Pistol Packing Patriots Posted by Annie Jeffries on June 20, 2011 at original NVP site

Geneva and Kent Brett, members of the California Gunslingers Association, invited TEA Party Patriots to their quick draw shooting range for a morning and afternoon of firing wax bullets from a couple of six shooters.

Pictured here is Tawohi and The Undertaker




Saturday morning the 18th, Don Jeffries and I drove south to Los Banos and ended up in the backside of beyond on Sunset Road. Yes, readers, we drove into the Sunset in the morning.

We met up with Sondra and Les Palocsay and several other folks - some newbies like us and some very experienced. The first thing we had to do was sign in. This involved signing in with a nickname. I was clueless so I handed the clipboard to Don and told him maybe he would like to call himself The Pirate (which is one of my nicknames for him anyway). That naturally led me to MY nickname - The Parrot. So now the team of Don and Annie Jeffries are affectionately known as Pirate and the Parrot!!

It was all about gun safety from start to finish. We learned to load the pistol, spin the cylinder the set the bullet, how to hold the gun and cock it and fire. Later, some girlfriends asked me if I felt a strong sense of power firing the gun. Oddly, I didn't feel that way at all. I was so busy concentrating on learning the routine, being safe, and trying for a bulls eye (yay, I got one), that I really wasn't feeling much of anything at all. Except a LOT of fun!!

Oh, and I beat Don on our times. :-)

Apricot Festival Posted by Annie Jeffries on June 8, 2011 at original NVP site

The Apricot Festival in Patterson, despite the rain, was a great success. We didn't get a lot of sign-ups but several Spanish speaking families visited us and took information. Manuel, the Patterson TEA Party coordinator, was able to speak to them in Spanish and English, whichever they chose. Based on the interest, selected handouts including the Patterson tri-fold brochure, will be translated into Spanish. Many thanks to all how helped us this weekend.

Arkady Faktorovich and Russian History Posted by Annie Jeffries on May 14, 2011 at original NVP site

Arkady Faktorovich of Los Banos, CA via a circuitous route that started from the Ukraine 30 plus years ago, visited us again for the May 12th general meeting. This time he spoke to us of Russian history. It was the first presentation ever he did on this particular topic and included information that up until 3 years ago, had not be declassified by the Russian government.

Arkady's presentation was sequential, starting from Alexander II and continued to the current time of Vladimir Putin. His purpose tonight was to illustrate how the Russian people, through their history, had never had a hunger for freedom fostered by their leadership. Alexander II was assassinated two days before he would have signed a democratic constitution so, in light of their history from 1881 onward, it would be an interesting "what-if" question to speculate upon of what the history of Russia might have evolved into had he NOT been assassinated. But, he was so it's only speculation.

Arkady has the basis for a good and very readable book on Russian history. I see it as shaping into four parts - 1.) the time of Alexander II through Nicholas II and the destruction of the Romanov family; 2.) the Middle Era of the early days of the revolution; 3.) the Modern Era from the Cold War to the early days of perestroika, and; 4.) the present day. Broken into distinct parts, it is clear where the commonalities lie in the thoughts and actions of the major players involved in each era. The differences, though also distinctive, were over-ridden in the quest for power and dominance. As each period broken down, it was the quest for power at the expense of the country itself, that moved each period to a fall and the building of the next. At no time were the Russian people filled with the hunger for freedom. Why? Because they didn't know what it felt like. It was not in their national psyche nor in their gut. Interestingly, because of the over 200 ethnic groups in the old USSR, the changes were more one of a move towards nationalism and the retreat from the centralized rulership of Russia.

Arkady Faktorovch sees many similarities between 20th century Russian history and the the political direction our country is taking in the 21st century. He will return on May 26th to speak about the Federal Reserve and money in this country. And, as anyone will understand, where you have the quest for control of money, you have the quest for power.

Denham and Berryhill Posted by Annie Jeffries on April 29, 2011 at original NVP site

Thursday was a very satisfying day. A small group from Turlock met up with a couple of Modesto patriot members to rally outside of Congressman Jeff Denham's office for an hour. This was no ordinary rally. This was a THANK YOU rally. For an hour, we waved signs to the traffic as it passed by - signs that read thank you to Denham for supporting his constituents. Just as we have a duty to rally in protest, we also have a duty to rally when our representatives do something right.

The group was very small which was really disappointing. I regret that Modesto did not get the word that we were rallying to support Mr. Denham. A larger grouip would have had more impact on people driving by. Too much, our representatives hear only the complaints, the problems. We need to say thank you. We need to let them know that we are not only watching, but, that we are grateful.

**************************************************************************

Later in the evening, Turlock's general meeting met at the Pizza Factory. Assemblyman Bill Berryhill was our guest speaker. While reflecting on the experience of his first term and the changes he is experiencing in his second term, he spoke to issues that are of great concern to many of us - issues such as voter fraud, water rights, loss of businesses large and small in California because of over-regulation, and of course, the budget - just to name a few.

He also spoke to the reality of the difficulties of working with any success as a member of the minority party. He cautioned us that no matter how difficult we imagine that it is, it is truly much worse. But he also underscored the importance of not giving up, to continuing efforts to form bi-partisan bridges, and not lossing sight of our goals.

Information from CatholicVote.org re: yesterday's vote on funding Planned Parenthood Posted by Annie Jeffries on April 15, 2011 at original NVP site

The votes are in.

Yesterday afternoon the House of Representatives overwhelming re-approved a ban on taxpayer funding for Planned Parenthood.

Unfortunately, as predicted, the Senate rejected the bill 58-42, effectively preserving taxpayer support for America's largest abortion provider for the next 5 months.

You can click here to see how each Senator voted.

More importantly, the following Senators deserve extra scrutiny as each of them have claimed in the past to be "pro-life" or at least to be against forcing taxpayers to fund abortion providers. The following Senators voted IN FAVOR of giving millions of taxpayer dollars to Planned Parenthood:

Senator Robert Casey (D-PA)*
Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE)*
Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV)*

The following Senators claim to be good custodians of taxpayer money also voted IN FAVOR of federal funding of Planned Parenthood:

Senator Scott Brown (R-MA)*
Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL)

*denotes running for re-election in 2012.

Planned Parenthood has been posturing over the past 24 hours in an attempt to demoralize our side. Their leaders are acting as if the debate is over for good. They want you and me to throw our hands up in frustration and give up.

No way.

We are obviously extremely disappointed by this vote. But we are hardly giving up.

The fact is Planned Parenthood was frantic and spent millions of dollars to beat us back. For the first time in the history of this debate, the House of Representatives overwhelming approved a bill denying them taxpayer funds. And the debate helped expose Planned Parenthood for what they really are -- an abortion-centered, scandal-ridden, billion-dollar organization that does not need, nor deserve taxpayer support.

This fight is far from over and Planned Parenthood knows it.

The budget bill approved yesterday barely gets us through the summer. An even bigger fight is ahead, not to mention the 2012 election where analysts believe the Senate could undergo a dramatic change.

The Senators mentioned above who voted IN FAVOR of Planned Parenthood will be forced to defend their vote in states where polls show overwhelming opposition to this misuse of our money. Rest assured -- they will be hearing from CatholicVote.org.

Don't be discouraged. Remember, we are fighting for what is right, and therefore always on the winning side.

Thankfully we live in a country where there is always hope... and change.

Sincerely,

Brian Burch, President
CatholicVote.org

Useful Links Posted by Annie Jeffries on March 27, 2011 at original NVP site

This is a list of links that I have found useful. Please let me know of any that you think are good to add.

Tea Party Patriots National Tea Party Website

Capitol Resouce Institute Christian and family values

The Blaze Glenn Beck's website

Cal Channel Live and archived videos from the California Legislature & Governor's office

http://www.flashreport.org/ Great blog site for California Conservatives

The Drudge Report The Drudge Report

The Daily Caller Conservative Website

Gun Owners of California Gun Owners of California

Tea Party Training Tea Party Training Videos

True The Vote Voter Fraud info

NorCal Tea Party Sacramento Area Tea Party

Central Valley Tea Party Fresno Area Tea Party

2nd p.m. Saturday session Posted by Annie Jeffries on March 10, 2011 at original NVP site

Blog Watch – Citizen blog watch program – Phil and Shelby Dennis, moderator

Note to self – become secure with knowing who my representatives are, what my district is. In my blog, report on actions of my representatives

Note to self – get a smart phone

Phil and Shelby have been invited by the National Tea Part Patriot leadership to start the Citizen Watch Project.

They are seeking 2 bloggers per representative, nationwide. Objective is to build a relationship with their chief of staff, press secretary, etc. Provide micro-coverage. Let them know you are a writer.

Watch officials from the local through state through federal. Watch and report at all levels. Blog Watch ideally wants 1100 watchers. In time there will be training documents, option for becoming a journalist through them, and write reports of 500 words or less.

Track committee work of your chosen representative/senator. C-Span online has all the information for tracking committee work as well.

Things to check and study –
• Liberty Institute out of Plano, TX
• Teapartytraining.org
• Drudge Report
• Leadership Institute

Things to think about
• $14.1 Trillion debt not going away
• This amount does not include our off book debt.
• Study what off book debt is (which amounts to $10-$100 T.

Read The Creature From Jekyl Island. It will open your eyes – big time.

Here’s the ideal. Achieving the Clinton budget would be a good thing. When he left office, the budget WAS balanced.

Consider this
Don’t just look for good Republicans. As non-partisans, we need to find good conservative Democrats too. There are a lot of districts that are purely, dominantly, aggressively Democrat. Any Republican who runs will in all likelihood lose so work to find better Democrats to support.

1st p.m. session – Saturday –Using Small Media Posted by Annie Jeffries on March 10, 2011 at original NVP site.

Tips and Advice

Correct and remove media/blog errors immediately. Admit your error.

Don’t focus on homeless or unemployed when you write. Do focus on small businesses and how they have been and are being affected by cuts.

Communicate a message –
1. Keep it simple
2. The format needs to look sharp

Headline is the most important thing you write in any story. Then the 1st paragraph – needs to be a grabber to continue to drive the reader’s interest.

Use verbs that convey a strong and powerful image

Use short words. Short sentences. Short paragraphs. Write to impress, not express.

Write like you talk. Avoid the “I” disease. Use folksy phrases. People connect with that. Use bullet points. Use spell check AND proofread.

Writing needs to be conversational and informal grammar is all right but punctuation and spelling MUST BE GOOD.

Make google alerts your friend. If you are following someone, enter the name to get latest news. Also following bill #s is a good idea.

Comments are okay. Even if you have only a few comments that is not an indicator that you have only a few readers so enable comments.

Generate an email list to get the word out.

Link you blog and writing to Facebook and Tweet.

Become a “professional” conservative agitator.

3 p.m. California Coordinators Meeting Posted by Annie Jeffries on March 10, 2011 at original NVP Site

Notes and things to think about

The 23rd District (Monterey) – Maldonado is running. Bad news.

Brown wants $14 Billion in tax increases through 2012. He called l representatives who vote “no” un-American.

Brown wants mail only voting. – NO – this will be a total disaster. Voter fraud floodgates will be wide open. There will be no oversight at all. Voters in Washington state and elsewhere regard it as a complete disaster.

Some Central committees are pushing absentee ballot voting and same day voting/registration. Again – NO OVERSIGHT, no control over who is voting and if the registration is legitimate.

Arizona Report – Part I - Feb 26th a.m. breakout session Posted by Annie Jeffries on March 10, 2011 at original NVP site

Keys to Victory in 2012 – Faith and Freedom Coalition

Working from the bottom up is the only way we can win in our election efforts. We have to operate knowing that we must raise funds and be tireless in our efforts. The office of the President has money, authority, and Air Force One at its disposal.

Our formula for success works something like this –

Send three emails
Make three phone calls
Make one direct contact

Scripts for calls help. Three questions should make your point.

1. What is most important issue (give the person you called options to choose from).
2. Test them for TP expectations (for example – are you okay with the idea of voter I.D.?
3. Do you agree with recalling those who vote against constitutional bills or to vote them out later? One. The other. Both?

Fortress precincts are the strongest precincts in the district. You start you work there contacting everyone who isn’t a Democrat. They are probably feeling disenfranchised.. Call, call, call. If people start telling you to stop calling, that’s a good thing. It means you are doing your job. You are making an impression. People who might not otherwise vote, will vote and remember/recognize the name you’ve been you’ve been call about for support.

Call – Walk
Call – Walk

Repeat. Be consistent. Be out there. Be visible. Turning out the vote is key to winning. The key to winning is building a movement; building an organization. 2010 proved it could be done. Don’t be discouraged. California is in a very difficult position and we have an uphill battle ahead of us. We have a governor who has proven he will not follow the constitutional requirements of his job. He didn’t do it as attorney general. We can’t expect him to do it as governor.

Mr. Obama won because he was in the moment. There was a strong organization and he told the people what they wanted to hear in a way that would sway them to him. Being anti-Obama isn’t enough. People need to know there is a viable alternative, an alternative that will benefit them.

For reform, think Contract for America. This was a good idea but it fell apart because people stopped watching. They stopped being vigilant. We Cannot Do That.

We need to find candidates that know how to smile; know how to project warmth and assurance. People like smiles. Think Reagan and Goldwater. They both believed in the same thing but Goldwater frowned. Reagan smiled. And, he won.

To win – two things are needed

1. The candidate must be qualified (exception – Mr. Obama)
2. And voters must believe the candidate cares about them.

Major points
1. Stay Grassroots – a movement driven by the politics of a community. The term implies that the creation of the movement and the group supporting it are natural and spontaneous, highlighting the differences between this and a movement that is orchestrated by traditional power structures. Grassroots movements are often at the local level, as many volunteers in the community give their time to support the local party, which can lead to helping the national party. For instance, a grassroots movement can lead to significant voter registration for a political party, which in turn helps the state and national parties.

2. Have a strong agenda

3. Have messengers that are likable

4. Build a movement of inclusion.

Start running ethnically diverse candidates now. Give them time to season and then get them into higher offices later. Give them a chance to build and then show their qualifications, their track record. AND – make sure they never forget who got them there. Their winds are not because they are uniquely charming. They have won because of the hard work of ordinary people like you and me.

Find diversely ethnic people from within your community who will introduce you around at events. This gives you ligitimacy. In our communty that would be Hispanic, Portuguese, Assyrian, Armenian, and Indian.

Reality Check from Dawn Wildman - Originally posted by Annie Jeffries on March 4, 2011 at original NVP site

You are going to hear from Republicans that they just defunded Obamacare. Here is what really happened:

The House adopted four amendments, by Rehberg, King and Emerson, that cut off any NEW funding for Obamacare (including IRS enforcement). However, there remains untouched the billions appropriated last year which the Administration can still spend. So, when they say they defunded it, they did NOT defund it in its entirety. The GOP had the opportunity at least twice in the past week and a half to defund Obamacare in its entirety (including it in the Continuing Resolution along with the other 123 programs they made concessions for and through Rules) and ultimately chose not to do so each time.

For a full explanation, you can see Ernest's Istook's article here: http://dailycaller.com/2011/02/17/the-dirty-little-secret-about-de-... and on HuffPo here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ernest-istook/the-dirty-little-secret....

You might want to pass this information on to you lists and also ask them to comment on Ernest's 2 posts, especially the HuffPo one.

Today in Fresno - Originally posted by Annie Jeffries on January 8, 2011 at the original NVP site

Jan, Reed, and Judy (Modesto), Elaine, Marie, Don, and I (Turlock), Sam (Merced) and two others from Los Banos (sorry, I don't have names) attended a meeting hosted by the Fresno group. Representative from several Central Valley groups were also in attendance, most of whom we were meeting for the first time. Together, we shared our thoughts on . . .

Group growth/Focusing our efforts

Finding and nurturing leaders

Fundraising

And

Coordinating with other groups

What can we do to help group growth/Focus our efforts?

1. Ask for a regular donation from membership;

2. Reach out to young people - those who are booing us;

3. Create concise messaging and take them to very specific venues;

4. Find experts within the community to come as speakers;

5. Educate people on how lack of involved has a direct impact on their personal bottom lines;

6. Connect with Rotary, Elks, Lions, Kiwanis, and KC - offer to come speak to their groups about TPP;

7. Reach out to Chamber of Commerce and Hispanic Chamber of Commerce;

8. Check out possible programming on our local valley channels

9. Use social pressure at public rallies to control protesters who cross the line on being noisy and negative;

10. Rally around a theme. Have a purpose. Announce it with good signage;

11. Leave the crazy signs out of it. Skip costume hats (like tri-corns). Look normal so people can identify;

12. Start connecting with festivals in under presented communities. Ex: Hughson's Fruit and Nut Festival;

13. At the end of general meetings have a list of simple things that can be easily done that will help get people involved. Ask the membership what they want to do or feel they can do?

14. Set up radio interview at other am/fm stations (Ex. - KCSS);

15. Invest in a supply of common sense trading cards;

16. Write letters to representatives when they do something right. Don't just complain;


Finding and nurturing leaders

17. Acknowledge an individual when you see them doing something that is beneficial to the group. Acknowledge their contributions and strengths. Don't let people think they are invisible;

18. Create job descriptions for regularly occurring needs. Create cheat sheets so a new leader does not feel they are starting out cold;

19. To promote growth, grow your leaders first;

20. Look at TPP site and click the link to study the leadership instruction;

Fundraising

21. Membership - urge people to commit to a low monthly contribution of $5 to come to the group as an auto-deduction;

22. Taxes? Spend what you get. Zero out.

23. Arrange for percentage back nights at participating businesses. Ex: Pizza Factory gives back 20% of income if TPP in mentioned on meeting night;

24. Sell merchandise;

25. Set up a Pay Pal link on your website;

26. Sponsor a 50/50 raffle on general meeting nights. Winner gets half. Group gets half. OR

27. Raffle an item that has been donated to the group;

28. NOTE - if you are going to raffle something big, be sure to check state/federal laws;

Coordinating with other groups and news gathering

29. Email;

30. Participate in multi-group meetings;

31. Share your speaker list;

32. Support each other's events;

33. Submit news to your website and to What's Happening in the Valley;

34. Subscribe to the Heritage Foundation, a rich source of news.

The after closed with Brad (Fresno) presenting a short seminar on using the internet to achieve our goals. All in all, it was a day of good information, good food, and good bonding with like-minded thinkers.

Christmas Parade, Turlock, 2010 Originally Posted by Annie Jeffries on December 4, 2010 at NVP original site

We participated in Turlock's annual Christmas parade this year for the first time. What an adventure. We put up a booth, had members walking in the parade; it was a lot of fun. Walkers were Don, Marie, Elisha, Marie R and grandsons, Rick and his boys, Carl C., Denise C., and April. Nancy and John C. brought up the rear in their pretty Model A automobile


The walkers were well-received. We got lots of cheers, a few boo's and a couple of Viva la Mexicos (what in the world is that). Oh well, the viva yellers were kids and they probably don't know any better. Let's hope that changes.


The Model A was the only one in the parade. She was so pretty but she got tired and pooped out towards the end and had to be pushed. Once she cooled off, she started up again.

Spending a morning at TID and Learning a Thing or TwoPosted by Annie Jeffries on September 28, 2010 at 1:42am at NVP original site

Many hands make light work. It also fosters new friendships and cements blossoming friendships. This morning's heavy lifting was done at the TID offices (Turlock Irrigation District) on behalf of Mike Berryhill, candidate for Congress for the 18th Congressional District.

As usual, political distortion, while based on a truth, doesn't tell a whole truth. So this morning found me wading through 26 years worth of weekly TID meetings minutes all in a quest of verifying Mike's actually attendance record at these meetings.

The distorted political truth in the current campaign for the seat in the 18th Congressional District is that Mike Berryhill, has been absent or late to TID Supervisors meetings 30% of the time over the last 26 years. That leads the ad listener to believe that Berryhill is not responsible or reliable. I used to think that a statistic put out there had to be true because an untruth can be proven. Naive, I known, but I'm losing my naivete fast.

My exploration into 26 years of meeting minutes taught me a few things about "truth".

1. The late arrivals were, in reality, arrivals that were no more that 5 - 15 minutes late on meetings that last in excess over four hours and often lasted longer. This means that instead of missing 30% of the voting ; in reality he was present for 85% of them.

2. The absences were in large part clustered in the Fall season. Mike is a working farmer who manages a 200 acre grape operation. He is up early, working the vineyards, running in to clean up and then driving to Turlock for a meeting that starts at 9 a.m. It doesn't take much to slow things up - broken machinery can't wait; urgent harvesting may be dictated because unseasonal weather can ruin a crop at the last minute.

3. I found it appalling that as a resident of Turlock, a vast farm community, we are not part of the 18th District. Stockton and Modesto, cities that don't rely on farming, are. Merced, surrounded by farms also does not rely on farming. Many small farming communities do make up the 18th District, but not one of the biggest - not Turlock. I started to understand the meaning and real implications of gerrymandering. Somewhere along the line, politics excluded Turlock from its natural voting so that democrats would have a more stacked for winning district.

So, you must wonder, if I can't vote for this man, why am I working for this man? It's an easy answer. He is a neighbor. He lives less than ten miles from me and yet I can't vote for him. If I CAN'T vote for him, I WILL work for him.

I don't believe it is one individual that influences good change through better government. I believe that good individuals of similar minds are going to do what it takes to effect change and save our state not to mention our country. It is this philosophy that thrust me into political activism at this stage of my life. I wouldn't have imagined it even two or three years ago but too much has happened in the last three years politically for me to sit still anymore.

I have become part of a large body of Americans who object to being controlled by regulatory rules that have nothing to do with the rule of law, let along the Constitution.

I object to being subjected to the rule of NAFTA with all of its unbalance slanted south.

I object to businesses in California being taxed out of existence - literally - only to see those jobs resurface as outsourced jobs.

I object to unions having so much influence in this state that political extremes can be handled by the same handler and never know they are being managed.

I object to farmers losing farms (due to lack of water) because they are being sacrificed upon the altar of eco-terrorism in the form of a 4 inch fish.

I object to logging operations shutting down resulting in lumber having to be imported from Oregon.

So, I did some heavy lifting this morning and it felt good. I built up a bit of a political resume and committed myself to caring about the future and not giving up. We all know and remember Thomas Jefferson, or the Wright Brothers, or Albert Einstein. But do you know who "Jerry Cresip" is? No, I thought not. You see - he gave up.

New Direction

I'm picking up on this blog again. It will be entirely private. My pictures and post from NVP are here.