The Statesman-Journal's "Eyes Wide Shut" endorsements

http://www.willamettelive.com/2014/news/city-council-candidate-lies-statesman-journal-gets-endorsement-anyway/

Pretty sad news about one of the clone candidates pushed by the Chamber of the 1%. Pretty typical story for many poorly educated young men trying to get their start into adulthood, and lord knows Salem is filled with economic casualties of policies beloved by the Chamber.  

At least, until you get to the very recent lying and the very, very brazen attempt to hide his past instead of facing it squarely, you get the feeling that Dan Benjamin is not so much a bad guy as a dutiful Private Benjamin drafted into the Chamber's army of interchangeable types who will do what they're told, vote like they're told, and know that Job 1 is keeping the local big money types in charge but off the radar. 

The problem for the Chamber, and then for the Statesman-Journal that does its bidding, is that their policies are so destructive that it's getting harder and harder for them to find people to act as candidates who can push their line with any credibility. 

So, as with the Tea Party all over America, voters wake up after the election to discover that they've elected some pretty creepy people and that the so-called watchdogs of the press are really just lapdogs for the local real estate and tax breaks for sprawl lobby.

The result is that every candidate who got the Statesman-Journal endorsement now has a difficult problem: explaining why voters should not assume that their endorsement is no different from the one the SJ gave to Benjamin, where the SJ wrestled with its integrity and beat it decisively, issuing an endorsement where they could have simply passed.

In three of four races, the non-endorsed candidates -- Xue Lor (Benjamin's opponent), Scott Bassett and Tom Andersen -- are vastly superior to the Chamber clones running against them, the four who all share campaign financing and a campaign manager and treasurer, along with scripted interchangeable pablum positions on all issues, and a deep aversion to specifics on anything. 

While it's likely that some or all of the clones will win, there's a chance that the digging by Salem Weekly - an actual shoestring watchdog in the press -- could stop the steamroller, if only enough people reflect on what it means that the Statesman is so in the tank for the Chamber clones that they would endorse someone with Benjamin's issues over a decent, competent opponent, which Lor is.

If voters all over Salem simply use the SJ endorsement as a "DO NOT SUPPORT" list, Salem would both surprise itself and be a lot better off next year.

Willamette's opportunity to be in leadership of something

OK, true, still behind Stanford, but that's still pretty rarefied air for the Oldest University in the West.

,

What is Salem doing to prepare for disrupted climate conditions?

Government is a nonprofit, so this article about how all nonprofits need to engage on climate raises the question:  what is the City of Salem doing to prepare for climate disruption and it's effects?  

We can expect higher food prices, higher utility bills, higher public health costs, both more heat stress emergencies and increased winter storm damages, more flooding AND more droughts, more domestic violence (correlates to heat), to name just the obvious immediately local issues, without even considering things like lack of snowpack to feed the Santiam where we get our great water.

What if Salem spent a few hundred thousand a year to begin taking steps to improve our prospects in this new world we're making, where the past is no longer a reliable guide to the future (the basis of the ability of any company to offer insurance)?  Where might we find that money to strengthen our resiliency?

The Cohen Report

The Climate Change Conundrum

The National Climate Assessment report released by the White House earlier this week merits action by more than environmental groups. Climate change is so big and so hard to wrap one's mind around that it deters groups from acting, but we have some ideas about what all nonprofits can do.

READ THIS ARTICLE ON NONPROFITQUARTERLY.ORG »

Want an important paid gig with a key Salem nonprofit? MPFS Seeking Applicants for Garden Program Coordinator

Marion-Polk Food Share is seeking applicants for our 

Community Gardens Program Coordinator position.

 

This 32 hour/week position supports our network of over 50 community gardens through network development and organization, educational programming, resource procurement and distribution, volunteer coordination and consulting.

 

Areas of responsibility include: * Coordinate day-to-day operations of the MPFS Community Gardens Program. * Evaluate and respond to garden needs and supply resources, such as seeds, plants, hardscape, volunteers and educational resources. * Train, coordinate and supervise volunteers, in positions ranging from garden leadership to occasional workdays. Understand volunteer needs of garden network and work with Volunteer Administrator to fulfill those needs. * Support the development of garden committees. Assist in identifying garden leadership and contingency planning. * In collaboration with Program staff, coordinate garden-based educational programs. * Develop vision for the gardens network expansion with VP. Work with community partners to develop new gardens and expand gardens. * Manage Community Gardens program budget. Effectively communicate needs to VP. * Track garden network data and develop reports. Conduct yearly garden assessments. * Increase brand awareness of MPFS through garden exposure and garden events. Collaborate with Development Department on garden oriented fundraising opportunities.

 To apply:

1. Please head to http://www.marionpolkfoodshare.org/ContactUs/Careers.aspx

 to review the Community Gardens Program Coordinator job description and position details in full. (There you will also find other openings at MPFS, including driving and fundraising positions).

 

2. Fill out the online job application.

 

3. Submit the job application, resume and cover letter tocareers@marionpolkfoodshare.org or deliver or mail materials to Marion-Polk Food Share,1660 Salem Industrial Dr. NE, Salem, OR 97301. Email applications are preferred.

 

Start date: July 1, 2014

Deadline to apply: May 16, 2014

 

For questions about the position or application process, please call or email Ian Dixon-McDonald, Vice President of Programs. imcdonald@marionpolkfoodshare.org, 503-581-3855 x329.

Salem Transit Equity Resolution

With luck this will spread throughout Salem congregations and service and civic organizations and create a pressure on local governments to recognize that having a crippled-from-birth, half-funded transit system is not just an economic burden for a huge number of Salem's most vulnerable people but also an injustice that demands the attention of any person or group concerned with fairness and equity in Salem.

==================

Adopted by the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Salem, Oregon, May 4, 2014

Whereas,

Each person has a fundamental right to participate fully in social, civic, economic, and religious life of their community that should not require or be conditioned on ownership or access to use of an automobile,

And whereas, 

Public transit is essential for providing the young, the old, the disabled, and the economically challenged with the ability to participate,

And whereas, 

Salem's transit system fails to support full participation by all its residents, denying this fundamental right,

Therefore,

As concerned residents and religious communities in Salem, we call upon the Mid-Willamette Valley Council of Governments members to 

     Recognize the denial of this fundamental right to participate, and to 

     Direct public resources to ensure that this region offers its residents a fully functional transit system that allows them the ability to participate fully in all aspects of life in this community without regard to economic status.

=====================

Coming to Salem -- antibiotic-immune super diseases

This is what happens when you let profit-maximizing corporations determine all your laws: tools that could have been used wisely for centuries for human betterment are squandered and turned into less than placebos by corporate agribusinesses and drug companies whose idea of "long term" is anything past the next quarterly figures.

----
Peak Medicine. It's Here, Too - THE DAILY IMPACT
http://www.dailyimpact.net/2014/05/04/peak-medicine-its-here-too/
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This Is How You Turn A Concerto Into A Battle - Digg

Big fun.

http://digg.com/video/this-is-how-you-turn-a-concerto-into-a-battle

Grimly amusing Science video

The US Chamber of the 1% backs a lot of the non-science so capably demolished in this Youtube, which would rate a smile if it wasn't reporting on effects that will cause the mass extermination of poor people all over the world just to maintain business as usual for folks like -- well, the 1%.

>
> One of my favorite YouTube channels is "potholer54," an Australian science journalist. This one is a bit long (18:28) but worth a look. The very end is hilarious.
>
> http://youtu.be/VNgqv4yVyDw
>
> "You cannot reason people out of positions they didn't reason themselves into."
> -- Ben Goldacre

Think Government Never Makes a Mistake over Life or Death Matters?

  2014 OADP Annual Meeting

Tuesday, May 13th in Eugene

Wrongful Executions Expert to Present

On Tuesday May 13th, American University Professor and author Richard Stack will be the keynote speaker at the 2014 annual meeting of Oregonians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (OADP).

Professor Stack, author of three books, including his latest, GRAVE INJUSTICE: The Unearthing of Wrongful Executions will expand on major mistakes made in recent years. His compelling descriptions of nineteen wrongful executions illustrate the flaws of the death penalty, which he argues, is ineffective in deterring crime and cost more than sentences of life without parole.

Temple Beth Israel
1175 E. 29th Ave, Eugene 97403

Keynote Speaker:
Richard Stack, American University Professor and author of Grave Injustice
6 pm Dinner, 7pm Meeting & Program

Public is welcome Tickets $25

On Nov. 22, 2011 when Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber was announcing his moratorium on executions he stated "I am calling on the legislature to bring potential reforms before the 2013 legislative session and encourage all Oregonians to engage in the long overdue debate that this important issue deserves." The discussion moves to Eugene at this event.

"In practice Oregon has an expensive and unworkable death penalty system that fails to meet basic standards of justice. It is clear the system is broken"
Governor John Kitzhaber, November 22nd, 2011

Another part of the Governor's 2011 statement was "In practice Oregon has an expensive and unworkable death penalty system that fails to meet basic standards of justice. It is clear the system is broken". Basic standards of justice that resonate with Oregon voters are "fairness" and the "mistakes made in the administration of the death penalty system". The most tragic mistake is the execution of an innocent person.

The OADP annual meeting is an opportunity for all OADP supporters to gather together to approve the slate of officers for the next 12 months and to hear the about our progress on the journey to repeal in Oregon. The general public is invited to attend and take the opportunity to learn more about our efforts to improve the criminal justice system in Oregon.

Ticket are available on-line by going to www.oadp.org, purchasing them with a credit card through Pay Pal. Individual tickets are only $25. Reserve tables for eight by calling (503) 990-7060.
Table sponsors will have a table sign, be noted in the program for the evening and recognized from the podium.

For more information contact Ron Steiner at rsteiner@swcp.com, call (503) 990-7060 or go to www.oadp.org.

Cars are bankrupting Salem -- not just a downtown thing

       
http://www.planetizen.com/node/68574

Great post that helps explain why cars are bankrupting Salem, and it's got very little to do with the downtown core area where all the friction occurs over car storage.  The expanding periphery -- sprawl -- is an exponentially rising cost; the more we pave, the more things are pushed apart, requiring even more paving over a larger area.  

In other words, we're in the terminal phase of the Red Queen problem from Alice in Wonderland -- we have to run faster and faster just to stay in place.  We've built a city where cars come first, ahead of people, and it's bankrupting us.  We're cutting public goods like libraries to find the money to service our auto sprawl development pattern, which is devouring our budget.  And the more we sprawl, the more the sprawl lobby demands even more paving, which further devours the budget for actually providing services people might want (because the costs of serving low density sprawl development gets factored into everything from water and sewer networks to police, fire, streetlights, etc.)

It's time to stop.  

We need to institute a hard cap on paved surface in Salem, and concentrate our limited funds on maintaining and preserving what we have, and making it more usable to everyone -- the young, the old, the handicapped, and the poor -- starting by rebuilding our embarrassment of a pitiful part-time public transit system.

Not one more foot of paving in Salem until we are done restoring the transit system to a standard appropriate for a capital city in an environmentally aware state in a first-world country and making every existing road and street in Salem safe and welcoming for pedestrians and bicyclists aged 8 to 80+.

It's time to admit that we have a drinking problem -- we've been drinking the sprawl lobby's Kool-Aid (tm) for so long that we're seeing more of the actual and figurative bodies pile up around us, as we keep not seeing the decomposing blue whale plopped right in front of us:  our addiction to making cars the centerpieces of our civic life instead of people.