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.

Food for Thought: Stand Against Hunger, 9/1, 5 p.m. downtown

Image by ★keaggy.com via Flickr

UPDATE: Instructions for tonight:

Please ask people to join our line on the West side of Liberty Street between Court and Chemeketa by 5:00 p.m. We are asking our volunteers to wear red or orange if possible, not only for Women Ending Hunger, but to make the line as visible as possible. They may bring their own empty plates (paper is fine) or our block captain will have some extra to share.

The plan is to stand for 20 minutes, then people can either go home to supper or head on downtown for all of the First Wednesday festivities. As part of FOOD FOR THOUGHT, Women Ending Hunger will also be hosting a reception and silent auction from 6:00-7:30 p.m. in a temporary gallery space on the lower level of Salem Center mall near Nordstrom’s. Several area artists have donated beautiful art plates that we will auction to benefit Marion-Polk Food Share. Come and enjoy some light refreshments and the art if you have the time.

Thanks again. I’ll be looking forward to seeing you there!

Kat Daniel
Community Partnerships, Women Ending Hunger
503.581.3855 x322
http://www.marionpolkfoodshare.org/
1660 Salem Industrial Drive NE, Salem OR 97301
===================================

Dear Friends and Neighbors in Salem,

My name is Kat Daniel and my job is ending hunger as one of the two Community Partnerships/Volunteer Program managers at Marion-Polk Food Share. It is also my privilege to be the “champion” for the Food Share’s auxiliary program, WOMEN ENDING HUNGER. For those of you who may not be familiar with that organization, we are a grassroots movement of women—and men—committed to “serving as catalysts of social change, working together with all to end hunger by engaging, educating, and empowering our community.”

Nothing is more deserving of our attention than the fact that we have 37,000 children in Marion and Polk counties who may be relying on their free or reduced-price lunches at school as their only full, healthy meal of the day. When we relate that fact as we are talking with family, friends, and neighbors, we find that most of them can’t believe that hungry is as rampant as that, right here where we live. We are not talking about Africa or Indonesia. We are talking about Salem, Keizer, Stayton, Jefferson, Scotts Mills, Detroit, Idana, Gervais, St. Paul, Woodburn, and every other community in our two-county footprint. And I’m sure I don’t have to tell you what childhood hunger means in terms of a child’s ability to succeed in his or her life. Doesn’t every child deserve the best chance at life that we can give them?

We feel like this is a message that we need to shout from the rooftops: 37,000 hungry children is 37,000 too many. WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?

You’ll see from the reverse side of this message, that we are determined to do ONE thing to get the message across: on Wednesday, September 1, from 5:00-5:20 p.m. we propose to create a line of empty plates from the State Capitol through six blocks of downtown Salem to show Salem, at least, what 37,000 children look like. Okay, we won’t exactly have 37,000 people standing in a line, but can you imagine what 3,700 people holding empty plates would look like? We think that image could have significant impact.

Can you help? Please come downtown on September 1 and stand with us for twenty minutes on behalf of our hungry kids! Families and children are welcome; our route is all on the sidewalks and kid-safe. At 5:20 everyone can go home to supper or go on to enjoy lots of special back-to-school festivities as part of Go Downtown Salem’s FIRST WEDNESDAY monthly event. We understand there will be lots of sidewalk sales, high school marching bands/cheerleaders/sports teams at a big pep rally, and Reading for All is even raffling off a car! As part of our FOOD FOR THOUGHT project, we will be hosting a small reception and silent auction of some beautiful art plates being created by local artists to benefit Marion-Polk Food Share in the lower level of Salem Center mall near Nordstrom’s. We’d love to see you there.

Anyone who can come to join our line can contact me at Marion-Polk Food Share at 503-581-3855 ext 322 or via e-mail at kdaniel@marionpolkfoodshare.org. I will send you instructions about where to go to join the line and what you should bring with you.
If you have anywhere to post the flier on the reverse, or can hand out copies to help spread the word, I would greatly appreciate it. 3,700 volunteers are a lot to recruit. I could really use your help. Thanks in advance for your support!

Kat Daniel, Marion-Polk Food Share and Women Ending Hunger

Be there, aloha.

UPDATED: Tell DEQ to Stand Up Against Climate Terrorism and force Boardman shutdown in 2014

Image via WikipediaUPDATE:

Today, Sept. 1st, DEQ opened a 30-day comment period on proposed emission controls and closure options for Portland General Electric’s coal-fired power plant in Boardman. DEQ’s three options outline the pollution controls necessary for plant closure in 2015-16, 2018 or 2020. PGE has also submitted a new alternative 2020 closure plan for comment. PGE’s alternative proposal for 2020 is similar to DEQ’s 2018 option. DEQ invites comment on both its rule proposal and PGE’s alternative proposal.

The comment period ends Oct. 1, 2010, at 5 p.m. There will be five public hearings held later this month. For more information on this proposed rulemaking, hearing locations, and how to submit comments, please visit our DEQ Regulation of PGE Boardman web page.


ORIGINAL:

PGE has shown its true colors now, neatly cutting through all its many layers of greenwash and self-promotion for its "green power" plans that are minuscule next to its coal power portfolio.

The private utility is now threatening to attempt to keep running the Boardman coal plant, the single largest Oregon source of the CO2 that is destabilizing the global climate RIGHT NOW, until 2040.

The definition of a terrorist is someone who uses violence and threats of violence against noncombatants in order to persuade opponents to give in to the terrorist's demands.

Because disrupting the climate is already leading to deaths and aggravating the conditions that accompany and worsen global violence (famines, droughts, collapse of fisheries, depletion of aquifers, etc.), PGE's conscious, premeditated threat to keep running Boardman for decades after the company's own analysis shows that it should be closed is simple extortion, extortion that threatens harm to billions of people if carried out. In other words, it's simple terrorism.

Here in Salem, we have a PGE corporate director among us, the President of Willamette University, which likes to promote itself as environmentally hip and advanced. I hope every single Willamette alum, faculty, staff, parent, and student who wants to have a shot at a stable climate, for themselves and for any children they care about, will ask Dr. Pelton why they should bother with any of that when the state's biggest polluter --- the firm he directs --- chooses to keep sending millions of tons of CO2 into the atmosphere rather than see power rates increase a whole four-tenths of a cent per kWh.

Throwing garbage on people's porches -- perfectly OK if you're a corporation

Doesn't that brick of dead tree and petroleum-derived plastic junk add to the beauty of the lavender?

Here at LOVESalem HQ, we're pretty conscious of using less stuff and less energy. We work hard at reducing waste, conserving energy, and reducing intake of new stuff that would become waste and require energy to make, move, and remove.

So we're pretty aggressive about signing up for every stop-the-junk-mail service there is, including the services that promise to stop the yellow pages dead-tree-phone-books.

But, once again, as if to prove Ambrose Bierce's observation that a corporation is just a device for capturing private profit while avoiding private responsibility, Verizon has just graced LOVESalem with a totally unwanted piece of garbage, a phone book that will never be used, made from heavy paper. Making that piece of crap and ferrying it to my door in a plastic bag made of petroleum has consumed a huge amount of energy and caused a huge amount of pollution.

WHY IS THIS LEGAL? If I go to a Verizon store and dump my trash in the store, I risk a civil penalty, if not arrest for disorderly conduct.

Why does Salem not have an ordinance that requires anyone putting unsolicited materials on my porch to come pick those materials up if they haven't been accepted (i.e., taken inside) in two days? What is it going to take? I'm looking at you, City Council. For those who are afraid of the First Amendment boogieman, let's review:

There is no First Amendment right to litter.

Any neutral city ordinance -- one that does not make content-based distinctions but simply regulates the time, place, and manner of delivery and requires that anyone distributing unsolicited materials collect them if they are not accepted --- will survive a corporate challenge.

In fact, an ordinance that prohibited distribution of junk like that without a positive "opt-in" request from residents would likely be upheld too. It would be pretty straightforward to require that anyone who plans to distribute anything more extensive than a single-sheet or card would first have to mail or deliver a request form to the targeted addresses (on paper or online), and only deliver the ultimate object to those residences that complete and return the request form or request the object online.

But hey, it's just the health of the environment -- who give a rip about that compared to Verizon's profits?

Greybeards in Feedcaps: another reason to preserve public farmlands

Image via WikipediaBecause the biggest barrier to young people getting into farming is access to affordable land. Thus, when places like Salem sell an easement that will prevent farming 200+ precious acres of fabulous farmland located right in the City, they sold out young farmers. As Wendell Berry says, "Eating is an agricultural act."

WORD: Why the (vanishing) sea ice matters

Image via WikipediaWhy the disappearance of the sea ice matters to Salem.

(Or, "Why it matters that the President of Willamette University sits on the board of the utility that is Oregon's biggest polluter and biggest emitter of gases that are causing the ice to vanish and how that is going to screw Willamette students' future.")

Salem Progressive Film Series Fall 2010 Schedule

Thursday, Sept. 9
7 PM

"Before being dubbed the Motor City, Detroit was once home to the nation's most extensive streetcar system. In fact, it was that vast network of streetcars that carried workers to the area's many car factories. And it was the cars made in those factories that would soon displace the streetcars in Detroit — and in every major American city.

Over the last 30 years, much of the world has moved on, choosing faster, cleaner, more modern transportation and leaving America — and Detroit — behind. Viewers are taken on a journey beyond Detroit's blighted urban landscape to Spain, home to one of the world's most modern and extensive transit systems; to California, where voters recently said yes to America's first high speed rail system; and to Washington, where Congress will soon decide whether to finally push America's transportation into the 21st century."