Happy Thanksgiving to you all.

Single Gal started the holiday season off this week by posting the items she felt thankful for. Now I would like to ask you this: What would you like to see happen this coming year that you will be thankful for next Thanksgiving?

I’ll start. Naturally, I turn to politics first.

San Jose is in trouble. No, it’s not about losing our title as “safest” big city in America and other meaningless titles. If I had to lose the “safest” and also the “10th Largest City in the US” titles, it would be a more than fair exchange, for few monikers have been so graspingly offensive as that last residue of the ancient regime. Never forget that not only was the Gonzales tenure venal, it was also incompetent and just plain dumb.

With the approaching Thanksgiving holiday, it is always a good use of time to reflect on what is important to you and those you care about.  In addition to the obvious, friends and family, here are some things that I’m thankful for this year:

Would you pay 25 cents a mile to drive in the carpool lane? A coin is being thrown around as an option for drivers to pay when driving on Hwy 85 or 101 in a few years. The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) is proposing HOT lanes—not “hot” as in temperature but rather HOT as in High Occupancy Toll lanes.

Deportation Promised If Cooperation Not Achieved

A group of nearly 27 American expatriates from San Jose stormed the offices of the People’s Committee Chairman in Ho Chi Minh City on Tuesday and demanded a renaming of a concentrated strip of American businesses that has become known as “Little San Jose.”

Nothing makes our petty human problems seem less important than contemplating the enormity and endless wonders of the universe. This is certainly the case with me this week with the recent news that another planet has been discovered outside our solar system by astronomers working at Lick Observatory on Mt. Hamilton. This new planet is similar in size, composition and appearance to Saturn and is the fifth planet discovered to be orbiting around the star 55 Cancri, 41 light years away from us.

It is never too late for a good, economical idea, and getting rid of bottled water at City Hall is a good start. Of course, it does not compare to ethics reform, but it is in the right direction. If you want to see ridiculous ideas, compare the “bottled watergate” fuss to the simple concept presented straight-faced in the pages of the Mercury News by a development lobbyist who says that the building of a new city in the Coyote Valley will significantly reduce the effects of our carbon footprints.

Stop the presses! City Hall is giving up bottled water. There is no telling what can happen from this. The money they could save makes me salivate. Could we raise enough money to build an A’s stadium? Or build a second Santana Row downtown? How about more high-density housing or connect the light rail across the city? If they plan on saving upwards of millions of dollars from simply deciding to drink cloudy tap water, there is no stopping this city!

Veterans Day is a time to be thankful for the men and women who have served or serve in our military.  I am taking this opportunity to share why Veterans Day is important to me.

I have never served in the military, so sometimes I feel a bit “hollow” in comparison to those who have committed their lives—past and present—to our armed forces.  There are other occupations where people put their lives on the line for others; however, the military is the biggest commitment one could make, in my opinion.

Reverend Sharpton Lends Support to Bay Area Chapter of Diminutive Hunter-Gatherers

Unafraid of Congressman Lantos’s verbal haranguing of web behemoth Yahoo during a congressional hearing into possible human liberties violations by the web browser, the Bay Area Pygmy Coalition has garnered national support in their call for the Democratic representative’s resignation.

He is coming again, and it will be a sight to behold. Luis Valdez, the playwright, director, trail blazer and visionary, will be honored this Thursday evening at the Camera 12 Cinema as part of the International Latino Film Festival—not for the first time, nor the last. Zoot Suit, La Bamba, the Cisco Kid, and so many other accomplishments have become part and parcel of our stage and cinema tradition and our culture. He has enriched us greatly.

Along with the growth of San Jose, a new change is coming that we haven’t seen before: high-rise luxury housing in our city’s core. As I drive through downtown and see the cranes in the sky around these towering developments, I can’t help but wonder how it will work. This is such a drastic change from the way people live here—sprawling suburbs with ample parking, mini-malls within a 5-minute drive, and cul-de-sacs with kids riding skateboards and shooting hoops. However, I do believe there is a market for this kind of housing. It just remains to be seen how big that market actually is.

The question of raising taxes came up for discussion during a special study session regarding deferred maintenance and infrastructure backlog within the city of San Jose.  The city needs at least $915 million in one-time funding and an additional $45 million for ongoing funding needs if we want to catch up with our projects.

You may be asking yourself how the city came to these numbers and why the city allowed our backlog to become so poor and what exactly is the best method to pay for so many projects?

Al Gore Will Team With Paramount Classics to Distribute Movie

Just minutes after the city council approved Mayor Reed’s “green vision” for San Jose, which sets ambitious goals for the city to reduce energy and support clean technology, he made the surprise announcement that he would take a short leave of absence from the city’s top job to film his version of “An Inconvenient Truth.”

This week’s moderate earthquake and last week’s devastating fires in Southern Californian are a wakeup call for all of us. Are we prepared for a large-scale natural or other disaster here in San Jose? Is there a plan? How do we minimize our risk?

Boy can these guys dance, and it’s always two-step time in our state legislature when it comes to reform. Whenever they sense that there is a legitimate attempt to enact reform, as in fair redistricting or term limits, there is a headlong, panicked, and bipartisan rush to work together. They blunt the reform and maintain the status quo and vow that “they” will reform themselves.

Ah, Sacramento politics. You gotta love it if you are an incumbent.