Public Hearing on Longview Coal Export Terminal, Spokane, WA, Thurs. May 26, 2016 1 to 9 pm. Rally at 4 pm. Convention Center

Here's some information about a planned rally against coal exports:

"In a desperate attempt to save their crumbling industry and protect their bottom lines, the world's largest coal companies want to send millions of tons of coal through our communities every day to ports on our coast.

They started with six proposed coal export terminals. Thanks to thousands of people just like you, we're down to just one proposed terminal -- Millennium Bulk Logistics in Longview, WA.

Right now you have an important opportunity to block the Longview terminal. Decision makers are hosting an important public hearing on May 26. This is your moment to say, "No dirty coal -- we can do better!" Can you be there?

WHAT: Public hearing on the Longview coal export terminal WHO: YOU! Anyone who wants a livable climate and a clean energy futureWHEN: Thursday, May 26, from 1-9 p.m. Rally at 4 p.m.WHERE: Spokane Convention Center, 334 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA [map]

RSVP here!

Questions? Contact Jace Bylenga at Jace.Bylenga@sierraclub.org or 509-209-2395.

Coal trains are already disrupting our communities and local economy. More coal exports mean more air and water pollution, more traffic, and more toxic spills.

If the coal companies get their way, they'll be sending 44 million metric tons of coal through Longview every year. That would bring 16 dirty coal trains through north Idaho each day. Just one accident would be devastating. You have the power to make sure that doesn't happen. 

Join us on May 26 to deliver a clear message to decision makers: We don't want coal in our communities. We can do better than dirty coal.

Thank you for all you do!"

Jace BylengaAssociate Organizing Representative, Beyond Coal Campaign

Merry Christmas from Spokane, Washington December 2015

Tis the Season to think of Christmas and Winter Holidays. Here are some images from Spokane, and from the net. May your Christmas and Winter Holidays be filled with happiness, and may your wishes come true.

Ideas for Christmas: from Moonsong Daily Magic
As you give gifts to others, be sure to give a gift to your inner child.

Country Set on Fire: Brave Washington State Firefighters and Citizens Endure Hell, while Military Brass Sit on Bayonets

Clearly, our country is on fire all around the beautiful state of Washington.


Credit: NASA MODIS Rapid Response Team, Jeff Schmaltz. Text: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Rob Gutro
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/fires/main/usa/20120920-wash.html

"We have to be careful with fires caused by man." Tom Sherry, Weather Reporter, KREM 6:00 pm news broadcase Tuesday, August 18, 2015.

Mr. Sherry was using the term "man" inclusively, to mean humans.
So is Mr. Thomas Paine, author of Common Sense, the January 1776 pamphlet which ignited the American Revolution. Selling out, and requiring multiple reprints, Common Sense held this sentence, written by the Englishman who came to the American Colonies and made this country his beloved home. Writing about the British attack on American minutemen at Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775, Paine compares the attack to a fire:

"But when the country, into which I had just set my foot, was set on fire about my ears, it was time to stir. It was time for every man to stir. "
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Thomas_Paine
"Thomas Paine, Common Sense Quotes." Quotes.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2015. Web. 19 Aug. 2015. <http://www.quotes.net/quote/41981>.

The sentence applies to Washington State, beginning with the first wildfire, or forest fire, in June, up to today, with fires raging across the state. Wildfires are igniting daily--whether from natural causes such as lightning strikes or from humans--and fresh air seems to be a blessing in the past. The air for this week has been smoky, dusty, unhealthy, from all the wildfires. So many people have lost their homes, and now tonight, news comes that three firefighters have died, with four injured with burns.
Three Killed While Fighting Washington State Wildfires

New York Times · 12 minutes ago

Governor Inslee said that 11 counties and four Native American tribes in Washington State are “affected or threatened” by wildfires, which have destroyed 50 homes, 60 other buildings and 235,000 acres of land. More than 3,600 homes are currently threatened by flames, he said

'Hellstorm': 3 firefighters killed, 3 to 4 others injured in raging Washington state wildfires

US News and World Report · 1 day ago

Smoke from Wildfires in California, Washington Seen from Space (Photos)

Space · 9 hours ago

Clearly, our country is on fire all around the beautiful state of Washington.

The writer of this post learned about the deaths in a manner only worthy of the theatre of the absurd. Turning on the television to local news at one channel, there was a moving "ribbon" at the top of the broadcast of an American talent show. The tiny letters were difficult to read, and for anyone who bothered to get up close to the television set, the news was horrible, about the dead and wounded firefighters. The most horrible part was the juxtaposition of the tiny "ribbon" letters with the glitzy talent production. Talent shows are wonderful things, but when our beautiful state is on fire, our air is unhealthy, and people are dying, then simple respect and prudence would seem to call for larger letters that are easier for people to read, and for a break in the program for a news update.

The other two news stations were just as bad, except one actually had moving ribbon letters that were large enough to read without standing in front of the television.

The firefighters who gave their lives, and the ones still fighting for their lives from injuries, deserve more than tiny letters at the top of the screen, moving so fast that it's hard to read. For people existing under the state of emergency, of evacuation, trying to get updated news asap, the broadcast must seem like the worst part of the Hunger Games, of out-to-lunch society ignoring the sacrifices, wounds, and deaths of people trying to stop disasters.
 
"One can do everything with bayonets except sit on them." Napoleon Bonaparte

So, where have our public servants in the armed forces been? There have been a few planes/tankers offered, and a vague promise of sending in 200 soldiers to help. However, given the thousands of American soldiers that some of our government servants shipped overseas to bomb and kill, the offer of a few hundred soldiers seems to be an insult, like offering a watering can to someone whose house and property are threated by fire.

So, it looks like Napoleon was wrong. The brass in Washington State are sitting on millions of dollars of equipment and resources at our army and air force installations. They've been sitting since the first fire in June, doing nothing.

If this editorial sounds angry, it is. Three brave firefighters died, needlessly, with four others hurt. With these fires ranging, no one needs a fortune teller to know that there will probably be more, among the firefighters and the citizens. Hundreds, perhaps now thousands of homes, are burning or threatened.

We can not and must not endure this situation. We can and must demand that our resources, including the military, are used to help and protect our beautiful state of Washington, and that the brass and politicians are awake, not groggy, that they are engaged and helping, and not dragging themselves to emergencies like drunks dragging themselves to work on Thursday after being "sick" all week.

"But when the country, into which I had just set my foot, was set on fire about my ears, it was time to stir. It was time for every man to stir. "

Here are some ways to make our beautiful Washington State safe for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. No one should have to lose a home, property, a loved one, in a fire. We have money and resources that are wasted on the sidelines. We owe it to the firefighters and the people who have lost their homes and sense of safety, to kickstart stalled government servants, and if they can't cut it, put in better public servants, who plan for these types of emergencies.

Contact Governor Inslee:
http://www.governor.wa.gov/contact

Washington State Legislature
http://leg.wa.gov/

American Congress
http://www.contactingthecongress.org/

The White House
Call the President
Phone Numbers

Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414

TTY/TTD

Comments: 202-456-6213
Visitor's Office: 202-456-2121

Write a letter to the President

Here are a few simple things you can do to make sure your message gets to the White House as quickly as possible.

1. If possible, email us! This is the fastest way to get your message to President Obama.

2. If you write a letter, please consider typing it on an 8 1/2 by 11 inch sheet of paper. If you hand-write your letter, please consider using pen and writing as neatly as possible.

3. Please include your return address on your letter as well as your envelope. If you have an email address, please consider including that as well.

4. And finally, be sure to include the full address of the White House to make sure your message gets to us as quickly and directly as possible:

The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

 
https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/submit-questions-and-comments
 
(202) 456-1414
 
 
Apologies if any of this post is wrong, or if anyone is wronged.

FEMA Fiddles While "Region X" aka Beautiful Washington State Burns. US Tax Dollars Fund Wars, with Piddles for Firefighting.

What's wrong with this picture? Some "firestarter" servants in our US Government spend billions to start fires and kill people in other countries, with bombs, poisons, bullets, etc. But when part of our beautiful America is burning and people are suffering, groggy FEMA arrives late at the scene, and then doesn't help people.

FEMA Region X Regional Administrator Kenneth D.
SEATTLE -
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has authorized the use of federal funds to help fight multiple fires around the state.
FEMA Region X Regional Administrator Kenneth D. Murphy has approved funds for the Reach fires.
At the time of the initial request, the fire was immediately threatening approximately 730 homes in and around the City of Chelan with the perimeter of the fire less than 200 yards from homes.
http://www.khq.com/story/29795637/fema-provides-federal-funds-to-help-fight-fires
http://www.khq.com/story/29791473/update-chelan-area-fires-cause-evacuations

As American citizens, we are the power in this country.
We must tell our servants in Washington D.C. what to do.
http://www.contactingthecongress.org/

PS. When did our beautiful country get labeled with only the letter from the alphabet?

Smoky Skies over Spokane, Washington from Wolverine Fire, August 1, 2, 3, 2015

Since the first weekend in August, Spokane has been bathed in smoke and orange haze.

KHQ in Spokane, WA noted on Aug. 2, 2015 that most of the smoke caught in Spokane is from the Wolverine Fire, northwest of Ione, Washington. Here's part of the report:
LUCERNE, Wash -            
"Update 1:00 p.m., Sunday: The U.S. Forest Service reports the Wolverine Fire burning on the west shore of Lake Chelan made significant growth over a 24 hour period. On Saturday night, an infra-red flight showed the fire had grown to 15,760 acres. The forest service said high temperatures and low humidity made for ideal fire conditions."
http://www.khq.com/story/29686878/smoke-from-wolverine-fire-causing-widespread-haze-as-fire-grows

The air quality in most of Washington State is not good right now, and probably best to keep small kids and others who may be affected by smoke inside, with windows closed as much as possible. Here's info from Holden Village, which was evacuated:

"The Wolverine Fire has expanded to over 15,000 acres. High temperatures and low humidity are providing ideal conditions for active fire behavior. After a safe evacuation of the majority of Holden Village residents and mine remediation workers on Friday and Saturday, the stay-behind crew were also safely evacuated by helicopter due to the road being compromised and for their safety. ..

The Pacific Crest Trail detour is closed through Holden Village. Hikers are advised to contact the National Park Service office in Stehekin or the Forest Service office in Chelan for information.
https://www.facebook.com/HoldenVillage

Happy Independence Day! Stay Safe and Enjoy the Liberties and Rights for All People. The Price of Our Freedom is Eternal Vigilence.

Happy Independence Day! Stay Safe and Enjoy the Liberties and Rights for All People.
Thank you to the American colonists who stood up for the rights that we are all born with, and for winning our freedom and independence with their sacrifices so that we may live in peace and prosperity. Have a safe and happy July 4th, and may we keep our spirited fight for freedom and liberty and justice for all!

 

 

www.archives.gov July 4, 2015

The Declaration of Independence: A Transcription IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776. The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world. He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good. He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them. He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only. He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures. He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people. He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within. He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands. He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers. He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries. He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance. He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures. He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power. He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation: For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us: For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States: For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world: For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent: For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury: For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies: For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments: For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us. He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation. He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands. He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions. In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people. Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends. We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor. The 56 signatures on the Declaration appear in the positions indicated: Column 1 Georgia:    Button Gwinnett    Lyman Hall    George Walton Column 2 North Carolina:    William Hooper    Joseph Hewes    John Penn South Carolina:    Edward Rutledge    Thomas Heyward, Jr.    Thomas Lynch, Jr.    Arthur Middleton Column 3 Massachusetts: John Hancock Maryland: Samuel Chase William Paca Thomas Stone Charles Carroll of Carrollton Virginia: George Wythe Richard Henry Lee Thomas Jefferson Benjamin Harrison Thomas Nelson, Jr. Francis Lightfoot Lee Carter Braxton Column 4 Pennsylvania:    Robert Morris    Benjamin Rush    Benjamin Franklin    John Morton    George Clymer    James Smith    George Taylor    James Wilson    George Ross Delaware:    Caesar Rodney    George Read    Thomas McKean Column 5 New York:    William Floyd    Philip Livingston    Francis Lewis    Lewis Morris New Jersey:    Richard Stockton    John Witherspoon    Francis Hopkinson    John Hart    Abraham Clark Column 6 New Hampshire:    Josiah Bartlett    William Whipple Massachusetts:    Samuel Adams    John Adams    Robert Treat Paine    Elbridge Gerry Rhode Island:    Stephen Hopkins    William Ellery Connecticut:    Roger Sherman    Samuel Huntington    William Williams    Oliver Wolcott New Hampshire:    Matthew Thornton

Page URL:  http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration_transcript.html

U.S. National Archives & Records Administration 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD, 20740-6001, • 1-86-NARA-NARA • 1-866-272-6272

Declaration of Independence - Text Transcript

www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration_transcript.html

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776. The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people ...

• Printer-Friendly Version · The Declaration · The Constitution · Bill of Rights

United States Declaration of Independence - Wikipedia, the ...

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Declaration_of_Independence

The Declaration of Independence is the usual name of a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American ...

• Background ·
• Toward independence ·
• Draft and adoption ·
• Annotated text of ...

The Declaration of Independence - US History

www.ushistory.org/Declaration/document

Declaration of Independence. The text, different drafts, signers, Thomas Jefferson's account, and more.

News about Declaration Of Independence

bing.com/news

• 

  The Declaration of Independence: Six things you (probably) didn't know

  CNN · 3 hours ago

  (CNN)This Fourth of July will mark the 239th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, the document that birthed the nation. You may know

Also, a big thanks to Brit Thomas Paine, whose book Common Sense helped bring the Declaration of Independence to life.

Who Really Wrote the Declaration of Independence - Infowars

www.infowars.com/who-really-wrote-the-declaration-of-independence

The course was delivered in 1966 and titled The Declaration of Independence, Thomas Paine and Your Freedom. ... who wrote the Declaration of Independence.

Thomas Paine and the Declaration of Independence - The ...

thomaspaine.org/aboutpaine/thomas-paine-and-the-declaration-of...

... said of Thomas Paine: ... Thomas Paine and the Declaration of Independence. ... Even Paine, in his outline of the Declaration in Common Sense, ...

Five Fascinating Facts about Thomas Paine | Interesting ...

interestingliterature.com/2015/...fascinating-facts-about-thomas-paine

Jul 04, 2015 · Five fun facts about Thomas Paine, ... and when Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence in 1776, ... He wrote the first volume of ...

We can celebrate this holiday with fun, and without fires. Firefighters deserve to have the holiday, and not risk their lives because of fire. Let's all work to keep our woods, fields, and homes free of fire.

 http://www.khq.com/story/29474310/crews-continue-to-fight-rail-canyon-fire-saturday 

Happy Mothers Day Sunday May 10, 2015

Happy Mother’s Day

to all for this important part of life.