In this new year let’s get serious, I mean really serious, about the global climate emergency. This is truly an EMERGENCY – our planetary life support system is more than threatened – it is already in severe decline. The levels of CO2 and other global warming gases in the atmosphere are already too high, and we continue adding more.

Friends of the Earth Action announced their endorsement today of John Edwards at a Town Hall meeting in Dover, New Hampshire:

The story goes that if you put a frog into boiling water, he will immediately jump out, but if you put the frog into cold water and heat it slowly enough he won’t notice the change and will be boiled alive.
Until recently, I would not have believed that an American citizen could be arrested and jailed for voicing opposition to the political views of U.S. senators at a public venue, but it happened to me at Upper Senate Park in Washington D.C. two weeks ago. I countered pro-war remarks being made by several prominent senators, simply with my voice—no amplification, no profanity and no slander. In recent weeks friends of mine have been arrested for putting up anti-war posters, arrested trying to access their senator’s office, sentenced to 5 days in jail for speaking out in protest at another political rally, and one woman who was jailed overnight because the police said she had a “stay away” order from the Capitol building—she didn’t.

We've formed a group in support of John Edwards' presidential campaign. Our second meeting will be this coming Wednesday, Sept. 19, 6:30 pm, at Sunnyside Up Cafe, 116 NW 3rd St. in Corvallis. We'll talk about ways we can support his campaign. If you're an Edwards fan, come on down.
If you have questions, you can email me.
aclement@peak.org

Hi all -

The BCDCC voter registration/election integrity committee met last Thursday, 3/29, at Carol & Dave's house as before. Our group consisted of Joyce & Jim Spain, Marion McNamara, Clark House, Steve Starcevich, Ron Mason, chairperson Carol Sweeney, and Dave Conklin.

So now I am a convict. I was arrested, handcuffed, searched, shackled, interrogated, charged, imprisoned, arraigned, prosecuted, and tried. The trial process took 5 days, and the jury deliberated for 12 hours before finding me guilty. The judge sentenced me to 5 days incarceration, suspended, 6 months probation, $200 assessment (to be paid to the Victims of Violent Crime Fund), and 100 hours of community service. What did I do…? I stood in the gallery of the House of Representatives and shouted opposition to the Military Commissions Act for 29 seconds.

Happy New Year to All! I hope that everyone has had a chance to take a break following our successful November elections, and to enjoy time with family, friends, and loved ones over the holidays. And, yes folks, it's time to start rolling up our sleeves again and laying the groundwork for the 2008 election cycle.

As we begin 2007, we Democrats have much to be excited about. Due to our successful campaigning efforts in 2006, we now have Democratic-controlled legislatures in both Salem and Washington, D.C. Our party leaders are breathing life, energy, and new priorities into the legislative process at both the state and federal levels. Five Democratic leaders have already announced their intentions to run for President in 2008, and there are sure to be others to jump in soon.

“We should ask the American people to be patriotic about something other than war.” - John Edwards

During the dark days of World War II, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt called on the nation to step up to the challenge and work together to overcome the threat of global fascism. Americans, many of whom who had so recently “went without” out of necessity during the great depression, agreed to go without again because that was what was required to meet the great challenge of the age. The sacrifice of “the greatest generation” is our legacy as Americans, and sets an example that we must live up to in facing today's great global challenges: widespread poverty and the global warming crisis.

Any day now the number of American servicemembers killed in Iraq will reach 3000. Picture in your mind what 3000 people looks like. Each one of those 3000 people had friends and family who cared about them, and people they cared about. They each had stories and plans, senses of humor and opinions, hobbies and interests. They each had a life. Now take that number and multiply it by 10. Multiply it by 10 again. Double it. That number is a conservative estimate of the number of Iraqis who have died since the U.S. invaded Iraq on March 19th, 2003.

It's been called the "Agent Orange" of the Iraq War. It's extremely toxic, illegal according to international law, and certainly immoral. What is it? Depleted Uranium. So why does the U.S. use it? It is cheap and effective.
Remember the term "Gulf War Syndrome?" Those "inexplicable" symptoms that so many of the first Iraq war presented? It's not a mystery--it's depleted uranium poisoning. Add those cases to the sharp increase in Iraqi cancer rates, birth defects and tumors, and it is brutally apparent that there is a problem. But the U.S. continues to use these munitions with impunity.

I'm listening to Joe Keating talk to Thom Hartmann about how the Pacific Greens are the only party that can and will protect our environment. I'm hearing from him the same line of crap we got from the Naderites 6 years ago: There's no difference between the Republicans and the Democrats.

O yea, they got that so right.

I wish the Dems were much stronger on the environment, but to make the claim that Kulo is just as bad as Saxton on the environment is to totally ignore reality. But that's politics. Candidates must pump themselves up; Ted's doing it, Ron has no choice because he's got nothing but his hot air, and Joe Keating is doing it. He has to take the line that the Dems are bad on the environment, just as he has to claim that the major environmental groups have sold out because they support Ted and the Democrtats. That's how this game is played.

Suzanne Swift is the Army specialist who went AWOL last spring, refusing to return to Iraq with seniors who she claims had sexually abused her during her first tour of duty there. SPC Swift lives in Eugene but is confined at Ft. Lewis, WA, pending legal proceedings.
On September 12, a group from Camp Democracy in Washington, DC, including our own BC Dem, Leah Bolger, visited the offices of Rep. Peter DeFazio on Capitol Hill. They demanded that he initiate an investigation into Suzanne's treatment and that he call on the Army to grant Suzanne an honorable discharge with full medical benefits to treat her post traumatic stress disorder which has resulted from her exposure to the horrors of war in Iraq and from her rape and sexual harrassment.

Please join with members of the Benton County community to discuss the potential impact of Measures 41 and 48. The event will be held at the Corvallis Public Library at 7pm on Wednesday, September 13.

Panelists will be on hand to answer your questions, and to talk about the unintended consequences these poorly written measures will have on schools, higher education, health care and all of our public services.

From LP at Corvallis-Scene:
....
OK, so I'm not wild about the idea of a regressive tax, or about the way the City of Corvallis has promoted this thing, but I don't believe the opposition has made a fair argument, either. So, here's why I'm going to vote yes on the phone tax (02-54).

The city needs the money. That's not at question here. And they say they're going to use the money to buy fire trucks and train firefighters -- increasing the safety of all citizens. After that, it will continue to go into the general fund where it will likely be used to pay for other essential services.

Rarely mentioned in news reports of the FDA approval of Plan B without a prescription for women over age 18 is the fact that many pharmacies are refusing to carry it. I think it is important to find out which local pharmacies do carry it and give them our business. I've discovered that I'm going to have to switch pharmacies.

The following message is from Kim Gandy, President of the National Organization for Women: