Big day on May 9th. Josephine County MTA is going to join in with Jackson County MTA at the Crater Lake Overpass. Bring your banners and join in Overpass day for MoveToAmend.
Movie
This Thursday evening, May 9, at 6:30 pm, you are invited to a free showing of “The Healthcare Movie”, followed by a brief discussion of how we can organize a Grants Pass community support group for the Health Care for All Oregon (HCAO) movement. More information will be provided about HCAO at the meeting.
Stay for the discussion if you like or just come and enjoy the movie. Here is a link to a web page for the movie, including a 2 min. video clip trailer you can watch:
The movie is “The Health Care Movie”
The date and time: Thursday, May 9, 6:30 pm
The Place: UUGP Fellowship Hall, 525 NE Sixth St.
Cost: FREE (donations accepted)
The Healthcare Movie is a 65 minute documentary that reveals the intensity of the political struggle that led to Canada’s universal medical care system, and exposes public relations campaigns that have been prevalent in the U.S. since the early 1900s to dissuade the American public from supporting national health care.
Every day people are dying or going bankrupt due to the ills of the United States system. Who are we in the face of this human tragedy?
If you agree that people are more important than profits, then you must see this film.
Rally & Movie News
Hi fellow peaceniks and progressives,
Tomorrow at 4 pm let’s get out again and remind people that peace and prosperity really is a better option than war, misery, a broken economy and not enough money for healthcare, education and social security. It’s the 3rd Thursday, so we’ll be out there in front of the Courthouse.
Speaking of healthcare for ALL. There is a great new movie out, that we are working toward showing here in Grants Pass, and we are tentatively considering Thursday evening at 6:30 pm, May 9th, in the UUGP Fellowship Hall (across from the Courthouse). My question is whether that evening would be okay for you, or do you have a conflict with that day and time? Please let me know.
Here is a link to a trailer for the movie: http://www.
See you tomorrow.
Monthly Meeting and Rally
Hi,
This is just a reminder that the Grants Pass members of Citizens for Peace and Justice gather once a month on the first Thursday, after our Street Rally. Tomorrow, we’ll meet at the Black Forest at 5:30. You’re invited, whether or not you’re able to be at the Street Rally. I hope you can make it.
For a better future world,
Jerry
Rally and Press Release
Fellow Activists,
We meet again this Thursday in front of the courthouse, with our signs and our bodies and our hopes for a better future, to let our fellow citizens know that we still care and we’re still here, standing against endless wars abroad, and on-going economic and social injustices here at home. The weather should not be too bad. I hope you can make it.
We are particularly energized lately by the effort to restart the campaign to get Health Care for ALL —- at least here in Oregon. The following press release is about the rally in Salem on Monday, Feb 4, in support of that effort. Check out the information and consider joining with several of us who will be getting on the bus that morning to go to the rally there.
See you Thursday,
Salem Rally for Affordable Health Care for All
Contact: Jessica Hoffman hoffmjes20@gmail.com 541 905 7596
Mike Huntington, MD mchuntington@comcast.net 541-745-5635
On Monday Feb. 4, the first day of the 2013 legislative session, the 61 member organizations of the Health Care for All-Oregon coalition and 20 grassroots groups of local supporters from across the state will rally on the Capitol steps in Salem for Health Care as a Human Right. According to HCAO leaders, the purpose of the rally is to demonstrate the breadth and depth of support for universal health care and for the Affordable Health Care for All Oregon Act, which has been re-introduced in this session by Representative Michael Dembrow (D45). The Act would cover all Oregon residents with no co-payments, deductibles, or premiums and be funded by dedicated taxes, based on ability to pay. Advocates believe that universal health care will result in a healthier population, a more prosperous economy, and a better business environment for the state.
The rally on the Capitol steps will be only part of a very full day of activities planned to inspire and unite HCAO coalition members. Beginning about 10 a.m., teams of marchers carrying signs on behalf of a universal health care system will walk through downtown Salem. Raging Granny singers will greet them back at the Capitol steps at 11:15. At 11:30 the formal rally will begin, led by emcee and rally organizer Jessica Hoffman, chair of the HCAO Mobilization Committee and a health care activist since her student days in the Public Health Department at Oregon State University.
Several individuals will speak at the rally with stories that exemplify personal and business problems due to the current health care system. Among them will be Wes Brain of Ashland, a long-time member and advocate for Jobs with Justice, and the Rev. Joel Miller of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Corvallis. Music will be supplied throughout the rally by Norman Sylvester, and David Rovics, in addition to the Raging Grannies. Rep. Dembrow will be one of the speakers, as will physician Paul Gorman, nurse Nadine Grzeskowiak and other surprise guests.
We encourage everyone to join us in Salem to raise our voices for legislation which will bring health care for all to Oregon. Participants will be able to meet with their representatives or a member of their representative’s staff in the afternoon.
Local HCAO organizations are arranging ride-sharing and hiring buses. The full rally schedule and information about transportation options are posted at http://hcao.org/feb-rally-for-health-care/ and on the HCAO FaceBook page. Participants are asked to wear red, bring signs and a lunch, and take along rain gear in case of inclement weather
Jessica Hoffman, HCAO rally organizer
Thursday Rally & News
Hi fellow activists,
We will take to the street again this Thursday at 3:00, in front of the courthouse. Right now the weather forecast is not too bad; certainly not bad enough to deter committed folks like us. I hope you will be able to join the rest of us out there.
Our rally last Saturday went reasonably well, especially the meeting afterward about the Health Care for All Oregon (HCAO) campaign. The speakers made a pretty compelling case for working with others to help support our state effort for a single payer system, HB 3510. Here is a link to see some of us who got our pictures taken, and posted, in support of it: (Be sure to scroll through all the faces, most of the Grants Pass folks are close to the bottom)
I also want to let you know about a talk being given by Kit Kittredge in Medford this coming Saturday about the plight of Palestinians living in Gaza. Several of us are planning to go hear her. If you are interested and need a ride please talk with me or Ruth Torre or Kamal Hassan. (See the attachment)
For peace and justice,
Jerry
Street Rally
Hi Folks,
It’s the 3rd weekend coming up, when we move our street rally to Saturday at noon instead of Thursday afternoon. But, we’re going to keep it in front of the Courthouse because of the event we plan right after the rally. And, if you can only come for the rally, please do come anyway; we do need to keep up our effort to push for changes in our society, especially the need to refocus our leaders’ on more peaceful and progressive goals.
At 1:00 pm across the street at the UU Fellowship Hall we will meet for a presentation and discussion about mobilizing ourselves and others to help push for Health Care for All Oregon (HCAO). I want to urge you to stay for the meeting if you possibly can. We will be talking about and planning for embarking on an important statewide effort, based on building support from the grassroots up in every community across the state to push for implementing a version of the Affordable Care Act that will include ALL Oregonians, similar to what they did in Vermont (or maybe better). We are fortunate to have some excellent presenters lined up for this meeting, including Wes Brain and Mark Kellenbeck. And, if you know others who are interested in improved health care, please do encourage them to also come to the meeting.
So, come out this Saturday for our next rally and the meeting to follow. Bring your signs and energy and your friends who might be interested in this effort. Below is a link to an excellent video,”Health, Money and Fear”, which does a good job of analyzing our health care system problems and ways to address them. It’s not short, because the situation has a variety of problems, but it is well done. I recommend watching it before we meet.
See you out there, Saturday.
Thursday Rally
Hi Fellow Activists,
I hope you can join us again this Thursday at 3:00 in front of the Courthouse.
Let’s meet again to remind our community that we are not giving up the struggle to bring justice, peace and reason to our country and our community: for diplomacy and fairness in foreign relations rather than war and exploitation; for healthcare for everyone here at home at a reasonable cost; for businesses and banks dedicated to thriving by providing good services to people for a reasonable profit rather than by unfair practices, exploitation of workers and extracting as high a profit as possible; and for education and media that promote reason and healthy relations between people rather than violence and prejudice. We’re committed for the duration of this struggle.
The weather was fine today, but the weather forecasters are talking about a possible unfavorable change by Thursday. If that develops and it looks too nasty for the street rally I’ll get out the word by email on Thursday before noon if we are going to cancel it. And, as you look out your window on Thursday morning and have a thought about it feel free to send me your preference about whether or not we should go ahead.
Otherwise, I’ll see you out there.
RALLY
Hi Folks,
We meet again to remind ourselves and the rest of our community about changes needed to better support peace and justice in our society and in our relations with others. The mass shooting last week in Connecticut is on everyone’s mind. That awful event may at least provide us with the best opportunity in years to make some progress toward more reasonable gun control in our country. So, I want to encourage us to especially consider bringing signs that speak to that issue.
We can’t count on the weather to be too kind to us this time of year, so we’ll just stay for one hour. And, be sure to dress warmly. See you out there. I guess the good news is that after this meeting the daylight time will begin lengthening again for our future rallies.
For peace and justice,
Jerry
Rally
Greetings All,
Well, we were rained out last week, and it’s raining again, but I am hoping for a break this week on Thursday. So, I hope you’ll be able to join me and others on the street again this Thursday to show our commitment to winding down the wars and turning up the pressure on congress and the President to end corporate personhood and the abuse of privilege by wealthy plutocrats. Bring your signs and energy and commitment to change and we’ll remind our local community that we’re not giving up this struggle.
See you out there.
Jerry