From the open publishing newswire: Announcement of a community volunteer opportunity
Volunteer opportunity: Become a Tree Scout with Portland Fruit Tree Project!

As a Tree Scout volunteer, you will help to find and register fruit trees in your neighborhood whose fruit might otherwise go to waste. Tree scouts serve as a vital liaison between PFTP and tree owners, helping us to connect with people that want to share their bounty with the community. It's a fun way to meet neighbors and help make locally grown produce available to all. Good record-keeping and reporting are essential to this position. All the necessary materials and information will be provided. You can expect to spend approximately 2 hours per week (on average) on this volunteer position, which begins June 22nd and goes through October.

Click here for more information on this position and how to apply:
 http://www.portlandfruit.org/2013-tree-scout-volunteer-position-description

homepage:  http://www.portlandfruit.org

From the open publishing newswire: There is a social justice conference happening at the University of Oregon on the dates 2-14 thru 2-16.

THE ENTIRE CONFERENCE IS FREE!!

Featured attendees include Cornel West, Dolores Huerta, Dead Prez, Winona LaDuke, and many more!

Info and registration at- https://sites.google.com/site/sjrj2013/

Facebook Event page- https://www.facebook.com/events/146912615455731/?fref=ts

From the open publishing newswire: Announcement of internship posting with local non-profit

Portland Fruit Tree Project is now accepting applications for our 2013 Harvest and Stewardship Intern Position The 2013 Harvest & Stewardship Intern will aid in the implementation of Portland Fruit Tree Project's Fruit Tree Stewardship, Community Orchards & Harvesting programs.

Time commitment: 12-20 hours per week, for 26 weeks (schedule is somewhat flexible, 315 total hours minimum) April 2nd - September 30th, 2013. Location: You would be working primarily out of PFTP headquarters in NE Portland, but will be traveling throughout the City of Portland for site visits and tree care events. This internship is unpaid, but the rewards are many - including a great learning experience and the unique opportunity to be a part of a vibrant and growing organization. Intern responsibilities: [...]

Preferred Qualifications: Knowledge/experience with fruit trees Interest or experience in urban agriculture and/or community food security Experience working with volunteers and/or leading groups Experience with low-income communities Familiarity with Portland geography and local communities To apply, [...]

From the open publishing newswire:
Join or Lead a Tree Care Team in 2013 Learn tree care skills while helping to improve the health and productivity of urban fruit trees!

Each Tree Care Team will care for a cluster of PFTP-registered fruit trees, visiting each tree once per season to complete the full spectrum of care. Each team is instructed & guided by two 'Team Leaders' with experience and skills in organic fruit tree care. This is a unique opportunity to develop strong skills in organic fruit tree care, meet new people, and care for trees providing food to your community!

Members and Leaders will participate in ten 3-hour work-parties over an 11-month period (January-November, 2013). Topics/tasks will include: Winter & Summer Pruning, Young Tree Training & Care, Pest & Disease Management, Fruit Thinning, and more. At the end of the program you will receive a certificate of completion.

Volunteer position descriptions for Tree Care Team Members and Tree Care Team Leaders are available on our website: www.portlandfruit.org

From the open publishing newswire: On Friday, November 2nd, Eugene anti-fascists made their presence known in response to David Irving's event "Hitler and I", hosted by local fascist organizer Jimmy Marr. David Irving is recognized worldwide as a holocaust denier and fascist sympathizer, whose events are frequently held in private with strictly screened attendees. Despite our repeated attempts, we were unable to find their location. There is an equal possibility that Irving cancelled the meeting, as he is known to do when resistance is expected.

Events like this recruit people to white supremacist ideology and hate groups, and often lead to an upswing in violence against people of color, LGBTQ people, Jewish people, women, people with disabilities, the homeless, etc. Events like this also make local hate groups feel energized and empowered. It is important to confront these events to make a statement that we don't want this in Eugene.

Eugene has continually grappled with it's own racially motivated conflicts. In light of this, we believe that communities should unite in opposition when fascist organizers attempt to target sections of the population with violence and hate speech. Some critics of anti-fascists defend fascist organizing as a free speech issue. The First Amendment and related free speech laws protect citizens from state intervention, not from criticism by the public.

In response to this threat, Eugene anti-fascists held a public rally and dropped several banners to inform the public. We extend our solidarity to Portland anti-fascists and others who have opposed David Irving in their cities.

From the open publishing newswire: Portland Solidarity Network Wins Campaign!
We fought with our friend Beth to force her landlord to return a stolen deposit!
Join Us For a Victory Celebration this Friday (9/21) at 6 PM at the Alberta Street Pub!

Great news! The Portland Solidarity Network (PDX Sol) has won our most recent campaign! Our friend Beth received a check for her full deposit from Brian Wannamaker, the target of our campaign, and it has been confirmed that the check has cleared, thereby meeting our campaign's demand! Brian, the owner and landlord of the Falcon Art Community building where Beth briefly lived, initially refused to return Beth's security deposit after she was forced to move out because of black mold in her apartment. Brian only relented and returned the deposit after PDX Sol spent several weeks engaging in direct action. Our victory proves that a network of community volunteers and supporters committed to solidarity with tenants and workers CAN produce real victories!

Beth initially got in contact with us after seeing our posters, and we took on her campaign with Beth as a member and active participant. We began by delivering a letter to the Falcon Art Community offices that demanded the return of her deposit in full. Thirty-four people came out to support Beth by crowding into the Falcon Art Community's office and handing over the demand letter. (Watch a video of the event here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj2kqiDDr7o&feature=youtu.be) We continued our fight after the demand delivery by engaging in a campaign of direct action - a strategy that empowers individuals and their communities to directly confront those responsible for their exploitation without relying on lawyers or bureaucratic institutions. In the case of our campaign, PDX Sol and our supporters persisted in confronting Brian until he did the right thing and returned Beth's deposit. We relied on nothing more than the strength of our unified voice and the power that comes from public pressure.

[Previous PIMC Post 8.2.12]
 http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2012/08/417229.shtml
[Previous PIMC Post 8.21.12]
 http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2012/08/417582.shtml

homepage:  http://pdxsol.wordpress.com
phone: (503) 446-6065

From the open publishing newswire: Demonstration at Portland City Hall protesting City Council's intention to add fluoride to the pristine Bull Run water. Interviews with many of the well informed and passionate citizens who want this put to a vote. The community has already voted this down three times in recent decades.

Video OF No Fluoride Rally

Posted this over the week end before I left town and forgot to include the link)

About a dozen people came forth to give their views on this subject. They attended the demonstration to make a point to City Council and they welcomed the opportunity to voice their opinion. Many chimed in from the side lines as I finished an interview. All were well educated on the issue of forced fluoridation and all were angry and frustrated with City Council's intention to by-pass the democratic process and mandate our water be fluoridated.

Numerous studies are cited, from EPA and Harvard, for example. The biggest thing I took away from this was the fact that the problem can be solved or mitigated by proper diet and dental hygiene. Fluoride is an attempt at a quick fix, which, as with most quick fixes, creates unintended consequences sometimes more egregious than the original problem.

Video oF No Fluoride Rally

From the open publishing newswire: Join the Portland Fruit Tree Project in preventing waste, building community, and making fresh fruit available to neighbors in need...

As a Harvest Leader, you will co-lead group harvesting events in your neighborhood! It's a fun way to meet your neighbors and help make locally grown produce available to all.

Harvest Leader Overview: Harvest Leader Responsibilities:
- Attend Harvest Leader training (Thursday July 12th, 5pm - 9pm, or Saturday, July 21st, 10am-4pm)
- Co-lead at least 5 harvesting parties in the 2012 Harvest Season (July-November)
- Oversee harvest participants, coordinate logistics, and facilitate introductions, safety talk and wrap-up during harvesting parties.
- Coordinate delivery of 50% of harvested fruit to a local food pantry
- Keep thorough records
- Attend mid-season Harvest Leader meeting (Wednesday, August 29th, 6:00-7:30pm)
- Complete year-end survey and report (December)
- Celebrate! Attend year-end celebration and volunteer appreciation event in December 2012 (optional).

Applications are due Friday, June 29th.
homepage:  http://portlandfruit.org/
phone: 503-284-6106

From the open publishing newswire: On a daily basis, we are bombarded with messages in the corporate media that any European Union country defaulting on its debt would constitute armageddon. Greece/Ireland/Spain/choose your country must pay back the banks in full, no matter the social cost, we are told ad infinitum.

Argentina's government defaulted on odious debt and instead spent the money on investments and social services. Argentine workers took over their factories rather than let them be shut. That path was not an easy one, but Argentina's economy was the Western Hemisphere's fastest growing while wages rose and poverty declined... armageddon was not the result. No fire fell from the sky.

Quite the contrary, Argentines soon were far better off by saying no to the pitiless austerity that had been imposed on them.

Article continues at:  http://wp.me/p2cpPS-1u

homepage:  http://systemicdisorder.wordpress.com

From the open publishing newswire: To all brothers and sisters who hold the dream in their hearts of a future world in which humans and all other beings live in harmony and mutual support -- a world of sustainability, stability, and confidence. A world something like the one I described, so long ago, in Ecotopia and Ecotopia Emerging....

We live in the declining years of what is still the biggest economy in the world, where a looter elite has fastened itself upon the decaying carcass of the empire. It is intent on speedily and relentlessly extracting the maximum wealth from that carcass, impoverishing our former working middle class... As Karl Marx darkly remarked, "Capital has no country," and in the conditions of globalization his meaning has come clear....

We all need to learn, or relearn, how we would keep the rudiments of life going if there were no paid specialists around, or means to pay them.... survival is a team sport.

[This document was found on the computer of Ecotopia author Ernest Callenbach (1929-2012) after his death.]

From the open publishing newswire:
Anarchist Assembly
Saturday April 28th
Food For Thought at PSU Smith Memorial Student Union 1825 SW Broadway
5pm-8pm

This a call to the anarchist and broader anti-authoritarian community to reconvene in assembly and continue to develop ourselves as members of a larger network here in Portland. In doing this we hope to establish new ties of solidarity and affinity as well as to further cement those that already exist. Consider those relevant topics and ideas that you might want to discuss with wide spectrum of anti-authoritarians.

If you are new to anarchism or anarchist organizing this will be a great place to get plugged in and meet like-minded radicals. If you've been around for a while come share what you're working on!

Disclaimer: This is a public call to an open meeting, expect to discuss topics which can be discussed without need of security, as this will not be a secure space.

Email us for childcare needs at: portland-anarchist-assembly@riseup.net

From the open publishing newswire: April 9, 2012 7:00 pm @ Red and Black Cafe - 400 SE 12th Avenue

scott crow, author of Black Flags and Windmills: Hope, Anarchy, and the Common Ground Collective (PM Press, 2011), will read from the book and speak about anarchist organizing!

This presentation will show what ordinary people can do to change their own worlds when governments fail. This workshop draws from experiences of an organization called the Common Ground Collective which formed after hurricane Katrina in response to the disaster. It was an organization based on the ideas and practices of the Black Panther Party, the Zapatistas and anarchism which sought to build/rebuild infrastructure to address the immediate problems (creating medical clinics, free schools, women's centers, and eviction defense to worker coops and other service programs) as well as offering long term support to marginalized communities to build their own community based power.

From the open publishing newswire: *This conference calls for people, movements, organizations and collectives to present alternative accounts to the political dimensions of civic engagement, mutual aid and revolution as they relate to economics, politics, invention, technology, work, artistic and cultural production, the body, pedagogy and social change. The conference promises to create a provocative space for comparative critical dialogue between activists, revolutionaries, educators, artists, musicians, scholars, dancers, actors and writers. The conference invites panels and workshop on all aspects of social change from the revolutionary to the academic.

*The 3rd Annual Law and Disorder Conference will take place April 6-8th, 2012 at Portland State University.

lawandisorder.wordpress.com

Full Conference Schedule