Anti-War groups stop Condoleeza Rice from coming to Portland
by Joe Walsh - Lone Vet

Members from Individuals For Justice, Veterans For Peace, PPRC, Code Pink, the Oregon Progressive Party and others gathered at the Downtown Hilton on November 13 to celebrate Condi Rice's decision not to show up in order to avoid a peaceful protest of her policies during the Bush Administration.

We received word that she had canceled her appearance at the Inaugural Portland Authors Luncheon. Security at the Hilton confirmed that the ex-Secretary of State decided not to confront protesters here in Portland.

We stopped a war criminal from coming to our city. A small band of dedicated activists spent an hour in front of the Hilton just to make the point that it is not a good PR move for a charity or foundation to use the notoriety of war criminals to raise money, because many of us will raise hell. We are happy that Condi did not come to Portland to sell her book. We are happy that one war criminal was told to stay away and was so afraid of a peaceful, non-violent group that she did. We should smile! This is a victory for non-violence and ending the occupations.

Thanks to you who showed up, got up early and stood for peace. I know I was going to have coffee with many of you but my body said go home. I was wet, tired and do listen to my body when it tells me, enough!

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November
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Thursday, Nov 4th, 7PM, Portland State University, Smith Student Center at SW Broadway and Montgomery, Rm. 237
Kari Norgaard, Imagining the Real: climate Change, Denial and Everyday Life
Climate scientist may have identified global warming as the most important issue of our time, but it has taken over 20 years for the problem to penetrate the public discourse in even the most superficial manner. Most sociological explanations for public “apathy” emphasize lack of information, incorrect mental models or lack of concern. Norgaard analyzes the collective denial and resistance to disturbing information that actually inhibits action.
This is free and open to the public. Portland State University, Smith Memorial Student Union, Room 237. Nov. 4th.
Kari Norgaard is a Whitman College sociologist who has studied public attitudes towards climate science.
More info: (503) 725-4946
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Friday, Nov 5, 7 – 8:30 PM, PCC Cascade campus, Moriart Auditorium, 705 N. Killingsworth
Rev. Mark Kiyimba Event at PCC Cascade
Rev. Mark Kiyimba is an important voice for social justice in Kampala Uganda at a time of great threat to the LGBT community. In a presentation entitled “Standing on the Side of Love” Rev. Mark Kiyimba will will talk about the courageous actions taken to protect the LGBT community in Kampala, and also share the work being done at his school and home for AIDS orphans. This will be followed by a panel discussion with local experts in HIV/AIDS issues and social activists talking about how to become involved globally and act locally.
More Info: Contact: Shari Rochelle at srochell@pcc.edu.
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Saturday, November 6th, 7-9 pm, First Unitarian Church, SW 12 & Salmon
Coming in Hot
WILPF will present Jeanmarie Simpson in “Coming in Hot”; a one-woman play depticing the varied experiences of 14 women in the armed forces-from air traffic controllers, medics, Arabic linguist, sonar technicians, body guards and interrogators. check out http://korepress.org/CominginHotTourPage.htm
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Saturday, Nov. 6th, 10 am to 1 PM, SE Uplift Neighborhood Coalition, 3534 SE Main St.
SE Uplift community Resource Fair
Join us for a Community Resource Fair and Open House. This is an opportunity to see what lots of community based organizations and non-profits are working on in one stop! Find out about grassroots efforts throughout the city and get training on legislative advocacy, community asset mapping, creating neighborhood collectives and much much more! Participating organizations include Second Stories, Our United Villages, 1000 Friends of Oregon, Urban Garden Collective, Upstream Public Health and many more organizations working on many different inspiring projects. Come to learn, connect with neighbors and get involved in new projects! Please stop by and bring your friends and neighbors!
More infor at http://www.southeastuplift.org/
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Sunday, Nov. 7, 1 p.m., Buchan Reception Room, 1st Unitarian Church, SW 12th and Salmon
Reception for Rev. Mark Kiyimba of Uganda
Rev. Mark Kiyimba is a minister of two UU congregations, one in Kampala and another in a village outside the capital. There he has both a large primary school and an orphanage for AIDS orphans. He has provided leadership to protest the anti-homosexual bill under consideration in the Ugandan Parliament that could lead to imprisonment and even death for homosexuals. UUGlobal AIDS Coalition and UU Pride have joined together to sponsor a reception for him in the Buchan Building. He will present more about his work with HIV/AIDS-impacted children and also his powerful actions to protest this hateful legislation. All are welcome!
Questions? Please contact: Patsy O’Shea for UUGAC at poppishea@hotmail.com and Helena Hessle for UU Pride at ahhessle@gmail.com.
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Tuesday, Nov 9th, 7PM, Multnomah County Building, Board Room, 501 SE Hawthorne
Water Issues in Oregon
The League of Women Voters of Portland will feature four stakeholders representing agriculture, industry, public water systems and public waste water and stormwater treatment systems. each will give a short presentation of their perspectives.
Learn why waer is important, what issues face Oregonians, and what is being done to ensure we maintain high quality water resources.
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Monday, Nov 15, 6:30 - 8:30 PM, SE Uplift, 3534 SE Main
Cell Towers in Portland neighborhoods

Are you concerned about cell towers going up in your neighborhood near homes, schools, and parks? Find out what you can do about the towers in Portland's residential neighborhoods. Learn about Federal, state and local regulations governing cell towers and what we can do to change them. Network with other Portland neighbors dealing with cell towers.

Co-sponsored by Southeast Uplift and RespectPDX. More information: 503.232.0010, info@respectPDX.org, or leah@southeastuplift.org
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Tuesday, Nov. 16, 7 PM, First Unitarian Church, SW 12th and Salmon (doors open at 6:30 PM)

PRICELE$$

Democracy is Priceless. Pricele$$ is a non-partisan documentary that examines citizen effects to eliminate a root cause of countless social and environmental problems -- the inordinate influence of special interest money in government. From the food that we eat to the way that we power our world, an unblinking look at how all Americans are affected by a broken electoral system -- and how average citizens are the only ones who can fix it.

Director Steve Cowan will be present for a Q & A discussion after the screening.

Sponsored by Alliance for Democracy, and Economic Justice Action Group of the First Unitarian Church as a fund raiser for the Alliance for Democracy

Cost: $5 - 20 sliding scale, no one turned away

More Info: David Delk 503.232.5495, davidafd@ymail.com
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Saturday, November 20, PSU 5th Ave. Cinema, 510 SW Hall

Worker's Republic

Workers' Republic' is a 60-minute documentary that chronicles one of the most important labor victories in recent memory. Three weeks before Christmas 2008, in the depths of the economic crisis, Chicago company Republic Windows and Doors announced the factory's closure. They informed their work force that they would not be paid for their final week or receive their accrued vacation pay. In a move that harkened back to the sit-down strikes of the 1930s, the workers occupied the doomed factory day and night for nearly a week, declaring they would not leave until they were given what their employer owed them.

The workers won over the public to their cause and the story made headlines all over the world. 'Workers' Republic' conveys the courage, the creativity, and the solidarity of those window-builders who vowed to stand up for their rights. From the opening moments to the eventual victory, and culminating in the surprise fate of the Chicago factory, the film shows radical action can be a solution to exploitation. In our turbulent times of economic strife, 'Workers' Republic' is an anthem of future possibility and opportunity.

This is the opening event of the Oregon Socialist Conference- please check out the full conference schedule at http://www.portlandsocialists.org/oregonsocialistconference/
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Saturday, Nov. 20th, 10 AM to Noon, First Unitarian Church (Eliot Chapel) SW 12th and Salmon

Friends of Safe Drinking Water presents a
Bull Run Town Hall On Our Water System
What every Portland resident needs to know about our water system

• Cryptosporidium, the supposed reason for this massive rebuilding of our water system, is a red herring. A catastrophic sewage event in Milwaukee, Wisc., the rationale for requiring Cryptosporidium treatment—was caused by raw sewage in the drinking water, not Cryptosporidium.

• No unfiltered water system has had a public health problem from Cryptosporidium. There are and have been no microbial or chemical microbial public health problems from open reservoirs.

• New federal regulations requiring covered reservoirs will actually decrease our water quality by adding toxins and carcinogens such as Radon and ethers. Closed and covered reservoirs have EPA-documented public health problems, such as deaths from microorganisms.

• EPA regulation is flawed and scientifically unsupported because of poor methodologies.

• City of Portland Bull Run Treatment Panel in 2002 found that added treatment will show no measurable public health benefit. In 2004, the independent review panel found no need or public health benefit to eliminate open reservoirs.

• Portland water bills, which have already jumped 34 percent in the last two years, will double in less than five years.
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Saturday, Nov. 20, 9:30 – Noon, Sellwood_Moreland Improvement League, 8210 SE 13th Ave.

Mapping the Commons Workshop

Do you appreciate local parks and national forests? What about clean drinking water and your public library? Do you find the internet useful?

Welcome to the commons. Some things are no one’s private property — they belong to all of us. They not only enhance our lives; our very existence depends on them. They are priceless and in need of defending.

Oregon Commons, a project of Onward Oregon, is presenting a series of workshops this fall as a step toward our larger goal of strengthening active stewardship of the commons — the gifts of nature and civilization we share across generations.

Join us for “Mapping the Commons,” a fun and interactive workshop designed to help grow our awareness, our network and our commitment to serving the common good. Together, we’ll explore the many facets of the commons and identify opportunities to become more active as its caretakers.

Free and open to all; however, advance registration is required. Register here

Sponsored by Onward Oregon
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Sunday, November 21st, Portland State University, Smith Memorial Student Union, SW Broadway at Montgomery, Rm 294

OREGON SOCIALIST CONFERENCE

The Oregon Socialist Conference is one of the dozens of socialist conferences being held nationwide that are dedicated to arming a new generation of rebels, activists and organizers with arguments and ideas for a revolutionary socialist alternative, learning our history of rebellion and resistance, and discussing strategies for building organization and winning struggles for real change.

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Tuesday, Nov 30, 7PM, First Unitarian Church, SW 12th and Salmon (doors open at 6:30 PM)

Winner-Take-All Politics, How Washington Made the Rich Richer - and Turned Its Back on the Middle Class with co-author Paul Pierson

A groundbreaking work that identifies the real culprit behind one of the greatest economic crimes of our time - the growing inequality of incomes between the vast majority of Americans and the richest of the rich.

Paul Pierson and his co-author, Jacob Hacker, demonstrate convincingly that the usual suspects - foreign trade and financial globalization, technological changes in the workplace, increased education at the top - are largely innocent of the charges against them. Instead, they indict an unlikely suspect - American politics. The winner-take-all economy is primarily a result of winner-take-all politics.

Sponsored by Alliance for Democracy, Economic Justice Action Group of the First Unitarian Church and KBOO - Community supported radio

Cost: $5 - 20 sliding scale, no one turned away. More information: David Delk,, Alliance for Democracy. 503.232.5495
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December
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Multiple date series:

The Portland Plan - Inspiring Communities Series
What kind of city can we become? Let's talk about it.

Growing our economy. Educating our people. Greening the city. Creating more livable neighborhoods.

Offering all Portlanders a better quality of life. Come be part of the discussion as we hear from some of the owrld's best and brightest on urban issues.

All program run from 7 - 9 PM and are free to the public. Doors open at 6:30 PM

Series sponsored by City of Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, City Club of Portland, Portland State University and others.

Wednesday, December 1, Dr. Robert Ogilvie, Public Health law and Policy speaking on Healthy Complete Communities at Kaiser Town Hall Ballroom at 3704 N. Interstate Ave.

Wednesday, December 8, Judith Bell, Policy Link speaking on Education at PSU-Lincoln Hall Recital Hall (Rm 75) 1620 SW Park Ave.

Wedneday, December 15, Dr. Julian Agyeman, Tufts University speaking on Re-imagining (E)quality at the Hollywood Theater at 4122 NE Sandy Blvd.

Monday, January 10, Cynthia Girling and Ronald Kellett, University of British Columbia School of Architecture and Landscape Design speaking on Designing for Environment and Community at the Multnomah Arts Center Auditorium, 7688 SW Capital Hwy

Monday, January 17, Bob Weissbourd, RW Ventures, speaking on Economic Development at Mercy Corps Action Center Aceh Community Room, 28 SW 1st Ave.
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Wednesday, Dec 1st, First Unitarian Church, SW 12 and Salmon in the Buchan Bldg.

Move to Amend

Meet with other concerned citizens working to amend the constitution to end corporate personhood by amending the US Constitution to make clear that corporations do not have belly buttons, and, therefore, should not have the rights of citizens.

Organized by the Economic Justice Action Group of the First Unitarian Church and the Alliance for Democracy.
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Weds. Dec 8, 7 PM, First Unitarian Church, SW 12th and Salmon

Joshua Holland: Sr Writer for AlterNet and author ot The Fifteen Biggest Lies About the Economy (and everything else the right doesn't want you to know about taxes, jobs and corporate America)

By nearly every conceivable standard, the American economy has gotten steadily worse from the time Reagan took office to the present. The anti-government, pro-corporate agenda has damaged our nation for too long, and yet, turn on Fox News and you'll find them still hawking the same foolish theories, baseless accusations, and bald-faced lies. The Fifteen Biggest Lies about the Economy dissects each malicious fiction to reveal how the Right is just plain wrong on the economy — wrong on jobs, wrong on the deficit, wrong on taxes, wrong on trade. However, Holland goes beyond the most recent Republican talking points to explain the issues with the depth and nuance that you'll need to see through the nonsense rhetoric you're going to hear about the nation's economy for some time to come.

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Saturday, Dec 11th, 1 - 5 PM 1st Unitarian Church, SW 12 and Salmon on the Buchan Bldg.

Fair Trade Holiday Bazaar & Forum

Buy a gift this Christmas that makes a difference

Local Fair Trade vendors offer crafts and gifts, chocolate, coffee and olive oil from small farmers and artisans around the world.

Includes refreshments and a screening of The Dark Side of Chocolate (2 PM) with discussion to follow.

Co-sponsored by the Economic Justice Action Group of the First Unitarian Church and the North West Fair Trade Coalition.
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January
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February
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Thursday, Feb 10, 7 -9 PM, First Unitarian Church, SW 12th and Salmon

Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America. Author: Robert Whitaker

Robert Whitaker, award winning author of Mad in America, discusses a medical mystery in his latest book: Why has the number of Americans considered "disabled mentally ill" tripled over the past two decades?

Whitaker is one of the first journalists to expose the long-term effects of psychiatric medications. His findngs are astonishing and controversial.

More info: Marcia Meyers, 503.665.3957, marciameyers@yahoo.com

Sponsored by the Economic Justice Action Group of the First Unitarian Church

One of the quieter races this electoral season has been that of Oregon treasurer. Former Multnomah County Chair Ted Wheeler seems to be in a good place to keep the position, which he was appointed to last spring when Ben Westlund passed away.

However, one man continues a long crusade to bring attention to some issues and solutions that are commonly-overlooked.

Walt Brown – a retired Lake Oswego attorney, who represented the area in the state Senate from 1975 to 1987 and has made third party bids for attorney general, Congress and president- is making a go at the office that oversees the state’s finances, and is hoping to bring up several ideas (some of which he admits are outside the purview of the office he’s pursuing) that he says will improve Oregon’s economy.

State bank

Brown wants the creation of a state bank to get capital and lending flowing in the state, which will help combat Oregon’s chronically high unemployment rate. He said that a state bank would work with private banks to help co-invest and keep interest rates low.

He points to North Dakota, which has a state bank and a relatively healthy economy, as an example of how such an entity can be a stabilizing influence.

However, the idea faces one big hurdle: Oregon’s constitution prohibits the creation of a state bank.

“That would be a problem,” admits Brown. “But all problems that are legal can be solved simply by amending the constitution. Of course, you don’t want to amend the constitution in a stupid way, which we’ve done from time to time.”

Health care reform

Brown said that the cost of providing health insurance to employees is hurting businesses, and the health care cost to state workers is also hurting Oregon’s finances.

He has been a longtime advocate for single-payer health insurance, which he said will be good for the state and good for business by shifting the cost of increasingly expensive health insurance premiums.

“The state could really save money if they set up their own health insurance,” he said.

Public power

Brown argues that Washington state is faring better economically because businesses have fewer costs under publicly-owned utilities, unlike much of Oregon, which he hopes to change.

Invest in Oregon

Brown said that if elected treasurer he would stop directing the state’s investments outside of Oregon, even if they bring in a lower return, a stance that he said distinguishes him from Wheeler. He would also push to have every layer of state and local government buy locally.

“There’s a multiplier effect of increasing jobs,” said Brown of his approach.

Investing money back into the state’s economy will pay off in the long run, he said.

The Progressive Party of Oregon on October 8 announced its endorsements on Oregon's statewide ballot measures and one Portland measure.

Measure 74: YES.
Establishes medical marijuana supply system (licensed dispensaries) and assistance and research programs.  Measure 74 would bring medical marijuana under stricter state control and state taxation.

Measure 75: NO.
Authorizes a large privately-owned casino in Multnomah County.  Measure 75 would expand the victimization of Oregon families by easy access to addictive gambling.  It would also suck nearly $100 million per year out of the Oregon economy to pay the owners of the new casino.

Portland Measure 26-108:  YES.
Continues Portland's "voter-owned elections" system of providing limited matching campaign funds to candidates for City Commission or Auditor who qualify by raising $5,000 or $7,500 from contributions of $5 per person or less.  Once qualified for public funding, the candidates cannot accept campaign contributions from any source.

Contact:

Dan Meek
503-293-9021 voice
dan@progparty.org