During the Feb. 5 edition of “Countdown with Keith Olbermann,” the host offered the following: “[Dick Cheney] has caused far more terror in this country in the last seven years than any terrorist.”

Last Tuesday I had the same exact meal as two million people—two eggs, two strips of bacon, two pancakes, and two pieces of sausage. I feel like a jerk saying this, but I have never felt more connected to my fellow Americans, or our collective condition.

Coming before the Rules Committee on Wednesday, Feb. 11 at 2 PM in Room 118 is a memo regarding the 64 year-old crossing guard program. In a nutshell, the memo asks that the City of San Jose use $1.9 million from the $9 million tobacco settlement monies (which the City receives every fiscal year from the tobacco industry and will receive for the next 25 years) to fund the crossing guard program on a temporary basis (for three fiscal years) to ensure that the program stays intact despite our massive $65 million deficit. After three years, our economy ideally should improve and the funding for the crossing guard program can be re-evaluated

The weekly open forum for discussion of any and all issues of concern to SJI’s regular bloggers and casual users is hereby called to order.

In an Aug. 13, 2008, cover story, I channeled the Urban Blight Exploration Junkie and raved over the Pink Elephant Center, that landmark rundown strip mall at the corner of King Road and Virginia in San Jose City Council District 5. I had quacked about the place once before in a previous column, but for that travel feature, titled “Postcards from the Edge of San Jose,” in which I mapped out ignored masterpieces in each district, striking visuals were necessary to properly document the shabby outré ugliness of that East Side monument.

Recently, the Mercury News reported that the San Jose International Airport is looking at major layoffs over the next 18 months.  According to the FAA, San Jose has experienced a 14 percent decline in domestic departures over the past two years.

Violent crime among young people is on the increase, according to a new study by James Fox and Marc Swatt from Northwestern University. Fox and Swatt indicate that the much heralded decline in youth crime in the 1990s has ceased.  According to anecdotal data of my neighbors and friends, we are experiencing a rising tide of youth crime and gang-related violence in the suburbs of San Jose.

Last week, the Council spent two and half hours talking about making changes to a 1997 “competition policy.” At the prior Council meeting we spent two-plus hours talking about the same topic.  That policy is already burdensome and makes it difficult for businesses and/or non-profits to jump through all the hoops to do business with the city. I don’t own a business or manage a non-profit, so don’t ask me, ask the only two businesses that tried to utilize the policy during the past 12 years, but to no avail.

This is San Jose Inside’s open forum—open for discussion of a recent news event, local issue, or any other concern.

Last month saw the passing of John Byrne, lead singer of the ‘60s San Jose garage-rock band Count Five. He penned the immortal fuzzed-out 1966 hit Psychotic Reaction, which peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard charts and was listed in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s Top 500 songs that shaped rock & roll. A whole two years before Dionne Warwick sang that tune we all know and despise, the Count Five staged its famous promo picture, wearing Dracula-style capes in front of the Winchester Mystery House.

Last Monday, eight year old Alex Casillas and his father were hit by a car that ran a red light at Story Road and Adrian Way.  The child is in critical condition at Valley Medical Center.  Tuesday night, KTVU reporter Lloyd LaCuesta did a story on the hit and run incident.  Channel 2’s website provided viewers with the address for a bank account that has been set up to assist the Casillas Family.

Are taskforces where community hopes goes to die?  I am about to find out. On Jan, 15, I went to the first meeting of the drunk-in-public taskforce, a group assembled by the council as their response to a heated public forum back in November.

The challenge of making public education a system whereby all students gain the necessary skills to be successful participants in our 21st Century democracy will be one of the toughest problems for the Obama administration to solve—closing Gitmo will be easier. However, I am very hopeful.

Since 1921, Faber’s Cyclery has occupied a legendary, leaning building at the corner of First Street and Margaret in San Jose. The structure was already steeped in local lore when Alex LaRiviere took over Faber’s in 1978. Built in 1884, the place began life as a saloon called Benjamin’s Corner. A well-preserved old blacksmith shop still sits out back, right next to a heritage pepper tree eight feet in diameter. The original wooden bar from 1884 still sits inside the place and serves as a parts counter.

On Saturday, City Manager Debra Figone and Mayor Chuck Reed hosted 100 neighborhood residents at City Hall for a discussion and group exercise on how to balance the city’s budget and eliminate the $65 million dollar deficit.

Now is the time and this is the place and to let loose, uncork, and calmly discuss any issue that needs discussion.