Obama: Stop the Bombs at Oak Ridge

For twenty years the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance has gathered at the gates of the Y-12 Bomb factory in the Atomic City to call for an end to production of nuclear weapons.

Saturday I made the trip through the mountains along with several others from Asheville, including Ray Hearne, who walked for two days with the Buddhist Peace walkers to the site. Coleman Smith took on the persona of Martin Luther King as one of three puppets at the gate. He was joined by Sojourner Truth and Mahatma Gandhi. Despite the awful truth of the deadly bombs manufactured there, we gathered with joy and dancing and trust that we the people will prevail against this factory of death.

Guy and Candie Carawan of Highlander Center were there also and we all locked arms to sing "We Shall Overcome."

We must carry on folks. The Time is Now and it is as urgent that we gather for peace as ever.

The Asheville contingent was outnumbered by the folks coming from as far as Detroit and other long distances, including Veterans for Peace from Minnesota. It was good to see friends from Nashville, Knoxville and many other towns near and far.

Don't be lulled into complacency by President Obama's call for a world free of nuclear weapons. His intention to keep a "safe, secure, reliable stockpile" means Oak Ridge's Y-12 will continue to manufacture so called "thermonuclear secondaries" the highly explosive part of the W76 warhead that turns an atomic bomb into a thermonuclear bomb. And the Department of Energy has plans to build a new $3 billion bomb plant at Y-12 to keep making these hellish weapons for another century.

Is this the Change you voted for? Tell Obama that $40 billion spent every year on the US nuclear arsenal is theft from us all and a crime against humanity and the Earth.

Watch this video clip from the Knoxville paper to see the spirit of the gathering. It's hard to go there. Its a toxic city where good talents are wasted on manufacturing instruments of death.

Veterans Post Billboard Mandate: Indict Bush!

Yesterday I joined the Asheville Veterans for Peace for a rolling demonstration marking the 6th year of the Bush War on Iraq. We jumped aboard Ken Ashe's flatbed truck to take our usually static demonstration to the streets of Asheville.

One stop included the Asheville Citizen-Times offices where we distributed copies of War Crimes Times. The second edition continues to make the case for indictment and prosecution of the Bush regime.

After a few hours up and down the city streets, stopping here and there to pass out the newspaper, we encountered a snag when one of Asheville's policewomen walked up as we were stopped at light to warn: "No amplification without a permit." Kim Carlyle stopped mid-sentence in his amplified reading of the list of war crimes, and we all raised the volume of our voices, still permitted by our Constitution, as we rolled on.

Our next stop was UNC-Asheville to join with the SDS students who were just winding up their on campus demonstration. Then off to our Peace Park on Hilliard where we met up with Asheville War Resisters League activist Coleman Smith, ladder in hand, to update the billboard, nailing up our call for indictment of the Bush regime for its war crimes.

I enjoy the company of these Veterans who continue to speak out against these endless wars. Even former Mayor Leni Sitnick stopped to say "Thanks," and cheer us on.

War, Inc. Six Years On

Asheville's Veterans for Peace have been holding the ground at Pack Place near Vance monument for over five years speaking out against the war machine and honoring their vow to defend the Constitution against enemies foreign and domestic.

March 19, 2009, will mark the sixth year of the illegal and immoral war in Iraq. And now, even with the hopeful possibilities of a new administration, the US government continues its war on Afganistan. The time for public dissent has not passed with the inaugaration of a new administration. In fact, more visible demonstrations are called for so we will be ever mindful of the human and environmental costs of these ongoing wars. It is our civic responsibility to continue to make our dissent clear and unmistakable.

Korean War veteran James Latimore wears his red, white and blue top hat to catch the eyes of passers by. When he's not on the street corner demonstrating, you can find James at our local community radio station, WPVM, where he is one of the hosts of Veterans Voices, heard every Wednesday at 5 p.m. and streaming online.

War Resisters League Asheville member and local organizer Coleman Smith added his "War, Inc." puppet to the feisty mix Tuesday. The street corner vigil happens every Tuesday 5 to 6 p.m. and is open to all who wish to make a public stand against the wars.

On March 19, veterans and allies will meet at Earth Fare parking lot at 10 a.m. for a rolling demonstration against the wars. We will also be distributing the second edition of the publication War Crimes Times, published in Asheville. Asheville VFP president Kim Carlyle and yours truly are on the editorial board.

Six More Human Rights Advocates Face Prison--Bush & Cheney Still Free

This comes as no surprise. Yesterday, January 26, six more human rights advocates, ranging in age from 21 to 68, were found "guilty" in a Federal Courthouse in Columbus, Georgia. The crime? Carrying the protest against the School of the Americas (SOA/WHINSEC) onto the Fort Benning military base.

The six were among the thousands who gathered on November 22 and 23, 2008 outside the gates of Fort Benning, Georgia to demand a change in U.S. policy towards Latin America and the closure of the SOA/WHINSEC.

According the the human rights group SOA Watch:
"They made a compelling case for the closure of the school and creation of a culture of justice and peace, where there is no place for the SOA mindset that promotes military 'solutions' to social and economic problems."

I was in Columbus for the November vigil and know well the risk these people of conscience have taken, and the personal consequences of conviction. They are in good company and counted now among nearly 300 others who have faced trial, conviction and imprisonment for speaking out and demanding a change in murderous U.S. policy in Latin America. They stood up for all of us working for a more just world.

You can support them in many ways. Please do what you can.

The "SOA 6":
Father Luis Barrios, 56, from North Bergen, NJ, was sentenced to 2 months in federal prison and a $250 fine
Theresa Cusimano, 40, Denver, Colorado, found guilty and awaiting sentencing
Kristin Holm, from Chicago, Illinois, was sentenced to 2 months in federal prison and a $250 fine
Sr. Diane Pinchot, OSU, 63, from Cleveland, Ohio, was sentenced to 2 months in federal prison
Al Simmons, 64, from Richmond, Virginia, was sentenced to 2 months in federal prison
Louis Wolf, 68, from Washington, DC, found guilty and awaiting sentencing

Support the "SOA 6"

Lift Every Voice and Sing

While I put the teapot on to boil this morning I was surprised to find my self singing:
"My Country 'Tis of Thee, Sweet Land of Liberty."

A breath of intelligence and compassion has returned to this nation. A "stone of hope" has been hewn out of the "mountain of despair" that Dr. King preached about in his 1963 "I Have A Dream" speech.

The Asheville celebrations of this patron of nonviolence have been carried forward for 28 years. Honoring Dr. King's birthday here has been the dream and vision of Asheville native Oralene Simmons, aided by a committee of hard working allies. Such dedication and persistence is really the essence of what it takes to keep moving forward through the toxic sludge of oppression and the virulent backwaters of racism "to stand on the warm threshold that leads to the palace of justice," as Dr. King said.

Civil Rights veteran Dr. Bernard Lafayette delivered his second keynote at Asheville's MLK Prayer Breakfast. I heard him speak at a reception at the UNCA Reuter Center following the breakfast. He was so generous and gracious with his time. And he keeps teaching and preaching the gospel of nonviolent action, and working to train the next generation of warriors.

And then, what joy to feel the power at the Inaugural celebration of Dr. Joseph Lowery's truth-telling prayer. Strong words from another persistent warrior for human rights:

"In the joy of new beginning... deliver us from the exploitation of the poor or the least of these and from favoritism toward the rich, the elite of these."

I'm a Memphis-raised American woman. It was my home town were Dr. King was murdered.
I walked in that silent grieving throng of mourners in 1968, among the hundreds of Sanitation Workers and their supporters, a sea of humanity stretching the length of Main Street to Beale Street. I was 19. It was soul force played out "on the high plane of dignity and discipline," and it was transforming.

And I've been marching ever since, heartsick at the ongoing wars and oppressions that seemed to engulf my generation. Saddened to the core that I have not for years been able to summon the patriotism of my youth and really feel the stirring words I so wanted to believe again:

The words Aretha Franklin so proudly sang at the Innaugral: "My Country Tis of Thee, Sweet Land of Liberty."

My skin is not black or brown or any other lovely hue. I'm of Irish heritage. And because I feel in my blood and bones the Great Hunger endured by my ancestors, and because of my need to claim my heritage, I resist being labeled as simply "White." Because despite the putrid pool of racism that poisoned the ground waters of my hometown, it was also the place where my soul was stirred, my mind awakened and my conscience and determination strengthened by the company of the great souls of the civil rights movement.

And Asheville has her share of such warriors. Progressive Democrat Issac Coleman is one. He traveled South to Mississippi as a young man to register voters, a life-risking action. And Russell Johnson, who read Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech on Monday following the peace march. Russell, a military veteran and student at UNCA registered and delivered to the polls over 200 new voters. And Bob Smith who also devoted decades working with the Martin Luther King, Jr. Prayer breakfast committee. He spoke frankly Sunday at the Ethical Culture Society meeting about how Martin King's Dream is still not realized here in Asheville.

"We do a lot more about orchestrating than we do about living the Dream," he said. "We're very good at doing it once a year, a one-day event. We don't do so good the rest of the days of the year. ..We get together for one great day in January and for the rest of the year we are in our separate worlds--polarized."

"Where are the decision makers of color who can really make a difference in this community?" he asked. Then, referring to the recent County Commission vote on the I-26 connector that will destroy 25 African American homes in the Burton Street neighborhood, Bob Smith wants t know "Where is the diversity in County Commission? Who do they listen to? ...They voted to essentially destroy our homes, opting for convenience and less cost rather than the environment and justice. ...What does that say about our Beloved Community?"

"Deliver us from the exploitation of the poor or the least of these and from favoritism toward the rich, the elite of these," Rev. Lowery prayed.

"We have the opportunity here to come together", Bob Smith says, of the Burton Street struggle. "If we partner together we can do that. We need to do that."

Certainly we must come together so that the great Inaugural that stirred so many is not just a one-day event, but truly a "stone of hope" that we can pass one to the other until the "mountain of despair" crumbles and we are all singing "Sweet land of Liberty."

"The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges." MLK, jr. "I Have a Dream"

Tree Slaughter: An Asheville Health Adventure?

I guess it was just all in a day's work for the men who woke up this morning with the task of cutting down scores of large trees in an urban forested area bounded by Cumberland Ave. and Broadway. The tract was purchased some time ago by the 40 year old Asheville museum known as the Health Adventure.

A neighborhood friend called to alert me around noon, but I hesitated. I can barely stand to witness such slaughter. Just the sound of the chain saws alone causes me to cringe. When I finally took the walk over to the site in Montford, most of the destruction was complete.

Today is crisp and sunny with a blue, blue sky. The winter silhouette of trees against the winter sky has always been one of the beautiful gifts of my pedestrian lifestyle. Now, with so many more gone, each walk I take along the old Drovers road there is less natural beauty left.

It has become a place of slaughter. Slaughter done by an Asheville musuem dedicated to "improve health awareness, promote wellness lifestyles, and increase science literacy."

I wonder if they will have a museum exhibit on the trees so wantonly savaged for their new building? What will they say to the next generation of children who have no access to neighborhood woodlands? Will these children have to settle for replicas in a sterile museum built on the roots of a once living forest?

With the quality of air in this community already so terribly endangered, there is no justification for so many trees to be taken down.

By the time I arrived, the irate neighbors had left and only a few folks were wandering by or slowing down in their cars to witness the crime. And a crime it is. This notion that urban woodlands can be taken down with such callous disregard for the needs of the neighbors, the wildlife, the air quality, the future generations.

NOTE:
After first publishing this account, I received a call back from Paige Johnson of Health Adventure. She was cordial in her efforts to explain the devastation, euphemistically called a "tree harvest." And gave me her blog site where she speaks to the community about the situation, calling the project "one of design quality with the environment in focus."
Perhaps she is near sighted?

Clean Coal Kills Again

There's not much on the mainstream media today about the Dec. 22 disaster at TVA's Kingston Coal Plant near Harrimon, Tennessee. 525 million gallons of coal ash sludge spilled out over as much as 400 acres, and six feet deep in some areas after an earthen damn burst. This is an environmental disaster larger than the Exxon Valdez oil spill. There is a lot of information here on this horrible example of how coal kills.

As a Tennessean with family throughout the state, I feel especially grieved about this disaster. The pollutants will affect the drinking water of millions downstream and ruin the beautiful Tennessee River. Here is more coverage from the Knoxville paper.

Just Trying to be Black in a White Man's World"

"Black people have been looking for hope for the past 400 years, " Elaine Brown told a full house at UNCA's humanities Lecture Hall last night. Brown was the first and only woman Chair of the Black Panther party which she joined in 1967 and chaired from 1974-77. She was in town at the invitation of UNCA's Students for a Democratic Society(SDS).

"I believe there is gonna be a back lash, a heavy back lash," Brown said of the likely election of Senator Barak Obama. "Racism is alive and well. You need to get ready. I believe there are people so terrified of a Black man being president ...they're the people who will be whipped into anger."

One need only listen to a few minutes of the shrill voices on right wing talk radio to realize the truth of her words.

"I voted for Obama because Obama represents the possibility of a movement rising up," Brown said. She held the rapt attention of the mostly student audience as she recounted an abrieviated history of class and racism in this country. "You've got to have a class analysis," she said. "The American empire has become a reality. That's where we are."

It seemed the audience couldn't get enough of this elder warrior of the Freedom movement as she talked about her lifetime of work "Just trying to be Black in a white man's world."

"When you are a warrior, you take the conditions on the ground and go with them," Brown told students after questions led to a discussion of the current realities of Asheville and the pressures of gentrification and racism. You've got to "understand the plan and expose this stuff."

"Its not going to be won with You tube, or email or one vote. You've got to fight. ..The revolution is not going to occur because you click your heels together. It's a long hard struggle."

Photo: From left-ASL interpreter Susun, Charla of SDS and Elaine Brown. Photo Clare Hanrahan

If Voting Changed Anything...

Sarah Palin's Asheville visit on Sunday drew out the crowds, including these contrarians energized by the SDS chapter at UNCA, who held the ground in front of the Basillica.

Across the street the folks for Obama gathered, almost obscuring the huge Mumpower sign mounted on a parked truck, and gathering force as the day went on.

Dressed in their Sunday best, streams of Palin supporters, many wearing Republican red, lined up for hours along the streets for a seat in the Civic Center to hear the oh gosh, you betcha' gal speak. The most prominent sign among them was: "We Vote Pro-Life," a position that stimulated some back and forth shouting: "My body, My choice." and "Save Our Babies," the latter shouted by some adolescent women in the Palin crowd.

It was quite the spectacle. The police kept a very low profile, and for the most part, the back and forth shouting was minimal. The only tense times came when the line of Obama supporters surged forward, closing in on the weary folks who had finally made their way to the entrance after hours of waiting. But dusk was coming on and the air was chilling down, and folks attention was turning to the march of the zombies said to be headed that way.

A small but lively make-shift band held the ground for awhile between Palin's people and the Obama hopefuls, expressing a less than confident take on the election process.

Held in the Light

"I'm not afraid of tears. I hope you're not," Anne Welsh told the audience gathered at Holy Ground in Asheville on Wednesday. The standing-room only crowd of elders came to hold her in the Light. Most were Quakers, and many have known Anne and the terrible and beautiful truth of her story for decades. We listened with rapt attention and no small amount of tears as Anne read and commented on passages from her book: Held in the Light: Norman Morrison's Sacrifice for Peace and His Family's Journey of Healing.

Anne and Norman's daughter was there too. Emily sat gazing intently at her mother as she recounted the story. It has been almost 43 years since Emily's father carried her in his arms to the Pentagon. Then, sitting beneath the office window of Defense Secretary Robert MacNamara, immolated himself as a protest against the Vietnam War. Norman died that day, and his sacrifice still deeply reverberates, even as the wars continue and a new generation of America's soldiers are lied into war.

Anne wrote:

I think the deepest truth about Norman is that he was a person who cared--
deeply, passionately, and finally desperately-- about the things he believed in: peace and nonviolence, human rights, and an equitable sharing of the world's resources.

The year Norman died, my older brother Tom was in Vietnam. His death was a gruesome, lonely one, coming after years of decline from Agent Orange toxins, PTSD and alcoholism. He too cared deeply and passionately, cared enough to volunteer for the Marines. Though misguided, he sincerely believed it was his duty. Tom's twin, Dan, followed his brother to VietNam, and died a similarly gruesome, lonely Agent Orange-hastened death. These brothers, and many of the 58,000 American soldiers killed in VietNam, or the many more war-related deaths that followed, did not have the understanding then that Norman Morrison had about that awful war. Tom and Dan too-late learned the truth of war and of McNamara's litany of lies.

Tom left behind only a few pages of his thoughts about that war, written in his own hand and painfully spelled out, though the nerve damage from the Agent Orange made it hard for him to even turn a page. He wrote about the utter isolation he felt as a teenage soldier such a long, long way from home. He wrote about the fear, and his efforts in the decades that followed to find help, to find a way back home. My two brothers never really did come home. I haven't yet been able to read all the way through these few pages that Tom left behind...I guess I'm still afraid of the tears...and still I don't know how Tom died in that tiny room in Memphis where he lived, and was found days later...

But I know this: Norman Morrison's terrible sacrifice was important to us all. The bright flame of his passing still lights the way to a world without war. I am grateful that Anne Morrison Welsh had the courage to go deeply into this painful period in her life, and in the lives of all of us who lived through that horrible Vietnam war. And someday, in some way, I hope we will find a way to make sure that no more young men and women are led into wars on lies.

And some day, in some way, I hope we can honor those young men and women who were deceived into war, and forgive them. For they carried then, and many still carry now, the toxic, tormenting weight of that war. A weight we must all bear. Perhaps in the still bright light of Norman Morrison's blaze, we will assume our own burden of responsibility to end these terrible wars, and will ask, as Norman Morrison asked:

"What can we do that we haven't done?"

Aren't We All Illegal?

I've been out and and about and on the ground in Asheville attending and participating in numerous events worthy of the attention of a community journalist such as I am, but these days have been so glorious that garden chores are much more compelling than sitting at the computer screen to blog. I've got some fine squash still fattening on the vine, a young crop of greens and lettuce, and now and again a tomato and a few remnant green beans. I'm also trying to work out how to keep my composting red wiggler worms from freezing when the weather turns. And for that matter, myself, as my store of winter wood is rather meager. I'm ever on the outlook for sizable fallen limbs to add to the fuel pile.

Last week I joined the solidarity march for immigrants sponsored by COLA to add my voice against the recent ICE raids that have caused such fear and harm among the immigrant populace here. I joined in the walk to the steps of the Buncombe County Courthouse, then on to Sheriff Duncan's office where we called out the names of those seized at their workplace and held for deportation. We then carpooled to Hendersonville for another well attended march and rally.

It is really difficult to realize that laws now exist that allow this renegade government to hold indefinitely any person deemed to be an "illegal." Trapping, chasing and detaining human beings for bounty is a profitable business.
Walking alongside Bob Smith, a perennial human rights champion, is always an honor. We talked a bit about how the struggle for justice continues and how the civil rights movement is not over.
"We'll just keep on walking" he said.

So we do.

Today I'm at UNCA library enjoying the amenities of my "Friend of the Library" privileges. I walked to the campus today along Reed creek, crunching through piles of red and golden fallen leaves, and picking up one or another now and then to send to my grandson in Texas.

The student Amnesty International group showed a film today on nuclear weapons. I go to these events to keep myself ever mindful of the dangerous realities of the world. Living as I do in this place of relative privilege and beauty, with entertaining distractions everywhere, I sometimes need a jolt of reality to keep out the creeping denial or numbing apathy that is epidemic in these times.

But everytime I step out in action, or attend a lecutre or film to keep myself aware of the issues before us, I encounter friends and allies that remind me that we are a powerful people and we can turn this around. Yes we can, as Obama folks say. Yes we can. But not through electoral politics alone.

Ingrid Johnson, now of Asheville, pictured above in the striped shirt while at the Hendersonville immigrant soldarity walk, is one of those powerful young people. Ingrid, along with her entire family, has been a long time worker for a non-nuclear world together with the good folks at the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance.

When we as a nation continue to build and refurbish nuclear weapons, when we continue to arm the world with our exports of weapons, when we continue to cage citizens and non-citizens as the country who imprisons more people than any other, we must ask:
Aren't we all illegal? We who finance these wars, profit from the labor of those whose human rights are denied, or gain our livlihood as part of this military-industrial-prison complex? Nuclear weapons' production is a violation of international law. Why are the folks at Homeland Security not raiding the Y-12 plant at Oak ridge and rounding up those illegals?

Stop the Bombs! 20 Years of Courageous Actions

Ralph Hutchison of the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance is a man in league with the future. His work is to wake us up, and keep us aware of the constant and ongoing threat of our nuclear stockpiles, both for today and for any future generations.

Ralph was in Asheville Wednesday at UNCA speaking about nuclear weapons production in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

It's in our backyard, just two hours over the mountains.

Dot Sulock, who teaches an International Studies course on The Nuclear Dilemma participated with some of her students. But given the urgent circumstances and threat of these weapons of mass and indiscriminate destruction, it was a small turnout indeed.

Joanna Macey has proposed, and others have taken up the call, that we will need nuclear waste guardians well into the future. People who are dedicated to keeping the generations to come away from the toxic radioactive waste generated by our weapons production. Even if these weapons are never again used. The toxins persist beyond imaginable time. They need to stay put, not be moved along on our highways through the heart of our city, as Mary Olsen and others at Nuclear Information and Resource Services and Common Sense at the Nuclear Crossroads warn us.

Ralph has been at this onerous task for twenty years. I introduced him to the class at the request of Debra Miles of the Center for Diversity Education, the group that has hosted a display of photos from Hiroshima and Nagasaki on campus.

Introducing Ralph gave me a chance to talk a bit about the courage involved in facing the awful truth about our nuclear weapons stockpiles, and the imminent threat to all life. The Atomic Scientists have set their Doomsday clock at five minutes to midnight. But after 40+ years of awareness and activism on this issue, I have managed to relegate it to the backside of my consciousness where it lurks, ready to spring forth like a night terror. It is hard to hold these truths in awareness. But Ralph does that. And Dot. and Mary Olsen, and so many others who will not forget the devastation of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the many times more horrible threat to the world today.

Our modern nuclear arsenal, and the old ones being refurbished and upgraded at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, are far more devastating than any destruction yet experienced.

In the vice-presidental debates, the awful question came up: Gwen Ifill of PBS asked "What should be the trigger, or should there be a trigger, when nuclear weapons use is ever put into play?"

Palin is all for other nations, such as Iran, giving up their nuclear weapons, but not the U.S. not us. Not here. She says they are used as a "safe deterrent." Biden managed to skirt the issue all together. Still. the question was asked.

Several notable speakers will be in Knoxville in the next few weeks, including Helen Caldicot of Physicians for Social Responsibility and Frieda Berrigan. They will help celebrate 20 years of courageous activism by the folks at Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance. Click here for details:

"Clean Coal" Kills! Listen Up Obama

The Drinking Liberally crowd hooted and hollored throughout the Vice-presidential debate Thursday. Sarah Palin's performance reminded me of the 1960s doll "Chatty Cathy." Pull her string and one of 18 recorded phrases played. Palin has her set phrases too, and in doll-like fashion and winking at the audience now and again, she delivered them with little regard for the question on hand. I wasn't really expecting much substance or depth from her performance, but she held well to her rehearsed script.

Joe Biden seemed far more authentic, even more so when his voice seemed to catch as he talked about his own family circumstances in response to Palin's touting her motherhood as a vice-presidential credential. But when Biden stridently declared "clean coal" as a possible energy crises solution, he lost my respect. Surely he knows better?

"Clean Coal?" Folks in Appalachia know there is no such thing. Where's the real change if we're still condoning use of such old pollutants? "Clean coal"? What about clean air? What about the entire stream of pollution that "clean coal" only shifts but never eradicates?

Several of us arrived at the Asheville High stadium prepared to confront Barak on the issue: Our banner was large and we held it aloft at the top of the stands in full view of Senator Obama:

"Appalachia Says: Don't Betray Us. 'Clean Coal' Kills."

Obama didn't raise the energy issue as Biden had. He focused instead on health care and relief for the middle class.

"I know something about the heartbreak caused by our health care system," Obama told Asheville's enthusiastic crowd, many still streaming into the stadium as he spoke.

But Obama, Sir. What about the heartbreak and health of the people in the coal fields of Appalachia? Have you not heard about the devastation of mountain-top removal, the ruination of the health of the people in Appalachian communities?

Obama, Sir, when you come to Appalachia to tout the value of preventative health care, such as smoking cessation programs, keep in mind that"clean coal" still kills.

Al Gore has come around. Environmentalist Taylor Barnhill was at Jack of the Woods after the Obama rally. He told me how he had showed Gore a story about Mountain Top removal printed in the same publication as an article by Gore.

"I told Gore he needed to read that article," Taylor said. "And he did."

"Clean coal is like healthy cigarettes," Gore now says. Taylor laughed, "I take credit for that one."

So, all you Obama supporters: Can you get some information to Senators Biden and Obama. Soon?

Appalachia Says: Don't Betray Us. 'Clean Coal' Kills.

Keeping it Spinning: True Nature country Fair

The success of the The True Nature Country Fair this weekend can not be measured by the number of folks who fired up their internal combustion engines to make the journey, but by the the quality of folks who did find a way to the campsite at Deerfields in Mills River, despite weekend rains and the scarcity of gasoline supply.

Diane Nettles of Celo Community explained that the Fair, which is a "celebration of life lived in connection and harmony with the Earth," is supported by the Organic Growers School, a collection of folks who understand that all good things take time to grow. It is a part of their commitment to supporting sustainable agriculture in the Southern Appalachians through educational programs and outreach.

By Saturday the rains had passed and the weather was perfect for relaxing and enjoying the company of others who are leading the way to a return to sanity and sustainability in our lifestyles. It was a mellow, laid back, inter-generational weekend in the country, with opportunity to connect with many like-minded others.

Asheville herbalist Corey Pine Shane of the Blue Ridge School of Herbal Medicine, was among several who led herb walks throughout the weekend. As there were many more workshop offerings than participants could fill, scheduled events were sometimes combined with others or adjusted to the circumstances. I was delighted with the melding of a Yoga class and an herb walk on Saturday morning, a combination that worked quite well. After we identified a Chinese Chestnut tree at the edge of a wood, gathering and tasting the protein rich nuts, we paused to do Yoga poses using a stand of young trees as props for a full body twist.

Folks from Earthhaven and Celo Community were well represented, both as workshop leaders and exhibitors. Kathy from Whittier displayed her tinctures and salves gleaned from wild plants near her home, and Paul of Celo set up his blacksmith demonstration. Gred set up a Greenhouse and it was the top raffle prize. Jim Stockwell shared pesto and potatoes from his garden, and another Celo farmer gave out samples of a savory squash soup. Kevin showed his Liberty dollars and patrick gave lessons in mushroom growing.

There were plenty of hula hoops, and I picked up one at the urging of a ten-year old. It had been fifty years and I could still keep it spinning! I rolled away with a half sashay in a contra dance and took a lone walk around a cat-tail ringed pond and through the woods, munching on a wide variety of apples.

I carpooled with friends from the Buncombe Greens, and strung my hammock in an apple orchard for the night. The gnarled and dying trees were still bearing crisp, sweet apples, though most remained on the ground where they fell, returning to the soil without the opportunity to share their juicy fibre.

There were lots of elders present, but most had to stay with their booths and could not attend all the workshops. So I revised the format of the elders circle I was to lead. Jackie Simms of Asheville's Ethical Culture Society and I went from booth to booth, and to one cluster of elders after the other, to see if we could find a common definition of just what an elder is, what role an elder might have in our present culture, and how and when one can begin to stand with the authority of an elder. Such questions are important to me now as I approach very soon my 60th birthday.

I like the ideas of Nelson Mandella and the circle of global elders he has gathered together. These times certainly call for the wisdom of all ages to be heard and for action from those whose fibre is still sweet and crip, and can, as Mandella says of his global elders, "speak freely, be fiercely independent, and respond fast and flexibly in conflict situations."

Let me know some of your ideas, and who among you might be willing to step forward in these perilous times as an elder activist.
Program Manager Karen Vizzina pulled together a wonderful event and I am most appreciative of the opportunity to participate.

Fired up? How much More?

On short notice a few folks took to the corner in Asheville yesterday to say "No Bailout for Rich Crooks!"

As is usually the case, far more are willing to give the thumbs up and honk a horn in passing than are willing or able to stand on the corner to make dissent visible.

I read Naomi Klein's Shock Doctrine, so I've been prepped somewhat for the mindset that could even countenance such a massive theft from the taxpaying citizens.

Mike Hopping has posted on his website a good essay he calls "Behind the Bailout."

Will they get away with it? Will we let them? Can we stop them?

What, then, shall we do?

Tom Craig's sign: "Where's our Outrage?" posed a good question. How much more abuse from these thieves and liars will we take. How much more before we're all saying, "We're fired up! Can't take it no more?"

I received a letter yesterday from a woman I met in prison. She is over 60, and was arrested along with her son and daughter. The crime? Conspiracy to sell drug paraphenalia. She's been down more than eight years, and is still trying to find some justice in our broken system. Meanwhile, the crooks and liars and Wall Street thieves are rewarded with billions.

How long will we continue to pay for such abuses?

Bold Actions: Local Activist Out on a Ledge

May the innocent find peace; may the dead find grace; may the wounded find healing; may the homeless find shelter; may America find forgiveness; and may justice find the guilty.
- Veterans For Peace Chapter 39

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This just in. Several of my friends are involved. Our own local VFP 99 member Kim Carlyle is one of the fasting activists.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 23, 2008

Contacts: Elliot Adams 518-441-2697, Ellen Barfield 410-948-8023, Tarak Kauff 845 249-9489

VETERANS OCCUPY NATIONAL ARCHIVES BUILDING

“Arresting Bush and Cheney for war crimes will honor our oath to the Constitution,” vets say.

On Tuesday morning, September 23, 7:30am, at the front of the National Archives Building on Constitution Ave. in Washington, D.C., five military veterans will risk arrest as they climb a 9-foot retaining fence and occupy a 35-foot high ledge to raise a 22x8 foot banner stating, “DEFEND OUR CONSTITUTION. ARREST BUSH AND CHENEY: WAR CRIMINALS!”

The group has declared its intention to stay on the ledge, fasting for 24 hours “in remembrance of those who have perished and those still suffering from the crimes of the Bush administration,” according to a written statement. With a portable PA system, they will broadcast recorded statements from prominent Americans for the impeachment and/or arrest of George W. Bush and Richard Cheney. “Citizens Arrest Warrants” will be distributed to people waiting in line to enter the National Archives.

The veterans emphasized they are taking this action because “Bush and Cheney’s serial abuse of the Law of the Land clearly marks them as domestic enemies of the Constitution…they have illegally invaded and occupied Iraq, deliberately destroyed civilian infrastructure, authorized torture, and unlawfully detained prisoners. These actions clearly mark them as war criminals…accountability extends beyond impeachment to prosecution for war crimes even after their terms of office expire.”

“We take this action as a last resort,” their statement added. “For years we have pursued every avenue open to good, vigilant citizens to bring these men to justice, to re-establish the rule of law, and to restore the balance of power described in our Constitution. We are not disturbing the peace; we are attempting to restore the peace. We are not conducting ourselves in a disorderly manner; our action is well-ordered and well-considered. We are not trespassing; we have come to the home of our Constitution to honor our oath to defend it.”

Those participating are all members of Veterans For Peace and include Elliott Adams: 61, NY, VFP President and former Army paratrooper in Viet Nam; Ellen Barfield: 52, MD, former U.S. Army Sgt., full-time peace and justice advocate; Kim Carlyle: 61, NC, mountain homesteader, former Army Spec 5, 828-626-2572; Diane Wilson: 59, TX, shrimp boat captain, former Army medic, 361-785-4680; Doug Zachary: 58, TX, VFP staff, former USMC LCpl discharged as a conscientious objector, 512-791-9824; and Tarak Kauff (ground support) 67, NY, painting contractor, former U.S. Army Airborne.

Founded in 1985, VFP has 120 chapters throughout the country and has actively protested the Afghanistan and Iraq wars since their inception. Membership includes men and women veterans of all eras and duty stations spanning the Spanish Civil War, WWII, Korea, Vietnam and Iraq. VFP is an official Non Governmental Organization (NGO) represented at the UN.

Resting at the River

O mothers let's go down,
Let's go down, don't you want to go down,
Come on mothers let's go down,
Down in the river to pray.

My Internet connection has been sporadic at home lately, so I've enjoyed a break from the computer screen. Instead, I've been resting my eyes and soothing my spirit at the river, the fine French Broad that flows nearby my home.

Leaning into an old Sycamore I've been reading Joanna Macy's book World As Lover, World as Self. Its been most helpful, providing insight and encouragement in these times of global distress.

A few nights ago I awakened from a dream about our Magnolia. In the dream I arrived there to sit, as had been my custom for many, many days this summer, only to find a crowd gathered. They were watching and murmuring, wailing and keening, as the fine old tree was torn limb from limb.

I made my way back to the Magnolia as soon as I could, relieved to find her standing. Though we have not been maintaining a 24/7 watch since the superior court victory, we have many folks committed to keeping an eye out. We have allies in City Hall, and many others who come from time to time from the Magnolia Watch network. The Judge signed the Order yesterday, upholding the land as dedicated to public use. Still, the Magnolia needs a protective order. Still, our Magnolia is vulnerable, as our world is vulnerable.

"Until we can grieve for our planet and its future inhabitants, we cannot fully feel our enact our love for them," Joanna Macy writes.

Perhaps in this dream I am feeling the limitations of my own efforts to stay the demise of our natural world. In touching on that grief, feeling the pain of the vulnerable, and opening to the despair, perhaps I am also opening to some of the collective power of all beings who share this time and space, and to all the possibilities yet to manifest that magnify our individual efforts.

Even so and whatever may be, for now, the good river flows, its surface silvered by the sun.
Its power is deep and sometimes hidden, and just sitting there reminds me of that, and I breathe in deeply the sweet breezes that ripple its surface.

Come on mothers let's go down,
Down in the river to pray.

Sunday at the Magnolia: Full Circle Circus

All seats were filled in our little parkside arena at the Magnolia for the Sunday afternoon show by The Olive Tree circus, a fiesty little band of travelling performers. The message was about the olive trees of Palestine that nurture the people, the walls that separate them, and the ways to overcome barriers to peaceful community.

A few blocks away at the Lexingtion Avenue Arts Festival, the tallest bicycle rider, Michael Mooney, was gearing up, ready to make another try at breaking the Guiness record. The music was all-local as were the vendors whose booths were filled with homegrown arts and crafts. Folks were stylin' in all manner of imaginative get ups, and I noticed that snakehawk had found a pokeberry patch to brighten his mohawk hairdo.

It was a year ago this weekend at LAAF that Denise, Weezel and I collected the first signatures on a petition to Save Our Magnolia. Denise painted a portrait of the tree and displayed it as we sat collecting names at the festival. In no time at all we had many hundreds of signatures. The Magnolia's portrait hangs on the wall at her daughter Rosettas' kitchen.

Tomorrow marks the end of the 35 day notice from developer Stewart Coleman, the speculator who apparently still has title to the land where the magnolia resides. Mr. Coleman promised he would not "remove" the tree until after September 8th. Yet even with the court ruling in favor of the Pack family deed and the dedication and acceptance of the land as "public forever," there is still much ambiguity about how this issue will finally resolve.

What seems clear is the urgency for a remedy that will protect the Magnolia for its natural life and preserve the open green space as a public parkland.

Our Magnolia is still vulnerable, even though the land has been reclaimed for public use. The Magnolia provides a pleasant venue for music, poetry, oratory and other community events. Spontaneous gatherings for conversation circles, Tai Chi or Yoga sessions, family picnics, etc. will help keep her safe and maintain this public space as a zone of peace as the Girl Scouts intended when they placed the peace pole there nearly a decade ago.

Call the Council and Commission members and insist on a conservation easement that will assure this park and the Magnolia will be protected as public parkland forever.

Persistence Pays Off: A Memphis Story

I heard the news today.
My brother Robert's email was simple:

"John Did It!
The shell reopened
tonite to a good crowd."

Brother John Vincent was the 7th of our eight siblings. He was a wandering bard and a musician who documented the Memphis music scene. When he got wind of unpublicized plans to demolish a city landmark, The Overton Park Shell, John took action.

The Overton Park Shell was part of Memphis music history. Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and many others made their first public appearances on the stage of the Overton Park Shell in Memphis, Tennessee.In 1954, Slim Whitman headlined and Elvis Presley sang a few songs there, including "That's Alright Mama." When we were children, my siblings and I would walk the few miles in the hot summer nights to hear Memphis musicians in concert in the open air. The photo above, was taken in about 2002, after we reclaimed and repaired the shell with all-volunteer efforts.

Brother John was a laborer and a dreamer. He died in a construction fall in 1985 before he was able to marshal much support for his quest to save the shell. At his wake, we pledged to carry on his dream. For years the Save Our Shell committee worked to revive and sustain the shell in an effort involving several generations of our family and hundreds of dedicated volunteers without municipal support. It was the people reclaiming our park. From 1986 until 2003, according to reports:

Save Our Shell (SOS) Inc. has provided quality entertainment since 1986. Year 2002 - 54 performances for 63,000 people. Year 2003 - 63 performances for 75,000 people.

Here is how one man, writing in the Memphis Commercial Appeal, remembers my brother John:

...I was playing the local club scene, and there was this 'funny little guy' showing up at all my shows to video-tape my performances....I can't even convey how Strange this was, from the perspective that no-one was doing this....Video was an unknown medium at the time, the cameras were big and awkward....During a break one night, I approached the 'funny little guy' about what he was doing.....He introduced himself as John Hanrahan, and said he was documenting Memphis Music.....Little did I know, at the time, that John and I would become Good Friends.....John preached incessantly about the plans for Brooks Art Museum to tear down the Shell - He carried petitions with him wherever he went - John was on a One Man Crusade to Save the Shell.....In Truth, we all took John's Crusade with a grain of salt - The Shell had fallen into Horrible Disrepair, and no-one wanted to challenge the wishes of the Brooks Art Museum.....Then The Accident Occured.....On that Mystical Morning at Omni Arts we all pledged to carry on John's Dream of saving the Shell.....We planned the first fund raising concert that morning....The Concept of Saving The Shell gained momentum at John's Wake.....David Leonard got involved in the project, and through David's leadership the Save Our Shell Committee was Born.....I too believe there should be a Statue, Commemorative Plaque, or some sort of Honor bestowed commemorating the Late Great John Hanrahan.....The 'funny little guy' who single handedly saved a Memphis Landmark.....

So, the idea of people coming together to take bold action in defense of our diminishing public places is not new to me. We have the power, we just need the collective will to hold on to what is important in our homeplace, and the persistence to see it through.

Join us Sunday at our Magnolia for the Olive Tree Circus. 3 - 4 p.m.
Let's not abandon our Magnolia and the people's park.

Olive Tree Circus: Sunday at the Magnolia!

The Olive Tree Circus Is
Coming to Asheville!
3 p.m. Sunday
At the Magnolia Tree

presenting

"The Olive Tree and the Wall"
-- a circus about
separation and sustainability --

Join us for about an hour
of circus and fun.

Rain location: First Congregational UCC, at 20 Oak St., Parking available behind and beside the church. Bring a blanket and/or chairs. Donations for the Circus are gratefully accepted.

The Olive Tree Circus is a group of 8 friends going to Palestine in October to work with community groups and refugee camps doing circus and puppets in support of communities engaged in the struggle for justice. One of the women in the Olive Tree Circus is Palestinian and on the board of the Palestinian theater group Al Harrah.

The Olive Tree Circus believes that just coexistence is possible when communities are given sustainable resources for a just livelihood. We also are passionate about the power of humor, play, music and art to heal, inspire and connect hearts and minds. We use stilting, clowning, building giant puppets from recycled goods, theater, and other forms of entertainment to express our creative hopes for the world in which we live.

My friend, Lissa McLeod, a circus performer, is seen here as a butterfly at a recent rally in Oak Ridge standing against nuclear weapons production. Lissa would be really excited to talk with people interested in helping to support this project. The best ways to reach her are email at lmcleod1@gmail.com; cell phone 865-776-8249 or home phone 865-609-2012.