STRONG Salem is for everyone who wants to help and participate in getting Salem, Oregon, to quit chasing Growth Ponzi Scheme plans and instead become a resilient, fiscally responsible place that lives by the wisdom that "Communities exist for the health and enjoyment of those who live in them, not for the convenience of those who drive through them, fly over them, or exploit their real estate for profit."
Those who think history has left us helpless should recall the abolitionist of 1830, the feminist of 1870, the labor organizer of 1890, or the gay or lesbian writer of 1910. They, like us, did not get to choose their time in history but they, like us, did get to choose what they did with it.
Knowing what we know now about how it's turned out, would we have been abolitionists in 1830?
Knowing what we know now would we have joined abolitionist and feminist Lydia Maria Child who recognized she would not live to see women's suffrage, but said that when it happened, "I'll come and rap at the ballot box?"
In 1848, 300 people gathered at Seneca Falls, NY, for a seminal moment in the American women's movement. They recorded a long list of grievances including the lack of access to higher education, the professions, and the pulpit; the lack of equal pay for equal work; the lack of property and child custody rights.
On November 2, 1920, 91 year-old Charlotte Woodward Pierce became the only signer of the Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions who had lived long enough to cast a ballot for president. Would we have attended that conference? Would we have bothered?
A Centers for Disease Control advisory committee concluded in 2012 that there is no known level of lead in kids' blood that isn't harmful. The CDC now states that blood lead levels once considered very low can cause irreversible damage. And a child suffering from lead poisoning may not show immediate outward symptoms, even after exposure to levels that have been shown to later reduce IQ and alter behavior.
Research … has supported the notion that under certain conditions, people with ADHD characteristics are more likely to reach higher levels of creative thought and achievement than people without ADHD (see here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here). Recent research by Darya Zabelina and colleagues have found that real-life creative achievement is associated with the ability to broaden attention and have a "leaky" mental filter — something in which people with ADHD often excel.
Recent work in cognitive neuroscience also suggests a connection between ADHD and creativity (see here and here). Both creative thinkers and people with ADHD show difficulty suppressing brain activity coming from the "Imagination Network."
... Consider the case of John, who in 1949 attended Eton College and dreamed of becoming a scientist. However, last in his class, he received the following comment on his report card:
His work has been far from satisfactory … he will not listen, but will insist on doing his work in his own way … I believe he has ideas about becoming a Scientist; on his present showing this is quite ridiculous, if he can't learn simple Biological facts he would have no chance of doing the work of a Specialist, and it would be a sheer waste of time on his part, and of those who have to teach him.This was Sir John B. Gurdon, winner of the 2012 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his revolutionary research on stem cells. Like so many other highly creative, competent individuals, he might have been referred for testing and given the label "attention deficit hyperactive disorder."
From: "John Sellers, The Other 98% via Other 98%" <info@other98.com>
Subject: Our Shot at Ending Student Debt is Now
Date: October 31, 2014 at 9:51:10 AM PDTReply-To: <info@other98.com>
KICKING CORPORATE ASSES FOR THE HARDER WORKING CLASSES
Dear John,
What's scarier than ghosts, ghouls, and the living dead?
The student debt crisis sweeping across America. 40 million Americans are afflicted, total debt surpasses $2 trillion, and the blob is getting bigger every day.
Tell the Department of Education to get serious about student debt relief.
The Department of Education knows this is a crisis, so they're considering rule changes that could help millions of Americans struggling to pay back their loans. They're taking public comments NOW to inform their decision, but the deadline ends in just one week.
We need to act now to make sure that the rule changes are bold enough to make a difference.
As it stands, the two programs that allow for student debt forgiveness - the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF) and the Pay As You Earn Program (PAYE) - are woefully insufficient to address the growing student debt crisis. PSLF only forgives loans after 10 years, and PAYE after 20-25 years. This is not enough.
Both programs need to be dramatically expanded; as they are currently written, they're nothing but a band-aid on a fatal wound.
America always has money for war and bank bailouts. There must be money to save our students from a life of Walking Debt.
Thanks for all you do to make America work for the other 98% of us.
Sincerely,
John Sellers, The Other 98%
Other 98% Action is fighting the stranglehold that corporations have on our democracy.Like what we do? Make a $5 donation to support us here.
Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon's Interfaith Power & Light workshop: how to face the mess we're in without going crazy
Saturday, 11/1, 2014, 9am-4 pm
First Christian Church, 1314 SW Park Ave.
$40 suggested donation includes lunch
With our planet and economies in crisis, our political process in chaos and our cultural story in transition, many of us at times feel hopeless, cynical or despairing. Active Hope is an empowering, creative stance for meeting these challenges. This workshop—based largely on the work of eco-philosopher Joanna Macy—explores new ways in which we can face these issues, find inspiration and embody our gifts for the healing of our world.Find out more
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