the Nashville Peace and Justice Center's February Roundtable:

The ForwardOnClimate Rally in Washington DC RSVP’s are in the tens of thousands now we’re hearing! We have two buses ready to roll (itineraries below) and have secured funding from Sierra Club National as well as the TN Chapter. The full rate of $150 has come down significantly. We can safely offer $75 tickets and could go lower, but we are still asking for the full amount as a suggested donation to help provide the scholarships to those with the greatest need. The more folks donate, the more people we can bring.

There is a volunteer orientation / training Saturday evening that we would really like to get people up in time for, especially students. We have decided to allow unaccompanied minors, 16 and above w/ parental consent. We’re going to let this administration know what the Volunteer state is made of!

Please make your reservations as soon as possible. We’re filling up the Saturday bus fast! We have several options available to hold a seat for you: 
1) You can send your payment in full (check or money order only please) to: 
Tennessee Chapter Sierra Club
7001 Stroop Ln. 
Murfreesboro, TN 37129
2) You can send $50 to confirm your reservation to same address.
3) You can do either by credit card at  http://climatebustn.eventbrite.com/

If you know anyone that would like to make a donation to the student scholarship fund (c3, tax deductible) so that others may go and represent them in their stead, they may do so w/ either option above. Make sure they write Climate Bus Scholarship Fund in the check memo.

Check this out from National Sierra. It has a number of ways people may engage.http://action.sierraclub.org/site/MessageViewer?em_id=278127.0&dlv_id=233941

*Please be aware this is not an official Sierra or 350 bus. All food, housing, etc will be up to each rider.*
*Info about housing, volunteer orientation, etc can be found here on the FAQ page* http://action.sierraclub.org/site/PageServer?pagename=forwardonclimate_faq

*Anyone wishing more info on carpooling to pickup locations please feel free to contact me and I’ll get you in touch with others in your area. We have plenty of parking available in Memphis. We’re considering Nashville Intl Airport long-term parking as well…around $9. More details on pickup locations / parking coming soon.*

BUS 1:
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15
Leave Memphis at 7:00 PM
Stop times to be determined
Arrival in DC Saturday around 4:30 PM in time for Volunteer Orientation

BUS 2:
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 16
Leave Memphis at 8:30 AM CST (30 minutes for media event)
Depart Jackson at 10:30 AM CST
Depart Nashville at 1:15 PM CST
Depart Cookeville at 3:15 PM CST
Depart Crossville 4:00 PM CST
Depart Knoxville at 9 PM 
Arrive Washington, DC at 6:00 AM Sunday, February 17.

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 17
Morning picnic
Potential for a group tour of The Natural History Museum right across from bus drop-off
Rally: Noon (arrive by 11:30) – 4pm
Celebrate

*Bus 1 will return earlier. Bus 2 will remain for those wanting to stay later. If anyone would like to switch buses for the return trip, please let me know and I will try my hardest to accomodate you.*

Each 56 passenger coach, equipped with reclining seats, restrooms and built in video equipment would run $7,800. That breaks down to roughly $150 each.

* PLEASE SHARE * http://climatebustn.eventbrite.com/

Here are some exerpts: "You might want to think twice about streaming that “subversive” documentary about the Weather Underground on Netflix. If Republicans have their way, you just might end up on a watch list somewhere.  

This week, the House of Representatives passed an amendment to the 1988 Video Protection Privacy Act, which forbids movie rental companies from sharing or selling their customers’ viewing history. The Senate is expected to take up the amendment soon."

"The recent fiasco with Instagram, and the ongoing privacy concerns with Facebook highlight how Americans willingly flock to social media without considering the consequences for their privacy or the value of anonymity. Today, we're sacrificing privacy for convenience and interconnection."

"Your web experience is now carefully compiled and examined, so advertising can target you specifically. They've been collecting data on what websites you go to and what you search for on hundreds of websites and search engines – a blatant, but legal, violation of your individual privacy.

 Online data collection is now multi-billion dollar industry.

 This level of surveillance would have been horrifying to previous generations, including our Founding Fathers, who held privacy in the highest regard: they even enshrined that right in the Fourth Amendment of the Bill of Rights.

Yet, in the 21st Century, we become conditioned to accept these invasions of our privacy as the new normal.

In fact, it's increasingly looking like the United States is one generation away from completely forgetting what privacy means. And the consequences of this will be tragic for democracy in our republic.

That’s because without privacy – without the ability to be anonymous – our ability to plan peaceful revolution or non-violent social change is radically scaled back. If big corporations or Big Brother are watching, then they can block or sabotage efforts before they even become public."

"But, here’s what’s most important to remember as our privacy goes by the wayside: Social change hinges on privacy, and, in some cases, even total privacy – anonymity.

This goes all the way back to the Boston Tea Party, when an anonymous activist known even to this day merely as Rusticus posted flyers around Boston that led directly to the Boston Tea Party. In today's America, Rusticus’ plans to vandalize the tea ships would have been exposed by the East India Company, and the Boston Tea Party shut down before it even started."

Read entire article: http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/13464-netflix-blacks-out-the-revolution

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A diverse coalition of homeless advocates, homeless people and community members will mourn the loss of yet another member of the homeless community on Friday morning by holding a “funeral procession,” complete with a symbolic casket, through downtown en route to a government homelessness meeting.

[James "Jimmy" Fulmer] Found Dead In The Cold Outside East Nashville Church – via WSMV

At the conclusion of the procession, which begins at the Downtown Public Library Park at 9 am, community members will voice their concerns to the Metropolitan Homelessness Commission. The protesters hope to draw attention to the dire need for more affordable housing in a community that is able to afford a multi-million-dollar convention center.

The procession comes after James “Jimmy” Fulmer, 50, died of exposure on the steps of an East Nashville church earlier this month. The mourners will remind the commission that although vacant housing units in Nashville outnumber homeless people six-to-one, our brothers and sisters on the street continue to die from cold.

In the wake of Fulmer’s death, the media have asked why more shelter beds have not been made available and why more blankets haven’t been distributed.

“The solution is not more beds in shelters, which is helpful, but not enough,” the group plans on telling the commission. “The solution isn’t more canned food drives, which are helpful, but not enough. The solution is you doing what you were appointed to do: Devise a permanent plan to end homelessness in our city.”

The statement continues, “If you can’t do that, can you at least ensure that Jimmy doesn’t become just one of many homeless people who die because of government inaction?”

The group plans on asking the Homelessness Commission, and later, the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency (“MDHA”), why a convention center is more valuable than human life.

“Enough prioritizing entertainment over human life,” the prepared statement reads. “We’re here to say enough. Enough focusing on charity projects when what the people need is justice.”

The group also questions why Metro’s Office of Emergency Management has failed to devise a cold-weather plan for assisting vulnerable populations exposed to overnight wet and freezing conditions.

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Participating groups include:
• Nashville Advocates with the Un-housed (NAU)
• Nashville Housing Rights Campaign (NHRC)
• Amos House Community
• outreach workers from Open Table and other groups
• students from Vanderbilt University and David Lipscomb University
• independent homeless and formerly homeless individuals and advocates

    Like Tennessee Equality project's facebook page https://www.facebook.com/TennesseeEqualityProject

             We ask if you are interested to please contact:  occupynashvillegeneralassembly@gmail.com to let us know and to make sure, when the date is fixed, you will be updated. We also want to attempt to schedule a day and time that is convenient for the most people to attend, so please let us know if you can come on  Mondays at 6pm.                                                                  

  We will have the book available for a donation, and for the first meeting we will have printouts of the 1st chapter to get everyone started in on the study and discussion.

  For those who prefer it, a free (public domain) PDF file of the book is available from The Einstein Institute: http://www.aeinstein.org/organizationsde07.html  (make sure to download, print, and bring the copy of the book "From Dictatorship to Democracy" as the other books will not be discussed at this time)

Thank you!