There’s a Storm A-Brewing Over Science

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Terry Wechsler wants to share this urgent message with you:

If you haven’t been on Twitter lately, there is a climate science storm brewing there that I think you will want to follow.

Scientists across all federal agencies are furious about gag orders. There are now Alt- and Rogue Twitter pages for the Park Service, EPA, NASA, National Weather Service, and more. Administration for most has been turned over to non-government employees for obvious reasons, but the information is coming from employees. On their own time, of course! [Note: I’m not letting a cat out of the bag here. They’re not hiding what they’re doing. On the contrary. They’re taking reasonable precautions, but their motto is #resist.]

A comprehensive list of the Alt/Rogue Twitter pages can be found at  https://twitter.com/stollmeyereu/lists/twistance/members. It is maintained by an EU reporter from Belgium (!).

There is a planned March on Washington for Science, with sister marches to be coordinated a la the women’s marches.

They are aiming for March. Their FB page is https://www.facebook.com/marchforscience/

It is time for scientists, science enthusiasts, and concerned citizens to come together to make ourselves heard! This is a public page for discussion about a march on Washington by scientists and science enthusiasts in protest of the policies of the United States Congress and President Donald J. Trump.

Their website is http://www.scientistsmarchonwashington.com/ :

What is the Scientists’ March on Washington

Welcome! We want to thank you all for your incredible outpouring of support for this march. We are working to schedule a March for Science on DC and across the United States. We have not settled on a date yet but will do so as quickly as possible and announce it here. Although this will start with a march, we hope to use this as a starting point to take a stand for science in politics. Slashing funding and restricting scientists from communicating their findings (from tax-funded research!) with the public is absurd and cannot be allowed to stand as policy. This is a non-partisan issue that reaches far beyond people in the STEM fields and should concern anyone who values empirical research and science.

Their Twitter page is @ScienceMarchDC.

Using Twitter, if you don’t already, is very similar to FB. You pick which people/groups/news media you want to follow. What is streaming there is remarkable. The agencies’ rogue employees are talking to each other through their Twitter pages. It’s remarkable and exciting and they are scared to death. They need our support!!!!!

Terry

Terry Wechsler
Bellingham, Washington

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Hidden Figures: A Must See for Mothers and Daughters

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5,000+ women marched in Spokane. How many will bring their children to see this story?

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Something We Can All Do: Life Under Trump #4

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Recall professional ethics. When the leaders of state set a negative example, professional commitments to just practice become much more important. It is hard to break a rule-of-law state without lawyers, and it is hard to have show trials without judges.

Black Lens News Fundraiser Limited Seating

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Showing February 21 6 – 8 pm at the Magic Lantern Theater.  To buy tickets click here.

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“How I See It From the Edge”

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How I Saw: Spokane’s 8,000 Women March by Robert Lloyd

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Protester’s sign read stand up! speak up! and these protesters did it this cold Spokane winter day. Some who were lucky made it to inside halls standing and sitting in the warmth and could hear the messages from the Ballroom. Others filled sidewalks for blocks east and west and entertained each other with songs, music, chatter. The Davenport Hotel Coffee and Bar was a hit place to keep warm.

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After the March People Rose Up!

Marchers continued on to the Community Building where they shared chili, soup, music, poetry, speakers, a movie, action tables, creative activities for kids and adults, and began networking to take action.

Something You Can Do                                                    Personal Actions You Can Take

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Something We Can All Do: Life Under Trump #3

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Defend an institution. Follow the courts or the media, or a court or a newspaper. Do not speak of “our institutions” unless you are making them yours by acting on their behalf. Institutions don’t protect themselves. They go down like dominoes unless each is defended from the beginning.

Let’s Commit Ourselves

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Martin Luther King Day Celebration 2017

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OK, we had our celebration with speeches and the march.

Now Let’s Commit Ourselves

Since 2008 news and social media have done nothing but complain about what politicians did and did not do. If they have not accomplished goals and objectives it is no one’s fault but your own.  If you are not satisfied with the 2016 election I suggest that you step up and do something about it.

From the list below, choose the issue you feel needs action,  list the issue and the name of an organization that works on that issue in the comment box below and fill in your contact information. If you do not know of an organization, volunteer to start such an organization. I will pass your contact information on to the appropriated organization. Also I will collate the information everyone contributes and post the results at this site 4comculture.com. To stay aware of current posts at this site in the right hand side bar SUBSCRIBE to receive an email notifying you of new posts (a couple per week).

What Will You Commit To

Protest (Civic Disobedience, Non-violent direct action, Go to jail), Government service, Social justice, Political action, Political parties (Democratic, Republican, Independent, Progressive), Employment (Jobs and training), Housing, Healthy food production, Education (K12, College), Environment (Climate change etc.) Community organizing, Social justice, Community service, Social services, Health and safety, Drug abuse prevention, Community security, Reproductive rights, Hunger, Homelessness, Race relations, Human relations, Art and culture, International affairs, Belief systems (Humanism etc.).

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MLK Week Kicks Off!

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After the showing of the documentary film 13th at Bethel AME Church at 10 am on January 14, across town at the Spokane Public Library PJALS (Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane) sponsored a 5 hour hands on workshop: Love > Hate: Bystander Intervention Training which covered:

Being Resistant to Assertiveness

  1. Self-defense
  2. Continuum of Oppression / Nature of Prejudice
  3. The Spinach in Your Teeth Theory and Overview
  4. Putting Assertiveness into Context
  5. Assertiveness Model & Calling In

My observation as I photographed the workshop was that it was excellent. I thought that the information below that was listed on a wallet sized card was a good tool for it was an excellent tool for using white privilege to intervene in oppressive situations.

Assertiveness Model
Breathe.
Describe the problem or name the problem behavior. “The situation is ______.”
Tell why the behavior is wrong or say how it makes you feel. “That’s not ok because _____.” “I feel ________when you _____.”
State your needs or give a direction. “What I/we need is _____.”
Be firm and persistent.

Practice Assertiveness!

Act like a self-respecting equal: You are! You have a right to your opinions, decisions, and to say NO with no excuses. Be persistent!
Visual: Straighten your spine. Breathe deeply. Make direct eye contact. Take up space.
Vocal: Speak in a firm tone. Don’t end statements with question marks.
Verbal: Think & talk about yourself positively. Don’t self-limit with lead-ups or tags. State your needs. Use “I feel ___.” Clarify. Say what you mean directly.
Support others in solidarity and unity.

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Red Alert! Red Alert!

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MLK Week Kicks Off

On January 14 in a small inland northwest town MLK Week kicked off with the Netflix documentary 13th:

Sandy Williams, publisher of the Black Lens News and Rev. Walter Kendricks president of the Spokane Ministers Fellowship started the week of Martin Luther King Jr. Celebrations with the screening of the Netflix documentary film 13th at Bethel AME Church in Spokane hosted by the Rev. Lonnie Mitchell.

Spokane Washington 2015 Census DataAfter the screening the audience – predominantly white residents of the inland northwest – broke up into small groups for discussion. How did they feel? What did they need to do about it?

  1. I wish all the kids in our school district could see this.
  2. I never heard of the organization ALEC.
  3. I have 4 family members with a total of over 100 years in prison plus one with 3 strikes you’re out.
  4. I think we need political action.
  5. I take Netflix and I have never seen this before.
  6. I worked on both sides of this issue – as a corrections officer on the inside and as a youth counselor on the outside.
  7. The corrections industry is a cesspool.
  8. We need to talk about self responsibility.
  9. Black people need to have serious discussions about race also.
  10. White people need to check out SURJ (Showing Up for Racial Justice). PJALS is starting a SURJ Spokane branch.
  11. Look into  Hope Cafe : Washington State Department of Corrections initiative.
  12. We can send out information to follow up on this meeting.
  13. Subscribe to Black Lens News.
  14. We can join forces with a group started on the west side of the state called Black Prisoners Caucus.
  15. There is a small group that meets the First Thursday of every month at the Rocket Market at 43rd & Scott at 10 am and discusses actions that may be taken to build the community we would like to live in.

As the meeting at Bethel AME was ending a workshop called

Love > Hate: Bystander Intervention Training

was being held by PJALS across town at the Spokane Public Library. This workshop gave hands on experience in how to challenge oppressive statements.

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