March 2013 - Rogue Valley Community Press

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United States GMO patents squeeze small farmers
Postal Service
2013
Suggested
Issue 3
Donation
March
under siege
BY JASON HOUK
In an effort to save money and
accommodate an unfriendly
Congress, the United States
Postal Service (USPS) has
announced a plan to end
some Saturday deliveries.
“Our financial condition is
urgent,” Postmaster General and
CEO Patrick R. Donahoe told a
press conference in February.
Last month, USPS announced
it will stop delivering mail on
Saturdays, but will continue to
disburse packages six days a
week. Mail will still be delivered
to post offices, which are
currently open on Saturdays. The
Saturday cutback is scheduled
to begin the first week of August
2013 and is expected to save
about $2 billion annually.
The USPS is suffering
mainly because of bipartisan
legislation passed by Congress
in 2006 that mandated that the
postal service prepay billions
of dollars of worker retirement
benefits. The USPS has a net
profit every year, and although
it is an independent agency
that receives no tax dollars for
its day-to-day operations, it is
subject to congressional control.
Under Congressional mandate,
the USPS is required to make
annual $5.5 billion payments
over ten years, through 2016.
No other government agency is
required to make such payments
for future medical benefits.
USPS ended their 2012
fiscal year with a record net
loss of $15.9 billion, compared
to a net loss of $5.1 billion for
the same period the previous
year. This loss includes the
expense of $11.1 billion related
to payments to pre-fund
retiree health benefits.
According to a PBS report
by Brianna Lee, “These prepayments are largely responsible
for the USPS’s financial losses
over the past four years and the
threat of shutdown that looms
ahead—take the retirement
fund out of the equation, and
the postal service would have
actually netted $1 billion in
profits over this period.”
The effects of this
Congressional mandate have
been disastrous for folks
dependent on postal services.
The president of the National
Association of Letter Carriers,
Fredric Rolando, agrees that
the plan to end Saturday mail
delivery “is a disastrous idea that
would have a profoundly negative effect on the Postal Service
and on millions of customers.”
Rolando laments that businesses,
rural communities, the elderly,
the disabled and others who
USPS, Page 4
By Kristi Wright
As the GMO debate heats
up in the Rogue Valley,
large agricultural companies
such as Monsanto, with its
patents on popular genetically
modified (GM) crops such
as Roundup Ready soybeans,
have more and more control
over the nation’s seed supply.
The domination of the seed
market by big agribusiness
affects farmers growing GM
and non-GM crops alike.
Some farmers are concerned
that seeds from nearby GM
crops could contaminate their
fields, threatening their organic
certification or making them a
target for a patent infringement
lawsuit. Others worry that it
will become harder to find
non-GM seeds as GM seeds
become even more widespread.
“GMO contamination and
intellectual property laws for
genetically engineered crops
threaten the sustainability of our
local economy and the purity
of our food supply,” says local
farmer Chris Hardy. He is an
organizer and co-petitioner for
GMO Free Jackson County,
a group that is working to
ban the cultivation of GM
crops within the county.
GM crops are a type of
genetically modified organism
(GMO). They’re made using
genetic engineering techniques
that alter a plant’s DNA, giving
it new traits such as the ability
to thrive in different climates,
produce added vitamins
or minerals, or resist pests,
diseases, or herbicides.
Genetic engineering is more
precise than older techniques
such as selective breeding, where
farmers cross two plants with
desirable characteristics, and
mutation breeding, where a
plant is exposed to radiation or
chemicals to encourage genetic
changes. That precision allows
for modifications that would
be difficult or impossible to
make with older techniques.
GMOs have sparked controversy in the United States and
other countries. Those in favor
say that GM crops streamline
agricultural practices and
increase the food supply for
a growing world population.
Those against are concerned
that GM crops negatively
impact the environment and the
long-term health of consumers.
Although other regions such
as the European Union have
Roundup Ready soybeans are genetically modified to resist
weed-killing herbicides. Patented by Monsanto, they account for
94% of soybeans in circulation. Photo via indymedia.us
adopted strict rules for labeling
GM crops and testing them
for safety, the United States
has no such requirements.
So far, grassroots efforts to
require labeling or testing in
the United States have failed.
The GMO controversy is
about more than labeling or
testing: it’s about corporate
control of the seed supply. As
a form of biotechnology, GM
seeds are protected by intellectual property laws, which give
patent holders broad authority to
control how the seeds are used.
One popular GM crop is
the Roundup Ready soybean.
Produced by Monsanto, a large
agricultural company, it’s resistant to the herbicide glyphosate.
It lets farmers spray herbicides
without damaging their crops,
making weed management
relatively cheap and easy.
Introduced in 1996, Roundup
Ready soybeans now account for
94% of soybeans in circulation.
GMO patents, Page 3
And a child shall lead them
The story of Ruby Bridges, racial integration pioneer
By Vanessa Houk
It was the year that John F.
Kennedy was elected President
of the United States. In North
Carolina, a group of students
began a sit-in at a Woolworth’s
lunch counter that would begin
to put an end to racial segregation. On the other side of the
pond, four young English lads
were busy forming a band which
would come to be known as the
Beatles. The war in Vietnam was
heating up. 1960 was a time of
turbulence and great change.
In the fall of that year, a
little girl walked up the steps
of William Frantz Elementary
School in a New Orleans suburb.
Each step forward would bring
the country closer to ending
segregation in public schools
and, in time, would begin to
heal both minds and hearts.
Her name was Ruby Bridges
and she was six years old.
Six years earlier, the
Supreme Court held that racial
segregation in public schools
was unconstitutional under the
equal protection clause of the
Fourteenth Amendment of the
Constitution. That ruling did
not bring immediate justice.
Remembering those early
years in her book Through My
Eyes, Bridges described what
happened at her first elementary
school, which was segregated.
In the late spring of my year
at Johnson Lockett [the all-black
school Ruby attended], the city
school board began testing black
kindergartners. They wanted to
find out which children should be
sent to the white schools. I took
the test. I was only five, and I’m
sure I didn’t have any idea why
I was taking it. Still, I remember
that day. I remember getting
dressed up and riding uptown
on the bus with my mother, and
NAACP came to the house in the
summer. They told my parents
that I was one of just a few black
children to pass the school board
test, and that I had been chosen
to attend one of the white schools,
William Frantz Public School.
They said it was a better school
and closer to my home than the
one I had been attending. They
said I had the right to go to the
closest school in my district. They
pressured my parents and made
a lot of promises. They said my
One by one, students were pulled out of school
as parents refused to allow their children
to attend an integrated school. Outside the
building, the daily mob grew larger and waved
signs with slogans such as “Integration Is
Communism.” The December 12, 1960 issue of
Time Magazine called it “an ecstasy of hatred.”
sitting in an enormous room in
the school board building along
with about a hundred other black
kids, all waiting to be tested.
Apparently the test was difficult,
and I’ve been told that it was
set up so that kids would have
a hard time passing. If all the
black children had failed, the
white school board might have
had a way to keep the schools
segregated for a while longer.
Several people from the
ROgue Valley Community Press
going to William Frantz would
help me, my brothers, my sisters,
and other black children in the
future. We would receive a better
education which would give us
better opportunities as adults.
This decision weighed heavily
on her mother and father and
caused conflict within the
family. At first, fearing for
her safety, her father did not
want to send Ruby to William
Frantz, but her mother’s view
that the school would provide
opportunities for a better future
for their child wore him down
and eventually he came around.
On a mid-November morning,
four federal marshals arrived to
chaperone Ruby and her mother
to William Frantz School.
Enveloped by those federal
marshals, Bridges says she had
no real understanding of the
activity forming outside of
the school that fateful day. It’s
hard to imagine anyone yelling
insults at a six-year-old, but the
crowd hurled horrible words in
her direction. Behind a police
barricade, some pointed fingers
and shook their fists in anger.
The marshals hustled Ruby
inside the school where she sat
in the principal’s office until the
school day was over and the
bell rang. All day long, parents
were rushing in and out of
William Frantz, pulling their
children out of school. Ruby
remembers sitting there waiting
with the buzz of that activity
in the background. “We didn’t
talk to anybody. I remember
watching a big, round clock on
the wall. When it was 3:00 and
time to go home, I was glad.”
Once again, the marshals
protected them from the
angry crowd and drove Ruby
Racial Integration, Page 5
2
Featured
March 2013
Hundreds rally to support health care legislation
By Jason Houk
Around 75 Rogue Valley
residents joined nearly a
thousand health care advocates
from around the state for a rally
at the Oregon State Capitol
Building in Salem at the opening of the legislative session,
demanding that Oregon enact
universal health care legislation.
Southern Oregon residents
made visits to each of their
legislative representatives to
make the case for a system
that would provide health care
access to all Oregon residents.
The rally was organized by
Health Care for all Oregon
(HCAO), a coalition of of
Oregon residents, doctors,
businesses, community
organizations, and political
leaders who are committed
to creating a comprehensive,
equitable health care system.
State Representative Michael
Dembrow of Portland is leading
the struggle by introducing
legislation that will create a
government-funded health
care program that promises to
provide health care coverage
for all Oregonians. Legislative
Concept 1914 and proposed
companion legislation already
has 19 co-sponsors in the state
senate and is gaining support.
“The [speaker] said we don’t
need a fight, but they’re going
to fight us,” said Dembrow
to the crowd. “We don’t
necessarily need to fight back;
we need to organize. Let’s go
forward and organize this state;
everybody in, nobody out.”
Dembrow says a million
votes will be needed to pass
a statewide measure. He
expects millions of dollars
in negative advertising from
groups and industries whose
profits might be threatened
under the proposed system.
In southern Oregon, the
local coalition Health Care
for All Oregon: Rogue Valley
meets regularly to organize
and inform the public through
meetings, house parties, and
a photo petition campaign.
For more information
about the health care legislation and related efforts,
visit www.hcao.org.
We the People Amendment proposed
BY ANDY SELES
On February 11, two members of
the US House of Representatives,
Rick Nolan (D-MN) and Mark
Pocan (D-WI), announced their
sponsorship of a constitutional
amendment to return our nation
to a true democratic republic.
The We the People Amendment
states that rights recognized
under the Constitution belong to
human beings only, not to government-created artificial legal
entities such as corporations and
limited liability companies, and
that political campaign spending
is not a form of speech protected
under the First Amendment.
The amendment is welcomed
by the national Move to Amend
organization and our own local
Move to Amend Jackson County
affiliate as it closely parallels
Move to Amend’s own proposed
amendment to the constitution.
It is important to note that the
proposed amendment includes
all “government-created
artificial legal entities.” This
includes corporations, unions,
trade associations, nonprofits,
and any other legal fictions.
To date, coalitions of nearly
260,000 people and hundreds
of organizations have helped
pass nearly 500 resolutions
in cities and towns across the
nation, asking their states and
the federal government to
adopt an identically or similarly
worded amendment. Cities
in Oregon that have adopted
similar resolutions include
Ashland, Coos Bay, Newport,
Corvallis, Yachats, and Portland.
These resolutions come
in the wake of the Supreme
Court’s ill-advised, hotly
contested 5–4 decision in
the case of Citizens United v.
Federal Election Commission.
In brief, the Court decided that
a corporation is a person with
the right to free speech, and that
spending unlimited amounts
of money to influence political
elections is considered speech.
We saw the impact of that
decision in the last presidential
election cycle. As Fox News
reported, super PACs spent
nearly $629 million to influence
voters. With over $2 billion in
clout during the 2012 cycle,
beating the 2008 cycle by nearly
half a billion, the advent of super
PACs helped set a record for
election spending. 40 million of
the dollars funneled into super
PACs in 2012 were contributed
by just one individual.
In a PBS NewsHour interview
shortly after the Supreme
Court’s Citizens United decision,
Senator John McCain (R-AZ)
said, “We need a level playing
field and we need to get back
to the realization that Teddy
Roosevelt had that we have
to have a limit on the flow of
money, and that corporations are
Amendment, page 4
Demonstrators rally outside the Oregon State Capitol Building to
support universal health care legislation. photo by jason houk
Camping ban proves costly
for California town
By Vanessa Houk
A California superior court
judge ruled that the city of San
Luis Obispo (SLO) must shell
out nearly $134,000 to two
attorneys who sued the city on
behalf of the SLO Homeless
Alliance. In January, attorneys
Stewart Jenkins and Saro Rizzo
challenged 99 citations that were
reduced from misdemeanors
to parking citations after
homeless people were targeted
for sleeping in their cars.
The lawyers maintain that a
city law which prohibits people
from sleeping in their cars is
unconstitutional and that fining
homeless people for sleeping in
their vehicles amounts to the
criminalization of homelessness.
With the court’s ruling, the
city’s costs to settle the lawsuit
jumped to more than $270,000.
Judge Charles Crandall
imposed a preliminary
injunction that halted the city
from issuing new citations.
In the meantime, the court
decided that the city had to
post signs to alert residents to
the camping law, dismiss any
older criminal cases which
resulted from the old ordinance,
and take a different approach
to enforcement of the law.
Judge Crandall said that the
attorneys acted in the public’s
interest. He wrote, “General
doctrine makes it clear that
attorneys in the community
who take on important public
interest litigation, with no
guarantee of receiving a penny
unless they win, are to be
paid adequate compensation
for their services if they
achieve significant results.”
Climate concerns inspire local and national action
By Jason Houk
Hundreds of local climate
change activists, indigenous
leaders, concerned citizens,
and engaged youth gathered
for a day of action, speakers
and music to show solidarity
and bring awareness of global
environmental threats as well as
the impact of projects like the
Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.
“Climate change is real and
we can take steps to address
it,” said State Representative
Peter Buckley, who attended the
event. “We can take action.”
Buckley was among the
elected officials and environmental organizations on hand
to listen to concerns on climate
change and discuss ideas for
local and national change.
“It is possible to take action
at the local level that makes
an impact,” said Buckley.
This day of action was
the culmination of weeks of
organizing by members of
Southern Oregon Climate
Action Network (SOCAN) and
student organizers. SOCAN is a
grassroots organization based in
the Rogue Valley that is committed to spreading awareness
about climate change and taking
local action with other regional
and national organizations.
Students, community groups
and individuals were invited
to create colorful tiles to make
the shape of a 120-foot salmon.
Participants were encouraged to
think about what is important
to them when creating the tiles.
The tiles will now be sent “far
and wide” as part of a nationwide network to help create
awareness and conversation.
The February 17 event was
held in solidarity with the
“Forward on Climate” nation
day of action. On that day, tens
of thousands rallied on the
National Mall in Washington,
DC for what is called the
largest climate rally in US
history. Organizers hope the
mobilization will persuade
President Obama to reject the
controversial oil pipeline and
commit the US to binding limits
on greenhouse gas emissions.
At the DC rally, speakers
portrayed the battle over the
pipeline as a struggle between
green grassroots groups and
deep-pocketed special interests.
“They’ve got the lobbyists.
They’ve got the super PACs.
They made the campaign
contributions. They’ve got this
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Rogue Valley Community Press
town in their pockets—they
have got the situation under
control. And then you show
up. And then we show up. And
we change the game,” Senator
Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) told
the crowd not long before they
marched on the White House.
In southern Oregon, community members continue to
organize. The next SOCAN
general meeting will be on
March 19th at the Medford
Library from 6:30–8:30 PM.
For more information
about SOCAN, visit their
website at www.soclimate.org
or find them on Facebook.
March 2013
Rogue Valley Community Press
3
Analysis
Why organized labor must stand against the Keystone XL Pipeline
BY MARK VORPAHL
VIA PORTLAND IMC
Editor’s note: this article was
written before the February 17
rally. It has been edited for length.
Spurred by real urgency over
the corporate-driven ruin of
the environment, a growing
social movement is taking
shape. On February 17, tens
of thousands will descend on
the streets of Washington,
DC in a show of power titled
“Forward on Climate.”
What is galvanizing these
forces? The proposed Keystone
XL Pipeline, to be built by
TransCanada, which would
carry crude oil extracted from
the tar sands in Alberta, Canada
some 2,000 miles south to the
Gulf of Mexico for export.
What is the outcome hoped
for by those who will attend?
That President Obama will
reject the project, finally and
definitively, when it comes up
for his approval this winter.
Protests, blockades, arrests,
and disruptions of the pipeline’s
construction have been ongoing
by activists and landowners
in East Texas since last summer. Now, the “Forward on
Climate” rally marks a huge
step forward. This is not your
GMO patents
Continued from page 1
Because Monsanto has
patented the Roundup Ready
soybean, farmers who purchase
seeds from the company must
sign a licensing agreement. They
agree to use the seeds for only
one season, to not give the seeds
to anyone else for planting, to
not save second-generation
seeds for replanting, and to not
use or distribute the seeds for
breeding or research purposes.
Traditionally, farmers save
seeds from a harvest for replanting, which saves them the cost
of buying new seeds and reduces
their dependence on seed
vendors. Monsanto’s prohibition
on replanting is designed to stop
this practice, creating a steady
stream of revenue from farmers
who must purchase seeds from
the company every year.
Under the licensing agreement, farmers are allowed to
sell second-generation seeds
to local grain elevators, where
GM and non-GM seeds are
mixed and sold in bulk without
restriction. With the popularity
of GM seeds, this practice
makes it harder for farmers
to avoid purchasing GMOs.
Monsanto takes what it calls
“seed piracy” very seriously,
investigating about 500 farmers each year for suspected
infractions. The Center for
Food Safety reports that by
January 2010, Monsanto had
filed 136 lawsuits against
typical environmental protest.
Rather, the potential
consequences of the XL
Pipeline’s operations are global
and catastrophic because of
climate change. And that’s
why organized labor needs to
stand up now in an alliance
that has the power to defeat it.
Getting perspective
To get some perspective
on what is happening to the
climate, let’s look at some data.
According to scientists, the
average temperature of the
planet has already risen just
under 0.8°C (1.4°F) since 1880.
The last two decades of the 20th
century were the hottest in 400
years and, according to a number of climate studies, possibly in
several millennia. The ten warmest years on record have happened in the last fifteen years.
According to the Global and
Environment Institute at Tufts
University, extreme heat waves
have been steadily rising over
the last 50 to 100 years. They
are now happening at a rate
two to four times greater and
are projected to escalate to vast
extremes over the next 40 years.
The annual number of
hurricanes has been escalating.
There were an average of 3.5
hurricanes a year between
farmers for alleged violations
of its licensing agreement. The
lawsuits involved 400 farmers
and 53 farms in 27 states.
Of the 136 lawsuits, the
vast majority were settled in
Monsanto’s favor. 70 ended in
recorded judgments against
farmers totaling more than
$23 million, with an average
judgment of just over $170,000.
26 ended in judgements against
farmers of undisclosed amounts.
Thirteen lawsuits were dismissed
and nine were ongoing.
Monsanto representatives
argue that litigation is necessary
to protect the company’s
profitability and, by extension, its ability to create new
biotechnology. The company’s
profitability does not appear
to be in danger. Forbes reports
that for fiscal year 2011 – 2012,
Monsanto earned $2 billion on
$13.5 billion in sales, despite
Q4 losses from one of the worst
droughts since the Dust Bowl.
Here’s where things get sticky.
A farmer can violate Monsanto’s
licensing agreement without
ever intending to plant GM
seeds. Wind or wildlife can carry
seeds into the fields of neighboring farms, where they grow
among non-GM crops without
the farmer knowing. This is
called GM contamination.
Some farmers are worried
they could be sued for patent
infringement if GM seeds contaminate their fields. Expensive
legal fees make it difficult to
defend against a lawsuit, and if
a court orders a farmer to pay
monetary damages, the financial
Hundreds of southern Oregonians gathered in solidarity with the national day of action to bring attention
to the environmental threat of projects such as the Keystone XL Pipeline. Photo by Rory Finney
1905 and 1930. Between
1995 and 2005, this number
increased to an average of 8.4.
Globally, the atmosphere over
the oceans is 5% percent wetter,
setting the stage for massive
floods. Rapidly melting Arctic
ice and glaciers will lead to the
submerging of coastal cities and
islands due to rising sea levels.
According to Fatih Birol of
the International Energy Agency,
after examining the rise of carbon emissions: “When I look at
this data, the trend is perfectly in
line with a temperature increase
of about 6°C (11°F) by 2100.
Considering the consequences
we are already experiencing
with a 1.4°F rise in average
temperature, an increase of 11°F
could transform the planet to
such a degree that it would put
the survival of most species,
including humanity, in peril.
results can be devastating.
The possibility of GM
contamination is especially
troublesome for organic
farmers. If contamination is
discovered, organic farms can
lose their government-issued
organic certification as well as
the premium price tag that goes
with it. This doesn’t just apply to
crops: GMOs in animal feed can
contaminate organic meat, too.
“We have farmers under
threat of losing their livelihoods
because of multinational corporations here in the Rogue Valley
growing genetically engineered
crops,” says Chris Hardy of
GMO Free Jackson County.
So far, farmers’ attempts
to protect themselves from
wrongful lawsuits due to GM
contamination have been
unsuccessful. In the case of
Organic Seed Growers & Trade
Association, et al. v. Monsanto,
a class-action lawsuit was filed
on behalf of 270,000 farmers
representing about 60 farms,
seed businesses, and organic
agricultural organizations.
Although none had experienced
GM contamination, they wanted
protection from being sued if
contamination occurred. In
2012, a district court judge
dismissed the lawsuit, finding
the farmers’ concerns unreasonable. The case is being appealed.
Contamination isn’t the
only GMO issue in the courts.
Vernon Hugh Bowman, a farmer
from Indiana, is challenging
Monsanto’s prohibition on
replanting. Bowman argues
that Monsanto should not
be able to control what
farmers do with seeds after
they are legally purchased.
As a loyal customer of
Monsanto, Bowman bought
Roundup Ready seeds every year
for the primary growing season.
Each year, he would attempt a
second, riskier harvest using
cheap seeds he had purchased
from a local grain elevator,
which were also Roundup Ready.
Although he did not save the
descendants of seeds purchased
from Monsanto, he did save the
descendants of seeds purchased
from the grain elevator.
When Monsanto found
out about Bowman’s second
harvest, the company sued for
patent infringement. A federal
judge ordered Bowman to
pay $84,000 in damages, and
an appeals court agreed.
The Supreme Court will
hear Bowman v. Monsanto
in April. Their verdict will
determine whether patent
rights apply to self-replicating
technologies such as seeds
beyond their first generation.
How will the operations of
the Keystone XL Pipeline
affect this trend?
The Alberta tar sands
contain enough carbon to
raise carbon emissions in the
atmosphere by more than
half of their current level.
In the words of NASA leading
climatologist James Hansen: “If
the tar sands are thrown into
the mix, it is essentially game
over for the climate. There is
no practical way to capture
CO2 while burning oil.”
The world’s top five oil
companies have made more
than $1 trillion in profits since
the turn of the century. This
money buys influence, steering
national policies and international relations towards the goal
of their further enrichment.
This influence runs into sharp
conflict with what is needed to
prevent a global catastrophe.
XL Pipeline, Page 4
As litigation continues, activists are working to ban GMOs
at the local level. Members of
GMO Free Jackson County
collected more than 6,600 signatures supporting a measure to
ban the cultivation of GM crops.
Measure 15-119 will be on the
ballot in May 2014. Members of
GMO Free Josephine County are
working on a similar initiative.
To learn more about GMO
Free Jackson County, visit www.
gmofreejacksoncounty.org. For
more on GMO Free Josephine
County, find them on Facebook.
Kristi Wright is the managing
editor of the Rogue Valley
Community Press and an
advocate for social justice. She
is the founder and creative
director of Collective Flare, a
media agency that helps community-minded organizations
achieve their goals through
strategic marketing, graphic
design, website development,
writing, and editing. Email her at
[email protected].
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4
USPS
Continued from page 1
depend on Saturday delivery for
commerce and communication
will suffer from these cuts.
In recent years, the Postal
Service has been forced to cut
costs by eliminating 193,000
jobs and consolidating 200
mail processing centers.
Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley
understands the critical role of
rural post offices. He fights to
Amendment
Continued from page 2
not people. That’s why we have
different laws that govern corporations than govern individual
citizens. And so to say that
corporations are people, again,
flies in the face of all traditional
Supreme Court decisions […]
that have been made in the past.”
Representative Rick Nolan,
one of the amendment sponsors, said, “It’s time to take
the shaping and molding of
public policy out of corporate
boardrooms, away from the
corporate lobbyists, and put
it back in city halls—back
XL Pipeline
Continued from page 3
With all the oil, coal and gas that
is available, 80% would have to
be left in the ground to keep the
temperature from rising above
an extra 2°C. That translates into
$20 trillion in big energy’s assets.
Corporate profit rather than
human need is the impersonal
force of this system. If this force
is to be stopped, it will take a
social movement of those who
are the primary victims, that
is, the majority of humanity.
And it will take a movement
led by working people who
can issue the challenge: that if
those in charge of the economy
don’t find a way to reverse
course, it will be us who take
control and get the job done.
Analysis
March 2013
preserve postal services. “The US
Postal Service is an essential part
of the fabric of life in Oregon,
especially for seniors, small
businesses, and small towns. […]
Stopping Saturday mail would be
a mistake. It would cost jobs, cut
services and hurt Oregon’s voteby-mail system. Congress should
quickly return to the bipartisan
framework from last year. I
will keep fighting to protect
Oregon’s post offices and make
sure Oregonians are getting the
service they rely on,” he said.
Merkley has joined Oregon
Senator Ron Wyden and
22 other senators who are
challenging the postmaster
general’s authority to discontinue Saturday mail delivery
without congressional approval.
In a letter to the Postmaster
General Donahoe, the senators
acknowledge the financial challenges the USPS is facing and
urge him to work with Congress
to address these problems
through bipartisan reform.
They also point out that a
shift to five-day service could
lead to further declines in
mail volume and revenues,
and that such a move will
impact 70,000 jobs and
negatively affect the rural
communities they represent.
“With the national unemployment rate at 7.8%, moving to
five-day delivery will hurt middle-class families,” the letter said.
Postal authorities had hoped
Congress would address the
issue last year, but lawmakers
finished their session without
getting it done. Officials are
moving ahead to accelerate
their own plan for cost-cutting.
with county boards and state
legislatures—and back in the
Congress where it belongs.”
A majority of Americans
agree. A poll conducted last
year by ABC News and the
Washington Post showed
that over two-thirds of
respondents and 69% of Tea
Party supporters thought that
super PACs should be illegal.
An April 2012 survey by the
Opinion Research Corporation
found that 69% of Americans
agree that “new rules that let
corporations, unions and people
give unlimited money to Super
PACs will lead to corruption.”
As a result of the Citizens
United decision, a majority of
Americans are rightly concerned
that unlimited money poured
into super PACs by powerful
interests could successfully
pressure an elected official to
change a vote on proposed
legislation. Over time, this
could become institutionalized,
resulting in quid pro quo
“understandings” (i.e. favors
in return for money). It would
be impossible to uncover and
prosecute those who give money
to obtain legislative favors, or to
prove that a retiring legislator
has received a plush job with a
corporation because of earlier
political favors. In the dissenting opinion for the Citizens
United decision, Justice John
Paul Stevens agrees. He writes,
“The Court’s ruling threatens
to undermine the integrity of
elected institutions across the
nation. The path it has taken to
reach its outcome will, I fear,
do damage to this institution.”
Regardless of the outcome
of this proposed constitutional amendment, our local
transpartisan Move to Amend
Jackson County affiliate will
continue efforts to inform the
citizens of Jackson County on
the horrendous ramifications of
the Citizens United decision.
To find out more, visit www.
movetoamendjacksoncounty.org.
Where does labor stand?
In the US, unions are the
primary organizations to defend
and promote the interests
of workers. Consequently,
the role of labor in opposing
the Keystone XL Pipeline
is an issue of paramount
importance towards developing the popular strength
to make a decisive impact.
Where do the unions stand
now? AFL-CIO President
Richard Trumka stated at the
UN Investor Summit on Climate
Risk, “The AFL-CIO has not
taken a position on the Keystone
pipeline because unions don’t
agree among ourselves.”
It is extremely rare for
someone in Trumka’s position
to comment on such a division.
As disappointing as this situation might be for many, it is
evidence of a needed dialogue
taking place within labor’s
leading bodies, and of equal
importance, among the working
members and labor’s allies.
caught in a false choice between
supporting job creation or
promoting environmental
health. A report by Blue Green
Canada, an alliance of labor,
environmental, and civil rights
groups, found that “if the $1.3
billion in government subsidies
now given to the oil and gas
sector were instead invested in
renewable energy and energy
efficiency, Canada would create
more jobs: 18,000 more.”
The same is true in the US.
Energy efficiency retrofitting of
buildings and the development
of renewable energy are “shovel-ready jobs” that, if pursued
on the necessary scale, could
provide full employment.
The main obstacle standing in
the way of such a program is the
argument that it cannot be done
by the private sector because
there’s not enough profit in it. A
publicly funded program would
be required, like a modern day
Work Projects Administration
(WPA) of the 1930s New Deal
era, only on a grander scale.
One way of funding such a
program would be with a carbon
tax. It could act as a fee on the
production, distribution, and
industrial use of fossil fuels
based on how much carbon their
combustion emits. It should be
aimed exclusively at big business. If this is combined with
Isolating themselves
The problem with the
approach of unions that support
the pipeline is not simply that
they have the facts wrong in
regards to how many jobs the
XL Pipeline will create. Clearly,
the effects of climate change and
the XL Pipeline’s contribution
to it should be of tremendous
concern to all workers, including
the members of these unions.
By prioritizing their members’ short-term interests above
the interests of all others, the
union pipeline supporters are
putting themselves at odds with
the health of working-class
communities in general,
popular consciousness, and
scientific consensus. They
are isolating themselves.
If they continue to hold this
line, it will likely result in diminishing public support for their
contract fights and less leverage
to use against their employers.
They are acting against their
membership’s long-term
interests and weakening their
union’s ability to fight against
their employers’ greed and win.
A false choice
These union leaders are
Rogue Valley Community Press
Congress and USPS officials
have until summer to act
to save Saturday service.
Jason Houk is an organizer
with Southern Oregon Jobs with
Justice, news director of KSKQ
89.5 FM, and the publisher of
the Rogue Valley Community
Press. Email him at jason@
rvcommunitypress.com.
Andy Seles is a member of Move
to Amend Jackson County.
scientifically-based regulation
and community oversight, as
well as the subsidizing of green
energy alternatives, it could go a
long way towards transforming
our current energy system into
a more sustainable model.
February 17 may be remembered as a significant point in
the evolution of such a powerful
force. If President Obama rejects
the XL Pipeline, that would
be a significant victory for
those who have hit the streets
in the interests of humanity.
Regardless of the potential
outcome, those organizing
around the issue of climate
change can only rely on their
own collective efforts. At best,
the two main political parties
in the US can only deliver
too little too late because of
their dependence on financial
contributions from big business.
Consequently, the “Forward
on Climate” movement needs
to build its power broadly by
connecting and highlighting the
issues of stopping climate change
and providing full employment
with a Green New Deal.
Mark Vorpahl is a union
steward, social justice activist
and a writer for Workers
Action and Occupy.com.
March 2013
Rogue Valley Community Press
5
Life
Racial integration
Continued from page 1
and her mother home. Thus,
on the first day of integrated
schools, Ruby wasn’t even
sitting in a classroom.
Young people crowd the
photos from that day. Boys
with crewcuts wearing crisp
button-down dress shirts
are screaming and pointing
while some hold signs and
Confederate flags. Their animated faces stand as a barometer
of the racial tensions that brewed
that day. Young women are
peppered throughout the
crowd, their ponytails bouncing
in the breeze, wearing long
skirts and angry expressions.
“Many of the boys carried
signs and said awful things, but
most of all I remember seeing
a black doll in a coffin, which
frightened me more than anything else,” Ruby remembered.
The next day, the marshals
again drove Ruby and her
mother to school. As they
arrived at William Frantz, the
crowd spewed hate speech
across the schoolyard. “Go
home, nigger,” they yelled, those
sordid words echoing across the
decades, not to be minimized
or forgotten. That abhorrent
reception was only softened
by Ruby’s introduction to her
teacher, Mrs. Henry. For the
rest of her first grade education,
Ruby was the only student in
Mrs. Henry’s classroom.
From January to May 1961,
Ruby was the only student
attending William Frantz. One
by one, students were pulled out
of school as parents refused to
allow their children to attend an
integrated school. Outside the
building, the daily mob grew
larger and waved signs with
slogans such as “Integration Is
Communism.” The December
12, 1960 issue of Time Magazine
called it “an ecstasy of hatred.”
In the middle of all of that
darkness, small kindnesses
carried Ruby’s family through,
whether it was a neighbor who
offered her father a muchneeded job or the supportive
letters that arrived from all over
the country. Those acts helped
sustain her family as they tried
to hold steadfast to the belief
that they were doing the right
thing. Showing great courage,
Ruby arrived at the school
each day and marched past the
protesters toward her education.
By the end of the school
year, things quieted down. In
the fall of 1961, Ruby entered
second grade at William Frantz
in a classroom with her peers.
She grew up, worked as a travel
agent for fifteen years and
started a family of her own.
Today, a chain link fence
scaled with barbed wire snakes
around the edges of William
Frantz Elementary School.
Within the building, the echoes
of children’s voices no longer
fill the hallways. The inside of
the school was gutted, as was
Winter shelter
helps homeless
community
members
BY JOHN WIECZOREK
Angry demonstrators protest at William Frantz Elementary School.
American painter Norman Rockwell used images like this one to
capture the feeling of New Orleans school integration in his painting
“The Problem We All Live With.” photo via library of congress
the fate of homes and buildings
in the Upper Ninth Ward after
Hurricane Katrina struck in
2005. Against the stately old
brick building lay broken
windows, their jagged edges
a reminder of the economic
devastation left in the aftermath
of the storm. What once
occupied the nation’s attention
and became a symbol of the
struggle for racial equality
now silently holds space as a
reminder of economic disparity.
The Ruby Bridges Foundation
was created to foster racial
healing and promote racial
equity both locally and nationally. Members are working on an
effort to restore William Frantz
School and create a charter
school inside the building that
will “educate leaders for the 21st
century who are committed
to social justice, community
service, equality, racial healing,
and nonviolence.” For more
information, visit www.
rubybridgesfoundation.org.
Passionate about social and
economic justice, Vanessa Houk
is dedicated to chronicling the
struggles of labor and civil
rights. She is editor-in-chief of
the Rogue Valley Community
Press. Email her at vanessa@
rvcommunitypress.com.
Listening Post offers compassionate, confidential support
By Sara Hopkins Powell
“The Listening Post is Open.”
You may have seen this sign at
Uncle Food’s Diner or at the
Ashland Library and wondered
what it is. We are a group of
trained volunteers who listen
to your story with compassion,
respect and confidentiality.
We listen to stories of longing,
regret, bad choices, good
decisions, what makes people
happy and what brings them
joy, what brought them to the
Rogue Valley and what keeps
them here. Whatever is going
on in your life, we will listen.
We are not therapists or
counselors. We won’t give you
advice, or suggest how you
should solve a problem or refer
you to services. We never share
your story with anyone else. We
don’t preach or try to impose
any beliefs. What we do is offer
the hospitality of presence.
Think of the last time
someone really listened to you.
What did it feel like? What did
the person do so that you knew
they were listening? Did they
make eye contact, sit in a relaxed
way, and seem to be non-judgmental? So often in our culture,
people don’t listen to each other.
We listen halfway thinking of
how to defend our position,
offer advice, to set people
and we will hold the space for
them. There are times when people have asked us to pray with
them and we will. We may start
with a little conversation, but
our intention is to speak less and
move into silence and presence.
We have listened to people
from six to 90 years of age. We
have listened to people who are
focused and those who struggle
Think of the last time someone really listened
to you. What did it feel like? What did the person do so that you knew they were listening?
straight. We don’t listen with
compassion for the other person.
Our volunteers are trained to
listen with compassion and to
be present when people want to
tell their stories. We believe that
when our guests can hear their
own truth, they often know what
to do or have clarity about the
next step. There are times when
people just want to sit quietly
with the visions they have. We
listen to people who have a
well-developed theology and
those who are struggling to find
meaning in their lives. We listen
to people who feel isolated or
those who are concerned about
a decision they need to make,
a relationship they should stay
with or leave, the joy of feeling
better or the challenge of an
illness. You can come to our
listeners often or just once.
Some people ask how we
know what the outcome of
listening is. Are people healthier,
happier, or more full of joy?
The truth is that we don’t know.
We know that humans want
connections, want to feel part
of something and want to be
valued. We hope to provide
that at the Listening Post.
We listen Mondays from
10:00–12:00 and Wednesdays
from 3:00–5:00 at the Ashland
Library in the study room
upstairs. We listen Tuesdays
at Uncle Food’s Diner at the
United Methodist Church
from 3:30–5:30. Come and
talk with us. We look forward
to hearing your story.
Sara Hopkins Powell is a
co-founder of the Listening
Post. She lives in Ashland.
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businesses, advertise with the Rogue Valley Community Press. We offer a variety of ad sizes
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Find us online at rvcommunitypress.com
With cooperation and determination, a faith-based coalition
has partnered with the City
of Ashland to provide winter
shelter for homeless people
on Thursday nights at Pioneer
Hall. Doors open at 7:30 PM.
It all began last summer
when the City of Ashland’s
Homelessness Steering
Committee invited members of
the faith community to discuss
how to address the needs of
homeless community members.
Trinity Episcopal Church
agreed to provide shelter on
Wednesday nights, adding to
the First Presbyterian Church’s
existing Monday night shelter.
Determined to provide
more shelter nights, the Social
Justice and Action Committee
of the Rogue Valley Unitarian
Universalist Fellowship
(RVUUF) went to work.
Reverend Leslie Becknell Marx
of RVUUF and Rabbi Joshua
Boettiger of Temple Emek
Shalom were key figures in
convincing the City of Ashland
to open Pioneer Hall, with
trained volunteers provided by
the faith-based coalition. With
guidance from the Homelessness
Steering Committee and the
newly formed nonprofit Options
for Homeless Residents of
Ashland (OHRA), 50 volunteers
showed up for training.
At the shelter, we are
serving 8–14 guests per night.
Approximately 80% are male.
One of the things I take with me
is the gratitude expressed by the
guests for having a warm, safe
place to sleep. Hearing people
tell stories of their journeys and
listening to them share their
musical talents lends insight
into the humanity of all.
Contributions of food,
blankets and pads have
arrived from throughout the
community. Pots of chicken
soup and veggie stew magically
appear. It really recharges the
batteries of those who endured
all day in the cold and snow.
Lacking consistent sleep
takes a toll on the human
psyche. Being on your feet
most of the day takes a toll
on the body. Imagine waking
in a different place every day,
opening your eyes to not-sopleasant conditions. Each day is
accompanied by the confusion
and uncertainty of not knowing
where you are. Now, with three
nights of shelter available in
Ashland, some of this fear and
confusion is replaced with deep
appreciation. Waking to a warm,
safe environment takes the edge
off the daily challenges of not
Shelter, Page 6
6
Life
March 2013
“Memories of our lives, of our works and our deeds will continue in others.” —Rosa Parks, civil rights activist
Today you, tomorrow me
BY RHONER
I’ve had three instances of
car trouble this past year: a
blowout on a freeway, a bunch
of blown fuses, and an out-ofgas situation. All of them were
while driving other people’s cars
which, for some reason, makes
it worse on an emotional level.
It makes it worse on a practical
level as well, what with the fact
that I carry things like a jack
and extra fuses in my car, and
know enough not to park facing
downhill on a steep incline
with less than a gallon of fuel.
Each time this happened, I
was disgusted with how people
would not bother to help me. I
spent hours on the side of the
freeway waiting for AAA to
show up and watching roadside
assistance vehicles blow past me.
The four gas stations I asked for
a gas can at told me that they
couldn’t loan them out “for my
safety,” but I could buy a really
crappy one-gallon can with
no cap for $15. It was enough,
each time, to make a person
say things like, “this country is
going to hell in a handbasket.”
Do you know who came
to my rescue all three times?
Mexican immigrants. None of
them spoke a lick of English,
but one of those dudes had
a profound affect on me. He
stopped to help me with a
blowout with his family of six
in tow. I was on the side of the
road for close to four hours.
Big Jeep, blown rear tire, had a
spare but no jack. Right as I am
about to give up and hitch out
of there a van pulls over and this
dude bounds out. He calls for his
youngest daughter who speaks
Shelter
Continued from page 2
having a place to call home.
Volunteers are responding
to the call for help. On one
memorable night, a volunteer
named Patrice washed the feet of
ten guests. Consider volunteering. If you can’t stay the night,
English. He conveys through
her that he has a jack but it is
too small for the Jeep so we will
need to brace it. He produces a
saw from the van and cuts a log
out of a downed tree on the side
of the road. We rolled it over,
put his jack on top, and bam, in
business. I start taking the wheel
off and, if you can believe it, I
broke his tire iron. It was one
of those collapsible ones and
I wasn’t careful and I snapped
the head I needed clean off.
No worries. He runs to the
van, gives it to his wife and she
is gone in a flash, down the road
to buy a tire iron. She is back in
fifteen minutes. We finish the job
with a little sweat and cursing
(stupid log was starting to give)
and I am a very happy man. We
are both filthy and sweaty. The
wife produces a large water jug
for us to wash our hands in. I
tried to put $20 in the man’s
hand, but he wouldn’t take it,
so instead I gave it to his wife
as quietly as I could. I thanked
them up one side and down the
other. I asked the little girl where
they lived, thinking maybe I
could send them a gift for being
so awesome. She says they live
in Mexico. They are here so
Mommy and Daddy can pick
peaches for the next few weeks.
After that they are going to pick
cherries then go back home.
She asks if I have had lunch and
when I told her no she gave me a
tamale from their cooler. It was
the best tamale I have ever had.
So, to clarify, a family that is
undoubtedly poorer than you,
me, and just about everyone else
on that stretch of road, working
on a seasonal basis where time
is money, took an hour or two
out of their day to help some
strange dude on the side of the
road when people in tow trucks
were just passing me by. Wow…
But we aren’t done yet. I
thank them again and walk
back to my car and open the
foil on the tamale because I
am starving at this point, and
what do I find inside? My $20
bill! I whirl around and run up
to the van and the guy rolls his
window down. He sees the $20
in my hand and just shakes his
head no, like he won’t take it.
All I can think to say is “por
favor, por favor, por favor” with
my hands out. The dude just
smiles, shakes his head and,
with what looked like great
concentration, tried his hardest
to speak to me in English:
“Today you… tomorrow me.”
He rolled up his window and
drove away, his daughter waving
to me in the rear view. I sat in
my car eating the best tamale
of all time and I just cried like
a little girl. It has been a rough
year and nothing has broke
me like this. This was so out of
left field I just couldn’t deal.
In the five months since
this happened, I have changed
a couple of tires, given a few
rides to gas stations ,and once
went 50 miles out of my way
to get a girl to an airport. I
won’t accept money. Every
time I tell them the same
thing when we are through:
“Today you… tomorrow me.”
consider helping by welcoming
guests, sweeping floors, cleaning
counters, folding blankets, or
taking out the trash. Together,
we can make a difference
by caring for each other.
More work remains to assist
those challenged by the reality of
homelessness. I am on the board
of OHRA, a nonprofit with a
mission to alleviate the suffering
of those who are homeless,
to help transition the willing
and able out of homelessness,
and to prevent homelessness.
Look for updates as OHRA
works to fulfill this mission.
This article was originally
posted as a comment on
the website Reddit. It was
reprinted with permission.
John Wieczorek is vice president
of the board of directors for
OHRA and is a member of
the RVUUF Social Justice
and Action Committee.
RVCP mission and editorial policy
The Rogue Valley Community Press (RVCP) is
your source for social justice news. We don’t
pretend to hide our biases: RVCP is a publication
for the working class and a platform for voices
in the community that are not often heard.
Our goal is to educate the masses about
social justice issues. We strive to reach as many
people as possible, regardless of economic
status or political affiliation. We look for articles
that have a clear message and are succinct.
We aspire to promote positive change.
It’s not enough to point out problems and
shortcomings in our world—we want to
know what we can do to change it. When
possible, give us a call to action or a solution.
We hope to create income opportunities
for people experiencing poverty and homelessness by building a vendor program similar
to those established by Street Roots and other
street newspapers across the country.
Most importantly, we strive to do no
harm. We will not publish articles that we
consider to be libelous, racist, sexist, or
hateful in any way. We want this publication to be accurate, thoughtful and fair.
All opinions published are strictly those
of the authors and do not necessarily reflect
the opinions of the editors or advertisers.
Please send submissions and feedback to [email protected]. Thanks for your support.
Rogue Valley Community Press
March 2013
Rogue Valley Community Press
7
Opinion & Events
Applause and hiss
Over the past few decades, the
Ashland Emergency Food Bank
(AEFB) has bounced around to
several locations, so it’s exciting
to hear of their board’s decision
to launch a capital campaign
to purchase the building at 560
Clover Lane. Buying the building
will let AEFB use some of their
space to add a small garden plot
and will preserve the efforts of
area churches to provide local
hunger relief. About 500 families
and individuals visit the food
bank on a monthly basis where
they are given a nutritious,
three-day supply of food.
§
New parks are nearly always
a reason to celebrate, but
Medford’s newest acquisition
at the corner of North Bartlett
and Maple Streets comes with
controversy. Former Medford
city councilor John Statler was
recently quoted in the Mail
Tribune saying that he understood that the city and Lithia
Motors reached a “gentleman’s
agreement,” but neglected to
put that into the written agreement made by the city, Lithia
Motors, and MURA (Medford
Urban Renewal) for Lithia
Motors’ new headquarters,
the Commons. “A gentleman’s
agreement—what kind of
government is that?” he said.
“That’s like saying, ‘Yeah, we do
backroom deals all the time.’”
§
It’s gratifying to live in a
community filled with caring
people such as the anonymous
person who recently donated
a freezer to Uncle Food’s
Diner. As a long-running
Peace House-sponsored
program, Uncle Food’s serves
a delicious community meal
on Tuesdays at Ashland’s
United Methodist Church
(175 N Main) from 4:30–5:30
PM. This successful program
makes a difference in the lives
of everyone: guest diners and
volunteers alike. Thank you!
§
It isn’t too late to save the
Ashland Recycle Center on
Water Street, but residents will
have to show that it’s something
they value. A city task force is
looking into ways to reduce
costs for city sanitary services.
Recology spends over $141,000
to run the center, which is
operated at a financial loss. The
city council approved an 8% hike
in fee increases in January. Open
every day but Sunday, the center
costs garbage customers $1.77 a
month and provides daily recycling services, composting education, free clothing exchange,
dog adoptions, and more.
§
Applause to Seattle mayor Mike
McGinn, who recently ordered
their police department to
abandon its plan to use drones
after residents and privacy
advocates protested. McGinn
said the department will not use
two small drones it obtained
through a federal grant. The
unmanned aerial vehicles will be
returned to the vendor, he said.
“Today I spoke with Seattle
Police Chief John Diaz, and we
agreed that it was time to end
the unmanned aerial vehicle
program, so that SPD can focus
its resources on public safety
and the community building
work that is the department’s
priority,” McGinn said in a brief
statement. The decision comes as
the debate over drones heats up
across the country. Lawmakers
in at least eleven states are looking at plans to restrict the use
of drones over their skies amid
concerns the vehicles could be
exploited to spy on Americans.
In February, the
Charlottesville City Council
in Virginia passed a resolution imposing a two-year
moratorium on the use of
drones within city limits. The
Rutherford Institute, a civil
liberties group behind the city’s
effort, said Charlottesville is the
first city in the country to limit
the use of drones by police.
§
Applause to Senator Ron Wyden
for his stand against a recent
Department of Justice memo
that allows for the government
to kill Americans during
counterterrorism operations.
“Every American has the right to
know when their gov’t believes it
is allowed to kill them.” Wyden
tweets. Wyden’s statement on
the memo can be found at
http://1.usa.gov/WsFEPu
§
With Jackson County’s unemployment rate at over 10%, news
of a bleak job market probably
does not come as a surprise.
According to the Census Bureau,
one-third of adults who live
in poverty are working but do
not earn enough to support
themselves and their families. A
quarter of jobs in America pay
below the federal poverty line.
Not only are many jobs
low-wage, they are also temporary and insecure. As far as
new jobs go, according to the
American Staffing Association,
(a trade group representing
temp recruitment agencies), over
the last three years, the temp
industry added more jobs in the
United States than any other.
A Lake Research poll shows
that 73% of Americans favor
raising the minimum wage
to $10 an hour by 2014. This
is a unifying issue: 50% of
Republicans approve of a raise.
Living Rogue Community Dinner
Via Rogue Valley
Farm to school
Everyone is invited to attend
the next community dinner
promoting local agriculture.
The Living Rogue Community
Dinner will be held Saturday,
March 9 from 4:00–10:00PM
at the Bellview Grange at 1044
Tolman Creek Road in Ashland.
Organizers hope the event will
inspire an appreciation of local
agriculture and its benefit to the
local environment and economy.
The Living Rogue
Community Dinner is a quarterly event hosted by Rogue
Produce to promote a lifestyle
which supports local farmers,
helps enhance local food security
and creates an ever-greater sense
of community in our region.
The proceeds of the dinner
will benefit the Rogue Valley
Farm to School program
which educates children about
our food system through
hands-on farm and garden
programs and by increasing
local foods in school meals.
For more information, visit
www.rvfarm2school.org.
GMO Free Josephine County movie night
Via GMO Free
Jackson County
A film that exposes the threats
of genetically modified food to
our health and environment
will be shown in Grants
Pass as part of an effort to to
educate the community to the
dangers of GMO products.
Genetic Roulette, the winner
of the Solari 2012 Best Film of
the Year Award, will be shown
on Friday, March 22 at 7:00 PM
in the Bear Hotel at 2101 NE
Spaulding Ave in Grants Pass.
The guest speaker will be Chris
Hardy, a Josephine County
organic farmer and organizer
with GMO Free Jackson County,
a group that got a measure
banning GMO crops on the May
2014 ballot for their county. This
event is intended for mature
audiences so seating is limited to
teens and adults only. Entrance
is free. Free organic non-GMO
popcorn will be served.
The movie is sponsored by
GMO Free Josephine County,
a proactive group working
closely with regional groups to
educate our community about
the necessity of protecting
our unique bioregion from
GMO crops and the health and
environmental dangers they
pose. For more information,
find them on Facebook.
The freedom to know
By Leah EV Ireland
Our local cable company,
Ashland Fiber Network (AFN),
is going low-cost digital with a
wider variety than the usual junk
TV. Generally cable has fulfilled
the purpose of encouraging
people to kill their TVs and
seek live entertainment, but
the new digital AFN will offer
a lot that’s good. Ashland Fiber
Network still beats the big
corporate hustlers who want to
“look over your package and see
if they can save you money.”
The biggest advantage with
AFN is that it carries Free
Speech TV. The local public
radio is still unwilling, after
two decades of struggle, to air
Democracy Now! in this liberal
town. The only place we can get
it is on cable or the great radio
station we should all be supporting like mad: KSKQ 89.5 FM.
On Free Speech TV we can
receive the best international
source of news now, Al Jazeera.
That’s the network Al Gore sold
his network to. Bush banned Al
Jazeera from broadcasting in the
States even though it is entirely
unbiased and is responsible
for seeding the uprising that
brought on the Arab Spring.
Al Jazeera is overtaking the
BBC as the best world news
organization. The BBC is still the
only news to trust, however crippled it has been from in-house
scandals of late. The BBC will
be available on digital AFN TV.
Another revolutionary
channel offered only on AFN
and not most corporate cable
companies is “Classic Arts
Showcase” on channel 23.
This Arts Showcase runs a
brilliant array of classical art
that is commercial-free and
available 24 hours a day, so
poor people (that’s most of us)
can still have access to opera,
ballet and symphony. What a
world it makes available to the
curious child stuck in cartoon
and teen world drama TV.
Where local cable falls
short might be with CSPAN
as we don’t receive CSPAN3.
CSPAN1 and 2 offer ideas and
information, free from being
filtered through owner and
corporate interests. We get the
wisdom of the greats directly
and we don’t have to buy a $30
book and find time to read it.
It’s TV at its best that actually
celebrates literacy and thinking.
Ideas are the hot commodity
for sale now, as the case against
open information is carried
on by the Feds. Like water,
information is now under the
power of ownership. Pay or
die of ignorance and thirst.
Freedom of speech also
means the freedom to know.
And like a thousand years ago
when ideas were tied up in
Latin or Greek, we must pay,
and be approved of, for the right
to information and ideas now.
We are then held liable to the
government if we let anyone else
AFN, Page 8
Occupy the street
Tasha
Boutenko,
Ashland
BY KAREN JEFFERY
Whereby our roving reporter
takes questions to people on the
street. I stopped folks at the Y
to ask if they had any thoughts
or opinions about GMOs.
Camren Mitzel,
National Guard
It’s difficult
for me to be
against all
GMOs, since we need modified
organisms in the military. My
buddy has a new arm thanks
to GMOs, tissue regeneration,
and biorobotics […] but we also
need crop diversity, which is best
for pest resistance and drought.
§
Torrey Byles,
Talent
I’m horrified
that they’re
in our food
supply—irrevocably. I’m active
with the county initiative, and
continue to be concerned about
agribusinesses and large corporation resources being able to
shape laws and public opinion.
Find us online at rvcommunitypress.com
They’re horrible. They’re
ruining our food supply, maybe
forever. My family is all organic,
and we worry about the drift of
GMO seeds in Jackson County.
§
Dana Ahern,
Ashland
I’m definitely
against the
whole thing.
We need to support small local
farming vs. big ag. Our choices
and diversity are reduced and
threatened by big agribusiness.
§
Adrienne
Eisenberg,
Talent
I’m actively
opposed.
They’re unsafe, and so is
big ag. The fact that they’ve
patented nature is absurd.
I’m completely organic, and
GMOs are extremely unsafe.
8
Opinion & Events
March 2013
Neoliberalism eroding Martin Luther King’s dream
BY WOLFGANG RÜNZI
As I was listening to President
Obama’s second inauguration
speech and, later on, to the presentations at Ashland’s Martin
Luther King, Jr. celebration, I
was struck not by the references
to “the dream”—which was to be
expected, given the Rev. King’s
most famous piece of oratory—
but rather by the rising awareness of how far we still have to
go as a society to achieve the
dream. My mind started drifting
off, trying to determine why we
are—after all these years—still
so far away from achieving
equality, fairness, and justice on
so many different levels of our
social, political, educational,
human, and economic system.
And as I was wondering
about the state of abysmal
affairs, it struck me: the culprit
is neoliberalism. A most basic
definition of neoliberalism stipulates the creation of free markets
by eliminating trade barriers,
the removal of workers’ rights
and price controls, the reduction
of government controls and
regulations to an absolute
minimum, but the maintenance,
of course, of governmental
subsidies and tax benefits for
businesses and corporations.
Furthermore, neoliberalism
aims to cut public funding for
social services like food stamps,
housing subsidies, education,
and, thus, the poorest members
of society are doomed to
seek unattainable solutions,
like private health insurance
coverage, on their own. In short,
neoliberalism insists on destroying welfare and other social
programs. Its sole beneficiaries
are a minority of the wealthiest
people in the world. And on
a global level, neoliberalism
even as it sabotages organized
labor’s status, dismantles
unions, and promises “cost
savings” for everyone.
Neoliberalism has stifled
the dream when it blames
the victims of its corrosive
policies—workers and immigrants, the elderly and the sick,
teachers and social workers.
Neoliberalism has co-opted
Under neoliberalism, the concept of “the public good” or “community” is replaced with “individual responsibility” and, thus, the
poorest members of society are doomed to seek unattainable
solutions, like private health insurance coverage, on their own.
and health care. The safety net
for the poor and indigent is to be
removed, and state- and cityowned entities, like electricity,
water, hospitals, railroads, and
schools, are to be sold to private
investors and businesses.
Under neoliberalism, the
concept of “the public good”
or “community” is replaced
with “individual responsibility”
means the neocolonization
of emerging economies.
Taking this into account while
listening to President Obama
and the participants at the
Martin Luther King Celebration,
I began to rethink the meaning
and significance of that day.
Neoliberalism has undermined the dream as it raises
specters of the “benefit for all”
the dream when it markets its
key provisions as providing
economic growth for all social
classes because, it claims
deceptively, everyone will benefit
from the newly created wealth
that will “trickle down” to us all.
Neoliberalism destroys the
dream as it blames its victims
for having been exploited,
abused, and deprived.
Neoliberalism has turned
the dream into a nightmare as
it erodes the rights of women
and children, the weak and the
marginalized, migrants and
minorities, and, above all, the
rights of the “common wealth.”
The current policies of
neoliberalism are popular and
entrenched in American society,
economy, and policy. I cannot
join in the exuberance that was
on display on Martin Luther
King Day, for as long as we
ignore the deep-rooted cause of
our malaise and disease, and as
long as we focus on the symptoms, we will remain on a course
of continuous erosion of human
rights and civil rights. We will
look at the destructive forces
without any tools to genuinely
combat them, stem their
advancement, and, above all,
without any proactive and genuine strategy or unified vision to
combat this modern-day evil.
Wolfgang Rünzi is an instructor
at Rogue Community College.
Southern Oregon Rollergirls
event benefits Special Olympics
Via Southern Oregon
roller girls
AFN
Continued from page 7
know. CSPAN glides through
all this like a full sailed yacht
whose name is “Freedom.”
Unfortunately PBS is dying
and possibly its best accomplishment after Nightline is
“The Charlie Rose Show”, but
you have to wade through all
the celebrity promos. Rose’s
chief sponsor is Coca-Cola
(the company that is stealing
water from the poor to sell
back as Coke to them, and for
the swimming pools of the
rich). When Amy Goodman,
founder of Democracy Now!,
was a guest, Rose was rude and
condescending. If there is any
justice, Goodman will receive
a Pulitzer long before Rose.
One can only hope that the
mandate for the prize is still
“say what is dangerous to say.”
Americans brought journalism to the world and proved to
all beginning democracies that
the press was the first way to
justice. Tyrants always destroy
the press first, but in America
we actually destroy the press
ourselves. Yet, a free press in any
form is what millions have and
are still fighting and dying for.
The new journalism is
whistleblowing and you can
help the information revolution
though this local paper and
what it stands for. We are once
again a community with a local
paper! That is all that keeps
this town a real town and not a
suburb of Medford. And Rupert
Murdoch, the king of smut
news, owns both the Tidings
and the Tribune now. The new
journalism is independent.
Give a damn and a buck.
Leah Ev Ireland is a freelance
writer living in Ashland.
Rogue Valley Community Press
Roller derby season is here and
the Southern Oregon Rollergirls’
March season opener will
be a benefit to raise money
for the Special Olympics. On
Saturday, March 2, the Southern
Oregon Rollergirls will face off
against the Cherry City Derby
Girls Boneyard Brawlers from
Salem. The event will be at
the Medford Armory at 1701
South Pacific Hwy in Medford.
Doors open at 6:00PM and
the bout starts at 7:00PM.
Alcohol will be served to
spectators. A portion of the
proceeds from the bout will
go to the Special Olympics.
Come cheer on your local
derby girls and help start
the season off right!
Tickets are $8 in advance and
$10 at the door. Tickets for the
bout can be purchased online at
brownpapertickets.com or at any
of the following locations: Jack’s
Board House, Epic Ink, Mystic
Treats, Dragon’s Lair, Three
Penny Mercantile, Eternal Body
Art, and Jackson Creek Pizza.
Southern Oregon Rollergirls
is an all-female, full-contact flat
track roller derby league based
in the heart of southern Oregon’s
Rogue Valley. Southern Oregon
Rollergirls is a grassroots,
member-driven derby organization which offers and fosters
empowerment through athletic
and creative outlets for women.
Southern Oregon Rollergirls
practices Tuesdays, Wednesdays
and Thursdays at the Medford
Armory at 1700 South Pacific
Highway in Medford, Oregon.
For more information,
go to sorollergirls.org or
find us on Facebook.