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wish i may
i might
make a wish upon a star tonight..
email.
me.
i'm brooke. a short, fatish, bisexual, feminist, pacifist, very-liberal activist. i have 4 cats. and 2 computers, 2 kayaks, 1 masters degree, multiple backpacks, and way too many books.
i live in the most beautiful eugene, oregon. i'm currently disabled due to treatment resistant severe depression. i've been blogging since election day of 2000.
i'm born and raised in the mountains of southwestern virginia. i could join the daughters of the american revolution, i don't think they'd like me cause i hear they like to throw tea parties instead of rallies and revolutions.
links.
lane co. bill of rights defense committee (lcbordc) ~
bill of rights defense committee ~
chel ~
lisa ~
carrie ~
cinnamon
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Wednesday, July 2
from the lane county bill of rights defense committee website:
We WON!
On Wednesday, July 2, the Lane County (Oregon) Board of Commissioners passed a resolution opposing violations of our Constitutional guarantees, as expressed by the UPA (U.S.A.P.A.T.R.I.O.T. Act), Homeland Security and many post 9/11 Executive and Justice Department orders.
The vote was 4-1 with Tom Lininger, Bill Dwyer, Bobby Green and Pete Sorensen voting in favor, and Anna Morrison voting against, because she said although she disagrees with parts of the UPA, she doesn't think a county government should tell the federal government what to do. Several of her constituents were in the audience, bearing over 300 signatures from West Lane County residents, an endorsement from the Florence City Club, and a whole list of other endorsements. But Anna was not swayed.
Tom Lininger made some minor changes to the resolution we drafted, but what was left was one of the strongest resolutions in this country.
1. The Board determined that no county tax dollars would be spent to support the UPA, and no contracts or agreements written that would violate the civil liberties of Lane County residents. And there was no "to the extent legally permissible" language to dull its effect.
2. The Board will ask the County Administrator to determine every three months any requests for assistance by the federal government to carry out sneak and peek searches; detainments without charges, attorney or trial; searches of library, educational, financial or bookstore purchase records; monitoring of political or religious meetings; and the extent of electronic surveillance conducted in Lane County under powers granted in the UPA.
3. The Board will NOT ask the federal government to report similar information, because the Board wants to stick with actions over which it has some control, rather than ask for information that will probably be denied.
4. The County Administrator will seek from the Lane County Sheriff any information pertaining to requests from the federal government to assist with UPA, Executive Orders and Department of Justice orders as outlined in the resolution. This will be done every three months.
5. The information collected by the County Administrator will be made available to the Board of Commissioners and to the Lane County Human Rights Advisory Committee, allowing the public to become aware if Lane County is asked to assist the federal government in carrying out violations of our civil liberties.
6. This resolution will be sent to George W. Bush, John Ashcroft, Governor Kulongoski, Oregon Attorney General Hardy Myers, and members of the State Legislature, asking those at the federal level to work for the repeal of the UPA, sunset of certain provisions of the UPA, and to ensure that Patriot II does not pass. Oregon officials will be asked to support a statewide resolution and to ensure our state laws do not weaken our 181 laws, or to infringe on our civil liberties.
We hope to have a copy of the County Resolution within a couple of days and will post it here.
We still have much work to do .. but meanwhile, we will celebrate our victory at our weekly meeting, Thursday, Jul 3 at 6 p.m. at 1192 Lawrence in Eugene. So, if you're ready to get involved in helping to restore liberties throughout the state, please come -- we'll put you to work. Oh no -- our work is not finished!
many many kudos to Hope Marston and Brian Michaels of our committee and David Fidanque of the ACLU of Oregon for the hours upon hours of work they put in getting this resolution worded out and passed, plus all the many others who have given of themselves. i, personally, am grateful to have found this group, this work, all these people who believe so strongly in keeping our constitution and the bill of rights intact. and to know that the work will continue on makes me even more psyched.
okay. i've taken lots of drugs. i'm dealing with looking into my own future and where its going to be in a year and its very stressful. i would like to go back to school but i can't afford to take out any more loans. its all such a scary thing, its all a mess. i have dreams, and as my mother said to me today, if there is a will there is a way. but what my mother doesn't understand is my illness and how much i don't trust my brain to truly deal with the stresses of real life. it doesn't, when things get even mildly stressful my neurotransmitters revolt. when i don't get enough sleep, enough off time, i fall apart in tears, frustration, disconnection, apathy and worse. i wish it weren't like that, i wish i could run 18 hours a day, i wish minor stresses to most people weren't crises for me. i dream of being the best, and i know what it takes, but in the past i have always fallen apart. no, i don't think anyone but me truly understands this obstacle in front of me. i've tried to explain it, i've tried to explain how i shut down -- seeking help from my doctors, but i have yet to be able get the words into it, i have yet been able to describe the true nature of what i face.
so. yeah.
but today was awfully nice. and i continue to learn this stuff, which is also nice. i'm slowly, but surely, getting on top of this stuff.
now, tommorrow, i WILL get the pflag stuff up.
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