INCO WEEKLY NEWSLETTER 3/5

ACTION PRIORITIES  www.indivisible.org     This week's Americans of Conscience Action Checklist is here.   Join INCO's closed Facebook group for more actions, information, and discussion.       Contact elected officials here. Tell your Members of Congress:   •  to stop the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act (a bill that makes mass shootings easier). The Senate is considering a bill that is a top priority of the NRA. This bill would require states to recognize the gun laws of other states, essentially forcing them to accept lower standards than their own. That means that gun owners from states with minimal restrictions like Florida’s could legally carry their weapons anywhere, even to a state that would normally have prohibited them from carrying a gun. This bill has already passed the House, and the Senate is expected to bring it up this year. Read this resource on the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act.  •  to protect the civil rights of all Americans - LGBTQ . . . The Trump Administration’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) continues to weaken or terminate policies that specifically protect LGBTQ employees and patients. Health care workers who do not wish to treat LGBTQ patients are protected under a new “religious liberty division.” Existing transgender staff protections have either been rolled back or simply ignored. . . . and ADA. Joan Herman's illuminating article in Friday’s Daily Astorian was about a bill that passed the House which would potentially gut the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). HR 620 is now headed for the Senate. Suggested scripts for talking about this and other issues are here. •  to protect American elections. While there is no evidence of votes being changed, U.S. security officials have determined that Russian hackers made inroads in 21 states. Trump hasn't authorized definitive action to protect the US from further Russian interference. Speaker Paul Ryan removed from his post Matthew Masterson, who has been leading efforts to help states shield their voting systems from cyberattacks, including those originating in Russia.    FACES OF DEMOCRACY These girls love their new signs, which they got from INCO at Ales & Ideas on March 1. "POSTCARDS TO VOTERS" FROM YOU AND INCO Friday, March 16 at  3 pm Seaside Library Community Room  Bring your smart phone, tablet or laptop, or no devices  • We’ll help you get signed up  Postcards, postage, suggested scripts, and addresses will be provided.   You can help progressive candidates in other states win special elections happening now.  INCO's working with a national project, Postcards to Voters, to write "please vote" postcards to voters. The Warrenton Community Group wrote two dozen postcards at Saturday's meeting. Sponsored by INCO Vote The Future and hosted by Bebe Michel. HAPPENINGS Check for details and new posts on our events page.   THIS WEEK Tuesday, March 6 - Oppose Bigotry Team meeting, 6 pm, at Joan's, Astoria. Contact catladyjoan@gmail.com for directions. Thursday, March 8 - Upper North Coast INCO (Manzanita/Cannon Beach),  6:30 pm, contact incoregon@gmail.com for address & directions. Every Wednesday - INCO Happy Hour, 4-6 pm, Buoy Beer, probably in the Tap Room, foot of 8th on the Riverwalk, Astoria. Food and non-alcoholic drinks available; no host, no agenda, no meeting.  Most Fridays - INCO Southwest Washington postcard party; email gwenbrake@gmail.comfor date, time and place. UPCOMING Tuesday, March 13 - Astoria Community Group meeting, 6 pm, WineKraft, 80 10th Street, on the Riverwalk, Astoria Tuesday, March 13 - Seaside/Gearhart Community Group meeting, 6:30 - 8 pm, in Gearhart.  E-mail littlebylittle4change@gmail.com for address/directions. Wednesday, March 14 - INCO Book Club, 6:30 pm, at Carolyn's, Astoria. Contact cebeady@outlook.com for directions. This month's book is The Nordic Theory of Everything: In Search of a Better Life, by Any Partanen. Friday, March 16 - Postcards to Voters, 3 pm, Seaside Library Community Room; more information elsewhere in this newsletter Saturday, March 17 - Warrenton Community Group meeting, 11 a.m., Dooger's Restaurant, Hwy 101 in Warrenton Wednesday, March 21- Vote the Future Team meeting, 6:30 pm, Seaside Library Board Room Saturday, March 24 -Rally For Our Lives, noon - 1:30 pm, 8th and Commercial outside the Astoria post office. Bring signs. Local students, their families, and INCO are partnering for this community event. RALLY FOR OUR LIVES • SATURDAY, MARCH 24 Noon - 1:30 pm • 8th and Commercial, outside the Astoria Post Office Bring signs and chants! Rally in solidarity with the half-million people expected to march in Washington, DC on March 24 - a march planned and organized by high school students!   INCO is partnering with local students and their families for this rally to support their work to stop gun violence. Along with thousands  across the country, we demand that student lives and safety become a priority.  If you'd like to help with INCO's activities about this issue, email incoregon@gmail.com. The momentum builds: •  The Parkland students started Parents Promise to Kids: "“We want parents to sign a contract promising their kids that they’ll vote for leaders who put kids’ safety over guns.” Read more here. •  Senior Emma Gonzalez, who now has more than 1.1 million followers on Twitter, has seen her audience expand by tens of thousands of new followers each day since Feb. 19 according to data from SocialBlade. Gonzalez now has more Twitter followers than the National Rifle Association, which has more than 600,000 followers, as well as NRA spokesperson Dana Loesch, who has almost 800,000 followers. US Representative Suzanne Bonamici Town Hall Thursday, March 29 at 6 pm Astoria High School, 1001 West Marine Drive We'll bring Agree/Disagree signs - You bring your questions. Indivisibles spoke up at at Rep. Bonamici's Town Hall at Warrenton High School last April. INSIGHTS "Social progress happens when adults start taking cues from the younger generation." —Eleanor Clift USE YOUR VOICE You can inform and inspire others with a letter to the editor (LTE) to the Daily Astorian. Letters are among the most popular features in the paper. Even a paragraph or two makes an impact. Rules and directions for submitting your letter are here. Tips for letter-writing are here.  Check out this video about maximizing the impact of your words. Suggested topics for this week:   Net neutrality, guns, Russian interference in US elections, immigration We're Ready!  INCO has planned a “Rally for the Rule of Law,” to be held in the event Trump fires Rosenstein or Mueller or takes a similar action that threatens the rule of law as it relates to the investigation. We'll post info on our INCO Facebook page and email an Action Alert. You can also sign up (RSVP) for a notification here.   COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS Get involved with an INCO Community Group in Manzanita-Cannon Beach, Seaside-Gearhart, Warrenton, Astoria-East County, or the Washington Peninsula. All INCO Indivisibles are invited to get active with INCO's Events Team, Oppose Bigotry Team, Vote the Future Team, and Book Club. Contact incoregon@gmail.com for more information.   Questions, suggestions, & photos to INCO at incoregon@gmail.com Share this newsletter and our website with other resisters. They can join INCO here and ask to join our closed Facebook group. INCO is supported entirely by donations. Please donate here. Deb Vanasse and Laurie Caplan, INCO Co-chairs INCO Weekly Newsletter   March 5, 2018 Copyright © 2018 INDIVISIBLE North Coast Oregon, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in at our website or signed up at a community group meeting. Indivisible North Coast Oregon (INCO) defends democracy by opposing authoritarianism, bigotry, and corruption. Our mailing address is: INDIVISIBLE North Coast Oregon PO Box 536 Warrenton, Oregon  97146 Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list