Cartoon: Do your part

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/10/06/1333875/-Cartoon-Do-your-part

"Let's live on the planet as if we intend to stay."

Rally for Realism at the "Funding Workshop" for the Bridgasaurus Boondogglus 12/3 at 3!

Dear NO 3rd Bridge Supporters:
After six years of scrupulously avoiding the subject, the Salem River Crossing Oversight Team is finally getting around to a serious consideration of how to fund the half billion dollar project. You can observe the proceedings, and we hope you will plan to do so.

The Salem River Crossing Funding Workshop will be held on December 3rd from 3 to 6 pm at the Dye House at the Willamette Heritage Center, 1313 Mill Street. Elected officials and senior staff from local governments in Marion and Polk County have been invited, as have "business leaders" and "interested individuals" (including NO 3rd Bridge!). 

If you did not receive an invitation to participate, you can still come and hear the information about possible funding strategies and observe the proceedings. It is important that you do. The participants need to see that their deliberations are being closely scrutinized by the public. If you can't get there at 3 pm, please come when you can. In fact, the last hour will probably be the most interesting.

The workshop participants will be discussing property tax increases, tolls on the Marion and Center Street bridges, a local gas tax and vehicle registration surcharges, among other funding strategies. One SRC Oversight Team member, Commissioner Craig Pope from Polk County, has already stated at a Salem City Council meeting recently that he is NOT looking forward to the funding workshop. That means it will be very interesting and maybe even entertaining.

Please plan to come. If you are on Facebook you can go to our Facebook page and indicate that you plan to come.

https://www.facebook.com/no3rdbridge

We'll hope to see you there.

"Let's live on the planet as if we intend to stay."

LWV Corvallis: "Combating Climate Change: Will a Carbon Tax Fly in Oregon?" Nov. 20 Public Forum

"Let's live on the planet as if we intend to stay."

Subject: LWV Corvallis Presents "Combating Climate Change: Will a Carbon Tax Fly in Oregon?" Nov. 20 Public Forum

Invest in Congresscritters, the returns are terrific

"Let's live on the planet as if we intend to stay."

Fixed Fortunes: Biggest corporate political interests spend billions, get trillions  

They got more than the nation's Social Security recipients!

Sunlight Foundation
"Between 2007 and 2012, 200 of America's most politically active corporations spent a combined $5.8 billion on federal lobbying and campaign contributions. A year-long analysis by the Sunlight Foundation suggests, however, that what they gave pales compared to what those same corporations got: $4.4 trillion in federal business and support. That figure, more than the $4.3 trillion the federal government paid the nation's 50 million Social Security recipients over the same period, is the result of an unprecedented effort to quantify the less-examined side of the campaign finance equation: Do political donors get something in return for what they give? Four years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court suggested the answer to that question was no. Corporate spending to influence federal elections would not "give rise to corruption or the appearance of corruption," the majority wrote in the landmark Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision. Sunlight decided to test that premise by examining influence and its potential results on federal decision makers over six years, three before the 2010 Citizens United decision and three after."

http://sunlightfoundation.com/blog/2014/11/17/fixed-fortunes-biggest-corporate-political-interests-spend-billions-get-trillions/

 

It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men. Frederick Douglass

How climate chaos will disrupt health care systems

"Let's live on the planet as if we intend to stay."

Register Today!

Climate Risk: What It Means For Oregon's Health Care Sectors

From 8:00 AM until 11:30 AM on Friday, November 21st, Oregon's health professionals will have a critical conversation: What does climate risk mean for Oregon's health and health care sectors? How can we prepare for exacerbated health conditions, extreme weather disaster, supply chain disruption and infrastructure challenges?

Don't miss Lillian Shirley from the Oregon Health Authority presenting the 2014 Oregon Climate and Health Profile. Jon Utech's keynote address will share insights on the Cleveland Clinic's extraordinary commitment to sustainability. Oregon's own public and private health care leaders will also discuss forward-thinking strategies to address climate change impacts.

Climate Risk: What it means for Oregon's health care sectors
When: November 21, 8:00 – 11:30 AM (Registration begins at 7:30 AM. Breakfast will be served at 8:00 AM. Program begins at 8:15 AM)
Where: World Trade Center, 121 SW Salmon St, #2, Portland, OR
Cost: $20/$15 for OEC members

This forum is convened by sponsors Moda Health and Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon in partnership with Oregon Health Authority, Oregon Environmental Council, Physicians for Social Responsibility, American Lung Association Oregon Chapter and Health Care Without Harm.

Easy Living

"We're under some gross misconception that we're a good species, going somewhere important, and that at the last minute we'll correct our errors and God will smile on us. It's delusion."

Farley Mowat

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Easy Living
// Nature Bats Last -- Guy McPherson's blog

"Let's live on the planet as if we intend to stay."

Chamber of the 1% demands that Salem raise taxes, ignore risks

ODOT has finally made clear that Salem's biggest cross-river need is to upgrade and strengthen the existing two bridges so they will survive the looming Cascadia subduction zone quake that could reach or exceed magnitude 9.0, sending buildings (schools, offices, hospitals) and bridges into collapse all over the Northwest.

Characteristically, rather than support the most sensible option for response, Salem's sprawl lobby, led by the Chamber of the 1%, says that we should squander hundreds of millions more than the upgrade would cost by building a gargantuan new 3rd Bridge a mile north of the existing two bridges, which are at the only logical spot in the river, where it narrows to its minimum distance.

Worst of all, this Bridgasaurus Boondogglus would be much more costly than upgrades to existing bridges because it would one of the longest spans in Oregon, passing through zones where the soils will have the consistency of chocolate milk during the big quake. That's why it would take hundreds of dollars a year from every Salem household for decades to fund this absurdity.

The bottom line is that the Chamber has completely discredited itself on any fiscal matters, proving that their only measuring stick for ideas is how much money their members can make on them.

"Let's live on the planet as if we intend to stay."
>
> It's official. ODOT predicts that in the magnitude 9.0 Cascadia megaquake, the Marion and Center Street bridges will collapse.
>

Thursday, Nov. 13, 7 p.m. Be there! Grand Theatre, High St at Court St

Thursday, November 13th --7 PM   "Citizen Koch" With the U.S. Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling opening the floodgates for unlimited political spending, it's now easier than ever to buy an election. But what happens when the voters realize that the billionaires and corporations doing the buying do not have the people's best interests at heart? This question is at the core of CITIZEN KOCH, the new documentary from the Academy Award®-nominated directors of Trouble the Water, Carl Deal and Tia Lessin.   The filmmakers break down the politically-motivated maneuvering behind the Supreme Court case that changed the way our democracy works, making way for the 2010 midterm elections that ushered in a new wave of ultraconservative Tea Party politicians. The Tea Party positioned itself as a citizen-powered, homegrown movement borne from sheer patriotism, but was actually one of the most well-funded and corporately-orchestrated political operations in history. Republicans capitalized on this new era with huge gains not just in Washington, DC, but across the country.   Trailer:  http://www.citizenkoch.com/page/content/trailer   Guest Speakers:   David Delk President, Alliance for Democracy http://www.afd-pdx.org/   Kate Titus Executive Director, Common Cause, Oregon http://www.commoncause.org/states/oregon/

Become an Individual Supporter of SPFS

Help support the Salem Progressive Film Series.    Your financial contribution will allow us to bring high quality films and expert speakers to Salem.    Not only will you have personal satisfaction, but you will also be helping to strengthen our community. And your donation is tax deductible.   For only $65, we will mail you a pass for all 9 films, September through May. And, your name will appear as a supporter on our loop video.  Mail your check to: PO Box 13184 Salem, OR 97309   Thank you!     ---------------------------------------------------------------------   We are not just an audience. We are not passive witnesses, sitting in a dark theatre. Many of the documentaries that we bring to Salem can be difficult to watch, but sometimes it's what we need to jolt us into action. The goal of SPFS is that each and everyone of you can resonate with our films, and by working together with discipline and persistence, we can overturn unjust authority

"Let's live on the planet as if we intend to stay."

For those near Portland on Nov. 11

A fitting idea for Armistice Day, since climate chaos is likely to bring about wars and other scourges.

Why Warnings on Climate Spark Aggressive Denials [feedly]

Why Warnings on Climate Spark Aggressive Denials
http://www.resilience.org/stories/2014-11-10/why-warnings-on-climate-spark-aggressive-denials
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Shared via my feedly reader

"Let's live on the planet as if we intend to stay."