Gary’s excellent post reminded all of you to register before Oct. 20. Go do that. Now. You should also be informed about what you’re voting for, so here’s where to go for information. (If this list is too overwhelming, I would stick with smartvoter.org, easyvoter.org and politifact.com.)

LOCAL

Smart Voter
Enter your address and see everything that will be on the ballot in your neighborhood — every person running for your district, every measure that applies to your area. If you did not already get your voters’ guide in the mail, this is the perfect place to start.

County election offices
Since this blog covers much of the South Bay, you may be located in Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, San Mateo or Alameda counties. Here is where you can register to vote, check if you’re registered and download information on local elections.

San Jose Mercury News Elections section
You can make an argument about bias one way or the other, but never mind that — it does have good information that could help you decide on local issues.

STATE

California Voter Information Guide
The official voter guide from the Secretary of State.

Easy Voter
A plain-English site that spells out nicely who is running, what the California propositions mean, and who is opposed to what and why.

Secretary of State elections
This site outlines how to get ON the ballot, whether as a candidate or introducing an initiative. It’s too late for this election, naturally, but a good resource nonetheless.

NATIONAL

Politifact
If you’re tired of trying to figure out which national candidate to believe, this is a great resource to see quickly who just lied about what.

Factcheck
Another great fact-checking resource From the Annenberg Public Policy Center. This goes more in-depth than Politifact.

Open Secrets
Follow the money: see who is donating to candidates and elected officials.

There are a couple of guys wandering around the country offering magic potions, each magic potion having its own ingredients to cure all of your grievances. They want to be your best friend. Well, they want to be your friend at least until early November.

If you are planning to vote in the November 4 Presidential General Election and you have never registered before or you need to re-register you must do so by October 20.

You will need to re-register if you have moved, changed your name or wish to change the political party from your previous registration.

You can download and print a form from the Registrar of Voters Website here. Look for the Register to Vote link on the left.

You can also pick up the registration forms at post offices, libraries, and most local government offices and at the registrar’s office, 1555 Berger Drive, Building 2, San Jose.

Mailed registration forms that are postmarked no later than October 20 will be accepted. Voters may also return the forms to the registrar’s office no later than October 20.

If you are uncertain that you are registered to vote, check here.

More voter information on the Secretary of State Website here.

Registrar of Voter’s Office: 408-299-8683

David Sanborn

I arrived just as John Densmore was preparing to go on stage. Once a member of the ‘Doors’, this drummer now surrounds himself with tribal inspired musicians that make up the earthy rhythmic sound of Tribaljazz. John dedicated ‘Wrapped Around Your Finger’ to drummer Stewart Copeland of the ‘The Police’ saying, “He came to my rescue in a legal matter once…”

Eddie Gale was jamming a traditional style of jazz at the San Jose Rep. Gale didn’t perform to the audience; it was as if he allowed us to sit in on a private session.

I felt privileged to be up front when David Sanborn blew the proverbial roof off the main stage. As he looked out over the crowd, he mentioned how happy it made the old man to see so many [people] there for the music. (David turned 63 on July 30th) My personal thanks goes out to the San Jose Jazz Festival for securing David Sanborn as a headliner. I will treasure the experience.

The politics:

Say it ain’t so to the rumors that the Jazz Festival Board members wish to rename the festival tying it to Silicon Valley. Name recognition is crucial for San Jose’s economic growth.

Somehow the Festival was able to make up the monies that were so foolishly withheld by the city, but what about next year?

The once largest free jazz festival in the world that began to charge a $5 entry fee a few years ago, now requires $10. I would be willing to spend up to $20 if it guarantied more big name performers.

flickr set

I recently paid $150.00 for a business license (taxi) but, until I sent in an additional $22.00, the city held it hostage! The city needs my help with the budget deficit, but they are unwilling to help me out with the cost of gas.

Because everything in the city seems to be going up, except my taximeter, it only makes sense that the San Jose City Council members would like to see their salaries go up too. Their request may be on the November ballot.

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Brace yourself, for the Democrats have converged on our city. The San Jose McEnery Convention Center will be closed to the general public today through Sunday as the pitches are being made. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who remains uncommitted, will speak this evening. Keynote speakers on Saturday will include U.S. Rep Zoe Lofgren D-San Jose (pictured in red) who is an Obama supporter. During a private meeting with superdelegates Bill Clinton will be doing his best to persuade votes for Hillary. He will then address the convention on Sunday morning.

A live webcast is set for Saturday at 9am.

According to this morning’s edition of the San Jose Mercury News, San Jose’s City Hall is now at peace after the “Little Saigon” fiasco. With that resolved, it also brings Ly Tong’s fasting to an end.

What happened? Apparently Vice Mayor Cortese’s earlier recommendation of private funding for signs along the area was heeded by councilman Sam Liccardo, along with Mayor Chuck Reed (Yay Dave! — I live in his district). What doesn’t appear to be clear from the article was whether Councilwoman Madison Nguyen was involved in drafting the proposal.

For now, it appears the city will be distancing itself from the issue.

The approach makes sense — why this was not done before things got out of control is a bit curious. Gauging various stories on the issue, most link the issue’s escalation to a lack of leadership by Mayor Chuck Reed. Whether that’s true or not is not for me to say… but something went wrong.

The path that the supporters of “Little Saigon” took is still a bit puzzling to me. The only thing I can think of is the emotions representative of a people who were displaced from their homes due to Communism led them to this path. There were those who strongly opposed any formal discussion of renaming this section of Silicon Valley real estate, while there were also those who were willing to pursue some recognition and preservation of their culture in a country they now call their home. I think this might be key to the whole thing. Yes… despite what naysayers may think, this is their home, just as the Italians, Irish, Chinese, Japanese and a countless number of immigrants made the good old U S of A their home. I think it’s probably fair to say that the same criticisms of the Vietnamese community can be equally extended to every immigrant group in American history.

Was this necessarily the right path? While it all seems a bit extreme, only time and history will tell. Also, despite the seeming polarization of the community, not to mention anyone who had something to say about the issue, I think we should consider what this means for everyone, not just the Vietnamese community.

What does this all mean? Well, thanks to some great professors I had in college many moons ago, and my involvement in my own community, I learned that mono-cultures breed fear and intolerance towards anyone that doesn’t blend in. In food speak, the reality is that our country is not a melting pot (I like to say fondue), it’s really a nice stew, where almost every ingredient is still recognizable. While not as refined as a fondue, each ingredient in it’s lumpy goodness is bathed in a thick gravy that suspends each ingredient uniquely, but in a single recipe to create a stew. That’s pretty much America - each culture is still uniquely identified but each is American.

What have we learned from this? In the end, probably nothing as politics goes.

However, as citizens, I think it’s easy to forget that we create the communities we live in… not some bureaucrat that said the right things to get voted into office. Maybe we should all create a little passion of our own to build the communities and the homes we want…

As my wife told me a long time ago, home is where we live, love and play… and that could be anywhere.

What’s in a name? Unfortunately for the Vietnamese American community here in San Jose ‘a name’ has become a conduit for division. By favoring the name “Saigon Business District”, Councilwoman Madison Nguyen has come under suspicion. She has been accused of having a (not so) hidden agenda. Was she only acting on behalf of her constituents when she became involved with the Vietnam Town Plaza?

The name “Little Saigon” has been used without controversy in San Francisco, Orange County, and Houston. Viet émigrés have worked hard to make this area of San Jose not only a successful business district, but also a symbol of freedom. Why did this become an issue only in San Jose? What harm did Mayor Chuck Reed and the Council imagine? If we follow the politics, or the money, will we find an answer? Let us hope that this vexatious situation will be resolved with a diplomatic solution.

If you are not into sitting in front of the television watching the primary election results, you may want to check out Google News Elections section. There you will find results for all the participating Super Tuesday states all in one location.

In addition, Google, Twitter and Twittervision have gotten together to show instant Twitter updates on Super Tuesday. You will see Twitter texts from across the country. Check it out here.

Google News’ Elections section here.

John Kerry (yawn) and Zoe Lofgren (nice lady) will participate in a town meeting this Saturday at the Mexican Heritage Plaza.

They hope to help promote Obama’s (can’t find his way to San Jose) bid for the presidency.

Mexican Heritage Plaza - Feb. 2 @ 1:00p

1700 Alum Rock Ave.
San José, CA 95116

ph 408 928 5500

Event Hot Line
ph 408 928 5564

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton will be speaking at the McEnery Convention Center this Friday.

The event is open to the public, South Hall at 435 South Market Street, beginning at 4pm.

I expect that traffic in or around town will be a mess, so I suggest planning ahead.