Ambassador Balz Abplanalp, the San Francisco/Western States Consul General for Switzerland will be Sac Sem’s guest this Friday, September 20. He’s also the Swiss Technology Ambassador to the Western States focusing on Silicon Valley and San Francisco. In his career, he's served as Swiss ambassador to the Sultanate of Oman and the Republic of Yemen, and to Oman. He’s been Diplomatic Advisor to the Swiss Co-Presidency of the European Space Agency, Deputy Head of Mission at the Swiss Embassy in Columbia and Science & Technology Counsellor at the Swiss Mission to the European Union. Seminarian Sean Randolph will introduce the ambassador.
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RSVP TO ATTEND any upcoming seminar. To assist Perry’s kitchen staff with planning for our Friday lunchtime meetings please email Dennis Wheatley at dennis@triticum.com if you plan to attend and indicate if you’ll be bringing a guest. Dennis DOES NOT need to know you are not attending. If members have RSVP’ed a “yes” and need to cancel, please tell Dennis before the cutoff of Thursday noon prior to each seminar.
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RICHARD SPOHN MEMORIAL SERVICE: The memorial service and funeral mass for long times Seminarian Richard Spohn is scheduled for this Saturday, September 21 at 1:00 p.m. It will take place at St. Ignatius Church located at Parker and Fulton Street adjacent to the USF campus. It will be followed by a reception at the UCSF Medical Center Faculty Alumni House at 745 Parnassus Avenue. The UCSF garage is just across Parnassus from the venue. Do read Richard's obituary at: https://myusf.usfca.edu/announcement/in-memoriam-richard-spohn
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UPCOMING SEMINARS:
Lori Brooke, co-founder of Neighborhoods United SF and longtime Cow Hollow Neighborhood leader will be our speaker on Friday September 27 at Perry’s On Union. Seminarian Jim Fuller will introduce her. Ms. Brooke was featured in the SF Standard https://sfstandard.com/2024/06/07/san-francisco-zoning-housing-element-united-neighborhoods/
Rob Thompson, the chief cultural officer of the Presidio Trust, is our speaker on Friday, October 11. The mission of the Presidio Trust, a federal agency, “is to steward and share the history, beauty, and wonder of the Presidio for everyone to enjoy forever.” https://presidio.gov/about/presidio-trust Rob is trained as an archeologist and historic preservation planner. A graduate of the University of Virginia with a degree in archeology. He holds a master’s degree from Columbia University in Historic Preservation. Mr. Thompson will be introduced by Seminarian Dan Riley.
California’s top political pollster, Mark DiCamillo, himself a Seminarian, returns to update the Seminar on pre-presidential election poling trends on Friday, October 25. Mark is with the University of California (Berkeley) Institute of Governmental Studies. https://igs.berkeley.edu/people/mark-dicamillo where he conducts the IGS poll focusing on California issues and campaigns.
Friday, November 8 will be the “big roundtable” to analyze the results of November 5th presidential, congressional and city elections. This is your big chance to show your chops as a pundit, whether amateur or professional. If seminarians miss this roundtable, they shall forever after, remain silent on the events of that big day.
Mark your calendar. Sac Sem’s annual Holiday/Christmas/Hanukkah Lunch will be on Friday, December 20.
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FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION: Seminarian Dick Spotswood sends from The Triad by Jonathan Last:
“By trading suburban, college-educated voters for rural, high-school educated voters, Trump maximized the GOP’s Electoral College efficiency. This trade turned the GOP into a permanent minority party, making it extraordinarily difficult for it to win a national popular majority. But it tilted the Electoral College system to Republicans by a minimum of 3 points in every election. This was a true innovation. Prior to Trump, no one had viewed minority rule as a viable electoral strategy."
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OTHER THOUGHTS: “I've learned that money doesn't buy class.” Andy Rooney
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