The Thunderbolt 230202- The Greatest Generation
Dana Walker
The Thunderbolt
News — Commentary — Calendar of Activist Events — Dumb Jokes
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1) Stop Funding Israel’s Massacres
2) War Crimes Trials for American War Profiteers?
3) Meet Activist Legend George Lakey
4) POWER Calendar of Events
5) Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation Activist Calendar
6) Reader Feedback
7) Bonus Tip of the Day
A detailed description of all events is located after the News and Commentary section
To go directly to an event description just type the index entry above into a search box
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Heroes Part 2: The Greatest Generation
230202
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In Defense of Defense
Hey, People!
A reader pointed out that in the last issue of the Thunderbolt I praised an armed uprising at the same time that I advocate nonviolent civil disobedience.
I’ve covered this before, but I’m happy to cover it again: I advocate nonviolent civil disobedience not because I’m a pacifist, because frankly I’m not. I advocate nonviolence because all things being equal, nonviolent civil disobedience not only succeeds roughly twice as often as armed rebellions do, but the outcomes also tend to be much better when they are brought about by nonviolent means.
With armed rebellions in fact, you more often than not merely end up trading one tyrant for another.
In addition, there is a phenomenon wherein having a bunch of radical bomb throwers can greatly strengthen the bargaining positions of the non-violent people and they can often get things done they couldn’t have gotten done had not ultra-violent nationalist movements been operating contemporaneously.
Also, in the world of politics things tend often to be very unequal. If you are being brutally oppressed by someone who is able to deploy omnipotent force — then that equation can often lead to a different outcome…
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Censorship by Sabotage?
As I have been regularly reporting for a long time now, the Pacifica Radio Network is experiencing serious dire straits. KPFA in Berkeley just had federal marshals seize $350,000 their from their bank account because sister station WBAI in New York lost a libel lawsuit, and in the entire Pacifica network it turned out that KPFA had the only bank account that was large enough to cover WBAI's debt. In addition, the national board is now threatening to sell KPFK's building and broadcast license in Los Angeles. Keep in mind that KPFK has a 100,000 watt broadcast signal and that they have several repeater stations strung out all over Southern California, one of the largest if not the largest media market in the United States.
A lot of the blame seems to lay with a couple of local station boards of directors, but the most criticism is being aimed directly at the national Board of Directors.
I have absolutely no evidence, and I have not heard even the harshest critics of the national board even hint at this, but I can almost guarantee you that government agents provocateur have wormed their way on to Pacifica's national Board of Directors and that they are intentionally sabotaging the network. The reason I can almost guarantee this is because that is what they always do anytime any voice of opposition becomes prominent, and the Pacifica Network is by orders of magnitude the largest source of alternative media and actual factual reporting that is left in the entire country.
A whole bunch of very powerful people would love to see KPFK off the air, and a whole bunch of very powerful media interests that would love to get their greedy little paws on that 100,000 watt broadcasting license.
Go here for more info:
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Blatant Censorship
As far as all the blatant in-your-face censorship that is coming at us from both the Left and the Right, you should actually rejoice at that. Before the right wingers turned it into a gas lit bonfire, Critical Race Theory was only taught in a few graduate level university courses. (For those of you who have been living under a rock, Critical Race Theory teaches American history as it actually happened as opposed to the sugarcoated BS that dominates the current meme…) Now, thanks to all of the free advertisement being spewed forth like an open fire hydrant from right-wingers, Critical Race Theory has become famous.
The same with all of the banned books. Any ambitious author should actually try to get someone to ban their book because you cannot pay for that kind of free advertisement…
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Censorship by Proxy
It is illegal for the government to censor our free speech.
However, it is perfectly legal for private companies to do so.
Information is now coming to public light that a small army of former national security agents from the whole panoply of US government 3-letter spook agencies has deeply infiltrated the boardrooms and high executive positions on all of the major social media platforms — and that they are dictating which stories we see and which stories we don’t see.
Surprise, surprise — not. (If you read the Thunderbolt, anyway…)
This is, of course, illegal as hell.
That, of course, doesn’t matter anymore.
In the case of Fedbook and Twatter, we now know from the Twitter Files that the government was indeed working directly with big tech to censor information and put out a large number and a wide variety of false narratives.
We now know from the Twitter files that both Fedbook and Twatter directly interfered in several foreign elections.
This should not be surprising. Both of those companies were originally seeded with cash from In-Q-Tel, the venture capital arm of the CIA, and they have now become Trojan horses for censorship by proxy under the guise of policing misinformation. The upper echelons of Fedbook management are infested with ex high-ranking officials from the CIA. We now know from the Twitter files that FBI agents were directly calling employees at Twatter, who were themselves ex-FBI agents, and telling them who to censor.
Twatter has so many ex-FBI agents on their payroll, in fact, that they have their own Slack channel.
The CIA is also omnipresent in this milieu; the man who made the decision to kick Donald Trump off Twatter, for instance, was named Aaron Berman, who had previously held such a high position within the CIA that he was the one who gave both Barack Obama and Donald Trump their daily briefings.
Does anyone else think it’s really weird that someone would go from a position so high in the CIA to then suddenly make such a bizarre career move to become an executive at Twatter?
Not these days. There seems to be a lot of well-oiled revolving doors popping up everywhere these days.
Fedbook and Twatter are not the only ones, of course. This paradigm actually applies to pretty much all the major social media outlets, including Instagram, Tick Tock, Reddit, Google, and many others.
Elon Musk, the supposedly libertarian renegade entrepreneur, is actually a key cog in the surveillance state. The head of In-Q-Tel, Mike Griffen, personally mentored Musk throughout the early 2000s, and in 2002 Griffin personally accompanied Musk to Moscow in order to purchase some intercontinental ballistic missiles to help him in setting up SpaceX. Then, when SpaceX ran into financial difficulties, Griffin, who was by then the head of NASA, managed to steer first a $400 million NASA contract to SpaceX, and then later another $1.6 billion contract.
Musk was subsequently responsible for a lot of the surveillance technology and practices that Edward Snowden risked his life to reveal to us.
Meanwhile, Jeff Bezos was signing a $600 million contract with the CIA at about the same time that he was purchasing the Washington Post.
There are also massive security state interventions in the world of entertainment, especially in Hollywood. The examples are endless. The CIA even boasts about it on their webpage. The FBI has been using Hollywood movies as a propaganda outlet ever since the 1920s — but now even the world of video games has basically become a massive military psy-op, all the more reprehensible in this case because they are specifically targeting highly impressionable youth who are right in the middle of forming their worldviews — and now those impressionable young minds are having pro-military propaganda injected directly into their brains without their even knowing it. People generally don’t deploy their anti-propaganda filters when they’re playing a game, yet first-person shooter games often feature events that are happening in the real world accompanied by the traditional War Machine propaganda spin. There was recently a game whose object was to overthrow the Venezuelan government, for instance.
Again, the examples in video game world are also endless.
A journalist named Alan McCleod is all over this, and you can find the documentation for all of this and much more at Mint Press News:
https://www.mintpressnews.com/author/alan-macleod/
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The Greatest Generation
The Americans who fought in World War II are often referred to as the “Greatest Generation” largely because they are credited with defeating the Nazi war machine.
Not to denigrate their accomplishments, but at best the Americans merely provided an assist as actually it was the Russians who defeated the Nazi war machine. Indeed, the D-Day invasion would have been utterly impossible had not 75% of Hitler’s forces been on the eastern front fighting the Russians. This contention is evidenced by the fact that around 30 million Russians died in World War II whilst American losses were just over ¼ million.
Whatever. The Americans who participated in World War II did indeed accomplish major feats regardless. World War II is often referred to as the “Good War”, or at worst as a “necessary” war. Therefore, protesting World War II was a very unpopular thing to do at the time — especially after Pearl Harbor. Even the famous pacifist Albert Einstein said something to the effect that he was a pacifist — except when it came to Hitler.
Yet many resisted the war anyway. Many went to prison rather than submit to conscription, for instance.
Therefore, I think it would not be out of line to refer to these World War II protesters as — if not the “Greatest Generation” — then at least as the “Bravest Generation”.
I also think it would not be out of line to refer to these World War II protesters as heroes. The cast of characters amongst the World War II protesters contained a lot of names you are probably familiar with along with a lot of names you are probably completely unfamiliar with. In addition, the World War II protesters faced so much persecution that the experiences provided a lot of them with valuable training on things like dealing with incarceration and facing serious social disrepute. The Pacifica Radio Network, in fact, was founded in 1946 by a group of recently persecuted war protesters, for instance, and in fact it was these people who originally came up with the idea of listener sponsored radio as they were sitting in a labor camp.
The word “Pacifica” refers to “pacifists”.
The War Resistors League was founded in 1923 — and the War Resistors League was an offshoot of the Fellowship of Reconciliation (and yes, that is the very same Fellowship of Reconciliation that is responsible for those peace vigils that have been happening every Friday at Heritage Park for decades and this is the very same Fellowship of Reconciliation that was the loudest anti-war voice in Olympia for the entire time that I lived there) and this split came about largely because at that time the Fellowship of Reconciliation was a purely religious organization and the War Resistors League wanted to go both in a more secular and a more radical direction than the Fellowship was willing to go at that time.
When war broke out the small hard-core of remaining pacifists recognized that they weren’t going to stop the war, and that in fact such efforts would probably lead to government suppression. Most people supported the war including most churches, and organized labor — and that is important because this represented the initial splitting of the Left and Labor. (The Wobblys were long gone by then…)
There was really nothing there for anti-war people during World War II. The only way you could obtain conscientious objector status at that time was on religious grounds, and even then you were still expected to contribute to the war effort in some manner. You could go into the army in some sort of noncombat role, or if you didn't want to do that you could volunteer to go live in what was called a “Civilian Public Service Camp” to do work of “national importance”.
In other words, showing their usual level of genius, with these camps the government created a crucible to temper and strengthen anti-war activists — and not only that but they mixed lots of different kinds of activists who normally would probably have never even met much less worked together. There were anarchists, socialists, Christian pacifists — and even a few Jewish pacifists — as well as many others. They talked, they debated, they had classes, and they would even receive visits from people the likes of Bayard Rustin, who would give them lectures. Lou Hill, the founder of the Pacifica Network, was educated in one of these camps and, as mentioned, it was in that camp that he and others came up with the idea of Pacifica. People started publishing newsletters, they created art, and it was just an incredible incredibly vibrant world — yet at the same time it was also a somewhat depressing one because they were not paid and because they increasingly saw the work they were given as pointless — though some of them did volunteer to put out very dangerous forest fires in the West and the thousands volunteered to work in mental institutions, which at the time were a Dickensian archipelago of facilities that had very little treatment, little funding, violent staff, inadequate clothing and food, and literally represented an insane horror show. When the pacifists came in, for at least a little while they managed to change some things to the extent they could by drawing public attention through media exposes. They even started a newsletter to circulate best practices to one another.
They had no particular training, but then again neither had the regular staff which had gone off to either work in the more lucrative war factories or had gone into the armed forces.
Another result of this experience is that sometimes the pacifists found themselves locked in a room with up to 100 mentally ill people, some of them quite dangerous. The staff had no weapons, nor did they want weapons — and thus many pacifists learned that at least when dealing with mentally ill people that sometimes restraint, if not violence, was necessary.
Whatever: As a result of many things a spirit of ever greater radicalism began to take hold in these camps, and that spirit was destined to be highly influential for decades to come.
Another change that came about amongst the anti-war movement brought about by World War II was that from the Civil War until World War II, the anti war movements and pacifist movements had been — well — passive. They used nonviolent tactics and resisted with simple noncompliance. The American pacifists during World War II started to transform that passive resistance movement into an active and much more in-your-face type movement for righting the many and obvious wrongs that had been long plaguing American society.
The War Resistors League was basically taken over by radical pacifists immediately following World War II. This is where such luminaries as David Dellinger of Chicago Seven fame got his start, along with many others who were equally disreputable if not as famous. Before he became part of the Chicago Seven, Dellinger was part of something that was known as the “Union Eight”. These were eight young men at the Union Theological Seminary in New York and they were training to become Protestant clergymen. When the first peacetime draft was adopted they were supposed to register in October of 1940, but they refused to register even though by registering they would be exempt due to the fact that they were seminary students.
These were the original draft resistors. They made national headlines and their story was featured on the front page of the New York Times and so on — and they were sent to prison.
And that was but Dellinger’s first stint in prison as he did even more prison time later in the war, again for refusing to be drafted.
Thus, Mr. Dellinger already had a long history with all of this and by the time he was part of the Chicago Seven he was an extremely experienced thoughtful and and hardened veteran of resistance.
And Dellinger was but one of many direct threads connecting these “Greatest Generation” war protesters to the great social movements of the 1960s.
One character I only recently learned of is Reverend A J Muste. Muste was a bare knuckled union organizer before World War II and then returned to his original roots as a Christian pacifist (he had been trained as a minister, in fact) due to that war. Mr. Muste hired Bayard Rustin and James farmer and he loaned them out to the to A Philip Randolph and the March on Washington movement and he loaned them out to the Civil Rights movement in general and the Congress of Racial Equality [CORE] in particular.
And thus Reverend Muste played a crucial and little known role in in fostering an organized civil rights movement in the United States all the way back in the 1940s.
https://ajmuste.org/aj_mustes-life-of-activism
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And thus were the seeds of our revolution sown....
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All of the information in this week’s article came from a recent book called War by Other Means, by Daniel Akst.
https://www.amazon.com/War-Other-Means-Generation-Revolutionized/dp/1612199240
You can also watch this You Tube video of Mr. Akst being interviewed by KPFA’s Mitch Jeserich, host of a most excellent radio program called Letters and Politics:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke8PUQitd2E
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It’s time to get to work…
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The Cascadia Action Alert
February 2nd, 2023
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1) Stop Funding Israel’s Massacres
I got this message from AZ:
Hello everyone,
I'm writing to request you amplify our Stop Funding Israel’s Massacres joint letter & action tool on social media today. Thank you for joining with a group of 150 organizations to make a collective statement calling out the U.S. government’s complicity and racist dehumanization of Palestinian life. It is powerful to know that orgs representing 10,000s of will show up to defend Palestinian land, lives, and human rights in this time.
Please use the links below to post political education graphics, the letter, and the action tool across social media ASAP, as an original post or amplifying USCPR's posts:
· Post these graphics across social media (For a shorter post, opy paste text in USCPR's posts below)
· Or amplify USCPR's posts on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook
· Links to individual pieces of the launch for sharing or reference:
o Web post of letter & short-link: https://bit.ly/StopArmingIsraelLetter
o Contact Congress action tool & short-link: https://uscpr.org/StopArmingIsrael
Thank you for your work,
Leah
P.S. If you know of other orgs wanting to join, we can add late sign-ons on a rolling basis here.
P.P.S. Also including a few key graphics below, more in this folder!
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2) War Crimes Trials for American War Profiteers?
I got this message from AZ:
Merchantsofdeath.org Home - Merchants of Death
Nov 10, 2022 · The Merchants of Death War Crimes Tribunal will hold accountable — through testimony of witnesses — U.S. weapons manufacturers who knowingly produce and sell products
We are asked to issue subpoenas to US elected officials who can testify as to the extent of accountability of US weapons makers and corporations which have committed Crimes of War and Crimes Against Humanity. Testimony taken until November 2023 at which time a Tribunal will be held. Raytheon, Boeing, Lockeed-Martin and General Atomics have been served with subpoenas.
Note: Politico is calling this UnAmerican, also takes Bill Gates funding.
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3) Meet Activist Legend George Lakey
I got this message from Frederic:
MEET GEORGE LAKEY:
LESSONS LEARNED FROM 6 DECADES OF THE STRUGGLE FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE
Sunday February 12th at 4pm Orca Books
315 5th Ave SE Olympia
The Washington Poor People's Campaign is excited to announce that we will partner with the Faith Action Network for their Interfaith Advocacy Day on February 9th in Olympia. Our experiences and understanding of the interlocking injustices our communities face each day need to be heard in Olympia. By gathering together we will directly address our lawmakers to urge them to pass moral policies that fully address poverty and low wealth from the bottom up.
Faith Action Network, a WA PPC mobilizing partner, has extensive experience in organizing advocacy days in Olympia. The full day will include morning workshops with information about the issues and training on how to effectively advocate, a catered lunch, and the opportunity to meet with your legislators directly!
We are here to support one another in taking action together. We have funds to help cover the cost of transportation, lost wages from taking time off of work, and other costs you might face traveling to Olympia. RSVP soon so we can begin making those plans together and so Faith Action Network can begin making appointments for us with our legislators. Please register by Sunday, January 29th.
We do not have to travel across the state to have an impact! There are many actions we can take from home that will help secure policies that fight poverty not the poor. Please consider connecting with our Armchair Brigade virtually for Moral Monday Mid Mornings (10 to 11 am) or for Thirsty Thursdays for Justice (5:30 to 6:30 pm) to find ways of taking action that work for you!
Many of our partners, like those that attended our January Open House below, send out regular updates during the legislative session with quick calls to action that allow you to lend your voice to bills that align with our movement! Please consider signing up for updates from one of our partners to learn more.
From: Washington Poor
People's Campaign <washi...@poorpeoplescampaign.org>
Sent: Sunday, January 22, 2023 10:00 AM
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4) POWER Calendar of Events
I got this message from POWER:
Put
these events on your calendar! Hope to see you there!
If you are a low income parent/unpaid care
provider and need childcare
support for the upcoming Legislative Day on Feb
9 or the Zine Making
Workshop on Feb 13 contact us at 360-352-9716.
1. Feb 4, 2022. Alchemilla Members will be
Participating in the Cultural
Bazaar and Resource Fair at the ASHHO Cultural
Community Center in
Tumwater
2. Feb 9, 2023. Poor People's Campaign and
Faith Action Network at the
United Churches of Olympia and to the Capitol
3. February 13, 2023. Zine Making Workshop by
and for Low-Income Parents
4. Follow us on Instagram and Facebook!
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1. Feb 4, 2023. Alchemilla Members will be
tabling at the Cultural
Bazaar and Resource Fair at the ASHHO Cultural
Community Center.
Come Support Alchemilla Members and see the
local art, services, food,
and nonprofits that will be featured at this
event.
Buy a gift for your sweetie or yourself or just
come and browse and
enjoy the company.
Saturday, Feb 4, 2023
11:00 am-3:00 pm
ASHHO Cultural Center
5757 Littlerock Road
Tumwater, WA 98512
For more information go to www.ashho.org
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2. Feb 9, 2023. INTERFAITH ADVOCACY DAY. The
Washington Poor People's
Campaign is partnering with The Faith Advocacy
Network.
FAITH ACTION NETWORK’s Interfaith Advocacy Day
brings voices of
compassion and justice to our elected leaders.
Thursday, February 9, 2023
9 AM - 3 PM
The United Churches of Olympia
110 11th Ave SE
Olympia, WA 98501
Follow this link to sign up. Interfaith
Advocacy Day 2023 | Faith Action
Network PowerBase (ourpowerbase.net)
Don’t miss this important day in
Olympia! As of this year, they are limited to
250 participants due to
regulations at The United Churches of Olympia.
We encourage you to sign
up early so that we can guarantee you a spot.
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3. February 13, 2023. Zine Making Workshop
If you have been following our social media
posts you may know that we
had a Zine making workshop in January. We will
be having one again this
month and another in March.
We are making a Zine by and for low-income
parents!!!
It's called “Involuntary Simplicity” and It's
about how to have fun and
create a sense of abundance on a tight budget.
Come, bring your kids and make pages of the
Zine.
- optional potluck, food provided
- free childcare
WHEN- February 13 , 5:30-8:00 pm
WHERE- POWER, 309 5th Ave SE, Olympia, WA 98501
- If you will be needing childcare of have any
questions please call us
at 360-352-9716
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4. Follow us on Instagram and Facebook!
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/olympiamamapower/
https://www.instagram.com/womens_economic_collaborative/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/mamapower.org
https://www.facebook.com/POWERs-Tuesday-Pop-Up-Market-103983745281387
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POWER
Parents Organizing for Welfare and Economic
Rights
309 5th Avenue SE, Olympia WA 98506
360-352-9716
http://m.mamapower.org/
Like us on Facebook.
POWER is an organization of low-income parents
and allies advocating for
a strong social safety net while working toward
a world where children
and care giving are truly valued, and the
devastation of poverty has
been eradicated.
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5) Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation Activist Calendar
I got this message from Oly FOR:
COMING EVENTS + ONLINE
OPPORTUNITIES
on MANY ISSUES
· Events on SPECIFIC DATES are LISTED IMMEDIATELY BELOW.
· After that I list events occurring EVERY DAY, EVERY WEEK, and EVERY MONTH. These are listed in THESE sections only, NOT also on the “SPECIFIC DATES.”
· Occasionally I post new lists to my blog’s “COMING EVENTS” category in the right column of my blog’s home page at www.parallaxperspectives.org
· Also, I keep posting new information and resources at the various issue categories of my blog, www.parallaxperspectives.org
SPECIFIC DATES
On various dates you can learn about Ranked-Choice Voting. See https://www.mobilize.us/fairvotewa/event/434070/?followup_modal_context=email_shift_followup_other_events
Thurston Climate Action Team (TCAT) has a calendar listing many climate-related and environmental activities throughout the month. See their calendar at this link: https://thurstonclimateaction.org/calendar/
See many events on a variety of peace-related issues and other issues at this list: https://worldbeyondwar.org/events/?link_id=15&can_id=1d662460c0abb8939c5044c82927552b&source=email-wbw-news-action-new-anti-war-pro-peace-resources-database&email_referrer=email_1341959&email_subject=wbw-news-action-nowarnowarming
At your convenience after THURS JAN 19: Learn about the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). Kim Dobson recorded his interview with Glen Anderson on Kim’s radio program at 12 noon on KAOS, 89.3 FM. Contact Glen at glenan...@integra.net or (360) 491-9093 to get the link to this recording: Glen clearly explained the TPNW’s origins stemming from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which went into effect in 1970 – and which the nations that have nuclear weapons have been VIOLATING FOR HALF A CENTURY. Non-nuclear nations – especially those in the Global South – are sick and tired of being held hostage by nine nations with nuclear weapons, so they created the TPNW and a worldwide movement to ABOLISH ALL nuclear weapons. Info: glenan...@integra.net or (360) 491-9093
FRI FEB 3: 11;00 a.m. Pacific Time: CLICK FOR THREE EVENTS: The Impact of Gun Violence on America’s Youth: Three events (FRI, SAT, MON) mark National Gun Violence Survivors Week. Approximately 200 people survive gunshot wounds every day in the U.S., while many other persons are killed. The activities on FRI-SAT-MON share the stories of survivors, including young people, and health professionals, and other people. Click the links above (and for SAT and MON) to sign up in advance for each of these webinars.
SAT FEB 4, 9:00-10:30 a.m.: Ranked-Choice Voting organizing for people who live in Thurston-Mason counties, etc.: CLICK to join the Zoom meeting: https://www.mobilize.us/fairvotewa/event/366996/?followup_modal_context=email_shift_followup_same_event×lot=3795608
SAT FEB 4: 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time: GUN VIOLENCE: Public Health Leaders: See FRI FEB 3 above.
MON FEB 6: 5:00 pm Pacific Time: GUN VIOLENCE: When There is No Justice: See FRI FEB 3 above.
MON FEB 6: Washington State’s Poor People’s Campaign invites you to their online monthly open house at 7:00 pm: The Poor People’s Campaign is building a long-term movement that is building power for the justice and liberation of the poor and all those impacted by the evils of Systemic Racism, The War Economy, Ecological Devastation, Poverty, and our Distorted Moral Narrative. Many good organizations have committed themselves to be “Mobilizing Partners” in helping to organize and carry out the PPC’s work. Today’s Zoom link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82671211492 More information: https://washi...@poorpeoplescampaign.org and https://www.washingtonppc.org/
MON-FRI FEB 6-10: Democracy Lobby Week is a series of virtual events jointly sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Washington and Fix Democracy First. See information at their websites.
WED FEB 8: Catholic Archbishop Wester wrote a powerful, informative booklet about nuclear weapons’ technical aspects and Christian reasons for opposing them. He is the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, New Mexico, a very heavily militarized state immersed in nuclear weaponry for many decades. Several of us in the greater Olympia area have read his powerful booklet. Now you can hear him speak online at 4:00 pm Pacific Time. USE THIS LINK: https://www.associationofpittsburghpriests.com/event-5106850
WED FEB 8: Monthly speaker series about reforming our health care system: On the second Wednesday of each month at 7:00 pm a different speaker provides fresh, interesting information. This series is FREE on Zoom. It is organized by our statewide organization Health Care for All – Washington. Info: http://www.healthcareforallwa.org/ RSVP here!
THURS FEB 9: STATEWIDE meeting: Abolish nuclear weapons! Join today’s online meeting of Washington Against Nuclear Weapons: This statewide coalition meets from 6:00 pm on the second Thursday afternoon of each month. Participants are well informed and keep pushing ahead toward abolishing nuclear weapons. Info: www.wanwcoalition.org
THURS FEB 9: Interfaith Advocacy Day in Olympia runs from 9 am to 3 pm: The great multi-issue social justice organization Faith Action Network (https://fanwa.org) urges the Washington State Legislature to pass smart actions every year on a variety of important issues. If you register by January 29 at this link they can arrange legislative meetings for you: https://fanwa.ourpowerbase.net/civicrm/event/info?reset=1&id=247 See information about their legislative priorities, etc., at this link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/zqb2aihexiyuxqk/FAN%202023%20Legislative%20Agenda%202-pages%20adding%20bill%20numbers%20and%20sponsors.pdf?dl=0 Also, their website – https://fanwa.org – has info about various non-profit organizations’ lobby days about their respective issues. Also, they post E-News to their website each week at https://fanwa.org/news/.
MON FEB 13: Immigrants’ rights: The Olympia area’s Strengthening Sanctuary Alliance meets from 6:00 to 8:00 pm on Zoom. New members and ideas welcome. Contact: olympia....@gmail.com or email direct to zeigl...@msn.com or call (360) 570-0848
MON FEB 13: Reduce gun violence: Since 2016, our local Thurston Gun Sense has been meeting and taking smart actions. They meet on the second Monday of each month at 6:30 pm through Zoom. Info: Stacy Steck steck...@gmail.com
THURS FEB 16: WAISN Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Day in Olympia runs from 9 am to 5 pm. Please participate, take action, and demand support from our legislators for this year’s immigrant justice campaigns: Health Equity for Immigrants and Unemployment Insurance for Undocumented Workers. REGISTER HERE: WAISN's Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Day
THURS FEB 16: Abolish nuclear weapons! Join today’s online meeting of the Olympia Coalition to Abolish Nuclear Weapons: The Olympia Coalition to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (OCANW) meets on the third Thursday of each month. You may join as early as 4:45 pm to make sure your video, audio, etc., are working OK and enjoy informal social conversations before we start promptly at 5:00. I hope you will join us! Our monthly meetings are informative, productive and enjoyable. To join this Zoom meeting, e-mail me so I can send you the Zoom link. If you can’t use video and must call in by telephone, call (253) 215 8782 through Tacoma WA. Info: glenan...@integra.net or (360) 491-9093
MON FEB 20: Lobby Day at WA State Legislature for important social justice issues: One of Washington State’s great organizations pushing effectively on our state legislature for social and economic justice is Quaker Voice (www.quakervoicewa.org). You can help even if you’re not Quaker. Today is their Lobby Day. Sign up now through – specifically at https://www.quakervoicewa.org/quaker-lobby-day-2023/ They also have activities on Friday evening and Sunday before MON FEB 20. See information about actions you can take before then at https://www.quakervoicewa.org/action-alerts-2023/?link_id=1&can_id=1d662460c0abb8939c5044c82927552b&source=email-action-alert-sign-in-pro-on-the-behavioral-health-workforce&email_referrer=email_1790119&email_subject=action-alert-help-move-the-solitary-confinement-bill-out-of-committee
WED FEB 22: Watch (for free) and discuss a classic British film about nuclear war: The Olympia Coalition to Abolish Nuclear Weapons has scheduled a date/time for people to watch BBC’s “The War Game,” a 1966 film about a nuclear war. It runs a little over an hour. You can watch it for FREE at this link: The War Game (1965) You can watch it on your own in advance – or watch it with other people before we discuss it as a group. We scheduled WED FEB 22 at 7:00 pm to watch it together – and 8:00 pm to discuss it. Use this Zoom link to join the discussion: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/3339624020?pwd=NWFGcTd2ZzJKcjZJelFHSHVBK0puQT09 See more information about this powerful film at this link: https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=%22the+war+game%22+%2B+BBC
EVERY DAY:
Here is an easy way to learn about important federal legislation and policies about nuclear weapons (including the powerful Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons): Glen Anderson compiled information and posted it to his blog: https://parallaxperspectives.org/nuclear-weapons-legislation-and-policies-need-our-actions-now
Democracy Now! broadcasts news from a progressive perspective on TV and radio and e-mail. See www.democracynow.org. For example, in Thurston County WA people can watch cable channel 22 every Monday through Friday from 5:00 to 6:00 a.m. and 3:00 to 4:00 p.m., and listen to KAOS 89.3 FM from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time (and through www.kaosradio.org, adjusted for your time zone).
Here are sources of alternative and progressive
media covering many issues.
Visit their websites and/or sign up to receive their frequent e-mails with multi-issue
news:
Alternet: www.alternet.org
Common Dreams: www.commondreams.org
CounterPunch: www.counterpunch.org
Democracy Now! www.democracynow.org
Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR): www.fair.org
Mother Jones: www.motherjones.com
Nation of Change: www.nationofchange.org
Op Ed News: www.opednews.com
Parallax Perspectives (Glen Anderson’s multi-issue blog): www.parallaxperspectives.org
Popular Resistance: www.popularresistance.org
Progressive Populist: www.populist.com
Public Citizen: www.citizen.org
The Intercept: www.theintercept.com
The Nation: www.thenation.com
The Progressive Magazine: www.progressive.org
The Young Turks: www.tytnetwork.com and www.tyt.com
TomDispatch: www.tomdispatch.com
Truthout: www.truthout.org
Waging Nonviolence: www.wagingnonviolence.org
You can watch this ONLINE at any time: "Nonviolent National Defense -- A Practical Way to Be More Secure" – Watch Glen Anderson explain to a nationwide audience that we could ABOLISH ALL NUCLEAR WEAPONS AND REPLACE OUR MILITARY with Nonviolent National Defense: The Q&A was interesting too. You can watch it at any time through this website -- https://www.theworldismycountry.com/club -- or through YouTube: https://youtu.be/0zEbNmbiMuQ ALSO, you can watch a more thorough version of Glen’s explanation of Nonviolent National Defense through the May 2022 TV episode in his “Glen’s Parallax Perspectives” TV series. This is powerful information and inspiration to significantly improve the U.S.’s “national security” by – ironically -- de-militarizing our “national defense.” Instead of military violence, we could defend our nation better through carefully planned strategies of nonviolent resistance. This actually would be very practical – and we could save hundreds of billions of dollars every year so we could solve our nation’s real problems (health, poverty, environment, etc.). You can watch the TV program through Glen’s blog: CLICK THIS LINK TO WATCH THE TV PROGRAM, which starts with music after a black screen for about 30 seconds before the visual image appears. The TV program is a shortened version of a much more thorough article Glen wrote, which includes links to many more sources of information. Glen encourages people to read this article here: Nonviolent National Defense Would Be Better in Every Way
EVERY WEEK:
Every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday (and anytime online): “Glen’s Parallax Perspectives” – Each month a new TV interview program focuses on an issue related to peace, social justice, environment, economics, or other progressive issue. It airs three times a week on Thurston Community Media (cable channel 22 in Thurston County WA): Mondays at 1:30 pm, Wednesdays at 5:00 pm, and Thursdays at 9:00 pm. Also, people anywhere can watch at any time through Glen’s blog, www.parallaxperspectives.org.
Each program is posted to the blog’s “TV Programs” category and also to
categories related to the topic (e.g., “Peace” or “Economics”).
Each blog post includes a link to the video and a link to a thorough summary
Glen typed up, so you can read what we said during the interview. The
thorough summary also includes links to many sources of information.
Info: Glen Anderson 491-9093 glenan...@integra.net
“Three Steps to Nuclear Disarmament” is Glen’s JANUARY 2023 TV program. Watch it through his blog or on TV:
The January 2023 program on “Glen’s Parallax Perspectives” TV series provides fresh information and insights toward abolishing nuclear weapons. Besides facts, we provide a positive “can-do” attitude with practical strategies. We explain things clearly enough so people who do not already know much about nuclear weapons will easily understand and become enthusiastic about abolishing them.
One truly expert guest – Tom Rogers – helps us explore this topic. Tom Rogers retired from the U.S. Navy in 1998 after a 32-year career as a submarine officer. He commanded a nuclear attack submarine during the Cold War. When the Cold War ended in 1991, he recognized the opportunity – and the need – to abolish nuclear weapons. Since 2004, he has been an active member of an organization working to abolish nuclear weapons. The Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action is located immediately next to the Trident nuclear submarine base in Kitsap County, Washington. Tom and other Ground Zero peace activists have always worked to create mutually respectful human relations with Navy personnel. Our interview lays out an easy-to-understand three-step plan toward nuclear disarmament. Our interview includes Tom’s visuals. We explain the plan clearly, so people without prior knowledge of nuclear weapons will easily understand.
CLICK THIS LINK TO WATCH THE INTERVIEW VIDEO.
Besides watching the interview video, I hope you will also read the thorough summary document I wrote because it provides some additional information and links. CLICK THE NEXT LINK TO READ THE THOROUGH SUMMARY:
2023.01. Three Steps To Nuclear Disarmament 2023.01 Three Steps to Nuclear Disarmament — SUMMARY and MORE INFORMATION
Our guest, Tom Rogers also provided a .pdf version of the images we showed on the screen and some more information to explain them. See that here: From Opposition to Abolition Presentation Handout
Questions? Contact Glen Anderson (producer and host) at (360) 491-9093 or glenan...@integra.net
EVERY MONDAY at 12 noon: Action Cafe 2023 helps you work with others for progressive political issues: Olympia Indivisible’s Action Café is a weekly Monday Zoom noon-hour gathering where OI members meet, make new friends, and take actions together. Every Café comes with a side order of live music and a heapin’ helpin’ of good cheer! Cafe patrons receive an email on Sunday with a sneak-peek at what we'll do at the cafe the next day. On Monday morning, Chef Lisa will send you a pdf “Menu” which has links to the actions we'll take together at the Café. Register here to get the next Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0qdO6vqT8tGdwVZGYv4IjrLQNrivpJ_eqC
Every Monday, Thursday and Saturday: Olympia’s Veterans for Peace Chapter 109 (the Rachel Corrie Chapter) airs its TV Program (“The Veterans Hour”) at 5:00 every Monday, 8:00 pm every Thursday, and 2:00 pm every Saturday on Thurston Community Media cable channel 22 in Thurston County WA. Info: Mark Fleming vfp...@protonmail.com or (360) 357-1060. The group’s website is www.vfp109.com
Every Wednesday from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. (Pacific Time): Speakers and discussions about peace, international issues, etc. on Zoom: Hosts Arthur Kanegis and Melanie Bennett provide this informative and often inspiring opportunity to connect. JOIN ZOOM HERE: https://zoom.us/j/6129331446?pwd=R0FvdmJyUWRuaENJRlBLdVJockVqUT09 More information and past programs: Visit theworldismycountry.com/club and click on JOIN US at the top for the current program for previous ones. This is The World is My Country Club’s People-Powered Planet Podcast. The organization promotes world citizenship instead of narrow nationalism. See TheWorldisMyCountry.com and People-Powered Planet Podcast
Every Wednesday from 12:00 noon to 1:00 pm: Peace Vigil in downtown Olympia WA in NW corner of Sylvester Park (at Legion & Capitol Way) has persisted every Wednesday since March 5, 1980, regardless of weather or holidays. Please come for all or part of the hour to witness in a friendly way for peace and nonviolence. We provide plenty of signs, including some about nuclear weapons. Please wear a mask. Info: glenan...@integra.net (360) 491-9093
Every Wednesday at 5:00 pm Pacific Time: Democracy Happy Hour summarizes the week’s news and reform opportunities related to electoral-related matters – AND ALSO features a special topic near the end of the session. It is organized by Fix Democracy First, https://fixdemocracyfirst.org Register for the Zoom session here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/uJAlc-yppjstDIEL3JGv7m62A9TlapYR6g?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=80dc3c9f-f3f6-446c-8027-a97c71f4e19c The special topic for WED JAN 25 will be “Utilizing Coalitions to Reform Democracy.” For WED FEB 1 it will be “Media Literacy” with special guest Lesley James, Media Literacy & Digital Citizenship Program Supervisor, WA Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction.
Every Thursday from 12:00 to 1:00 pm (Pacific Time): Kim Dobson’s “Parallel University” on KAOS 89.3 FM interviews knowledgeable, interesting experts on peace, social justice, the environment, progressive politics, and other alternative viewpoints. Info: Kim Dobson. 951-4382 parrallel...@yahoo.com Listen locally at 89.3 FM or anywhere at www.kaosradio.org
Every Friday from 4:30 to 6:00 pm in downtown Olympia WA: Peace Vigil at Percival Landing’s south end and SW corner of 4th& Water. Please join us for whatever length of time you can. We provide plenty of signs. The Artesian Rumble Arkestra street band joins us at 5:00 with lively music to support our vigil! The vigil has persisted every Friday regardless of weather or holidays since November 1998. We provide plenty of signs, including some about nuclear weapons. Please wear a mask. Info: 491-9093 Info: glenan...@integra.net (360) 491-9093 and www.oly-wa.us/artesianrumble
Fridays from 5:00 to 6:00 pm in Olympia WA: “Women in Black” Silent Vigil for Peace on the south side of W 4th Ave near the fountain (across the street from Olympia Oyster House). Women only. Please wear black. They provide signs. Since 1988 “Women in Black” has been a loose network of women worldwide opposed to war and violence. Info: (360) 866-6468 or (360) 866-4768 or rosem...@comcast.net
EVERY MONTH:
Climate: Thurston Climate Action Team (TCAT) has active committees that meet monthly: See their calendar at this link: https://thurstonclimateaction.org/calendar/
Climate: Carbon Free Thurston (Thurston County WA) meets every third Wednesday of the month, alternating from 3:00 to 4:00 pm. For more information and Zoom link please email in...@thurstonclimateaction.org
Climate: Climate Lobby’s Olympia group invites you to their monthly meeting on the second Saturday from 9:30 am to 12 noon. Citizens’ Climate Lobby is a non-profit, non-partisan, grassroots advocacy organization focused on national policies to relieve the climate crisis, especially by putting a price on carbon-based fuels. http://citizensclimatelobby.org/climate-resolution Info: www.citizensclimatelobby.org
Health care reform: Interesting speakers on the second Wednesday of every month at 7:00 pm: A savvy statewide organization working for Universal Single-Payer (“Medicare for All” without insurance companies) hosts speakers every month on Zoom. (See WED JAN 11 below about Norway’s health care system.) Contact Health Care for All-WA at http://www.healthcareforallwa.org/
Immigrants’ rights: The Olympia area’s Strengthening Sanctuary Alliance meets on the first Monday of each month from 6:00 to 8:00 pm on Zoom. (When that Monday is a holiday, the meeting is moved one week later to the second Monday.) New members and ideas welcome. Contact: olympia....@gmail.com or email direct to zeigl...@msn.com or call (360) 570-0848
Nuclear weapons: Olympia Coalition to Abolish Nuclear Weapons meets on the third Thursday of each month from 5:00 sharp to 7:00 pm by Zoom video. Info: Glen Anderson (360) 491-9093 glenan...@integra.net
Nuclear weapons: Washington Against Nuclear Weapons – Our statewide coalition meets on the second Thursday of each month at 6:00 pm by Zoom video. (The Olympia Coalition to Abolish Nuclear Weapons is an active member.) Info: www.wanwcoalition.org or (206) 547-2360
Ranked-Choice Voting – Meeting of Thurston County’s chapter of statewide organization FairVote: 9:00 to 10:30 a.m. online. Info: Thurston County Chapter Meeting
Veterans for Peace Chapter 109 (the Rachel Corrie Chapter) meets on the first Sunday of each month from 12 noon to 2 pm. Info about the meetings – or about joining the local mailing list: Mark Fleming vfp...@protonmail.com or (360) 357-1060. Their website is www.vfp109.com
🡪 Look for another calendar several weeks from now for future dates.
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6) Reader Feedback
I got this message from DZ:
Thanks for another great issue of the Thunderbolt. Interesting as usual!
re: "Whatever. It would be better if we could figure out how to organize in a manner that doesn’t involve having our organization subsequently destroyed by forces both from without and within. Ideas on this subject would be welcome."
Here's my 2c worth on this: We need to realize that no single organization has a monopoly on the truth. If we're ever going to see any real, transformative change, we need to build coalitions! Unite on common ground(s) and issues the various sects and groups can agree on, and work together. Maintain organizational integrity, don't insist on total agreement, & avoid digging up old disagreements.
And here's a comment i just got from a friend: "Interesting bit about the Wobblies. Our branch is donating $500 toward the monument in Centralia. Too bad he refers to the IWW as a dead thing...it ain't!"
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7) Bonus Tip of the Day:
Don’t accept the status quo.
Peace.
Dana
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LINKS:
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