Confessed Soldier of Empire to speak in Salem on International Peace Day

Image via WikipediaJohn Perkins Free Lecture

Sponsored by Oregon PeaceWorks, John Perkins comes to Salem for a free lecture. Hear Perkins speak talk about his history and his mission to inspire people toward new consciousness about our interconnected world -- economically and ecologically-- so we can create an economy that supports a sustainable, just and peaceful world.

Perkins is bestselling author of:

-Confessions of an Economic Hit Man
-Hoodwinked
-The Secret History of the American Empire

Tuesday, September 21, 7:30pm at Smith Auditorium, Willamette University

September 21 is International Peace Day. Perkins' talk launches the Mypeace Project, a month of events in October featuring artistic visions of peace and sustainability by Oregonians that includes artwork, performances, music, dance, poetry-prose, films, lectures, green living classes and tours, ending with a "Peace Shindig" celebration. Complete schedule of events.

MORE INFO

For your calendar planning: Friends of Straub Environmental Learning Center

Don't plan your fall schedule without checking here first.

Totally wrong, but cute anyway

The intent here is good, but the message -- that individuals making small changes in daily activities can reverse the climate catastrophe that we've unleashed (and that is gaining in momentum daily) -- is totally wrong.

The bottom line is that our only hope of stemming a sharp tilt to a radically different climate in our lifetimes (and for thousands of years to come) is to stop bringing eons of stored carbon up out of the ground and putting it into the atmosphere. Most importantly, this means we must leave the coal in the ground, or it will put us in the ground. And stopping coal means political action on a societal scale, not carrying little reusable shopping bags with you. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

But so long as Oregon's top climate destroyer -- Portland General Electric (PGE) -- chooses to burn coal, then we will have no chance of persuading people in other countries (people who are much poorer than us, who use much less energy than we do, and who have contributed essentially nothing to the current problems we face) that they shouldn't burn coal either, so we'll all go, literally, to hell together.

But still a cute video.

Very sweet indeed -- Stolen Sweets!

Stolen Sweets

Three-part harmonies drawing from the crisp and saucy era
of 1920s and 1930s jazz

7 p.m. Friday, October 1, Loucks Auditorium
Tickets: $5 in advance/$7 at the door

On sale now at all library circulation desks

This group had a sold-out show in last year that was GREAT.
They do vocal jazz arrangements inspired by New Orleans
favorites, The Boswell Sisters, one of the hottest girl groups of the 1930s. Singers Jen Bernard, Lara Michell, and Erin Sutherland backed by Keith Brush, Pete Krebs, and David Langenes.