Folks, this isn’t a Bus Project event, but my good buddy and incredible advocate Martin Rafferty is asking those who care about what young residents in Lane County have to say to join them for the Youth Empowerment Summit. His words below:

It’s time to come together to support the youth of our community. If you support or work in the youth service field you should come to see this elaborate event. Fully created and lead by youth and funded by multiple organizations this will be a great opportunity for networking and community building. If you can’t make it May 9th pass this letter along to someone who can!

Say YES!

Youth know what is happening in our community and have fresh ideas to address social issues. Eight groups of youth allied with community organizations have prepared presentations on solutions to social issues in our community.

Please come take part in this unique opportunity to hear from proactive young leaders. The Youth Empowerment Summit (YES) is an opportunity for youth to create change by presenting to community decision makers on youth identified community issues.

YES is a youth led event which is designed to stimulate awareness by giving voice to youth as they speak about issues of oppression and create positive community solutions.

Where: The Shedd Institute for the Arts
868 High St. (Use High St. Entrance), Eugene

When: Friday, May 9th 2008
12:00 – 7:00pm (breakout sessions from 1:40pm to 4:30pm)
Lunch will be provided at noon.

Schedule for the day:
12:00 – Lunch
12:30-1:30 – Opening Presentation
1:40-3:00 – First Breakout Session
Juventud FACETA
Youth Council
LGBTQ Issues
Sexual Health

3:10-4:30 – Second Breakout Session
Communities Empowering Youth (CEY)
Oregon Family Support Network (OFSN) And MindFreedom International
ACT-SO
Student Peace Alliance

4:30-5:00 – Closing Presentation
5:00-7:00 – Networking Opportunity and Open Mic Celebration

Please RSVP to Cheryl Bondy by May 2nd
682-2331 or cheryl.bondy@co.lane.or.us

If you need a translator, sign language interpreter, large print material, or other accommodations, please call or email Cheryl Bondy.

KDUK reported this evening that Justin Timberlake died in a plane crash. I’m not seeing this anywhere else so can only assume it is an April Fools Day joke.

Over the line guys…

Say what you will about his message, but there is no one, I repeat no one, that can move the crowd with a combination of hand gestures and trochaic tetrameter like Jefferson Smith!

Jefferson Smith of the Oregon Bus Project speaks at Sow Seeds of Peace Rally in Eugene, OR 3/16/08, co-sponsored by Community Alliance of Lane County.

Also Jefferson Smith Related! Check this out…Jefferson drops out of race while running un-opposed!

…I’m a Democrat - so goes the famous joke about politics on the left.
I thought of this recently when I was castigated for not “coordinating
my comments” on some blog postings with various parties. In fairness
to those parties, I do have a job that can have some political impact,
but, in fairness to me, my comments were clearly not made as
representing those people. The argument seemed to be that, although
no one wanted to infringe on my free speech rights, they thought I
should have consulted with them in advance to see if those comments
would help or hurt the overall cause. They did not seem to imply that
I owed it to them, but rather that I owed it “to the issue”.

To me, this comes back to the fundamental nature of progressive
politics. Unlike our more conservative peers, we believe in the free
and open exchange of views. Our disagreements range from the polite
to the raucous, but we believe that the public should hear the debate.
The debate itself should raise the profile of the issue and engage
the public. Our lobbyists have less money, but they should have more
votes behind them when they pay visits to the Legislature, because of
these vocal debates.

Purist arguments about the nature of a democratic society aside,
progressives have benefited immensely from more public debates,
primarily through online fundraising. A rising tide floats all boats,
but ours ride much higher in terms of the benefits from the revolution
in political campaign fundraising. People go to the blogs, they
engage in the debates and, at the end of the day, they hit the link to
donate to the candidate.

Let’s keep the smoky backrooms in the past, where they belong.
Progressives should push for vigorous and open debate, not a wink and
a handshake deal. As long as the debate sticks to the political,
rather than the personal, we benefit in the end.

Have you ever heard the song “It’s Raining Men”? Not like this THIS you haven’t.

Hat tip to Jeff Alworth at BlueOregon for the head’s up.

It’s almost TOO easy, so be gentle!

UO MEChA would like to invite community members to Xicano Xplosion on Tuesday March 4th at 6pm, at Agate Hill.

Teatro Milagro’s Production of “Zapatista” will be shown and a Panel after the play. Agate Hall is near 17th and Agate Street, on the east side of the University of Oregon Campus, in Eugene.

That’s right, local TV personality and recent City Club President Rick Dancer may seek the Republican nomination for Oregon Secretary of State. The Register Guard reports:

Willamette Week, a Portland alternative news­paper, reported this week that Dancer’s name was floating around as a possible GOP candidate for secretary of state. Oregon Republican Party spokeswoman Brianne Hyder declined to comment on the report’s veracity.

Dancer, a longtime presence on KEZI-TV, didn’t return three calls to the station. A newsroom employee said questions were to be handled by News Director Gary Darigol, who declined to discuss the possible candidacy.

“Any questions regarding Rick Dancer will be answered this Wednesday at 6:30 by Rick Dancer on KEZI news,” he said.

Gee, I bet the ad price for the 6:30-7pm slot on KEZI skyrocketed (all the way to $25 a minute)!

Really, this is shameless — this had better just be a publicity stunt, because if he announces his candidacy on the air, taking advantage of his position in the media and pumping up the event using his own news program, well.

Again, the second CNN gets their hands on a picture of the mass murderer, they plaster it on their website for the next to see how easy celebrity is to achieve. Like my two posts after the last CNN-reported mass murders, the next shooter is watching.

There has been another mass shooting. CNN’s headline currently is “Gunman opens fire at Illinois university.” And their second sub-heading underneath? “Are you there? Send text, video, photos”. Though their exclamation point is only implicit.

If you are there and do send photos and video, you will make their day. And Charlton Heston’s day too. Because as he knows, the only way to stop gun violence is for everyone to have more guns. Because if everyone has guns, conflict resolution is just a click away.