Cascadia today: BC won't switch clocks anymore + WA sheriff gave data to ICE + poetry by Seattle's E. Briskin
Good morning, friends. Trump's Iran war exploded across the wider Middle East as the US state department urged USAmericans to leave 14 countries. A new CNN poll found that nearly 60% of people in the US oppose Trump's Iran war, and I have no doubt the figure is much higher in Oregon and Washington. Want do do something to stop the endless spiral of fascism and war? Pledge to join the General Strike, designed to shut the US down for up to a month and ensure our demands are met: end the war, remove Trump, and restore the rule of law in the US.
BC adopts permanent daylight savings time
CBC reports that British Columbia premier David Eby has announced that BC will switch their clocks one last time this month, then adopt year-round daylight savings time, eliminating the stupid and medically harmful annual re-setting of clocks back and forth one hour. BC passed legislation in 2019 but was waiting for west coast states to take steps. Washington passed a law eliminating the switch in 2019, California passed a law ending it in 2018, and Oregon's legislature has been close to passing a law in the past couple years. So why hasn't Cascadia ended the stupid practice?
As always, it's the feds holding us back. Apparently Congress needs to approve any changes we make to official time. I say listen to the medical evidence – that switching clocks is bad for sleep health and increases risk of heart attack. Assert Cascadia autonomy and join BC. But one point: we should make standard time permanent, not DST. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine says permanent standard time is the best option, and do you really want to wait until 9 am for the sun to rise here in Cascadia? Hopefully BC will realize that mistake and implement permanent standard time in several years.
Time running out in WA & OR legislatures
The short legislative sessions in Oregon and Washington are coming up on important deadlines as more bills, including one that would have placed limits on data centers in Washington, are now dead. If you live in Oregon, call your state senator TODAY and tell them to pass HB 4143, which would withhold money owed to the feds if the US government illegally holds back funds to Oregon.
WA sheriff gives data to ICE, violating sanctuary law
The Columbian reports that ultra-conservative Klickitat county sheriff Bob Songer recently sent jail roster data to ICE, in defiance of Washington's Keep Washington Working Act. "What are they going to do, throw me in jail?" Songer told the Columbian.
We call on attorney general Nick Brown to do just that and charge Songer and Klickitat county with violating the law in Washington. Send Nick an email here.
Tribal land deal in Blue Mountains falls apart
OPB reports that a historic land deal that would have purchased more than 11,000 acres in Oregon's Blue Mountains and then jointly managed the land in a unique agreement between Oregon and the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation has fallen apart. The private land owner, the Henry Merlo Foundation, backed out of the deal.
In related news, the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Indian Band of lower British Columbia signed an agreement with Canada asserting title and fishing rights. An autonomous Cascadia should recognize all existing treaties and negotiate additional protections and decision making power for all our bioregion's Indigenous nations.
Poetry by Seattle's E. Briskin
Over at Poetry Northwest, read Seattle-based queer poet E Briskin's beautiful poem "surround."
"the holiness is in fingertips
the holiness is in stop stagger pauses
sprung rhythm spring rhythm
holiness sprung"
Thank for reading. Keep loving and keep fighting. -Andrew
Do you appreciate Cascadia Journal's exclusive reporting on the ways the Pacific Northwest is pushing back against US fascism? If you have the means, please consider a paid subscription of just $5 per month. Each subscription helps me produce original reporting and opinionated notes on Cascadia's fight to build a more resilient and autonomous bioregion. And to those who already subscribe, thank you! --Andrew
