From the open publishing newswire: On April 21 the Corvallis City Council passed a resolution opposing the Bureau of Land Management's Western Oregon Plan Revisions. The draft Plan would increase old growth logging in Western Oregon by 700% and reduce riparian reserves and habitat for endangered species. In March, members of the Coast Range Association and the Benton Forest Coalition presented the resolution to councilors, who referred the measure to the Legislative Committee. After hearing testimony from seven local residents, including a forester, a plant pathologist, and representatives from the American Hiking Society and the Audubon Society, the Legislative Committee returned the resolution to the Council with a stamp of approval.

The City Council voted unanimously to adopt a slightly modified version of the Eugene resolution, originally penned by Josh Laughlin of the Cascadia Wildlands Project. Councilors cited concerns about ecotourism and the impact of proposed increases in logging on BLM lands on adjacent city owned watersheds.

maps of affected forests | Old Growth Giveaways in Oregon's Heritage Forests | background | background and press releases, including video/audio clips

From the open publishing newswire: I attended the march in Olympia on May Day. As I was involved in absolutely no illegal activity on that day, I feel no fear in speaking my mind. I saw everything that happened and was present from the beginning to the end of that day's activities. What I saw inspired, sickened and encouraged me. There were many good things that happened, just as there were many bad things. But most of those bad things were initiated and enacted by the police. I do not wish to give a blow-by-blow recounting of the actions of those involved, given that others have done this already. I wish to ask some questions.

From the open publishing newswire: "BRING THE WAR HOME!"

-Theme of the 1969 Days of Rage
This series on Revolutionaries takes place each Tuesday night for ten weeks. This is the 3rd class. This week we will learn about and discuss the SDS and the Weather Underground. Cathan Zerzan will share her memories & experience of organizing with Eugene SDS.

 http://www.myspace.com/pdxunity

From the open publishing newswire: 5 years ago this morning, many people were mourning the loss of our dear friend Sparrow, aka Carson McCann. We have been mourning him ever since.

But that does not mean we have not put our sorrow into action - and the action began just a few days after his death as you can see in this previous post.

Sparrow is in our thoughts and in our hearts with every day that passes, every precious forest that we hike through, and every sparrow that flies across our path. We love you and miss you Sparrow.

Forest defense community mourns the loss of our friend Sparrowbrfriends of Sparrow announce occupation of Straw Devil timber sale

From the open publishing newswire: Extraordinary women's health advocate, activist, journalist, writer founder of NWHN died Febraury 28. Barbara Seaman, author of "The Doctor's Case Against the Pill" and "The Greatest Experiment Ever Performed on Women" has died. She was 72.

"The Case Against the Pill" resulted in hearings on the risks of birth control pills, and warnings placed on birth control pill packaging. She disclosed the risks of cancer and Hormone Replacement Therapy in "The Greatest Experiment Ever Performed on Women". She compares use of HRT in the US and Europe. In Europe, HRT is treated for a short period of time and women are told to taper off the medication once menopause is over. In the United States it has become a money making industry, with doctor's prescribing long-term, cancer inducing medication to women. Menopause in the US is treated like a disease.

Seaman founded the National Women's Health Network in 1975.
She was a journalist, activist, organizer, mother and grandmother.

To read more about Barbara Seaman go to womensspace.wordpress.com

From the open publishing newswire: That Tuesday, there was no fresh international news. My modest message to the people of Monday, February 18 had no problem being widely circulated. I began to receive news from 11:00 a.m. The previous night I slept like never before. My conscience was at rest and I had promised myself a vacation. The days of tension, with the proximity of February 24, left me exhausted.

Today I shall not say anything about people in Cuba and the world who are close and who expressed their emotions in thousands of different ways. At this point I am dedicating myself to the adversaries. I enjoyed watching the embarrassing position of all the candidates for the United States presidency. One by one they were obliged to announce their immediate demands of Cuba in order not to risk losing a single voter.

Half a century of blockade seemed little enough to the favorites. "Change, change, change!" they cried in unison. I am in agreement, change! but in the United States. Cuba changed a long while ago and will follow its dialectical route. "No return to the past ever!" exclaim our people.

From the open publishing newswire: We arrived at the house to find the front entrance closed with a sign pointing to a "secret" entrance through a side door. We were greeted with a "Welcome to the Monkeywrench Cafe," a DIY menu, and the ambiance of glowing candles and flickering from the fire. Two large rooms were quickly filled with people of all ages, from toddlers to elders. We sat near the fire and sipped tea and hot chocolate waiting for the storytelling to begin.

We listened to a wide range of stories from activists of different ages. Some shared serious opinions on tactics and critical perspectives at the movement's evolution. Some shared light hearted stories of pesky bear encounters while tree-sitting. Sometimes the stories were so hilarious and the tellers were enjoying telling so much that you could hardly hear the story through all the laughter. Two speakers were on the bill for the night, but with impromptu storytellers, we heard from half a dozen folks sharing memories and ideas.

From the open publishing newswire: July 10, 2007 (TurtleIsland). Corbin Harney Spiritual Leader of the Western Shoshone Nation crossed over at 11:00 a.m. this morning in a house on a sacred mountain near Santa Rosa, CA (Turtle Island). He had dedicated his life to fighting the nuclear testing and dumping. That battle claimed his life through cancer.

Before he passed, he said to remember:

"We are one people. We cannot separate ourselves now. There are many good things to be done for our people and for the world. It is important to let things be good. And it is important to teach the younger generation so that things are not lost."

http://shundahai.org/Water_Song.mp3

From the open publishing newswire: The day Kyle and I finished the device, we decided to test-fire it in what we perceived to be a safe location in the nearby area. The location was ideal. It was on a dirt lot away from any property or timber that could be damaged, an area I had practiced target shooting with my bow years prior. It was an area that a lot of local kids, like I had done, visited frequently to light off firecrackers and shoot slingshots without getting into huge trouble or burning something down.

Kyle and I put the launcher into the cab of my Ford Ranger and, followed by my father (who decided to come along to take pictures), headed to the area which was located just down the road from our house. As we pulled into the lot, the ignition switch was touched somehow and the rocket ignited in the truck, filling the cab with smoke, resembling a particular scene from a Cheech & Chong movie. No damage done. At that exact moment, however, a squad car pulled in behind us and turned his lights on.

My truck was searched, the launcher was seized and given over to the State Police. From there, it was handed over to the FBI in Salem. Little did we know, the property I had been visiting for years was newly-acquired airport property. Now it was a matter of National Security.

From the open publishing newswire:

According to the latest read out from You Tube, "28 Seconds: The Killing of Fouad Kaady" has now been downloaded and viewed at least 587 times. If you have not yet done so, now is the time to view it for yourself.

Cat has done a much more thorough job of telling how this young man was murdered by the police than I could ever hope to do. It should be required viewing for anyone who ever hopes to make this world a better place. Of course, if you were fortunate, as I and so many others were, and able to view the film in it's entirety, on a large screen, with a lot of other company, so much the better.

I know that the film will be re screened many times in this area, and you really NEED to see it.

read more >>

28 seconds : The Killing of Fouad Kaady Now On Youtube

In the early afternoon of September 8, 2005, police encountered Fouad Kaady shortly after he was in an accident that left him in shock and bleeding, burned over much of his body. Rather than calling for medical help, the police commanded him to lie on the pavement, even though they could see the burned flesh hanging from his body, and even though they said he appeared to be "in a catatonic state." When he did not comply with their orders, but instead continued to sit on the ground in a daze, they tasered him repeatedly. And then, they shot him to death.

In a report that was typical of the corporate media's response to this killing, Channel 8's ever-mealy-mouthed Kyle Iboshi held up a wad of papers left over from the "investigation" into the death, saying, "you can see how extensive this investigation was." He then commenced to highlight (literally, with a yellow highlighter pen) what he claimed to be the relevant details of the case. Not surprisingly, Iboshi was very selective in what he chose to focus on. He accepted, without question, everything that the PIO had told him to say. He never asked a single question about why two officers might have shot an obviously unarmed man to death. And, he concluded his report by implying that Kaady must have been "on drugs" at the time of the killing, as if that might excuse the officers' behavior.

read more >>

From the open publishing newswire: on april 12, 2002, horehound (beth o'brian) hiked through the snow to a treesit in eagle creek. it had been announced that the sale she was protesting was to be cancelled, but since we can't trust those f'ing bastards to tell the truth, the treesit would stand until the ink had dried on the paperwork.

shortly after ascending, horehound slipped and fell 150 feet. she survived the fall, and died in transit after being airlifted out.

five years in, i still miss her every day... i'm still agonized over the friendship we never got to nurture... i'm still furious that the world is currently constructed in such a way that it's necessary to put lives on the line like this.

From the open publishing newswire: It is with sadness I eulogize Kurt Vonnegut, jr. today. He was an impressive sitting up mud! I used to cut classes in high school, to go sit under a tree and become engrossed in Vonnegut's wonderful novel, "Cat's Cradle." I have used lines from "Cat's Cradle" and "Breakfast of Champions" as life references since the 1970's. Terms such as "karass," "sitting up mud," "bad chemicals," and "Bokononism" have become commonplace in my life, due to my exposure to Vonnegut at an early age. My father gave me "Cat's Cradle" to read, and I handed it to my teenaged son to read as well. I normally do not enjoy fiction, but Vonnegut was an exception for me. I delighted in his plots and twists, all heavily laden with sarcasm and political angst. "Cat's Cradle" is a fictional story about what scientists and their families did the day America dropped the A-Bomb on Japan. I love the dark humor throughout "Cat's Cradle." And the child's game "cat's cradle" has never seemed the same after reading that book! In the book, the father who rarely speaks to his children, walks up to his son and leans into the kid, in a frightening manner, and holding a cat's cradle made of strings in his fingers, says, "See the cat? See the cradle?!" Yes, that in a nutshell, is the madness and beauty of Vonnegut's writing style.

From the open publishing newswire: Today is the fourth anniversary of Rachel Corrie's death, murdered while peacefully standing in defense of a Palestinian home, murdered by an Israeli soldier, murdered with a US-made Caterpillar 'dozer.

It is outrageous that the typical American knows all about Spears & Smith, but nothing of brave & wonderful Rachel Corrie. Olympia remembers. We should all remember, what injustice brings.

I'll be at my best corner in Vancouver today during afternoon rush, with Rachel's picture, a Palestinian flag, & other stuff. I can't do nothing on this sad day. Not much on my part. She gave everything.

Seattle IMC coverage | Boston College Protest Israeli Occupation at US Consulate