Washblog

You're invited to attend the the kick-off event for Tacoma's "Yes on Propositon 1" campaign.

September 12th, 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm
IBEW Hall
3049 S. 36th Street
Tacoma, WA

Dear Friends,

Several disparate grassroots advocacy groups and many individuals in Thurston County who support universal health care have come together to form the new collaborative Health Care Coalition of Thurston County.  We plan to "act locally" but also in conjunction with the Washington Health Security Coalition (WHSC), as well as our respective "parent" organizations.  

I've described this Coalition in greater detail below, and I'm hoping that you and your groups and organizations can let others in and near Thurston County know about our Coalition and our upcoming meetings and events, etc.  Thanks, in advance!

We'll be including a link to the WHSC website (once it's created!) at our eGroup's web page at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HealthCareCoalition-TC/ , so we look forward to receiving these details once they're available.  Also, our new HCCTC is working on brochures and other public-education handouts which we'll then share with other WHSC organizations.  

Thanks so much for your ongoing involvement and support!  

Sincerely,
Linda

Kayla Saville has stepped up to be the state coordinator of the Kucinich campaign.  Please contact her at kayla@kucinich.us if you'd like to volunteer.

Hi all.  I will send out a couple of alerts before choosing a planning meeting date to organize a progressive presidential evaluation gathering.  Again, this gathering is for the purpose of going through the pros and cons of each candidate to see if there is some sort of emerging consensus on who the best progressive candidate is for the primary and then work in unison (those who support the main candidate or 2) to support that or those candidates in the primary.  

"This Is One Account of the Events of July 4th by an Arrestee"

By Dustin

I no longer believe that any civil rights I may have once had exist anymore. I had so many of my Constitutional rights taken from me this evening, it's ludicrous.

A large group of protesters of all ages and demographics (NOT just a bunch of teens like what's being portrayed by the news) met under the bridge in Peaceful Valley today. A few speeches were read aloud, reading off statistics of deaths by police brutality as compared to deaths of police on the job. An older gentleman gave an inspiring speech about standing up for our First Amendment rights on our Independence Day, and how important this march was to raise awareness of the ever increasing level of police brutality and stripping of civil rights all across the country, including our own city. A few police officers came up, and wanted to announce to us all that they support our right to protest and march, so long as we don't violate any traffic laws, and don't block traffic or anything of the sort, then there would be no problems whatsoever and we would be free to peacefully assemble and speak out.

Democracy Denied - Impeachment Gets Derailed in Washington State
By Tom Barnard
May 28, 2007

The road to impeachment is not meant to be an easy one.  The drastic nature of removing the chief executive virtually guarantees that not be taken lightly. But as Michael Tivana, one of Washington For Impeachment's co-chairs puts it, "We went down to Olympia thinking our biggest problem would be the Republicans.  But what we found out is that our real problem was the Democrats."  It may seem surprising that the national leadership of a party that blames every misstep in foreign and domestic policy on the President personally should turn out to be opposed to turning him out of office.  Yet that's just what happened.  Here's how it happened.

The Progressive Caucus will be holding a barbecue potluck on Friday, June 29th from 4 to 6:30 p.m. in Richland, WA (the night before the quarterly WA State Democrats Central Committee meeting). The potluck will be held at the John Dam Plaza, across the street from the Red Lion Inn (802 George Washington Way), where the evening's hospitality suites will be hosted later. We will have a grill available and will provide hot dogs, and beef, chicken and veggie patties.  If you are able, please bring beverages, salads and desserts and/or $10.  Can't get it together to bring food?  Short on funds? Come anyway--there's always more than enough food!

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003760499_moore24.html

The following two paragraphs could use a response--

Staff members of America's Health Insurance Plans, the industry's leading trade group, handed out news releases at Moore's events last week emphasizing the need for "a uniquely American solution" and raising the specter of "long waits for rationed care."

Health Care America, a group financed in part by pharmaceutical and hospital companies, placed an advertisement in a Capitol Hill newspaper stating: "In America, you wait in line to see a movie. In government-run health care systems, you wait to see a doctor."

That's the official school for teaching Latin American armies how to terrorize their populations, just in case one or two readers might not have heard of it.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/6/21/161724/347

Abu Gonzo Coming to Seattle
by Auntie Neo Kawn

Thu Jun 21, 2007 at 01:21:52 PM PDT

Of all the nerve, Abu's gonna pay a visit to the US Attorney's office here in the Emerald City. I hope John McKay meets him at the door:

The event, free and open to the public, is being sponsored by the Discovery Institute, a think tank best known for promoting "intelligent design" as an alternative to the theory of evolution, and TechNet Northwest, a political coalition of technology executives.

--nothing whatsoever!

http://www.churchcouncil.blogspot.com/
June 5, 2007

Mr. John Creighton, President
Port of Seattle Commission
2711 Alaskan Way
Seattle WA 98121

Dear Mr. Creighton,

With this letter the Church Council of Greater Seattle formally withdraws from the Interfaith Airport Décor Committee of the Port of Seattle.  After repeated attempts to reverse the Port's decision to demolish the Lora Lake Apartments, we have decided it no longer makes sense to focus on an issue of little consequence while a far larger issue goes unaddressed.

Dear friends,

I am writing from home in my personal capacity with an urgent request for action tomorrow, Wednesday, June 20, or the following day.  We have that amount of time to move forward on the need to have a police department that demands honesty from its officers -- yes, even in purported drug arrests.

If we do not push forward, we are going to be caught in a backlash tidal wave now being organized by highly placed forces who don't seem to care much whether officers make up evidence.

I won't take your time on much background since you probably have been following this in the press the last day or so.  The civilians on the OPA Review Board have written a report (available on the Times web site) that is sharply critical of Chief Kerlikowske's role in exonerating Officers Greg Neubert & Michael Teitjen on charges of planting drugs, using excessive force and lying to OPA investigators regarding the arrest of George Patterson on drug charges in January. The Mayor, the Chief and at least one Councilmember (Jan Drago) have now gone on the offensive attacking the Board and Council President Nick Licata for trying to pursue these issues.  

A special one day workshop for leaders in health care reform

How to Use Language that Connects with Americans on Health Care Reform

Turning values into powerful political messages

Sponsored by the Washington Health Security Coalition

When:    Saturday, June 30, 2007
10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Where:    Lake City Presbyterian Church
3841 NE 123rd St.
Seattle, WA   98125

Facilitators:  Dr. David Domke and Dr. Crispin Thurlow, Dept. of Communication, University of Washington

In a Huffingtonpost.com article, "Real Progress on Trade", he stated that the Rangel deal represents a "giant step forward into the 21st century."

We all need to write him about this.

http://www.house.gov/mcdermott/contact.shtml

Senior leadership has gotten all cozy with the Bushies and concocted a secret trade deal.  Then they had a press conference about it without even consulting with the Democratic caucus.  Time for letters, calls, and emails ASAP.

http://www.workingassetsblog.com/2007/05/k_street_vs_middle_america_bat.html