An important reminder of something we must never forget (aka why we must stop sprawl)

Having spent a few hours watching a truly bizarre performance where the supposedly neutral City of Salem Director of Public Works all but demanded that the City Council endorse the absurd $800 million "Bridgasaurus Boondogglus," it's good to remember why we must fight and defeat the Sprawl Lobby that's trying to line their pockets.

Bottom line:  Because we need to eat a lot more than we need more auto infrastructure. 

Council member Brad Nanke alluded to the hordes of people that are going to want to live in the Northwest because of the oncoming water shortages throughout much of the US.  Someone should remind Brad that people don't just need water, but also food, and that food comes from ag land -- and the Willamette Valley has some of the best in the world. 

If Salem has money to invest -- and it's not clear we have much -- then the last place to put it is into more facilities that are intended to serve and promote single-occupant car travel.  The best thing Salem can do with its money is invest in local resiliency, which starts with locally grown and raised food and fiber.  Kudos to Nanke for mentioning a basic, critical resource like water during a discussion of carburban infrastructure -- but food is just as important.

And, like the stickers say, NO FARMS, NO FOOD.

Click Photo to Get Your Sticker

Put your free No Farms No Food bumper sticker on your car, tractor, truck or your bulletin board at work. You can even distribute them at your local farmers market or county fair!

When you display your No Farms No Food bumper sticker, you're helping raise awareness about the importance of saving America's farmland and keeping family farmers on the land.
Get Your Free No Farms No Food Bumper Sticker today!
 

Why Save Farmland?

1 We have been losing more than 1 precious acre every minute.
2 Along with water and air, our fertile farmland is critical to sustaining life.
3 Farming employs nearly 16 million people, more than 9% of the labor force.
4 Well managed farmland provides clean water, air and wildlife habitat.

Nice looking free intro to permaculture talk ----> @ 6 p.m. Wed 1/23 @ Lifesource Community Room

Two beautiful posts from 1000 Friends of Oregon

The group that the Sprawl Lobby likes to call "1000 Fiends" has two fantastic pieces on their website -- one about the bogus growth projections that are being used to sell a gigantic "Bridgeasaurus Boondogglus" for Salem (top), and then another great piece on the underlying issue, how sprawl costs everybody money and demands a constant feeding of new money, depriving us in every other area of life (bottom).

Take a gander at these great pieces, and then think about joining Friends of Marion County (see below -- FOMC is not very websavvy -- could you help with that?) and making gifts to support 1000 Friends.

Remember, all that is needed for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing.  Don't sit idly by and let the Sprawl Lobby rob you and your family of hundreds of millions that you'd rather spend on yourself or on providing a better community.

Click on each picture to take you to the actual page, both of which have good links from there:

Friends of Marion County generally meets at 7:00 p.m. on the second Wednesday of the month in the Salem Public Library Anderson Room. Board meetings are held the first Wednesday of the month. If you are interested in helping the Friends of Marion County, please E-mail: rkaye@OregonVOS.net. The Friends of Marion County does not share its mailing list with other organizations or individuals.

Our mailing address is:

Friends of Marion County

P.O. Box 3274

Salem, OR 97302

The annual dues are:

Friend $35

Family Friend $50

Hall of Fame Friend $100

Corporate Friend $250

Other Friend $________

Board of Directors

Roger Kaye, President
mailto: rkaye@oregonVOS.net
Joe Kuehn, Vice-President
mailto: kuehn20@comcast.net

Richard van Pelt, Secretary

mailto: rvanpelt@comcast.net

Susan Watkins, Treasurer
mailto: susanwat@open.org
Board Members are the above officers plus:

Linda Peterson

mailto: joylin@open.org

JoAn Power

mailto: jobilp@aol.com

Kasia Quillinan

mailto: qe2@open.org

Carla Mikkelson
mailto: carlamikke@yahoo.com
Laurel Hines
mailto: laurelhines@att.net

Speaking of learning vital skills for the future: Transition Town Salem organizing!

Some of you may recall the Salem Transition Initiative for Relocalization (STIR), which attracted some interest for a while three or four years ago, but never really jelled.

Thankfully, Oregon PeaceWorks is helping to promote a new crack at this vital idea under the name Transition Town Salem.  They're planning an organizing meeting for February 13 at the PeaceWorks office, second floor.  Contact PeaceWorks for details.

Transition Towns are communities working to build resilience in response to peak oil, climate change, and economic instability. OPW seeks to work with environmentalists, economists, city planners, government representatives and members of the public to develop both a plan and hands-on projects that will demonstrate the elements of resilience and sustainability to the Salem, OR community. We are looking for like-minded individuals, especially those with relevant expertise, in developing this program. We also seek to network with as many existing sustainability projects in the Mid-Willamette Valley as possible.

Our Mission: 

To educate and activate people to work for peace, justice and environmental sustainability.

104 Commercial St. NE Salem, Oregon 97301

Phone: 503-585-2767           Fax: 503-588-0088.

OPW Staff

#	Name	Position	Phone	Mobile Phone Number	Fax
1	Kerry Fox	Executive Director	503-585-2767
2	Peter Bergel	Program Director	503-371-8002
3	Carrie Adams	Office Manager & Event Coordinator	503-585-2767
4	Jeanette Hardison	Development Officer	503-585-2767
5	Office Staff	Office Staff	503-585-2767

TTS ( boy, I still prefer STIR ... just call it Salem Transition Initiative for Resiliency if you want to include that important theme ... But hey, a rose by any other name ....) will be holding an organizing meeting at PeaceWorks on February 13

Fruit Tree Pruning: an important skill for the future

Amy.Garrett@oregonstate.edu

Tomorrow Night: CHASING ICE

If you missed this during its brief stay at the wonderful Salem Cinema, don't despair, you can see it tomorrow night, January 10, at 7 pm at the Grand Theatre in downtown Salem, part of the Salem Progressive Film Series, one of the many great things going on in Salem.

Speakers

Evelyn Sherr Is a Professor of Oceanography, in the Earth, Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences Department at Oregon State University. Prior to coming to OSU, she graduated from Emory University in Georgia with a B.S. in Biology. She went on to receive her PhD in Zoology from Duke University and did her Post Doctoral work at the University of Georgia in the Microbiology Department. Professor Sherr’s research work focuses on aquatic microbial ecology, pelagic food webs, heterotrophic microbes and the ecology of the arctic and sub arctic marine ecosystems. Her work in the Arctic Ocean coincided with the period when summer sea ice loss was becoming increasing evident. Professor Sherr has participated in numerous field programs in the Arctic beginning in 1994, conducting research in Alaska, the Bering Sea and the North Pole, to name a few. She continues to conduct research in the Arctic and has over 100 publications. She lives in Corvallis with her husband Barry.

Ed Brook Ed Brook is a professor of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State University and studies climate history to understand how the earth system responds to climate change. His work uses polar ice cores as recorders of past climate change, and focuses on the relationship between greenhouse gases and climate change, on time scales of decades to hundreds of thousands of years. One clear outcome of ice core studies is the recognition that human activities have radically altered the levels and cycles of major greenhouse gases, pushing the atmosphere toward a state it has not seen for at least 50 million years. Ed Brook’s work has also contributed to our understanding of how quickly climate can change. For example, during the last ice age climate in many parts of the world shifted from cold to warm conditions over just several decades, and sometimes faster. The mechanisms behind these abrupt shifts are only partly understood. Ed’s research group is involved in further studies of their timing and impact, to better understand the probability of similar events in the future. From 1996 to 2004 Ed was a faculty member at Washington State University before moving to his current position at Oregon State University. Ed has conducted field research in Antarctica, Greenland, Scandinavia, northern Canada, and the western U.S. and runs one of a handful of analytical laboratories devoted to greenhouse gases in polar ice cores. His research group is currently involved in projects at both poles, including the WAIS Divide Drilling project in Antarctica and the NEEM ice core in Greenland. Ed is a Leopold Leadership Fellow, a Google Science Communication Fellow, and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Another Valentine's Week Do Not Miss: Joel Salatin (Free)

Joel Salatin holds a hen during a tour of Polyface Farm. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Willamette University is making tremendous strides.  The prior President sat on the board of directors for Portland General Electric (PGE), primary owner of the single biggest source of world-wrecking CO2 in Oregon, the Boardman power plant (also a prodigious source of toxic Mercury, which lowers IQ all over the world) and was never heard to utter a word about coal.  

Since then, he has been replaced by a NASA veteran, someone who probably gets that the world is running very short of time to avert climate catastrophe.  Last year's Dempsey Lecture was by Dr. James Hansen of NASA, who spoke about his creative plan for carbon taxes with 100% rebates to citizens.  

This year, Joel Salatin will speak; since industrial agriculture is responsible for a huge share of climate-wrecking pollution, Joel's determinedly place-based model of agriculture is important ... and vital for the Willamette Valley.  

 America’s most famous sustainable farmer to deliver Dempsey Lecture

Farmer Joel Salatin believes our country’s food system is in a state of crisis — from nutrient deficiency to pollution to animal abuse to rural economic decay — and that all of these issues can be solved by one thing: local food.

It’s not a surprising statement from the self-described “lunatic farmer” whose roles in Michael Pollan’s best-selling book, “The Omnivore’s Dilemma,” and the film, “Food, Inc.,” have turned him into one of the most prominent spokespeople for the local and sustainable food movements.
Salatin will bring his ideas to Willamette University Feb. 12 when he delivers the 2013 Dempsey Lecture. Titled “Local Food to the Rescue,” the lecture begins at 7:30 p.m. in Hudson Hall at the Mary Stuart Rogers Music Center. The event is free and open to the public.

Salatin’s family-run Polyface Farm in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley uses alternative practices — including chicken tractors and pasture-fed “salad bar beef” — that have become a model for sustainable farmers across the country. Polyface serves more than 10 retail outlets, 3,000 families and 50 restaurants through on-farm sales and metropolitan buying clubs.

“Most of the things that I do or say are considered lunacy by the conventional agriculture community,” Salatin says. “We’re a nation which is well-fed but undernourished. We lead the world in obesity, cancer, Type 2 diabetes and a host of other chronic maladies. Clearly it’s not just a matter of bins and bushels and volume, it’s a matter of nutrient density and food quality. Those are things our conventional system doesn’t even consider.”

Even regions like the Willamette Valley, known for its thriving sustainable and local agriculture communities, have room for improvement, Salatin says.

“I haven’t been any place in the U.S. where 95% of the food produced there isn’t exported first and then reimported,” he says. “We should be growing it here, processing it here and eating it here. That is ultimately a far more secure food system.”

In addition to farming, Salatin is a prolific writer and sought-after conference speaker whose humorous and conviction-based speeches are akin to theatrical performances.
“If you think the current food system — 1,500 miles between farmer and plate, gluten intolerance, factory farming, reduced aquifers, manure waste pollution and a host of other maladies — if you think all of that is just wonderful, then don’t come to my lecture,” he says. “But if you care about any of that, and that’s not the kind of world you want your children to inherit, then I want you to come.”

This event is sponsored by the Dempsey Foundation and Willamette University’s Center for Sustainable Communities.  Info: Joe Bowersox, 503-370-6220.

Related Event

Willamette will host a free showing of “American Meat,” a documentary featuring Joel Salatin, on Feb. 5 at 7 p.m. in the Paulus Lecture Hall (Room 201) at the Willamette University College of Law.

The film highlights the state of the country’s livestock industry. After the showing, filmmakers and local experts in sustainable agriculture and the locavore movement will lead a roundtable discussion.

Mark your Calendars for sure! Saturday after Valentine's Day

There was an amazingly small turnout the last time Roy came through, a sad sight because if ever a town needed the gift of humor surrounding the real insights Roy provides, it's Salem!  Make a point to catch him this time.

Saturday, Feb 16 -  8 pm 
SALEM, OR
Wake Up Call tour
UU Congregation of Salem5090 Center Street NE
$18 or pay what you can

Roy Zimmerman sings satirical songs - original songs about class warfare, creationism, same-sex marriage, guns, marijuana, abstinence, Republicans (a lot of songs about Republicans), ignorance, war and greed.

There's a decidedly Lefty slant to his lyrics. "We used to have a name for Right Wing satire," he says. "We called it 'cruelty.'"

The Los Angeles Times says, "Zimmerman displays a lacerating wit and keen awareness of society's foibles that bring to mind a latter-day Tom Lehrer."

Tom Lehrer himself says, "I congratulate Roy Zimmerman on reintroducing literacy to comedy songs. And the rhymes actually rhyme, they don't just 'rhyne.'

Joni Mitchell says, "Roy's lyrics move beyond poetry and achieve perfection."

In twelve albums over twenty years and on stages, screens and airwaves across America, Roy has brought the sting of satire to the struggle for Peace and Social Justice. His songs have been heard on HBO and Showtime. He has recorded for Warner/Reprise Records. He's a featured blogger for the Huffington Post. And everywhere Zimmerman goes, the Starving Ear goes with him.

The Starving Ear is Zimmerman's homage to San Francisco's legendary nightclub the hungry i. In the late 50's and early 60's the hungry i was a flashpoint for such talents as Mort Sahl, Lenny Bruce, Phyllis Diller, Maya Angelou, the Kingston Trio, and a melting pot of music, comedy and social message.

Zimmerman's stage show "Live From the Starving Ear" is ninety minutes of original satirical songs, many of them co-written with his wife, Melanie Harby. There are political targets, of course: a post-hypnotic suggestion to "Vote Republican," an exhuberant paean to "Real America," a love song to Citizens United. There are Social targets: a lesson in "Creation Science 101," a lambasting of the "Defenders of Marriage" who oppose same-sex unions, a "Sing-Along Second Amendment."

And there are unabashed progressive anthems. "Hope, Struggle and Change" adds one important word to Obama's slogan, and serves as a populist call to action.
"I Approve This Message" is a campaign theme song for the Occupy Movement, folding its many messages into the unifying theme of Economic Justice.

In this election year, Zimmerman has made a "campaign promise" to perform in all fifty states before the Republican National Convention. He'll be posting a new Song of the Week every week until November 6, just to savor the delicate and perishable absurdities of the political season.

Zimmerman has shared stages with George Carlin, Bill Maher, Kate Clinton, Bill Clinton, John Oliver, Dennis Miller, Sandra Tsing Loh, kd lang, Andy Borowitz and Paul Krassner. He's done several shows with The Pixies' Frank Black, swapping songs in a solo acoustic setting.

Roy's songs are often played on progressive radio by Thom Hartmann, Stephanie Miller, Bill Press and others. His up-to-the-moment topical songs are spun regularly by folk music DJ's across the country and he's a frequent guest on Sirius Radio's syndicated show "West Coast Live."

Roy's performance of his song "I'm Fired" is featured in the Showtime film "Fired!" And he sings his song "Ted Haggard is Completely Heterosexual" in Alexandra Pelosi's HBO documentary "The Trials of Ted Haggard." Mr. Haggard himself said of the song, "It's really bad -- I mean, it's poorly done -- but it's funny." "Firing the Surgeon General," Zimmerman's song full of blue euphemisms, was used in MTV's "Sex in the Nineties" documentary. In 2005, Roy wrote the opening number for the 37th Annual Writers Guild Awards show in Hollywood, a song appropriately titled, "I Wrote That."

Roy has brought The Starving Ear to YouTube where his videos have garnered nearly seven million views, and tens of thousands of comments, many of them coherent. The Starving Ear on YouTube features Roy's songs and commentary, but also "Ear to Ear" conversations, Roy's interviews with artists, authors and activists whose work engages the world and changes it for the better.

Zimmerman founded and wrote all the material for the comedy folk quartet The Foremen, who recorded four albums, two of them for Warner/Reprise Records. The Foremen toured extensively, playing the nation's major folk venues, a lot of fancy Progressive benefits, Pete Seeger's Clearwater Festival (under an overpass in the rain) and CBGB. Zimmerman wrote over five hours of satire for the group. "We never did it all at once," he reports, "but we kept it ready in case we had to filibuster."

The Foremen were featured on NPR's "All Things Considered," and many other syndicated talk radio shows. They shared the air with Al Franken on NPR's "Talk of the Nation." They got to sing Zimmerman's lampoon of Oliver North, "Ollie Ollie Off Scot Free" directly to the colonel himself on North's own syndicated show. "Friends," said North, "this is a very weird group."

Roy's satirical revues "Yup!" and "Up the Yup!" written and performed for The San Jose Repertory Company in the 1980s, became the longest-running shows in San Jose history. Later, Roy rode the Comedy Boom as a member of the duo, the Reagan Brothers. His partner, Stevie Coyle is now a major light on the folk circuit.

Steeped in musical theatre, Roy was fascinated at an early age with the ingenious economy of Irving Berlin, the witty innuendo of Cole Porter and the high-wire rhyme and reason of Stephen Sondheim. You can hear The Beatles and The Beach Boys in there, but folk influences loom large as well: Phil Ochs' unapologetic blend of humor and politics, Pete Seeger's unflagging commitment to social justice, The Roches' eccentric soulfulness.

So come in from the fog. Climb down the narrow staircase into the dimly lit brick-walled basement where the air is cool and filled with espresso and conversation. Take a seat at the tiny round table near the stage. Woody Guthrie famously emblazoned his guitar with the words, "This Machine Kills Fascists." Pete Seeger adapted the phrase for his banjo to "This Machine Surrounds Hate and Forces It to Surrender." Now, it's lights up, and a singer takes the stage in a white shirt and tie - "Bobby Kennedy meets Bobby Dylan" - strumming for all he's worth and singing, "This Machine drives neocon, jingoistic, war-mongering, xenophobic crypto-fascists from the room!"

This is Roy Zimmerman, Live from the Starving Ear!

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

"Roy Zimmerman lifted the evening with his song 'Chickenhawk' ridiculing the military policies of Bush administration officials who didn't serve in the armed forces. Zimmerman's squawking and clucking conveyed his scorn with contagious irreverence."
-- The New York Times

"Zimmerman is a guy on the left skewering folks on the right with rapier-sharp lyrics ... underneath the caustic satire is a man who is surprisingly optimistic." -- Sing Out!

"It was great to hear all those old Foremen songs again, and to be reminded of your lyrical brilliance. Just excellent." -- "Weird Al" Yankovic

"...this was no ordinary man. This was Roy Zimmerman, a unique type of superhero who possesses the power to nearly coax urine from the unwilling bladders of his audience members (via laughter). He delivered some of the smartest satirical songs that I'd ever heard." -- Jeff Penalty, lead singer of The Dead Kennedys

"Roy Zimmerman has a rare gift for songwriting -- San Francisco Chronicle

"Bobby Kennedy meets Bobby Dylan"  - The Marin Independent Journal

"You're brilliant. Just brilliant!" -- Terry Jones, Monty Python

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

Zimmerman lives in Northern California with his wife and frequent co-writer Melanie Harby.

Protect the Priceless Jewel, fertile, uncontaminated Willamette Valley Farmland

Genetically Tampered Canola threatens to destroy the
Willamette Valley specialty seed growers livelihood -
Thanks Oregon Department of Ag!

It is truly, staggeringly, astoundingly, chart-toppingly stupid-to-the-point-of-insane to imperil a singular world resource of the exact conditions needed to grow precious specialty food crops that command top dollar and provide food security insurance in a threatened world, simply in order to grow a near-worthless commodity product (canola oil) that is only hot because of outrageous and unjustified subsidies as fuel for cars.

If this wasn't so deadly serious you would be justified in thinking this was like a "Candid Camera" skit, where the idea was to propose something so outrageous that people would be justified in tarring and feathering anyone who proposed it.

Below is an email from Kendra Wolf, a MoveOn member in Beaverton, who created a petition on SignOn.org, the nonprofit site that allows anyone to start their own online petition. If you have concerns or feedback about this petition, click here.

Dear Salem MoveOn member,

Oregon is a major producer of the world's seeds for European cabbage, Brussels sprouts, rutabaga and turnips. Recently, our Department of Agriculture decided to allow 2500 acres for the growing of GMOs (genetically modified organisms).

The introduction of genetically modified canola would not only threaten the livelihood of seed farmers but would also pose serious dangers (such as increased pesticide use and herbicide-resistant superweeds) to the environment.

That's why I created a petition on SignOn.org to the Oregon Legislature, which says:

Stop the Oregon Department of Agriculture's decision to open 2500 acres to genetically modified canola.

Click here to add your name to this petition, and then pass it along to your friends.

Genetically modified canola has been genetically altered to withstand the herbicide Roundup, allowing farmers to spray more herbicide without destroying their crops. The cross-pollination of genetically modified crops with weeds creates superweeds that are also herbicide resistant.

The Huffington Post reported that more than two dozen weed species have become "resistant to Roundup's chief ingredient glyphosate, causing farmers to use increasing amounts both of glyphosate and other weed killing chemicals to try to control the so-called 'superweeds.'" This dilemma facing farmers is now driving up the "volume of herbicide needed each year by about 25 percent," and farmers are forced to use older, more dangerous herbicides as a result.1

Click here to add your name to this petition, and then pass it along to your friends.

Thanks!

–Kendra Wolf

Source:

1. "Genetically Modified Crops Have Led to Pesticide Increase, Study Finds," The Huffington Post, October 1, 2012.
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=285870&id=60259-19567772-L3ffAYx&t=4

This petition was created on SignOn.org, the progressive, nonprofit petition site. SignOn.org is sponsored by MoveOn Civic Action, which is not responsible for the contents of this or other petitions posted on the site. Kendra Wolf didn't pay us to send this email—we never rent or sell the MoveOn.org list.

Want to support our work? MoveOn Civic Action is entirely funded by our 7 million members—no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. Chip in here.

The 2013 Transportation Proposal Salem DOES Need

The Oregon Passenger Rail Project is studying options for improved passenger rail service. The study area includes the segment between the Columbia River in the Portland urban area and the Eugene-Springfield urban area. This 125-mile segment is part of the federally-designated Pacific Northwest Rail Corridor. ODOT is leading an environmental review process that will inform a number of important decisions, including selection of the general rail alignment and communities where stations will be located. The project will also determine several service characteristics, such as the number of daily trips, travel time objectives, and the technologies to be used (for example, whether the trains will be powered by electric or diesel‐electric engines).

To learn more, attend one of these open houses:

Salem Open House

Jan 17, 2013 - 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm

Chemeketa Center for Business and Industry, 626 High Street NE, Salem, OR, 97301

Learn more:

http://www.oregonpassengerrail.org/