4-28-25 Newsletter

 

Be a good neighbor. Stay on the sidewalk, don't block pedestrians, and keep driveways clear. Keep it peaceful, and don't engage with counter protesters.  Invite a friend. Let’s have fun! MAY DAY STRONG ASTORIA A rally to protect democracy Thursday, May 1  •  4:30 pm - 6 pm 17th and Marine Drive, Astoria We're organizing for a world where every family has housing, healthcare, fair wages, union protection, and safety—regardless of race, zip code, or immigration status. We must expand our democracy community to include even more union members, faith communities, migrant communities, and others.   This is a 100% nonviolent event. Do not park in the Maritime Museum or Coast Guard parking lots. Keep driveways clear and cross only in crosswalks. Bring your signs! - - - - -  MAY DAY - NORTH AND SOUTH PACIFIC COUNTY  Read the entire OPB article here.  Thank Attorney General Rayfield for his leadership in protecting Oregon's economy here: Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield 503-378-4400 AttorneyGeneral@doj.oregon.gov MORE YOU CAN DO You can help save the planet from Trump's billionaires and extremists. April 22 was Earth Day, and most people know every day is Earth day. Try these climate-saving suggestions from Chop Wood, Carry Water, on Substack: Pick a good environmental organization and join its local chapter. Outstanding local organizations include North Coast Land Conservancy and North Coast Communities for Watershed Protection. Compost. It's really not that hard and it makes a HUGE difference. Combatting Climate Change - US Composting Council Cut back on plastic in every way you can. It's a petroleum product and therefore a massive driver of the climate crisis.  Help turn out environmental voters! One organization is working on that—the Environmental Voter Project. Please help them with either a donation or your volunteer time—they offer regular postcarding, phone banking, and canvassing opportunities. They are data-backed and effective! Reduce the size of (or eliminate) your lawn. Instead plant native, pollinator-friendly plants to benefit wildlife and the ecosystem. Never use pesticides or artificial fertilizers—pesticides harm beneficial insects and human health, and fertilizer runoff leads to toxic algae blooms in rivers and lakes, and seaweed overgrowth in the ocean, which can choke out other aquatic life. Subscribe to great climate newsletters like DeSmog, Grist, Climate ChangeResources. They'll help you know where to focus your advocacy and send you lots more ways to make a difference. Kudos to Cheryl, Bob, Del, and Karen for cleaning up Harbor Drive in Warrenton. Local Indivisibles have made this an INCO service project for several years. For info about this and other INCO service projects, contact Bruce at b42wzz@gmail.com. COME TO THE COINvention Join fellow Oregon Indivisibles in Salem, Oregon on June 6-9.  Registration is now open for the 2025 COINvention.  Fed Up? Stand Up! UNITE!  Register here for the COINvention! Friday evening, June 6 - optional no-host social gathering. Saturday and Sunday,  June 7-8 - inspirational speakers, training, break-out sessions, and some fun activities. Monday June 9  -  optional lobby day at the state capitol, a time to meet with our state legislators and their staff to urge them to pass our priority bills before the session ends later in June. More details will be provided after you register.  WHAT'S THE PLAN? Thursday, May 1  *  noon -1, via Zoom Updates and Q&A with Indivisible co-directors Leah Greenberg and Ezra Levin.   ARE WE READY FOR A NATIONAL CIVIC UPRISING? Remember all the Hands Off! protests on April 5? We need to multiply those numbers until America's democracy community is bigger and solid enough to create change. When will that be? Leah and Ezra, Indivisible's co-founders and co-directors, explain strategy and plans every Thursday; also available on YouTube after the live Zoom call.  Check out this column by Robert Reich for another perspective about mass movements.  REGISTER HERE for the next What’s the Plan call. Submit questions in the Chat during the event. Past sessions are on Indivisible's YouTube channel. CALL CONGRESS Senator Ron Wyden     202-224-5244  or  503-326-7525 Senator Jeff Merkley    202-224-3753  or 503-326-3386 Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici    202-225-0855  or 503-469-6010 Using the 5 Calls app is another way to reach your Members of Congress. VOICES: NEWS AND PERSPECTIVE WHAT IS THE RULE OF LAW? "In a rule of law system, people know what the law is—it’s publicly available in written form, and everyone is on notice of the rules. It’s enforced equally against all people and administered by an independent judiciary. No kings. As we used to say with certainty pre-Trump, no man is above the law." -- Joyce Vance, "Rule of Law?", Civil Discourse, April 22, 2025 - - - - -  Politics and people! What a combination! More about how we got here in these good books and summaries. - - - - -  GROWING OUR VIRTUOUS CIRCLE "... a virtuous circle can develop in defense of democracy: Ordinary people organize and protest; politicians and officials realize resistance is popular, they step up their defense of democracy; and their increased resilience in turn inspires more popular defiance. And so it goes, with increased momentum as one courageous action begets the next. (A side benefit: such defiance humiliates the politicians and civil society appeasers who claimed to have had no choice but to go along with the autocrat.)" -- Jennifer Rubin, The Contrarian, April 25, 2025 FIGHTING BACK AGAINST PROJECT 2025  Here's an in-depth analysis of the MAGA playbook by Indivisible Project 2025 Explained. - - - - -   TRACKING TYRANNY A few hardy souls are tracking Project 2025's timeline and goals. You can track the regime's resignations and firings here. There's also Tyranny Tracker on Substack, which gives more details about the latest regime horrors. These sites are worth checking out.  - - - - -  "COLLECTIVE STUBBORNNNESS" "So remember --- it is up to us to decide how we respond when they start demanding we conform and obey, not to them. Know your power, even as a regime tries to take it from you. Do not cooperate, especially as the cracks are starting to widen." -- Corbin, Reader's Comment, The Contrarian, April 25, 2025 “'All power-holders, even the most ruthless and corrupt, rely on the consent and coöperation of ordinary people,” Maria J. Stephan, who co-authored a book with (Erica) Chenoweth titled “Why Civil Resistance Works,” said. "The key to challenging authoritarian regimes, Stephan said, is for citizens to decline to participate in immoral and illegal acts. Stephan, who co-leads the Horizons Project, a nonprofit that supports nonviolent movements against authoritarianism, has a phrase for this mind-set: “I think of it as collective stubbornness,” she said." -- Julia Angwin and Ami Fields-Meyer, "So You Want To Be a Dissident?", The New Yorker, April 12, 2025 INCO COMMUNITY MEETING Saturday, May 17 10:30 - Mix and mingle, vent and validate                                     11:00 - 12:30 Meeting Grace Episcopal Church Parish Hall, 1545 Franklin, Astoria Self-care during these times: "Every night I hang out with my cat for a petting session and listen to soft 'cat music.'" -- Janie, INCO Community Meeting, April 26 FUN STUFF  INCO INSIGHTS "We were born into the opportunity to be aware, to care, and to create meaning in action."   -- David Lee Myers INCO defends democracy by opposing authoritarianism, bigotry, and corruption and by promoting civic engagement and building community. Sign up for the INCO newsletter here. Comments, news, and photos to INCO at incoregon@gmail.com.  Resources and other information at www.incoregon.org and www.indivisible.org. INCO is part of COIN, the Consolidated Oregon Indivisible Network. Get updates, track Oregon legislation, and learn about Oregon's 40+ Indivisible groups. Sign up here. Look for the INCO column in Hipfish Monthly.  Indivisible North Coast Oregon is on Facebook, Instagram, and Blue Sky. INCO Weekly Newsletter  •  April 28, 2025 Website Email Facebook Copyright © 2025 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. Our mailing address is: *|766 Lexington Avenue, Astoria, OR 97103:HTML|* Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

4-21-25 Newsletter

 

INCO COMMUNITY MEETING Saturday, April 26   10:30 - 11 am - mix and mingle; vent and validate 11 am - 12:30 - meeting Grace Episcopal Church parish hall 1545 Franklin, Astoria  On the agenda: • Protests, rallies, and other actions: What's next? • What did INCO's March survey tell us? • Enlarging the democracy community • Keeping our cool in intense situations  • Actions for our neighbors: service and safety GRATITUDE "My service club was awarded two grants to provide sight-saving assistance to Clatsop County residents." -- Ray, at February 15 INCO Community Meeting NO KINGS MARCH + PROTEST + FOOD DRIVE = PEOPLE POWER Kudoes to the 450 protectors of democracy who ignored cold winds on the Astoria waterfront to line both sides of Marine Drive for a few blocks at the April 19 NO KINGS IN AMERICA protest! German tourists told us how impressed they were with this protest to stop Trump, Musk, and Congressional Republicans from destroying the U.S. More highlights: several drummers, people usng walkers and wheelchairs, new buttons made and donated by Bebe, and people protesting for the first time along with seasoned activists. Welcome to this democracy community, everyone! More photos below. LITTLE BRIGHT SPOTS "We are all linked to what has come before us and what will come after us. We all walk on the same ground; we all live, will struggle and will die And all at once we have these little spots of brilliance, ground level stuff- microcosms in a fleeting moment, that are also part of an epic story of victories and defeats In which all our brightness threads through, inextinguishable." -- excerpt from April Coppini's artist statement at her exhibit, 'Little Bright Spots/Big Migrations,' at Imogen Gallery, Astoria, through May 5.  "We show up, we protest, we speak up, we keep our solidarity and our determination intact, and then sometimes, somehow something happens and it's not just another protest, it's history, it's transformation, it's insurrection....history itself is made out of surprises that only seem obvious or inevitable in retrospect...."  INCO recommends this thoughtful column by Rebecca Solnit. 250 YEARS AGO IN BOSTON "Someone asked me once if the men who hung the lanterns in the tower knew what they were doing. She meant, did they know that by that act they would begin the steps to a war that would create a new nation and change the world." INCO recommends Heather Cox Richardson's brief history of how ordinary people moved the story forward and began the  Revolutionary War. Worth reading and sharing.  GOOD NEIGHBORS INCO is developing service projects around the county and we could use your help. Our next project will be packing food boxes at the Clatsop County Food Bank on Thursday, April 24th from 9 a.m. to 12 noon for delivery to distribution points. If you are interested in joining us for this project or for others in the future, please write Bruce Williams at b42wzz@gmail.com.   SOMETHING YOU CAN DO Eager to do something to save America from Trump's billionaires and extremists?  Try these suggestions from Oregon Indivisibles: Host a “salon” in your home for friends and neighbors to learn about Indivisible. Include a local Indivisible leader, make desserts and hand-outs that will help your guests become active. Show your resistance through art and other creative projects.   Paint resistance rocks and leave them everywhere. Make and post brief videos about how Trump-Musk-Republican policies are affecting your life.   Write a resistance song, poem, or skit, and post it on social media. Make resistance signs and share them with your Indivisible group.   Make resistance finger puppets for kids, or help them create their own resistance signs Host a resistance party! Meet for pizza or coffee or beer at your home, a park or local restaurant. Resistance is more fun when you do it with friends. Send your suggestions for more actions to incoregon@gmail.com. A BIG BRIGHT SPOT "Fourth Circuit panel rebukes Trump over Abrego Garcia while framing the constitutional showdown in an opinion written for the American people, the Supreme Court, and Trump." INCO encourages you to read or listen to the opinion written by Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III, a Reagan appointee. Jay Kuo say it's "An Opinion for the Ages" and describes what makes this opinion so important.    HOW TO SUPPORT CANDIDATES IN LOCAL ELECTIONS Kudos to the area residents who have stepped up to run for local offices on the May 20ballot. It's time for us to support them by volunteering with their campaigns! Put up a yard sign, help distribute yard signs, donate to their campaigns, support them with a letter to the editor or posts on social media. Ask the candidate how you can help.  INCO invites local candidates to introduce themselves at our April 26 Community Meeting. Please contact incoregon@gmail.com so we can include you in the agenda. HOW TRUMP POLICIES HURT CLATSOP COUNTY Many protesters handed out this information about the local impacts of Trump's policies as they marched through downtown Astoria as part of Saturday's NO KINGS protest. COMMENT ON PROPOSED OREGON LEGISLATION Oregon is halfway through its legislative session. Tell legislators how you feel about proposed bills. Go to COIN Legislation Watch Team here or at https://www.coinoregon.org/2025-legislation. Scroll down to see the list of bills where you can take action and submit comments with a simple click. Contact Cheryl Conway at conwayct2007@hotmail.com if you need assistance in using the web page. Thanks to INCO activist Wendy for these photos from the April 19 protest in Maui, Hawaii. Thursday, April 24  *  noon -1, via Zoom Updates and Q&A with Indivisible co-leaders Leah Greenberg and Ezra Levin. Submit questions when you register or in the chat during the event. REGISTER HERE for the next What’s the Plan call. Past events are on Indivisible's YouTube channel. APPLAUDING COURAGE "...after reading Robert Hubbell and watching the interview on Rachel Maddow, I felt compelled to send a postcard in support of whistleblower Daniel Berulis. who is speaking out about DOGE’s data hack of the NLRB (National Labor Relations Board). Such courage! I felt I needed to physically show my support with an actual postcard rather than just an email, though emails would be good too.   "I’d recommend that people send postcards, not letters — letters need special handling to be sure that no anthrax/poisons are in the letter. I sent my postcard to Berulis’ attorney: "To Daniel Berulis c/o Attny Andrew Bakaj Whistleblower Aid 1250 Connecticut Ave NW, St 700 Washington, DC 20036-0000 "I’d also suggest that people follow that up with a call to their members of Congress to advocate for an immediate investigation into the matter." -- Bebe, INCO activist  CALL CONGRESS Senator Ron Wyden     202-224-5244  or  503-326-7525 Senator Jeff Merkley    202-224-3753  or 503-326-3386 Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici    202-225-0855  or 503-469-6010 Using the 5 Calls app is another way to reach your Members of Congress. VOICES: NEWS AND PERSPECTIVE "We are custodians of democracy until the next generation takes up the struggle as their own." -- Robert Hubbell, Today's Edition, April 19, 2025 FIGHTING BACK AGAINST PROJECT 2025  Here's an in-depth analysis of the MAGA playbook by Indivisible Project 2025 Explained -- Brendan Loper, The New Yorker, April 14, 2025 FUN STUFF  Thanks to INCO activist Jen for this joyful music from the Resistance Revival Chorus. INCO INSIGHTS "There is a stubbornness about me that never can bear to be frightened at the will of others. My courage always rises at every attempt to intimidate me." ― Jane Austen, PRIDE AND PREJUDICE    INCO defends democracy by opposing authoritarianism, bigotry, and corruption and by promoting civic engagement and building community. Sign up for the INCO newsletter here. Comments, news, and photos to INCO at incoregon@gmail.com.  Resources and other information at www.incoregon.org and www.indivisible.org. INCO is part of COIN, the Consolidated Oregon Indivisible Network. Get updates, track Oregon legislation, and learn about Oregon's 40+ Indivisible groups. Sign up here. Look for the INCO column in Hipfish Monthly.  Indivisible North Coast Oregon is on Facebook, Instagram, and Blue Sky. INCO Weekly Newsletter  •  April 21, 2025 Website Email Facebook Copyright © 2025 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. Our mailing address is: *|766 Lexington Avenue, Astoria, OR 97103:HTML|* Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.