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  • Home
  • About
    • Mission Statement
    • Core Values
    • Steering Committee Charter
    • Contact OI Steering Committee
    • Values Agreement
    • OI Strategic Plan 2022
    • 2022 OI Launch Video
    • OI Teams
  • Call to Action
  • Regional Fire Authority
  • Join us
  • Donate
  • Our Representatives
    • MoC Meeting Summaries
  • 2023 Legislative Session
  • Action Cafe!
  • Reproductive Rights in WA!
  • TAN (Take Action Network)
    • TAN Help Form
  • Election 2022
    • Endorsement Team Presentation
  • Photo Library
  • OI Gear
  • Education Toolbox
  • Register to Vote
  • Blog Submissions
  • Social Media Policy
  • POAT Postcard

Weekly Call To Action - April 24, 2022

4/24/2022

 

​Quote of the Week:

“Putin is the idol of white supremacists around the world. Prominent Russian fascists are given access to mass media during wars, including this one. Members of the Russian elite, above all, Putin himself, rely increasingly on fascist concepts. Putin’s very justification of the war in Ukraine, as an act of cleansing violence that will return Russia to itself, represents a Christian form of fascism. The recent publication, in an official Russian news service, of what I consider an openly genocidal handbook, providing a plan for the elimination of the Ukrainian nation as such, confirms all this. Moscow is the center of fascism in our world.” –Timothy Snyder, historian, author, April 22, 2022 New York Times

​Take Two Actions Now:

​Support Ukraine Military Funding

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​Background: Biden announces another $800 million to support Ukraine military

A Challenge for Progressives
Confronting the threat that Putin poses to the world creates a challenge for OI and all progressives. We are suspicious of military solutions to tyranny, believing instead in peaceful, constructive, humanist actions to oppose fascisim and authoritarianism. We tend to be pacificists because we know, from experience, that too often even well-intentioned military responses have unanticipated consequences that only create new problems and benefit the military industrial complex to the detriment of the rest of our society. So, why advocate for increased military assistance in the Ukraine?

One Conflict Among Many
First, because our hearts bleed for the Ukranians; they are victims of a genocidal war that Russia is waging.  But, they also bleed for many other peoples in many regions of the world who are suffering from violence, some of which is sponsored or enabled by our own government and other nations. As we contemplate the tragedy that is Ukraine, let’s not forget about these others, some of which are described below:
  • Crisis In Yemen | UNICEF USA
  • Call on the Biden Administration to Reunite Refugee Families

Are There Really No Alternatives?
Equally, because the threat that fascism poses to our world, personified by Putin, is so existential at this time and the options left to us are so limited.  Negotiated solutions are off the table. Why? Because present-day Russia serves as a sobering view of a powerful nation that has systematically disabled its system of checks and balances; Putin does not have to answer to the Russian people and has rejected the global order so his track record of treachery and deception is entirely predictable. 

Negotiations can only succeed when each side has something at stake; Putin has nothing at stake and only contempt for the western world. The sanctions may work; they are certainly injurious to the Russian people. But will they work in time? In a war of economics, allies and access are critical. Putin appears to have economic allies that can soften the impact, particularly in the short-term, and military victory in Ukraine provides Russia with strategic access to a transportation hub. 

Strategic in Response
We now know that Putin believes he can outlast the sanctions. We painfully acknowledge this grim reality, and choose to be strategic in our response.

Action 1: Call or email our Members of Congress to support Ukrainian forces.
  • Senator Patty Murray, Phone: 253-572-3636 or Contact Form 
  • Senator Maria Cantwell, Phone: 253-572-2281 or Contact Form 
  • Marilyn Strickland, Phone: 202-225-9740 or Contact Form 
    • Email all three MOCs at once using Democracy.io. 
 
Option A: Copy the script below to comment to our Members of Congress.  Feel free to adapt the language to your own words. 

Script: President Biden is asking for $800 million to help Ukrainian forces fight in the east of the Donbas region, where fighting has recently intensified.

Please move quickly to provide the funds that are urgently needed. 
Thank you,

[NAME], [CITY, ZIP]

Option B: Take this action with one click in Take Action Network (TAN) Support Ukraine Military Funding 

Thurston Comprehensive Plan 10 Year Update
May 4, 6:30 PM

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This year, Olympia Indivisible will be participating in a workgroup related to the Thurston Comprehensive Plan Update. The plan is vital for guiding our environment, farmland preservation, housing and other important issues for the next 10 years.  

It is more important than ever because of the failure of bill HB 1099 - 2021-22: Improving the state's climate response through updates to the state's comprehensive planning framework.  We will seek to incorporate many of the good points of the bill into the County Comp. Plan. 

Action 2: Learn about the Comprehensive Plan by watching this 10 minute video Comprehensive Planning Basics. and /or attend the Thurston Planning Commission Meeting on May 4th at 6:30 pm. 

To attend the meeting virtually find the link in the agenda document which will be posted 1 week before the meeting at Planning Commission Meetings. Typically, the staff PowerPoint is posted on the same page the day of the meeting or a few days in advance.

For extra credit learn more at: Short Course on Local Planning - Washington State Department of Commerce

Have You Scheduled These Events?

Action Cafe 
Monday (April 25) at Noon

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Please come to tomorrow's Action Cafe! This weekly Zoom lunch hour gathering is a place to meet, eat, build fellowship and take actions together.

If you are sitting on the fence about coming to tomorrow’s Action Cafe, please do because the chef is going out of town May 1 thru May 9. 

Action: Register HERE for the April 25 Action Cafe. We will send you a Zoom link and tomorrow morning, we'll send you our "menu" with live links for the actions we'll take together. 

Sponsor Our Hunger Walk Team
and/or 
Come Walk with the Team

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This year inflation has affected the price of food for all of us, so it is more important than ever that we support the groups who are reaching out to those in need. Olympia Indivisible is proud to support the 2022 Thurston County Hunger Walk, an annual fundraiser to help The Community Kitchen & The Thurston County Food Bank get food to those in need. 

This year’s walk will take place at the athletic track at St. Martin’s University, Sunday May 1st beginning at 3:00 pm. Olympia Indivisible will have a walking "team" at the event and we're taking pledges right now!

Action A: Please visit our OI Hunger Walk Team Donation Site to make a donation on behalf of OI. We’ve already raised $1,685 on our way to our $4000 goal.

Action B: Consider being part of the walk part of OI's Thurston Hunger Walk Team. You can walk as much or as little as feels right. Sign up here to walk. We would love to see you in person. ​

​Community Participation:

April 18, 2022 - from the Thurston County Food Bank and the National Letter Carriers: Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive

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The Thurston County Food Bank is excited to be partnering with the National Letter Carriers Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive! This event will be happening on Saturday, May 14th at three different locations around Thurston County and we need drivers. Drivers should be adults, 18 years of age or older, and have their own vehicle. We also ask that drivers have a co-pilot with them and can lift at least 25lbs. 

There are two shifts to choose from; one in the morning (~9am - 12pm) and one in the afternoon (1:00 - 4:00 pm). You will be provided with a driving route and signage for your vehicle. The task? Drive along the mail route we assign for you, collect food donations, and bring them back to your starting location. Once you drop off your donations, you call it a day and realize that you helped us collect thousands of pounds of donations! 

Please email the coordinator associated with the location you wish to volunteer at. We would love to answer whatever questions you may have and are excited to get this event going! 

Olympia Post Office: volunteers@thurstoncountyfoodbank.org
Tumwater Warehouse: wdcvolunteers@thurstoncountyfoodbank.org
Lacey Post Office: lcscvolunteers@thurstoncountyfoodbank.org

April 28 - May 1: 11th annual plant sale and scholarship fundraiser for the Thurston-Santo Tomas Sister County Association

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Support 22 Nicaraguan youth in supporting their community. For sale are organic veggie starts, berries, bearded irises, flowering perennials of all kinds, including ground covers, and so much more! Online sale opens on Thursday, April 28, 2022 at noon; curbside pick-up will take place in west Olympia on Fri, Sat, Sun. 

For more info, visit or send an email request to be added to the plant sale  list and you will receive a link to the online sale as soon as it becomes available: tstsca@gmail.com 

​You might also like to attend:

April 25 at 5 PM: On-line event sponsored by North Kitsap and Bainbridge Island Privatizing Medicare - It's Happening. What You Need to Know ​
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