Meeting of the Rotary Club of
Eureka
October 19, 2015
The menu was meatloaf, chicken casserole, mashed potatoes and green
beans. Dessert was marshmallow rice
crispy bars or cake.
President Jay Bahner called us to order. Walt Shimasaki led the pledge and Lisa Slack
gave the invocation.
Jay asked Andy the foreign exchange student about his week and Andy
replied that he’d seen the Golden Gate Bridge for the first time in real life
instead of in the movies.
Pat Folkins reminded all that the Foundation Dinner North is at the
Fireman’s Hall in Ferndale on November 14th. Raffle tickets are available for $25.
Missing a roster from your collection of Rosters from past years? Lisa Slack has discovered a box of old
Rosters. Get the one with your high
school picture in it – oh, wait, you’re still using that picture?
CJ, the ornithologist president of the Arcata Noon Club, brought a
guest, Pablo “Cuespi” Elizondo from the San Jose, Costa Rica club. He is coordinating a project. It’s an economic development program
assisting women in the Costa Rica highlands.
They are facilitating micro lending – loans of $500 to $3000 to help
women develop businesses. Arcata Noon
plans a trip there next spring.
Jay noted that George Owren was sporting a tan. Apparently he attended a series of “happy hours” in Puerta Vallarta. They have them starting at 10am. He spun the wheel and missed the question
from the Cartel (correct answer: A “mob” of kangaroos.) so he was out $60.
Walt Shimasaki had a chance to draw a winner
from the raffle deck, and came up with an Ace.
Matthew Owen introduced our speaker, attorney Peter Martin from the
ACLU. He worked as an assistant district
attorney for Terry Farmer, then joined the ACLU. He’s president of the local chapter. Recent national cases involving the ACLU
include the Collection of Meta-data by NSA exposed by Edward Snowdon, accountability
for torture in the case of Abdullah Saliman, who was abused for years by the
CIA, and requesting data on who is being killed by drones outside of war
zones. Locally, they help out people
with legal matters but don’t do any litigation. He mentioned an app called
Mobile Justice California, which puts a red button on your screen that you can
immediately press if you see some law enforcement misconduct. It records the incident and sends it to the
ACLU. Attorney Martin then opened the
floor for questions. He deflected a few,
and then we ran out of time.
Written while secret spy cams observed me from outer space,
Hank Ingham
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