oklahoma billboard targets governor mary fallin and...

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When a billboard in Louisiana took Governor Bobby Jindal to task for refusing federal aid for Medicaid Expansion under the ACA - Affordable Care Act - the state took aggressive action. They sued the organization sponsoring the billboard MoveOn.org alleging that the billboard pla- giarized the design of official Chamber of Commerce billboards. MoveOn.org started a Legal Defense Fund and appealed for donations through the social media. So many donations rolled in that MoveOn.org decided to buy billboards in more states where the Governor turned down Medicaid Expansion (like Oklahoma!). For two weeks, the Oklahoma billboard was at NE 23rd Street & I- 235, where it could almost be read from the State Capitol! Tens of thou- sands have seen it, either from the highway, or in emails and on Facebook. If Governor Fallin and our Republican-controlled Legislature would accept the federal money, Medicaid would be expanded to cover some 135,000 to 145,000 work- ing poor Oklahomans who cannot afford health insurance on their meager salaries. Oklahoma would receive some $8 Billion over the first ten years - about $800 Million every year to subsidize Medicaid expansion. The federal government would pay 100% of the cost for the first two years. Thereafter, the federal government would pay 90% of the cost, and Oklahoma would pay 10%. Even Republican Governor of Arizona Jan Brewer finally accepted this “Obamacare” money, saying it was “just too good a deal to pass up,” and “Arizona citizens need the health care coverage.” The Oklahoma Policy Institute confirms that Oklahoma happily ac- cepts some $24 Billion every year, in federal money to fund our five mili- tary bases, interstate highway construction and maintenance, the NOAA national weather station (best tornado predictions in the country), our medical research facilities, K-12 public schools, and our universities. But, should Oklahoma accept federal money for health care for the working poor?? “NO!” say the Republicans, “That would be Socialism!” VOICE asks all Oklahomans to call Governor Mary Fallin’s office (Main number: 405-521-2342; Press office: 522-8878; Constituent ser- vices: 522-8851) with this message: “More than a year ago, Governor Fallin, you pledged to de- velop an ‘Oklahoma plan’ to cover the health needs of our 600,000 uninsured. The ‘Leavitt Report’ has come and gone, and ‘Insure Okla- homa’ will be discon- tinued in 2015. So, Governor Fallin, WHERE IS YOUR OKLAHOMA PLAN? *** *** *** Earth Day Rally for Climate Change Action Tuesday, April 22nd 5:30 to 7:00pm State Capitol S. Plaza “It’s real, man-made, and humanity must fix it.” “Peace is not just the absence of violence, but the presence of justice.” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. APR - MAY, 2014 Non-profit U.S. Postage Paid Okla. City, OK 73125 Permit No. 1096 THE PEACE HOUSE 2912 N. Robinson Oklahoma City, OK 73103 Address Service Requested Return a Gift to the Peace House in the enclosed envelope! THANKS! Global Warming’s Tipping Point p. 2 Coffeehouse serves Ft. Hood GIs p. 4 OKC Minimum Wage Initiative p. 7 Boycott Koch Industries p. 8 Medicaid Expansion Popular p. 10 Iran Nukes: Manufactured Crisis p. 12 Henry Louis Gates, Jr. at OCU p. 14 IN THIS ISSUE Oklahoma Billboard Targets Governor Mary Fallin and Opponents of Expanding Health Coverage

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Page 1: Oklahoma Billboard Targets Governor Mary Fallin and ...peacehouseok.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/ops201404web.pdf · use. Atmospheric warming causes drying that kills rain forests,

When a billboard in Louisiana took Governor Bobby Jindal to task for

refusing federal aid for Medicaid Expansion under the ACA - Affordable

Care Act - the state took aggressive action. They sued the organization

sponsoring the billboard – MoveOn.org – alleging that the billboard pla-

giarized the design of official Chamber of Commerce billboards.

MoveOn.org started a Legal Defense Fund and appealed for donations

through the social media. So many donations rolled in that MoveOn.org

decided to buy billboards in more states where the Governor turned down

Medicaid Expansion (like Oklahoma!).

For two weeks, the Oklahoma billboard was at NE 23rd Street & I-

235, where it could almost be read from the State Capitol! Tens of thou-

sands have seen it, either from the highway, or in emails and on Facebook.

If Governor Fallin and our Republican-controlled Legislature would

accept the federal money, Medicaid would be expanded to cover some

135,000 to 145,000 work-

ing poor Oklahomans

who cannot afford health

insurance on their meager

salaries. Oklahoma would

receive some $8 Billion

over the first ten years - about $800 Million every

year to subsidize Medicaid

expansion. The federal

government would pay

100% of the cost for the

first two years. Thereafter,

the federal government

would pay 90% of the cost, and Oklahoma would pay 10%.

Even Republican Governor of Arizona Jan Brewer finally accepted

this “Obamacare” money, saying it was “just too good a deal to pass up,”

and “Arizona citizens need the health care coverage.”

The Oklahoma Policy Institute confirms that Oklahoma happily ac-

cepts some $24 Billion every year, in federal money to fund our five mili-

tary bases, interstate highway construction and maintenance, the NOAA

national weather station (best tornado predictions in the country), our

medical research facilities, K-12 public schools, and our universities.

But, should Oklahoma accept federal money for health care for the

working poor?? “NO!” say the Republicans, “That would be Socialism!”

VOICE asks all Oklahomans to call Governor Mary Fallin’s office

(Main number: 405-521-2342; Press office: 522-8878; Constituent ser-

vices: 522-8851) with

this message:

“More than a year

ago, Governor Fallin,

you pledged to de-

velop an ‘Oklahoma

plan’ to cover the

health needs of our

600,000 uninsured.

The ‘Leavitt Report’

has come and gone,

and ‘Insure Okla-

homa’ will be discon-

tinued in 2015. So,

Governor Fallin,

WHERE IS YOUR

OKLAHOMA PLAN?

*** *** ***

Earth Day Rally for

Climate Change Action

Tuesday, April 22nd 5:30 to 7:00pm

State Capitol S. Plaza

“It’s real, man-made, and humanity must fix it.”

“Peace is not just the

absence of v iolence,

but the presence

of just ice.”

Dr. Mar t in Luther King, Jr.

APR - MAY, 2014

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Global Warming’s Tipping Point p. 2

Coffeehouse serves Ft. Hood GIs p. 4

OKC Minimum Wage Initiative p. 7

Boycott Koch Industries p. 8

Medicaid Expansion Popular p. 10

Iran Nukes: Manufactured Crisis p. 12

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. at OCU p. 14

IN THIS ISSUE

Oklahoma Billboard Targets Governor Mary Fallin and Opponents of Expanding Health Coverage

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Page 2, OPS, April/May, 2014

CO

MM

EN

TA

RY

Al Gore’s book and movie “An In-

convenient Truth” presented the data

identifying carbon dioxide (CO2), meth-

ane, and other gases from human sources

as primary culprits causing global warm-

ing. The data are embraced by the vast

majority of scientists, who also agree

that humanity must modify our patterns

of consumption if we would avert a grim

future.

The data foretell environmental ca-

tastrophes if trends are not reversed —

drastic climate changes, wild storms, ag-

ricultural uncertainties, rising oceans.

The challenge is equivalent to the ap-

proach of an asteroid whose impact

would change earth’s climate forever.

The threat is not from a nation, terrorists,

or diseases, but from what we are doing,

inadvertently, to earth’s atmosphere.

These issues are not reported regu-

larly by the media, and are rarely dis-

cussed by government officials. It is up

to us to tell them that they should. The

technical fixes to reverse global warming

are all known, or are under development.

What is lacking is the political will. Per-

sonal actions are important and become a

model for neighbors and others. But the

changes needed must be societal and

global.

Scientists tell us that certain

“tipping points” are approaching, after

which reversing global warming will be

more difficult, perhaps impossible. It’s

like cigarette smokers considering quit-

ting. When they have lung cancer or em-

physema, they have passed the tipping

point because they didn’t quit in time.

One tipping point involves meth-

ane, one of the “greenhouse gases”

warming our atmosphere. Turns out that

massive amounts of methane are locked

in the arctic permafrost. As it melts be-

cause of warming, more methane is re-

leased, which speeds up the warming.

Another is the crucial absorption of CO2

by earth’s rain forests, now being

cleared for agriculture and other human

use. Atmospheric warming causes drying

that kills rain forests, further speeding

the warming. Scientists are watching a

dozen such tipping points, and their con-

clusions suggest that urgency in imple-

menting solutions is desirable.

Each person’s life has an environ-

mental burden or “ecological footprint”

that is measurable using a simple quiz

available on the internet

(www.ecofoot.org). It provides a score:

the number of acres it takes to support

your level of consumption. It teaches

which activities actually affect the envi-

ronment, and which don’t make that

much difference. Click on “Footprint For

You,” click on where you live in the

world, and get started. It takes about 5

minutes.

The U.S. must become as engaged

in reversing global warming as when we

entered World War II after Pearl Harbor.

Everyone did their part then, recycling

materials, buying bonds, paying taxes,

participating in a coordinated effort to

bring victory.

Everyone would prefer to believe

that everything is fine and the future is

bright. Nobody welcomes a diagnosis of

cancer or heart disease. But those who

argue that global warming is a hoax must

have some vested interest in ignoring the

data. Everyone knows that physical

health is enhanced by a healthy diet and

regular exercise. Let’s apply similar wis-

dom to preserve our planet for future

generations!

Batchelder is director of the Peace House in Oklahoma City

Oklahoma Peace Strat-egy News is produced by The Peace House in Oklahoma City. It is written, compiled, typeset, composed, labeled, and mailed by volunteers. Letters to the Editor and articles submitted for publication are welcome. OPS News reserves the right to edit for space and to refuse publication of statements that are libel-ous or untrue Send to: The Peace House 2912 N. Robinson Okla. City, OK 73103 Or to [email protected]

Phone: 405-524-5577

Published in The OKLAHOMAN, December 16, 2006

Warming’s ‘tipping points’

By Nathaniel Batchelder

VOTES

Help arouse the Reasonable Majority to vote in November.

THE REASONABLE MAJORITY INCLUDES:

WomenWomenWomen, African-Americans,

Hispanic-Americans, Muslim-Americans, Asian-Americans, LGBT Americans,

Younger Americans, Artists, Musicians,

Scientists, Teachers, Americans who Read, and Americans NOT

mesmerized by the in-sanity on Fox Radio and

Fox TV News.

Irrational Candidates are not elected by Irrational Voters;

They are elected by Reasonable Voters

WHO DON’T VOTE!

Let’s Get Out The Vote in November!

The stakes are huge.

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Page 3, OPS, April/May, 2014

Please Help The Peace House Send a gift in the enclosed envelope

Oklahoma City’s Peace House depends upon your contributions

— all sizes — to survive. Also send us your suggestions, and the

names and addresses of friends you’d like to receive our newspapers

and mailings, which we send free to everyone.

The Peace House networks with many groups and individuals to

bring about public events, peace walks, demonstrations, speakers,

editorials, educational events, peace camps … and a host of activi-

ties relating to human rights, economic justice and environmental

sustainability. If you know us, you know it’s true.

The Peace House website — www.peacehouseok.org — is up-

dated frequently and regularly to share announcements, alerts, pho-

tos, and essays about peace as well as events and links to other or-

ganizations with whom we are aligned.

Thanks to all who can help!

Support The Peace House, OKC

Your contributions to Peace House support our pub-

lications, programs, rallies, marches, and ongoing

efforts for human rights, economic justice, environ-

mental sustainability, nonviolence, and peace. As we

are a political nonprofit, donations to Peace House

are not tax-deductible.

Send to:

PEACE HOUSE

2912 N. Robinson

Oklahoma City, OK 73103

Landmark Climate TV Series ‘Years Of Living Dangerously’

8 Parts: Began April 13th By Joe Romm, Think Progress.com

Supper/Movie Night Screening:

Ann Curry’s One-Hour NBC Documentary:

Broadcast Nationwide on Sunday, April 6th

Climate Change 101 And Solutions

Supper/Movie Night (b.y.o. brown bag supper)

Tuesday, May 20 6:00pm - Social Gathering

6:30pm - Screen Film

Church of the Open Arms 3131 N. Pennsylvania Ave., OKC

On Sunday, April 13, SHOWTIME launched its 8-part ground-breaking climate

change TV series on the experiences and personal stories of people whose lives

have been touched by climate change. The series will continue on Sunday nights

through June, with re-airings at other times.

Years Of Living Dangerously is an 8-part series produced by the legendary story-

tellers and film-makers James Cameron, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jerry

Weintraub -– together with three former 60 Minutes producers who have 18 Em-

mys between them.

While reviewing the segments for technical accuracy as Chief Science Editor,

I’ve been blown away by just how visually and narratively compelling the show

is. It is not just going to be a landmark climate change series, it is going to be a

landmark television series, like Ken Burns’ The Civil War.

Nothing like this 8-part series has ever been put on TV before, a collaboration

between the amazing storytellers mentioned above and top-flight journalists (like

Chris Hayes, Lesley Stahl, and Tom Friedman) and some of Hollywood’s big-

gest stars (like Matt Damon, Ian Somerholder, Don Cheadle, Olivia Munn, and

Harrison Ford). They provide gripping reports of people affected by, and seeking

solutions to, climate change.

As readers know, climate change is happening right here, right now — in Amer-

ica and around the world. It is the biggest story of our time, and it needs a big

platform to tell it.

The first episode can be watched online at yearsoflivingdangerously.com

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Page 4, OPS, April/May, 2014

Read back issues

of Peace Strategy News online at

PeaceHouseOK.org

c/o Joy Mennonite Church,504 NE 15th St., Oklahoma City, OK 73104

Legal Services/Education/Outreach on Conscience and Military

Counter recruitment/peace education tools and training

Small grants for local projects fostering peace, justice and sustainability

War Resisters League affiliate for Oklahoma

CENTERFORCONSCIENCE.ORG

G.I. Coffee House “Under the Hood” Responds to Latest

Shooting at Ft. Hood Located Outside Largest Military Base in U. S.

Under the Hood Coffee House and Resource

Center issued the following statement in re-

sponse to the Ft. Hood shooting on April 2.

We at Under the Hood Cafe and Outreach

Center are heartbroken by Wednesday’s

shooting at Fort Hood. Our community is

hurting: the wounds of previous traumas have

again been ripped open for many in the mili-

tary community here in Killeen. Our utmost

concern is for the safety and support of our

community. We offer our deepest condo-

lences for the victims — Sgt.Timothy Owens,

Sgt.Carlos Lazaney-Rodriquez and

Sgt.Danny Ferguson — to their families, and

to the family of Army Spc. Ivan Lopez.

This event is dreadful and unbearable, but not

unimaginable in the wake of previous shoot-

ings at Fort Hood and across the country. The

military and its commander-in-chief have

heard repeatedly from Under the Hood mem-

bers and the wider Fort Hood community

about some of the conditions that contribute

to incidents like this: service members reeling

from multiple deployments, untreated PTSD

and TBI, over-medication coupled with lack

of personal support, service members waiting

and waiting for help, stigmatized and trauma-

tized by what they have experienced in ser-

vice.

The military often frames the issues affecting

military communities as issues affecting sin-

gle individuals. Yet, the issues affect many.

The suicide rate within the military is stag-

gering. The military needs to stop pointing

the finger without looking at the root causes.

We demand access to quality mental health

care and the right to heal. We want change.

As we bring these issues to light, we feel it is

important not to add to the stigma associated

with seeking mental health care. While many

of the conditions that set the stage for trage-

dies such as this are common, extremely vio-

lent reactions like what we witnessed on

Wednesday are rare. As veterans, service

members and military community members,

we fear that the stigma already associated with

seeking mental health care may well be exac-

erbated as the media seeks to tell its story

about what happened this week at Fort Hood.

For more info, visit underthehoodcafe.org.

After the April 2 shooting, Under the Hood organized a

candlelight vigil to mourn those killed or injured in the

tragic incident. Other community outreach efforts were

also enhanced to assist servicemembers dealing with

the event.

Under the Hood is a place where soldiers, families,

friends and community members can socialize, get in-

formation on service members’ and veterans rights, get

referrals for legal and wellness services and partici-

pate in creative workshops.

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Page 5, OPS, April/May, 2014

The White House, Washington, DC 20500

202-456-1111 (comments)

202-456-1414 (switchboard)

FAX: 202-456-2461

Web: whitehouse.gov

Congressional Switchboard (202) 224-3121; (202) 225-3121

Senator Tom Coburn (OK) snipr.com/ecoburn

DC Tel: (202) 224-5754

DC Fax: (202) 224-6008

OKC Ofc: (405) 231-4941;

Tulsa Ofc: (918) 581-7651

Senator Jim Inhofe (OK) snipr.com/einhofe

DC Tel: (202) 224-4721

DC Fax: (202) 228-0380

OKC tel: (405) 608-4381;

Tulsa tel: (918) 748-5111

Mail: US House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515

U.S. Representatives (OK)

Dist 1: Jim Bridenstine (Tulsa, etc.) snipr.com/ebridenstine

DC Tel: (202) 225-2211

DC Fax: (202) 225-9187

Tulsa ofc: (918) 935-3222

Dist 2: Markwayne Mullin (Muskogee) snipr.com/emullin

DC Tel: (202) 225-2701

DC Fax: (202) 225-3038

Muskogee: (918) 687-2533

Dist 3: Frank Lucas (W. OK) snipr.com/elucas

DC Tel: (202) 225-5565

DC Fax: (202) 225-8698

OKC Ofc: (405) 373-1958

Dist 4: Tom Cole (NORMAN & SW OK) snipr.com/etcole

DC Tel: (202) 225-6165

DC Fax: (202) 225-3512

Norman Ofc: (405) 329-6500

Dist 5: James Lankford (OKC etc.)

snipr.com/elankford

DC Tel: (202) 225-2132

DC Fax: (202) 226-1463

OKC Ofc: (405) 234-9900

Support The Peace Education Institute

The Peace Education Institute is committed to educational and practical

opportunities for people to explore nonviolent living options. We need

your support.

Send your contributions to:

The Peace Education Institute

PO Box 33

Spencer, OK 73084 Contributions to “PEI” ARE tax-deductible.

VISIT THE PEACE HOUSE

ON THE WEB: www.peacehouseok.org

ON FACEBOOK: facebook.com/peacehouseok

Action Alerts

STOP THE F-35 FIGHTER JET - from Peace Action, the largest national peace organization.

Join more than 100,000 people telling Congress, “The F-35 is

a bad deal for America.” The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Air-

craft is the most expensive weapon in history. Grassroots

pressure brought an end to the F-22, another plane wasting tax

dollars needed for domestic needs. We can do it again.

The F-35 is a bad deal because our communities need more

money for rebuilding infrastructure, schools and jobs, not

planes that can’t fly. The F-35 is the poster child for all that is wrong with how the federal

budget priorities are set by Congress.

Even some in the Pentagon are saying the cost over-runs and years of delays make the F-35

a bad deal. The facts support our case for moving the money from wars and weapons to

fund jobs and community services.

If we can slow down the flow of tax dollars to the F-35, stir up a political debate on the mer-

its of funding a failed weapon, then perhaps we can begin to make real cuts in the Pentagon

budget. Let’s continue our constant stream of grassroots pressure can make that happen.

Power to the peaceful,

Judith LeBlanc, Field Director, Peace Action

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Page 6, OPS, April/May, 2014

“My attorney suggested that we try to work things out in mediation to avoid a litigation disaster”

Since 1988, Jim Stovall, founder and Director of the Mediation Institute, has worked with individuals,

families, and organizations to resolve difficult and complicated disputes that often threaten valuable rela-

tionships. Jim works to assist those in conflict to retain control over the decision-making process and pre-

vent a matter from turning into a lengthy court battle or a painful grudge match.

Divorce and Custody Matters

Family & Interpersonal Disputes

Elder Care, Estate and Inheritance Issues

Training and Consultation

Call 405-607-8914 for more information and a free initial consultation.

The Mediation Institute, 133308 N. MacArthur Blvd., Oklahoma City, OK 73142

Email [email protected] www.mediationinstitute.net

Reuters) - Recent small earthquakes in Ohio were likely triggered by

fracking, state regulators said on Friday, a new link that could have impli-

cations for oil and gas drilling in the Buckeye State and beyond.

In the strongest wording yet from the state linking energy drilling and

quakes, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) said that in-

jecting sand, water and chemicals deep underground to help release oil

and gas may have produced tremors in Poland Township last month.

The statement, in which the department announced stricter rules for oil

and gas exploration in areas where seismic activity has occurred, comes

after a steep rise in earthquakes in Ohio and other areas where intense

drilling has taken place.

Most earthquakes occur naturally, but scientists have long linked some

smaller tremors to oil and gas work underground, which can alter pressure

points and cause shifts in the earth.

Last month, drilling and fracking was suspended near the site of two

earthquakes in Poland Township in the northeast of the state, 70 miles

southeast of Cleveland, the first of which was magnitude 3.0, enough to be

felt for miles around.

Earthquakes rattled residents in Oklahoma last weekend, the latest in a

series that have put the state on track for record quake activity this year,

which some seismologists say may be tied to oil and gas exploration.

"Regarding the seismic events in Poland Township, ODNR geologists

believe the sand and water injected into the well during the hydraulic frac-

turing process may have increased pressure on an unknown microfault in

the area," ODNR said in a statement.

Friday's statement could have impacts not just for a state where a drill-

ing boom is under way, but in other regions where concerns have emerged

about the impact of fracking on fault lines. The new rules require a com-

pany to install seismic monitors if it is drilling within three miles of a

known fault or an area which has recently experienced quakes, the ODNR

said. It is unclear how much drilling will be affected by the new rules.

Hilcorp Energy, the company that was drilling near the quakes in Po-

land Township in March, cannot resume operations until it submits a new

plan convincing regulators that drilling is safe, an agency spokesman said.

Hilcorp was not immediately available to comment.

The department had not previously linked earthquakes to fracking,

which involves fracturing rock by creating a series of small blasts thou-

sands of feet below the surface, but the new data gave it "reasonable cer-

tainty" that fracking was the cause, the agency spokesman said.

"It is significant that they have acknowledged that there is a connec-

tion between fracking and earthquakes," said Ray Beiersdorfer, professor

of geology at Youngstown State University in Ohio.

The disposal of drilling wastewater in rockbed deep underground has

been linked by geologists to earthquakes, sucah as the 4.0 magnitude one

experienced on New Year's Eve 2011 in Youngstown, but opinion is di-

vided about whether fracking itself can cause quakes, and if it can trigger

more than just small tremors.

While there are concerns about the environmental impact of injecting

chemical-laced water into the ground, including on freshwater supplies,

they are spreading to include the effect on fault lines than run beneath the

surface, often undetected.

Worries surrounding seismic activity emerged in Ohio in 2011 when a

spate of small quakes followed the beginning of intensive drilling in the

Utica shale. More than 800 wells have been drilled in the Ohio portions of

the Utica and the Marcellus shales, two major gas deposits that have

helped transform the U.S. energy market. Once a regular importer of gas

from overseas, the United States is set to export gas for the first time to

countries across the globe.

"The steps announced today to protect communities from seismic

events are reasonable precautions," said Scott Anderson, a policy advisor

at the Environmental Defense Fund. "Although there is much uncertainty

regarding what causes earthquakes ... the state's decisive action is based

on the best information available."

Ohio links fracking to earthquakes, announces tougher rules Reporting By Edward McAllister. Editing by Alden Bentley

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Page 7, OPS, April/May, 2014

Voters in Oklahoma City (OKC) may get the chance to vote this

year on increasing the minimum wage in the city. After recent success

in several states and such cities as Albuquerque, organizers believe this

is a good time to bring the measure before a vote of the people in OKC.

A coalition of labor, churches, and civic activists have joined forces

to garner enough signatures to get a minimum wage question on a City

ballot. The petition is limited to registered voters with a physical ad-

dress (no Post Office boxes) residing within Oklahoma City municipal

limits.

The Albuquerque measure, passed in 2013 with 66 percent approval,

increased that city’s minimum wage to $8.50 in January and provides

for automatic increases to keep pace with inflation.

In 2012, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said that 3.6 million workers

(or almost 3 percent of all workers) in the U.S. were paid wages at or

below the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. While most people

think of minimum wage workers as teenagers, the Economic Policy In-

stitute found that the typical minimum wage worker is a woman, 35

years old, and working full time. In fact, one-third of minimum wage

workers are over 40 years of age and the highest percent of those work-

ers graduated from high school and have some college credit. On aver-

age, they earn half of their family’s total income. The occupations most

affected by the minimum wage law would be food preparations, wait

staff, sales, personal care and service, and cleaning/maintenance of

building and grounds.

The real value of the minimum wage has not kept pace with inflation

and is actually 25 percent below the 1968 value. While the lowest paid

workers have seen the value of their earnings erode, the top 1 percent of

workers have tripled the value of their earnings over the last 45 years.

Many minimum wage workers depend on food stamps to feed their

families because a gross salary of $15,000 per year isn’t sufficient. The

bottom line is that people working for minimum wage live in poverty.

The federal minimum wage rate of $7.25 was set in 2009. Tipped

labor has its own minimum of $2.13 per hour with the tips making up

the difference. And workers under 20 years of age may be paid $4.25

per hour for the first 90 days of employment. Sixteen states now have

statutory minimum wage rates that are higher than the federal rate.

Although some news agencies claim that private employers would

cut workers if the minimum wage is increased, other studies predict a

rise in consumer spending that would provide

a boost to the economy and modest job

growth. Low wage workers tend to spend

practically all of their income on necessities,

and economists predict a wage increase for

these workers would result in most or all of

that money being put right back into the pur-

chase of goods and services. The types of jobs

affected by the law can’t easily be exported –

you won’t drive to China to pick up your fast

food – so it’s not so easy to reduce the number

of workers in these occupations. The Con-

gressional Budget Office, however, predicts that an increase in mini-

mum wage might result in a 0.3 percent increase in unemployment.

The Oklahoma City measure would raise the minimum wage to

$10.10 starting 90 days after passage of the act and adjust it each year to

match inflation. Employees that make tips, such as waiters and wait-

resses, must be paid at least 45 percent of minimum wage directly from

their employers and this would increase to 60 percent in 2016.

Push for Minimum Wage on Oklahoma Ballot

By Ginger McGovern

TELEPHONE (405) 605-6547

FACSIMILE (405) 605-6577

[email protected]

DAN MURDOCK ATTORNEY AT LAW

Resides & Resides, PLLC

615 North Broadway

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

73102

www.resideslaw.com

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Page 8, OPS, April/May, 2014

-American Greetings (took heavy Koch

investment, upwards of $200 million)

-Angel Soft

-Angel Soft Ultra

-Brawny paper towels

-Dixie products

-Insulair cups

-Mardis Gras napkins

-Perfect Touch cups, paper products

-Quilted Northern

-Sparkle paper towels

-Vanity Fair napkins & paper towels

-Zee Napkins

-Georgia Pacific Office products -Spectrum paper

-Georgia-Pacific's enMotion paper

towel dispenser

-Georgia-Pacific's engineered lumber

INVISTA Brands -INVISTA’s PET polymer is used in

oxygen-sensitive packaging for food

and beverages.

-ADI-PURE® Adipic Acid

-ANTRON® Carpet Fiber

-C12™ Intermediates

-COMFOREL® Fiber

-COOLMAX® Fabric

-CORDURA® Fabric

-DACRON® Fiberfill

-DYTEK® Idea Intermediates

-FLEXISOLV® Solvent Solutions

-LYCRA® Fiber

-LYCRA HyFit® Fiber

-OXYCLEAR® Barrier Resin

-POLYCLEAR® PET

-POLYSHIELD® Resin

-SENZAA™ Additive

-STAINMASTER® Carpet

-SUPPLEX® Fabric

-SUPRIVA™ Fiber

-TACTEL® Fiber

-TECGEN® Garments

-TERATE® Polyols

-TERATHANE® Polyether Gly-

col

-TERRIN™ Polyols

-THERMOLITE® Fabric

-TORZEN® PA66 Resin

Don't Buy KOCH Industries Products

From Daily Kos, by Rachel Colyer

Koch industries and its subsidiaries are expansive––their holdings include everything from gas stations to pipelines, paper products for everyday use,

greeting cards, chemicals used to make materials, and the fabric that makes your clothing.

Lists of familiar Koch products and brands:

With an interest in almost everything, and status as the number two

privately held company in the country – behind Cargill – Koch in-

dustries is a behemoth hard to avoid.

But knowledge is power and your dollar is your vote. We can be-

come informed purchasers and refuse to support their political

agenda by refusing to purchase their wares.

More things you can do:

The internet is a wonderful place, full of handy resources. Start by

memorizing and avoiding the brand logos above, which are com-

monly found throughout our daily lives. Download the Boycott app

on your phone and use it while you shop.

For extra research, visit websites of Koch Industries, Invista, and

Georgia Pacific to see their broad range of products for home, busi-

ness, construction, clothing manufacturing, farming materials, and

chemical additives. They are into almost everything––including

fiber optics!

If you are in charge of ordering office supplies for your business,

construction materials for your job site, or products for events, ca-

tering, or restaurants––avoid buying from Georgia-Pacific and its

smaller subsidiaries.

Use your purchasing power to stop expanding, and to start shrink-

ing, the Koch empire.

Koch Fertilizer Company's AGROTAIN® nitrogen stabilizer fer-

tilizer products are used around the world to improve nitrogen effi-

ciency and enhance crop productions.

This list is a work in progress. Daily Kos is striving to keep it

updated and accurate. Forgive any omissions or information

needing correction.

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Page 9, OPS, April/May, 2014

Support the EPA’s proposed regu-

lations for new power plants

Look up and you see a solution to the

climate crisis plain as day … one that

will lead us toward a clean-energy fu-

ture. It’s the sun!

It's no secret that CO2 pollution from

fossil fuels is contributing to this year’s

wild storms and the drought we're seeing

in California … and changes all around

the world.

While oil, coal, and gas got us to

where we are today, there's no reason

they must take us into tomorrow. Espe-

cially when we can power our economy

and our lives without carbon pollution

and climate change - - with solar energy.

As long as power plants are able to

spew unregulated amounts of carbon pol-

lution into our atmosphere, Big Polluters

aren't forced to recognize and bear the

real cost of their operations. But with the

Environmental Protection Agency's new

proposed carbon pollution standards for

new power plants, this is about to

change.

Expansion of solar under president

Obama: Last year, the U.S. installed

4,751 megawatts of photovoltaic capac-

ity. That's over 40 percent more than in

2012 and almost 15 times more than in

2008. Right now, there's a new solar

system installed in this country every

four minutes, and the way demand keeps

growing, we could hit one every 80 sec-

onds as soon as 2016.

As solar power keeps getting cheaper

and more people start using it, it will

soon be as cheap as -- or even cheaper

than -- power from coal or gas.

What’s holding us back? The fossil

fuel industry and its friends in Congress

ensuring that the real cost of coal, oil,

and gas remains artificially low and pre-

venting solar from competing on a truly

level playing field.

We're paying to clean up Big Pol-

luter's mess. And until they pay the true

cost of their business, clean energies like

solar are at a disadvantage. We must all

support the EPA’s new proposed guide-

lines on new power plants. You can

learn much on our website: climatereali-

typroject.org

With more investment, solar keeps

growing and we can look forward to a

future where today’s extreme weather

events are fading into the rearview mir-

ror. Or they get worse.

We can have a say in the kind of fu-

ture we want, and it starts with speaking

up and supporting the EPA

Thanks,

The Climate Reality Team

DO YOU WANT

TO DO

YOUR PART TO

IMPROVE THE WORLD?

You can start by joining

OKC Amnesty International

Local Group #238

Anne Frank said, “How wonderful it is that no one needs to

wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”

We meet at the Church of the Open Arms,

3131 N. Penn on the 1st Monday of the month at

6:30 PM, in the basement. Call John at

720-6467 for more information.

www.climate realityproject.org

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Page 10, OPS, April/May, 2014

A new poll reveals that Medicaid expansion under the ACA - Affordable

Care Act, or "Obamacare" - is popular in many states where Republicans

are blocking it.

Opponents arguing that Obamacare is failing are being stymied by facts.

The Affordable Care Act hit its March 31st goal of 7 million enrolled in

private insurance plans. Three million more have signed up for coverage

under Medicaid in states that accepted federal aid paying for Medicaid

expansion.

According to new polling by Public Policy Poling conducted for

MoveOn, voters support Medicaid expansion in key states by wide mar-

gins: 52 to 35 percent in Kansas, 58 to 33 percent in Florida, 59 to 30

percent in Pennsylvania, 54 to 38 percent in Georgia.

These are states where Republican politicians have blocked Medicaid

expansion. In one of them - Virginia - an earlier poll found that even a

majority of Republican voters support extending coverage to the state’s

low-income residents.

Other polls show that three-out-of-four Ameri-

cans nationwide, including a majority of Re-

publicans, support Medicaid expansion.

Nevertheless, Republicans are single-handedly

blocking health coverage for 5 million Ameri-

cans in 24 states. One academic study sug-

gests that of those 5 million Americans, some

10,000 will die this year alone due to lack of

insurance.

The ACA, including Medicaid expansion, is the

law of the land, passed by the House and Sen-

ate, and signed into law in March, 2009, by the

President. Some 50 Republican attempts to

repeal it have failed. It's another example of

Republican will to block the President's efforts

- in this case to extend health care to the working poor. The result may

well be that thousands of Americans will die needlessly ... more than the

number who died on 9/11/01, or in the Iraq War.

Meanwhile Obamacare overall is getting more popular. Already, the

components of the law have been very well-received and polls show that

a significant percentage of people who “opposed Obamacare" at one

time, now think the law doesn’t go far enough - meaning that they sup-

port an even more progressive health care solution.

As the news spreads that over 7 million Americans have successfully

enrolled for insurance through the ACA exchanges, its popularity

grows. Polls show that even "absolute support" for Obamacare is on the

rise. The ACA is more popular than President Obama (47 percent versus

46 percent favorability) and is wildly more popular than Congressional

Republicans (only 18 percent favorability).

As the law’s positive effects continue to spread, running against

Obamacare will be increasingly costly to Republicans. Of course, that

won’t stop Tea Party extremists or the “kamikaze caucus.” Witness John

Boehner rushing to correct the record when Matt Drudge reported on

Republicans working to expand Obamacare. Republicans apparently

don’t want the American people even thinking that their party is trying to

get more people covered by health insurance.

The contrast is simple and clear: Democrats are working to provide af-

fordable care and health insurance to Americans, while Republicans are

actively working to deny it, by declining Medicaid expansion and attack-

ing Obamacare generally.

The polls show that Republicans are on the losing side of this issue. As

voters hear more and more stories of Americans newly covered because

of the ACA and getting a heart transplant or their cancer detected early,

they are seeing the truth rather than the fiction and disinformation spread

by Republicans and the shock jocks on Fox Radio. As stories of rural

hospitals closing for lack of funding that Medicaid expansion would

have provided, and Americans not getting the care they need because

Republicans blocked Medicaid expansion, voters

will be swayed more and more to support candi-

dates who would expand, not shrink, health care

coverage.

Nationally, some early projections show Republi-

cans holding the House and taking the Senate this

fall. Citizens can change that forecast by spreading

the truth, or by forwarding this article. Republican

governors like John Kasich of Ohio and Rick Sny-

der of Michigan are campaigning on their having

backed Medicaid expansion in their states. So, it’s

way too early to predict election outcomes.

November is far off, and a lot can happen between

now and then. But even now, on Obamacare, the

landscape keeps improving for its supporters, as

information spreads and Republican obstructionists

continue their irrational "Repeal Obamacare" tac-

tic.

More Press:

The Daily Beast:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/04/08/new-poll-shows-

voters-in-red-states-want-to-expand-medicaid.html

Politico:http://www.politico.com/morningscore/0414/

morningscore13535.html

Daily Kos:http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/04/08/1290547/-

Medicaid-expansion-salient-issue-in-red-nbsp-states

Mark Crain, Campaign Director, MoveOn.org

[email protected]

313-408-5961

Red State Voters Want Medicaid Expansion, New Poll Shows

A new poll reveals that

Medicaid expansion un-

der the ACA - Affordable

Care Act,

or "Obamacare" - is

popular in many states

where Republicans are

blocking it.

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Page 11, OPS, April/May, 2014

Last spring Puerto Rico bucked a decades-long trend by protecting 3,000 acres of pristine

beaches and mangroves along the Northeast Ecological Corridor.

A new law marks an unexpectedly happy ending to a 15-year battle fought by environmental

activists to wrest this portion of the Caribbean island’s coast–which includes a vital nesting

area for the endangered leatherback turtle–from the construction cranes of developers.

A microcosm of Puerto Rico, this swath of land encompasses all types of coastal wetlands

found on the island and is home to nearly 900 other species, including ones struggling to sur-

vive such as the endangered West Indian manatee.

“Its scale of ecosystem diversity is extremely rare in any location around the world,” says

Camilla Feibelman, a former field organizer for the Sierra Club, which offers tours of the re-

gion.

Day-trippers from San Juan, less than five miles to the west, already head to eastern Puerto

Rico for El Yunque rain forest and the bioluminescent Fajardo lagoon. Yet the corridor is even

easier to access–public bus is one option–and the recent legislation promises to encourage ecot-

ourism in this unique habitat.

Soon travelers can expect expanding hiking and biking rails as well as the introduction of interpretive experiences, guided tours, and kayak rentals.

(Travel Trivia: The temperature inside the nest of turtle eggs determines the sex of the hatchlings. Hotter temps produce more females.)

(This piece, written by Julie Schwietert Collazo, first appeared in the April 2014 issue of National Geographic Traveler magazine.)

Catastrophic Climate Change

Can Be Averted

Catastrophic climate change can be averted without sacrificing living

standards, according to a landmark UN report published on Sunday. It

concludes the transformation required to a world of clean energy and

the ditching of dirty fossil fuels is eminently affordable.

The authoritative report, produced by 1250 international experts and

approved by 194 governments, dismisses fears that slashing carbon

emissions would wreck the world economy. It is the final part of a

definitive trilogy that has already shown that climate change is

“unequivocally” caused by humans and that, unchecked, it poses a

grave threat to people and could lead to lead to wars and mass migra-

tion.

Diverting hundred of billions of dollars from fossil fuels into renew-

able energy and cutting energy waste would shave just 0.06% off ex-

pected annual economic growth rates of 1.3%-3%, the Intergovernmen-

tal Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report concluded.

Furthermore, the analysis did not include the benefits of cutting green-

house gas emissions, which could outweigh the costs. The benefits in-

clude reducing air pollution, which plagues China and recently hit the

UK, and improved energy security, which is currently at risk in eastern

Europe after the actions of major gas-producer Russia in Ukraine.

The new IPCC report warns that carbon emissions have soared in the

last decade and are now growing at almost double the previous rate. But

its comprehensive analysis found rapid action can can still limit global

warming to 2C, the internationally agreed safety limit, (Original Story

from The Guardian)

A newly hatched leatherback sea turtle takes to the sea

on a beach in Puerto Rico. (Photograph by IrinaK, shutterstock; International Mapping)

Eco-News from Mother Earth Now!

The landmark UN report on climate change concludes moving to renewable energy

is achievable. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

Sea Turtles Win a 15 Year Battle

with Help from their Enviro-Activist Friends

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Page 12, OPS, April/May, 2014

Journalist-scholar Gareth Porter has published an-

other fine book on U.S. aggression, Manufactured

Crisis: The Untold Story of the Iran Nuclear Scare,

following in the footsteps of his 2005 study, The

Perils of Dominance. The earlier book had as its

main theme the idea that dominant U.S. military

power in the 1950s and 1960s caused the U.S. lead-

ership to believe that the threat of indefinite escala-

tion would induce their Vietnamese enemy to sur-

render on U.S. terms, which the Vietnamese refused

to do (his subtitle was Imbalance of Power and the

Road to War in Vietnam).

A main theme of the new book is that U.S. power has permitted it to

bully and manipulate the UN, the International Atomic Energy Agency

(IAEA) and other elements of the “international community,” with the

collaboration of Israel and its other Western allies, into selective harass-

ment and even low-level warfare against Iran for its alleged quest for nu-

clear weapons. A semi-permanent crisis has been manufactured and insti-

tutionalized by the militarily dominant world bully, damaging the well-

being of millions of Iranian civilians and posing the threat of open war-

fare.

Porter points out that the United States was highly supportive of the

nuclear program of the Shah of Iran, who had plans for 23 nuclear power

stations at the time of his 1979 ouster. Following that political change the

United States quickly turned from encouraging Iran’s nuclear program to

active hostility, going to great pains to discourage any material or tech-

nology transfers to the new regime, even browbeating suppliers from ful-

filling contracts that would have permitted Iran to complete its single nu-

clear reactor.

There is no reason to disbelieve the Iranian claim that its aims ini-

tially were confined to completing its plant at Bushehr and continuing the

operation of its Tehran Research Reactor for medical services. Porter

makes the important point that the eventual Iranian effort to enrich ura-

nium at home was a result of that Reagan era refusal to allow Iran to

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Manufactured Crisis: The Untold Story of the Iran Nuclear Scare

By Gareth Porter - Just World Books, 2014

A REVIEW - By Edward S. Herman

http://zcomm.org/zmagazine/manufactured-crisis-the-untold-story-of-the-iran-nuclear-scare/

Gareth Porter, author,

(IRAN, Continued Next Page)

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Page 13, OPS, April/May, 2014

My practice focuses on the following areas:

LGBT Legal Issues—More info at www.OklahomaLGBTLaw.com

Estate Planning (including wills and trusts)

Representing military conscientious objectors and war resisters

Please mention you saw this ad in OK Peace Strategy Newsletter for a discount.

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www.JMBranum.com

import that material. The refusal to allow Iranian imports of nuclear ma-

terials was also a denial of its rights under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation

Treaty. In the early years of the U.S. boycott of nuclear materials and

know-how there was no suggestion that this was out of fear of weaponi-

zation. It was just hostility to a government that had replaced a U.S. pup-

pet and was independent, i.e., no longer a U.S. client.

This U.S. hostility was displayed early in the Carter administration’s

failure to try to stop the Iraqi invasion of Iran, for which the United

States had advance notice in 1980. There was the hope that this war

would bleed Iran and perhaps even overthrow the regime. Porter quotes

Walter Mondale: “We believed that this war would put further pressure

on the Iranian regime.” Reagan-era hostility went far in supplying Iraq

with war materials, including cluster bombs, providing strategic advice,

and working to persuade other countries not to supply arms to Iran. This

country made no protest at Iraq’s massive use of chemical weapons

against Iranian troops and civilians.

Porter notes that the Iranians did not retaliate with their own chemi-

cal weapons and he points out later that there is no evidence that the Is-

lamic Republic has ever built any chemical weapons capability. The Is-

lamic leadership of Iran has repeatedly declared that both chemical and

nuclear weapons are immoral and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued a fat-

wah in 2003 declaring that the development and use of nuclear weapons

was contrary to Islamic principles. This non-use of chemical weapons in

the 1980s and declarations of the religious-morality-based prohibition of

both chemical and nuclear weapons has been awkward for the Western

warriors, so they and the media have solved this problem by occasional

sneers and declarations of disbelief in the sincerity of these fatwahs, but

mainly refusal to discuss.

In 1983, the Reagan administration obtained a cancellation of an

IAEA program of aid to the Iranian nuclear program, which was the be-

ginning of a systematic U.S. effort to prevent any international assistance

to Iran’s nuclear activities. It was a part of a de facto war against Iran

with geopolitical objectives and not directed to any perceived menace of

a nuclear weapons program. This, and the durable program of denial that

followed, was a denial of Iran’s legal rights under the NPT. But the

United States could not only get away with pursuing this denial, it could

build on it.

Iran persisted in trying to develop its nuclear capability partly for

reasons of a desire to build up its entire range of technical resources,

partly perhaps to have a stand-by nuclear capability for a weapons con-

struction in case of urgent need (a “hedging” strategy), and partly as a

matter of national pride. Porter describes how universally the Iranian

populace supports a nuclear program, and not for its weaponization capa-

bility, and thus how much pressure there is on its leadership to not aban-

don it altogether under external threat.

IRAN, continued from p. 12

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Page 14, OPS, April/May, 2014

Tracing Genetic Heritage Brings People Together

Harvard University’s Henry Louis Gates, at OCU March 5th

by Ginger McGovern

Henry Louis Gates, Jr., the distinguished

Harvard professor, speaks whenever he has the

chance about DNA and tracing personal ances-

try. He was absolutely enthusiastic and enter-

taining when he spoke at Oklahoma City Uni-

versity, on March 5th this year.

While Gates has long been a professor and

director of the Institute for African and Afri-

can American Research at Harvard, his entry

into the arena of genealogy combined with

DNA testing is relatively recent. Gates’ per-

sonal interest in tracing his family history

started when he was nine years old and his

grandfather died. His father showed Gates a

photo of his great grandmother, Jane Gates,

born a slave and liberated by the abolition of

slavery with the passage of the 13th Amend-

ment. This piqued Gates’ interest and he be-

gan to interview his father and other relatives

in order to better understand who and where

he came from.

This interest eventually led to Gates’ in-

volvement in three popular PBS series, Afri-

can American Lives, Faces of America, and

more recently, Finding Your Roots. In each of

the series, Gates traced the ancestry of famous

Americans through genealogical, historical,

and DNA testing. The results were often sur-

prising and always interesting. For example,

in one episode of Finding Your Roots, Kevin

Bacon and his wife, Kyra Sedgwick, learned

they are 9th cousins – not quite “Six Degrees

of Kevin Bacon,” but close.

Gates’ newest project is developing an an-

cestry-based curriculum for middle schools

where students would learn science and his-

tory together. Gates says that today’s young

students have lost their passion for learning

and their favorite subject is themselves. So

what better way to get them engaged than

learning about who they are and where they

came from. Students would interview family

members about their roots and get their own

DNA analyzed. After finding out as much as

they could from living ancestors, the students

would then begin using historical records and

the DNA results to trace their roots back even

farther. Besides gaining an understanding of

their own personal history, Gates hopes to

stimulate students’ interest in science and gen-

eral history.

Gates also emphasized that the classic

ideas of categorizing people by “race” is

wrong. Most people have DNA that comes

from many different regions of the world and

thus should be considered mixed race. Gates

says it is time to move beyond the traditional

language of race toward a broader understand-

ing of who we are and where we came from.

Genealogy – it’s not just for celebrities,

any more.

For A Truly Conservative View of Religious Freedom

by Rev. Dr. C. Welton Gaddy, President of the Interfaith Alliance USA

In Response to This Statement from THE NEW YORK TIMES :

The Supreme Court will rule this year on women’s right to contraception as part of their

health insurance. It’s the Affordable Care Act vs. Corporations demanding a “religious

right” to NOT provide health insurance including contraception.

The recent debate at the Supreme Court

centers on the rights of women to access con-

traception under the Affordable Care Act. The

Supremes will rule on this later this year.

When Congress passed this law they rec-

ognized that there was a social, economic and

medical good in empowering women to make

their own family-planning decisions. To this

end, Congress required all employer-sponsored

health insurance to cover free access to contra-

ception.

The ACA takes care to exempt houses of

worship and to accommodate certain religious

organizations, as American law has tradition-

ally done when a determined social good con-

flicts with some religious traditions. This much

is the promise of the First Amendment, that the

government cannot force a religious institution

to violate its beliefs. That assurance has proven

good for society – for both government and

religion.

The core question of Hobby Lobby and

Conestoga Woods is whether, for the first time

in history, this exemption should be expanded

to for-profit secular corporations. That is the

only question in these cases, and that is the de-

cision that will push us over, or draw us back

from, the ledge.

The plaintiffs in this case have been

working to shift the focus to a very different

question. Steve Green, the president of Hobby

Lobby, has taken to the media to explain his

side of the story. He discusses his three-decade

commitment to his church and to living a

Christian life. He emphasizes his philanthropic

donations to Christian organizations and

causes, and he lauds policies, such as closing

on Sundays, which he has implemented in his

stores to allow his employees to live a Chris-

tian life. Mr. Green's beliefs are no doubt sin-

cere and his acts commendable, but they should

have no bearing on this case.

Along with many others who respect reli-

gious freedom, I will watch anxiously to see if

the justices are smart enough to see through

this dangerous attempt to redefine one of the

foundations of our nation: religious freedom

for individuals but separation of church and

state in policy matters. Despite narrow sectar-

ian pressure, the Supreme Court must protect

religious freedom -- not merely for a few, but

for all.

The core question of Hobby Lobby and

Conestoga Woods is whether, for the first time

in history, this exemption should be expanded

to for-profit secular corporations...that is the

decision that will push us over, or draw us

back from, the ledge.

Follow Rev. Dr. C. Welton Gaddy on

Twitter: www.twitter.com/WeltonDaddy.

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Page 15, OPS, April/May, 2014

"In regard to religion, mutual toleration in the different professions

thereof is what all good and candid minds in all ages have ever prac-

ticed, and both by precept and example inculcated on mankind.”

- Samuel Adams, The Rights of the Colonists (1771)

“Persecution is not an original feature in any religion; but it is always

the strongly marked feature of all religions established by law. Take

away the law-establishment, and every religion re-assumes its original

benignity.”

- Thomas Paine, The Rights of Man (1791)

“Congress has no power to make any religious establishments.”

- Roger Sherman, Congress (1789)

"I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American

people build a wall of separation between Church & State."

- Thomas Jefferson, letter to the Danbury Baptists (1802)

"To argue with someone who has renounced the use of reason is like ad-

ministering medicine to the dead."

- Thomas Paine, The American Crisis No. V (1776)

“Our civil rights have no dependence on our religious opinions, any

more than our opinions in physics or geometry.”

- Thomas Jefferson, A Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom(1779)

"Christian establishments tend to great ignorance and corruption, all of

which facilitate the execution of mischievous projects."

- James Madison, letter to William Bradford, Jr. (1774)

"There is nothing which can better deserve our patronage than the pro-

motion of science and literature. Knowledge is in every country the surest

basis of public happiness."

- George Washington, address to Congress (1790)

“Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be

one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, then that of blind-

folded fear.”

- Thomas Jefferson, letter to Peter Carr (1787)

"During almost fifteen centuries the legal establishment of Christianity

has been on trial. What has been its fruits? More or less, in all places,

pride and indolence in the clergy; ignorance and servility in the laity; in

both, superstition, bigotry and persecution."

- James Madison, General Assembly, Commonwealth of VA (1785)

The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason."

- Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanack (1758)

Originally posted to Tolerant Libertarian, Mon Mar 17, 2014

America’s Founders said WHAT About Religion??

About Earth Day & The Green Party By Nathaniel Batchelder

I love Earth Day. And I love the Green Party Platform, including

serious planks for environmental sustainability and preservation of Na-

ture. I understand that the Green Party advocates a week of activities

around Earth Day, encouraged by Green Presidential Candidate Jill Stein

and other leaders of the Green Party. The idea is to make the connection

that serious Eco-Policies are inherent in the Green Party.

But, although I love the Green Party PLATFORM, I do not support

the Green PARTY. I've opined for years that Green Party candidates

could register and run as Democrats, not Independents, identifying them-

selves in the primaries as Green Democrats. The Greens I've suggested

this to are almost universally offended or puzzled by my suggestion. I

suggest they study the Tea Party movement.

Tea Party strategists knew NOT to start a new party, but to agitate

within the Republican Party. Today, moderate Republicans are terrified

of primary challenges by Tea Party candidates. The Tea Party has be-

come the tail wagging the Republican dog. Not bad for a bunch of rabid

extremist right-wing fundamentalists who don't believe in science!

Meanwhile, Green Party Independent candidates typically draw

less than 10% of the vote on election day, and the consequences are to

hurt liberal candidates, thus inadvertently helping conservatives.

Had Ralph Nader run as a Green Democrat in the 2000 presiden-

tial primaries, George W. Bush would never have become presi-

dent. Bush's 8 years cost America $15 to $20 TRILLION, adding up his

two unnecessary wars, the 2008 economic crash (because regulation un-

der GWBush was absent from 2000 to 2008), and the huge bail-outs.

Then Nader ran for President again, as an Independent, in 2004 and

2008. Eeek. Politicsis the art of the possible. I believe we must first

defeat the worst. This would generate hope among potential candidates

that victory might be possible.

To Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren:

Dear Senator Warren,

As an Oklahoman I am simply not represented in either house of Con-

gress. You are, and must be, my US Senator. Thank God that you serve

in Congress and for all the positions that Massachusetts voters support

you in taking. I sent you modest contributionss, that you might win, and

just gave to DFA – Democracy For America - as you asked.

Nathaniel Batchelder, formerly of Massachusetts, Cape Cod & Islands

Page 16: Oklahoma Billboard Targets Governor Mary Fallin and ...peacehouseok.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/ops201404web.pdf · use. Atmospheric warming causes drying that kills rain forests,

Page 16, OPS, April/May, 2014

Thank You, Contributors! for your Investment in Peace and Justice:

Contributions received from

January 1, 2014, through

April 10, 2014: Candeh Abudu Powell

Kay Adair

Kay Ahaus

Patty Altshuler

Doris Anderson

Judith Appleton

Mary Arbuckle

Jason Arnold

Sherry Bacus Scott

Nan Binder-Smith

Lisa Bradley & Rhonda Boucher

Tom and Pat Brewer

David Brinker MD

Phyllis Byerly

Pat Califano

Richard Cates & Jeanene Davidson

Lois Clark

Jack Clifford

Orra Compton

Margaret Cox

Pam Cross

Bob Curtis

Deidra D’Amico

Steve Davis & Edie Rothermel

Lydia Deibel

R. L. Doyle

Thora & Ron DuBois

Robert & Harriette Elliot

Catherine Ewing

Christy Finsel & Daniel Boyle

Rev. Rosemary Ford

Mary Francis

Gus W Friedrich

Rex Friend

Diana & Andrew Frost

Jane & Bill Garthoeffner

Veva Gibbard

Victor Gorin

Eli Grayson

Elizabeth Grubgeld

William Decker

William Haivala

Dennie Hall

Jim Hankins

Lois & R. E, Hilbert

Dudley & Gail Hutcheson

Pat James

Walter Kelley

Bernadette & Michale Krawczyk

Mrs. Harriet Larsen

Jim Lazalier

Bob Lemon & Robyn Lemon Sellers

S Jay & Heather Lensgraf

Bettie Lewis

Tupper Lienke

Gayla Mahell

Karen McKellips

Mary Mendus

Dorothy Messenger

Jerry Messick

David Miller & Barbara Neas

Mary Moloney SP

Nancy Musselman

Bill Nerin

Clayton & Sandra Ness

Morty Newmark

David Nickell

John Orr

Darrell Penrod

Ruth Podolin

Dennis & Carol Preston

Sandra Quay

Ghislaine Rabin

Beverly & John Rapp

Peter Schaffer

Ronald Scribner

Gail Seto

Sue & Boyd Shook

Madanjit Singh

Stan & Marlene Smucker

David Stamps

Erma Stewart

Mary Ann Surges

Jim Tappan

Judith Tate-O’Brien

Lois Taylor

Patti Tepper-Rassmussrn

Sheila Tiarks

Saundra Vallejo-Delgardo

Harley & Anne Venters

John and Roise Walters

Ron & Linda Wasson

Brent and Gina Wendling

Terry Weygandt

Carollyn Whalen

Katherine Williams

Theresa & Edward Wilson

Judith Appleton

In Memory of Stan Reynolds

Ruth Podolin. In Memory of Bill Byerly

Peter Schaffer Honoring Nathan Batchelder

We say thank you to

everyone whose donations

support the Peace House.

Everything helps: $100 is

great, but $10 covers a year re-

ceiving our Oklahoma Peace

newspaper, where we challenge

our “Reddest of Red States” on

virtually every issue.

Last September, CAIR - the

Council on American-Islamic Re-

lations - sponsored a downtown

rally for Interfaith Harmony. Di-

rectorAdam Soltani asked Batch to

be the M.C. Dr. Mark Davies,

Dean of OCU’s Petree College of

Arts & Sciences, spoke saying

“Just getting along with each other

is no longer enough! Everyone,

everywhere, is called to work to-

ward addressing world environ-

mental challenges, poverty, dis-

ease, and human rights.” You

hadda been there.

In late October, Batch spoke to

a class of divinity students at

OCU, with a satellite link to a sis-

ter class in Kansas City. On a

large split screen, Batch could see

the students in both classes. Some

60 future ministers in the two cit-

ies heard the message that global

warming is real and that human

consumption exceeds earth’s ca-

pacities. He added that poverty,

disease, human rights abuses and

war are likewise “man-made.”

Monthly public demonstrations

continue, sponsored by Americans

Against the Next War, the Peace

House and Center for Conscience

in Action. Honks and waves of

support have completely replaced

negative reactions. Oklahomans

do not want another war. We re-

mind Congress members that we

support the negotiations with Iran,

engineered by the Obama admini-

stration. Let them hear from you,

too.

In November, the Peace House

sponsored a showing of “Inlaws &

OUTlaws” with Cimarron Alli-

ance at Church of the Open Arms.

This award-winning collection of

moving interviews with gays and

straights about marriage should be

seen by everyone. Then, at the

Cimarron Alliance Gala Banquet,

Batch received the “Ally of the

Year” award. Recently, when a

lesbian couple with children, mar-

ried in another state, was declined

family discounts at Oklahoma City

YMCAs (grrrr!) the Peace House

got involved. We wrote to YMCA

leaders, and to other fitness com-

panies about their policies.

In January, we participated in

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Holi-

day events: the breakfast in MWC,

the noon speaking event at St.

Paul’s Cathedral, the 2pm March

& Parade. Walking alongside our

van during the Parade, a family

committed to peace handed out

some 500 Peace Strategy Newspa-

pers. Thanks to Rex and Sisca

Friend, and their children Augie,

Maggie, and Karel.

In February we participated

with others in a State Capitol

Rally to oppose the Keystone XL

pipeline (Trans-Canada’s pipeline

to Houston for tar sands crude).

Environmentalists say NO WAY

to tar sands development and the

pipeline for toxic tar sands crude.

We must all continue telling the

White House, “NO to the KXL

Pipeline!” Opposition to the pipe-

line grows in Canada and the U.S.

In March, a 2-day Symposium

on the theme “Creative Peacemak-

ing” was sponsored by and held at

Oklahoma City University. Four

plenary sessions featured three

national speakers and Nathaniel

Batchelder. Batch reviewed high-

lights of 25 years at the Peace

House. He also asked Anne

Murray and Patricia Hoerth to

speak. Anne described ongoing

projects that have been spun-off

programs initiated by the Peace

House. Pat is the Director of Tur-

tle Rock Farm. She described sus-

tainable living at Turtle Rock on

the prairie, incorporating gardens,

animals, workshops and retreats.

Pat also spoke to peacemaking for

the long haul, the spiritual ground-

ing for persistent peacemaking.

This calls peacemakers, she said,

to find meaning in taking action,

and disconnecting from outcomes

whether positive or not – the faith

to persevere.

Batch has had editorials pub-

lished opposing the Keystone XL

Pipeline, summarizing the pipe-

line’s connection to global warm-

ing. Congress has copies. We be-

lieve the Peace House is a good

investment in efforts to highlight

human rights, economic justice,

eco-sustainability, nonviolence,

and peace.

THANK YOU EACH AND EVERY ONE!