Monday Mailing - 110518

Monday Mailing

Year 25 • Issue 09 11 November 2018 1. Understanding Antisemitism: An

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Quote of the Week: “The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference” - Elie Wiesel, Holocaust survivor and Nobel Laureate

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Oregon Fast Fact: “Oregon” is believed to have come from the French word “ouragan”, meaning “windstorm” or “hurricane”, referring to the heavy winds traders encountered along the Columbia River Gorge

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Offering to our Movement A Resource from Jews For Racial & Economic Justice Placemaking on Main Street: Revitalizing Rural Communities Why ‘Micropolitan’ Cities May Be the Key to Rural Resurgence To Get Drivers to Yield, St. Paul Uses Psych Trick If Everyone Ate Beans instead of Beef Mountain Bike Trail Guide: Fall and Winter Riding Options RESOURCE - I Side With WEBINAR – Federal Broadband Funding: Policies and Programs to Connect America [Recording] VIDEO - Daylight Saving Time PODCAST - How Our Drinking Water Could Help Prevent Suicide

1. Understanding Antisemitism: An

Offering to our Movement A Resource from Jews For Racial & Economic Justice This paper is an offering from a team assembled by Jews For Racial & Economic Justice (JFREJ). It reflects the values, analysis and best knowledge of the authors. It is intended to be a useful resource to our partners and allies in the movement left, especially non-Jewish (gentile) organizations

and individuals. It is only a brief introduction to Jews, the Jewish context, antisemitism, and collective liberation; it is not an exhaustive or academic examination of any subject.

In the interest of brevity and clarity, this paper contains simplifications and omissions of which we are aware. It is only one resource and one perspective in a complex and ongoing conversation. It is not the last word—or the last word from JFREJ—on this topic. As all of us on the left look more closely at this topic our analysis and knowledge will surely evolve, and we hope you read it generously and curiously with that in mind.

To download (pdf), click ​here​.

2. Placemaking on Main Street: Revitalizing Rural Communities

Many residents of small towns and rural communities care deeply about the future of their towns and they value their uniqueness and strong sense of community. At the same time, many of today's rural communities face urgent challenges: How can they add jobs and support local businesses? How do they create a positive future for their kids? How can they most effectively utilize limited financial, human, and infrastructural resources?

As their economies, environments, and demographics continue to change and evolve, developing locally-driven solutions to these challenges is critical to the long-term vitality of these communities. How can placemaking in these regions help grow strong economies, build much-needed infrastructure, and strengthen a community's already-existing historical, natural, and cultural assets?

To access the full story, click ​here​.

3. Why ‘Micropolitan’ Cities May be the Key to Rural Resurgence A development expert says small cities and towns can be catalysts for lagging rural counties While the nation’s diverse rural areas, which cover roughly 90 percent of the U.S. and provide a home for about 60 million Americans, are often dynamic and inviting, many have recently ​faced economic headwinds​. Huge social shifts, like aging populations, declining manufacturing activity, and the clustering of tech and service jobs in cities, have left less-dense parts of the United States struggling to keep up, contributing to a negative, pernicious, and overblown narrative that some areas are “beyond hope.”

That’s not the story of Findlay, Ohio, which offers a counterpoint to this narrative. The small city of 41,000 has not only seen manufacturing remain part of the local employment picture—it accounts for roughly 22 percent of jobs for the last three decades—but manufacturing employment in 2016 was actually higher than the pre-recession peak in 2007. Economic development officials proudly talk about the

success of the “Findlay Formula”: getting private, public, and nonprofit partners working together to create jobs and opportunities.

To access the full story, click ​here​.

4. To Get Drivers to Yield, St. Paul Uses Psych Trick The hometown of one of our members finds innovative ways to encourage safe driving A ground-breaking experiment in St. Paul, Minn., shows a shocking pattern of dangerous and aggressive behavior towards pedestrians. But also how solvable the problem is given the right attention and policies.

To access the full story, click ​here​.

5. If Everyone Ate Beans Instead of Beef With one dietary change, the U.S. could almost meet greenhouse-gas emission goals To understand why the climate impact of beef alone is so large, note that the image at the top of this story is a sea of soybeans in a silo in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest. The beans belong to a feedlot that holds 38,000 cattle, the growth and fattening of which means dispensing 900 metric tons of feed every day. Which is to say that these beans will be eaten by cows, and the cows will convert the beans to meat, and the humans will eat the meat. In the process, the cows will emit much greenhouse gas, and they will consume far more calories in beans than they will yield in meat, meaning far more clearcutting of forests to farm cattle feed than would be necessary if the beans above were simply eaten by people.

To access the full story, click ​here​.

6. Mountain Bike Trail Guide: Fall and Winter Riding Options

As the seasons change on the High Desert, mountain bikers still have myriad options to find a new adventure close to home In honor of our stellar director, here are some opportunities to experience Eastern Oregon in a healthy and thrilling way.

To access the full story, click ​here​.

7. RESOURCE - I Side With The midterm elections are almost upon us; on November 6th Americans all across the country will make their voices heard. In all of this, voters are expected to sort through the media spin and understand the legalese of various ballot measures and referendi - enter ​I Side With,​ a resource to that helps you connect with representatives that best align with your beliefs.

Remember to verify what time your polls close​ ​and to check with your most trusted groups to see where they stand on measures and candidates.

To access click ​here​.

8. WEBINAR – Federal Broadband Funding: Policies and Programs to Connect America [Recording] This BroadbandUSA webinar offered an overview of federal funding options to support increasing broadband access in communities across the United States. Learn about recent program and policy updates from officials representing the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA).

To view this webinar, click​ ​here​.

9. VIDEO - Daylight Saving Time - ​The Verge The concept of Daylight Saving Time was introduced as a joke, doesn't actually save energy, isn't great for our health, and not everyone even does it. So why are we losing sleep and confusing ourselves?

To watch on YouTube, click​ ​here​.

10. PODCAST - How Our Drinking Water Could Help Prevent Suicide Lithium is a potent drug used to treat bipolar disorder, but it’s also the third element in the periodic table, and you can find tiny amounts in most drinking water. Scientists have discovered something remarkable: In areas where the tap water has more lithium, fewer people seem to die by suicide. That raises a big question: Should we put small amounts of lithium in the drinking water? Can we afford ​not t​ o?

To listen to this podcast, click​ ​here​.