Crossing (out) the divide: Since 2000 there’s been the notion that there are red states and blue states. People in red states—mostly inland and southern—are said to be the sort who never saw a regulation they liked, refer to undocumented residents as illegal aliens and shout “USA, USA” at Trump rallies....
Posts published in “Issue: February 2019”
For this issue, we invited stories that might speak to the idea of a rural/urban divide and whether such a thing exists. Or there might be something else going on... .
In September of last year, President Trump made a major policy address to the United Nations assembly. He offered assurances to other countries that they need not fear interference from his Administration in their internal affairs....
The League of Women Voters of Thurston County wants you to know! Imagine a container with a paper coffee filter inserted at the top. Say the filter represents the bed of a stream and the water you pour into the container is rain adding to groundwater. You can pour almost…
Chris Carson died January 6 at St. Peter Hospital. Without being an elected official, a business owner, a public entertainer, or any of the other roles that give a person official prominence and power, Chris Carson was one of Olympia’s most influential persons. She achieved powerful influence because she was…
A Green New Deal for rural economies “People talk often about the infrastructure investment that has to happen….but there’s also an industrial plan that needs to happen to build entirely new industries. It’s sort of like the moonshot. When JFK said America was going to go to the moon, none…
Teachers are stressed. A recent survey in British Columbia found that two-thirds of teachers felt “stressed and emotionally exhausted all, or most of the time.” In the United Kingdom, 86% of teachers reported increased workplace stress. In the United States, 40% of teachers quit teaching within five years, leaving schools…
I. A Green New Deal addresses both urban and rural needs Establish a national fund for urban and rural resilience Cities and communities across America need to upgrade their infrastructure now to withstand the effects of climate change, including extreme heat, increased rain and snow, sea level rise, and extreme…
I have spent four months writing about how a group of Olympia carpenters learned to get organized and act as a community of carpenters. I told the story of how building a community .and finding allies created something beyond just the interests of carpenters. In the course of my writing…
Black, 56 year old, former Evergreen student and activist Yvonne McDonald was found by a street sweeper near her home in Olympia on the morning of August 7th, 2018. Yvonne was covered in scratches, cuts and bruises, her clothes were torn, and her shoes and purse were placed eerily beside…
The energy and hunger expressed in the original Women’s March helped to embolden women from outside the establishment to run for office. It helped make them winners at the polls. They brought radical views and a drive to redirect government in favor of the mass of people into state and…
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer Milkweed Editions, 2013 As a scientist and an enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, Robin Kimmerer weaves together stories of indigenous traditions, her experiences as a botanist, professor, mother, and practitioner of crafting and harvesting. And always, she is listening to the living…
WIP wants you to read a book and tell us about it. Last Word Books will supply the book, you supply the eyes and the pen. Here are some suggestions we’d like to see reviewed. Anne Patchet—Baby you’re gonna be mine Richard Powers—Overstory Todd Miller—Storming the Wall: Climate Change, Migration…
Little events, ordinary things, smashed and reconstituted. Suddenly they become the bleached bones of a story —Arundhaty Roy, The God of Small Things The small drop of water from the Bronx You and I know that a small drop of water can sometimes reflect the sun. That is, it has…
We received this communication from a member of the Rural Organizing Project describing a recent occurrence in the small town of Cave Junction, Oregon, which is one of the communities that ROP works with....
Glen’s Parallax Perspectives The February 2019 interview on “Glen’s Parallax Perspectives” series provides insights and examples for different spiritual and conscientious paths people can take throughout their lives that inspire and motivate them to do good work for peace, social justice, and other meaningful purposes. We can make our world…
Amid the hundreds of draft bills that will cross the desks of lawmakers during the 2019 Washington State legislature, there will be a few reflecting the urgent needs, plans and commitments of the immigrant rights movement. These bills don’t suddenly materialize. They represent the hard work and movement building needed…
New Year’s Day saw three spectacular events in space exploration: New Horizons fly-by of Ultima Thule; orbital insertion of NASA’s OSIRIS-Rex space probe at Near earth Asteroid Bennu, and China landed the cutest rover ever on the moon’s rural outback. China had a bountiful year in 2018 with 39 rocket…
Cease interfering in Venezuela’s internal politics
The United States government must cease interfering in Venezuela’s internal politics, especially for the purpose of overthrowing the country’s government. Actions by the Trump administration and its allies in the hemisphere are almost certain to make the situation in Venezuela worse,
For more than a decade, the United States has employed sanctions as a tool to punish the leadership of the Venezuelan government with the aim of forcing regime change in a country that had turned to socialism under Hugo Chavez. Along with mismanagement of the Venezuelan economy and a sharp…
On January 8, rallies expressing solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en people resisting use of their territory for access to a new gas pipeline took place in 30 cities across Canada and internationally. A group led by Canadian musicians on January 21 issued an open letter backing hereditary chiefs fighting against a natural gas pipeline project in British Columbia....
Amphibians for Decolonization The Unist’ot’en are the Big Frog clan of the Wet’suwet’en nation. They defiantly croak at the colonizer’s yoke without reservation. They are hungry for decolonization. We honor their spirited resistance to colonial authority and offer our wholehearted solidarity. That the Canadian government would like to fatten indigenous…
At a recent showing of live animals by the Reptile Zoo, local animal rights activists “came together from different pockets of the community to protest zoos and the lies they spread to children” according to Sady Sparks who coordinated the protest. Sparks co-runs The Evergreen Vegan Club at TESC and…
There are currently five natural gas pipelines proposed or underway across the northern Canada wilderness, headed for LNG projects on the coast. (Plants are also proposed in Tacoma, WA and Coos Bay, OR.) The one crossing Wet’suwet’in territory is part of TransCanada Corp which wants to move the gas to…
Mutual Aid Mondays… Promoting Peace in Palestine… Semicircle reading group… Winona LaDuke… Six Workshops on Nonviolent Organizing… Medicare for all barnstorm…. Lobby Day 2019… Following the Whale’s Tail… Rosa Clemente… more...