So many people had left town.  Not only was it Valentines Day, but it was the middle of the three-day President’s Day weekend.  It was so quiet.  But that didn’t stop many of those who remained from gathering at Cubberley Community Center to share their love and Build the Fabric of Our Community at the first Share Faire of the year.

February’s Share Faire was the second instance of our “mini-class” format.  We held six short classes split into two themes:  Democracy and Organizing (as a companion to our Fourth Friday showing of Merchants of Doubt) and Fabric and More.

The Democracy room started with Jean Lythcott from the League of Women Voters who walked us through the process of registering voterss.  There are a surprising number of things to consider, and to help the registrant do, so that the registration form is valid and gets accepted.

Jean was followed by Eitan Fenson, who led us through the Ballot Proposition process in California and brought us up to date on Proposition 49, Amendment to Overturn Citizens United Ruling Question.

Finally, Peter Ruddock introduced us to the California Legislative process and taught us about AB 1810, the California Seed Exchange Democracy Act, which aims to protect Seed Exchanges and Seed Libraries in our state laws.

The Fabric room began with “More”, specifically with Lori Stoia teaching her class how to make a simple, natural body lotion.

William Mutch then put the fabric in Fabric, showing people how to make friendship bracelets, using a couple of simple designs.

To complete the Fabric session, Rani Jayakumar introduced people to Finger Knitting – knitting without needles.

There was, of course, time for people to visit the Goods Sharing tables – books, fabric, plants and more – in the hall between and around the classes.

We look forward to holding more “mini-class” Share Faires in the future, on themes including Food, Garden, Books, Media and much, much more.  Make sure to join us.

It was an overflow crowd for the Feb Fourth Friday showing of Merchants of Doubt, an outstanding film about how a tiny group of cynical manipulators has been able to succeed over and over again in spreading disinformation and undercutting efforts to address climate change and other major health and environmental issues.

Special guest Dr. Phil Duffy answered questions about his role as climate scientist and activist, and spoke of the complexity and urgency of the challenge we face.

All the more reason for all of us to step up our involvement in this “year of engagement”!

Inspired by Tim DeChristopher’s Fourth Friday talk in January, a discussion group met February 16 to share thoughts and consider what meaningful climate action can be.

Facilitator Debbie Mytels posted several questions for the group:

What was one thing that DeChristopher said that’s stuck with you?
Have you ever felt a conflict between your moral values and your actions?
Are you inspired to further action?  Of what sort?

Here is some of what participants expressed.

What stuck with you from Tim’s talk?

• Tim’s presence was elevating and inspiring.
• Importance of bringing heart and soul into the movement
• It’s time for bold, courageous acts
• Willingness to become vulnerable is powerful
• If people push on a wall in many places, some will find a soft spot, then others can gather there to push the wall down together.
• We must be disobedient, disobedience can be sacred.
• Tim: “I could live with gong to prison, but couldn’t live with doing nothing”
• Love and anger can both fuel activism, sometimes at the same time.
• Tim wasn’t a martyr. His imprisonment was a different experience, where he met different people, and it changed his life, gave it more meaning.
• Music (from Tim’s friend Brian Cahall) speaking to the soul
• We need to do something real, not let Tim down

Ideas and questions from the group:

• What does a “win” look like?
• What is an effective outlet for civil disobedience?
• Think about other movements, like women’s suffrage. Acts that seem spontaneous are often a long time in coming. Rosa Park prepared for years before her “spontaneous” act.
• A challenge now is that we’re short of time.
• What actions are authentic and meaningful to each of us?
• We need more people willing to take risks
• What might be most effective? Price on carbon? stopping oil trains, marching, pushing electric vehicles, education, personal choices, protests against Koch brothers and others?

The group expressed interest in additional follow-up. Debbie will create a Google Group, and a future meeting will be held. Please contact Debbie (dmytels@batnet.com) if you’d like to participate.

with Dr. Phil Duffy, President and Executive Director of the Woods Hole Research Center
NOTE TIME FOR THIS MONTH! – 7pm

Inspired by the acclaimed book by Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway, Merchants of Doubt takes audiences on a satirically comedic, yet illuminating ride into the heart of conjuring American spin. Filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the curtain on a secretive group of highly charismatic, pundits-for-hire who present themselves in the media as scientific authorities, yet have the contrary aim of spreading maximum confusion about well-studied public threats ranging from toxic chemicals to pharmaceuticals to climate change.

Introducing the movie and answering questions will be Dr. Phillip Duffy, President and Executive Director of the Woods Hole Research Center, an internationally renowned climate research facility on Cape Cod, Massachusetts.  Dr Duffy was at the Paris Climate Summit in November.

Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto – Fireside Room
7pm (note the special time)
505 E Charleston Rd, Palo Alto, CA 

Come celebrate Valentine’s day (or don’t!) with us at our first Share Faire of the year. We’re launching a new Share Faire schedule for the year – details are here – and starting off with a Faire that focuses on fabric and community organizing, organizing the fabric of our community!

We will be at Cubberley Community Center, rooms A7 and A3, onn Sunday, February 14th, 1pm to 3pm, with 30 minute classes in the rooms and goods sharing. Classes will include Community activism, lotion-making, knitting, and more! Visit the library sale at Cubberley and come by afterwards!

Inspired by Tim DeChristopher’s call to push against the wall of power, looking for a soft spot that will give way to change, Transitioner Victoria Armigo traveled to San Luis Obispo with other activists to attend hearings on the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for a proposed the Phillips 66 oil train rail spur in San Luis Obispo County.

Victoria writes:
It was amazing to bear witness to the process yesterday. Barb Fukimoto and I took the Forest Ethics & 350 Silicon Valley bus from San Jose at 5:45a headed to San Luis Obispo. San Jose council member Ash Kalra greeted us, gave us goodie bags, and sent his staff member to go with us to speak on his behalf. Another San Jose city staff member joined us. We picked up more people in Gilroy on the way.

At the SLO county building, we were directed next door to the Fremont Theatre, which had a big screen showing the planning commission hearing in the Board of Supervisors chambers, to decide the permit for Phillips 66 Rail Spur project. Barb and I picked up our green speaker slips – we were numbers 250 and 252. We hear that 400 individual speaker slips were taken.

SLO city staff presented their report and recommendation to deny the permit, along with their EIR findings. The county attorney explained some of the complexities, and why the permit must be denied. Then the Phillips 66 attorney made a very strong presentation directing the planning commission to permit their oil train project. We felt the despair and hopelessness of the situation.

Then government folks from all over California started making their 3 minute presentations – 17 in all. Wow! They included the mayor of Santa Barbara, other mayors, city council members, staff of state representatives. They all made different and good points as to why this project must be stopped.

We took a break for lunch and fell hope returning. Then the individual speakers began making their 3 minute presentations – again folks from all over California and many different demographics. They too made different and good points as to why this project must be stopped. They only got to speakers 50-60 when we had to leave at 5p, so we wrote out planned comments on the back of the speaker slips, and turned them in to be part of the public record.

The SLO planning commission hearing continues all day today, and many of the folks we me were going back today to speak. It was an honor to participate with this diverse group of people, joining together to push against that soft spot in the wall of power that Tim De Christopher spoke of.

Learn about accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and how they could help ease the housing crisis. Join Rachel Ginis, Founder of Lilypad Homes, for a presentation and discussion. Click for more info…

Thursday, March 3, 2016 6:00 – 7:30pm
1001 Emerson St. Palo Alto; Entrance on Addison
Hosted by Palo Alto Forward, co-sponsored by Transition Palo Alto

Enjoy the Green Kids magazine for February that Rani Jayakumar and her children have created! Click to download.

New Economy Transition (NET) is the group that formed after Marco Vangelisti’s Essential Knowledge for Transition talks last fall on money, economy, and investment. The group has started to look at changes that each of us can make in our own lives, as well as other efforts to move away from business-as-usual.

This is the line-up for the February 21 meeting. All are welcome!

• Thomas Atwood will give a presentation on creating a Self-Directed IRA.
• Marco Vangelisti will appear via Skype to explain more about SD-IRAs and present his new workshop on Aligning Your Investments with Your Values.
• Dave Thompson will give a presentation on Cooperatives and Coffee.

February 21, 2-4pm
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Redwood City
2124 Brewster, Redwood City

NOTE THE SPECIAL TIME: 7PM, FEBRUARY 26

Inspired by the acclaimed book by Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway, Merchants of Doubt takes audiences on a satirically comedic, yet illuminating ride into the heart of conjuring American spin. Filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the curtain on a secretive group of highly charismatic, pundits-for-hire who present themselves in the media as scientific authorities, yet have the contrary aim of spreading maximum confusion about well-studied public threats ranging from toxic chemicals to pharmaceuticals to climate change. Click to view the trailer.

Introducing the movie and answering questions will be Dr. Phillip Duffy, President and Executive Director of the Woods Hole Research Center, an internationally renowned climate research facility on Cape Cod, Massachusetts.  Dr. Duffy attended the Paris Climate Summit in November. 

7-9:30pm (note the special time)
Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto – Fireside Room
505 E Charleston Rd, Palo Alto, CA