Page 1, OPS, Jan-Feb 2013

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Annual Prayer Breakfast

7 am, Monday

January 21st

Midwest City Three 10-minute Speakers:

(Batch is one of them)

See Poster: Page 6

Amy Goodman: “Now The Work Begins” P. 3

Obama: Smallest Government Spender! P. 4

Israel & Iran: “A Love Story” P. 5

Human Rights Alliance Award Recipients P. 7

OK Center for Conscience EVENT, Jan 13th P. 8

Fracking linked to Earthquakes, Water Issues P. 9

Citizens Climate Lobby Forms in OKC P. 14

Inside this issue:

“Peace is not jus t the

absence of v io lence,

but the presence

of jus t ice .”

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Jan-Feb 2013 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!

Non-profit

U.S. Postage Paid Okla. City, OK

73125 Permit No. 1096

US Air Force Veteran Brought Home by

Local Interfaith & Community Organizations

by Adam Soltani

Executive Director CAIR-Oklahoma

After six months of attempting to return to his

hometown of McAlester, Oklahoma, Muslim

U.S. Air Force veteran Saadiq Long finally ar-

rived home on November 19, 2012.

Mr. Long moved to the Middle East in 2000

to teach English, but maintained his US citizen-

ship and close ties with his Oklahoma family. In

April 2012 he attempted to return to Oklahoma to

visit his terminally-ill mother. He was blocked by

authorities who said he was not allowed to board

the flight as his name appeared on a “no fly” list.

He sought help and answers from the U.S. Em-

bassy in Qatar, as well as the Department of

Homeland Security, but received none.

Long’s plight came to the attention of the

Oklahoma chapter of Council on American Is-

lamic Relations (CAIR) in August, at which point

CAIR-OK worked closely with his family and

friends to get Long’s name removed from the “no

-fly” list and ensure his safe trip home in time for

the holidays.

A news conference held on November 5,

2012, launched Oklahoma City’s campaign to get

Saadiq Long home. CAIR-Oklahoma, the Okla-

homa Peace House, and the Oklahoma Confer-

ence of churches came together to call for Long’s

return to his own country so that he could spend

one last holiday season with his ailing mother.

This coalition said with one voice, that Long,

as a U.S. citizen, should not be denied the right to

return to his own country without reason or justi-

fication. Also stressed was the humanitarian con-

cern that Long be able to visit his mother in her

frail state before the opportunity was gone.

In addition to legal representation and media

appearances, CAIR Oklahoma with the aide of

the Oklahoma Peace House helped circulate an

online petition started by Long’s sister, Ava

Anderson, asking FBI and the Department of

Homeland Security to permit Long to fly home.

The petition garnered over 7,000 signatures in a

matter of days.

As a result, Long was permitted to fly home

for the holidays (see SUCCESS story on page 8

this issue!) Special thanks to the Oklahoma Con-

ference of Churches and Oklahoma Peace House

for their support in seeking the return of Saadiq

Long to his hometown. /////

(See UPDATE: SUCCESS! Page 8)

Speaking at the news conference were (from left) OK

Conference of Churches Executive Director Bill Tab-

bernee, CAIR Director Adam Soltani, and Peace

House Director Nathaniel Batchelder

Page 2, OPS, Jan-Feb 2013

CO

MM

EN

TA

RY

Oklahoma Peace Strategy News is produced by The Peace House in Oklahoma City. It has been published since 1983. It is written, compiled, typeset, composed, labeled, and mailed by volunteers. Letters to the Editor and articles submitted for publication are welcome. They must be signed with a phone number and ad-dress for the author; however, requests for anonymous publi-cation will be considered. OPS News reserves the right to edit for space and to refuse publica-tion of statements that are libel-ous or unsubstantiated. Send to: The Peace House 2912 N. Robinson Okla. City, OK 73103

Or to phwebmail@cox.net Phone: 405-524-5577

Peace Education Institute 11404 N. Midwest Blvd.

Jones, OK 73049 405-204-6479

by Nathaniel Batchelder

How has America become a nation with 440 billionaires

politically concerned mostly with tax cuts allowing them to

keep or increase their wealth? Whatever happened to valu-

ing the public good and social responsibility, the principle

that all of us, especially the most favored, should contribute

to a society supporting every person’s possibilities for edu-

cation, economic opportunity, reasonable access to some

kind of health care, a better life for themselves and their

families?

Corporate executives once were proud that their enterprises

not only produced goods and services, but also provided

jobs and wages for employees. Today, it seems, our eco-

nomic system considers labor a commodity to be purchased

at the lowest price. “Why pay $8 an hour if someone will

work for $6?”

That principle has produced billionaires in a system where

corporations benefit by moving production to nations where

labor is unprotected, and where workers often toil for $5 a

day or less. And whereas corporate CEOs once averaged

salaries equal to 60 times what their hourly workers made,

today’s CEOs commonly earn 300, 400, or 500 times what

hourly workers take home.

How has conservatism come to mean dismantling regula-

tions protecting workers; compromising regulation of bank-

ing and finance that prohibits casino risk-taking with other

people’s money; reversing the modest regulations suggest-

ing that corporations should be responsible for hazardous

wastes and pollution they generate? Should not corpora-

tions be as responsible as citizens to obey laws regulating

pollution and wastes? Today’s conservative perspective

seems to be that any regulations affecting profits should be

eliminated.

There will always be people more wealthy and others less

wealthy. But what America has experienced over the past

30 years is concentration of fabulous wealth at the top,

while income, wealth and job opportunities for the majority

have diminished. There is no economic future in

this. Henry Ford knew that workers need income in order to

buy the products they make. Many see truth in the assertion

of the Occupy Wall Street movement, that today’s economic

system pits the interests of the 1% against the 99%. We

should all be in this together.

President Obama campaigned for reelection on the promise

to rebuild America’s middle class and ask the wealthiest to

contribute a little more toward America’s fiscal chal-

lenges. Billionaires including Warren Buffet agreed, saying

that it is unfair for their tax rates to be lower than those of

their secretaries. Obama’s simple challenge to Congress

after the elections to pass legislation insuring no tax in-

crease on income under $250,000 was a step in that direc-

tion. He said this would protect 98% of Americans from a

tax increase, but of course it protects the first $250,000 of

higher incomes as well. Conservatives have just said

no. Their refusal to support such legislation has revealed

conservative commitment to protecting the income and

wealth of the top 2%, regardless the consequences.

Oklahoma receives more from the federal government than

we pay in taxes, something like $1.26 for every dollar Soon-

ers pay to the IRS. Federal dollars build our highways and

support our military bases. Federal dollars bolster Okla-

homa City’s miracle reconstruction financed largely by our

sales tax revenues. It’s time for Oklahomans to acknowl-

edge the benefits we receive from the taxes we pay, and stop

vilifying everything government does as a waste of money.

Peace and Onward, - - - - - Batch

Nathaniel Batchelder at The Peace House in Oklahoma City

www.PeaceHouseOK.org.

America’s Values Must Change

HOPE is in the WIND: The Keystone

XL Pipeline and More About Coal

Bill McKibben was interviewed on NPR recently updating

listeners on progress of the organization 350.org that he

founded to educate and advocate on climate change is-

sues. McKibben said citizen action is affecting popular

views on global warming that can be the basis for policy

changes and changes in individual actions.

A new national survey reveals that a whopping 70% of

Americans believe global warming is very real, a substantial

surge over the past two years. Meanwhile the numbers of

Americans denying the threat of climate change has declined

to a relatively few 12%.

More importantly, a Yale-George Mason analysis said

that 54% of Americans believe global warming is caused

mostly by human activities! Only 30% still contend it is

caused mostly by natural causes. 72% of Americans think

global warming should be a priority for the President and

Congress. 70% say more should be done by corporations and

industry.

McKibben remains clear that stopping the Keystone XL

Pipeline is a key issue citizens should take action on. Build-

ing the pipeline would be a huge commitment to decades of

developing polluting and carbon-intensive fuels, making it

nearly impossible to reach goals of reducing CO2 produc-

tion. The President and Congress should hear from us.

See related news about the Oklahoma Sierra Club’s Beyond

Coal Oklahoma initiative on page 6 and contact info for our

elected officials on Alerts Page 5. /////

Page 3, OPS, Jan-Feb 2013

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!

Tear and remove

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

Editor’s note: It was pressure from grass-roots activists protesting in front of

the White House that pushed Obama to delay a decision on the controversial Key-

stone XL pipeline, proposed to run from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. More than

1,200 people were arrested at a series of protests at the White House one year

ago. Now a group is blocking the construction of the southern leg of that pipeline,

risking arrest and even injury, with direct-action blockades in tree-sits and tri-

pods in Winnsboro, Texas, two hours east of Dallas.

When those who are used to having the president’s ear whisper their demands

to him in the Oval Office, if he can’t point out the window and say, “If I do as you

ask, they will storm the Bastille,” if there is no one out there, then he is in big

trouble.—N. Batchelder

The election is over, and President Barack Obama

will continue as the 44th president of the United

States. There will be much attention paid by the pun-

dit class to the mechanics of the campaigns, to the

techniques of micro-targeting potential voters, the

effectiveness of get-out-the-vote efforts. The media

analysts will fill the hours on the cable news net-

works, proffering post-election chestnuts about the

accuracy of polls, or about either candidate’s success with one demo-

graphic or another. Missed by the mainstream media, but churning at the

heart of our democracy, are social movements, movements without which

President Obama would not have been re-elected.

President Obama is a former community organizer himself. What hap-

pens when the community organizer in chief becomes the commander in

chief? Who does the community organizing then? Interestingly, he offered

a suggestion when speaking at a small New Jersey campaign event when

he was first running for president. Someone asked him what he would do

about the Middle East. He answered with a story about the legendary 20th-

century organizer A. Philip Randolph meeting with President Franklin De-

lano Roosevelt. Randolph described to FDR the condition of black people

in America, the condition of working people. Reportedly, FDR listened

intently, then replied: “I agree with everything you have said. Now, make

me do it.” That was the message Obama repeated.

There you have it. Make him do it. You’ve got an invitation from the

president himself.

For years during the Bush administration, people felt they were hitting

their heads against a brick wall. With the first election of President Obama,

the wall had become a door, but it was only open a crack. The question

was, Would it be kicked open or slammed shut? That is not up to the one in

the White House, no matter how powerful. That is the work of movements.

Ben Jealous is a serious organizer with a long list of accomplishments,

and a longer list of things to get done, as the president and CEO of the Na-

tional Association for the Advancement of Colored People. 2013, he notes,

is a year of significant anniversaries, among them the 150th anniversary of

President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, the 50th anni-

versary of the 1963 March on Washington, as well as the 50th anniversa-

ries of the assassination of Medgar Evers and the Birmingham, Ala.,

church bombing that killed four young African-American girls. President

Obama’s 2013 Inauguration will occur on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Jealous told me on election night, as Mitt Romney was about to give his

concession speech, “We have to stay in movement mode."

Young immigrants are doing just that. Undocumented students, getting

arrested in sit-ins in politicians’ offices, are the modern-day civil-rights

movement. There are other vibrant movements as well, like Occupy Wall

Street, like the fight for marriage equality, which won four out of four

statewide initiatives on Election Day. In the aftermath of Superstorm

Sandy, and despite the enormous resources expended by the fossil-fuel in-

dustry to cloud the issue, climate change and what to do about it is now

(see “Now the work of movements” continued, page 7)

Now the Work of Movements Begins

Source: Common Dreams: URL: www.commondreams.org/view/2012/11/08-9

By Amy Goodman

Amy Goodman

Page 4, OPS, Jan-Feb 2013

Who Is The Smallest Gov-ernment Spender Since Ei-senhower? Would You Believe It’s

Barack Obama? - Forbes Magazine

It’s enough to make even the most ardent Obama cynic scratch his head

in confusion.

Amidst all the cries of Barack Obama being the most prolific big gov-

ernment spender the nation has ever suffered, MarketWatch is reporting

that our president has actually been tighter with a buck than any United

States president since Dwight D. Eisenhower (http://articles.marketwatch.com/2012-05-

22/commentary/31802270_1_spending-federal-budget-drunken-sailor)

Who knew? . . . . . . . . . Check out the chart –

So, how have the Republicans managed to persuade Americans to buy

into the whole “Obama as big spender” narrative?

It might have something to do with the first year of the Obama presi-

dency where the federal budget increased a whopping 17.9% - going from

$2.98 trillion to $3.52 trillion. I’ll bet you think that this is the result of the

Obama-sponsored stimulus plan so frequently vilified by conservatives…

but you would be wrong.

The first year of any incoming president term is saddled—for better or

for worse—with the budget set by the president who immediately precedes

the new occupant of the White House. Indeed, not only was the 2009

budget the property of George W. Bush—passed by the 2008 Congress—

that budget was in effect four months before Barack Obama took office.

The budgets that can be blamed on our current president began in 2010

with the budgets including and running through fiscal year 2013.

So, how do the actual Obama annual budgets look?

Courtesy of MarketWatch:

In fiscal 2010 (the first Obama budget) spending fell 1.8% to $3.46

trillion.

In fiscal 2011, spending rose 4.3% to $3.60 trillion.

In fiscal 2012, spending is set to rise 0.7% to $3.63 trillion, according

to the Congressional Budget Office’s estimate of the budget that was

agreed to last August.

Finally in fiscal 2013 — the final budget of Obama’s term — spending

is scheduled to fall 1.3% to $3.58 trillion. You can read it in the CBO’s

latest budget outlook (http://www.cbo.gov/publication/42905)

No doubt, many will wish to give the credit to the efforts of the GOP

controlled House of Representatives. That’s fine if that’s what works for

you.

However, you don’t get to have it both ways. Credit whom you will.

But if you are truly interested in a fair analysis of the Obama years to

date—at least when it comes to spending—you’re going to have to ac-

knowledge that under the Obama administration, even President Reagan

would have to give our current president a thumbs up when it comes to his

record for stretching a dollar.

Of course, the Heritage Foundation is having none of it, attempting to

counter the actual numbers by pretending that the spending initiated during

the Bush Administration is the fault of Obama. As I understand the argu-

ment Heritage is putting forth —and I have provided the link to the Heri-

tage rebuttal (http://blog.heritage.org/2012/05/24/setting-obamas-great-

fiscal-restraint-record-straight/) so you can decide for yourself— Obama is

to be held accountable for the budget he inherited when he took office.

Consider, however, that the Heritage Foundation was the creator of the

individual mandate concept for healthcare, demanding that every individ-

ual be covered either by private or public insurance. When that principle

was adopted in Obama’s Affordable Health Care Act, the Heritage Foun-

dation and conservatives reversed themselves and called this an oppressive

socialist demand “of Obamacare”. So, I’m not quite sure why anyone be-

lieves much of anything the Heritage Foundation has to say any longer.

Richard "Rick" Ungar (born in Youngstown, Ohio in 1950) is a contribu-

tor to Forbes.com and the Washington Monthly where he writes on Ameri-

can health care policy and politics.

Tear and remove

Support The Peace Education Institute

The Peace Education Institute is committed to edu-

cational and practical opportunities for people to

explore nonviolent living options. We need your

support.

Send your contributions to:

The Peace Education Institute

11404 N. Midwest Blvd.

Jones, OK 73049

Contributions to “PEI” ARE tax-deductible.

Page 5, OPS, Jan-Feb 2013

Contact Elected Officials:

The White House

Washington, DC 20500

202-456-1111 (comments) 202-456-1414 (switchboard) FAX: 202-456-2461

Congressional Switchboard

(202) 224-3121

(202) 225-3121

Mail: US Senate

US Senate

Washington, DC 20510

Mail: (Name of Rep.) US House of Representatives

Washington, DC 20515

Senator Tom Coburn (OK) DC Tel: (202) 224-5754

DC Fax: (202) 224-6008

OKC Ofc: (405) 231-4941

Tulsa Ofc: (918) 581-7651

Senator Jim Inhofe (OK) DC Tel: (202) 224-4721

DC Fax: (202) 228-0380

OKC Ofc: (405) 608-4381

Tulsa Ofc: (918) 748-5111

U.S. Representatives (OK) Dist 1: John Sullivan (Tul) DC Tel: (202) 225-2211

DC Fax: (202) 225-9187

Tulsa ofc: (918) 749-0014

Dist 2: Dan Boren (Musk) DC Tel: (202) 225-2701

DC Fax: (202) 225-3038

Muskogee: (918) 687-2533

Dist 3: Frank Lucas (W. OKC) DC Tel: (202) 225-5565

DC Fax: (202) 225-8698

OKC Ofc: (405) 373-1958

Dist 4: Tom Cole (Nrm & S.) DC Tel: (202) 225-6165

DC Fax: (202) 225-3512

Norman Ofc: (405) 329-6500

Dist 5: James Lankford (OKC) DC Tel: (202) 225-2132

DC Fax: (202) 226-1463

OKC Ofc: (405) 234-9900

Contact one or more of them

today!

(from CNN) -- One Israeli man’s

vision of communicating a peace

message to Iranians on Facebook

has become an international phe-

nomenon.

It is not possible to dial an Iranian

number from an Israeli telephone. It

is illegal. That is why Ronny Edry,

an Israeli graphic designer based in

Tel Aviv, decided to get his peace

message across to the people of Iran

on Facebook

"I was trying

to reach people

on the other

side. There is all

this talk about

war, and I

wanted to say

the simple

words that this

war idea is

crazy," said

Edry.

Using his graphic design skills and

his wife's help he plastered words of

peace over pictures of himself, his

wife, his friends and his neighbors.

He then posted them on the Face-

book page of Pushpin Mehina, his

small design school, with a resound-

ing message: “IRANIANS: we will

never bomb your country. We

*Heart* You.” (see poster at right).

The response was overwhelming,

as Edry recounted in a moving 15-

minute TED talk (the Youtube video

has gone viral).

Edry says, "In just a few hours, I

had hundreds of shares and thou-

sands of likes and it was like some-

thing was happening. I think it's

amazing that someone from Iran

‘poked’ me

and said

'Hello, I'm

from Iran, I

saw your

poster on

Facebook,' "

He said, "I

never spoke

to an Iranian

in my life. I

woke up my

wife and said, 'There is someone on

Facebook from Iran!’” We cried.

He posted his designs for anyone

to take and plaster over their own

photos. The photos and posts have

been flooding the page.

Edry says he started the campaign

to get past the harsh words and talk

directly to Iranians to see whether

there really was anything to fight

about.

Now thousands from many coun-

tries are posting similar posters and

photos of themselves, expressing

love and hopes for peace.

(The story continues to grow, even

after 9 months. You can see the

amazing 15-minute TED video at

the YouTube site below)

“Israel and Iran: A Love Story” Youtube Video Goes Globally Viral

You can find Edry’s TED talk ,with many of the amazing posters from around the world, on YouTube at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Lp-NMaU0r8 (or search Youtube for “Israel and Iran A Love Story”)

I like to believe that people in the

long run are going to do more to

promote peace than our govern-

ments. Indeed, I think that people

want peace so much that one of

these days governments had better

get out of the way and let them have

it. Pres. Dwight D Eisenhower

Ask the President and Congress to do something about cam-

paign finance reform!

The recent election was the most expensive in history. According to Steven

Schwinn, not only did it cost a stupefying $6 billion, but also approximately one of

every six dollars came from outside groups, many of which claimed — not surprisingly

— to be “independent.”

This issue might be the most difficult of all to address, thanks in part to the Supreme

Court, which infamously ruled in Citizens United v. FEC that restrictions on corporate political spending

amounted to a violation of free speech.

In a word, the Supreme Court said corporations are just folks … which is absurd, because corporations do not

die natural deaths, are legally mandated only to maximize profits for stockholders, and have only corporate inter-

ests at stake, not the more human interests of compassion, mortality, and social conscience. However, there are

things to be done: public financing could be tied to a candidates’ small donations; campaign contributions could

be more effectively limited; and, most importantly, disclosure and disclaimer requirements could be required,

allowing everyone to see who really is behind the candidate and the “independent” groups. (Read more at http://

www.care2.com/causes/3-risky-issues-for-obama-to-tackle-in-his-second-term-besides-gun-control.html#ixzz2GgrwYipb)

Page 6, OPS, Jan-Feb 2013

“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

Beyond Coal Oklahoma Oklahoma at an energy crossroads

- from the Sierra Club

In a strong move for our health and environment, the EPA has taken

the lead in cutting pollution from three of Oklahoma's oldest and dirtiest

coal plants.

The EPA's final plan for reducing regional haze tells these plants

enough is enough! It gives big polluters a choice: install new scrubber

technology to limit emissions or retire their coal plants and convert to

cleaner energy sources. This is a big step in stopping the pollution that is

harming our communities and getting off coal entirely by transitioning to

cheaper, cleaner energy alternatives like wind, solar, and energy effi-

ciency. The good news is that AEP-PSO has made the decision to retire

their only coal plant in Oklahoma on a reasonable timeline, but, unfortu-

nately, OG&E is fighting the EPA's plan in court!

Now is the time to show that we support investments in clean energy

that will create new jobs, clean up our air and water, and protect the

health of our communities rather than extending the life of these outdated

coal plants!

Why moving beyond coal is necessary

Coal is a dirty and outdated. Coal is the energy source of the past, and

here in Oklahoma we can do better. We have the potential to be a leader

in a clean energy economy by utilizing all our clean, homegrown energy

sources, like wind, solar and geothermal, and by implementing the cheap-

est source of power, energy efficiency, across the state.

The Oklahoma Beyond Coal Campaign will not only ensure that no

new coal plants or plant expansions will be allowed in this state, but will

also focus on the need to phase out older existing coal plants to protect

the health and safety of our citizens. Too many communities in Okla-

homa are burdened by the adverse impacts of coal.

Whether it is coal's air pollution from the facilities that cause asthma and

heart disease or the coal ash waste that contaminates air and water with

cancer causing heavy metals, enough is enough. Oklahomans deserve

better.

Page 7, OPS, Jan-Feb 2013

Public Event: January 13th See AD next page.

Education/Outreach on Conscience and Military

Legal Services for Conscientious Objectors

Counter recruitment/peace education tools

504 NE 15th St., OKC 73104 Phone 405.598.7362

centerforconscience.org

Vision and Action for Ending War

Now the Work of Movements…(Continued from page 3)

a topic that President Obama hints he will address, saying, in his

victory address in election night, “Democracy in a nation of 300

million can be noisy and messy and complicated. ... We want our

children to live in an America that isn’t burdened by debt, that isn’t

weakened by inequality, that isn’t threatened by the destructive

power of a warming planet.”

It was pressure from grass-roots activists protesting in front of

the White House that pushed Obama to delay a decision on the con-

troversial Keystone XL pipeline, proposed to run from Canada to

the Gulf of Mexico. More than 1,200 people were arrested at a se-

ries of protests at the White House one year ago. Now a group is

blocking the construction of the southern leg of that pipeline, risk-

ing arrest and even injury, with direct-action blockades in tree-sits

and tripods in Winnsboro, Texas, two hours east of Dallas.

When the powerful who are used to having the president’s ear

express their demands to him in the Oval Office, he needs to be

able to point to demonstrations and say, “If I do as you ask, they

will storm the Bastille.” If there is no one doing anything, then he

is alone. That’s the value of citizen action in all its forms.

The president of the United States is the most powerful person

on Earth. But there is a force more powerful: People organized

around this country, fighting for a more just, sustainable world.

The elections are over. Now the real work begins. * * * *

© 2012 Amy Goodman

Amy Goodman is the host of “Democracy Now!” - a daily interna-

tional TV/radio news hour airing on 1,100 stations in North America. She

was awarded the 2008 Right Livelihood Award, dubbed the “Alternative

Nobel” prize, and received the award in the Swedish Parliament in De-

cember.

Candle-Lighting Celebration

of

Winter Solstice, Dec. 21, 2012 A wonderful Winter Solstice Celebration was

celebrated at Church of the Open Arms, in solidarity

with millions around the world marking the date -- not

the end of the world -- but the beginning of an era of

new human consciousness.

We celebrated every spiritual path that leads to more

compassion, love and justice for all, lighting 100 can-

dles to call in the changes needed in our living patterns

to create a healthy balance between humanity, the earth,

and all earth’s inhabitants.

The time is now to honor each other and each

other’s paths to a better world.

Keeping hope alive, we claim a new future for the

world, learning the lessons of our recent and ancient

past.

Human Rights Award Recipients — The new Oklahoma Uni-

versal Human Rights Alli-

ance, founded because Gov-

ernor Mary Fallin abolished

the State Human Rights

Commission, held its first

Human Rights Action

Awards event, December

10th, at the State Capitol.

Below, HRA Chair Wallace

Collins presents an award to

Father Paul Zahler for his

years of work with people

with disabilities.

Above, from left: Wallace Collins-Human Rights Alliance

Chair. Father Paul Zahler, for work with people with disabili-

ties in more than 40 countries. Christine Byrd, for advocacy for

civil and human rights. Hodrick Steele, for work with Coalition

of Civic Leadership and church activism. Michael Korenblit,

founder of Respect Diversity Foundation, for tireless education

for universal human rights and dignity in Oklahoma. Clyde

Snow, for human rights forensic work after massacres in Guate-

mala and for the United Nations in many nations. Roosevelt

Milton, for a lifetime of civil rights work with NAACP. Joan

Korenblit, Respect Diversity Foundation co-founder. David

Puente, for work in Hispanic rights with LULAC. Bill Bryant,

for United Nations advocacy and its international work for hu-

man rights.

Following the awards pres-

entations, lunch was served

in the Rotunda, compliments

of Tim Wagner and Cocina

de Mino reswtaurant.

Page 8, OPS, Jan-Feb 2013

Oklahoma Center for Conscience and Peace Research Oklahoma’s War Resisters League chapter

Invites you to our

Open House FundraiserOpen House FundraiserOpen House Fundraiser celebrating the 60th birthday of

OCCPR Executive Director Rena Guay

Sunday, Jan. 13, 12:30 - 4 pm* Joy Mennonite Church, 504 NE 16th St., OKC

Refreshments provided. Come learn about OCCPR’s important work providing legal support for war resisters, educating about militarism, and countering military recruitment. If you can’t attend the event, but want to donate to OCCPR in Rena’s name, please mail check to 504 NE 16th, OKC 73104. Thank you!

FMI, call 771-4743 Weather delay date: Jan. 27

(Follow Up on Page One Story)

UPDATE: SUCCESS! American Muslim cleared

to fly home to McAles-

ter

Saadiq Long is a US

Air Force veteran from

McAlester, OK, who

converted to Islam

years ago and moved to

the Middle East to

teach English. Now liv-

ing in Qatar, Mr. Long

booked a flight home to be with his ailing mother

over the holidays.

Long was blocked from boarding the plane to the

US and told he was on a "No Fly" list. Thus began

efforts seeking relief and removal of his "No Fly"

status. During the process, he booked another flight

each week, hoping that he would be allowed to fly.

The national organization CAIR (Council on

American-Islamic Relations) took up his case, mak-

ing formal inquiries to Secretary of State Hillary

Clinton and other agencies possibly involved.

In Oklahoma City, Adam Soltani, Executive Di-

rector of CAIR of Oklahoma organized a news con-

ference on Monday, Nov. 5th, presenting an attrac-

tive picture of Saadiq Long as a good US citizen for

whom others would speak, and expressing hopes

that media visibility might help the case. Joining

Soltani at the news conference and speaking were

Rev. William Tabbernee, Executive Director of the

Oklahoma Conference of Churches and Nathaniel

Batchelder, Director of the Peace House in Okla-

homa City.

Saadiq Long arrived at Will Rogers airport at 5

pm, Monday, Nov. 19, and has joined his family in

McAlester.

Good job in a humanitarian

effort, CAIR!!

newsok story. photo. tv news clip.

http://newsok.com/american-muslim-allowed-

boarding-passes-on-third-attempt-to-fly-to-

oklahoma/article/3729998?

Summary by Nathaniel Batchelder

Saadiq Long

The Use of Drones is Military Madness

According to credible military leaders,

analysts and policy-makers, assassination

by drones violates US and international

law.

The US has used drones to kill thousands

of people in Afghanistaqn, Iraq, Pakistan,

Yemen, and Somalia. Many hundreds of

the dead were civilians killed as “collateral

damage”. Drone attacks inspire incalcula-

ble resentments against the US. Can you

imagine drone attacks against the US?

Drones used for domestic surveillance of

US citizens potentially threaten our rights

to privacy and constitutionally-guaranteed

rights to equal protection, due process,

freedom of association and assembly, and

protection from unreasonable search and

seizure.

Nuclear Weapons: Israel &

Iran. Who’s the bigger threat?

Israel Iran

Number of Estimated

nuclear weapons 100-600 0

Signed Nuclear

Nonproliferation

Treaty? NO YES

Allows nuclear

inspections by the

UN International

Atomic Energy

Agency NO YES

IAEA inspectors and Israeli intelligence

officials agree “Iran is not developing

nuclear weapons.” No weapons, No war!!

Page 9, OPS, Jan-Feb 2013

Democracy done digitally NN EWEW MM EDIAEDIA

Web Sites - design, hosting, administration

Print and digital publication production

Publicity and online marketing

Specializing in nonprofit/grassroots groups

Rena Guay NewMediaActive.com

PROUD

TO BE

UNION

Updated: 12/04/2012

By Bruce Finley, The Denver Post - denverpost.com

The increasingly common practice of disposing of oil and gas drilling

wastewater by injecting it underground can trigger earthquakes, according

to federal scientists who studied quakes since 1970 in Colorado and

neighboring states.

Colorado authorities on Monday said they are aware of concerns about

the earthquakes but questioned the U.S. Geological Survey study, saying

more research needs to be done. Nonetheless, Colorado officials have been

reviewing company permits to assess seismic risk since a 5.3-magnitude

earthquake near Trinidad last year.

Some 330 fracking wastewater disposal wells have been drilled around

Colorado. Drilling companies inject huge volumes of the brine water and

chemical waste generated by hydraulic fracturing.

"This is a societal risk you need to be considering," said U.S. Geologi-

cal Survey scientist Justin Rubinstein, co-author of a report to be presented

this week at an American Geophysical Union gathering.

A USGS team based in Menlo Park, Calif., found that the quake in

Colorado and a damaging 5.6-magnitude quake in Oklahoma both were

induced by disposal of fracking waste underground.

The team focused on the Raton Basin of northern New Mexico and

southern Colorado where, from 1970 until 2001, five quakes of magnitude

3 or higher were recorded. They counted 95 quakes of that magnitude be-

tween 2001 and 2011, and concluded that oil and gas operations caused the

majority, if not all, of the quakes since 2001.

While the evidence is convincing that deep burial of drilling waste can

trigger quakes, it also appears that few of the 40,000 disposal wells nation-

wide have done so, Rubinstein said.

"But I don't think blowing this off is a good idea," he said. "It's a prob-

lem we need to understand. There's been millions of dollars of damage. If

you trigger bigger earthquakes, there's a possibility of worse outcomes."

Burying fracking waste is becoming more common as the natural gas

industry expands. And it has been considered a more environmentally

friendly practice than dumping it in rivers.

Colorado's Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, the body charged

with simultaneously regulating and promoting the industry, asked state ge-

ologists last year to review all permits for new disposal wells to assess

earthquake risk, Colorado Geologic Survey chief Vince Matthews said.

Of the 330 or so disposal wells, 35 have been analyzed. Geologists

recommended that COGCC tell some operators that, if any small quakes

are detected, the operators should pay close attention and install additional

seismic sensors, Matthews said.

State criteria include whether quakes have happened before near a well,

fault lines in the area and the direction of cracks in rock.

The federal scientists may be jumping to conclusions, Matthews said.

Companies including Texas-based Pioneer Natural Resources are using

seismometers in wells to gather data for the state that is more precise than

the federal data the USGS scientists used, he said.

"I don't think they're nuts. I just think it is premature," he said. "We're

gathering data that is going to help us understand what is going on down

there."

The USGS study went through an internal administrative review before

this week's unveiling. No peer review has been done.

Federal scientists discovered

that most quakes this past decade

were located within 3 miles of ac-

tive disposal wells. They noted that

wells contained exceptionally large

volumes of wastewater.

The Colorado quake in August

2011, for instance, followed injec-

tion of 4.9 million cubic meters of

wastewater, more than seven times

as much as was injected in Denver

at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal in

the 1960s — a classic case of earth-

quakes induced by industrial activ-

ity.

State officials charged with

overseeing the oil and gas industry

"haven't done their own, independent research on this. If they can demon-

strate that we are incorrect, we're happy to have that conversation," Rubin-

stein said. "At the moment, we're the only people who have done this

work, and our evidence is pretty conclusive."

FILE -- Crews work on a well, for Anadarko

Petroleum Corporation, using a technique,

Tuesday, April 12, 2011, called hydro-

fracking to release oil from shale formations

deep in the earth at a well near Franktown.

Fracking - Earthquakes and Other Problems, USGS Reports

Oklahoma City Office of

Sustainability

The Office of Sustainability is responsible for enhancing the City’s

energy efficiency efforts and promoting sustainability throughout the or-ganization and the community.

The office coordinates energy efficiency upgrades and provides tech-nical recommendations, sustainability planning and outreach services to City Departments and the public. The purpose of the office is to integrate sustainability principles into decision making for improved economic, en-vironmental and social health.

Sign up for the Office of Sustainability monthly mailing list! Visit their website and enter your name and email address to stay updated on the City’s sustainability efforts and upcoming events.

www.okc.gov/sustain/

Page 10, OPS, Jan-Feb 2013

Okay, we can all breathe a sigh of relief.

There’s no doubt that a Mitt Romney presidency

would have been a disaster for America. An

America under Romney would have been less

secure, less safe, dirtier, more unjust, more un-

equal and downright meaner.

But by the time you finish this email, I hope

you’ll be ready to move past relief and double

down on all the work we have in front of us.

President Obama’s re-election offers us some im-

portant and time-critical opportunities.

The new political landscape — fundamentally the

same as what we faced before the election — also

presents many perils. Congressional Republicans

and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have shown

their ability to set the policy agenda even with

Obama in the White House. And the Obama ad-

ministration itself represents conflicting tenden-

cies, too often more responsive to Big Business

than the public interest.

Whether we can capitalize on the compelling op-

portunities and navigate the grave threats we face

depends on the same thing: the extent to which

we mobilize together.

Nothing good, and lots of bad things, will hap-

pen if we sit on our hands. But if we organize,

we can stop Big Business and its political allies

from driving forward a dangerous, anti-

democratic agenda — and win some extraor-

dinary victories.

Simply put, Obama’s victory alone is not enough.

We — me, you and every public citizen nation-

wide — have a duty to fight plutocracy. Where

Obama needs to be pushed, we will do the push-

ing; where he needs support, we will provide it.

SOME THOUGHTS ON THE PRESIDEN-

TIAL CAMPAIGN

It is absolutely true, as the conservative punditoc-

racy is now screaming, that Mitt Romney was a

very poor candidate. He did not connect with

regular people, he wasn’t able to capitalize on

high unemployment and a very weak economy,

and he made a lot of stupid statements (even if

they arguably reflected his true thoughts and atti-

tudes).

Perhaps more importantly, Romney ran what

must be one of the most cynical presidential cam-

paigns in U.S. history. His extraordinary trans-

mutation from a moderate Republican governor

to “severe conservative” and back in the last

weeks of the campaign to a moderate has no re-

cent precedent. His refusal to explain the details

of his single top policy initiative — a massive tax

cut allegedly to be offset by unspecified savings

— echoes nothing so much as Richard Nixon’s

secret plan to end the war in Vietnam. His posi-

tions on immigration, Medicare, Obamacare (née

Romneycare), the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan,

and more flip-flopped so dramatically as to make

most politicians look clockwork consistent.

President Obama, by contrast, ran a disciplined

and focused campaign. The Obama campaign

defined Romney as an out-of-touch plutocrat.

They effectively attacked Romney for proposing

a resuscitation of the Bush administration

agenda: tax cuts for the rich and deregulation.

However, as was widely noted, President Obama

did not offer a bold vision for what he hoped to

do in his next four years. He did not offer a

Green New Deal to put Americans back to work

by retrofitting buildings and installing other en-

ergy efficiency technologies. He did not talk

about fixing the broken campaign finance system,

even as we watched the super-wealthy and giant

corporations try to buy the very election in which

he was running.

The president was almost completely silent

on what is quite likely the most pressing issue of

our time: accelerating, catastrophic climate

change. And he intimated that he’s willing to cut

a deal with Republicans to scale back Medicare

and Social Security.

So, we have to look at the next four years with

clear eyes.

At the same time, we have to remember that the

president’s campaign succeeded precisely be-

cause of its progressive strain (as well as his very

strong organizational structure and other factors).

He won because he defended the more progres-

sive initiatives of his first term, such as Dodd-

Frank Wall Street reform. He won because he

attacked Romney’s proposals for favoring the

rich and worsening inequality. He won by criti-

cizing Romney for exporting jobs. He won be-

cause he talked about a society in which we

should all take care of each other, rather than one

in which we’re all on our own.

The course of the second-term Obama admini-

stration is not set. How progressive it turns out

to be will depend precisely on how much we

make it be progressive.

THE MONEY ELECTION AND VOTER

SUPPRESSION

Of course, there’s no way to analyze the 2012

election without highlighting the impact of Big

Money, especially the $1 billion channeled

through outside groups by giant corporations and

the hyper-rich.

At Public Citizen, we’ve talked a lot over the past

year about the impact of the Supreme Court’s

supremely misguided Citizens United ruling. As I

outlined a few days ago, all of our worst fears

have come to pass. Corporations and the mega-

wealthy spent vast amounts of money on the

election. Hundreds of millions were funneled

through organizations that don’t disclose their

donors. We endured an onslaught of negative at-

tack ads. A very tiny number of the super-rich

had an outlandish, outsized impact. And much

more.

On this score, it’s very important that no one be

fooled by the results of the election. Yes, the out-

side groups empowered by Citizens United spent

most of their money on Republicans, and, this

time, they lost more than they won. They did win

a lot — House races, some Senate races, state and

local races. Karl Rove, the U.S. Chamber of

Commerce and others of the Republican-

supporting outside spenders will argue — and

they will be right – that last night’s results would

have been more favorable to Democrats but for

their spending. (Continued, page 11)

Public Citizen’s Election Analysis ... and Next Steps

by Robert Weissman (PublicCitizen.org)

Page 11, OPS, Jan-Feb 2013

Even more fundamentally, all politics now occur against the backdrop

of Citizens United. That means that, on every single issue that matters to

them, corporations and the super-wealthy have more power and influence

than they did just a few years ago.

If you have even a rough sense of how Citizens United reshaped the elec-

tion landscape in 2012, then you know that no politician can escape the

dark shadow cast by that horrific decision.

There was some very good money-and-politics news.

Voters in Colorado and Montana, by 3-to-1 margins, passed statewide bal-

lot measures calling for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens

United and restore our democracy. We’re now up to 11 states! Voters in

Chicago and other cities passed similar measures.

We know the American people are fed up with the corrupt corporate and

super-rich domination of our politics, and they support a constitutional

amendment to reestablish the principle that democracy is for people. Mov-

ing forward, we have a major opportunity to make historic change in this

regard.

VOTER SUPPRESSION

Another crucial note: This election saw, across the country, systemic

efforts to deny Americans the right to vote, through voter ID laws and

other measures. The election wasn’t close enough for these throwbacks to

dark periods in our history to alter results in the most high-profile elec-

tions, but it might have been. And many of the worst laws will take effect

only in future elections. This is an issue to which Public Citizen is going to

pay much more attention. We can’t be a nation that walks backwards in the

long struggle to expand the franchise.

LOOKING AHEAD

The re-election of President Obama and the surprising results in the Senate

give us a real opportunity to aggressively pursue our bold agenda, starting

with an all-out push to overturn the disastrous Citizens United decision.

You will, of course, be hearing a lot more from us about the work we face

together. Here’s an overview of what’s to come:

Right away, we have some big opportunities. We’re going to make a

big push for President Obama to issue an executive order requiring govern-

ment contractors to disclose campaign spending. That simple step could

force election disclosure of most spending by Fortune 500 companies. And

it’s something the president can do on his own.

The lame duck session of Congress that will begin next week poses

many risks as well as opportunities. We’re going to mobilize against dan-

gerous proposals to impede the work of regulators at independent agencies

like the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Securities and Ex-

change Commission, the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the

Nuclear Regulatory Commission. We’re going to turn back efforts to undo

key parts of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law. And we’re going to

guard against efforts to undermine the rights of victims of malpractice to

win redress in court. On the positive side, we expect to see a whistleblower

protection law passed. And we’re going to make sure that a financial

speculation tax — a tax on Wall Street gambling, with the potential to raise

hundreds of billions in revenue — becomes a serious part of the tax and

budget debate.

Going into 2013, we will continue to push our broad agenda, under condi-

tions not too dissimilar from what we’ve had over the past two years. Win-

ning on big policy issues is going to require strategic savvy. We’ll respond

opportunistically to new openings and forge some unlikely alliances to win

some legislative victories. We’ll push executive branch regulators to ad-

vance consumer protections, address climate change, make our economy

more secure, strengthen our democracy and much more. And we’ll build

grassroots power to shift the contours of policy debate.

Across party lines, we’re going to start to hear even more wrongheaded

claims about the need to weaken Medicare — to cut benefits, raise the eli-

gibility age and perhaps increase the role of private insurers in the system.

Public Citizen is going to devote a great deal of effort to defending and

strengthening Medicare.

We know that Big Money dominance in politics is the pivot point for

the entirety of the progressive policy agenda. We aim to win important dis-

closure reforms — key to limiting corporate spending in elections —

quickly, through an executive order and also through action by the Securi-

ties and Exchange Commission, which has been asked to require publicly

traded companies to reveal their campaign spending. Meanwhile, we’re

going to ramp up our efforts to win a constitutional amendment to overturn

Citizens United along with public financing of elections. Polls show that by

significant majorities, the public thinks Citizens United was wrongly de-

cided. After the 2012 election, the public is more disgusted than ever with

the unprecedented amount of dark money and the ubiquitous negative cam-

paign ads. With your help, we’re going to take the movement for a consti-

tutional amendment to a whole new level.

The Elections of November were an important step for the nation. I

couldn’t be more honored to continue working with you as we blaze

the trail to progress. . . . . . This is our time. /////

ELECTION (continued from page 10)

Household Hazardous Waste Recycling

Facility - 1621 S. Portland. Oklahoma City.

An environmentally safe means for citizens to dispose of domestic hazardous waste. Staffed by materials specialists. Recycle or safely dispose of your left-overs. OPEN: Tuesday through Friday 9:30 a.m. — 6 p.m., and on Saturday 8:30 — 11:30 a.m. The center is free to Oklahoma City residents. Bring water bill as proof of residency. They take: Compact fluorescent and fluorescent lights, all batteries, all liquids or powders, herbicides, pesticides, propane tanks, all automotive materials, swimming pool chemicals, paints and thinners, They do NOT take: radioactive, biomedical, or com-mercial hazardous wastes. Questions: Call during open hours 405-682-7038

Page 12, OPS, Jan-Feb 2013

Panoply Hippy

Store 2412 N Shartel OKC

Peace House T-Shirts,

Bumper stickers,

Buttons

Hours are Mon thru Sat

Call 405.521.1010 2 PM to 6:00 PM

Featuring Clay Daze Tie Dye.

Retro Clothing . Essential Oils .

Hand Crafted Jewelry. Pendulums and

Stones. Hard to find Books on Spiritu-

ality . Para-Normal . Metaphysical and

many more interesting subjects.

Quality Incense.

Nag Champa Band T-Shirts.

Misc Hemp products.

Sage sticks and Herbs .

Really Cool Purses ! Hand made Soaps

and Lotions .

Tie-Dyed novelty items . Bandanas .

Silk Scarves . Oils

Eclectic Art . Candles .

Unusual Post Cards .

Kung Fu Shoes .

Many More Unusual Items

WE’RE STILL OPEN!! Monday thru Saturday

2 pm to 6 pm

Need a place to go to get centered again in creation?

Want support to make changes to live more sustainably?

Interested in alternative healing?

Consider A Retreat

at Turtle Rock Farm

http://www.turtlerockfarmretreat.com

Turtle Rock Farm is a retreat center in North Central Oklahoma – a little over an hour’s drive up I-35 from Oklahoma City.

Visit our website to see photos of the farm and read about the retreats and classes we have scheduled: www.turtlerockfarmretreat.com Here’s a sample:

To talk to us, call 580.725.3411 or email or pathoerth@gmail.com or visit our blog: http://turtlerockfarmretreat.blogspot.com

A Center for Sustainability, Spirituality & Healing

Feb. 2 – Living in the Moment Feb 16 - “Do No Harm” - Making Your Own Cleaning Supplies Feb 18-19 - Shepherd’s Retreat Feb 23 - Living Sustainably in a Changing World Mar 2 - Simpler Living Mar 16 - Gardening and/or Vermi Composting Workshop

CIMARRON ALLIANCE: Oklahoma City Council member Ed

Shadid (left) gave a rousing keynote address at the Cimarron Alliance

Banquet, October 5th, praising the organization's contributions to hu-

man rights and a "Fair and Just Oklahoma". Nathaniel Batchelder,

Anne Murray, and Rick Early were guests at the Bob Lemon table.

Cimarron's work can be reviewed on the website

www.cimarronalliance.org where you can also listen to Cimarron's

weekly podcast. It's a great listening experience!

Page 13, OPS, Jan-Feb 2013

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 start-

ing 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.

Tell DOE: "Recycling" with radioactive

materials is NOT acceptable!

The Department of Energy (DOE) is considering a plan to allow radioac-

tively-contaminated metal from nuclear weapons facilities to be “recycled.”

This would allow this toxic metal to be mixed with clean recycled metal and

enter into normal commerce—where it could be turned into anything from your

next pants zipper to baby

toys. Act below to stop this

outrage!

Background

This DOE action is just

the foot in the door….if it’s

allowed to occur, expect

more efforts to deregulate

radioactive materials from

both DOE and NRC.

We’ve fought this battle

before. In the late 1980s, NRC adopted a policy it called “Below Regulatory

Concern (BRC),” that would have allowed about 30% of the nation’s “low-

level” radioactive waste to be treated as normal garbage and dumped in land-

fills, be burned in incinerators, and yes, be recycled into consumer products.

According to the NRC’s own calculations, its BRC policy posed a 1 in 286 risk

of fatal cancer over a person’s lifetime.

The Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS) and allies responded

with one of our largest organizing campaigns ever. Grassroots activists suc-

ceeded in getting hundreds of towns, cities and counties to adopt anti-BRC reso-

lutions. The texts of those resolutions were sent up the chain to Governors, state

legislators and Congress members. They responded: 15 states passed laws ban-

ning BRC within their borders. Hearings were held in the House and in 1992,

Congress officially overturned the BRC policy.

But both NRC and DOE have been trying to implement the concept piece-

meal ever since. In the late 1990s, DOE proposed a similar program to deregu-

late radioactively contaminated metal. Instead, DOE was forced to suspend the

idea indefinitely—a suspension that stands today and that DOE is now trying to

lift. Even DOE admits this program was defeated due to “public concern.”

Nothing has changed since 2000 that would justify lifting its current ban.

Rather, just the opposite: since then the National Academy of Sciences has ac-

knowledged that there is no safe level of radiation exposure, and we’ve learned

that women are even more vulnerable to radiation than men (while children

have long been known to be more vulnerable than adults). The DOE’s proposal

flies in the face of what our society values most: protecting our children. It must

be stopped before it starts.

Act now: Tell DOE to withdraw its proposal. At the same time, point out that

DOE cannot take shortcuts; implementing this proposal would require prepara-

tion of a full Environmental Impact Statement—something DOE is trying to

avoid.

A sample letter and more info at www.NRIS.com

and at

Or Send comments directly to the DOE:

Comments on the Draft PEA for the Recycling of Scrap Metal Originating from

Radiological Areas may be submitted electronically via email to

<comments@hq.doe.gov>

Alternatively, written comments may be sent by postal mail to: Dr. Jane

Summerson, DOE NNSA, P.O. Box 5400, Bldg 401, K.AFB East, Albuquer-

que, NM 87185.

Page 14, OPS, Jan-Feb 2013

TELEPHONE (405) 605-6547

FACSIMILE (405) 605-6577

dmurdock@resideslaw.com

DAN MURDOCK ATTORNEY AT LAW

Resides & Resides, PLLC

615 North Broadway

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

73102

www.resideslaw.com

What can one person do to change America's energy policy? Join the

Citizens Climate Lobby. CCL was started in 2007 by Marshall Saunders, a

professional real estate broker. Here is how Mr. Saunders describes his tran-

sition from real estate to founder of CCL, "Alarmed about the changing cli-

mate in 2006 I began giving talks about global warming to service clubs,

high schools, universities and whoever would listen. However, I always felt

that the solutions I offered were not a match for the problem. I realized that

anything my listeners could do as individuals paled in comparison to what

government could do or not do.”

While Saunders was suggesting ways for people to reduce their carbon

output, Congress extended a law that gave $18 Billion in tax credits to oil

companies. Congress was doing things exactly backwards. Dominated by

the fossil fuel industry, Congress bowed to their requests. Ordinary people

were not asking members of Congress for action regarding climate change,

at least not in an organized effective way. Furthermore they didn't know

what to do or how to do it, nor did they have self-confidence and support

they needed.

So, Citizens Climate Lobby was formed. CCL's purpose is to change all

that by empowering individuals to have breakthroughs in exercising their

personal and political power and by gaining the tools to be effective with

government."

The goal of Citizens Climate Lobby is to take action on climate change

issues, and particularly to get Carbon Fee and Dividend legislation through

Congress. Carbon Fee and Dividend legislation is legislation designed to

help level the financial playing field for green energy companies as we tran-

sition from fossil fuel use to alternative energy sources. Carbon Fee is a fee

based on the amount of carbon in a fossil fuel. Fossil fuels such as oil, gas

and coal contain carbon. When burned they release the potent green house

gases, carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The fee is based on the tons of

carbon dioxide the fuel would generate, and it would be collected the the

point of entry - well, mine or port. The fee would start out low-$15 dollars

per ton- and gradually increase $10-$15 each year. A dividend is defined as

a quantity of revenue to be divided. In this case, 100% of the total carbon

fees collected are divided up and given back to all citizens equally. This

dividend helps citizens pay the increased costs associated with the carbon

fee while our nation transitions to clean energy.

Citizens Climate Lobby how has 65 chapters in the U.S. and Canada.

Leading in Oklahoma is the Norman Chapter founded in 2010 by Ola

Fincke and Catherine Hobbs. Since then Norman members have regularly

met with Congress people and their staffers while home on break from con-

ducting business in the House and Senate in Washington. Group members

also provide information about CCL at the Cleveland County Farmers' Mar-

ket, environmental fairs at OU and at the Peace Festival. In July of 2012

Catherine Hobbs attended the National CCL Conference in Arlington Vir-

ginia where she met with Oklahoma Congressmen and their staff members

and will be attending the next National Conference in June 2013.

How does Citizens Climate Lobby work? Citizens form chapters in their

communities, and at meetings members learn effective ways of interacting

with their legislators in order to lobby for Carbon Fee and Dividend. Chap-

ters meet once a month to listen in on a conference call with a guest scientist

and CCL executive director Mark Reynolds. Prospective members are wel-

come to listen every Wednesday to an introductory conference call. By lis-

tening to this call people can not only learn about CCL but interact with oth-

ers who have questions about CCL and climate change and would like to

learn more about effective ways to lobby their Congresspeople.

Oklahoma now has a chapter in Oklahoma City led by Diane Powers

and Barbara Babcock which will meet every first Sunday of the month, at

4pm, at Picasso's on the Paseo. Anyone interested in learning more about

CCL/OKC can email Barbara at barbara58babcock@hotmail.com or Diane

at dpowers321@sbcglobal.net. Please join us as we lobby for sensible en-

ergy policy. After all, if we do not take care of our planet all of our other

problems are rendered moot.

Citizens Climate Lobby Forms New Chapter in OKC

New OKC group will meet on first Sundays of each month, at 4 pm, at Picasso’s on Paseo

Page 15, OPS, Jan-Feb 2013

Kay Adair

Lee Agnew & Lonnie Corder

Agnew

Kay Ahaus

Bob Aldridge

Dorothy Alexander

David Alexander

Valerie J. Allen

Kathryn & Andy Anderson

Kay Anderson

Alice Anderton

Kelly Armstrong

Mona Baird

Lois Barber

Paul Barby

Carol Barry

Pamela Barrymore

Fanny Bates

William & Susan Bauman

Fannie Bates

Cara & Ronald Beer

Lee Eddy & Bill Bennett

Lowell & Wanda Betow

Nan Binder-Smith

Robert & Sharon Bish

Melanie Bittman

Teresa Black

Patricia Black

Linda Blackerby

Fred & Sue Blackmon

Shirley & Jon Blaschke

David Blatt

Barbara L Bonner

Linda Bowlby

Rita M Boyle

Sara Braden

Tom And Pat Brewer

David Brinker MD

Terry & Kay Britton

Ron Burkard

Rev Jack And Susan Burton

Scott Buxton

Phyllis Byerly

Bill and Alice Byrd

Anne L Guzman & Gary Byrkit

Nancy Cain

Pat Califana

Sherry Bacus Scott

& Jerry Carroll

Richard Cates

& Jeanene Davidson

D. L. Cetrangolo

Linda Clark

Jack Clifford

Annette Clifton

Claudia Cochran

Donna Compton

Orra Compton

Margaret Cox

Billy Coyle

David & Betty Craighead

Della G. Craighead

Lois & Ray Crooks

Kathy Cullinan

Bob Curtis

Marilyn & Lawrence Curtis

Joan Dark

Sara Daves

Lynda Deibel

Marge & Bob Delaney

Catherine Dodd

Marjorie Dowing

R.L. Doyle

Sally Duran

E. Warren Eads

Ozie, Kay & Anthony Edwards

Robert & Harriette Elliott

Susan Elliott

Cztherine Ewing

Hawthorne Farr

Jalal Farzaneh

Ken Feiger

Thurma Fiegel

Margie Finley

Christy A Finsel

Margaret Flansburg

John S. and Gail P. Fletcher

Dorothy Foster

Mary Francis

Tom Fredgren & Ellen Frank

Kalyn Free

Naomi French

Gus W Friedrich

Mike Fuller

Carol Ann Fulton

Tom Gallagher

Gail Garloch

Jane & Bill Garthoeffner

Barbara Geary

Alice Gehrke

Veva Gibbard Rivermont

Susan A Gonzalez

Dixie Mosier Greene

Marjorie Greer

John & Francis Griffin

David Grow

Denise Hall

Dennie Hall

Cheryl Hall

Arlene Halley

Kay Ham

Arnold and Beverly Hamilton

Jim Hankins

Gretchen Hannefield

Frances Harbert

Diane Hardersen

Mary Harris

C.M. & Phyllis Harvey, M.D.

Scot & Maureen Harvey

Brad Hawkins

Maryann & Robert Heard

Don Helberg

William R. Henry

Joan Riechert Herndon

Lois & R.E. Hilbert

Catherine Hobbs

Don & Kay Holladay

Jim & Carolyn Holloran

Jill Holmes

Brad Holt

Penny Hopkins

Alberta horn

Steven & Melinda Howard

Jean Hubinger

Sara Iselin

Terry And Rebecca James

Barbara Hagen & Bruce Johnson

Jonalu Johnstone

Davis D And Carole J Joyce

Bruce W. Keck

Edwin Kessler

Ann Richards Ketcham

Tom & Mary Kimball

Martha & Bill King

Beryl & Esther Kingsbury

Mary Jo Kinzie

Wilma J & Perry Klaassen

Barbara Klein

Joan & Michael Korenblit

Bernadette & Michael Krawczyk

Marvin & Lilly Kroeker

Shirley Cleary,

Mike & Coleen Kunkel

Jim & Pat Laing

Linda & Tim Larason

Mrs. Harriet Larsen

Sharon Lawson

Jim Lazalier

Connie Leahy

Bob Lemon

Robyn Lemon Sellers

Roger Lienke

Alice Leonard

Roger Lienke

Tupper Lienke

John R Long

Annye Love

Janis Love

Gene M Kasmar & Kerry Lund

Gayla Machell

Phyllis McKenzie & Peter Maher

Ruth Males

Joyce & David Markes

Dolores D. Martin

William & Beatrice Martin

Moses & Sadie Mast

Jim Maxey,D.D.S.

Ray McGovern

Karen McKellips

Steve & Sherry McLinn

James Mcusic

Gordon & Judy Melson

Mary Mendus

Mary Menges Myers

Mariane Mertens

Dorothy Messenger

Sister Susan Mika

Mr. & Mrs. T.H Milby

David Miller & Barbara Neas

Mary Moloney Sp

J.T. Moore

Bill & Helen Moorer

Lynn Moroney

Fran Morris

Betty P. Morrow

Charlene Morrow

Annette Murphy

Anne Murray

Nancy Musselman

Kent & Sheila Myers

Chris Nanny

Michael Nelson

Bill Nerin

Clayton & Sandra Ness

Peter J. Neufeld

Pam & Herb Neumann

Aldean Newcomb

Morty & Hamsa Newmark

Rita Newton

David Nickell

Donna O'Keefe

Joel Olson

John Orr

Liane Ozmun

Carol Palmer

Laura Elia Woods Schaller

& Allen Parleir

Douglas Parr

Hank Peplowski

Linda Perkins

Tony Pezeshkian

Margaret Phipps

Peter Pierce

Mary & Max Pliska-Kintner

Ruth Podolin

in Memory of Bill Byerly

Lois Pokorny

Ben & Laura Pollard

Lydia Polley

Dennis & Carol Preston

Ghislaine Rabin

Forest Redwood

Lorrie Sylvester & Paul Reynolds

Judith Appleton & Stan Reynolds

Ann Todd and Dave Riley

C.J. Roberts

Bob & Maria Rounsavell

Linda Rowlette-Fallier

Robert S Ryan

Jeff Salamat

Susan & Abraham Sasso

Virginia Savage

Peter Schaffer

Tom Schott

Floydette Seal

Gail Seto

Fr. Clark Shackleford

Paula Sharp

Sondra Shehab

Rev. James & Lucy Shields

Susie Shields

& Mark Derichsweiler

Frank Silovsky

Susan Singh

Martha Skeeters

Randy Smith

Stan & Marlene Smucker

Marie Soliel

Jerry Sommerseth

Cliff Sousa

Constance St Hilaire

St. Scholastica Monastrey

Jane St. Amant, OSB

David Stamps

Barbara Stanfield

Wanda Jo Stapleton

Margaret Steichen

Jerry Stein

Carol Stone

Jim Stovall

Mary Ann Surges

William Tabbernee

Sharon & Jim Tappan

Sabra Tate

Lester Taylor

Lois Taylor

Mary Taylor

Leslie Teets Moses

Linda & Tom Temple

Patti Tepper-Rassmussen

Jenny Thompson

Terry Thompson

Hank & Sheila Tiarks

Sammy Towner

Rev Dale & Sherron Tremper

Jon Trzcinski

Rick Tucker

Becky & Will Uraneck

Saundra Vallejo-Delgado

Harley & Anne Venters

John & Rosie Walters

Susan & Jim Warram

Ron & Linda Wasson

Brent & Gina Wendling

Lyntha & Charles Wesner

Terry Weygandt

J. Carolyn Whalen

Shawn Wicker

H. Harbour & Mickey Winn III

Ernest Wirsich

Bertha Wolford

Jennie Wood

Kay Woody

Robert Hamm & Ingrid Young

Amy Zubac

Peace Stra tegy New s Staf f Co-Edi tors: Nathaniel Batchelder Donna Compton Conna Wilkinson

Volunteers Get i t Out !! ! Ellen Barnes Phyl l is Byer l y John Wal ters Audre y M i l ler Roger Harms Ray Davis Anne Murray Moses & Sadie Mast Rena Guay Mar ianne Mertens Cheryl Berr y Barbara Hathorn Nancy Cain Car l Semtner Lana Henson Richard Chi lders and sometimes others

Peace House Donors from January, 2012, through December 28th

, 2012

If your name has been omitted, please contact the Peace House at 405-524-5577

Page 16, OPS, Jan-Feb 2013

Thanks to all whose donations, large and

small, make it possible for the Peace House

to continue. We collaborate and network

with others on events and actions visible and

invisible, public and private, large and small,

endeavoring to build a world at peace and at

one with Nature and all humanity. Here are

highlights of Peace House efforts:

THE ELECTIONS: As a nonprofit or-

ganization, the Peace House cannot recom-

mend any Party or candidate, but we ex-

pressed our hopes and fears for months prior

to November 6th with Op-Eds and essays

shared through email, Facebook, websites,

and elsewhere. The Oklahoma Gazette pub-

lished Batch’s Commentary “Voting for

Peace” in the October 24th issue, which was

circulated nationally on the CNNi website.

We said the choice was to vote for the agenda

of the 1% or the 99%, and voters overcame

many challenges to vote convincingly on the

side of the 99%. The elections brought victo-

ries across the country reflecting efforts of,

for, and by millions of The People. Do we

see a New Majority in America? A New

Reasonable Majority? It is exciting to hope

so, and to imagine its expansion.

THE PEACE FESTIVAL, NOVEM-

BER 11th: You hadda been there. Public

visitation was gratifying. Conna Wilkinson

reported that the Children’s Activity Room

sponsored by the Peace Education Institute

hosted more kids than ever before. Music

and sound were managed well by Steve

McLinn and Jahruba who provided quiet mu-

sical ambiance between our guest folksingers

and the Aalim School dancers. We are told

that more signatures were gathered on envi-

ronmental petitions at the Peace Festival than

at multiple events surrounding Earth Day. A

dozen volunteers staffed the Peace House ta-

bles where our array of T-shirts, books, but-

tons and bumper stickers generated lively

trade. It was a good day.

NO WAR ON IRAN: Hooray! Appre-

hension that Israel might launch military

strikes against Iran’s nuclear enrichment fa-

cilities inspired multiple actions by the local

coalition calling itself Americans Against the

Next War. The Peace House is an active con-

tributing member at the weekly meetings.

AANW supplies Congress members with

opinions from intelligence and military lead-

ers stating that Iran has no nuclear weapons

program under way. The Op-Ed piece by

Batch and AANW members, “Avoiding An-

other Catastrophic War”, was published in

Oklahoma in early spring, and found willing

circulation on some 30 national websites.

Full-page ads were run in the Tulsa World

and Oklahoma Gazette. Three billboards on I

-35 and I-40 sponsored by

AANW stirred local and na-

tional attention for the past

five months. And, once each

month, AANW’s public vig-

ils are seen by thousands

who are invited to honk for

peace, not war, with Iran. AANW and Peace

House action alerts through email, Facebook,

websites, etc., invited people to urge elected

officials to have patience with negotiations,

diplomacy, inspections, and non-military re-

sponses. We believe that our actions, in con-

cert with similar efforts nationwide, helped

defuse the inflammatory messages of those

supporting a hard line that can lead to war.

ECONOMIC JUSTICE: Beginning No-

vember 14th, the Peace House has taken ag-

gressive action in support of legislation to

protect the middle class – all income under

$250,000 – from a tax increase now or in

2013. To us, this is simple economic justice.

It would protect 98% of Americans from the

tax increase if America goes over the so-

called “fiscal cliff”. We all know that the

majority of Americans are struggling finan-

cially, even as the wealth and income of a

few continue to grow. Batch’s letters to the

editor on this issue were emailed to newspa-

pers in all 50 states. Our action alerts made

clear how to contact elected officials. Policy

is needed to expand justice.

HEALTH CARE: Since Governor Mary

Fallin’s shocking decision to decline federal

support to expand Medicaid to 180,000 Okla-

homans, the Peace House has circulated ac-

tion alerts including the Governor’s contacts,

toward reversing that terrible decision. (Tel:

405-521-2342. Website: www.ok.gov/

governor.# ) If Oklahoma can accept federal

dollars to build highways and support mili-

tary bases, it seems morally reprehensible to

refuse federal aid to expand Medicaid for the

poor.

OCCUPY: Through reports in the Peace

Strategy Newspaper, our website and public

actions, the Peace House lent its name and

support to the Occupy Movement for justice

that identified systems pitting the interests of

the 1% against the interests of the 99%. This

is a struggle for “the beloved community”

defined by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We

cannot submit to economic systems favoring

profits over the dignity and value of labor,

favoring profits over environmental sustain-

ability. All of us, in our many ways, contrib-

ute to building a society with policies that

honor every person’s worth, and future gen-

erations’ right to a healthy planet.

HUMAN RIGHTS: Through actions,

news conferences, demonstrations, and pa-

rades, the Peace House has supported the

rights of populations vilified or attacked.

We’ve stood proudly with others against the

death penalty, for the rights and dignity of

Hispanic and Latino peoples, for the Muslim

and other religious communities, for the

LGBT community, for women’s right to re-

productive justice, and for labor rights to col-

lective bargaining. We believe that diversity

is a strength to be celebrated and will con-

tinue our efforts to support that conscious-

ness.

Everyone’s efforts do make a difference,

proven by progress on many social justice

fronts. Whether you contribute through art,

music, essays, poetry, speaking; whether you

serve at food pantries, adult literacy pro-

grams, opportunities for youth, community

gardens, groups committed to an issue;

whether you pursue advocacy to elected offi-

cials, or membership in human service or so-

cial justice committees; whatever your ef-

forts, you make a difference. The Peace

House will continue to encourage, make visi-

ble, and participate in such actions. /////

The Peace House : Year Past / and Year Beginning