I could go on and on about how our current Healthcare system hurts businesses, especially small businesses which make up 90% of the business community. I don't think it should be the Employer's responsability to provide healthcare for workers and their families. I think that it hurts businesses and makes them less competitive around the world. It's too expensive, workers and businesses would have more money to go around the economy if they didn't have to worry about healthcare.

I just wanted to share a personal tidbit. My mom works for a Catholic charity, OLV Father Bakers, the basilica... they have schools, homes for troubled teens, people with disabilities, seniors, etc, all good charity work. And they treat their employees well.

This year their healthcare costs went up 35%.

Just this year. And they go up every year. Her part of the charity has about 70 employees. She didn't get a raise this year because of the crazy healthcare increase. She said that is the biggest jump they've ever seen. I told her they need the money to lobby congress to crush Healthcare reform and protect their profits :) I know, it's not funny. 35% is a lot.


On another note, I decided to listen to Rush Limbaugh today.

I've been amazed by the lies floating around about the Healthcare Bills, I even got that email about "encouraging seniors to commit suicide" or "mandatory end of life counseling sessions", there's no such thing, by the way, I read the bill. I'm also astounded by the frightened protesters who've been attacking Democrats. They're scared of the government telling them who should live or die.. These fears seem irrational to me, this is America you know, it's a democracy, and 99% of Americans would never let such a thing happen.

Anyway I wanted to try and understand the rationale, so I tuned in to Rush Limbaugh. I found it fascinating. He paints a very frightening picture of America. He's afraid of authoritarianism, totalitarianism, the government controlling every aspect of your lives. He believes that our liberties and freedoms are being taken away. He doesn't blame the right wing protesters for being irate or un-civil, their liberties are about to be snatched away. The government will decide who lives and who dies.

He also says that his listeners are more informed than our congresspeople about what's in the bill. He says that our congresspeople haven't read the bill, they don't know what's in it. This may be partly true, but they do have a lot of staff to read the bill and it was drafted in a committee, most of the people in that committee know exactly what is in the bill. I was a bit disappointed that Democratic House members didn't take full advantage of the info-session provided to go over the bill and educate members about what exactly is in it.

But Rush, and the other conservative talkers I'm sure, believe that they have uncovered the awful secrets in this bill, and that their listeners have the inside scoop. They are telling their listeners that they are more informed than anyone else in America and it is their patriotic duty to alert the nation to the dangerous tyranny in this bill, and stop it by any means necessary. They're immersed in the conservative bubble of Fox news, Limbaugh, and the Drudge report, but they actually know what's in the bill, better than congress, and the people who wrote it?

There are so many lies and exaggeration coming from the right about this healthcare bill, I've seen some of this stuff, emails, scarry 'summary' of the bill etc. I've double checked the bill itself, and they're not mandating anything, you're just getting more options and more coverage, and more security from the abuses of insurers.

I think it's fascinating, bad for democracy, but really interesting anyway.

I'm so frustrated. Usually my writing makes sense, and it's easy to understand, and gives some background and links.... but I just can't. I have no idea where to start. This freaking issue is huge and it's full of bullshit. I'm glad I don't have cable, because I would spend my days screaming at cable news and get nothing done.

I'm worried that the government is not going to change healthcare enough to make a differance. They may change some things, but it could make our lives worse, and make the insurence companies richer. Like making it mandatory that we get coverage, and mandatory that employers provide coverage, insurance companies would love that.

Insurance companies are just parasites, they add no value to healthcare whatsoever. It's not even insurance, there's a good chance that when you finally get sick or injured they won't even cover your ass. They'll claim you commited insurance fraud, then it's your lawyer versus theirs.

You know 60% of bankruptcys are due to healthcare bills? and 75% of those people had health insurance! Every 30 seconds in the United States someone files for bankruptcy in the aftermath of a serious health problem.

Socialized medicine.. Rationing care.. It's all scare tactics invented by pharmeceutical and insurance companies. You know we already ration care in this country, it's based on income. The working poor get nothing. Pay or Die.

They're trying to tell you that Obama's a socialist... he's not even a liberal! He's barely left of center, and all these conservatives are shaking in their boots that he'll turn us into Cuba. It makes me furious because all this fearmongering has nothing to do with policy, it's all politics. Some Republicans just want to see the president fail. and their happy to be on the side of insurance companies, because if they get tired of Washington they can always get more money working as a lobbyist anyway. They get rich, so fuck you, and your country.

Not sure, right.. nobody's that self centered.. here's just one case in point "one of the Blue Dog Coalition's founders: former Representative Billy Tauzin of Louisiana. Mr. Tauzin switched to the Republicans soon after the [Blue Dog] group's creation; eight years later he pushed through the 2003 Medicare Modernization Act, a deeply irresponsible bill that included huge giveaways to drug and insurance companies. And then he left Congress to become, yes, the lavishly paid president of PhRMA, the pharmaceutical industry lobby."

What's up with lobyists anyway? they're "so powerful", boo hoo, it's soo hard... even when 70% of the public is in favor of a Public option Seriously, in this country? 70% in favor of anything is a freaking landslide. But it's still a battle to the finish because of the money being thrown around Washington. And the people who are stalling or compromising are the ones raking in the cash, like Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus, and the 'Blue Dog' coalition in the house.

Ysterday news broke that the Senate Finance Committee version of Healthcare reform will not include a public option (mission accomplished health insurance pricks). Instead we'll be allowed to form health insurance co-ops that nobody has ever bothered to explain. Their plan also eliminates the employer mandate, which I think is a good thing, but within the narrow confines of washington Healthcare reform it actually raises costs for the government, especially if the individual mandate still exists.


Alright... that brings me to a really important point.

Why are employers responsible for the health of the American people?

Companies are just a bunch of people trying to make a living, why should they care where you go to the doctor? I don't think the burden of healthcare should be on employers at all. I understand offering benefits, to help you retain good employees, like paid vacations, cellphones, or whatever. But Healthcare? It's not a luxury, everybody will need healthcare at some point in their lives. Something that important should be guaranteed by the government. Like Fire, Police, Schools, Water, some things should not be left to chance. I think it's irresponsable for the government to expect business to cary the burden.

You know.. if my house is on fire, I call the fire department. If I've been robbed, I call the police. If I have a medical emergency...... Pay or Die. Something is wrong here.

I run a small business too, if I start hiring employees are they going to ask "where's my healthcare?", Really? I have enough to worry about, go ask Uncle Sam what the problem is.

Right now they're proposing taxing businesses that don't provide healthcare in order to pay for a new system. If you have over 20-30 employees you pay a fine of around $700 per person per year. Sure it makes sense if you expect to get healthcare from your employer, and we all want to get revenge on Wal-Mart for screwing their employees all these years..... But I don't think the employer based healthcare system makes sense, and I don't think coercing companies to provide healthcare coverage is a good idea, especially when we're losing jobs. Instead I think every individual should contribute, whether they employ people or not. I don't think employers should bear the burdin anymore.

I support a national Single Payer system, call it "nationalized", "government run", "socialized" or whatever you want. It's the only thing that makes sense. Abolish Health Insurance Companies, give that money to the government because they can do it cheaper and better, and they can cover everybody.

I want to choose my doctor, my hospital, my surgeries, I don't want to waste my time reading fine print in insurance contracts. You know which insurance plan gives you the most choice? Medicare. You can go to any doctor. You don't have to choose from a list of acceptable providers and get stuck with somebody far from your house. Just go to anyone accepting new patients. It's true, medicare gives you the most choice. And the Republicans want to say that a government will take away your choices? Give me a break.

I support Medicare for All. There's actually a bill that does that HR 676

How to do it? Phaise it in, the first 5 years expand it to people over 55, next, people over 45. That gives the insurance companies time to shift their business to hurricane insurance or something else.

I'm supportive of a strong public option, but I'm worried that it won't work.

alright, that's all for now, I should write more often...

here's a humorous parting shot.

Protest this Thursday.

We won't get a better healthcare system unless we demand it. Some companies are getting filthy rich under the current system, and they don't want anything to change.

We pay more for healthcare than any other country, but all that cash is wasted on CEO bonuses, advertising, and in call-center employees whose job is to deny you care.

I've had enough. I have no healthcare, and no good options. Why? Because I decided to start my own business. But in this society, if you want health insurance you have to work for a big company that is kind enough to provide for you, or I can pay $500 per month (Just in case tragedy strikes, but there's really no guarantee they'll actually pay).

We're the only country that does it this way. And over 70 percent of the public thinks we should have a choice of a public option (#34a )

But nothing is going to happen, unless we all pitch in a little bit.

Call congress.
Attend the protest this Thursday July 09th, 12 noon, outside Senator Gillibrand's office. 726 Exchange Street, Buffalo, NY 14210


Write down this number, this is toll free access to congress.
1 800-828-0498
Just call, ask for your congress person's office, and they connect you for free.

you might say something like...
"We need a public Healthcare option, I do not trust the Health Insurance Companies to do what's best for the country. We need a more efficient government system to compete with Insurance Companies who make a huge profit every year because they charge more and cover less. We have the most expensive system in the world, but 1 out of 6 Americans has no health insurance, and the burden of paying for it is killing the economy."

Senate: Schumer, and Gillibrand
Congress: Brian Higgins, Louise Slaughter, and Chris Lee


If we can't fix this system now, we've failed as a democracy.

Washington DC really is where good ideas go to die. We focus on elections, then the Rules of DC politics take over, and we get screwed until next election.

If you want to stay up to date on this, sign up at Healthcare for America Now







PS. finally posting, summers are so busy, I miss (e:strip).

I've always wondered why people use religion and the Bible as a basis for condemning homosexuality. I'm a spiritual person, a Quaker by choice, and I'm not OK with hatred in general, especially hatred based on religion.

I've read some of the bible, but I don't know enough about what it says yet.

anyway, straight to the point here. I read an article recently in Friends Journal that sheds some light on the biblical/theological basis for discrimination against homosexuality. and as it turns out, there is none.

Here's a link to the full article, unfortunately it's not on the Friends Journal site, and I haven't reread this whole page to know if it's exactly the same as what I read, but, here's the link

To summarize:

There's the New Testament and the Old Testament (Torah) in the Christian bible. The New Testiment is based on the life of Jesus and his teachings, it's the more Christian part, we're supposedly following Jesus Christ, hence the term 'Christ'ian. according to the article, homosexuality is only mentioned 3 times in the New Testiment, all of them by the same author, the apostle Paul.

I think I'd better quote the article here:

These homophobic remarks can be found in Paul's letters to the Romans (1:26-27), to Timothy (1:9-10), and to the Corinthians (6:9-10). That's it. I have found no other support for the Pope's homophobic position in the entire "new testament" other than these three short anti-gay comments made by a single Christian leader about 20 or 30 years after Jesus' death. It should also be noted that Paul's comments were made in angry response to some early Christian communities that did not support his homophobic views and, by his own report, actually included gays and lesbians as full and respected participants in their congregations.

The core theological question here, then, is what authority in our lives and religious communities are we to give to these three particular statements attributed to Paul? Are these three statements products of a historically-conditioned, culture-bound, patriarchal worldview not fully left behind by Paul or are they a deep revelation of the wisdom and way of God, the loving and liberating Spirit so fully embodied in human terms by Jesus of Nazareth? These three remarks by Paul were certainly never sanctioned by any recorded comment by Jesus, so this seems like a fair question. Even Paul says, "Do not despise the words of prophets, but test everything; hold fast to what is good, abstain from every form of evil."

And as much as I am deeply moved by so much of what is written in Paul's letters, and as much as I appreciate his efforts to organize and spread the radical Jesus movement in his day, I do see some of his remarks as violations of the best in Jewish and Christian wisdom and practice. For example, Paul also argues that women should not speak in church, that followers of Jesus should always obey governmental orders, that there is nothing wrong with slavery, that slaves should always obey their masters. He even once said that it was sinful for women to wear their hair in braids or to not cover their heads in church...

Furthermore, it must be remembered that Paul was not a close disciple of Jesus. He did not join the Jesus movement until after Jesus was crucified. He had never known Jesus intimately, or traveled with Jesus day in and day out, or discussed his own perspectives and confusions with Jesus at any length.

Kinda makes you go hmmmm

as for the old testiment, there are 5 refferances..

In total there are five additional passages that I have found in the entire Hebrew scriptures that might be legitimately considered anti-gay, or view gay and lesbian behavior as a sin, perhaps even a major sin. These passages are Genesis 19, Leviticus 19:22, Leviticus 20:13, Deuteronomy 23:17, and Judges 19-21. I say "might" here, however, because three of these passages are not even evaluating the moral worth of loving, committed gay and lesbian relationships at all, but actually speak out instead against male-on-male rape, or against men consorting with male or female ritual prostitutes, a practice that was common among some non-Jewish cultural traditions of the time.

The only significant theological support in the entire bible for the Pope's homophobia is found in Leviticus, which clearly says in one passage that gay male sexual behavior is a sin and an abomination before God and then goes on to another passage that says it is a moral imperative on the part of the faithful to kill all men who engage in homosexual behavior.

Regarding the 613 'laws' in the Torah...

Whether or not you agree with the murderous homophobia of these two laws attributed to God through Moses, one might be tempted to say that they do at least offer a firm theological support for the current Pope's homophobia. That would be true, however, only if the Pope actually supported all 613 of the religious laws listed in the Torah as legitimate commandments from God and as perpetual statutes to be followed by all generations of Jews and Christians. The Pope doesn't believe this, though--and neither did the Jewish prophet Micah, or Paul, or Jesus. If the Pope did believe everything that is said in all of the 613 laws attributed to the prophet Moses, he would order animal sacrifice as a core religious practice within the Catholic Mass and he would oppose Catholics eating shellfish or wearing cloth made from two types of fabrics. He would also demand that all Catholic men get circumcised. Indeed, he would demand that all faithful Catholics kill every child they know who has ever talked back to their parents, and demand that they also kill every woman who is guilty of adultery.

All of these actions and prohibitions are included among the 613 laws of Moses. Is it any wonder why Paul called the slavish following of all these religious laws "a curse" and warned people to stay faithful to the underlying spirit of the Law, but not the detailed letter of each one--as many of them are based on mere cultural convention and some are even rooted in deep human prejudices and cruelty.

Fascinating stuff right? I thought so. I'm interested to learn more about Jesus. Found a couple articles within Friends Journal that give context to his life like this one, I plan to read some gospels. Like Mark, and the newly discovered ones are very interesting to me. There were 12 disciples, but only 4 had their gospels included in Constantine's official bible, which is the basis of our current Bible.

Quakers are a Christian religion, and a diverse one, but I think we're more intent on following the path of Jesus, living up to his revolutionary ideals. Following and emulating the spirit of Jesus' life. Striving to create a 'beloved community' on Earth. Not worshiping, or idolizing him or the Church. And certainly not blindly following any Church's 'laws' without context.

This article was written in response to the pope's comments on homosexuality.. "saving humanity from homosexual or transsexual behavior was as important as protecting the environment."

Full Article Again

just wanted to put that out there.

Call Congress 1-800-828-0498

Most of you know that I run my own Web-Design and Photography business, I'm a sole proprietor. This means that I get screwed on Healthcare. I have to pay something like a minimum $500 per month for some crappy high deductible insurance for my wife and myself. that's even the subsidized NYS version.

I'm part of my local Greater South Buffalo Chamber of Commerce, and somehow I ended up receiving 'urgent action' alerts from the US Chamber of Commerce. They sent me one on Saturday... to Debra, I just noticed, boy that was a happy accident for me. Anyway, here's their message

"This week, the Senate HELP Committee released a plan that will radically restructure health care for all Americans. The proposal goes above and beyond covering the uninsured. It threatens the private market and ailing economy.

Unable to compete with a public plan, many private companies would be locked into an unsustainable system and forced out of business. In fact, a report cites 130 million people potentially moving from private insurance to this new public plan.

Now is the time to stand up to Senator Kennedy's plan, which could devastate private health care, and ultimately force you into an entirely government-run plan. Click here to send a letter to Congress now.

Further, this proposal would restrict the way employers provide coverage, hurting flexibility and innovation: the cornerstones of American health care. For more of my thoughts on the danger of this proposal, click here.

The bottom line: Sen. Kennedy's bill is dangerous to your health.

This plan is being forced through at a lightning pace, preventing those who will be impacted from carefully considering the 615-page proposal."

That email takes you to this page

So instead of signing their petition I decided to use their contact form to express my opposition. Here's my message to them.

"I support a public Healthcare option. Why should business have to pay the cost of health insurance for our employees? Why should employees have to demand extra benefits from their employers just to ensure that their families are protected from tragedy? The current Healthcare system is broken. It forces businesses like mine to cut employees, and increase our prices to cover the extra costs. This should not be the burden of private business. The economy would be better off with a simplified system where government takes responsibility for the well being of all citizens.

I oppose your position on this issue. I do not support protecting the Health Insurance companies at the expense of all other businesses and the economy as a whole. This is not a responsible position for the US Chamber of Commerce to take."

If you want to call congress on this issue here's the
Toll Free Number
1 800-828-0498

Senators are:
Kristen Gillibrand
Chuck Schumer

House Representatives are:
Brian Higgins
Louise Slaughter
Chris Lee

Party Photos!

It was a good time. Hope everyone had fun. I didn't take enough pictures. Enjoy these :)



































Morning after

Fun times. we had a good crowd. Thanks everyone for coming.

Sorry for the short notice everybody, but we'd like to invite you all to our house this Saturday May 30!!! We're having a big summer party at our new digs.

Come see what we got for $46,000!!

Starts around 2-3, and goes till late. Come for a few hours or hang out all night. 178 Altruria St. South Buffalo, off South Park near Tifft.

We're inviting family and friends. Hang out for a backyard picnic, and stay till whenever. We'll have some food and drinks for everyone, but you can always bring something to contribute. Tour the house, check out the vegetable garden, we'll have a fire outside later on... come hang out.

I love living in South Buffalo. We had a great weekend, actually a great week.

Wednesday and Thursday we hung out at our neighbor's house next door, had some food and drinks. We've met a lot of our neighbors already, it seems like summer is going to be full of activity. It was nice to spend some time, and get to know the 2 families in the house next door.

Friday 2 friends came over after work. We hung out in the yard, enjoying the excellent weather. We assembled our fire ring, but we got hungry and didn't end up lighting our first fire. But it was the first time we've actually hung out in the backyard with friends. We had a little dinner party, with some pasta and homemade sauce. I do make good pasta sauce, instant gourmet :)


Saturday, Mr Softie in the hood. Parked right outside my house. There are a ton of kids in this neighborhood.

Saturday

We went for bikeride. We had no perticular direction. First we dropped by a friends house to see their newborn baby, passed a hotdog stand on South Park Ave so we stopped for a bite to eat. Passed a street musician after we left, playing guitar at the bus stop by the library. Then mom's house, we found her outside gardening, of course :) Finally we rode around Cazenovia Park, and then around South Park Lake too. We saw a saxophone player outside the Botanical Gardens too. Such a nice day for a ride, it's like the whole neighborhood was in bloom.


I love Hot Dog stands, woodside and South Park :)


Outside Mom's


Dudes Fishin' at Caz Park


Baseball Game


Cazenovia Creek


South Park Lake











Outside the Botanical Gardens

Later we showed off our new house to one of mom's out of town friends. Then we all went out to dinner at the Blackthorn. Mom's friend in a Buffalo native who is actually moving back to B-lo from North Carolina because she misses the people, cheap living, and the friendliness.

At around 8 we went to a friend's birthday party in East Aurora. we stayed outside on the back deck and the porch, except to refill our wine glasses, and use the piano, she has a player piano, one that plays those song scrolls. Fun stuff.


Rockin' the Player Piano, that cabinet in the back is full of scrolls.

Sunday

I worked outside, starting my vegetable garden in the back yard. We had dinner at mom's house, backyard barbeque! Enjoyed my first corn on the cob of 2009, along with sausage, veggie-burgers and pasta salad. Cooking on the grill, lovin' the outdoors.







Molly says hi :) Actually she wrote some of this post!

Yesterday was tax day. There were a bunch of symbolic protests across the country. "Tea Party" protests. here's the article about the one in Buffalo

Anyway, I'm not going into detail here. but one slogan I saw a few places.

"Born Free, Taxed to Death"





There are a lot of ways to die... That's one of the reasons we have firefighters, and police, and traffic signals, and Medicare, Social Security, and the Food and Drug Administration.... you get the idea.

In many ways, we actually pay taxes to protect ourselves from death. Because paying $25 per year to help fund a Police force is a lot simpler, cheaper, and easier than hiring a private security force, or detective, or getting a gun or a baseball bat and going all vigilante style.

Maybe that's going a little too far, according to the Buffalo News Tea party Protesters "said they favor spending on the military, police, roads and other critical infrastructure,"

But... "social welfare programs such as Social Security and Medicaid had few fans."

"...yea... fend for yourselves.. you over 65 socialists, we don't owe you shit!!! One for.. me, and ... all for .. none... or... All for me, and none for you!!! whatever, Hows'it go?...."

I guess it sounds good. "I work hard for my money, I deserve to keep it all. And if somebody's got more money, i guess they just work super hard, and they deserve it too."

my point is this; if we worked together, we wouldn't have to bust our ass all the time just to get by.


"Yea! screw Social Security... I should be able to put my kids through college, pay medical expenses, insurance costs for my car and house, oh.. pay off that student loan. and have plenty left over to retire!... Yea!! freedom!!!!!"..../ what the fuck is that shit.

If we didn't spend so much time worrying about the future, worrying about illness, college loans, retirement... I know I'd have a lot more freedom.

We have to work together. It's patriotic, and human to care about your neighbors, your family, the citizens your country. It's supposed to be "all for one, and one for all" We should look out for each other.

You know teachers work hard, so do farmers, so do computer programmers, and so do your parents... and we all couldn't get by without them. But they each make different amounts of money. And it's not because they don't work hard enough, most of the time it's just cruel luck.

You also don't need to be greedy to work hard. or to contribute to your society. I think that selfcentered individualistic bullshit is un-American. How about soldiers? They're some of the most selfless, hard working people you'll meet. totally not motivated by greed. they want to help people.... imagine that, motivated by an urge to help. Not so hard right? I think it's just human nature to want to help.


"E pluribus unum" it's on our money, a motto adopted at the founding of this country, it's Latin for "Out of Many, One," it means we're all in this together.

The essential point of government is to help us work together in an orderly way. Government is not the problem, selfcentered politicians have betrayed us.


PS. my Father in-law is in the paper, the last 4 paragraphs, about the counter protester with the Veterans for Peace Tee Shirt

Hey, you probably heard about this already. It's been going on since last week.



This couple, Mr and Mrs Stevens, they've got 7 kids, they moved to Buffalo's East side from the country. They own a home on the Fillmore ave on the between Broadway and Sycamore. They have 2 acres of open lots behind their house, all of which are owned by the city. They requested to buy the lots and turn it into a farm. The city said no. Here it is in the Buffalo News

Here's the land







Behind Fillmore, between Broadway and Sycamore.


What do you guys think?

Should farming come back to the city? Without a huge increase in population, what will happen to abandoned neighborhoods? People keep sprawling homes over farmland, and the city is left with abandoned homes to demolish, how can the city rejuvenate itself? The East Side, how does it get better, where can it go. I don't think you can ignore the East Side and expect the rest of Buffalo to Recover. So where is the east side headed, and how can it be positive?

The area around the proposed farm was a dense, popular Buffalo street at one time, a central Business District for the East Side. Broadway Market is still there. But now it's one of those places you drive around and get depressed. The once magnificent buildings on Fillmore and Broadway just look like death. and most of the people who live in the area would rather move. It's a shame. I get furious when I think of how we let our cities rot. First they went to Cheektowaga and let Broadway rot, now they move further out and toss Cheektowaga out like a half eaten happymeal. Back in the 60s it would have been easy to help the East side, and all of the city, now look what we've got.

I'm pretty familliar with the East side, went on the Tour de Neglect twice, that's about 7-8 hours riding my bike around, and used to drive out to MLK park every other weekend.

The way I see it, the City is absolutely foolish not to allow people to turn acres into farmland. The one thing the East side has going for it is the open space, nature has reclaimed areas, and it's a beautiful thing. You can look as some buildings and businesses as assets, but as a whole, the peaceful open spaces are the strength of the East side.

The Mayor would rather see new houses constructed there. Like there's a shortage of homes. Yea, I know, new homes, people like those. Well, I've seen plenty of them abandoned and boarded up too, on the East side and in South Buffalo. I don't think the houses that were there were the problem, it's the neighborhood that nobody wants. new homes can be wasted just like the old ones if the neighborhood has no heart.




I got tons of links on this, the city seems to be getting a lot of bad press, even that Buffalo News article, on the front page, big picture, titled "City Says E-I-E-I No" There's stuff in Artvoice Buffalo Rising WNY Media is doing video, oh, and there's a Facebook group I joined, it's getting close to 400 members

the non-profit Broadway Fillmore Alive has links to a bunch of different stories


oh, by the way, there is a farm in the City FYI Mayor Brown, it's about 4 blocks East of Main St. Queen City Farm Saturdays at 9 you can volunteer.