Activism Grab-Bag

Wow, we seem to have a grab-bag of activism right now, with everything from immigration to healthcare to the environment. it's all Peace, baby..and it's all love.

Gratitude to the Ventura County Committee to Stop the War for tabling on our behalf at Ventura's ArtWalk and gathering petition signatures for our resolution to the Ojai City Council. if you haven't seen or signed it yet, please do so HERE. (i'll be asking for help to gather more signatures at the Farmer's Market in coming weeks, so look out for that opportunity!)
in Peace,
-evan

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Mother's Day for Peace! (May 4th)

Citizens for Peaceful Resolutions/CPR presents a celebration, discussion, and reaffirmation of Julia Ward Howe's 1870 Mother's Day Peace Proclamation:
"As men have often forsaken the plow and the anvil at the summons of war, let women now leave all that may be left of home for a great and earnest day of counsel. . . to promote the alliance of the different nationalities, the amicable settlement of international questions, the great and general interest of peace."
WHEN: Sunday, May 4 at 3:00 p.m.
WHERE: Foster Library's Topping Room, 651 E. Main St., Ventura, CA
WHO: All people who wish to celebrate their work of nurturing and peacemaking are invited to "take counsel with each other as to the means whereby the great human family can live in peace."
BACKGROUND: Julia Ward Howe, having seen some of the worst effects of the U.S. Civil War and the onset of the Franco-Prussian war, called in 1870 for women to rise up and oppose war in all its forms. Her idea for a Mother's Day for Peace was influenced by Anna Jarvis who worked to reconcile Union and Confederate neighbors. Although she failed to get official recognition for a Mother's Day for Peace, we will reclaim and honor her intent.

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The Future of Transportation (May 10th)

Join CAUSE, COAST and PUEBLO for their second in a series of transportation forums:

The Future of the Central Coast Regional Transportation System
Saturday, May 10, 2008 (National Train Day)

2:00 PM to 3:30 PM
Ruby's Café of Oxnard
348 South Oxnard Blvd.
Oxnard , California
(Just steps from the train station at the Oxnard Transportation Center )

Guest Speakers:
Rick Cole, City Manager, Ventura
Grant House, Councilmember, Santa Barbara
Katherine Perez, Transportation Planner, Southern California Transportation &
Land Use Coalition (SCTLC)
Ron Botoroff, Ventura County Civic Alliance
To RSVP and for more information contact Carmen Ramirez at (805) 658-0810 ext. 213, or at carmen@coastalalliance.com.

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Imagine Whirled Peace (and $10,000!)

Ben and Jerry's is on a quest for Peace Pioneers who are "working to create positive change, inspire others and further the cause of peace and justice", and there's $10,000 involved for the winner's org of choice! Our region is full of talented and passionate leaders of Peace...visit the Peace Pioneer websiteto nominate your favorite! (and consider it a primer for the upcoming OPC Noble Peace Prize nominations, to be awarded in September!)

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Clean Cars on Day One!

from Environment California:
The clean cars program - which would cut global warming pollution from new cars and trucks by 30 percent - would go a long way toward reducing global climate change and saving what's left of the ice shelf. In fact, California and the 12 other states that have adopted the program would combine to cut 400 million tons of global warming pollution from our cars and trucks. With the Bush administration blocking progress at every turn, we're counting on the next president to remove the EPA's roadblock to cleaner cars.
Tell the Presidential candidates to declare clean cars a priority for their potential
administrations HERE.

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McCain: Pay Gap Okay, Women to Blame

from MomsRising.org:
Last week, the Senate failed to pass the Fair Pay Act. What was almost worse than that defeat were the out-of-touch, old-fashioned--and downright insulting--statements about women. Senator McCain, who didn't even come to vote, said that instead of legislation allowing women to demand equal pay, they simply need "education and training."

Lilly Ledbetter, whose Supreme Court case led to the creation of the Fair Pay Act, didn't need "training". She needed Fair Pay. Women today make up 56% of college graduates and nearly half of the labor force in this country. Yet women make only 73 cents to a man's dollar, and
mothers only make 60 cents, for the exact same job.

Sign the petition in support of the Fair Pay Act.And for good measure, send Senator McCain your resume. Our goal is to send him 100,000.

(you can also sign THIS PETITION on the same topic by the Committee for a Democratic Majority if you're feeling especially energetic!)

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Peace and Impeachment: DVDs coming

The Ojai Peace Coalition partnered with Citizens for Impeachment, Integrity Now, VC Stop the War, and others to present

ARE PEACE AND IMPEACHMENT POSSIBLE?
Strategies for Saving our Constitution, Economy, and Environment

featuring Phil Cohen of IVAW and David Swanson of afterdowningstreet.org a couple weeks ago, and it was a dramatic success by all reports! My role was to attend the Ojai City Council meeting held the same evening to inform them of the gathering and that they'd be receiving dvd's of it soon. As soon as said recordings are available, i'll let you know.
email me if you'd like a copy!

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"No Match" Letters Hurt All Workers

from Change to Win:

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) wants to start using the Social Security database as a tool for identifying illegal immigrants.

The problem is that the rule will hurt workers and employers who play by the rules -- the Social Security database is full of errors, and more than 70% of them are in records belonging to legal, native-born American workers!

Tell DHS that the Social Security database is not an appropriate tool for enforcing the immigration laws.

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Want Better Healthcare? Tell Your Story.

from MomsRising.org:
Share your story or commentsabout how important it is to provide healthcare coverage for all kids in California. We will share your comments and pictures to California lawmakers to show them that real families are impacted and care about this issue.

Eat Local, Impeach, and End the War

It's TAX DAY! Do you know how your taxes are being used? Do you know you have options? (Read on!)

Of course, we're always trying to stop this war and prevent the next one, and we understand that it takes a sustained effort to do so. The Administration is about to demand more money for war, so there's a lot of actions about that.

Plus, there's some local stuff to check out. There's a lot to do here, so i'll reiterate my mantra:
Do only what you can. Do only what moves you.
And use the links below this paragraph to jump there without scrolling.

Enjoy!
in Peace,
-evan austin

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CPR presents Nuclear Taxes tonight!

Every April, Citizens for Peaceful Resolutions/CPR calculates Ventura County's tax contribution to the military budget devoted exclusively to nuclear weapons. As the midnight deadline for 2007 IRS income tax returns approaches, we will meet at the Main Post Office in Oxnard to suggest better uses for our tax dollars.

Join us as we consider how we can work toward the abolition of nuclear weapons and spend our hard-earned money for peaceful and productive purposes.

WHERE: Main Post Office, 1961 North C Street, Oxnard

WHEN: Tuesday April 15th from 9pm to the midnight IRS fiing deadline

(our recent war tax resistance & counter-recruitment presentation/discussion went very well! i have educational materials on these topics if you're interested.)

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Stop Wal-Mart, Support Local Businesses!

There is an urgent meeting of Ventura's "Stop Wal-Mart Coalition" on Wednesday April 16th at 7:00pm at Poinsettia Elementary School cafetorium, 350 N. Victoria Ave in Ventura.

Come to learn about the campaign's progress and what you can do to help!

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Ending the War (Requires Constant Pressure!)

With generals admitting there are no solutions in Iraq and the President demanding more money for it, there are plenty of ways to call for an end to this (and future) war:

· Sign on to an open letter to Rep. John Murtha urging Congress to STOP PAYING FOR THE MILITARY OCCUPATION OF IRAQ!

· Become a Citizen-cosponsor of True Majority's "Responsible Plan to End the War in Iraq" [Download the full plan HERE]

· Call Elton Gallegly's office at 1-202-225-5811 and urge him to vote NO on additional war funding and YES on funding of domestic needs.

· Become a regularly-donating Peace Partner to the Campaign for a U.S. Department of Peace!

· Sign the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation's appeal to the next U.S. president, calling for a U.S.-led end to nuclear weapons! [i've already signed us on as an org, but we can still all sign as individuals!]

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Congressional Report Card

How do our representatives in Congress stack up with the values expressed by Citizens for Global Solutions? According to their newest report card, Senators Feinstein and Boxer both received grades of A+, while Representative Gallegly came in with a D.
Check out the report HERE, where you can also download the whole thing as a pdf.

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Senate: Go Digital!

Did you know that the inefficiencies and redundancies of our government - specifically the campaign finance report system - costs taxpayers $250,000 annually...and it can be MONTHS before the public even sees the campaign disclosures!

The "Senate Campaign Disclosure Parity Act" (S. 223) seeks to bring senators into the digital era, save paper and money, and get campaign finance information to the public faster. But someone's trying to block it, of course.

· CALL DIANNE FEINSTEIN at 1-202-224-3841 and urge her to support this bill.
· CALL BARBARA BOXER at 1-202-224-3553 and urge her to support this bill.
· REGISTER YOUR CALLS with Public Citizen so that our Senators' positions can be known!

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Peace and Impeachment

The Ojai Peace Coalition has partnered with Citizens for Impeachment, Integrity Now, VC Stop the War, and others to present

ARE PEACE AND IMPEACHMENT POSSIBLE?
Strategies for Saving our Constitution, Economy, and Environment

WHEN: Tuesday, April 22, 2008 at 5:30pm
WHERE: Ojai Retreat, 160 Besant Road
WHO: David Swanson, co-founder of afterdowningstreet.org and a leading Constitutional Advocate from Washington, D.C.
and
Phil Cohen, local member of Iraq Veterans Against the War
WHAT: Reception begins at 5:30pm with food and drinks, followed by lecture promptly at 7:00pm, and a town-hall open mike beginning at 8:00pm

OUR OPPORTUNITIES:
If you have the energy to support a gathering like this, there are a few ways to contribute:
· prepare a potluck-style dish to bring and share (cookies, salad, etc)
· bring drinks to share
· spread the word to friends, family, coworkers, etc
· come early to help set up
· stay or come late to help clean up
if you can help in any of these ways, PLEASE LET ME KNOW NOW so that i can connect you to the right organizer! THANKS!

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Put Your Activism Where Your Mouth Is

Kristofer and Joanne Young, of Ojai, are planning a locavore project in the Ojai Valley for the entire year of 2009.

A locavore is a person who pays attention to where her/his food comes from and commits to eating local food as much as possible.

We are looking for 100, or more, folks to join us in this adventure.
Our project is called EAT LOCAL ONE YEAR ~ BE THE CHANGE OJAI .
This year-long project will be the subject of a documentary film by Quarter Mile Films, Inc.

Learn more about the project, and see if it rings your bell, at our introductory and discussion meeting on Saturday, May 10th at 7:00 PM at the Young's house in Ojai. This meeting will be filmed.

Register to attend this meeting at: http://groups.google.com/group/eat-local-one-year
by joining the group, or call us at 640-7629.
We look forward to your joyful and cooperative energy!!!
Kris and Jo

Tax Resistance, Counter-Recruitment, and WELCOME!

If this is the first time you've visited the OPC Action Blog, WELCOME! We added 56 new contactsthrough our Not One More! event in Libbey Park a few weekends ago, so there are lots of new friends connected with us now. There is only one action notification today, but usually there are around half a dozen. You never have to do them all, just pick something that resonates with you and go for it!

As a reminder to all: i am VERY protective of your information, and will not give your email address to anyone without your permission. You will receive one email message from me every two weeks on Tuesday, unless we need to stay especially well-connected due to a flurry of action and/or a sense of urgency. i also desire to maintain an openness and sense of personal connection with you, so if you have questions, concerns, ideas, offers to help, warnings, etc...please do email or call to share them. my cell phone number is 805-746-3750.

in Peace,
-evan austin

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War Tax Resistance forum on Saturday!


Up to 54 cents of every dollaryou send to Uncle Sam this tax season will go to the United States military in some way, and yet even as militarism is touted as a solution to the world's ills, we live in a time of unprecedented global unrest. The Ojai Peace Coalition invites you to spend an evening discovering the connections - both personal and collective - between the world's violence and our own hard work, and what nonviolent means are available for resistance.

Joseph Maizlish of Southern California War Tax Resisters and Norman Bauer of the Ventura County Committee to Stop the War will co-present about protesting war through tax resistance and counter-recruitment at a private home in Ojai on Saturday, April 5th, 2008.

Contact me for exact location and time.
This event is FREE, with donations accepted.

(this blurb is posted on the Ojai Post, so if you have public comments or questions about this topic, put 'em there!)