Portland Peaceful Response Coalition

Guard Home Campaign Shifts Gears as Legislative Session Comes to a Close

Education on the Issue of "Who Decides on War?" Key to Year-Long Effort ...

As Oregon's 2009 Legislative session comes to a close, organizers of the “Campaign to Keep Oregon's Guard in Oregon" are reviewing their successes, despite disappointment that neither the Guard Home bill nor a related Joint Memorial came to a vote. The bill, HB 2556, would have written into law the Governor's power to review federal orders for mobilizing the Oregon National Guard to ensure those orders were lawful and based on a valid enactment by Congress. The Memorial, HJM 5-1 (with proposed amendments), would have informed Congress that Oregon's Legislature believes the state has the responsibility to review such orders for their legality.

DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY FOR TORTURE!

To take action to demand accountability for these crimes, click HERE!

To Impeach Torture Architect Jay Bybee (CCR Action Alert), click HERE!

And to get the same message to our representatives in Washington, DC, click HERE!

Critical resources on the economic crisis ... news, links and ACTION!

Events ...

Culley Neighborhood Town Hall on the Economic Crisis
Tuesday, June 30, 6:30pm, St. Charles Church, 5310 NE 42nd Avenue
Call Jobs with Justice at 503-236-5573 to reserve free childcare or for information.

Global Call to Action: Reclaim the “Spirit of Seattle” on December 5, 2009
For more information, call Oregon Fair Trade Campaign, (503) 736-9777

Latest ...

US private sector 'cut 473,000 jobs in June', P. Parameswaran, Sydney Morning Herald, July 2, 2009

Wall Street’s Toxic Message, Joseph Stiglitz, Vanity Fair, July 2009

A Global Recovery Needs A Global Response, Joseph Stiglitz, ZNet, June 27, 2009

Obamanomics: The Good, the Bad, the Weak, Nomi Prins, Mother Jones, June 17, 2009

Financial Gain, Economic Pain, Nouriel Roubini, Project Syndicate, June 2009

America's Socialism for the Rich, Joseph Stiglitz, Project Syndicate, June 2009

The Big Bank Bailout Payback Bamboozle, Nomi Prins, Mother Jones, June 14, 2009

Stay the Course, Paul Krugman, New York Times, June 14, 2009

The Crisis and How to Deal with It, Bill Bradley, Niall Ferguson, Paul Krugman, Nouriel Roubini, George Soros, Robin Wells et al., The New York Review of Books, Volume 56, Number 10 - June 11, 2009

Gordon the Unlucky, Paul Krugman, New York Times, June 7, 2009

Keeping Them Honest, Paul Krugman, New York Times, June 5, 2009

The Trouble With Democrats - Reclaiming the Economy for the People, William Greider, The Nation, June 5, 2009

A Tale of Two Depressions (NEWLY UPDATED!), Barry Eichengreen & Kevin H. O’Rourke, voxeu.org, June 4, 2009

Krugman Gets His History Wrong, William Greider, williamgreider.com, June 1, 2009

Reagan Did It, Paul Krugman, New York Times, May 31, 2009

Is This an Age of Financial Reform or Plunder Without End?, Danny Schechter, www.smirkingchimp.com, May 29, 2009

The Spring of the Zombies, Joseph Stiglitz, Project Syndicate, May 2009

10 Sleazy Ways That Goldman Sachs Distracted Us While Pocketing Billions from the Treasury, Nomi Prins, AlterNet, May 28, 2009

Foreclosures, mortgage delinquencies climb at record rate, Kevin G. Hall, McClatchy Newspapers, May 28, 2009

The Big Inflation Scare, Paul Krugman, New York Times, May 28, 2009

Waterboard the Fed? American taxpayers have the right to know where the trillions of dollars being pledged in their name are going, Dean Baker, Guardian (UK), May 25, 2009

The Crimes of Wall Street: The Scams and Sleaze at the Top, Danny Schechter, www.smirkingchimp.com, May 22, 2009

Click "Read more" and/or scroll down below websites for more news and analysis ...

Websites

A New Way Forward. Here's where you can PLEDGE TO BREAK UP THE BANKS!

Friday rally and march mark six years of US war in Iraq!

Friday rally and peace march marks six years of Iraq war, calls for prosecution of Bush Administration officials for war crimes.

This week's 5:00 PM Friday rally and peace march at Pioneer Courthouse Square marks six years of Iraq war, and calls for prosecution of Bush Administration officials and other key supporters of the Iraq war for mass murder of tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians. "The most conservative estimate of civilian casualties in Iraq is approaching 100,000, and we can be certain that the actual number is more probably approaching 600,000," said William Seaman, a volunteer with Portland Peaceful Response Coalition. "If we are to take even the most modest steps to ensure that this staggering crime of aggression is not repeated in the future by our country, we must bring those responsible to justice."

Report from March 15th Salem Action

REPORT BACK: March 15 & 16 in Salem to Keep the Guard in Oregon, end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, protect immigrant rights, and use money for human needs not war...

There has been so much in the media in the last few days regarding the Campaign to Keep Oregon's Guard in Oregon and related subjects that some things are sure to fall off the radar in this round-up and report back.

Following last Wednesday's testimony in the Oregon state legislature on HB 2556 and HR 4, the Guard Home legislation, a statewide march and rally on Sunday March 15 and legislative visit day on March 16 brought hundreds of Oregonians to the Capitol.

While the weather played a huge part in keeping our numbers low (as an example, 40% of the people who reserved seats on the buses from Portland didn't show up), the 400 or so people who made it marched and rallied with enough enthusiasm and good energy to wipe the clouds away on a day that was predicted to be 100% rain.

Sixty-two organizations (in the end, perhaps sixty-five) cosponsored or endorsed the march and rally, which coincided with the Rural Organizing Project's statewide progressive caucus.