Left of Center

Health Care Forum Cancelled Due to Snow

admin — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 19:39:47 +0000

Due to the near inevitability of more snow this evening/tonight, we are postponing tonight’s Left of Center Forum on Health Care Reform. We hope to bring it to you in March or April. Thanks for your support and we look forward to seeing you at future events. Stay safe and warm tonight!

Health Care Reform: What’s Left and What’s Right?

admin — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 03:40:03 +0000

CANCELLED DUE TO SNOW

After Democrats lost their 60-vote supermajority in the Senate, is healthcare reform dead? Can the House pass the Senate bill by agreeing to follow-up legislation that would settle major differences between the two chambers? Or will there be a scaled-back compromise that attracts some bipartisan support, the wish of more than 50 percent of Americans according to recent polls?

In such scenarios, what major elements of reform would remain, and how will they impact cost-cutting, expanding coverage, and improving quality?

Leading this month’s discussion are four University of Virginia professors: Dr. Robert Powers, a medical professor and emergency room physician who just taught a January-term course on “The American Health Care System”; Carolyn Engelhard, a professor of public health sciences and co-author of the book, “Health Care Half Truths: Too Many Myths, Not Enough Reality”; John D. Arras, a professor of biomedical ethics and philosophy; and Dr. Don Detmer, professor emeritus of medical education and co-founder of U.Va.’s public health department.

Free appetizers and socializing (with a cash bar) from 7 to 7:30 p.m. precedes a 20-minute panel discussion and introduction to the issue. Then we open the floor to audience questions. Come join the discussion at Rapture.

Alternative Energy

admin — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 01:18:39 +0000

Tuesday, October 6, 7:00pm at Rapture (Facebook RSVP)

Renewable energy is defined as electricity and heat generated from solar, wind, ocean, hydropower, biomass, geothermal resources, and biofuels derived from renewable resources. Fossil fuels, along with nuclear energy — a controversial, non-renewable energy source — supply 93% of the world’s energy resources. Despite the promise of renewable energy, collectively it provides only about seven percent (7%) of the world’s energy needs (Source: Energy Information Agency).

The forum will look at the use of renewable energy on a variety of scales, from residential applications to large scale generation, and the political implications of increasing our use of renewable energy. A few of the issues to be discussed include the following:

What kind of energy plans can be reasonably implemented that have yet to be considered?
What can each sector of the larger community do to increase the production and use of alternative energy?
What entities or factors pose the greatest obstacles?
What are the political implications of increasing our use of renewable energy?
What are some of the efforts being made in our area to increase the availability of alternative power?

Speakers include:

Paul Risberg, President of AltEnergy, Inc.
Mitch King, President of Public Policy Virginia
Mike Signer, Chair of the Progressive Policy Instituteâ€™s Clean Energy Task Force (CETF)

Come join the discussion. Drinks available for purchase and light fare is provided, thanks to our generous sponsors.

Photo by Facebook RSVP)

Is the local food movement a passing fad for the wealthy, or is it possible that it can permanently alter how we all eat, work, and live? How do we expand it beyond weekly sales in parking lots to something accessible toâ€”and affordable byâ€”everybody? Kate Collier, an owner of Feast! and Founding Director of the Local Food Hub, and Melissa Wiley, Director of the Piedmont Environmental Council’s Buy Fresh Buy Local program, will speak about the direction that the movement needs to take in order to overcome these hurdles. They’ll address how local food initiatives can succeed in having a lasting impact on preserving open farmland, supporting endangered small family farm businesses, and promoting agricultural diversity and sustainable environmental practices.

Come on out, join some friends for a beer and join the discussion.

Many thanks to C’ville Market / Cavalier Produce, Horse & Buggy Produce and Integral Yoga Natural Foods for co-sponsoring this event.

Poverty and Homelessness

admin — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 21:57:25 +0000

Tuesday, April 7, 7:00pm at Rapture

The federal governmentâ€™s definition of poverty for a household of one adult with one child was income below $14,291 in 2007. Yet, according to one estimate, a single mother or father with one child in Charlottesville would need $34,000 a year to be self-sufficient. What can our community do to help all its members become self-sufficient? What can we learn from what other cities have done to address this problem?

Speakers: Buzz Cox, director of Charlottesvilleâ€™s Department of Social Services; Holly Edwards of Charlottesville City Council; Overton McGehee, executive director of Habitat for Humanity in Virginia; and Ed Olsen, a professor of economics at the University of Virginia.

Come on out, join some friends for a beer or two, and get involved in your community.

Remote Area Medical

admin — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 03:17:58 +0000

Tuesday, March 3rd, 7:00pm at Rapture

Once a year, thousands of uninsured people from all over Appalachia gather at the Wise County, VA fairgrounds for three days to have rotten teeth pulled, cysts carved out, and mysterious lumps x-rayed. It’s a stunning, moving event, revealing the second-world conditions under which many people are living right here in Virginia.

Speakers: Aryana Khalid, deputy Secretary for Health & Human Services for Virginia, & Terry Dickinson, Executive Director of the Virginia Dental Association (and the big thinker behind Mission of Mercy and the Remote Area Medical Volunteer Corps). (You can read a recent article about RAM in the Washington Post.)

Not convinced? Watch this 60 Minutes segment about RAM:

You won’t want to miss this one.

Electoral Reform Efforts in the Virginia General Assembly

admin — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 05:23:29 +0000

Tuesday, February 3rd, 7:00pm at Rapture

After last year’s historic voter participation, what is being done to ensure that every vote is counted and make voting more accessible to everyone, particularly students and people convicted of felonies? Amongst the many pieces of legislation that are being considered during the 2009 session of the Virginia General Assembly are several aimed at electoral reform, including a bill to make the redistricting process bipartisan. But now that Democrats control the state senate and the upcoming redistricting process, are they still in support of this reform? With only 46 days in the legislative session, we need to make our voices heard now in support of these critical electoral reforms.

The featured speaker will be Joe Szakos, Executive Director of the Virginia Organizing Project, a member of the Verifiable Voting Coalition of Virginia.

Note our new time! Due to popular demand, we’re moving our regular meeting time from 5:30pm to 7:00pm. Come on out, join friends for a beer, and get involved in democracy.

September: Urban Planing and Accessibility

admin — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 02:25:24 +0000

Have you ever spent time in a wheelchair, or used crutches? Do you have an elderly family member? Do you have a young child in a stroller? Join Left of Center to discuss accessibility and related challenges with two disability rights advocates: Nate Brown, a peer advocate and a representative for Charlottesville’s Independence Resource Center and Jim Herndon, a professional neighborhood planner for the City of Charlottesville. City Council just announced their plans to make the city’s infrastructure more accessible to pedestrians and folks with more limited mobilityâ€”find out what they’re doing and why.

Join us on Tuesday, Sept, 9, 5:30pm at Rapture for this talk.