olympia fellowship of reconciliation for's oct-nov newsletter issue 248.pdf · olympia...
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Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation 5015 15th Ave SE, Lacey WA 98503-2723
(360) 491-9093 www.olympiafor.org
Issue #248 October-November 2013
Public Opinion PREVENTED an Attack on Syria for Now. Let’s Change the U.S.’s Underlying Foreign Policy!
The peace movement typically functions reactively against
wars and threats of wars. In early September an over-whelmingly huge and broad majority of the American peo-
ple rejected the latest reckless war in the Middle East.
With this current success and heightened public conscious-
ness, now is the time to proactively demand a peaceful
foreign policy overall.
Let’s debunk “the myth of redemptive violence” – the as-
sumption that violence solves problems. Let’s replace that with a humane and common-sense recognition that what
we do gets bounced back to us. Let’s repent of the vio-
lence and injustice that the U.S. has caused around the world for so many decades, and actually practice peace
and fairness in order to build a peaceful world.
See the Olympia FOR’s website, www.olympiafor.org, for
an informative, insightful article summarizing what hap-
pened and proposing what the U.S. should do instead of what we have been doing. Here are the topic headings:
Use honest words.
At first war against Syria was the only option. Then the “impossi-ble” peace solution became obvious.
The peace movement is large, and we won.
Russia’s president Vladimir Putin actually described the situation accurately.
Use diplomacy, not military violence.
How did Obama get himself into this mess?
Is Iran the real target?
What about the U.S.’s chemical weapons?
Let’s take these real steps toward peace.
Interesting, informative resources from early September 2013.
Learn about the Death Penalty at Olympia FOR’s “Information Fair”
Monday October 7, 5:30-7:30 pm Because so much of the general public admits not knowing
much about the death penalty – or having mixed feelings about it – the Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation’s
Committee for Alternatives to the Death Penalty invites
everyone to an “Information Fair” from 5:30 to 7:30 pm
on Monday October 7 at the Olympia Timberland Library on 8
th Ave SE, between Franklin and Adams Streets in
downtown Olympia.
The organizers especially invite people who are undecided
or conflicted about the death penalty and people who are
relatively new to the issue. The Information Fair will offer a variety of basic and advanced information and several ac-
tivities, including some of the “games” that the Olympia
FOR’s organizers have developed and used at public events to help people engage with and learn about various aspects
of the death penalty.
Several well informed local people will be available to an-
swer the public’s questions on a one-to-one basis, includ-
ing “dumb” questions that visitors might otherwise be shy about asking.
This event is sponsored by the Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation’s Committee for Alternatives to the Death
Penalty. For information contact Emily Hammargren (360)
352-0695 [email protected] or Glen An-derson (360) 491-9093 [email protected]
A great amount and variety of information is posted at
www.olympiafor.org/death_penalty.htm
Sat. Nov. 9 in Lacey: West.Wash. FOR’s 2013 Fall Retreat Focuses on “The New Jim Crow” See the flyer enclosed with the Olympia FOR’s October-November newsletter.
The flyer is also posted at www.olympiafor.org and www.wwfor.org.
For more info call Glen at Olympia FOR, (360) 491-9093 or Ellen at WWFOR in Seattle, (206) 789-5565.
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Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation October-November 2013
Victoria and Kerry are sisters. Victoria
lives in Spokane WA, and Kerry has been
on California’s death row for more than
18 years. Victoria says Kerry was un-
justly convicted. Do you know which of
these two sisters is which? Can we see
how clearly an unjust conviction could
happen to any one of us?
Abolish the Death Penalty If you miss Olympia FOR’s “Death Penalty Information Fair” on Mon Oct 7, please connect with us later and see much information on our website: See page 1
of the Olympia FOR’s Oct-Nov 2013 newsletter for information about this opportunity to learn about the death
penalty. Our Committee for Alternatives to the Death Penalty meets one evening each month at a convenient
Tumwater location, and we also keep in touch by e-mail and in other ways. For information contact Emily
Hammargren (360) 352-0695 [email protected] or Glen Anderson (360) 491-9093
[email protected]. See a great amount and variety of information at www.olympiafor.org/death_penalty
.htm
Victoria Thorpe walked from Spokane to Olympia to oppose the death penalty: She and a few others walked much of the way and drove parts,
speaking to public gatherings and news media along the way,
from September 3 to September 21. Their journey ended on the
steps of the Temple of Justice, Washington State’s Supreme
Court building. Then they joined the Olympia FOR and other
people celebrating the International Day of Peace at Heritage
Park, 5th & Water downtown.
Victoria Thorpe’s nonprofit organization, Fellowship of Peace
(www.victoriaannthorpe.com/fellowshipofpeace) works to
abolish the death penalty overall, and also to publicize the in-
justices that happened to her sister, Kerry Lyn Dalton, who has
been on California’s death row for 18 1/2 years. Victoria says
Kerry is innocent and wrongfully convicted, but no court has
reviewed her case. See http://kerrylyndalton.blogspot.com
That site includes some brief, interesting interviews.
EXAMPLES of interviews on Victoria’s blog:
Victoria Thorpe briefly interviews Jason Baldwin, an in-
nocent defendant in the “West Memphis Three” case who
spent 16 years in prison for a murder he had not commit-
ted. The Olympia FOR’s Committee for Alternatives to the Death Penalty recently studied the “West
Memphis Three” case extensively. His brief video interview with Victoria Thorpe mentions that and in-
cludes his insights into the death penalty: http://kerrylyndalton.blogspot.com/2013/09/peace-journey-
interview-with-jason.html
Victoria Thorpe briefly interviews Dick Morgan, former Warden at the Washington State Penitentiary at
Walla Walla, where our state executes people: http://kerrylyndalton.blogspot.com/2013/09/peace-
journey-walla-walla-visit.html
Death penalty information continues onto page 3.
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Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation October-November 2013
Death penalty information continues from page 2.
The death penalty is a peace issue, because the death penalty and war have so much in common: On Sat. Sept. 21 the Olympia FOR’s booth at the International Day of Peace focused
especially on the death penalty. Both war and the death penalty draw from the same roots and cause many of
the same problems. Both war and the death penalty:
Think we can solve problems by killing people
Avoid looking for underlying systemic roots of problems
Dehumanize other people (even calling them “monsters” instead of human beings)
Assume that “we” are righteous and pure, but “they” are totally evil and cannot be rehabilitated
Practice racism, classism, xenophobia, and other kinds of oppression against “the other”
Often break laws (domestic laws or international laws) in order to carry out their killing
Break apart the human family (within a state or nation or the world) rather than promote healing
Waste huge amounts of money on methods that only make problems worse
A new book about Troy Davis, whom the State of Georgia executed two years ago, despite the fact that he was very likely innocent: That
September 21, 2011, miscarriage of justice shocked the world
and galvanized more people to work toward abolishing the atroc-
ity of the death penalty. In late September 2013 a new book, I
Am Troy Davis, was released. It was written by Seattle activ-
ist/filmmaker Jen Marlowe and Davis’s sister, Martina Davis-
Correia. The book provides an inside picture of Davis’s case,
from his childhood in racially charged Savannah to the confusion
around the 1980 shooting of police officer Mark MacPhail, and
to Davis’s arrest, conviction, and two-decade fight to prove his
innocence. You can buy the books from the usual sources, preferably a locally owned local bookstore. A na-
tionwide organization working to abolish the death penalty, Equal Justice USA (www.ejusa.org), offers a
downloadable study guide (http://org2.salsalabs.com/o/1972/p /salsa/web /common /public/content? con-
tent_item_KEY=11451) and tips for hosting a book discussion.
Maryland’s Governor speaks out against the death penalty after signing bill to abolish it: On August 29, 2013, Maryland Governor Martin J. O’Malley issued a statement that he had
signed the legislation on May 2, 2013, for several reasons. “In 2008, the Maryland Commission on Capital
Punishment, led by former United States Attorney General Benjamin Civiletti, found that the administration of
the death penalty clearly showed racial bias and that no administrative fixes could end the racial disparities. In
addition, it reported that the cost to taxpayers of pursuing a capital case is three times as much as the costs of
pursuing a non-death penalty homicide conviction. Lastly, the Commission determined that the risk of execut-
ing an innocent person was extremely high and that the statistics did not prove that the death penalty was a de-
terrent. The death penalty did not make us stronger or more secure as a people. Nor did the death penalty make
our laws more effective or more just. Capital punishment was expensive, and it did not work.”
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Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation October-November 2013
Confronting the Climate Crisis
Many news items and action opportunities have arisen recently, especially in September 2013.
Some of the most interesting and insightful are listed below, grouped under these headings:
– Updates about plans to export coal from the NW
– Updates about the Keystone XL pipeline
– Other climate-related information and activities
– Resources to help us protect the climate
In early October we’ll post these items onto the “Climate Crisis” page of www.olympiafor.org
and make those links live, so you can easily click them for the information sources you want.
Updates about plans to export coal from the NW Video of the Totem Pole Journey (Kwel Hoy) near the State Capitol on Tues. Sept. 24: Native
American tribes throughout the Northwest are united in their
commitment to protect the environment from damage caused by
coal mining and exports. They are carving a special totem pole
and journeying from the coal mining area of Montana through Idaho, Washington, and to British Columbia, where the totem
pole will be installed. They have been holding ceremonies along
the way. Approximately a hundred people attended the ceremo-
ny on the Washington State Capitol campus on Tuesday Septem-
ber 24. Robert Whitlock videotaped the event, edited it, and
posted it at www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yFePol5NEo
On Sat. Sept. 21, hundreds gathered in Seattle to oppose exporting coal and oil: Bill McKibben, one of the U.S.’s most prominent defenders of the climate, and
Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn showed great leadership in the Sat.
Sept. 1 “Draw the Line” demonstration in Seattle, while many
other “Draw the Line” events occurred throughout the U.S. The
intent was to “draw the Line” against the proposed Keystone XL
pipeline, which would be devastating to the climate. President
Obama has spoken in defense of the climate but has dawdled for
a long time with indecision about whether to cancel the Keystone
XL pipeline. Locally, proposals to export many millions of tons
of coal every year from ports in Whatcom County (Cherry Point
near Bellingham) and Cowlitz County (Longview) have mobi-
lized tremendous opposition. Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org, predicted that the Cherry Point coal terminal would
never be built. He told the audience, “There’s no way they’re
going to run coal trains through the city of Seattle. There aren’t
enough police to keep those tracks cleared day after day after
day.” Nationwide, people have been pledging to commit civil
disobedience if Obama approves Keystone. Organizers of Satur-
day’s event said 1,500 Seattle residents have made that pledge.
When the extremely dirty tar sands are extracted from the site in
mid-Canada, wastes are dumped into the world’s largest mine-
tailings pond. Tremendous numbers of birds land in the tailings
pond, but they die instantly from the toxicity, so cannons are
fired day and night to keep the birds away. Info: www.350.org
Thurs. Oct. 17: Participate in the public hear-ing in Tacoma about exporting coal: The Millennium
Bulk Terminals corpora-
tion wants to build this
on the Columbia River west of Longview on the
site of an old aluminum
mill. If approved, this
would be the largest
permitted coal export
terminal in the US, ex-
porting 44 million tons of
coal annually. The
Olympia FOR’s “Confronting the Climate Crisis” group is col-
laborating with other climate groups to organize many people to
go and speak at the public hearing about the Environmental Im-
pact Statement’s “scoping” process, which will determine how broad should be the “scope” of the EIS. Coal supporters want to
limit it to the immediate port site, but people who care about the
environment and climate want the scope to consider the air and
water pollution that will result, the effects on the climate when
44 million tons of coal is burned in Asia, and so forth. There will
be one or two chartered buses leaving Olympia Farmers’ Market
in the early afternoon for the hearing at the Tacoma Convention
& Trade Center, 15th & Broadway in downtown Tacoma. To re-
serve a seat on the bus, visit www.tcpronet.org. The rally out-
side starts at 3:30 pm. Doors open at 4:00 pm. The hearing runs
from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm. A big turnout at a Sept. 17 hearing in
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Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation October-November 2013
Longview included the vast majority of participants (including
many from Olympia) opposed to exporting coal. Let’s also cre-ate a big turnout for Thurs. Oct. 17 in Tacoma. Info:
www.climatesolutions.org and other organizations, including
those listed in this section of news regarding coal exports.
Should taxpayers subsidize the coal export terminal proposed for Longview? The proposed
coal export terminal in Longview would require horribly expen-
sive improvements for highway and rail access. Some people
have called this “the elephant in the room” because although it is important it is not adequately discussed. Should taxpayers be
forced to subsidize coal and railroad companies in this climate-
killing project? Read this surprising, interesting news article:
http://crosscut.com/2013/08/30/coal-ports/116208/coal-port-
millennium-longview/?page=single
Why the market will be the death of coal ports: People who believe in “the power of the market” and
people who care about the climate would do well to read this in-teresting article from late August 2013: http://crosscut.com
/2013/08/26/environment/116095/michael-riordan-coal-
bubble-bursting/
Coal’s declining cost spells trouble for export terminals’ investors: On August 6, 2013, Clark Wil-
liams-Derry wrote on Sightline Daily (www.daily.sightline.org)
about the declining price of coal and the likelihood that the “coal
export bubble” might burst and stop construction of coal export terminals proposed for the Pacific NW. See http://daily
.sightline.org/2013/08/06/the-coal-export-bubble/
Coal company made more money by betting the price will decline than by exporting it: This
is amazing! In the second quarter a major company mining coal
in the Montana/Wyoming area made more money by “short-
selling” (betting that prices will drop) coal than by exporting it.
Read the surprisingly informative article at http://daily
.sightline.org/2013/09/23/the-hidden-export-bombshell-in-
cloud-peaks-financials/
Public opinion poll shows most Oregonians (54%) and most Washingtonians (51%) op-
pose exporting coal: The poll was conducted by Fair-
bank, Maslin, Maullin, Metz & Associates (FM3) on behalf of the Power Past Coal campaign (www.powerpastcoal.org), a pro-
ject strongly supported by environmental and other groups in the
Pacific NW. When compared with data from the summer of
2012, this new 2013 survey led climate protectors to conclude
that “the more people learn about these [coal export] proposals,
the more they oppose them.”
Get your “No Coal Train” sign: One good contact
person is Sarah Morken from No Coal Trains South Sound
([email protected]) in Tacoma at (253) 973-8153. An Olym-
pia source is Beth Doglio at Climate Solutions,352-1763
More than 16,000 comments about a proposed coal export terminal on the Columbia River: The Morrow Pacific Project generated the highest number of
public comments ever in the history of the Oregon environmental
agency that received them. Staff are sifting through more than 16,000 comments, most of which opposed the proposed coal ex-
port terminal along the Columbia River. These comments ar-
rived by phone, fax, e-mail, and in person. See www.colum
bian.com/news/2013/aug/26/columbia-river-coal-comments-a-
record-for-ore-deq
The Lummi Nation wrote a strong letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers opposing the proposed coal export terminal in Whatcom County: In August 2013, the Lummi Nation submitted an of-
ficial letter to the Army Corps of Engineers declaring their oppo-
sition to the coal terminal project. Some people think this might
be a powerful influence in stopping the project altogether. The
Lummi Nation’s letter is at:
http://www.lwvbellinghamwhatcom.org/files /lummi-opposition.pdf The progressive environmental organization
Sightline explores the implications of this decision here:
http://daily.sightline.org/2013/08/01/another-shoe-drops-for-
gateway-pacific/ More information from Sightline is here:
http://daily.sightline.org/2013/07/31/scope-of-gateway-pacific-
analysis-is-bad-news-for-coal-industry/
Updates about the Keystone XL pipeline See Keystone info in the note above about Se-attle’s Sept. 21 event.
New evidence about “free trade” negotiations are worrying some people that Obama might be preparing to approve Keystone XL: One of the
good organizations working on oil-related issues, Oil Change In-
ternational (www.priceofoil.org), announced in late September
that Michael Froman, Obama’s U.S. Trade Representative who is
in charge of negotiating several secretive “free trade” agreements is siding with Big Oil in demanding that Europe weaken its cli-
mate laws. His reasoning seems to be that unless Europe weak-
ens its climate laws, US diesel exports, which will contain tar
sands, will be less competitive. The tar sands that Keystone XL
would pump to the Gulf Coast for export are notoriously dirty.
With Europe’s stronger environmental protections, the U.S.’s
dirty tar sands would be non-competitive, so – in the logic of
“free trade” – Europe must weaken its environmental standards
in order to be able to import dirty diesel oil from the U.S.
Trainings can prepare people to commit non-violent civil disobedience if Obama indicates support for Keystone XL: More than 1,500 Seattle resi-
dents have pledged to participate in nonviolent civil disobedience
if the President makes steps towards approving the pipeline.
Two trainings occurred in late September, and two more are
scheduled in Seattle for early October: (Sat. Oct. 5 at University
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Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation October-November 2013
Temple Methodist Church, 1415 NE 43rd Street (University dis-
trict corner of 43rd & 15th NE) from 10:00 am to 4:30 pm, and Sun. Oct. 6 at the same location from 1:00 to 7:30 pm. Please
RSVP for a training. Contact Abby at [email protected] or
phone her at (206) 783-5399. Nationwide, more than 75,000
people have pledge to commit peaceful civil disobedience if the
President makes steps towards approving KXL. We believe that
training and preparing for these actions will put the pressure we
need on President Obama to make him do the right thing. Sign
the Pledge at http://act.credoaction.com/sign/kxl_pledge
U.S. government’s highest official in charge of pipeline safety says federal regulations for protecting us from pipelines are weakening: Jeffrey Wiese, the federal government’s highest official in charge
of pipelines publicly lamented the weakening safety of pipelines. He is the head of the US government’s Pipeline and Hazardous
Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA www.phmsa.dot
.gov), part of the U.S. Department of Transportation. He public-
ly stated that the regulatory process for protecting people and en-
vironments from hazardous pipelines is weakening. His speech to
hundreds of oil and gas company officials was blunt – and the
opposite of the U.S. government’s official propaganda that pipe-
lines are safe. This was reported by “Inside Climate News”
(www.insideclimatenews.org) in mid-Sept. 2013. See http://
insideclimatenews.org/news/20130911/exclusive-pipeline-
safety-chief-says-his-regulatory-process-kind-dying
While Obama publicly delays a decision about Keystone XL’s northern half he quietly expe-dited dozens of similar projects in other parts of the U.S.: On September 8, 2013, the Mint Press News
(www.mintpressnews.com) published a long, detailed article by
Steve Horn that reported the contrast between President Obama’s
highly publicized delay regarding Keystone XL’s northern half
and his quiet promotion of many similar projects. On January
18, 2012, near the beginning of the year he was campaigning for
reelection, he made a big deal about kicking the Keystone XL can down the road for a decision later, after the 2012 election.
But just two months later, on March 22, he issued Executive Or-
der 13604, which called for expediting the review of KXL’s
southern half, in effect, moving the project ahead faster. His or-
der also called for “expedited permitting and review of all do-
mestic infrastructure projects – including but not limited to pipe-
lines – as a reaction to the Keystone XL resistance,” according to
Steve Horn’s article. The article also pointed out the vast in-
crease in hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) in North Dakota’s
Bakken Shale basin, which would allow environmentally de-
structive oil to be shipped by rail and pipeline along other routes. Horn’s article reports that Obama’s March 2012 Executive Order
already gave “fast-track” approval support for one of those pipe-
lines. Many environmental organizations were fooled by
Obama’s publicized dawdling about the KXL decision, while
ignoring his vigorous promotion to “expedite” other climate-
killing projects. His official energy policy is “all-of-the-
above,” which supports conservation and many aggressive
energy production activities, including more fracking, pipe-
lines, and offshore drilling, and also nuclear power, and mov-
ing those proposed projects more quickly through the various
environmental and regulatory reviews for what he called a “less
bureaucratic means of approval.” Steve Horn’s September 8, 2013, article contains much more detail that few environmental-
ists or climate protectors know about.
The State Department’s environmental report was written partly by a company with a finan-cial stake in Keystone XL: In early August the truth came out that a severe conflict of interest exists with the U.S.
State Department’s environmental report that claimed the Key-
stone XL pipeline would be harmless. It turned out that part of
the report was written by a company that would benefit financial-
ly if the KXL were to be built.
Other climate-related information and activities The United Nations’ International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its much-anticipated report on September 27: See this arti-
cle by Frances Beinecke from the Natural Resources Defense
Council (NRDC): www.ecowatch.com/2013/ipcc-report-
immediate-climate-action and additional relevant information at
www.insideclimatenews.org/breaking-news and www.inside
climate news.org/topics/climate-science
More information about the IPCC’s report: The
United Nations Foundation urges people to learn more about the IPCC report released on September 27. A spokesperson says,
“This report is the world’s most comprehensive and authori-
tative assessment of the science of climate change,” because
the IPCC’s process included hundreds of scientists from around
the world evaluating the most up-to-date research on the physical
science of climate change. The spokesperson also says that the
report concludes that “Scientists are now more certain than
ever that climate change is real and is caused by human ac-
tivities, especially by using fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and
gas.” A wealth of information – including infographics and in-
formation you can share with other people – is at
www.climasphere.org
How the September 2013 IPCC report differs from the previous report: Real Climate, the website
for climate scientists, pointed out on September 27, 2013, some
substantial differences between this 5th IPCC report and the pre-
vious one. It also emphasizes that the IPCC report is inherently
conservative. See www.realclimate.org
Fifteen things a lay person needs to know about the new IPCC report on climate change: http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/09/27/2681861/15-
things-ipcc-report/
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Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation October-November 2013
James Hansen’s newest information: James Han-
sen is perhaps the nation’s most respected climate scientist. For more than 30 years he was the head of the NASA Goddard Insti-
tute for Space Studies. His powerful research and outspokenness
about the worsening climate crisis forced him to leave that job
and teach the relevant science at Columbia University. Hansen
and co-authors released a new study. Key findings include that if
carbon dioxide (CO2) does in fact double from pre-industrial lev-
els to 550 parts per million (ppm), including slow feedbacks
from interrelated consequences, the earth is likely to warm much
higher than 3 or 4 degrees centigrade (5.4 to 7.2 degrees Fahren-
heit). The article makes two crucial point that so many media
reports on climate sensitivity ignore. First, we are headed well past a doubling of CO2 levels. Second, “slow feedbacks, espe-
cially change of ice sheet size and atmospheric CO2, amplify the
total Earth system sensitivity by an amount that depends on the
time scale considered.” We know from recent research that two
CO2 feedbacks alone — thawing permafrost and ocean acidifica-
tion — have been projected to increase total global warming by
2100 as much as 2°F." “Burning all fossil fuels” would warm
land areas on average about 20°C (36°F) and warm the poles a
stunning 30°C (54°F). This “would make most of the planet un-
inhabitable by humans, thus calling into question strategies that
emphasize adaptation to climate change.” See http://
thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/09/17/1892241/hansen-climate-sensitivity-uninhabitable/ Thanks to Ted Nation for
sharing this and other technical information with the Olympia
FOR’s “Confronting the Climate Crisis” group!
Reality turns out to be much worse than pre-dictions: Over the years, the actual results for the climate
have turned out to be much worse – and worsening more rapidly
– than scientists had predicted. Worsening dangers make it ab-
solutely imperative that we act more quickly and more bold-ly! If we had realistic mass media and a viable (non-corrupt)
government, we would have already made significant progress
toward keeping earth livable. However, giant corporations run
both the mass media and the governments. Only massive
grassroots strategies can minimize the catastrophes we face. Hansen has been right about global warming for more than 3
decades, his climate warnings need to be taken seriously.
Puget Sound Energy (PSE)
burns coal to generate 1/3 of its electrici-ty: PSE’s coal
plant at Colstrip,
Montana, is old and
pollutes extremely
much. On May 30,
2013, PSE announced its 20-year plan to continue burning dirty coal there. Environmentalists and many of PSE’s customers in-
sist that better alternatives do exist! Instead of spending our
money fixing it up and continuing to hurt the climate (but not
quite as much), PSE should use the money for alternatives that
would be much better for the climate. The Sierra Club has been
working on this. See the Thurs Oct 10 listing in our newsletter
calendar for your opportunity to tell the regulatory agency
(Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission – WUTC) what you think. For information see the Sierra Club’s “Coal-
Free PSE” campaign at www.sierraclub.org/coal/coalfreepse
10 important truths about climate that need to be publicized: On September 18, 2013, the U.S. House
Energy and Power Subcommittee held a hearing about President
Obama’s efforts to deal with the climate crisis. According to the
Center for American Progress (www.americanprogress.org),
instead of inviting experts to testify about realities, the Republi-can-dominated subcommittee planned to hear from some climate
deniers and to grill some of Obama’s appointees. Daniel J.
Weiss from the Center for American Progress identified ten im-
portant truths that it urged the House committee to consider:
1: Climate science is settled
2: Climate change harms Americans and our economy
3: Military leaders warn that climate change will harm na-
tional security
4: There is no limit on carbon pollution from power plants
5: The Roberts Supreme Court ruled that the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) has the authority to set car-
bon-pollution standards
6: Pollution-reduction programs create jobs
7: Carbon-pollution reductions will increase energy effi-
ciency, saving consumers money
8: Carbon-pollution reductions are affordable
9: U.S. leadership will increase worldwide pollution reduc-
tions
10: Power-plant pollution regulations prompt increased in-vestment and innovation to reduce coal pollution
We are making progress toward convincing local governments to divest from fossil fuels: The Olympia FOR’s “Confronting the Climate Crisis” group has
several working groups, including one that is urging govern-ments and other entities to divest their investment portfolios from
fossil fuel companies. The Divestment Working Group con-
vinced the Thurston County Commissioners to commit to divest-
ing. Now they are working with the Olympia City Council,
which was receptive to a recent presentation asking them to di-
vest their pension funds from fossil fuels. This campaign will
continue. Info: 352-6327 or [email protected]
Climate disruption causes droughts. Drought is a factor in Syria’s civil war. Beware of more climate wars: An article published on September 10, 2013,
is titled, “How Drought Helped Spark Syria’s Civil War—Is it
One of Many Climate Wars to Come?” You can read it at
http://ecowatch.com/2013/climate-wars-drought-pushed-
syria-over-edge/
The crude oil export terminals proposed for Grays Harbor are on hold: On September 10, 2013, the
Washington State Shorelines Hearings Board informed all parties
that it would be granting summary judgment, remanding the ap-
plications, and cancelling the hearing, with an order in the case to
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Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation October-November 2013
follow. This means that some aspect(s) of the permits must be
corrected, and neither the Westway nor Imperium crude-by-rail terminals can begin construction. The Quinault Indian Nation
and a coalition of five conservation groups – Friends of Grays
Harbor, Sierra Club, Surfrider Foundation, Grays Harbor Audu-
bon, and Citizens for a Clean Harbor – challenged the permits
and environmental review for two crude oil shipping terminals
(Westway and Imperium) proposed for Grays Harbor. This ac-
tion by the Board will at least delay the plans to ship tens of mil-
lions of barrels of crude oil through Grays Harbor every year.
Daily trains over a mile long would bring crude oil from North
Dakota or tar sands crude oil from Alberta, Canada into the port,
where it would be stored in huge tanks on the shore of this unique and vibrant estuary. The crude would then be pumped
onto oil tankers and barges, increasing four-fold the large vessel
traffic in and out of the port. The Quinault Indian Nation and
conservation groups argued that regulatory agencies failed to ad-
equately evaluate the risks of oil spills from rail or marine ves-
sels that would expose tribal fishing rights, commercial and rec-
reational fishing and shellfishing, and the economy and environ-
ment of Grays Harbor to major harm. For more information con-
tact Kristen Boyles for the Quinault Indian Nation at (206) 343-
7340 x 1033, or Arthur (R.D.) Grunbaum for Friends of Grays
Harbor at (360) 648-2476.
The nationwide youth-oriented PowerShift 2013 will occur October 18-21 in Pittsburgh PA: In just a few weeks, 10,000 youth leaders from all over the
U.S. will converge on Pittsburgh to build a stronger movement to
change priorities and strengthen the efforts to protect our envi-
ronment and economy and climate. Register now at
www.wearepowershift.org
Sometimes satire can help focus attention on hard realities. Enjoy this witty and popular short video: Should big storms be named after fossil fuel
companies and prominent “climate deniers” who are partly re-sponsible for the increasing number and destructiveness of
storms? This short witty video has gone viral:
www.ClimateNameChange.org
The next ten years are crucial for reducing CO2. Bill Moyers interviews Kumi Naidoo: http://billmoyers.com/2013/09/27/action-urgently-needed-on-
climate-change/
Tell Gov. Jay Inslee’s bi-partisan Climate Leg-islative Executive Work Group (CLEW) what you think and what you want: What should the State
of Washington do about the climate? Public hearings in Spokane
and Seattle will be followed by one in Olympia on Friday De-
cember 6 from 2:00 to 4:00 pm. A strong call for addressing
climate change at these hearings will directly contribute to more aggressive recommendations for Washington, and bolder steps
for our state. Mark your calendars for the public hearings, where
you can tell Governor Inslee in person that you want to grow jobs
and cut carbon in Washington. This is a direct and critical way to
support climate action. RSVP through this link:
http://org2.salsalabs.com/o/5168/p/dia/action3/common/publi
c/?action_KEY=15139 Whether or not you attend a hearing,
you should send in a comment through this slightly different link:
http://org2.salsalabs.com/o/5168/p/dia/action3/common/publi
c/?action_KEY=15124
Learn the usefulness of a carbon tax and other policy innovations – and enjoy some laughs – when Yoram Bauman, the “Stand-up Economist,” speaks in Olympia on Wed. Oct. 30: Who would have guessed that solving global warming
could be hilarious? Yoram Bauman has a Ph.D. in Economics
and also performs stand-up comedy. He might be the world’s
first-ever “Stand-Up Economist.” The Olympia FOR’s
“Confronting the Climate Crisis” group will bring him to speak
here on Wednesday evening October 30, at 7:00 pm at Traditions
Café, 300 5th Ave SW, Olympia. You can laugh and learn from
him – especially with fresh, practical information about how a carbon tax could help solve the climate crisis. Our own Gar
Lipow will join him in discussing carbon tax and other practical
public policy innovations that would be good for the climate.
This event is free and open to the public. Laughter and learning
are free! Info: Gar Lipow 943-1529 [email protected] Todd
Boyle videotaped Yorum Bauman at a recent Seattle 350 event:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgeKp0zwLAU A nonprofit
organization is promoting a carbon tax for Washington State.
Their website includes basic information, a very short video, and
an opportunity to sign up for weekly updates. See
www.carbonwa.org
Resources to help us protect the climate Prediction of what the U.N.’s International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) will report: Scientists and official bodies tend to err on the side of conserva-
tive conclusions. Nevertheless, the scientific evidence is so
compelling and the consensus among climate scientists is so
strong that the IPCC will clearly assert human causation and is-
sue a stark warning when they release their latest report. Info:
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/sep/21/climat
e-change-ipcc-global-warming?CMP=twt_gu
The 95% level of confidence you’ll hear about is actually very close to certainty: The IPCC’s re-
port is likely to assert a 95% level of certainty. Climate skeptics
who debunk this as less than 100% do not understand that among
scientists 95% is like “a gold standard” because of how they
study, calculate, and report findings. A number of top scientists
have said that this is the same level of certainty as the near-
consensus that smoking cigarettes causes cancer. Don’t believe
the skeptics, many of whom have ideological axes to grind or fi-
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Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation October-November 2013
nancial conflicts of interest with fossil fuel companies. Listen to
the scientists.
Climate denial groups launch anti-science campaign to confuse people before IPCC re-port: On Sept. 18, 2013, Katherine Bagley from Inside Cli-
mate News (www.insideclimatenews.org) wrote a report saying
that some of the groups promoting denial or skepticism about the climate crisis are launching a worldwide anti-science campaign
to confuse the media and the public before the United Nations’
International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issues its latest
report that humans are driving global warming. See
http://insideclimatenews.org/news/20130918/ahead-ipcc-
climate-report-skeptic-groups-launch-global-anti-science-
campaign
Greed motivates many of the “climate deni-ers”: Dr. David Suzuki, a beloved and respected scientist from
Canada, wrote a September 2013 article providing information
about greed motivating many of the “climate deniers.” See
http://ecowatch.com/2013/greed-feeds-industry-attacks-on-
climate-change/
A new report details the history of attacks on climate science: It was published on Sept. 10, 2013: http://ecowatch.com/2013/history-of-attacks-on-climate-science/
Here is how to curb the anxiety that interferes with dealing with the climate crisis: The author of
this September 2013 article suggests that the climate protection
movement learn from the Civil Rights Movement, which has some similarities although also some differences. The author
says “both movements must 1) empower their membership, 2)
place the truth front and center, forcing Americans out of denial
and destroying the illusion of neutrality and 3) create massive so-
cial and political pressure, especially among elites and policy
makers….” See this article at 2013: http://www.alternet.org
/environment/fight-climate-change-we-need-curb-our-
anxiety-heres-how?akid=10910.2186.ZHQYus&rd=1&src=
newsletter894725&t=11
Naomi Klein ex-plains why labor unions should join the fight to protect the cli-mate: Several
Olympia area progres-
sives have been urging
people to watch the
video of Naomi Klein’s 47-minute
speech to a big Cana-
dian labor union. She
explains clearly and
powerfully why workers and others who want economic justice
need to connect with the climate movement – and vice versa –
because our causes are inherently linked. Watch her September
2013 video at www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sj0uyd5urEA Al-
so, if you haven’t read Naomi Klein’s powerful and informative
book, The Shock Doctrine, I recommend it very, very highly!
“If you want peace, protect earth’s climate from disruption” – When the Olympia FOR’s “Confront-
ing the Climate Crisis” group met on September 18, Susan Sun-
shine offered a flyer she had researched and written, linking
peace with the climate. After the meeting she and Glen Ander-
son worked on reformatting, and Glen sent the final version to
the Olympia FOR’s webmaster, Dennis Mills, for posting on the
Climate Crisis page of our website, www.olympiafor.org. Den-nis posted it promptly, so you can see the link to it slightly below
and to the right of the photo of people forming red “NO COAL”
letters on the steps of the Temple of Justice (Washington State
Supreme Court building) from the rally we organized on Jan. 14,
2013: http://www.olympiafor.org/Climate_Crisis.html
New resources on fracking, etc., from Physi-cians for Social Responsibility: PSR is a well re-
spected non-profit organization that has done excellent work re-garding nuclear weapons and other dangers. Now their Envi-
ronmental Health Policy Institute has new resources on fracking
and other issues of concern. See www.psr.org/environment-
and-health/environmental-health-policy-institute
President Obama’s website says what he is doing to protect the climate: People who are work-
ing to protect the climate criticize President Obama for not doing
enough. Many of those criticisms are valid. His website lists ev-idence that he is making what he calls “a serious, sustained
commitment to address climate change. See his Climate Action
Plan information at www.WhiteHouse.gov/Climate-Change A
thoughtful local supporter of the climate noted that “Obama’s
Energy proposals are too little too late. He wants to double the
production of solar and wind energy by 2020. What is two times
very little? By 2020 or 2025 somebody else will be president.
His idea of clean energy “includes investment in a range of ener-
gy technologies, from advanced biofuels and emerging nuclear
technologies to clean coal.” He has spelled out the problems, but
his spin on solutions that ‘will’ occur on someone else’s watch are unacceptably thin.”
Fracking hurts the climate, so working against fracking is one way to protect the climate. The Global Frackdown on Sat. Oct. 19 will oc-cur in every community where people organ-ize to make it happen: People will be gathering signa-
tures and organizing a variety of local events and activities.
Food and Water Watch (www.foodandwaterwatch.org) is urg-
ing people across the country to organize in their own communi-
ties. Contact [email protected] or use the direct link at
http://act.foodandwaterwatch.org/site/Survey?SURVEY_ID=
17921&ACTION_REQUIRED=URI_ACTION_USER_REQ
UESTS&autologin=true MoveOn (www.moveon.org) is also
working on this. Their direct link is http://civic.moveon
.org/event/events/create.html?id=75332-1179559-y09Z7mx&action
_id =327
EPA yielded to pressure from frackers to stop investigating water contamination: You would
think that the federal Environmental Protection Agency would do
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Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation October-November 2013
what its name requires: protect our environment. But you would
be wrong to think that. On September 18, 2013, Jesse Bacon from Environmental Action (www.environmental-action.org)
reported that EnergyWire (www.energywire.ca), a Canadian
wire service for energy-related news releases reported that the
EPA has stopped its investigations of water contamination be-
cause of pressure from the fracking corporations. Environmental
Action circulated a petition seeking signatures urging EPA’s
head, Gina McCarthy, to reinstate the research on fracking’s con-
tamination of water.
“Bill Nye the Science Guy” narrates a short video explaining “climate science 101” at
http://vimeo.com/28991442
The Climate Reality Project and Climate Reali-ty Drop provide facts to clearly refute the misinformation
and disinformation (deliberate deception) that are being promot-
ed by persons and corporations with ideological or financial
stakes in the status quo. See www.climaterealityproject.org and www.realitydrop.org and www.stopglobalwarming.org
What do coastal cities face in this century? This article is well written: http://ngm.nationalgeographic
.com/2013/09/rising-seas/folger-text
Michael Klare wrote a sobering book about the climate crisis: I have been reading Michael Klare’s skillful
and insightful research and writing for many years. In 2005 we
brought him to Seattle to keynote the Western Washington FOR’s gigantic conference about Peak Oil. Now he has pub-
lished his latest book, The Race for What’s Left. Klare shared
some information in an August 8, 2013, article “How to Fry a
Planet” at www.TomDispatch.com. Here are a few short ex-
cerpts: “Look at it any way you want, and if you’re not a booster
of fossil fuels on this overheating planet of ours, it doesn’t look
good.” “[A] recent paper in the prestigious journal Science indi-
cates that ‘climate change is now set to occur at a pace orders of
magnitude more rapid than at any other time in the last 65 mil-
lion years,’ and we should prepare for a wave of species extinc-
tions. In other words, the much-ballyhooed coming of North American energy ‘independence’ is an upbeat way of saying that
we will continue to heat the planet till hell boils over.” He also
recently debunked the wishful thinking that we are soon to re-
place carbon fuels with renewables. Instead of renewables, the
major forces – including President Obama – are pushing for what
Klare calls “the third great carbon era, the Age of Unconvention-
al Oil and Gas.” Michael Klare’s research is legitimate, and his
writing is clear and persuasive. Klare is usually ahead of the
curve in explaining things that the public really needs to know
and understand.
TELEVISION PROGRAMS For nearly 27 years the Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation has produced one-hour TV programs on issues related to peace, social justice, eco-nomics, the environment, and nonviolence. The Olympia FOR’s program airs on Thurston Community Television (TCTV), channel 22 for Thurston County’s cable TV subscribers. Each program airs every Monday at 1:30 p.m. and every Wednesday at 5:00 p.m. and every Thursday at 9:00 p.m. for a full month. This creates THREE OPPORTUNITIES EVERY WEEK to watch each program.
You can also watch the program described below (and more than 90 of our previous interview programs and special programs at the Olympia FOR’s website, www.olympiafor.org, after they have debuted on TCTV. Simply click the TV programs link to reach www.olympiafor.org/tv_programs.htm, scroll down, and click the program you want to watch. Many of our website’s monthly TV program listings also include a .pdf document describing the program.
OCTOBER 2013 “Dangers of Genetically Modified Food”
by Glen Anderson, producer and host
A much more thorough description is posted next to the October 2013 program title at www.olympiafor.org/tv_programs.htm In recent years more and more people have become con-
cerned that giant corporations are doing things to the food we eat
that are bad for our human health, bad for agricultural animals,
and bad for the environment.
A few giant corporations are tampering with the genetic
makeup of food crops such as corn and soy. They are splicing
into these food crops some genes from totally different species to
kill weeds or insects, or to make the plants grow faster. The
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Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation October-November 2013
changed crops are referred to as “genetically modified” (GM) or
“genetically engineered” (GE).
Scientists are increasingly warning us of the dangers of this.
While some aspects of the science are detailed, ordinary people
can easily understand the basic facts.
Our guest for this TV program is Sandra Lee, who has a bachelor’s degree in chemistry. For several years she has been
educating herself about genetically modified organisms.
Our TV interview begins by debunking the common assump-
tion that any food that the government allows to be sold must be
safe. Actually, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does
not routinely determine whether food is safe. We are largely at
the mercy of whatever the food corporations say.
Before we interfere with the natural world in ways that might
have serious unanticipated consequences, we should stop and
first find out what the consequences would be, and we should
avoid doing things that would hurt animals, humans, or anything
in the natural world. But regardless of this “Precautionary Prin-
ciple,” giant corporations are recklessly messing with the natural
world in ways that can seriously hurt human health and the envi-
ronment.
Genetically modifying food is very different from breeding
hybrid plants or animals, because hybridizing simply breeds
compatible species. In sharp contrast, genetic modification takes
DNA or genes from one kind of organism and splices them into
totally different kinds of organisms. Examples include splicing
DNA from bacteria into food crops, or DNA from fish into
foods.
GMOs provide no benefits to humans – only for the business
corporations that sell them.
There has not been enough scientific experimentation to
prove whether GM food is safe. But there is research showing that it is very risky and dangerous.
An excellent source of information about GM foods is a non-
profit organization called the Institute for Responsible Technolo-
gy (www.responsibletechnology.org), started by Jeffrey Smith.
They produced a book titled Genetic Roulette, which – among
other things – exposes how the GM industry rigs its own scien-
tific research to distort the results.
The career of Michael Taylor is an example of the “revolving
door” where people from the private sector cycle through jobs in
governmental agencies that are supposed to regulate the busi-
nesses that the people came from. By far the biggest developer
and promoter of GM foods worldwide is the US corporation
Monsanto. Michael Taylor was a Monsanto attorney and vice
president. The older George H.W. Bush put him in charge of
FDA policy. Recently President Obama appointed him the fed-
eral government’s “Food Safety Czar.” This is a severe case of “the fox watching the henhouse.”
Careful scientific experiments in other countries have shown
severe damage to lab animals and farm animals who ate GM
food. GM foods seriously disrupt DNA in various ways as “col-
lateral damage” far beyond what was intended.
A variety of proteins and enzymes that are absolutely crucial
for the normal health of animals (including humans) are disrupt-
ed when we eat GM foods, because the proteins might end up
with different shapes and be unable to interconnect and com-municate with various parts of our bodies for normal health.
As a result, people in Europe refuse to eat GM food, but the
giant corporations that do not sell it in the European Union still
sell GM foods in the US without labeling them as such.
The vast majority of some common foods are genetically
modified – especially corn, soy, cottonseed and canola. Also,
many sugar beets have been genetically modified. The federal
government recently allowed GM
alfalfa and is considering allowing
GM salmon to be raised in “fish
farms,” but would likely escape
and interbreed with wild salmon
and further endanger them.
The federal government’s
Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) is responsible for protect-
ing us from dangerous food and
drugs. But the older President
Bush and President Obama have
corrupted the FDA by letting
high-ranking Monsanto officials to important positions in the
FDA, where they adopted official policies saying GM foods are
safe, despite strong scientific evidence showing dangers.
Monsanto makes the herbicide called “Roundup” and owns
most of the patents for GM foods. Most GM foods are genetical-
ly engineered to be “Roundup ready” – able to grow when the
herbicide Roundup is sprayed on them. The food crops drink up
the “Roundup” and store it. When animals or humans eat GM
foods, we absorb the “Roundup” into our bodies, where it per-
sists and causes damage.
Weeds have evolved to become more resistant to herbicides,
so over the years farmers – especially big-scale farmers – have
been spraying ever-larger amounts of herbicides (such as Mon-
santo’s “Roundup”) onto their fields to kill weeds. Farm lands
have been inundated with these chemicals, and food crops now
have large amounts of herbicide residues on them and inside their
cells. Instead of protecting the public health, the federal gov-
ernment has repeatedly weakened regulations to allow more and more herbicide residue to remain on and in the food we eat.
Many vegetarians have replaced meat with protein from soy.
Also, soy is a product in a great many processed foods – often
under technical names that ordinary consumers don’t recognize.
More and more people nowadays are allergic to soy. The vast
majority of soybean plants are genetically modified nowadays, so
it’s quite likely that the recent increase in soy allergies has re-
sulted from the genetic modification of our nation’s soy crop.
If people want to avoid eating genetically modified foods,
they can look for a label saying, “Certified Non-GMO.” They
can also use the list of safe foods in the shopping guide at
www.nongmoshoppingguide.com
Washington State’s November 2013 ballot will include Initia-
tive 522 (“The People’s Right to Know Genetically Engineered
Food Act”). We do not advise people how to vote, but we do
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Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation October-November 2013
urge people to read all sides of the issue and make up their own
minds. Good sources of information include:
Institute for Responsible Technology
www.responsibletechnology.org Read information and
watch videos at that website.
Jeffrey Smith’s videos and writings, including his book
Genetic Roulette.
www.nongmoproject.org
www.nongmoshoppingguide.com Look for their label.
NOVEMBER 2013 “TPP: A ‘Free Trade’ Scam Much Worse than NAFTA”
by Glen Anderson, producer and host of this TV series
A much more thorough description is posted next to the November 2013 program title at www.olympiafor.org/tv_programs.htm
For decades now, presidents and Congresses of both big po-
litical parties have been pushing for “free trade” schemes that
promise jobs and prosperity, but have caused the opposite.
For example, Democrat Bill Clinton pushed NAFTA and the expansion of the WTO. Barack Obama pushed three of Bush’s
bilateral “free trade” schemes (with South Korea, Panama and
Colombia) through Congress, and is pushing a vastly more
sweeping and reckless Bush-initiated multi-lateral scheme for a
“free trade” market linking many Pacific rim nations. This is the
Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which Obama’s Trade Repre-
sentative and foreign corporations are negotiating in secret and
want to spring onto Congress without the opportunity for Con-
gress to amend or adequately debate.
Mainstream politicians and mainstream news media assume
that these “free trade” schemes are good, and fail to adequately
consider the other side. This month’s TV program does consider
the other side. We need truly fair trade, instead of so-called
“free” trade.
Our guest is Kristen Beifus, Executive Director of the Wash-
ington Fair Trade Coalition, which is based in Seattle. Kristen and her organization – and many other people and organizations
– are working hard to protect our jobs, our environment, and our
democracy from giant corporations that would use a dangerous
new “free trade” scheme to gain power and money at the expense
of the broad public interest.
To help the American people consider the pros and cons of
“free trade,” Kristen and Glen first discuss the concept of “free markets.” Mainstream politicians and news media keep assum-
ing that a “free market” is the best way to handle any problem.
But a decent society limits the “free market” so people cannot
sell their children or buy slaves. Indeed, big business lobbies our
government for many kinds of tax loopholes and subsidies that
subvert the “free market.”
We also briefly discuss the mania for “privatization” and
“corporate personhood,” both of which abuse the broad public in-terest.
For several decades national governments have been passing
“free trade” schemes such as the World Trade Organization (the
WTO) and the North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA). Kristen explains the “free trade” concepts underlying
them, and some interesting methods and examples of how the
WTO and NAFTA actually operate. NAFTA has been terribly
destructive of American jobs, and has hurt millions of ordinary
people in Canada and Mexico too. The Bush-Obama Trans-
Pacific Partnership (TPP) would be much, much worse!
TPP includes 12 countries (the three NAFTA countries plus
Chile and Peru in South America plus several Asian and island
countries. Other Pacific Rim countries – even China – could join
later.
“Free Trade” agreements allow foreign corporations to
sue any participating government (federal, state or local) and
to overturn any of its laws that are deemed to interfere with
“free trade.” These include laws protecting workers, con-
sumers or the environment.
They also allow foreign corporations to sue to force those
countries’ taxpayers to pay the foreign corporations for profits
they could have made if they were allowed to invest without the
laws that protect workers, consumers or the environment. Such
lawsuits under NAFTA and WTO have already occurred.
TPP could affect “intellectual property” in a way like the bad
federal legislation that we stopped – like SOPA (Stop Online
Privacy Act). Free speech could be limited.
TPP could prevent governments from negotiating with Big
Pharma for lower prices and could restrict the use of generic
drugs instead of expensive brand-name drugs
Disputes would be decided by arbitration “courts” that are not
really courts. These are heavily oriented toward corporations but
use taxpayer dollars and do not have due process. The arbitrators
often are high-up people from giant multi-national corporations
who would have severe conflicts of interest.
More and more people are recognizing that the TPP is really
a coup in which business corporations conquer governments
and make governments serve business corporations.
There have been 19 rounds of TPP negotiations. About 600
negotiators include big shots from giant corporations including
Wal-Mart, agribusiness, etc. Obama appointed a big shot from CitiGroup to be the US Trade Representative. He represents the
US government at the TPP’s negotiations.
In 2008 Barack Obama campaigned that – if elected – he
would increase transparency in the federal government, so the
American people would know what was going on, without too
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Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation October-November 2013
much secrecy. But the TPP negotiations – like very much else in
the Obama Administration – is strictly secret.
Elsewhere around the US and around the world, banks and
giant corporations have been dominating national governments
and manipulating economies. They have pushed governments
into poverty, so governments have been forced to slash their sup-
port for human needs (food, education, health care, etc.). Alt-
hough many politicians and economic elites call for “shared sac-
rifice,” the suffering has been imposed only on ordinary people, while corporate profits keep rising and the gap between the rich-
est corporations and everyone else widens.
The US Constitution gives Congress the responsibility to de-
cide on trade arrangements, but Obama and the US Trade Repre-
sentative want “fast track” to prevent serious debate or any
amendments. Congress could only vote yes or no. The Ameri-
can people need Congress to represent us, because we have no
control of the US Trade Representative.
Nearly all of Washington State’s congressional delegation
accepts the propaganda that because Washington State is trade-
dependent, we should support the TPP. Only Representative Jim
McDermott from Seattle has publicly challenged the TPP.
Very powerful forces are pushing the TPP through, and ordi-
nary people might feel too weak to protect our rights. But ordi-
nary people did stop two previous – and horribly disastrous –
“free trade” schemes, the Multilateral Agreement on Investment
(the MAI), and the Free Trade Act of the Americas (FTAA). Al-
so, in 1999 in Seattle we prevented the World Trade Organiza-
tion (the WTO) from vastly expanding its powers.
Besides the TPP, “free trade” schemers are pushing the
Transatlantic Free Trade Area (TAFTA) and other “free trade” schemes.
The TPP is terribly important, but mainstream news media
are failing to cover it at all – or are covering it only in a one-
sided way from a simplistic pro-business bias.
For several decades, “free trade” schemes have caused gross
injustices and horrible suffering, and have widened the gap be-
tween extremely rich people and everyone else. Such injustice
and suffering lead to violence and war.
Instead of “free trade,” we need fair trade – trade that is fair
for everyone. Instead of a few extremely rich elites running the
economy, we need broad participation from everyone – a real democracy – to shape an economy that will work for everyone.
Fairness throughout our economy – as well as fairness through-
out other parts of our society – would be necessary in order to
achieve peace and social justice.
Our TV program’s guest, Kristen Beifus, is the Executive Di-
rector of the Washington Fair Trade Coalition, which includes 66
organizations (labor, faith-based, environmental, etc.). Some
other organizations also are working to stop TPP. Information sources include:
Washington Fair Trade Coalition (206) 227-3079
www.washingtonfairtrade.org
Global Trade Watch www.globaltradewatch.org
Citizens Trade Campaign www.citizenstrade.org
Flush the TPP www.flushthetpp.org
Our December program, “How to Resolve Conflicts” will feature the Dispute Resolution Center of Thurston County (www.mediatethurston.org), which has been helping people resolve disputes since 1991.
Calendar for Oct-Nov 2013 Events sponsored by FOR are preceded by the symbol FOR.
Phone numbers are in (360) unless otherwise noted. Events outside of Thurston County have their locations underlined.
TCTV programs use cable channel 22 in Thurston County.
EVERY WEEK:
Every Monday through Friday from 5:00 to 6:00 am AND from 4 to 5 pm: “Democracy Now” with Amy Goodman on TCTV cable channel 22 in Thurston County
Every Monday through Friday from 9:00 to 10:00 am: Amy Goodman’s “Democracy Now” on KAOS 89.3 FM
FOR Every Monday at 1:30 pm: Olympia FOR’s inter-view program on TCTV, cable channel 22 in Thurston County – or on your computer through www.olympiafor.org after the program has debuted on TV: SEPTEMBER: “Iran: Understanding the Realities – Achieving Peace.” OCTOBER: “Dangers of Genet-ically Modified Food.” NOVEMBER: “TPP: A ‘Free
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Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation October-November 2013
Trade’ Scam Much Worse than NAFTA.” DECEMBER: “How to Resolve Conflicts.” See descriptions and watch programs at www.olympiafor.org/tv_programs.htm. Info:
Glen Anderson 491-9093 [email protected]
Every Monday through Friday from 5:00 to 5:30 pm: Free Speech Radio News on KAOS 89.3 FM
Every Monday at 5:00 pm: Veterans for Peace airs a lo-
cally produced program on TCTV. Info: Dennis Mills 867-1487 [email protected] and www.vfp109rcc.org
FOR Every Wednesday from 12:00 noon to 1:00 pm: Peace Vigil in NW corner of Sylvester Park (at Legion & Capi-tol Way). Please join us for a few minutes or longer in this
friendly witness for peace and nonviolence. We provide signs. :
[email protected] 491-9093 www.olympiafor.org/vigils.htm
Every Wednesday at 3:30 pm: Parents Organizing for Welfare and Economic Rights (POWER) holds volun-teer meetings every week at the POWER office, 309 5th Ave, next door to Rainy Day Records. Children are welcome. Info:
352-9716 [email protected] www.mamapower.org
FOR Every Wednesday at 5:00 pm: Olympia FOR’s in-terview program on TCTV, cable channel 22 in Thurston County – or on your computer through www.olympiafor.org after the program has debuted on TV: SEPTEMBER: “Iran: Understanding the Realities – Achieving Peace.” OCTOBER: “Dangers of Genet-ically Modified Food.” NOVEMBER: “TPP: A ‘Free Trade’ Scam Much Worse than NAFTA.” DECEMBER: “How to Resolve Conflicts.” See descriptions and watch programs at www.olympiafor.org/tv_programs.htm. Info:
Glen Anderson 491-9093 [email protected]
Every Thursday from 12:00 to 1:00 pm: Kim Dobson’s “Parallel University” on KAOS 89.3 FM features interesting, informative programs about peace, social justice, the environ-
ment, progressive politics, and other alternative viewpoints. The
producer and host is Kim Dobson. (360) 951-4382,
[email protected], https://www.facebook.com
/pages/Parallel-University-Radio-Show/148750248532028)
See list of current and past topics and guests. Listen locally or at
www.kaosradio.org
FOR Every Thursday: Hold signs at freeway over-passes urging people to protect the climate: Currently people hold signs on Thursdays from 4:30 to 5:30 at the overpass
where Boulevard Road SE crosses I-5. Locations or times might
change, so verify with Rod Tharp, who is organizing this through
the Direct Action Working Group of Olympia FOR’s “Confront-
ing the Climate Crisis.” Info: 951-1080 [email protected]
www.olympiafor.org/Climate_Crisis.html
Every Thursday at 8:00 pm: Veterans for Peace airs a lo-cally produced program on TCTV. Info: Dennis Mills 867-1487
[email protected] and www.vfp109rcc.org
FOR Every Thursday from 9:00 to 10:00 pm: Olympia FOR’s interview program on TCTV, cable channel 22 in Thurston County – or on your computer through www.olympiafor.org after the program has debuted on TV: SEPTEMBER: “Iran: Understanding the Realities – Achieving Peace.” OCTOBER: “Dangers of Genet-ically Modified Food.” NOVEMBER: “TPP: A ‘Free Trade’ Scam Much Worse than NAFTA.” DECEMBER: “How to Resolve Conflicts.” See descriptions and watch programs at www.olympiafor.org/tv_programs.htm. Info:
Glen Anderson 491-9093 [email protected]
Every Friday from 8:30 to 10:30 am: The Housing Jus-tice Project can help tenants and others: From 8:30 to 10:30 am Thurston County Volunteer Legal Services presents the
Housing Justice Project at the Thurston County Superior Court-
house, Building 2 at 2000 Lakeridge Drive SW, Olympia. They
offer landlord/tenant advice for the tenants, unlawful detainer docket representation, and help for mobile home owners with
complaints about rules violations, notices from landlords or park
owners and mobile home eviction cases. Call (360) 705-8194 for
information or to schedule an appointment. For immediate legal
information call 1-888-201-1041 (9:15 am to 12:15 pm Monday
through Friday).
FOR Every Friday from 4:30 to 6:00 pm: Peace Vigil at Percival Landing’s south end, 4th & Water, downtown. Please
join us for whatever length of time you can. We provide plenty
of signs. The Artesian Rumble Arkestra jazz band joins us at
5:00 to support our vigil! Sponsor: Olympia FOR. Info: 491-
9093 [email protected] www.olympiafor.org/vigils.htm
Every Friday from 5:00 to 6:00 pm: “Women in Black” Silent Vigil for Peace on the south side of W 4th Ave near the fountain. Women only. Please wear black. Some signs are pro-
vided. Since 1988 “Women in Black” has been a loose network of women worldwide committed to peace with justice and active-
ly opposed to war and violence. Info: Rosemary Barnhart 866-
7589 [email protected]
FOR Every Saturday from 12:00 noon to 1:00 pm: Peace Vigil in Centralia on the edge of Washington Park at Locust & Pearl in downtown Centralia. On some Saturdays gath-
er afterward nearby at a nearby coffee house. Sponsor: Lewis
County’s “Fire Mountain” FOR chapter. Info: June Butler 748-
9658 or Larry Kerschner 880-4741 [email protected]
Every Saturday at 2:00 pm: Veterans for Peace airs a lo-cally produced program on TCTV. Info: Dennis Mills 867-1487
[email protected] and www.vfp109rcc.org
Every Sat and Sun through December: The South Sound Estuarium, a marine life discovery center, is open at 608 Washington Street NE, one block south of the Olympia Farmers’ Market, from 10 am to 3 pm every Saturday
and Sunday. It is possible to schedule group visits during the
week by appointment only. Info: Leihla (360) 888-0565
http://sseacenter.wordpress.com/
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Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation October-November 2013
SPECIFIC DATES FOR Wed Oct 2: “Dangers of Genetically Modified Food” debuts on TCTV, and will soon go “live” on Olympia FOR’s website. See Oct-Nov newsletter pages 10-12.
Wed Oct 2: “Beyond Coal” -- Sierra Club offers infor-mation on how to get Puget Sound Energy to stop us-ing coal from Montana’s dirty Colstrip power plant: Help the Sierra Club and other climate protectors organize to
persuade the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commis-
sion (WUTC) to make a good decision about this instead of
“business as usual.” 7:00 pm at the Olympia Center 222 Colum-bia Street NW, downtown Olympia. Info: Seth Ballhorn (206)
378-0114 extension 319, or [email protected]
http://www.sierraclub.org/coal/coalfreepse/colstrip.aspx
Thurs Oct 3: Earth Ministry Celebrates St. Francis, Ecojustice, Social Justice, and the Christian Con-science: Enjoy this great evening of environmental justice! Hear Dr. Cynthia Moe-Lobeda, Associate Professor of Theologi-
cal Ethics at Seattle University, speak about what it means to re-
sist environmental racism and to build more sustainable and just
alternatives – and to do so as a fervent claim to hope and moral
power! She is the author of Resisting Structural Evil: Love as
Ecological-Economic Vocation, a new book that examines how
climate change and other aspects of the earth crisis are insepara-
bly linked to race/ethnicity, gender, and class-based oppression. Info: Jessica (206) 632-2426 [email protected] 7:00-
8:30 pm at St. John United Lutheran, 5515 Phinney Ave N (north
of Wallingford, west of Woodland Park), in Seattle.
FOR Fri Oct 4 and beyond: Fall Arts Walk includes a display of children’s art for peace/justice today and beyond: During Spring and Fall Arts Walks, visit the window of Buck’s 5th Avenue at 209 5th Ave SE. Every year Olympia
FOR member Kristen Dahle arranges for elementary school stu-
dents to produce art for display during Arts Walk and several
weeks after. Themes range around various aspects of peace and
social justice. Info: [email protected]
Sat Oct 5: Reuse and recycle and get bargains at the Final Fall Safari at Thurston County Fairgrounds: In-stead of throwing away usable “used” items and wasting money
and resources to buy new ones, let’s pass along what we don’t need and buy second-hand items. Thurston County invites peo-
ple to visit the county fairgrounds on Carpenter Road SE for the
Fall Secondhand Safari from 8 am to 3 pm. Rent booth space to
offer your items, or come and shop. Nonprofit groups working
on sustainability issues can sign up for educational booths and
displays. Booth space and visitor admission rates are modest.
There will be plenty of treasure seekers and bargain hunters, with
over 1,500 visitors and 100 vendors at past fall reuse fair events.
Along with garage sale booths, the Secondhand Safari will also
have educational booths, a free book and magazine exchange, en-
tertainment, food, and more. Sellers will set up booths on Friday
from 12 noon to 10 pm. Overnight security will protect the stuff. Info: Thurston County Fair office, 786-5453. For info – or to
reserve your booth -- contact Kari Bodnar, Thurston County Fair
Office, (360) 786-5453 [email protected] and
www.co.thurston.wa.us/fair.
Sat Oct 5: Climate Change Community Forum at the State Capitol Building: Massive burning of fossil fuel is causing a disaster of global warming and ocean acidification, so
we have must act quickly to prevent further damage to life. You
are invited to a meeting of various experts working to prevent
this disaster where we can discuss issues and come together on
solutions. Enjoy these high quality speakers: Patty Glick, cli-
mate change specialist at the National Wildlife Federation; Steve Hall, Olympia’s City Manager; Andy Haub from Olympia’s
technical staff; Lon Wyrick from the Thurston regional Planning
Council; Tom Crawford from Thurston Climate Action Team;
Robert Coleman. The Evergreen State College’s Resource Con-
servation Coordinator; Art Starry, Environmental Health Director
from Thurston Thrives; Chris Van Daalen, Education Coordina-
tor for the Northwest EcoBuilding Guild; Bourtai Hargrove from
the Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation’s “Confronting the
Climate Crisis” group; and Cathy Carruthers, Energy Economist
with the non-profit organization www.CarbonWA.org. You’ll
be able to discuss substantive information about the climate crisis
and its effects on Washington State. See opportunities to meet people and network. It runs from 12:30 to 3:30 pm in the Co-
lumbia Room of the Washington State Capitol Building. Free
admission! Free parking! Sponsor: Thurston Organizing for
Action, in collaboration with a variety of other local organiza-
tions. See info at www.tcpronet.org/Calendar.php and more
info at [email protected] You can RSVP through
http://home.comcast.net/~fox7777/OFA%20Climate%20Sum
mit.html
Sat Oct 5: League of Women Voters holds public fo-rums with candidates for Thurston County Auditor and Port of Olympia Commissioner: Audience members will be able to ask the candidates questions. TCTV will film these fo-
rums. The Auditor candidates’ forum will begin at 7:30 pm, and the Port Commissioner forum will begin at 8:30 pm, both in the
big Room A at the Olympia Center, 222 Columbia St NW,
downtown. Please enter through the door on the west side of the
building, from Columbia St. Sponsor: League of Women Voters
of Thurston County. Dawn Brooks Gibbs [email protected]
Sat Oct 5: FILM: Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight exam-ines his struggle to be rec-ognized as a Conscientious Objector: HBO will premiere this film. Get info about this and
about conscientious objection
from the Center on Conscience &
War, 1-800-379-2679, www.centeronconscience.org.
Local info about C.O.: Thurston County Draft Counseling Cen-
ter, (360) 491-9093 [email protected]
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Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation October-November 2013
Sat Oct 5 through Sat Oct 12: Keep Space for Peace Week: Throughout the US, many activities will promote peace, especially removing weapons from space, and related concerns.
It is organized annually by the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space, PO Box 652, Brunswick ME 04011
Phone: (207) 443-9502. E-mail:: [email protected]
Very informative website: www.space4peace.org Also see
their blog at http://space4peace.blogspot.com
Sat Oct 5: Training to prepare people to commit non-violent civil disobedience if Obama indicates support for Keystone XL: Nationwide, more than 75,000 people have pledge to commit peaceful civil disobedience if the President
makes steps towards approving this pipeline. We believe that
training and preparing for these actions will put the pressure we
need on President Obama to make him do the right thing. More
than 1,500 Seattle residents have pledged to participate in nonvi-
olent civil disobedience if the President makes steps towards ap-proving the pipeline. Two trainings occurred in late September,
and two more are scheduled in Seattle for early October: (Sat Oct 5 at University Temple Methodist Church, 1415 NE 43rd Street (University district corner of 43rd & 15th NE) in Seattle
from 10:00 am to 4:30 pm, and Sun Oct 6 at the same location from 1:00 to 7:30 pm. Please RSVP to Abby at
[email protected] or phone her at (206) 783-5399. You can sign the Pledge at http://act.credoaction.com/sign/kxl_pledge
Sat Oct 5 to Sun Oct 13: Week of Action to Abolish the Death Penalty: Many activities in October oppose the death penalty in the US and worldwide, including some posted at
www.abolishdeathpenalty.org See Olympia’s Mon Oct 7 “In-formation Fair” below. More opportunities are at www.ncadp.org, www.ejusa.org and other abolitionists groups.
Sun Oct 6: Training to prepare people to commit non-violent civil disobedience if Obama indicates support for Keystone XL: See information above for Sat Oct 5. Sunday’s training is at the same location from 1:00 to 7:30 pm.
Sun Oct 6: Veterans for Peace (Olympia’s chapter 109) now meets jointly with Tacoma’s VfP chapter 134 at 1:30 on the first Sunday afternoon of each month at Coffee
Strong, 15107 Union Ave SW (west of I-5 at Exit 122), Lake-
wood WA 98496. Info: Dennis Mills (360) 867-1487
FOR Mon Oct 7: Death penalty “information fair” for the general public, including undecided persons: The Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation’s Committee for Alterna-
tives to the Death Penalty invites everyone – including people
who are undecided or conflicted about the death penalty and
people who are totally new to the issue – to an enjoyable session
with a variety of basic and advanced information available and several activities, including some of the “games” that we have
used at public events to help people engage with and learn about
various aspects of the death penalty. Some of our well informed
local people will be available to answer your questions on a one-
to-one basis, including “dumb” questions that you might other-
wise be shy about asking. This will occur at the Olympia Tim-
berland Library on 8th
Ave SE downtown, between Franklin and
Adams Streets, from 5:30 to 7:30. Info: Emily Hammargren
(360) 352-0695 [email protected] and our web-
site, www.olympiafor .org/death_penalty.htm
Mon Oct 7: Affordable Health Care Workshop: How
and where can I sign up for Obamacare? What will I be eligible for? What will it cost? The local welfare rights group POWER
(Parents Organizing for Welfare and Economic Rights) is organ-
izing a potluck meal for 5:30 pm (bring something to share if you
can) and discussions from 6:00 to 8:00 pm at Darby’s Café, 211
5th Ave SE in downtown Olympia. (The café is closed, but the
owners kindly lets POWER use the space.) Childcare will be
provided in the next block at POWER’s office, 309 5th Ave SE.
Info: 352-9716 [email protected] www.mamapower.org
Tues Oct 8: Free training to understand and protect the Nisqually Aquatic Reserve: This precious area in NE Thurston County supports an incredible amount of marine life,
guarantees public access to the water, and needs your help! The
Washington Environmental Council and the Nisqually Reach Na-ture Center offer a unique opportunity for local residents to en-
hance their knowledge and give them the resources and tools
needed to be more effective citizen stewards. This evening’s
free training (with free refreshments) will help you to ensure the
protection of some of our most special places in Thurston Coun-
ty. 6:00-8:30pm at the Lacey Community Center, 6729 Pacific
Ave SE. Register now at www.wecprotects.org/make-a-
difference/come-to-event/nisqually-reach-aquatic-reserve-
training-rsvp for the few remaining spots at this training ses-
sion. Info: Maddie Foutch, Aquatic Reserve Project Coordina-
tor, (206) 631-2644 or [email protected]
Tues Oct 8: Workshop to prepare for the Thurs Oct 17 (see listing below) hearing in Tacoma about exporting coal: Get information and practical tips from 6:00 to 8:00 pm at the Wheelock Public Library, 3722 N 26th Street, Tacoma. More
info at the Thurs Oct 17 listing below.
Tues Oct 8: Thurston County NOW chapter also serves adjacent Mason, Lewis and Grays Harbor coun-ties. We welcome new members and visitors to these monthly meetings! Come this evening and bring questions comments
about whatever concerns you facing women’s rights. 5:30-7:30
pm at Traditions Café, 5th & Water, downtown Olympia. Info:
Linda 357-7272 [email protected]
Tues October 8: Learn About the Trans-Pacific Part-nership (TPP) “Free Trade” scheme: The TPP would in-clude 12 countries that border the Pacific, making it the largest
free trade deal ever considered by the U.S., and also probably the
biggest corporate power grab in history. Not only would this
trade deal threaten everything we fight for, but Obama wants to
approve this plan through an anti-democratic “Fast Track” that
severely limits public information and Congressional debate, and
prohibits Congress from amending the TPP in any way. The TPP would allow foreign corporations vastly more powers to overrule
laws passed at the federal, state or local level to protect American
workers, consumers or the environment. Most members of Con-
gress – including those from Washington State (except Jim
McDermott) – are open to this reckless scheme. Learn more
from 6:30 to 8:00 pm in The United Churches basement social
hall on Washington Street SE, just north of 11th Ave SE, in
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Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation October-November 2013
Olympia. The Washington Fair Trade Coalition, the Sierra Club,
and many other progressive, labor, environmental, and faith-based organizations oppose the TPP. For more about the TPP
and links to info sources, see the .pdf description for our Nov
2013 TV program at www.olympiafor.org/tv_programs.htm
Wed Oct 9: Olympia Movement for Justice and Peace (OMJP) meets at 6:30 pm on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of each month to work on a variety of global and local issues. To-
night’s meeting will occur at Traditions Café, 5th & Water. The
OMJP meeting will be brief (6:30-7:00), and then Cindy and
Josh will share their thoughts about the Mural Park plans. Info:
Larry 951-4894 [email protected] www.omjp.net
FOR Wed Oct 9: Olympia FOR’s Steering Committee meets at 7:00 pm at Kim Dobson’s home in NE Olympia. All Olympia FOR people are welcome. Info: 491-9093 in-
Thurs Oct 10: WUTC hearing in Olympia about Puget Sound Energy’s burning dirty coal in Montana: The
Washington Utilities & Transportation Commission (WUTC),
the state agency that regulates capitalist-owned electric utilities, will hold a hearing related to PSE’s massive burning of coal at a
dirty plant in Montana to generate electricity for us in many
counties in Washington. It will happen at WUTC’s building at
1300 Evergreen Park Drive SE on Olympia’s west side (some-
what near the courthouse neighborhood). Climate supporters
want about 50 persons to attend. Info: Seth Ballhorn (206) 378-
0114 ext. 319 [email protected] and website
www.sierraclub.org/coal/coalfreepse/colstrip.aspx
Thurs-Sat Oct 10-12: The “Social Justice Film Festi-val” in Seattle shows a truly impressive number and quality of interesting films related to race, the death penalty, and other social justice concerns. It also fea-tures prominent guest speakers: See the impressive lineup at www.socialjusticefilmfestival.org
Thurs-Sat Oct 10-12 and Thurs-Sat Oct 17-19: Learn how to mediate disputes: It runs from 5 to 9 pm on both Thursdays and 8:30 am to 5:30 pm on both Fridays and Satur-
days in Olympia. $625 adults or $315 teens. Info: Dispute Res-
olution Center of Thurston County, (360) 956-1155
www.mediatethurston.org
Fri Oct 11: Heartsparkle Players – “Stories of Celebra-tion” – Celebrate Heartsparkle Players’ 115 performances in 15 years at Traditions Fair and Café with guest musicians, the Uke
Oyster Cult. Heartsparkle begins their 2013-2014 Playback The-
atre Season. Playback Theatre is a spontaneous collaboration be-
tween performers and audience. People tell moments from their
lives, then watch them re-created with movement, music and dia-
logue. Tonight Heartsparkle also honors their community part-
nership with The Centre for Playback Theatre. The Centre offers training courses in playback theatre and provides support to
playback theatre companies all over the world. 7:30 pm at Tradi-
tions Fair Trade & Café, 5th & Water Street in downtown Olym-
pia. A donation of $5-$10 is suggested, but nobody will be
turned away for not donating. Info: www.heartsparkle.org
Sat Oct 12: West Central Park (at Harrison & Division) invites you to its Fall Gala: This fundraising festivity asks $75 per person and includes two beverages, a delicious meal, a
contribution auction and an entertaining and lovely evening cele-brating the past, present and future of this great new West Cen-
tral Park. Info: Alicia Elliott at [email protected] and
www.aparkforus.org
Sat Oct 12: Training in peacekeeping and nonviolent intervention with the Washington Peace Team: The Se-attle-based Washington Peace Team responds to requests for a
nonviolent, impartial presence in situations with potential for
conflict and creates space for people to resolve their own con-
flicts nonviolently. WPT offers training to help new and experi-
enced people develop their skills. WPT members are committed
to the use of nonviolence in their personal, professional, and community lives. They provide peacekeeping at marches and
rallies, and they have helped organizations provide peaceful as-
sistance and nonviolence trainings. A training will occur on Sat.
Oct. 12 from 1:00 to 4:00 pm at the University Friends Meeting,
4001 9th Ave NE SE (between I-5 and the Univ. of Wash., a few
blocks south of NE 45th Street). A sliding-scale donation of $10-
$35 is suggested, but nobody will be turned away for being una-
ble to pay. Info and registration: Rosy Betz-Zall (206) 782-9305
or e-mail [email protected]
Sat Oct 12: RESULTS National Conference Call to fight global poverty and hunger: Please join the Olympia RE-SULTS meeting at 10:30 am on the 2nd Saturday of each month.
As part of our advocacy work, RESULTS staff and volunteers
from around the country gather each month on a national confer-
ence call. The call includes guest speakers, legislative updates,
advocacy trainings, and shares from different groups about the
actions they have taken and successes they have achieved. The monthly call helps keep our network updated on the latest legis-
lative actions and news, and it also helps volunteers to connect
with each other regularly around our common goal of creating
the political will for change. Info: Nancy (360) 463-3656
[email protected] and www.RESULTS.org
Sat Oct 12: Strengthen democracy by passing a Community Rights Ordinance (CRO): Several kinds of or-ganizing and work are underway now. Several CROs that have
passed elsewhere are posted at http://celdf.org/resources-
ordinances 2:00 pm at Mixx-96 meeting room at SW corner of
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Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation October-November 2013
State & Washington, downtown, tentatively monthly on the 2nd
and 4th Saturdays. Info: Mary 400-2844 [email protected]
and South Sound Community Rights (http://cr-southsound.org)
More info: www.celdf.org and www.Readthedirt.org
Sat Oct 12: Sister Helen Prejean speaks in Seattle about the death penalty: 7:00 pm in the sanctuary of Uni-versity Christian Church, 4759 15th Ave NE in Seattle’s Univer-
sity District. Info: Sara Schmidt, Amnesty International’s Field
Organizer, [email protected]
Sun Oct 13 (and Sun Oct 20): “Justice & Coal” Series: On October 13 Jessie Dye from Earth Ministry (www.
earthministry.org) will discuss how coal contributes to weather
instability, global warming and ocean acidification. On Sun Oct
20 you can learn more about coal train issues here in Pacific NW
backyard. Bring your lunch. 11:45 am to 1:15 pm at The United Churches, 110 11th Ave SE, Olympia 98501. Info: 943-1210;
www.theunitedchurches.org
Sun Oct 13: Register early for today’s “GRuB Harvest Soiree at the Alderbrook Resort in Union, WA: Garden-Raised Bounty (GRuB) is one of the most beloved non-profit
groups in Thurston and Mason Counties. GRuB brings people –
including young people and low-income people – together to
support growing good, healthy food and sustainable local agri-
culture. GRuB invites people to register now for the Sun. Oct.
13 Harvest Soiree that will occur from 3:30 to 8:00 pm at the
classy Alderbrook Resort 7101 E State Highway 106, in Union
(several miles north of Shelton), near scenic Hood Canal in Ma-
son County. It will feature locally sourced dishes of the Human
Touch Chef Group and both silent and live auctions with beauti-ful art, food adventures, and other unique items. Tickets and
other information (including an opportunity to donate without at-
tending the event) are at www.goodgrub.org Questions? More
info is at 753-5522.
Mon Oct 14: FILM: “I AM” takes a big, positive view of the world and how to function well within it: The docu-mentary film “I AM” is the true story of a famous Hollywood di-
rector who experienced a life threatening head injury, and his en-
suing journey to try and answer two very basic questions:
“What's wrong with our world?” and “What can we do about it?”
While interviewing authors, poets, teachers, religious leaders,
and scientists on his quest, he discovers that – contrary to con-
ventional thinking – cooperation and not competition might be nature’s most fundamental operating principle. Thus, “I AM”
shows consensus decision-making is the norm amongst many
species, from insects and birds to deer and primates. The film
further discovers that humans actually function better and remain
healthier when expressing positive emotions, such as love, care,
compassion, and gratitude, versus their negative counterparts,
anxiety, frustration, anger and fear. See this interesting trailer:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAwIzT8cBSA This event is
sponsored by “Call To Action” of Western Washington, a future-
oriented Catholic reform movement. “Call to Action attracts
people with Catholic roots but who are much more progressive
than the institutional Church. Gather at 7:00 pm at Traditions, 300 5th Avenue, Olympia. Info: Betty or Tom 357-6207
Tues Oct 15: Americans United for the Separation of Church and State: You are invited to their monthly meetings on the third Tuesday of each month (except December) at 6:30
pm at the Unitarian church, 2300 East End Street NW (north on Division, left on 20
th, right on East End). Sometimes after con-
vening the meeting decides to move itself to Pints & Quarts at
College & Pacific. Dennis Mansker [email protected]
Tues Oct 15: Urge the Tacoma City Council to oppose coal trains: Seattle, Portland, Thurston County and other local communities at risk from coal trains have adopted official posi-
tions opposing them. Some people in Tacoma have urged the
Tacoma City Council to do this too. A good turnout of people
opposing coal trains at today’s 5:00 pm meeting would help Ta-
coma’s City Council pay attention to the request. (At last count
only 2 of the 5 members of the council were supportive.) Be-
sides the pollution from coal dust and dangers of spills from doz-
ens of uncovered trains rolling through our sensitive environ-ments, dozens of mile-and-a-half long trains would also clog lo-
cal roads while they pass, causing delays for ordinary people, or-
dinary commercial vehicles, emergency vehicles, and so forth.
And then when the coal is burned in Asia it will come back to us
as air pollution and climate damage. The City Council will meet
at 5:00 pm at 747 Broadway in downtown Tacoma. Please sign
up at the door of the chamber to make citizen comments at the
meeting and wear red to show your support for NO COAL
TRAINS through Tacoma. Info: www.ufppc.org/local-news-
mainmenu-34/11682 or http://goo.gl/ahtpDR
FOR Wed Oct 16: “Confronting the Climate Crisis”: Olympia FOR’s vigorous group meets on the third Wednes-day of each month from 6:30 to 8:40 at the Olympia Center, 222
Columbia Street NW, downtown. Info: Bourtai or Ted 352-6327 [email protected] www.olympiafor.org/Climate_Crisis.html
FOR Thurs Oct 17: Protect our environment and cli-mate! Carpool or ride a chartered bus to the public hearing in Tacoma to oppose the coal export terminal proposed for Longview: The Millennium Bulk Terminals corporation wants to build this on the Columbia River west of
Longview on the site of an old aluminum mill. If approved, this
would be the largest permitted coal export terminal in the US,
exporting 44 million tons of coal annually. The Olympia FOR’s
“Confronting the Climate Crisis” group is collaborating with oth-
er climate groups to organize many people to go and speak at the
public hearing about the Environmental Impact Statement’s
“scoping” process, which will determine how broad should be
the “scope” of the EIS. Coal supporters want to limit it to the
immediate port site, but people who care about the environment
and climate want the scope to consider the air and water pollu-tion that will result, the effects on the climate when 44 million
tons of coal is burned in Asia, and so forth. A rally starts at
3:15 pm. Doors open at 4:00 pm for the hearing which will
run from 5:00 to 8:00 pm. We want dozens of people from
Olympia to participate today at the Tacoma Convention Center,
15th
& Broadway in downtown Tacoma, Carpools will occur,
and the Thurston County Progressive Network (TC Pro-Net
www.tcpronet.org) will charter a bus or two. Reserve a seat on
the bus through www.tcpronet.org. Many info sources include
www.climatesolutions.org, www.powerpastcoal.org (good info
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Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation October-November 2013
about submitting comments by e-mail or postal mail or in person
at the hearing), and Joelle Robinson (Field Director of Climate Solutions) at 206-443-9570 work or 206-351-5646 cell, and Beth
Doglio ([email protected]). Olympia FOR’s climate
group has many active people, including Kerri Griffis
([email protected]) and Bourtai Hargrove (352-6327 or
[email protected]). See the climate portion of Olympia
FOR’s website, www.olympiafor.org/Climate_Crisis.html It
is very important that you voice your concerns!
Thurs Oct 17: “Communicating to Connect,” an introductory workshop in Nonviolent Com-munication: Liv Monroe’s excel-lent “Communicating to Connect”
workshops give a great introduction to Marshall Rosenberg’s Nonviolent
Communication (NVC). NVC helps
people interact in their daily lives, in
families, in the workplace, and even
within individuals’ own “self-talk.”
Join us if you would like to learn the
basic intentions of NVC and some immediately usable tools for
resolving conflicts, reducing criticism and misunderstanding, and
for increasing respect and hope in your everyday life and in the
world. Free, but donations are appreciated. 6:45 to 9:00 pm at
Lincoln Elementary School’s cafeteria. Easiest access is from
Washington Street, south from 21st Ave SE. Go around the south end of the building and enter the ground-floor cafeteria. Info:
357-4503 [email protected]
Sat Oct 19: Global Frackdown occurs in many places to protect human health, the environment, and the cli-mate from fracking: People will be gathering signatures and organizing a variety of local events and activities. Food and Wa-
ter Watch (www.foodandwaterwatch.org) is urging people
across the country to organize in their own communities. Con-
tact [email protected] or use the direct link at http://act.
foodandwaterwatch.org/site/Survey?SURVEY_ID=17921&A
CTION_REQUIRED=URI_ACTION_USER_REQUESTS&
autologin=true MoveOn (www.moveon.org) also works on
this. See http://civic.moveon.org/event/events/create.html?id
= 75332-1179559-y09Z7mx&action_id=327
Sat Oct 19: Bridges of Hope—Mental Health Training for Faith Communities: This training about mental illness will help clergy and congregations create more welcoming com-
munities and stronger safety nets. Free. 10 am to 12 noon at
Thurston County Health Dept, 412 Lilly Road NE, Olympia.
Sponsor: NAMI Thurston/Mason. Info: 493-6021; namitm@
live.com www.nami.org
Sat Oct 19: “Communicating to Connect,” an introduc-tory workshop in Nonviolent Communication: See the description for the Thurs Oct 17 workshop above. The Sat Oct
19 workshop will occur from 4:00 to 6:45 pm at Rainier Volun-
teer Library, 207 Centre Street South in Rainier WA 98576.
Everyone is welcome! Info: 357-4503 [email protected]
Sun Oct 20 (and Sun Oct 13): “Justice & Coal” Series: See the Sun Oct 13 listing above.
Sun Oct 20 to Sat Oct 26: Congo Week is an oppor-tunity to organize activities to help solve some of the Congo’s many problems: Info: www.congoweek.org
FOR Mon Oct 21: Global Days of Listening: On the 21st day of each month, you can connect by telephone and/or com-
puter (through Skype software) with the Afghan Peace Volun-teers and other peacemakers of all ages in many countries around
the world. In the US’s Pacific Time Zone it runs from 7:00 to
11:00 a.m. You can listen to the live broadcast anywhere at
http://globaldaysoflistening.org/pages/livestream Info:
www.globaldaysoflistening.org Local info: Doug Mackey
(360) 915-6757 [email protected]
Mon Oct 21: Fight hunger worldwide during this RE-SULTS Education & Action Potluck: The nonprofit organ-ization RESULTS holds local Education & Action Potlucks. Oc-
tober’s occurs tonight, starting with a 5:30 supper potluck meet-
ing that educates our action network and generates meaningful
action with enjoyable fellowship – a great combination! Wheth-
er focusing on child nutrition, maternal health, education oppor-
tunities or microfinance, our potluck supper meetings bring us closer to our goal to solve symptoms of deep poverty. We're per-
suading our decision makers to be champions who wisely direct
foreign aid resources where it matters most. Info: Nancy (360)
463-3656 [email protected] and www.RESULTS.org
Mon Oct 21: Thurston Diversity Council meets on the third Monday of almost every month to strengthen appre-ciation for diversity in our local community. The public is invit-
ed to attend at 6:30 pm in Building One, Room 152 of Thurston
County Courthouse, 2000 Lakeridge DR SW, Olympia. The
special feature of October’s meeting will be giving an award to
an adult who has done a lot to support diversity. The TDC has
been giving awards in the spring for young people, and tonight’s
award to an adult is new. Also, TDC is looking for nominees for human rights awards that will be given on Mon. Dec. 16, follow-
ing the Dec 10 international human rights day. To nominate
someone contact Carolyn Lynch, 754-6697 carolynlynch99
@hotmail.com or Ruth Elder at [email protected]
FOR Tues Oct 22: Attend the monthly meeting of the Olympia FOR’s Committee for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, 7:00 pm at a convenient location in Tumwater. We educate ourselves and plan future activities to abolish this
atrocity. Info: Emily Hammargren 352-0695 deathpenalty@
olympiafor.org or Glen Anderson 491-9093 glen@olympiafor
.org. Olympia FOR’s website has much information about the
death penalty at www.olympiafor.org/death_penalty.htm
Wed Oct 23: Olympia Movement for Justice and Peace (OMJP) meets at 6:30 pm on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of each month to work on a variety of global and local issues. Meet
at POWER’s office, 309 5th Ave SE, Olympia. Info: Larry 951-4894 [email protected] www.omjp.net
Thurs Oct 24: On the minimum wage’s 75th
anniver-sary, workers demand a $15/hour minimum wage: The first national minimum wage of 25 cents an hour went into effect
on Oct. 24, 1938. It has increased a number of times over the
years, but the current rate of $7.25 per hour is horribly unjust be-
cause it has been stuck for many years, while the cost of living
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Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation October-November 2013
has increased. The U.S. has been suffering from a widening gap
between the very rich and everyone else. People on the econom-ic bottom have been losing ground. A low minimum wage forces
downward pressure on everyone’s wages. Recently a new
movement has arisen to significantly raise the minimum wage
and tie it to inflation. A $15/hour wage is actually fair. Various
labor unions and other economic justice organizations (including
those working for women’s rights and immigrants’ rights) are
working on this.
Sat Oct 26: Vision2Action Symposium -- Green Urbanism, The Sustainable Antidote to Sprawl: As more people move into our local community we will need to work
harder and smarter to protect our air, water, forests and farms.
Let’s explore effective win-win solutions that enable our region
to become healthier, greener and more resilient, even while this growth occurs. Portland Metro and other communities have
creatively and successfully addressed this challenge. Today is
your opportunity to collaborate in a civil civic dialogue and crea-
tive breakout sessions on how to move forward on the draft
Sustainable Thurston plan and create a regional “compact” for
sustainability. The keynote speaker is Rex Burkholder, a very
green Urbanist with extensive local experience in Portland. The
panel of local environmental, development, and neighborhood
leaders includes Carole Richmond from Olympia Planning
Commission; Karen Messmer from Olympia Safe Streets
Campaign; Mark Kitabayashi from Thurston County Realtors
Association; and Peter Guttchen from the Olympia Coalition of Neighborhood Associations. This event is co-sponsored by
Thurston County Solid Waste, Thurston Climate Action Team,
Thurston Regional Planning Council, City of Olympia, City of
Tumwater, Thurston County REALTORS Association, Thurston
Chamber of Commerce, and Olympia Federal Savings. Gather
for a hearty, healthy breakfast at 8:30 am. The program runs
from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm at South Puget Sound Community
College (SPSCC)’s LEED Platinum Natural Sciences Building,
2011 Mottman Road SW, Olympia. The cost is $20 per person.
Please register now at the link at www.nwecobuilding.org,
www.ecobuilding.org/guild-chapters/olympia/vision2action-series/register-for-green-urban-density-symposium Info:
www.Vision2Action.us or (360) 789-9669
Sat Oct 26: “This Land is Our Land: Faithful Steward-ship of Public Lands” is a gathering for people of faith and representatives of congregations that care about the environment: Every fall, Earth Ministry (a Seattle-based nonprofit organization that helps the religious community
strengthen its environmental commitments) hosts a Colleague
and Congregational Gathering to bring together clergy, church
green teams, interested individuals and ecumenical partners to
learn about and discuss important creation care issues. Please
join them this year for “This Land is Our Land: Faithful Stew-
ardship of Public Lands.” Participants will enjoy an engaging
presentation about the urgent call to protect our public lands and wilderness areas and learn how they and their faith communities
can take action to steward God’s lands for future generations.
After a brief break, attendees will be invited into a roundtable
discussion to share their own great work for God’s creation and
network with others to enhance our shared efforts. 9:30 am to
12:30 pm at Fairwood United Methodist Church, 15255 SE
Fairwood Blvd., Renton WA 98058. This event is ecumenical
and cost-free. Earth Ministry will provide coffee and light re-freshments. Please contact Jessica to RSVP at (206) 632-2426 or
[email protected] (walk-ins also welcome).
FOR Wed Oct 30: Enjoy a Ph.D. economist’s stand-up comedy about economics, followed by his clear explanation of why we need to tax carbon to pro-tect the climate:
Our entertaining speaker, Yoram Bauman, delivered a similar
presentation recently to a Seattle 350 audience. This 42-minute
video starts with stand-up comedy based on economics, and then
goes into a clear explanation of why a carbon tax would help the
climate: www.youtube .com/watch?v=fgeKp0zwLAU Olym-
pia FOR’s “Confronting the Climate Crisis” is bringing him to
Olympia to present a similar presentation to the public here at
7:00 pm at Traditions Café, 5th & Water, downtown Olympia.
OMJP co-sponsors this event. Info: Gar Lipow 943-1529
[email protected] For info about Olympia FOR’s “Confront-
ing the Climate Crisis,” contact Bourtai or Ted at 352-6327 cli-
[email protected] www.olympiafor.org/Climate_Crisis.html
Fri Nov 1: Hear author Lyn De Danaan discuss her book Katie Gale: A Coast Salish Woman's Life on Oys-ter Bay: Katie Gale was born into a Salish community in the Puget Sound in the 1850s. Hardly any other accounts of the 19th
century NW focus on the life of a single Native woman and her
family. 2:00 pm at Orca Books, a locally owned bookstore, 509
4th Ave E, downtown Olympia. 352-0123 www.orcabooks.com
Fri-Sun Nov 1-3: Amnesty International’s 2013 West-ern Regional Conference in sunny Los Angeles: For more than 40 years Amnesty International has worked worldwide
and at the grassroots to promote human rights. Attend their an-
nual Western Regional Conference along with hundreds of hu-
man rights activists for expert panel discussions, skills-building
workshops, and networking with leaders and activists from the
13 Western states. RSVP: Register online by Mon Oct 28or on-
site at the conference. Info: (415) 288-1800 or
www.amnestyusa.org/events/regional-conferences/western-regional-conference Lodging subsidies are available! To apply
with three other people for a lodging subsidy for one hotel room,
complete the online form at: http://bit.ly/WRC13subsidy More
info: [email protected].
Fri-Sun Nov 1-3: “Tear Down the Walls” National Gathering in Tucson, Arizona, will bring multiple movements together to strategize and network on how to build a more uni-
fied, powerful movement for transformational change in the U.S.
It will include organizers and activists dealing with racism, hous-
ing, education, oppression, immigration, economics, etc., etc. In-
fo: www.AFGJ.org
Sat Nov 2: Hear author Gregory Nokes discuss his book Breaking Chains: Slavery Trails in The Oregon
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Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation October-November 2013
Territory: It tells the largely forgotten story of Oregon’s slav-ery. 3:00 pm at Orca Books, a locally owned bookstore, 509 4th
Ave E in downtown Olympia. 352-0123 www.orcabooks.com
Sat Nov 2: March against corruption everywhere: See
www.youtube.com/user/peopleoverpolitics?feature=watch
Sun Nov 3: Veterans for Peace (Olympia’s chapter 109) now meets jointly with Tacoma’s VfP chapter 134 at 1:30 on the first Sunday afternoon of each month at Coffee
Strong, 15107 Union Ave SW (west of I-5 at Exit 122), Lake-
wood. Info: Dennis Mills 867-1487 [email protected]
FOR Mon Nov 4: “TPP: A ‘Free Trade’ Scam Much Worse than NAFTA.” The Olympia FOR’s November TV program debuts at 1:30 pm on TCTV channel 22 for Thurston
County’s cable subscribers and airs three times a week through
Nov. 28. See newsletter pages 10-13and the “EVERY WEEK”
listings at the top of this calendar.) Soon after it debuts you can
watch it at www.olympiafor.org/tv_programs.htm, where you
can already read a .pdf description of this program.
FOR Tues Nov 5: Olympia FOR’s book discussion group about moving from war to peace: 7:00 pm at Chuck Schultz’s home, 1621 Tullis NE (a little north of San Francisco
Street Bakery). Info: Chuck 705-8520 [email protected]
Tues Nov 5: General Election! Today is the last day to turn in your ballot.
FOR Fri Nov 8: Our weekly peace vigil includes a few visiting members of Western Washington FOR who ar-rive early for tonight’s meeting of WWFOR’s board. The vigil at
4th & Water (near the Kissing Statue) runs from 4:30 to 6:00,
with the Artesian Rumble Arkestra performing from 5:00 to 6:00.
Info: 491-9093 [email protected]
Fri Nov 8: Hear author Maria Ruth discuss her book Rare Bird: Pursuing the Mystery of the Marbled Murre-let: This vibrant narrative celebrates the fascinating world of an endangered seabird whose survival depends on the contested old-
growth forests of the Pacific NW. 7:00 pm at Orca Books, a lo-
cally owned bookstore at 509 4th Ave E in downtown Olympia.
352-0123 www.orcabooks.com
Fri Nov 8: Heartsparkle Players – Playback Theatre: Playback Theatre is a spontaneous collaboration between per-
formers and audience. People tell moments from their lives, then
watch them re-created with movement, music and dialogue. 7:30
pm at Traditions Fair Trade & Café, 5th & Water Street in down-
town Olympia. A donation of $5-$10 is suggested, but nobody
will turned away for not donating. Info: www.heartsparkle.org
FOR Sat Nov 9: Olympia FOR supports Western Washington FOR’s annual Fall Retreat. 2013’s theme is: “The Reality of the New Jim Crow. What Will I Do? What Will We Do?” From 1876 to 1965 federal, state and lo-cal “Jim Crow” laws tolerated and promoted racial segregation
and discrimination. After the end of formal “Jim Crow” laws,
the US still continues racial discrimination in many subtle de fac-to ways. The criminal “justice” system stands out as particularly
unjust. Michelle Alexander’s book The New Jim Crow has
helped more people understand these harsh realities. Alexander,
a civil rights litigator and legal scholar, explains that “Jim Crow”
persists by imprisoning many young men of color and – once they have been labeled as “felons” – they become trapped in a
second-class status extremely difficult to escape. Alexander ex-
plains how the US’s “War on Drugs” is part of this problem. In-
stitutional racism persists in many other ways. The WWFOR
Fall Retreat welcomes people with light refreshments and social
time at 9:00 am, begins in earnest at 10:00 am, and continues
(with your brownbag lunch) until 5:00 pm at the Gwinwood Con-
ference Center in Lacey. We suggest a $15 donation to help
cover costs. Info: Glen 491-9093 [email protected] Look
for publicity in a few weeks at www.olympiafor.org and
www.wwfor.org
Sat Nov 9: RESULTS National Conference Call to fight global poverty and hunger: Please join the Olympia RE-SULTS meeting at 10:30 am on the 2nd Saturday of each month.
As part of their advocacy work, RESULTS staff and volunteers
from around the country gather each month on a national confer-
ence call. The call includes guest speakers, legislative updates,
advocacy trainings, and shares from different groups about the
actions they have taken and successes they have achieved. The
monthly call helps keep our network updated on the latest legis-
lative actions and news, and it also helps volunteers to connect
with each other regularly around our common goal of creating
the political will for change. Info: Nancy (360) 463-3656
[email protected] and www.RESULTS.org
Mon Nov 11: FILM: ”Dirty Business” features stories about coal ranging from China to West Virginia. “Dirty
Business” reveals the true social and environmental costs of coal, and explores the murky realities of “clean coal.” 7:00 pm at The
United Churches, 110 11th Ave SE, Olympia. It is part of The
United Churches’ “Justice & Coal” series. Info: 943-1210
www.theunitedchurches.org
Tues Nov 12: Thurston County NOW chapter also serves adjacent Mason, Lewis and Grays Harbor coun-ties. We welcome new members and visitors to these monthly meetings! Come this evening and bring questions comments
about whatever concerns you facing women’s rights. 5:30-7:30
pm at Traditions Café, 5th & Water, downtown Olympia. Info:
Linda 357-7272 [email protected]
Wed Nov 13: Olympia Movement for Justice and Peace (OMJP) meets at 6:30 pm on the 2nd and 4th Wednes-days of each month to work on a variety of global and local is-
sues. Meet at the POWER office, 309 5th Ave SE, Olympia. In-
fo: Larry 951-4894 [email protected] www.omjp.net
Sat Nov 16: Hear author Maxine Kaufman Lacusta dis-cuss her book Refusing To Be Enemies: Palestinian and Israeli Nonviolent Resistance to the Israeli Occu-pation: This explores the voices of more than 100 practitioners and theorists of nonviolence, with the vast majority being either
Palestinian or Israeli. They reflect on their own involvement in
nonviolent resistance and speak about the nonviolent strategies
and tactics employed by Palestinian and Israeli organizations,
both separately and in joint initiatives. The book explores ways
in which a more effective nonviolent movement can occur. 7:00
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Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation October-November 2013
pm at Orca Books, a locally owned bookstore at 509 4th Ave E in
downtown Olympia. 352-0123 www.orcabooks.com
Sat Nov 16: Public Debate about Coal Trains: This
moderated public debate will be an opportunity to learn and to ask questions of the speakers. 7:00-9:00 pm at St Leo Church,
710 S 13thSt Tacoma. Free light snacks. Sponsors: No Coal
Trains South Sound, League of Women Voters Tacoma-Pierce
County, and Tahoma Audubon Society. Info: Sarah Morken at
Sat-Sun Nov 16-17: Nationwide conference opposing drones: CODEPINK, the Institute for Policy Studies, and The Nation Magazine invite you to the 2013 Drone Summit, Drones
Around the Globe: Proliferation and Resistance. Join them at
the Georgetown Law School in Washington DC for an amazing
mix, including the inspirational Dr. Cornel West, brilliant inter-
national lawyer Mary Ellen O’Connell, several drone survivors
and drone pilots, experts from Pakistan, Yemen, Afghanistan and Europe, government whistleblowers, peace activists, tech-
nology experts, artists and musicians. Get smarter, more en-
gaged, better networked and motivated! Info: http://codepink
alert.org/article.php?id=6457
Mon Nov 18: Bernie Meyer’s trial on federal charges from nonviolent action at Trident nuclear submarine base: Bernie Meyer was charged with Trespass at Sub Base Bangor for his nonviolent action on May 11, 2013. This Navy
base in nearby Kitsap County houses the Trident and one of the
largest inventories of nuclear weapons on earth. Each of the
eight Tridents subs based there contains 24 Trident (D-5) mis-
siles, and each missile can carry up to eight nuclear warheads.
Each warhead has an explosive force of between 100,000 and
475,000 tons of dynamite. The Trident is a “first strike” nu-
clear weapon designed to begin a nuclear war. On Mother's
Day weekend Bernie crossed the blue line at the base entrance
carrying a peace flag while reading Julia Ward Howe’s Mother’s
Day Proclamation in honor of his mother who had died nine days
before. Bernie was thrown to the ground by Navy security offic-ers, arrested, and charged. If convicted, he could be fined up to
$5,000 and imprisoned for six months. His trial will be at 1:30
pm on Mon. Nov. 18 in Judge Creatura’s Court Room, U.S. Dis-
trict Court, 1717 Pacific Ave, in downtown Tacoma. Bernie is a
longtime member of the FOR, and a longtime participant in the
Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action. He has resisted nu-
clear weapons for 36 years. For a number of years now he has
become a serious scholar of Mohandas K. (“the Mahatma”) Gan-
dhi, and has been authentically portraying Gandhi in character in
the U.S. and in India. Bernie would appreciate your attendance
to make a strong statement to the government, corporations, and people. Info: Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action,
www.gzcenter.org
Mon Nov 18: Fight hunger worldwide during this RE-SULTS Education & Action Potluck: The nonprofit organ-ization RESULTS holds local Education & Action Potlucks.
November’s occurs tonight, starting with a 5:30 supper potluck
meeting that educates our action network and generates meaning-
ful action with enjoyable fellowship – a great combination!
Whether focusing on child nutrition, maternal health, education
opportunities or microfinance, our potluck supper meetings bring
us closer to our goal to solve symptoms of deep poverty. We're
persuading our decision makers to be champions who wisely di-
rect foreign aid resources where it matters most. Info: Nancy
(360) 463-3656 [email protected] and www.RESULTS.org
Mon Nov 18: Thurston Diversity Council meets on the third Monday of almost every month to strengthen appre-ciation for diversity in our local community. The public is invit-
ed to attend at 6:30 pm in Building One, Room 152 of Thurston
County Courthouse, 2000 Lakeridge DR SW, Olympia. TDC is
looking for nominees for human rights awards that will be given
on Mon. Dec. 16, following the Dec 10 international human
rights day. To nominate someone contact Carolyn Lynch. Info:
Carolyn Lynch at 754-6697 [email protected] or
Ruth Elder at [email protected]
Tues Nov 19: Americans United for the Separation of Church and State: You are invited to their monthly meetings on the third Tuesday of each month (except December) at 6:30
pm at the Unitarian church, 2300 East End Street NW (north on
Division, left on 20th, right on East End). Sometimes after con-vening the meeting decides to move itself to Pints & Quarts at
College & Pacific. : Dennis Mansker [email protected]
FOR Tue Nov 19: Deadline for Olympia FOR’s Decem-ber-January newsletter: Send news, announcements and calendar items by this date or very soon after. (360) 491-9093
FOR Wed Nov 20: “Confronting the Climate Crisis”: Olympia FOR’s vigorous group meets on the third Wednesday of
each month from 6:30 to 8:40 at the Olympia Center, 222 Co-
lumbia Street NW, downtown. Info: Bourtai 352-6327 cli-
[email protected] www.olympiafor.org/Climate_Crisis.html
FOR Thurs Nov 21: Global Days of Listening: On the 21st day of each month, you can connect by telephone and/or
computer (through Skype software) with the Afghan Peace Vol-
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Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation October-November 2013
unteers and other peacemakers of all ages in many countries
around the world. In the US’s Pacific Time Zone it runs from 7:00 to 11:00 a.m. You can listen to the live broadcast at
http://globaldaysoflistening.org/pages/livestream Info:
www.globaldaysoflistening.org Local info: Doug Mackey
(360) 915-6757 [email protected]
Fri-Sun Nov 22-24: Annual gathering at Fort Benning, Georgia, to shut down the US Army’s notorious School of the Americas (SOA/WHINSEC): Since the 1940s the US Army has been training Latin American military members in
methods of brutality, violence and repression. Every November
thousands of people gather at the army base near Columbus,
Georgia, for speakers, music, street theater, workshops, network-
ing, and nonviolent protest with optional civil disobedience.
Sponsor: School of Americas Watch, www.soaw.org HELP WANTED so a local woman in a wheelchair can partic-ipate: Carrie Aadland, a committed FOR member from Lewis County WA who uses a wheelchair wants to attend but would
need a helper to accompany her. She is middle-aged and would
need somebody to travel with her to this event in Georgia, and to drive to visit South Carolina and Georgia for a few days before
or after. They would fly from SeaTac or Portland to Atlanta and
rent a car. The travel helper needs to have a driver’s license and
credit card to rent a car. The helper would need to be able to lift
the wheelchair of 25 pounds and deal with baggage. Carrie
would cover all travel expenses, except for the helper’s food and
personal expenses, and would offer a $100 per day stipend.
Please contact Carrie Aadland, [email protected]
FOR Tues Nov 26: The Olympia FOR’s death penalty abolition committee meets at a convenient Tumwater loca-tion to plan future activities toward abolish this atrocity. Info:
Emily Hammargren 352-0695 [email protected]
or Glen Anderson 491-9093 [email protected]. Olympia FOR’s website has much information about the death penalty at
www.olympiafor.org/death_penalty.htm
Wed Nov 27: Olympia Movement for Justice and Peace (OMJP) will likely reschedule or cancel this meeting, because Thanksgiving day is tomorrow. Info: Larry 951-4894 [email protected] www.omjp.net
Sun Dec 1: Veterans for Peace (Olympia’s chapter 109) now meets jointly with Tacoma’s VfP chapter 134 at 1:30 on the first Sunday afternoon of each month at Coffee
Strong, 15107 Union Ave SW (west of I-5 at Exit 122), Lake-
wood. Dennis Mills (360) 867-1487 [email protected]
FOR Mon Dec 2: “How to Resolve Conflicts.” The Olympia FOR’s December TV program debuts at 1:30 pm on
TCTV channel 22 for Thurston County’s cable subscribers and
airs three times a week through Dec. 30. It features the Dispute
Resolution Center of Thurston County (www.mediate
thurston.org) and its excellent methodology. Soon after this TV
program debuts on TCTV you’ll be able to watch it at any time
through www.olympiafor.org/tv_programs.htm, where you can
already read a .pdf description of this program.
Thank you for reading this newsletter.
We hope you found it both informative and useful.
We welcome your feedback.
We post our newsletter and calendar on our website, www.olympiafor.org.
Please refer to it there and tell other people about it.
The Olympia FOR is run entirely by volunteers.
In 1776 the Declaration of Independence included this in its list of grievances against the British empire:
"In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury."
Doesn't this sound familiar as grassroots people who work for peace, social justice, and economic fairness petition the U.S. government for redress of our grievances?
In 1776 the American colonists – based on principles of democracy and human rights – launched a revolution. Why can't Americans nowadays launch a nonviolent revolution of resistance against the oppression that grinds us down nowadays and denies democracy and human rights?
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Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation October-November 2013
Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation 5015 15th Ave SE Lacey WA 98503-2723 (360) 491-9093 www.olympiafor.org
Address Service Requested
Newsletter Writer, Editor, Layout: Glen Anderson
Non-Profit Org US Postage Paid
Olympia WA Permit #162
Page Table of Contents Enclosure SAT NOV 9 : “The New J im Crow” event in Lacey
1 Public pressure prevented a U.S. attack on Syr ia. Now let ’s convert our underly ing foreign policy t oward peace.
1 MON OCT 7 : Come to our “Death Penalty Information Fair”
2-3 Death pena lty – new information
4-10 Confronting the Climate Cris is” – much new information: Pages 4 -5 : Updates about plans to export coal from the NW Pages5 -6 : Updates about the Keystone XL pipeline Pages 6 -8 : Other c l imate -related information and activi t ies Pages 8 -10: Resources to help us protect the cl imate
10-12 OCTOBER TV program: “Dangers of Genetical ly Modif ied Food”
12-13 NOVEMBER TV program: “TPP: A ‘Free Trade’ Scam Much Worse than NAFTA”
13-14 Calendar : Events occurr ing every week
15-23 Calendar : Events on speci f ic dates in October and November