governor of CA.

Much interesting discussion came out of that, and a fair bit of support for Bowen.  However, I noticed that many folks assumed that Bowen planned on running for the US Senate (to replace Feinstein, perhaps) and not for Governor.

This diary makes the case for Debra Bowen to run for Governor, not for a Senate seat.  As part of that effort, please join the "Draft Debra Bowen for Governor" Facebook group.

I've been struggling for a few years now with health issues, it's been ever since I had my daughter in 2003 but I was always a frail girl, lots of allergies as a child, always hated to run, just wasn't tip top.  Damn, if I had been born just a couple of hundreds of years ago, I highly doubt I would have made it out of childhood, but alas, I did.

My struggle with myself is the idea that this thing I'm dealing with may just be all in my head.  I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia but I can't help but think that it might just be some figment of my imagination.  Maybe it's not as bad as it seems, maybe I've just wallowed a bit too long.

Though it's largely symbolic, the town of Carrboro, NC just voted to affirm civil marriage for same-sex couples, by a vote of 5-0.  The reason?  Well, according to town alderwomen Jackie Grist, they did so because they felt they needed to stand up for the rights of LGBT citizens in the wake of Proposition 8.

There's more on this over at http://gayrights.change.org.  But could this be a new strategy for marriage equality activists?  A strategy that engages activists in cities across the country to pass resolutions affirming civil marriage for gay and lesbian couples?

The Mayor of Carrboro, Mark Chilton, has a great quote on this.  "It was just a couple of college towns when we started in on the civil rights movement in the late `50s and early `60s, and it was just a couple of college towns when we started the process of ending the war in Vietnam."  Can small towns be the new epicenter in the debate over gay marriage?

(cross posted at kickin it with cg and motley moose)

Well at least until Jan. 26 that is.

For those of you not in the loop, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper suspended the country's legislature for more than 7 weeks in a bid to stave off a challenge from opposition parties seeking to bring down his government.

Harper, re-elected in October to a minority government, said Governor General Michaelle Jean, who acts as the country's head of state, agreed to his request to close Parliament until Jan. 26. The government's first order of business will be a budget scheduled for Jan. 27, Harper said, calling on the opposition to work with his administration on a "stimulus" package for the ailing economy.  

The political crisis was sparked Nov. 27 when Finance Minister Jim Flaherty presented a fiscal update that included cuts to funding for political parties, limited civil servants' right to strike and failed to offer a stimulus package to spur economic growth. The three opposition parties said they would oppose the plan and banded together.

The main opposition Liberals agreed to Dec. 1 was to form a coalition with the New Democratic Party and the Parti Quebecois in a bid to accelerate a stimulus package for the economy and oust the Harper government. The turmoil centers on how to manage Canada's response to the global economic crisis.

So in a bid to buy time, Harper refused to grant the opposition a vote in Parliament that would have brought down his government, instead asking Jean to let him suspend the legislature. The three opposition blocs combined hold a majority of seats in the House of Commons, Parliament's lower house.

Harper admitted no errors in judgment today. Nor did he seek absolution during a nationally televised address on Wednesday.

The procedural move is unprecedented, marking the first time a prime minister has requested the suspension of the legislature to avoid a so-called confidence vote. Parliament's suspension comes less than three weeks after the session began.

"For the first time in the history of Canada, the prime minister of Canada is running away from the Parliament of Canada," Stephane Dion, the Liberal leader who would head the coalition government, adding he will "respect" the governor general's decision.

Harper's Conservatives went into the Oct. 14 election with 127 seats in Parliament and increased their total to 143, still short of the 155 needed to control the legislative agenda. The government needs support of at least one other party to pass legislation.

Harper, prime minister for almost three years, has since backtracked on the political funding and labor rights. He and Jean met for about two hours this morning. Jean didn't speak to reporters after the meeting.  The role of Jean, Queen Elizabeth II's representative in Canada, is mostly ceremonial.

In the Commons yesterday, Liberal MP Ken Dryden (my MP!) said the Prime Minister broke faith with Parliament in the economic update. "How do we repair the irreparable?" Mr. Dryden asked. "To the Prime Minister to help him with his answer: Sorry, it is over; we cannot trust him any more. We need a new prime minister."

Liberal MP Derrick Lee, meanwhile, compared Harper's move to suspend Parliament to the burning of the Reichstag in Germany by the Nazis.  Hyperbole much?  But kinda true too.

Cross-posted at Project Vote's blog, Voting Matters

Weekly Voting Rights News Update

By Erin Ferns

Recent analyses of the 2008 general election find that overall participation increased on November 4, with a significant surge in voter participation among historically underrepresented Americans. Yet, while some lawmakers have been inspired by the recent voter turnout to propose election reforms that expand access to voting rights, others continue to focus on creating additional barriers to voting.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-tra il/2008/12/04/bill_gates_says_hes_open_t o_a.html

Microsoft founder Bill Gates, who is in Washington this week to press his foundation's education and global health agenda, said he is keeping an open mind about taking a role aiding the incoming Obama administration.

Asked in an interview yesterday with The Washington Post whether he would consider serving in the new administration, Gates left the door open.

"Certainly my full-time job is being chairman of the foundation," Gates said. "If there was some committee or pretty focused task where I could contribute, I'd be glad to consider that, and I hope that the things we've learned about education -- including the mistakes we've made -- I hope we do get a strong dialogue and I'm very optimistic we'll have that with these people."

Kicking off that dialogue, Gates met with Vice President-elect Joe Biden at Obama's Washington transition headquarters yesterday afternoon. A transition official said Biden and Gates discussed "a wide range of issues, including global health and development, as well as the need to improve resources for secondary education, particularly for community colleges."

What do you think, guys? Obama is certainly inspiring some big shots to serve in his cabinet. Who better than someone not connected to the old way of thinking? Gates foundation has done a lot of good stuff. His whole family is invested in the charities, a lot of that geared to funding educational programs. Notwithstanding his dropout status at Harvard, maybe he can help turn around our education programs? Both parties have tried over the years with bad results.

No matter what one thinks of Microsoft as a company, the Gates family have been very sincere in combating social issues.

Should Obama seek someone like him out? While Gates seemed to limit his interest to a task or a committee, he could probably be convinced to take a bigger role.

I'm outraged about the death of a Wal-Mart employee on Black Friday.  And I've fumed about it -- offline -- to my friends at Wake Up Walmart.  But for the sake of this diary and out of respect for the deceased, 34 year-old Jdimytai Damour, I'm just going to offer some constructive ideas for how this tragic death could have been prevented.

Just arrived at the Washington Hilton in DC for Realizing The Promise:  A Forum on Community, Faith & Democracy.  More than 2000 community organizers and leaders from across the country are here to talk with our elected officials including 2 senior members of Obama's transition team.

http://www.realizingthepromise.org/webca st