Probably last chance to tell DEQ to stop climate destabilization at Boardman

Boardman needs to get off coal sooner, not later.

WORD: Our winner-take-all economy is rooted in our winner-take-all politics

Important event in Portland at the end of the month:

Winner-Take-all Politics w/Paul Pierson

1st Unitarian Church, SW 12th and Salmon, Portland OR
November 30, 2010, 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Sponsored by Alliance for Democracy - Portland

Winner-Take-All Politics, How Washington Made the Rich Richer - and Turned Its Back on the Middle Class, with co-author Paul Pierson

A groundbreaking work that identifies the real culprit behind one of the greatest economic crimes of our time - the growing inequality of incomes between the vast majority of Americans and the richest of the rich.

Paul Pierson and his co-author, Jacob Hacker, demonstrate convincingly that the usual suspects - foreign trade and financial globalization, technological changes in the workplace, increased education at the top - are largely innocent of the charges against them. Instead, they indict an unlikely suspect - American politics. The winner-take-all economy is primarily a result of winner-take-all politics.

Sponsored by Alliance for Democracy, Economic Justice Action Group of the First Unitarian Church and KBOO - Community supported radio

Cost: $5 - 20 sliding scale, no one turned away. More information: David Delk,, Alliance for Democracy. 503.232.5495

From Salem to Harpers

Now that's marketing. The famous "Index" feature in the November 2010 Harper's magazine has this as the first entry:

Date that Tea Party Bookshop of Salem, Oregon, changed its name to Tigress Books: 8/24/10

Alas, Tigress Books has decamped to Monmouth and we're the worse for it. Best wishes to JoAnne there.

Salem: Map the Commons

Do you appreciate local parks and national forests? What about clean drinking water and your public library? Do you find the internet useful? Welcome to the commons. Some things are no one's private property — they belong to all of us. They not only enhance our lives; our very existence depends on them. They are priceless and in need of defending. Oregon Commons, a project of Onward Oregon, is presenting a series of workshops this fall as a step toward our larger goal of strengthening active stewardship of the commons — the gifts of nature and civilization we share across generations. » Confirm your spot at "Mapping the Commons" workshop (no charge) Join us for "Mapping the Commons," a fun and interactive workshop designed to help grow our awareness, our network and our commitment to serving the common good. Together, we'll explore the many facets of the commons and identify opportunities to become more active as its caretakers. This workshop will be at 10:15 a.m. November 13th, at the Main Library in Salem. It's free and open to all, but advance registration is required. » Sign up now for "Mapping the Commons" workshop Onward, The Team at Onward Oregon www.OnwardOregon.org

"Mapping the Commons" workshops will be offered: Saturday, Nov.13th 10:15 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. Salem Main Library Salem Plaza Room 585 Liberty St NE » Sign up now! (no charge)

Mailing Address:
Onward Oregon
P.O. Box 15132
Portland, OR 97293
US

Contact Name: Lenny Dee
Telephone Number: (503) 609-0340

Getting into this Chicken Outfit

Image via WikipediaGreat roundup of notes from Barbara Palermo, spark plug of the "Chickens in the Yard" (CITY) group:

Habitat for Hens:

A family has been chosen to be the recipient of our first Habitat for Hens event! The family consists of a grandma, grandpa, daughter and son-in-law, along with six kids (most of whom are adopted), and two part-time foster children. They live near the fairgrounds in a home with a large backyard, garden area, and a perfect place for a chicken coop. Some of the adopted children come from very troubled homes and I
believe they would benefit from "chicken therapy." I am very excited to help get this family started raising chickens and I hope you can help.

Jon Henderson, owner of the Old Mill Feed & Garden Store in Dallas, has kindly offered to donate an adorable ready-made chicken coop for this family. We will need to assemble it, attach a nest box, and build a sturdy, predator-proof chicken run surrounding it. We plan to do this, with the help of volunteers, on a non-rainy Saturday or Sunday as soon as possible. Potential dates are October 30 or November 6, 7, 14, 20, or 21. The date will be totally dependent upon the weather, so we may
not be able to give you a lot of notice.

If you are able to help, here's what we could use:

People to help carry things, hold things, hammer things, fasten things (please bring shovels, staple guns, hammers, cordless screw gun, if you have them).

Materials needed: 2x4 lumber, 4x4 lumber (at least 6' long), hardware cloth, bags of cement, 3" screws, joist hangers, bricks or pavers, straw, pine shavings, waterer, feeder.

If you can donate materials and/or labor please contact Kristi at kristineznanski@gmail.com and let
her know what you have to offer as soon as possible. THANK YOU!

Chicken-Raising 101 Class:

There are a few seats left for our first chicken-raising class scheduled for Saturday, November 13 at the West Salem Public Library. Even if you've raised chickens before, you might be surprised by what you can learn. Class is from 9:00 – 11:00 am, and will be immediately followed by a visit to a backyard coop, also in West Salem.
Participants will need to pay $5 at the door (kids under 13 are free) with cash or check. For a list of topics covered and further details, go to http://www.chicken-revolution.com and click on the Events page.

Chicken Coop Tour:

Just as they do in Seattle, Portland, Austin, Madison, and Las Vegas. . . Salem residents will be able to show off their backyard chicken coops in our first annual coop tour! The self-guided tour is tentatively scheduled for Sunday, June 19, 2011. If you are interested in having your coop included on the tour, contact Shannon at 88corndog@comcast.net. Also, if you own a business and are interested in selling the coop tour booklets on our behalf and/or advertising in the booklets to help offset the cost of printing, please let Shannon know that as well.

The bosses of LOVESalem HQ take a breather

When the temps drop, they remember how nice a friend is.

They hired us to cater to their every need 10 months ago; we auditioned at Salem Friends of Felines and apparently passed muster -- Simon (the black one) took one look at the Mrs. and knew he had found a real sucker --- I mean, sweetheart. Gus was (and remains) quieter; he came up to me quietly and jumped in my lap, settled down, and began purring, letting me know he had picked me. Both were older cats and, therefore, were less likely to be adopted.

The Mrs. was at SFOF recently dropping off a donation, and she said she had to avert her eyes because they are overrun with unwanted cats and kittens, and are bursting at the seams. :^(

If you need more love in your life, go see them. But you can't have these guys, they're taken.

Rebecca Solnit, Invasion of the Democracy Crushers

http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175311/tomgram:_rebecca_solnit,_invasion_of_the_democracy_crushers/#more

Common falsehoods pollute the airwaves

Eight False Things the Public "Knows" Prior to Election Day

Friday 22 October 2010

by: Dave Johnson   |  Campaign for America's Future | Report

There are a number of things the public "knows" as we head into the election that are just false. If people elect leaders based on false information, the things those leaders do in office will not be what the public expects or needs.

Here are eight of the biggest myths that are out there:

1) President Obama tripled the deficit.
Reality: Bush's last budget had a $1.416 trillion deficit. Obama's first budget reduced that to $1.29 trillion.

2) President Obama raised taxes, which hurt the economy.
Reality: Obama cut taxes. 40% of the "stimulus" was wasted on tax cuts which only create debt, which is why it was so much less effective than it could have been.

3) President Obama bailed out the banks.
Reality: While many people conflate the "stimulus" with the bank bailouts, the bank bailouts were requested by President Bush and his Treasury Secretary, former Goldman Sachs CEO Henry Paulson. (Paulson also wanted the bailouts to be "non-reviewable by any court or any agency.") The bailouts passed and began before the 2008 election of President Obama.

4) The stimulus didn't work.
Reality: The stimulus worked, but was not enough. In fact,according to the Congressional Budget Office, the stimulus raised employment by between 1.4 million and 3.3 million jobs.

5) Businesses will hire if they get tax cuts.
Reality: A business hires the right number of employees to meet demand. Having extra cash does not cause a business to hire, but a business that has a demand for what it does will find the money to hire. Businesses want customers, not tax cuts.

6) Health care reform costs $1 trillion.
Reality: The health care reform reduces government deficits by $138 billion.

7) Social Security is a Ponzi scheme, is "going broke," people live longer, fewer workers per retiree, etc.
Reality: Social Security has run a surplus since it began, has a trust fund in the trillions, is completely sound for at least 25 more years and cannot legally borrow so cannot contribute to the deficit (compare that to the military budget!) Life expectancy is only longer because fewer babies die; people who reach 65 live about the same number of years as they used to.

8) Government spending takes money out of the economy.
Reality: Government is We, the People and the money it spends is on We, the People. Many people do not know that it is government that builds the roads, airports, ports, courts, schools and other things that are the soil in which business thrives. Many people think that all government spending is on "welfare" and "foreign aid" when that is only a small part of the government's budget.

This stuff really matters.

If the public votes in a new Congress because a majority of voters think this one tripled the deficit, and as a result the new people follow the policies that actually tripled the deficit, the country could go broke.

If the public votes in a new Congress that rejects the idea of helping to create demand in the economy because they think it didn't work, then the new Congress could do things that cause a depression.

If the public votes in a new Congress because they think the health care reform will increase the deficit when it is actually projected to reduce the deficit, then the new Congress could repeal health care reform and thereby make the deficit worse. And on it goes. 

All republished content that appears on Truthout has been obtained by permission or license.

http://www.truth-out.org/eight-false-things-public-knows-prior-election-day64486?print

More like this please!

Hat tip to Salem-News.com for the heads up on a cool event. OMSI has a lot of groveling to do before it merits forgiveness for attempting to raid the Energy Trust weatherization fund a few years back -- this is a good first step.

"Living Downstream" -- Thursday, 10/21, Salem Cinema

Image via Wikipedia"And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books [there is] no end; and much study [is] a weariness of the flesh." -- Ecclesiastes, 12:12

There are many many many books on the environment, and many many many more on health.

And, with few exceptions, nearly even one of those wearying books pales before the disturbing, poignant and powerful book by ecologist and poet Sandra Steingraber, author of, most prominently, "Living Downstream: An ecologist's personal investigation of cancer and the environment."

Haven't seen the movie yet, but it's at the Salem Film Festival Thursday night, and if it's 1/1000th as good as her book, it would be a crying shame to miss it. Support the Salem Film Festival and its work in bringing important movies to Salem -- come see "Living Downstream," and remember that, as Steingraber shows in her moving, unforgettable book, we all live downstream.

Great interview with her here.