Join us in facing the challenges in the year ahead with hope, unity, determination, and resilience. Also with wisdom and laughs. And with clever memes. And with you!
Let's savor the good times and the good people we get to work with.
-- INCO Leadership Team Beeb, Carmen, Eric, Julia, Ken, Laurie, Lee, Lynn, Mary Beth, Teresa
INCO encourages you to read these suggestions from Jay Kuo and The Big Picture, December 24, 2024.
Jimmy Carter, 1924-2024: Our 39th President and a life of service
"WE ARE NOT ALONE"
"We may be on our own, but we are not alone. We truly are in this together. We have each other, a community of like-minded people who care about democracy, and although that may seem like a slender thread right now, it’s how we’re going to get through this. Trump may try to turn our nation into an illiberal democracy—a country where existing democratic institutions are used to cloak undemocratic processes in a veneer of legitimacy—but we will not let him. At a minimum, though, we can make sure he doesn’t do it under the cover of darkness. There are people who will be willing to shine a light and expose what’s happening.
So, gather your resources and gather your courage. We don’t know exactly how this will play out, which of the horribles will come first, and whether any guardrails might reemerge. It feels like a plan for the worst and hope for the best moment. Inevitably, with this level of uncertainty, we are going to be building the airplane while we are flying it. But there are a lot of people included in that “we,” and they bring many different talents and resources to the fight. We will not succumb to illiberal democracy. -- Joyce Vance, Civil Discourse, December 23, 2024; includes chicken cookies and a recipe for rugelach! Yummy!
SAVE THE DATE INCO Community Meeting Saturday, January 18, 2025 at 11-12:30 Astoria Senior Center, 11th at Exchange, Astoria
We enjoyed meeting in this bright, spacious room and look forward to seeing you in 2025!
INTRO TO THE LEGISLATIVE WATCH TEAM
The COIN Legislative Watch Team is holding a Zoom event to introduce new volunteers and those who are considering volunteering. It is scheduled for Tuesday, January 7 at 11:00am, via Zoom.
"First, forget politics as you’ve come to see it as electoral contests between Democrats and Republicans. Think power. The underlying contest is between a small minority who have gained power over the system, and the vast majority who have little or none.
".... Seeing the system for what it is will empower you to join with others to change it for the better."
SCIENCE AND SCIENCE'S PRETENDERS This chart might be hard to read on your phone. If you'd like a clearer copy of this chart, please contact incoregon@gmail.com, and Laurie will email you a copy.
PROTECT PEOPLE
Monday, January 13th from 6-7:30 PM PST, via Zoom Hosted by the Rural Organizing Project (ROP)
From ROP: "Rural Oregon is getting in formation to protect immigrants, the bodily autonomy of trans people and women, and any of our neighbors whose basic rights and freedom come under attack! ....Our ability to protect people starts with having a strong and healthy group, so let’s build those skills together." REGISTER HERE.
STAYING IN THE FIGHT
"Even though Donald Trump hasn’t become the president yet, it’s already a daily swamp, and it’s hard to keep it at bay. The crazy will become the new normal if we let it, and of course we can’t. A president’s violation of his oath of office and the trust of the American people, even when predictable, can’t become normalized. There can’t be any looking away or any giving up—the people with the ability and the comfort to look away are precisely the people who have to stay in the fight to protect others and protect the country." -- Joyce Vance, Civil Discourse, December 27, 2024
PERSPECTIVE: AFRICA IS HUGE!
Partial color key: United States,China, the UK is lower right; Eastern Europe is top right; India is center right; Spain, France,Germany, and Italy are along the top;Japan is at the bottom. If you'd like the entire document, which includes text and more information, contact incoregon@gmail.com, and Laurie will email it to you.
LESSONS 16 - 20 From ON TYRANNY: TWENTY LESSONS FROM THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
16. Learn from peers in other countries.
17. Listen for dangerous words. 18. Be calm when the unthinkable arrives. 19. Be a patriot. 20. Be as courageous as you can.
Historian Timothy Snyder wrote ON TYRANNY after Trump's election in 2016. INCO encourages you to read this brief important book.
The GOP's Project 2025 is the game plan for Trump tyranny.
INCO INSIGHTS “He made harmony and banished gravity for a living. He never stopped insisting on delight.” --- unsigned obituary of Adolph Green, American lyricist and playwright, The New Yorker, November 4, 2002
Indivisible defends democracy by opposing authoritarianism, bigotry, and corruption. Comments, news, and photos to INCO at incoregon@gmail.com. Resources and other information at www.incoregon.org and www.indivisible.org. Encourage others to sign up for the INCO newsletter here. Look for the INCO column in Hipfish Monthly. We're on Facebook, too. INCO Weekly Newsletter • December 30, 2024