Green Dove Blog

CRITICAL I-69 Meeting!

2011-05-12T12:28:00.000-04:00

PLEASE ATTEND THIS CRITICAL MEETING!

Bloomington/Monroe County Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) Friday,
May 13th, 2011 1:30pm City of Bloomington Showers Complex, Council Chambers
401 N. Morton St. Bloomington, IN 47404

We cannot stress enough how important this meeting is. Please Attend!
We need your voice to help keep I-69 out of Bloomington and Our Rural
Communities.

The Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) will consider taking I-69 out
of the Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP).

Tell our MPO: Please Take I-69 out of the TIP!

* I-69 will degrade our quality of life, with increased traffic, air and
noise pollution.
* I 69 will threaten our fragile karst topography, forests, farmland and
water resources.
* I-69 is depressing land and home values in Monroe and Greene Counties.
* We need more public transit, more travel options, and fewer carbon
emissions, not I-69.

New Terrain I-69 is SIMPLY WRONG FOR INDIANA!

Spring Swap Meet!, Bloomington, Indiana - Earth Day

2011-04-19T19:08:00.001-04:00

'Spring Swap Meet!

PLEASE SPREAD FAR AND WIDE!' on Transition Bloomington, IN!

Please spread this far and wide. Bring your stuff 5-7 pm April 22, and then come back in the morning to get other stuff . . . there's so much stuff in this world, recycle! and connect!

Spring Swap Meet! PLEASE SPREAD FAR AND WIDE! Time: April 23, 2011 from 8am to 12pm
Location: Atrium at Showers, in conjunction with the Farmer's Market
Organized By: Ann Renee Kreilkamp and Rhonda Baird

Event Description:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 11, 2011
Contact: Ann Kreilkamp
arkcrone@gmail.com
812.334.1987

COMMUNITY EXCHANGE HOSTS EARTH DAY SWAP AT FARMERS MARKET

Find a new way to “reduce, reuse, and recycle” items at the first Community Exchange Spring Swap to be held April 23 at the Showers Building between 9 am and 12 noon. Community members are invited to finish up their spring cleaning by donating good, serviceable and “desirable” items at the Showers Building on Friday night between 5 and 7 pm. Donators will be given a special pass to get into shopping an hour early.

“This is a really fun way to promote re-use of good items others no longer need, to build community, and to educate people about different ways to live an abundant life,” said Rhonda Baird, one of the project members.

Besides the give and take of the swap, visitors will have an opportunity to learn about time banks and sign up for the Bloomington Community Exchange (a local exchange and trading system that lets people offer goods and services to their community without using paper currency).

The swap organizers will not be able to accept intimate apparel, chemicals, paint, or old electronics such as televisions or monitors.

For more information, contact Ann Kreilkamp, arkcrone@gmail.com or 812.334.1987

This Tax Day, Make THEM Pay... a letter about April 18th from Michael Moore

2011-04-17T20:14:00.003-04:00

Dear People,

Thank you for stopping by to read this every now and then blog. I hope you stay long enough to read what Michael has to say.

I find it very interesting that as of this posting we are but a few days away from Earth Day and according to Cost of this , the Wars waged with American tax payer dollars have cost the American People

This Tax Day, Michael says Make THEM Pay. Green Dove wishes it had a small amount of funds comming in on a regular basis to say YES! to peace making. Yet when you look at the fact that more than 70% of Americans paying taxes are in the $50,000 and below range and that is falling. It is easy for folks to say, we don't have it. Well what we support with our $'s will continue. What do we want to live and love for. How can we take a chance on creating a peaceful, sustainable nation. It won't be easy, because the benefactors of this current unstable state prefer it this way.

May we each find a way to love more than we fear. If not for ourselves, for the children we love.

Green Dove

...a letter about April 18th from Michael Moore
Friday, April 15th, 2011

Friends,
Do you wonder (like I do) what the tax accountants and executives are doing over at GE this weekend? Frantically rushing to fill out their IRS returns like the rest of us?
Hardly. They're taking the weekend off to throw themselves a big party and have a hearty laugh at all of us. It must really crack them up to see us like suckers scurrying around to make sure we report everything to Uncle Sam -- and even send him a check, if necessary.
The joke's on us, folks. GE and tons of other corporations will have a tax bill for 2010 of ZERO. GE had $14.2 billion in profits in 2010. Yet they will contribute NOTHING to the federal government while every last dime is soaked from us.
In the latest budget deal, our politicians could have tackled the deficit by stopping the flow of these ill-gotten billions to corporations. Instead they cut billions from "wasteful" programs that do "wasteful" things, like create new jobs, drive economic growth, and help the needy and our nation's children. It's Democracy in reverse and it sickens me.
GE spends $20 million a year to lobby Congress to throw themselves this party. But do you know what speaks louder than $20 million? 20 million votes! 20 million people, and more, standing together and taking to the streets. That starts now, with you.
This coming Monday, April 18th is Tax Day -- and that's the day when "we the people" will demand our country back from these corporations in events all across the country. You can find the nearest event to you here.
MoveOn members -- along with union, community, and environmental allies -- will gather outside the headquarters and local offices of the biggest corporate tax dodgers to deliver tax bills from the American people. And we'll demand that our leaders make these corporate deadbeats pay.
We're doing this because we don't buy into the Big Lie: that greedy teachers caused the crash on Wall Street! That the selfish firefighters sent millions of jobs overseas! That pregnant woman, infants, and children are sending us into deficit!
No, it was the big corporations that did this. It was the CEOs and the top 1% of the country. THEY brought on the mortgage crisis. THEY made off with trillions of dollars from our economy. THEY are systematically destroying the middle class. And THEY have bought and sold the very people elected to represent us!
On Monday, we will have something to say to Exxon, Chevron, and the big banks that crashed our economy and got billions in bailouts, like Citigroup and Bank of America, who pay little or no federal income tax. In fact, the IRS will likely give them a tax REBATE. If that doesn't boggle your mind then nothing will.
The Tax Day events are about sending this message: We are coming after you, we are stopping you and we are going to return the money, jobs, and homes you stole from the people. This is your tipping point, Corporate America. And I, for one, am glad it's going to happen this Monday.
If you've never been to an event like this before, this is the time. And don't go alone, because none of us can win this fight by ourselves. Plus, it's more fun and exciting to go along with friends and family to be part of real democracy in action -- not the store-bought kind Big Business gets on Capitol Hill.
I really hope you can make it. This is our chance, my friends. Take the time on Monday to make your voice heard. I can guarantee you I will. Please join me.
Yours,
Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com

Continue to Send Support to Japan

2011-03-14T11:51:00.004-04:00

Dear All,

Thank you for visiting this page. There are so many that need our positive thoughts, prayers and resources. Haiti and New Orleans are still in recovery as are many other war torn places upon our home earth. Now, Japan, as you well know is reeling from the recent earthquake and tsunami. Gratefully, many around the earth have responded. As with Haiti and New Orleans, the aid and consideration will be necessary for some time to come.

Please open your loving HEARTS FULLY to Stand Shoulder to Shoulder in the LIGHT of love radiating from each of our hearts, each of us visualizing the vibrations of Peace, Love, Harmony, Unity and a recovery of the shifting of our Earth Mother."

What effects one, effects us all.

Please send out peaceful and loving energy to all that you love and believe in asking for assistance and quick stabilization of all devastating energies in regards to the Japan earth quake and following tsunamis.

If you feel inclined, Please invite in the healing energies on behalf of all disruptions and inequities and fear based behaviors that keep us from helping one another and healing our communities and our earth in a peaceful manner.

May all of our loving thoughts and prayers reach out and assist in some way those in need of these prayers and the blessings of comfort they may release for all people affected, and may the global community continue its outpouring of all needed supplies and resources for the ensuing massive rescue and relief effort.

Thank you, I am grateful for each thought and action shared.

You are each a blessing,

Please keep sending your prayers and positive thoughts to all those in need, and if you have the ability to, send aid through these links;
http://www.redcross.org/

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_newsroom/20110311/wl_yblog_newsroom/japan-earthquake-and-tsunami-how-to-help

Upcoming Peace and Justice Events around Bloomington and Indianapolis, IN

2011-03-14T11:25:00.003-04:00

May you be peaceful within and without.
Thanks Jim for sharing most of these items on your ecalendar. PCC

Monday, March 14 - Standing on the Side of Love -
Citizens stand to support healthy communities and the right for all citizens to form legal partnerships and marriages. Rally at Indianapolis Statehouse.

Tuesday, March 15

Indiana United Immigration Reform, Gathering at the State Capitol to object to Arizona-style immigration 3:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Indiana State House (South Steps). For more info email ACLU of Indiana lrice@aclu-in.org
The Indianapolis Peace and Justice Center will meet on Mon. at 7:00 pm at Earth House, 237 N. East. For more info, contact me at jwolfe@uindy.edu or 432-4873.
Wednesday, March 16

The IPS Latino Resources Roundtable, which promotes and supports the programs, services and activities of organizations such as Immigrant Welcome Center, Indianapolis International Center, Muslim Alliance of Indiana, African Community International, Sociedad Amigos de Colombia, Mexican Consulate and the National League of Cities, will meet at 9:00 am at IPS John Morton-Finney Educational Services Building, 120 E. Walnut. For more info, contact Nora Trincado at 226-4831 or trincadn@ips.k12.in.us.

[Bloomington] Bloomington Peace Action Coalition’s twice-monthly Peace Demonstration on the Square takes place from 5:00 to 6:00 pm, at Monroe County Courthouse Square at the intersection of Kirkwood Ave. and Walnut. For more info, email Timothy Baer at timothybaer2003@hotmail.com. (March 19th/20th marks the 8th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. More than 100,000 U.S. military personnel and mercenaries continue to operate as a military occupation force in Iraq today.)

[Bloomington] “The Real War” film series continues with the premiere of "Shadow Company." 7:00 to 8:45 p.m. Monroe County Public Library Auditorium
303 E. Kirkwood Avenue. With over $100 billion in annual revenues and 70,000 employees in Iraq alone, the private military industry is booming, yet few civilians know anything about it. “Shadow Company”, a groundbreaking feature-length documentary, takes you deep inside this secret world that is changing the face of modern warfare.

The Indianapolis Chapter of Amnesty International will meet at 7:00 pm at Earth House, 237 N. East. For more info, contact Noel Fliss at 916-6050 or info@amnestyindy.org.

A panel of the “Interfaith 2011” retreat teachers will be held the evening of Wednesday, March 16 to explore the common ground of the three faith traditions. The panel is free of charge and open to the public. It will be held at the Atheneum/Visitor Center in New Harmony at 7:00 p.m. For more information, contact Historic New Harmony at 812-682-4488 or go to www.newharmony.org.

Thursday, March 17

HAPPY ST. PATRICKS DAY!

Fast for Gaza will meet on Thurs. at 12 noon at Lulu’s Electric Café, 1460 W. 86. For more info, contact Lew Weiss at ljweiss@clarian.org or 962-8580.

There will be an Anti-death Penalty Witness on Thurs., 12:30-1:30 pm, at the east steps of the State House, Capitol Ave. and Market, sponsored by The Indiana Information Center on the Abolition of Capital Punishment (IICACP). Bring a sign or use one of ours; come for any part of the hour. For more info, phone 466-7128

[Bloomington] The Research Committee of Hoosiers for a Commonsense Health Plan will meet at 4:30 pm at Boxcar Books and Community Center, 408 E. 6. For more info, visit hchp.info or contact Milton Fisk at (812) 336-7184 or fiskm@indiana.edu.

Christians for Peace & Justice in the Middle East will meet at 6:00 pm at the home of Dottie Gerner. Bring a sandwich. For more info or directions, phone Dottie Gerner at 283-7175.

Friday, March 18

The weekly vigil protesting warfare will take place between 4:30 to 5:30 pm, in front of the Federal Building, North and Pennsylvania, sponsored by the Indianapolis Peace and Justice Center. Bring an appropriate sign or there will be one provided for you. For more info, contact Ron Haldeman at 926-4318 or ronjane@igc.org

Saturday, March 19

Bread for the World will hold a monthly meeting at 10:00 am in the board room in the A Wing of the Main Building at Robin Run Village, 5354 W. 62. For more info, phone Marjorie Hill at 291-7150 before attending.

Two overlapping free events will occur on Sat. at Earth House, 237 N. East, with good food for free or as much as you can pay, 2:00-4:00 pm, and a Really, Really Free Market, 2:30-5:30 pm. For more info, contact Ed Stites at 965-2466 or stitesed@gmail.com.

[Nashville] The weekly Peace Vigil on the theme "War Is Not the Answer!" will begin at 6:00 pm at the Brown County Courthouse, Main and Van Buren Streets, sponsored by Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (Brown County Branch). For more info, contact Tom Hougham at 878-4210 or annntom@hotmail.com.

Sunday, March 20

SNAP, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, will meet on Sun. at 1:30 pm at Crestwood Village Community Room, E. 91 at the Monon Trail. For more info, phone Cecilia Shelpey at 844-2993

There will be a closed business meeting of Socialist Party USA at 3:00 pm, an open business meeting of Democratic Socialists of America at 3:30 pm, and an open meeting and get-together of Indiana Socialist Fellowship at 4 pm on Sun. at Starbucks, 645 W. 11. For more info, contact Marvin Williams at WilliamsMDWJr@aol.com or 955-2779.

March 26th - Trashion Refashion Show - A benefit for the Center for Sustainable Living

If you are in the Indianapolis area and would like items posted to the Indy Peace and Justice Calendar, send them to Jim at jwolfe@uindy.edu

Calls From Home

2010-12-06T14:07:00.004-05:00

Dear Green Dove Readers,
May this note find you with peace in your hearts and homes. Those behind bars hope you will take a few minutes and respond to this holiday call.

Join the 11th annual CALLS FROM HOME holiday radio broadcast for prisoners and their families!

Listen To Calls A National Radio Show For Prisoners And Their Families

Join the 11th annual CALLS FROM HOME holiday radio broadcast for prisoners and their families.

The United States has 2.4 million people behind bars. Thousand Kites wants you to lend your voice to a powerful grassroots radio broadcast that reaches into our nation's prison and tells those inside they are not forgotten.

We are asking you to call our toll-free line 877-410-4863 and speak directly to those behind bars this holiday season. An answering machine will record your message. Read a poem, sing a song, or just speak directly from you heart. Speak to someone you know or to everyone--make it uplifting.

It as simple as calling 877-410-4863 and speaking into your phone.

We are making a special call to poets to support our project this year. Poets click here.

CALLS FROM HOME will broadcast on over 200 radio stations across the country and will be available for download on our website December 21st.

Call anytime (now through December 20) at 877-410-4863 and record your message. Listen to calls here.

Learn how you can help blog, distribute, broadcast, or support this project. We want you to use the show as an education tool in your community. Sign-up to recieve a free kit here and radio stations can visit here to learn how to carry the program. Spread the word in your community with our poster.

CALLS FROM HOME is a project of Thousand Kites and a national network of grassroots organizations working for criminal justice transformation.

So call right now at 877-410-4863.

Peace,
Thousand Kites Team
Prison Photo and Letters
check them out on facebook

For more information contact:
team@thousandkites.org - www.kitescampaigns.org - 91 Madison Ave. - Whitesburg, KY 41858

Local Peace Group to Hold Communitywide Brainstorming Session - Bloomington, In

2010-11-15T06:51:00.002-05:00

Bloomington Peace Action Coalition (BPAC) invites members of the community to attend a brainstorming and strategizing meeting to develop next steps for the local Peace movement. The meeting will take place on Monday, November 15, 2010, from 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. in Room 1-B of the Monroe County Public Library in Bloomington, Indiana.

Anyone concerned about the far-reaching human, environmental, fiscal and national security impacts resulting from two ongoing wars and occupations and an ever-expanding U.S. military-industrial complex is invited to attend this meeting.

The midterm-elections this year were dominated by concerns about the national debt. This debt resulted in large part from U.S. military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, but this fact received little attention. Over the past 9 years, both Republican and Democratic Indiana congressmen and senators repeatedly voted in favor of funding these wars.

A dollar spent on the U.S. military is not available for spending on education, healthcare, emergency services, housing, increasing energy efficiency, development of renewable energy sources, or a less petroleum dependent transportation system, all of which are pressing needs in a time of declining petroleum supplies, global climate crisis, increasing poverty and lingering economic recession.

How can we communicate to our newly elected Indiana congressmen and senators the urgent need of cutting military expenditures?

War not only delivers instant death, injury and destruction during combat operations, but has effects far removed from the battlefield, placing huge burdens on generations to come.

In October, a large number of peace, environmental, faith and social justice groups in southern and central Indiana worked with BPAC in bringing author Barry Sanders to Bloomington, Columbus, Evansville, and Indianapolis. Sanders spoke about the environmental impacts of military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, including impacts on U.S. soldiers who suffer long-term health problems from radiation and chemical pollution even after they return home. Sanders also pointed out the huge consumption of fossil fuels by the U.S. military, especially during war, and the resulting effects on the global climate.

In light of the enormous human and environmental costs of war, and of the ever expanding U.S. military presence around the globe, BPAC is joining Barry Sanders in calling for a “No War” movement. Peace is a necessity.

All who desire Peace and are willing to work towards it are encouraged to participate in Monday’s important community-wide meeting.

Contact Information:
David Keppel, keppel@sbcglobal.net, (812) 331-2815 (812) 331-2815
Christine Glaser, christineglaser@sbcglobal.net, (812) 336-0360

Save Health Care for Veterans!

2010-11-10T08:43:00.002-05:00

Greetings to You,

May you be well in these times of great changes.

Please take time to read and I hope act on behalf of America's Veterans!

Tomorrow is Veterans Day and resources for health and wellness are being considered for cuts, including funds necessary to support the health and recovery of our military veterans and families. 59% of the current budget is slated to support fear and the belief that somehow, if enough money is thrown at fear instead of at what we say we love, that we will somehow come out on top. To all of our service people, I am sorry for the waste of your precious well being.

America's military men and women were willing to sacrifice their lives to serve their country. They should not have to worry about their families' health care. But that's exactly what's happening because of Congressional dithering.

Protect access to care for veterans and military families.

Their health care program, TriCare, is connected to Medicare. And planned cuts to Medicare physician reimbursement will make it difficult for veterans to find the necessary care they require.

Some doctors have said the cuts will force them to decrease or stop seeing new Medicare and TriCare patients. Which means older people and military families may be forced to go to emergency rooms instead of doctor offices for basic care.

Congress has put off fixing Medicare and TriCare nine times -- tell Congress to stop stalling and fix Medicare and Tricare for seniors and military families. »

America's veterans deserve more.

Thanks for taking action!

You can find this and other action alerts on the Petition Site

"The Ecological Costs of Militarism"

2010-10-17T14:49:00.002-04:00

A Talk by Barry Sanders, Ph.D.
Author of The Green Zone

Introduction by Bloomington Mayor Mark Kruzan

Wednesday, October 20th, 7 p.m.
Unitarian Universalist Church
2120 North Fee Lane
Bloomington, IN 47408

Free and Open to the Public

Sponsored by:
Bloomington Peace Action Coalition
Cosponsors:
Just Peace Task Force, Unitarian Universalist Church
Green Sanctuary Task Force, Unitarian Universalist Church
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
Environmental Commission, City of Bloomington
Center for Sustainable Living
Heartwood
Indiana Forest Alliance
IU Progressive Faculty and Staff Caucus
Boxcar Books
The Bloomington Alternative
Indiana Peace and Justice Network
et. al.

For more information, please contact:
Linda Greene lgreene@bloomington.in.us
or David Keppel
keppel@sbcglobal.net
(812) 331-2815

Call Luger today!

2010-08-26T13:32:00.001-04:00

This came in today, and I agree.

Friends,

Please see: http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/25/cabbie-attacked/?hp

I hope everyone will consider calling Senator Lugar: (202) 224-4814 (or, for out of state friends reading this, your Senators). It is past time for a senior Republican to denounce the vicious hatred spread by a host of Republican politicians as well as by Fox News and its allies.

Thanks and peace,

"Council of All Beings"

2010-08-26T13:21:00.003-04:00

"Council of All Beings” (COAB): Gather with others to explore your life within the natural world through the voices of plants, animals and other natural elements.
Choose a part of nature and give it voice within our Council as we listen and learn about our natural community and the impact of human activity. We will acknowledge the crisis and pain as well as the wisdom and life force within all beings. Explore and deepen your natural connection through meditation, song, movement and a focusing intention with clear ideas and wisdom for ways to reconnect with nature through this living ceremony.

Join Real Compost and Reiki Peace and Wellness Arts on October 2nd from 10am to 4pm at May Creek Farm in Bloomington, Indiana. Limited spaces. Registration required. To reserve your place, email healingart@gmail.com and mail your payment to – COAB Workshop, P.O. Box Bloomington, IN. Limited number of work scholarships available.

Sponsored by Real Compost, Reiki Peace and Wellness Arts, Indiana Holistic Health Network, May Creek Farm, Quilter’s Comfort, Green Dove Network, Inc, Local Food Bloomington and Love Works

Questions call – Patricia at 812- 331-0886 or Dave at 812-824-6875
Sponsored by Real Compost, Reiki Peace and Wellness Arts, Indiana Holistic Health Network, May Creek Farm, Quilter’s Comfort, Green Dove Network, Inc, Local Food Bloomington and Love Works

Questions call – Patricia at 812- 331-0886 or Dave at 812-824-6875
http://www.hartrock.net/councilofallbeings102010.htm

Council of All Beings - COAB, Bloomington, Indiana

2010-08-09T16:30:00.006-04:00

Council of All Beings - COAB
Oct. 2, 2010, Bloomington, Indiana, 10am to 4pm - $45 - SAVE THE DATE, more details and registration soon to come. For information contact healingart@gmail.com

3rd annual Peace Week , Bloomington, Indiana

2010-08-09T16:27:00.001-04:00

3rd annual Peace Week which is scheduled to begin on the International Day of Peace, Tuesday, September 21 and run through Monday, September 27, 2010 is seeking volunteers. Please contact BloomingPeacePartners@gmail.com ASAP to let them know of your interest in participating. You may also call Ingrid Skoog at 333-1982 with your suggestions.

Emily Henochowicz Update

2010-08-07T20:36:00.004-04:00

Saturday evening, and may this note find you well! Thanks David (Unitarian Universalist Just Peace Task Force, Bloomington, IN for sharing this information.

May we find peace within our hearts and expresses it in our thoughts, words and deeds!

Namaste and POI,

Green Dove

**********************************************************

Emily Henochowicz is the Jewish American college exchange student in Israel whose lost her left eye after being struck by an Israeli tear gas canister fired directly at her face while she and others were protesting the Israeli attack on the Gaza aid flotilla.

Emily makes reference to the violence that the Israeli military is known to use against demonstrators in the Palestinian Occupied Territories (she had thought that under the circumstances the military would behave more like it does during protests in "Israel proper"). The world rarely hears about Israeli violence against peaceful demonstrators unless an international is injured, but Palestinian demonstrators are wounded and killed in this fashion quite regularly. That is one reason Palestinians usually try to have internationals at their demonstrations, since the IDF feels much less constrained in its use of violence at an all-Palestinian demonstration, where they believe few will object to, or ever learn about, their brutality (and they are, unfortunately, correct).

Emily's grandparents are Holocaust survivors and her father was born in Israel and strongly supports the Israeli government. Emily mentions that because she is a couple of generations removed from the Holocaust she does not feel the same intensity of emotion regarding the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, particularly fear, and is thus able to look at the situation more objectively than others in her family. She decided to try to learn more about the conflict and as a result began to join some of the demonstrations against the Wall and other abusive Israeli practices.

I think that in a nutshell is what many Zionists are feeling a lot of trepidation about these days: the younger generation of Jewish Americans is not so emotionally attached to Israel or the need for a Jewish state and is coming to its own clear-eyed conclusions about them.

Note also Emily's description of the kindness shown to her and other internationals by Palestinians, particularly the woman who risked her own safety to help Emily after she was struck in the eye. This woman's home is currently under a demolition order from the IDF because Palestinians are not allowed to build homes in areas of occupied Palestine desired by Israel for the exclusive use of Jews. Considering the way Palestinians and Muslims are portrayed by the media in this country, many people are surprised to find out how kind and gentle Palestinians are in reality, and how quietly and gracefully they bear their daily oppression. I strongly recommend that everyone who is able try to make a trip to the West Bank or Gaza Strip if possible; you will likely never view the conflict the same way again.

http://www.democracynow.org/2010/8/5/exclusiveemily_henochowicz_speaks_out_art_student

_______________________________________________

Hiroshima Day, Rev. Dennis McCarty on Immigration, and Green Dove News

2010-08-06T10:21:00.002-04:00

Hiroshima Day, Rev. Dennis McCarty on Immigration, and Green Dove News

May this find you well with peace working through your behaviors, your words and actions. Thank you.

Today is the Anniversary of the Hiroshima atomic bombing. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will visit Hiroshima. A calendar of events is on the Remembering Hiroshima and Nagasaki website.

Indianapolis, Indiana Hiroshima Day Observance on Fri. Aug. 6 at Earth House, 247 N. East, with a craft project for children at 7 pm (making paper cranes and Japanese lanterns) and an audio-visual presentation at 8 pm by Kyoko Amano, a University of Indianapolis professor who took students to visit the museum in Hiroshima this spring, followed at dusk by a walk around the neighborhood with Japanese lanterns, sponsored by Indianapolis Peace and Justice Center. For more info, email me at jwolfe@uindy.edu or 432-4873.

May we always remember this great harm inflicted upon our fellow earth travelers and the earth we all exist upon.

May we learn from our mistakes.

May we come to act with the understanding and realization that we never again inflict such harm upon ourselves. We will create a sustainable world community, or we all will lose. There is not middle ground.

May we not allow violence to be our ruin. Stop the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, across the Middle East, in all places on our earth. The damage inflicted upon the earth will heal in generations far off into the future. How much longer still until the damaged psyche of millions of people will be healed?

*******************************************

"ICH BIN EIN ILLEGAL"
This is an excerpt from A Sermon Delivered July 25, 2010, by the Reverend Dennis McCarty at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Bloomington Indiana, July 2010 and published to Green Dove.

"The great Sonoran Desert stretches from deep in Mexico to the middle of Arizona, a dun landscape dotted with 20-foot-tall saguaro cacti and scraggly sagebrush. With its mind-blurring heat, this is not a place where you want to be left behind--but people are all the time. Ranchers, county sheriffs, and the government patrols that guard the United States-Mexico border find them with grim regularity, the bodies of illegal immigrants who slipped across the border but did not survive the journey on the other side. Remains not found for weeks or months may amount to a few decaying bones. Continue reading.

You will also find:
-INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP - NEW REPORT

-Drums of War: Israel and the "Axis of Resistance" Beirut/Jerusalem/Damascus/Washington/Brussels

-BPP to Give $2,000 in Grants to Local Artists and Arts Organizations - BPP’s AwareFest Re-Granting Fund

There is more on the website.

**************************************************
Reiki Peace and Wellness Arts Reiki Clinic with Rev. Patricia C. Coleman RSMT is every Third Friday from 2:00PM to 6:00PM and is FREE to Veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan War. All others receive reduced rate of $20 for a half hour Reiki wellness session. The Reiki Wellness Project also offers free Reiki workshops to Vets groups (and their caregivers) Send email for Vets Reiki Workshop Application. Reiki Wellness sessions by appointment only. Call Patricia at 812-331-0886

May we walk, talk and live in peace with one another.

Green Dove

1 Soldier or 20 Schools?

2010-07-30T11:30:00.003-04:00

A friend forwarded this article. My vote goes for the 20 schools!

July 28, 2010
1 Soldier or 20 Schools?
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF

The war in Afghanistan will consume more money this year alone than we spent on the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War, the Civil War and the Spanish-American War — combined.

A recent report from the Congressional Research Service finds that the war on terror, including Afghanistan and Iraq, has been, by far, the costliest war in American history aside from World War II. It adjusted costs of all previous wars for inflation.

Those historical comparisons should be a wake-up call to President Obama, underscoring how our military strategy is not only a mess — as the recent leaked documents from Afghanistan suggested — but also more broadly reflects a gross misallocation of resources. One legacy of the 9/11 attacks was a distortion of American policy: By the standards of history and cost-effectiveness, we are hugely overinvested in military tools and underinvested in education and diplomacy.

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Climate Proposals for Earth Day!

2010-04-22T10:04:00.002-04:00

Dear Readers,

May we work well together in service to our home planet, and our collective well being. Green Dove

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the first Earth Day, when 20 million Americans took to the streets and earned environmental accountability from leaders in Washington.

We have made great progress over the last 40 years, but new challenges have arisen. Decades worth of scientific study tell us, undeniably, that we are cooking the planet. Climate change is real, it's a global threat, and because of inaction in Congress, the American people are left to face it alone.

Earth Day is our opportunity to demand bold solutions from our leaders. If we step up and become advocates, we can force legislation that will address the climate crisis, secure our energy independence, and create millions of green jobs.

We must seize this moment: please add your name to our petition demanding a comprehensive climate bill.

On April 25, in the spirit of the first Earth Day, we will host a massive Climate Rally in Washington, DC. Energized citizens will join together on the National Mall and show Congress and the climate deniers that we've had enough of dirty power and that the time for strong climate legislation is now.

Your name has the power to drive this demonstration. Sign our petition and you will amplify our call for Congressional action. Together, our demand for a strong climate bill cannot be ignored.

Make your voice heard in Washington. Add your name to the petition demanding ambitious climate legislation.

During The Earth Day Climate Rally, all signers will be displayed to the crowd, and to Congress, in a visualization of the power behind America's call for a fair, ambitious and comprehensive climate solution.

Don't be left behind, please sign the petition today.

Thank you for making a difference,

Nate Byer
Director, Earth Day 2010
Earth Day Network
EarthDay.org

Saturday, April 24th! The Great Unleashing - Transition Bloomington, Indiana

2010-04-22T09:30:00.003-04:00

The Great Unleashing - Transition Bloomington will kick-off the process of creating a 10-20 year energy descent action plan on April 24, 2010, from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at Bloomington’s City Hall. This event will be a one-day town meeting functioning to motivate and educate the community of the value of a less energy-dependent community. Transition Bloomington is part of an international movement that provides training for Transition Initiatives across the world and strengthens communities against the challenges of peak oil, climate change, and the economic crisis. Bloomington has become the 54th Transition Initiative in the United States and is currently the only Transition Initiative in Indiana. The Great Unleashing event will kick off the Transition Initiative and bring community members together to develop a tangible plan to form a dramatically less energy-dependent Bloomington. The Great Unleashing will be an Open Space event in which participants create and manage their own agenda and working sessions while concentr… Presenter: Rob Hopkins, Dave Rollo. Contact: Rhonda Baird. Age Range: All Ages. Cost: Free. Ticket Phone: 812-320-1058. Saturday, April 24, 2010, 9:30 AM – 5:30 PM. City Hall 501 N. Morton St. Bloomington, IN. 47404. http://transitionbloomingtonind.ning.com/

AARP Health Care Video

2010-04-22T09:22:00.002-04:00

May this note find you well cared for and our communities recognition of health and wellness as key ingredients to a peaceful world.

A friend forwarded this note from the AARP regarding health care. It gets a YAY from those who have seen it! What do you have to say about this, and health care for all? I definitely believe that our nation’s resources would be better served by using the bulk of funds currently wasted through the expansion of fear destruction and terror for health, reconstruction and education. Then we may begin to see light at the end of the tunnel.
*****************************************************
Dear Readers,
For the last two years, we've gotten the same old song and dance from Wall Street, big banks, and other financial institutions.
Well, we say enough's enough – so today we're releasing a funny and hard-hitting new ad that will help us garner the outrage we need to defeat Wall Street and pass the financial reforms we need. But we need your help to get it seen!

Click here to watch the video and then share it with friends!

Here’s why it's so critical that we get this video seen:
America’s seniors are hurting right now – they've lost retirement savings, homes, jobs and more. And they urgently need the Senate to pass the financial reforms that will protect them. These reforms would rein in banks’ reckless behavior and crack down on the abusive and deceptive practices used by mortgage lenders and credit card companies.

Not surprisingly, the usual suspects on Wall Street have hired an army of lobbyists to storm Capitol Hill and cripple efforts at reform. They want to keep the ridiculous loopholes, the undeserved bonuses, and the lack of honest oversight that many financial predators still enjoy.

It's up to us to fight back.

Watch our new ad and share it with your friends!
Thank you for standing strong against Wall Street’s excesses. With the help of people like you, I know we can secure the reforms that America’s seniors urgently need.
Sincerely,
Barry Jackson
Senior Manager, Grassroots

Posted by goodthyme at 6:14 AM

Simply Healthy Event Update!

2009-10-12T19:10:00.004-04:00

Thursday, November 12th

Keynote Diana Leafe Christian - 7:00pm

FREE- Monroe County Public Library, 303 East Kirkwood

Friday, November 13th

2nd Annual Local Foods Dinner- $35.00, 6:00pm - Reservation only!

Unitarian Universalist Church, 2120 N. Fee Lane

Saturday, November 14th

Vendors - 9:00am - 4:00pm - FREE

Showers Building, 401 N. Morton Street - demonstrations, drawings

Workshops - 9:am to 4:00pm - Ivy Tech community College Depo, 301 North Morton St.(a block away from the Showers Building - $13/15 - and Students/Seniors - $10/12 for day

Moderated Community Conversation, Marti Crouch with Diana Leafe Christian, Lucille Bertuccio, Dave Parsons, Marcia Veldman
4:00pm - FREE - Unitarian Universalist Church, 2120 N. Fee Lane

Healing Sound Concert - 7:00pm with Tom Roznowski, Alain Barker, Deb Phelps, Daryl Breeden and Steve Pollitt, Patricia C. Coleman, Karen Taborn and Jon Kay - Unitarian Universalist Church, 2120 N. Fee Lane - $15/18 Students & Seniors - $12/15

Denver's "Stop the War in Afghanistan Protest" - video

2009-10-12T19:04:00.002-04:00

Let us hear your comments on Chun's video.

I’ve made a video called : Denver's "Stop the War in Afghanistan Protest" October 7, 2009. It is on YouTube at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiL-1J5uU5M

I made it as a promotional piece such that people can see how important and entertaining a protest can be. It may inspire other people to come out for the next event. So please spread it around! Thanks.

Chun Pan

ChunPan9@yahoo.com

www.ChunPan.com

Peace Week In Bloomington

2009-09-17T17:33:00.003-04:00

Bloomington's Peace Week organization has organized a variety of activities that will continue through this weekend.

Events range from discussions, poetry readings to events at the Tibetan Cultural Center and many others.

For complete information check their calendar at www.bloomingtonpeaceweek.org

The brutal truth about America’s healthcare

2009-09-03T09:43:00.002-04:00

GETTY IMAGES; AFP

The LA Forum in Inglewood, California, hosted dental and medical examinations, for thousands of people thanks to the charity Remote Area Medical.

An extraordinary report from Guy Adams in Los Angeles at the music arena that has been turned into a makeshift medical centre
Saturday, 15 August 2009

They came in their thousands, queuing through the night to secure one of the coveted wristbands offering entry into a strange parallel universe where medical care is a free and basic right and not an expensive luxury. Some of these Americans had walked miles simply to have their blood pressure checked, some had slept in their cars in the hope of getting an eye-test or a mammogram, others had brought their children for immunisations that could end up saving their life. Read Article

PEOPLE'S ART FAIR - Bloomington, IN

2009-09-01T12:46:00.002-04:00

PEOPLE'S ART FAIR
3RD STREET PARK
SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 5TH
12:00--6:00

Call for local artists to come out and display their
works.

Novice and non-commercial artists are encouraged to exhibit
amidst a non-juried, no fees, supportive atmosphere.
Sites are selected on a first come basis.

Music on stage all day.

FREE and open to the public

3rd street Park is located between 3rd and 4th, Washington
and Lincoln Streets-behind the police station.

Rain date Sunday, September 13th.

For more information contact: Ned Powell
812-332-9870, nedpow@peoplepc.com.

"Health Care Reform: A Great American Debate" - Webcast

2009-09-01T12:38:00.002-04:00

A live webcast of "Health Care Reform: A Great American Debate" will be shown in the Monroe County Public Library auditorium on Friday September 11th from 12:00 Noon to 2:00 PM. This debate is being webcast live from the IUPUI Campus in Indianapolis where it is a special event for IU School of Medicine students. The local webcast has been arranged by the Bloomington-Monroe County League of Women Voters.
From the IU School of Medicine announcement:
“Join experts and national leaders for a thought provoking look at the current state of health care reform in the United States. …… Proposals under active discussions include incremental changes to our existing employer-based, health insurance model to plans involving the "public option" as well as the "single payer" or "Medicare for All" reforms.
Speakers and national guests include:
• Oliver Fein, MD, President, Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP); and Clinical Professor of Clinical Public Health at Cornell University
• Sam Nussbaum, MD, Executive Vice President of Clinical Health Policy and Chief Medical Officer, WellPoint,Inc.
• Judy Monroe, MD, Commissioner, Indiana State Department of Health
• Eric Wright, PhD, Associate Dean, IUPUI School of Public and Environmental Affairs
• Eric Meslin, PhD, Director of the Center on Bioethics, Indiana University
• Aaron Carroll, MD, Associate Professor of Pediatrics, IUSM”

If you can’t make it to the MCPL Auditorium you can register for a live webstream that is open to the general public. To register, go to www.publichealthconnect.org and click on "Events." Select this program and follow the prompts.
We hope you will take this opportunity to hear and see knowledgeable people discuss healthcare reform.
Dave Parsons
Local Health Care Reform Advocate

"Indy Artists’ Community Fest"

2009-07-31T09:40:00.001-04:00

Indy Artists' Peace Project & Flagstar co-present...

"Indy Artists’ Community Fest"
Friday, July 31st 11:00-4:00
Flagstar Bank (in the Parking Lot)
1180 West 86th Street(Across the street from Greenbriar Shopping Center)

A FREE outdoor community festival featuring live acoustic music from Tommy Clark, Bern Walters, & Jamie Carnes. Free Food. Pets Welcome. A contest to name a Kitty from "Cat’s Haven". Plus, learn more about the Indy Artists' Peace Project, and how you can help the work of the IAPP through volunteering opportunities, being a Street Team member, financial contributions and more. For more info e-mail; indyartists@aol.com, or call Michelle at (317)255-0673
_________________

JamFest - "Jammin"" for a Serious Cause

2009-07-17T16:54:00.003-04:00

Playful “Jammin’”for a Serious Cause
Saturday, July 18th, 6-10pm at the John Waldron Arts Center in Bloomington, IN
4 HOURS
of PEACE
& MUSIC
& FUN

Phone: 812-336-8677 - Admission: $10 for students and low income; $15 for adults; $25 for a couple; $50 for a family.

JamFest for Community Justice and Mediation Center Offers Family Friendly Evening of Local Talent

Everyone knows that the only place to work out a neighborhood conflict is in the courts, right? Especially when a crime has been committed, right? Some Monroe County citizens don’t think that’s the case. For example, a typical Healing Community Harm meeting at Community Justice and Mediation Center may bring an adult Victim of theft or property destruction to sit at a “mediation table” with the juvenile Offender they once perceived of as a “thoughtless kid.” With the help of mediation, neighbors can walk away from that table feeling like something worthwhile happened for both of them—a wrong was addressed, a conscience righted, harm was healed. At the mediation table agreements take all “sides” into account (sometimes there are many!) and all sides help to draft that agreement, signing it only because they believe in it. Perhaps this sounds like a good cause?

If you add a good cause to Bloomington summer strolling time, spice it up with artistic wealth, what do you get? The phenomenon of the Bloomington “’fest’.” One of the newest fests cooking up is JamFest: Jammin for Justice. On July 18 from 6- 10 p.m. at the Waldron Arts Auditorium, JamFest aims to raise greater awareness and necessary funds for restorative justice and mediation solutions through Community Justice and Mediation Center (also known as CJAM). The concert is a benefit to encourage “gettin’ down to get along,” said Judi Romaine, CJAM’s Board Secretary and Outreach Committee Chairperson. “Summer is a time when CJAM faces a downturn in an already bare-bones budget,” she explained. “So we thought we’d turn to the ‘townies’ and to the students who stay on to help us through that dry spell. Plus it’s a lot of fun getting ‘pun-ny’ with our name.” JamFest “jammers” include Sophia Travis, “socially conscious dub reggae” band Coyaba, electric blues /rock with Bated Breath, Steve Mascari and Sarah Flint, and the one-man band song loops of Eric Radoux. Comedian Brad Wilhelm joins in as Master of Ceremonies. “We’re still recruiting groovy sounds to create the right kind of vibe that promotes general peace and overall well being,” said CJAM VORP Case Manager David Nosko. “Please consider helping us spread the message that CJAM’s local alternative dispute resolution services can and do benefit Victims, Offenders, and the general community. CJAM’s jams may get even sweeter yet!”

In addition to raising funds through admission ($15 for individuals, $10 for student and low-income) CJAM is working collaboratively with FoodWorks to produce “Justice Jam” canned with locally raised fruits. The jam will be for sale at the concert and will be free to those who pay the “donor/family” rate of $50 ahead of time or at the door. “We want to recognize that sometimes folks are ready to donate significantly, with or without a party. This way our supporters can help us out by having some fun with the whole family and then they take home a jar of specially made jam to continuing spreading the love,” Romaine elaborated. “This is an ambitious inaugural event and we’re still putting the whole thing together, but folks can trust that the evening will be a family-friendly fun to promote a very unique and special social service.”

Underwriting is provided by Pizza X, and there will be a cash bar helped out by local wine distributor Manolos Wines and beers from World Class Beverages. In addition, there will be juices for the kids and non-drinkers and coffee selections from Brown County Coffee/Bloomington Coffee Roasters.

One of CJAM’s major programs is restorative justice work that provides adds an incredible tool to the Prosecutor and Probation Department’s tool kits. Specifically, the Healing Community Harm Program (also known as the Victim Offender Reconciliation Program—VORP) facilitates Victim-Offender conversations to work out restitution, prevent recidivism, and heal the community harm caused by crime.
CJAM’s primary focus with JamFest is to raise awareness and to recruit volunteers for the newest initiative called “Community Voices.” The Community Voices Program places a trained volunteer at the mediation table to serve as a Victim “proxy” and/or community Victim in cases where the actual Victim is either unwilling or unable to participate in the Healing Community Harm Program. “Both the community at-large and the criminal justice system benefit when victims, offenders, and community stakeholders all have a voice in healing the harm caused by crime,” Nosko said. “Public safety and the rule of law are values worth upholding in our community, and there is both short and long term benefit in encouraging community involvement in restoring Victims, empowering Offenders to not victimize themselves, and creative collaborations between local social service agencies and the county-wide criminal justice system.”

Restorative Justice is a national and worldwide movement to address crime while reducing recidivism, yet Restorative Justice does not oppose and instead can become an effective partner for current criminal justice practices. More than 2.3 million prisoners were held in federal, state, or local jails one year ago this month, more than 1 in 100 American adults, according to the U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics. More than 7.3 million Americans are in prison, on parole or probation, a rate of 1 in every 31 American adults. To address the fact that the U.S. comprises five percent of the world’s population yet houses 25% of the world’s prisoners, Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) introduced the National Criminal Justice Commission Act of 2009. “We have an incarceration rate in the United States, the world's greatest democracy, that is five times as high as the average incarceration rate of the rest of the world,” Webb said during his March 26 floor speech to introduce the bill. “There are only two possibilities here: either we have the most evil people on earth living in the United States; or we are doing something dramatically wrong in terms of how we approach the issue of criminal justice.”
CJAM has been concerned about such trends in this community for more than 25 years. The agency began as Citizens for Community Justice, Inc. (CCJ) May 1980 with a meeting of a group of citizens concerned about conditions in the Monroe County jail. While most early activity was focused on ways to improve jail conditions and reduce the jail population, as early as June 1981 the group began working with others to establish a Victim Offender Reconciliation Program (VORP). The group’s 1989 annual meeting topic, “Juveniles, Justice and Jails,” was the beginning of a greater focus on youth. In June 1990 the group combined with the local Juvenile Justice Task Force and adopted a new name – Citizens for Jail Improvement and Juvenile Justice. CJAM conducts school mediations to enable alternatives to suspension and expulsion, provides small claims court mediations and community mediations with neighborhoods, families, and workplaces. Recently, however, CJAM’s services faced a critical punch to the gut when a grant from the State of Indiana that had provided nearly 70% of their funding was cut in a systemic move to eliminate funding for all Victim-Offender Reconciliation Programs. “It was a blow that kind of knocked our community’s restorative justice wind out,” Romaine said, “and JamFest is one way to breathe fresh air back into programs that very much benefit the greater public good. You might say we’re trying to get ourselves out of a difficult jam with all kinds of good jams!”

More information can be found at CJAM’s website: www.cjam.org.

Source on Prison stats:
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/prisons.htm
Sources on Webb:
http://webb.senate.gov/email/incardocs/FS_CrimJust_3-26-09.pdf
http://hamptonroads.com/2009/03/webb-takes-next-challenge-nations-prison-system

Author: Julia Dadds 14 year plus resident of Monroe County-- works and volunteers in the Non-Profit community while she finishes her work on a PhD in Education. She is the secretary for the Non-Profit Alliance for Monroe County, and serves on the boards of Step Ahead and the Youth Services Bureau as well as working with CJAM as Development Director.

Reprinted with permission of the Author, originally appearing in The Ryder Magazine

Pastors for Peace in Bloomington

2009-07-10T00:46:00.002-04:00

From Cubamistad 2009 Pastors for Peace Cuba Caravan in Bloomington Information

2009 PASTORS FOR PEACE CUBA CARAVAN MATERIAL AID GLOSSARY-
WHAT IS NEEDED AT THIS TIME/WHAT HAS BEEN REQUESTED
see attachment

Hello--Here's to a fine day for you

The 2009 Pastors for Peace Caravan/Friendshipment will be in Bloomington, Indiana July 13th (Monday), July 14th

Our community will be collecting materials and supplies to be sent to Cuba--to be sent Bloomington's Cuba Sister City=Santa Clara
We will be preparing a shipment in our community of material aid and other offerings that has been requested/that is needed in Cuba at this time--

We have enclosed a list of the material aid that is needed

If you are able to help us secure certain items of material aid -please contact arthur stein astein52@yahoo.com tel 812-331-9749..or contact any member of Cubamistad that you might know

There is a true need at this time in Cuba for construction materials and tools--for building and repair and reconstruction that is ongoing--from the damage caused by the storms this past fall--the list of construction materials---=on pastors for peace website--caravan material aid---or contact cubamistad--we hope to send a good amount of construction tools w/our shipment/offerings

We are also fundraising to cover the cost of transporting our community's offerings to Cuba----if you are interested and able to help in this way--Please send checks to Cubamistad PO Box 2201 Bloomington, Indiana 47402--
Checks to made out to CUBAMISTAD or PASTORS FOR PEACE
....or give your $$ in any form offering to a cubamistad that you might know--thank you

If you would like additonal information about the cuba caravan and what we are doing in our community for this--if you have any ?s, suggestions, ideas...If you know of anyone who would be able to help this effort......or if you would wish to help in any way--please contact us...any member of Cubamistad......
very much appreciated...quite helpful

information re IFCO Pastors for Peace/2009 Pastors for peace caravan=Pastors Peace website

www.ifconews.org
www.pastorsforpeace.org

Please send this information/announcement to anyone you feel might be interested--thank you

There will be a 2009 Pastors for Peace Cuba Caravan/Friendshipment Event/Program/Celebration in Bloomington
Monday evening July 13th
Runcible Spoon
6-8 pm or so
Rev Tom Smith from Pastors for Peace will speak
Other Speakers
Food, Music
Information
Good gathering of friends, neighbors and community/communities
Hope to see you there

If you would like to help w/the caravan event @ the runcible spoon--contact cynthia roberts hall
cyndicat@riseup.net cynhall@bloomington.in.us

Thank you

Best wishes

To Life with Peace

Cubamistad
Bloomington Indiana

Arthur Stein 812-331-9749

Note - will follow with a list of suggested items.

Mother's Day 2009

2009-04-28T09:57:00.006-04:00

Mother's Day 2009 is almost here and we updated this info first offered in 2002. May it be of use to you and THANK YOU MOTHERS EVERYWHERE!

MOTHER’S DAY 2009

In honor of the true intention of Mother’s Day, Green Dove, Reiki Peace and Wellness Arts and Indiana Holistic Health Network has assembled a variety of information and resources within the Bloomington community and others from the web. Many are women’s groups working to advocate peacemaking. We hope that you honor your Mother and all Mothers today and every day, and that you find something useful here for yourself or someone you care about.
Happy Mother’s Day!

ON MOTHER’S DAY by Denise Breeden-Ost - In 1870, Julia Ward Howe invented Mother's Day. Or did she? Howe might not recognize her "Mothers' Day for Peace". Here is Howe's "Mother's Day Proclamation": http://www.greendove.net/zine1-5articledbreedenost.htm

Another Mother for Peace – Another Mother for Peace is a non-profit, non-partisan association dedicated to eliminating the use of war as a means of solving disputes among nations, people and ideologies. http://www.anothermother.org/

Middle Way House and Middle Way Food Works strive to end violence in the lives of women and children - http://www.bloomington.in.us/~mwhouse/aboutus.htm
Indiana Holistic Health Network has a resources in its directory to women’s and wellness related information http://www.indianaholistichealth.net/

Reiki Peace and Wellness Arts will give any mother a 10% discount on Reiki Gift Certificates and appointments made through the month of May! http://www.hartrock.net/reiki.htm, 812-331-0886

Women’s International League of Peace and Freedom - http://www.bloomingtonwilpf.org/events.html

BABS - Bloomington Area Birth Services - Bloomington Area Birth Services, Inc., is a group of women trained and experienced in childbirth and postpartum issues. http://www.bloomingtonbirth.com

Indiana Birthing Choices - It is the vision of CHOICES to improve the quality of and sensitivity toward pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding and early parenting ways. http://www.indianabirthchoices.com/STATE-DIRECTORY.html

Planned Parenthood of Indiana – http://www.ppin.org/

Community Health Access Program provides a variety of services to women and the community at large. http://cgi.hoosier.net/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/uwmonroe/viewentry?id=61

Local Food Bloomington – a Green Dove project provides links to Community Food resources in the Bloomington area. http://www.greendove.net/communityfood.htm

Women Writing for a Change - is a creative writing class which supports the lives of women http://www.bethlodge-rigal.com/womenwriting.html

Women Inspire – is a 501c3 non-for-profit organization, providing networking opportunities for women in a supportive environment. http://www.womeninspire.org

Hoosier Raging Grannies - The Raging Grannies sing to say enough of violence http://grannies.homeofficesite.com/

The Endwright Center – 7500 West Reeves Rd. 876-7500
National Association of Women - http://www.now.org/

Green Dove Network, Inc. is a non-profit and a project of the 501c3 Center for Sustainable Living – http://www.simplycsl.org

Earth Day in Bloomington, Indiana and the Nation

2009-03-27T13:21:00.002-04:00

Check our calendar for Earth Day activities! Also our Celebrations Page. http://www.greendove.net/zine-celebrationsandbenefits.htm

May we never hunger. ¡Que nunca tengamos hambre!" "May we never thirst! ¡Que nunca tengamos sed!" - Starhawk, The Fifth Sacred Thing

Guitart Auction to benefit Rhino’s

2009-03-27T13:17:00.001-04:00

Rhino’s Youth Media Center announces its second Guitart Auction, to be held Thursday, April 16, 2009. It takes place at The Lodge, 101 E. 6th Street on the north-east corner of the Courthouse Square.
Bid on one-of-a-kind original artworks by Sam Bartlett, Anna Witte, Kurt Larsen, Jenny Kander, Mike Cagle, Lindsay Hine, Matt Traughber and Brad Fugate. Using playable electric guitars as the medium, these well-known Bloomington artists have painted, collaged, printed or otherwise artistically altered them into original works of art. Funds raised from the auction support Rhino’s free after-school programming for youth.

Each guitar is playable and an array of Bloomington’s best musicians will be on hand to entertain with them: Andy Cobine, Cathi & Stuart Norton, Dave Weber, Jim Krause, Jason Grove and Chris Gaal & his Pirate Band. Some of Bloomington’s favorite restaurants will supply tasty appetizers for the event. Plan to be treated to the flavors of Mandalay, Bombay House, Malibu Grill, Anatolia, Mother Bear’s and Bobby’s Too. Wine and beer will be available in a secure area.

.Tickets to the auction are $10 in advance and $15 at the door. Pick up yours at Rhino’s, 331 S. Walnut, during business hours. Call 333-3430 and visit www.rhinosyouthcenter.org for more details.

Sixth Annual Global Love Day

2009-03-21T09:57:00.001-04:00

Sixth Annual Global Love Day
May 1, 2009
An International Celebration Of Humanity. We are one humanity on this planet.
All life is interconnected and interdependent. All share in the Universal bond of love. Love begins with self acceptance and forgiveness. With tolerance and compassion we embrace diversity. Together we make a difference through love.

"Love Begins With Me"
May Love Prevail On Earth
May Peace Prevail On Earth
Click here for more information.

Cell Phone Numbers Go Public Next Month -

2009-03-21T09:54:00.000-04:00

Cell Phone Numbers Go Public Next Month - Protect yourself from telemarketers!
REMEMBER: Cell Phone Numbers Go Public next month.
REMINDER.... all cell phone numbers are being released to telemarketing companies and you will start to receive sales calls.
.... YOU WILL BE CHARGED FOR THESE CALLS

To prevent this, call the following number from your cell phone: 888-382-1222. It is the National DO NOT CALL list. It will only take a minute of your time. It blocks your number for five (5) years. You must call from the cell phone number you want to have blocked. You cannot call from a different phone number.

HELP OTHERS BY PASSING THIS ON TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS... It takes about 20 seconds. Thanks to a friend!

VOTE! New Musical Premieres March 6-8 in Bloomington, IN!

2009-03-06T11:28:00.004-05:00

VOTE!
New Musical Premieres March 6-8 in Bloomington!
Indiana Try-Out Before NYC Summer Production

VOTE! is a fresh, new look at politics through the eyes of three high school students who are after the ultimate prize – Student Body President! Written by up-and-coming New York City songwriters Ryann
Ferguson and Steven Jamail, this intelligent and timely show offers a sharp, entertaining look at elections and the moral dilemmas they produce. The bright and imaginative score features many sure-to-be-hit numbers.

Directed by NYC guest artist Ryan J. Davis, this Bloomington production serves as a regional workshop/premiere – allowing the show's creators to see their work on stage for the first time, and providing them valuable insight into how to further develop the show for a summer production in NYC.

The cast includes students from both Indiana University and Bloomington's Harmony School: Alana Cheshire, David Coleman, Katherine Duffy, Joseph Fernandez, Tamrin Goldberg, Adam Johnson, Jacob Jones,Justin Klein, Maddy LaRoche, Brittany Martin, Nathan Mittleman, Taryn Pryor, Becky Rosky, Danielle Sacks, Jen Saltiel, Ariel Simpson, Maggie, Smith, Gabi Cracraft, and Maggie Smith.

Performances are Friday and Saturday, March 6th & 7th at 8 PM; and Sunday, March 8th at 2 PM at Harmony School, 909 East Second Street, Bloomington, Indiana 47401.

Advanced tickets are now available and are $5 for Students and $10 for
General Admission and can be purchased on-line at
www.ericandersonjrpresents.com. Tickets at the door are $7 Students and $12 General Admission.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AND LISTING
Reviews & Features Requested

Press Contact:
Eric Anderson, Jr., Producer
812.219.6142
ericandersonjr@gmail.com

CREATIVE BIOS

Ryann Ferguson and Steven Jamail's (Writers) award winning collaboration began seven years ago at Rice University. They recently showcased their four new musical works in the concert, VOTE OR DIE at the Zipper Factory with Allison Case, Autumn Hurlbert, Andrew Keenan-Bolger, Metropolitan Opera Star Sasha Cooke, and more. They have worked on numerous projects together and apart, including 2005 Fringe Festival show Byzantium, and the Harper's Guild Award winning aria, "Lotus Song." From production to marketing to musical direction, from turkeys to Tony award winners – between the two of them, they have covered nearly every inch of the Broadway community job market. Ryann is currently the Director of Marketing for Davenport Theatrical Enterprises, and Steven serves as the Music Director for arts education foundation Rosie's Broadway Kids. VOTE! marks their entry into the satirical, self-mocking, and relentlessly plucky genre of high school musical capers... at least artistically, that is. And with projects such as Nicholas & Alexandra, Tercio de Muerte, and Curious Johnson: The Toothfairy Musical, they have only begun to leave their mark on the theatre world. With fallen monarchs, bullfighters, and
clutzy fairies, there's something for everybody. For more information, please visit www.littlewowproductions.com.

Ryan J. Davis (Director) is thrilled to develop Vote! with Ryann Ferguson and Steven Jamail. Davis conceived and directed the award-winning White Noise, which has recently been announced for Broadway. Other NYC projects include My Life on the Craigslist and the annual Broadway Beauty Pageant. Future projects include Street Lights by Joe Drymala, a hip-hop/pop musical debuting in NYC in the fall (hear the score at www.streetlightsmusical.com). He serves on The Board of Directors of The Deconstructive Theatre Project, where he co-directed (with Adam J. Thompson) the French Canadian play Lilies. As a politico, Davis recently served in New Hampshire as GOTV Triage Lead at Obama's State Headquarters and was a member of the Obama Pride NYC Leadership Committee. He is a veteran of Gov Howard Dean's 2004
Presidential Campaign and writes for The Hill and Huffington Post. Hesits on the Board of Directors of the Lambda Independent Democrats ofBrooklyn. For his activism, Davis has been honored by The AmericanAssociation Of Political Consultants and awarded a Nightlife Award by
The Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club for protecting nightlife. He blogs at ryanjdavis.blogspot.com.

Eric Anderson, Jr (Producer/Music Director) holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Indiana University. A native of Columbia, South Carolina, Eric came to Bloomington to study piano with professor Edmund Battersby. He has also studied conducting with Dr. Michael Schwartzkopf and the late Thomas Dunn. He has been involved as pianist or music director in numerous musical theatre productions during his time in Bloomington, including Songs for A New World, Reefer Madness, The Rocky Horror Show, Assassins, A Chorus Line, and The Wild Party
(Lippa). He has also served as pianist for the IU Broadway Cabaret/Senior Showcase and has worked with local children's theatre organization Stages Bloomington, music-directing their 2008 production of Music Man, Jr., and will music-direct the Bloomington Playwrights Project's summer musical theatre camp this June. In July of 2008 he produced, stage-, and music-directed a 60th anniversary production of Kurt Weill's Down In The Valley.

Green Dove Still Here

2009-03-06T10:44:00.006-05:00

Some have asked, "Is Green Dove still here"? The answer is yes. Not nearly as active as it was in the past. But still here. It is difficult running an entity such as Green Dove without support, so we do what we can.

We have spent a lot of time working with our projects Indiana Holistic Health Network and Local Food on the "Simply Healthy: Creating Sustainable Communities" Simply Living Fair and Wellness Expo. November 2009 will see the forth annual event! In the past we have collaborated on this community event with the Center for Sustainable Living, Middle Way Food Works, Reiki Peace and Wellness Arts, The Good Life Alternative, Local Growers Guild and others. To learn more about the event and these great organizations, visit the "Simply Healthy" website and check out the Sponsors page.

We added new info to the Children's Book List, newly updated the entry page and more.

Green Dove will be publishing new poets to the Peace Poets Gallery.

We are in collaboration with Reiki Peace and Wellness Arts and the Indiana Holistic Health Network to launch the Reiki Wellness Program - it currently has two focuses - a Reiki Wellness Program for Vets, their families and caregivers and Reiki Wellness for Victims of Domestic Violence. We will keep you posted about the Reiki Wellness Programs.

We need your support to keep things going. This year we ran into some major problems with our computer technology and it kept us down for a long time. Give us a hand! We will really appreciate it! Make a donation, $5, 10, or more if you can afford it - make your your tax deductible check to Green Dove Network-CSL and mail it to Green Dove, P.O. Box 8172, Bloomington, IN 47407

We understand that most people are on a budget. If you are a business and have a laptop no longer in use, send it our way. It will be greatly appreciated. Donate to cover phone service, 100% recycled paper, ink for a Canon Pixma printer - anything you think will help keep us afloat will be appreciated!

In a day or so, we will be posting the updated Calendar and an updated Food News so come back later and check them out.

If you have time and would like to help us, contact us and tell us what your interest is.

In peace,

Green Dove

The World Today – Fernando Suarez del Solar

2006-08-01T07:19:00.000-04:00

The World Today – Fernando Suarez del Solar

The world today is faced with the possibility of an imminent third world war; we stand at the gates of Hell itself with so many human lives being killed in the misnamed cause of “Peace”

The occupants of the White House have prepared in great detail the shock waves of terror which have brought these atrocious military attacks on the innocent peoples of Iraq, Lebanon, and Afghanistan and they are preparing to unleash even more violence on the peoples of Iran, Syria, etc. The question then becomes: Where is the world going with this course of action? What future can our youth look forward to as one by one the doors to universities are closing to them, leaving them only the doors to military bases? Where is this hateful militarism leading us?

Today the world is experiencing yet another war: Israel against Lebanon. But can we say it is really a “war” when the civilian population of Lebanon is being killed like flies by bombs and missiles manufactured in the United States – bombs and missiles that explode on their homes while they have no real idea why?

Is it right to kill innocent children to rescue two soldiers kidnapped by a gang of wrongdoers called terrorists?

Is that reason enough to destroy an entire people?

Today banner headlines tell of the horrors happening to the Lebanese people, but –

What happened to the ”other war”, the one where more than 2500 north American youths have died, as well as thousands of ordinary Iraqi civilians, the immense majority of whom were children? It seems that human beings have gotten used to seeing the dead of war, and to not reacting until the black bag arrives at their family’s doorstep, carrying the mutilated body of their own son or daughter. That’s when they raise their voices and ask for Peace. Why wait until then? Why not start NOW to raise our voices, to act and demand a Ceasefire, the withdrawal of the invading troops and respect for the sovereignty of other nations?

That is why I have decided to issue a general call to all people to unite in a single voice, to rise up as one body, and to resist these attacks which are not only act of aggression against one people, but against the whole of humanity itself.

It is ludicrous and at the same time worrisome to realize that in the United States our youth are facing shrinking opportunities for a quality higher education under the pretext of a “War on Terrorism”, that in their search for opportunities now they are being pointed to enrollment in a military system which sooner or later will destroy them and end their lives. It is criminal that the Bush government designates millions of dollars for a deceitful system of military recruitment in the schools, while monies for real education are reduced day after day.

The truth is I am sickened, disturbed at the whole world’s passivity in this terrible situation. I am tired and frustrated to see the deaths mounting day by day, children dieing, parents losing their children, and it seems that there is no hope for a future of peace and justice among the nations. My son died, and it is true that nothing I do or write will bring him back. No. But I am convinced that my words, my actions can bring awareness to others so that we can begin to build another type of army – an army of non-violence, an army of peace that fights with words and education for a better world. Traduced por: Linda Kraus

Fernando Suarez del Solar, Founder & Director
Guerrero Azteca Peace Project
(760)233-0630 Direct telephone
(760)746-4568 Main telephone
(760)737-2334 Fax
PO Box 300221,Escondido,CA 92030-0221
fernando(at)guerreroazteca.org
www.guerreroazteca.org

POR UNA GENERACION LLENA DE PAZ Y AMOR
FOR A GENERATION FILLED WITH PEACE AND LOVE

True Measure

2006-08-01T07:17:00.000-04:00

"The true measure of men (sic) is how they treat someone who can do them
absolutely no good."
Samuel Johnson

What Does "Sustainable" Mean - Earth Talk

2006-08-01T07:13:00.000-04:00

EARTH TALK
From the Editors of E/The Environmental Magazine

Dear EarthTalk: The term “sustainable” seems to be the new green buzzword. What exactly does it mean, particularly when applied to such things, say, as transportation or agriculture? -- Steve Nezhad, Portland, ME

“Sustainable,” quite simply, is the positive result of conducting economic, social or environmental activities in such a way that current needs are met without compromising the well-being of future generations. A sustainable activity also does not despoil the here and now, in part because of how it may affect the future.

For example, cars that run on oil and gasoline are unsustainable on both counts: They make use of a non-renewable resource (that is, one that will be completely depleted at some point in the future); and they pollute the environment right now. Thus they negatively impact the present-day as well as tomorrow.

What, then, is sustainable transportation? Any option that moves people or goods while impacting the environment minimally. Walking and bicycling are the most sustainable, using no energy except for leg power and consuming very little or no resources. And public transportation moves large numbers of people at once while also saving space, as one negative impact of cars is that activities tend to spread out through the process of sprawl, creating the need to travel greater distances to obtain goods or get to work.

As such, to a large extent transportation can be made more sustainable through urban design. The closer together we locate shopping and entertainment centers, the easier it is for public transport to get us there, and the less reliant we are on cars. And cars themselves can be more sustainable by running on clean fuels or on technologies, like hybrids, that use less fuel. Better yet, cars of the not-too-distant future will be powered by fuel cells, which run on hydrogen and spew no pollution. Ideally, that hydrogen will be made from water, using power from solar energy, thus creating no pollution at that point in the process, either.

In the realm of farming, sustainable agriculture in its ideal form provides a living for those who farm and supports the local community’s needs while maintaining the natural ecology of the farm and its surrounding environment. According to the National Safety Center (NSC), a “sustainable” farm produces crops without damage to the farm’s ecosystem, including the soil, water supplies and other adjoining resources. Sustainable agriculture is also “intergenerational,” says NSC, in that it seeks to pass on to future generations a conserved natural resource instead of one that has been depleted or polluted.

Some examples of sustainable agriculture include avoiding chemicals, rotating crops, and choosing crops that suit the climate, so as to reduce the need for chemicals and preserve the long-term fertility of the soil. In light of modern developments, some might add that avoiding genetically modified crops would also fit with the sustainable model, given the uncertainty of their impact on ecosystems and personal health.

Robert Gilman of the Context Institute defines sustainability as “extending the Golden Rule through time…Do unto future generations as you would have them do unto you.” Meanwhile, Paul Hawken of the Natural Capital Institute offers an equally concise summary: “Leave the world better than you found it, take no more than you need, try not to harm life or the environment, make amends if you do.”

CONTACTS: Context Institute, www.context.org; Natural Capital Institute, www.naturalcapital.org.

GOT AN ENVIRONMENTAL QUESTION? Send it to: EarthTalk, c/o E/The Environmental Magazine, P.O. Box 5098, Westport, CT 06881; submit it at: www.emagazine.com/earthtalk/thisweek/, or e-mail: earthtalk@emagazine.com. Read past columns at: www.emagazine.com/earthtalk/archives.php.

150 UK Lawyers Sign Letter regarding Pervasive Racism toward Mumia Abu-Jamal

2006-08-01T07:09:00.000-04:00

From the Global Women's Strike/Phila

Dear Friends:

Below is an extraordinary letter signed by over 150 leading UK lawyers that is being sent today to the US Court of Appeals regarding the pervasive racism that death row journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal faced and continues to face in the US judicial system. The letter was initiated and distributed by Ian Macdonald QC and Legal Action for Women (LAW), a free legal service and our sister organization in the UK. The letter is being submitted at the same time as Amicus Curiae briefs from the National Lawyers Guild and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Mumia’s lawyer, Robert R. Bryan, filed opening briefs for the appeal on July 20.

NOW IS A CRITICAL TIME IN THE CASE. After 24 years on Pennsylvania’s death row, Mumia, an award-winning journalist convicted in 1982 of killing a policeman, has been granted an appeal which, if successful, could result in a new trial. This would be the first time his case against conviction would be heard by a jury.

THIS IS THE KEY DEATH PENALTY CASE IN THE US AT THIS TIME. NOT ONLY MUMIA ABU-JAMAL’S LIFE BUT THOUSANDS OF LIVES HANG IN THE BALANCE. Mumia had no criminal convictions before his arrest. The determination of the police, prosecution and judge to deny him a fair trial and execute him strongly suggests that this outstanding campaigning journalist is being tried for his track record of exposing racism, police brutality and corruption in Philadelphia, and for the opposition to US government policies and practices that his journalism continues to express.

A recent letter from Mumia to Selma James of the Global Women’s Strike who initiated this project, spells out the importance of the letter. “I greet you Selma and through you all of your comrades, colleagues and friends on that side of the Atlantic. I thank you all for making that public letter with signatures a possibility and hopefully a tool of freedom and justice. I was jazzed reading that – great.”

We urge you to circulate the UK lawyers’ letter widely, including to your contacts in the legal system, and to do all you can in the coming months to publicise this outrageous travesty of justice and to secure a new trial for Mumia with the aim of winning his freedom.

Phoebe Jones, Global Women's Strike/Philly, and Margaret Prescod, Women of Color in the Global Women's Strike

For info locally: 215-848-1120 (Philly) or 323-292-7405 (LA)
philly@crossroadswomen.net la@crossroadswomen.net

To reach Legal Action for Women directly +44 207 482 2496 or +44 7 956 316 899

law@crossroadswomen.net

2006-08-01T07:06:00.000-04:00

Palestinian and Israeli Youth to Collaborate at GIFTS

PEACE IT TOGETHER 2006

A Peace & Filmmaking Summer Camp

At the Gulf Islands Film and Television School

August 4^th – 21^st, 2006

PREMIERE SCREENING

Galiano South Community Hall

August 19 at 7:00pm

SCREENING GALA

HR Macmillan Space Centre

1100 Chestnut Street, Vancouver, BC

August 20 at 7:00pm

For immediate release. Vancouver, July 18^th, 2006.

As the fog of war thickens in the Middle East, and broadens its impact beyond the borders of Israel and Palestine, it is more important than ever to hear hopeful news regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The lives and faces of people that do not make it to the forefront of international media may have a different story to tell. The stories of such people are often lost and forgotten amid the darkness of bloodshed and suffering. It is especially important to know that despite the severe situation, there are many people determined to build momentum towards reconciliation and peace. Their stories bring a ray of light and hope.

One such story – or in fact, thirty of them - is unfolding this summer among the serene rainforest of British Columbia’s Gulf Islands. Thirty youth from Palestine, Israel and Canada will gather at the Gulf Islands Film and Television School on Galiano Island to engage in creative conversations and filmmaking in a peaceful and safe environment of mutual respect and co-existence for 18 days. The summer program is appropriately named Peace It Together.

The organizers of this unusual peace initiative believe that Peace it Together is more relevant now than it has ever been. “As violence escalates, people become more polarized and more emotional”, says Reena Lazar, a Jewish-Canadian and an executive director of Creative Peace Network. “This, of course, is the exact opposite of what is needed. While our program is unlikely to solve the current crisis, it will give the participants the unique opportunity to work through their fear and anger in a safe environment and with the very people to whom their feelings are directed”.

Adri Hamael, a Palestinian-Canadian and an executive director of the organization adds, “Through dialogue and filmmaking, the youth and their audiences will have the chance to struggle with and make sense of the conflict that impacts so many lives. I'm hoping that adults around the world, and particularly back in the participant’s homelands, will listen to what these young people will have to say.”

This is the second peace summer camp initiated and organized by Creative Peace Network, a Vancouver-based multicultural charity committed to promoting peace by ending the culture of revenge and counter-revenge, and by building a culture of mutual respect and understanding between Palestinians, Israelis, Jews, Muslims and Arabs. The organization is made up of, and lead by, equal numbers of Palestinian, Israeli, Jewish, Muslim, Arab and Canadian members.

The program will be mentored by leading filmmakers and educators from British Columbia, one of whom is Velcrow Ripper, a documentary filmmaker and winner of two Genie Awards (ScaredSacred, Bones of the Forest), a spiritual activist and co-founder of the Gulf Islands Film and Television School. “In this tragic time of dramatically escalating war and bloodshed in the middle east, we desperately need stories of hope, possibility and reconciliation”, Says Ripper. “Peace It Together is one such flower rising from the wreckage, offering a critical opportunity for Israeli and Palestinian youth to step outside the pressure cooker of war and spend time learning to recognize their shared humanity, using creativity to help tear down the walls of misunderstanding, building new bridges to peace”.

Preparing for the program has already had a significant impact on the local community. The process requires constant dialogue, listening, self-awareness and transformation – and every single person in the project is exposed to this process: the board of directors, members, volunteers, and the staff at the Gulf Islands Film and Television School – and of course, the participants.

“As we prepare for the program, we realize how much impact this project has already had on our lives in raising our awareness of the issues and cultural differences”, says Kenna Fair, director of the Gulf Islands Film and Television School. “Everything has to be thought of to the last detail in order to accommodate the students’ needs and the program’s integrity. We’ve ensured, to the best of our ability, that there are an equal number of male and female mentors, Jewish and Muslim mentors, and so on. Our catering service has been altered completely to accommodate the regulations of the Kosher and Hallal kitchens that many of the students observe. We hope that if we can create, along with the students and mentors, an environment of co-existence within our school – it will be a memory and an example for them to take home and live by in the future”.

Peace It Together will celebrate its successful step towards peace with an August 20^th Gala, and a public screenings of the participants’ films, both at the HR Macmillan Space Centre Gala and the August 19^th premiere on Galiano Island. The youth will be present at the Gala screening to present their films, and will be available to answer questions from the audience. After the 21^st the participants will return to their homelands with their own films in hand, a message of hope which they will be able to share with the world in international film festivals – but most importantly, share with their families, friends and classmates back home.

Media contact: Ayala Sender (778) 863-0806

ayala@hellocoolworld.com

Available for interviews:

Adri Hamael – Creative Peace Network Executive Director, Palestinian Canadian

Reena Lazar – Creative Peace Network Executive Director, Jewish Canadian

Hila Russ-Woodland – Creative Peace Network Director, Israeli Canadian

Omar Kassis – Creative Peace Network Director, Palestinian Canadian

Kenna Fair – Executive Director of The Gulf Islands Film and Television School

Sonia Theroux – Communications Coordinator, The Gulf Islands Film and Television School

Velcrow Ripper – Mentor at the Gulf Islands film and Television School, an award winning Filmmaker (ScaredSacred, Bones of the Forest) and a Spiritual Activist

Fair Share Health Care

2006-08-01T07:05:00.000-04:00

Fair Share Health Care

http://walmartwatch.com/fairshare

Lebanon Mourns 57 Civilians Killed in Israeli Strike on Qana
- Qana Survivor: My Brother, Sister and Daughter Have Died
- Israel Suspends Air Strikes; Blames Hezbollah
- 5,000 Lebanese Protesters Storm UN Base in Beirut
- Shiite Cleric Sistani Warns Dire Consequences If No Ceasefire
- 2 Million Protest In Mexico City For Vote Recount
- White House Fears U.S. Officials Could Be Tried Under War Crimes Act
- Proposed Law Would Allow Gov¹t to Indefinitely Detain U.S. Citizens
- Report: Oakland Police Infiltrated Anti-War Group
- Social Ecologist Murray Bookchin, 85, Dies

Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/07/31/1435210

How to Fight a War in Wartime

2006-08-01T06:56:00.000-04:00

How to Fight a War in Wartime
Michael J. Coyle

WILL I MAKE A DIFFERENCE?

How many joined the movement to create equality for all women? Very few!
How many brought the fruit of the 1960's Civil Rights movement to all? Very few!
How many stood up with Gandhi against the colonialists? A tiny fraction of the population!

IT DOESN'T TAKE EVERYBODY!

Agitate - Advocate - Demonstrate - Educate - Organize

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

Develop a presentation and deliver it to schools, churches, & community groups
Start a reading/discussion group
Make your own media
Build talking points against the war that address the way those you speak to listen
Engagingly educate yourself about the war: makes you a more effective advocate
Talk to others: educate by intentional calls & conversations (family, friends, strangers)
Create an online petition demanding the end of the war
Speak out online - publish a blog or post on existing blogs
Create podcasting content on your online space and ask others to do the same
Write an op-ed piece or a letter to the editor for your local newspaper
Design, post and distribute flyers detailing the death, horror and cost of the war
Donate resources: money, time, creativity
Write local and national political representatives
Respond to biased reporting
Participate in activist groups and coalitions
Attend rallies
With legal issues in mind, peacefully and nonviolently occupy a building/street/etc.
Use your creativity: write music, street theatre, and more - all against the war
Use the web: visit pro-war or uncritical sites and post effective comments
Share all the work you create with others (verbally, web, email, print, etc.)
Do one thing a week (whether you take 5 minutes or hours)

LET YOUR GRATIFICATION BE THAT YOU ARE NOT JUST A BYSTANDER

SHARE RESPONSIBILITY AND WORK WITH OTHERS

A MOUNTAIN IS MOVED ONE STONE AT A TIME

http://myprofile.cos.com/mcoyle1

The Declaration of Peace Pledge

2006-06-10T10:09:00.000-04:00

A Pledge to Take Action to:

Bring the Troops Home Now
By September 21, Establish a Comprehensive Plan to End the US War in Iraq
Oppose Future US Military Invasions

The Declaration of Peace Pledge

The Declaration of Peace is a pledge:

To declare peace by taking action now to bring all US troops home from Iraq now and to establish a comprehensive, concrete and rapid plan for an end to the US war in Iraq; and
To declare peace by engaging in nonviolent action in cities and towns across the United States and in Washington, DC September 21-28 if these goals — immediate withdrawal of US troops and a comprehensive plan to end the US war — are not accomplished by International Peace Day, September 21, 2006. Nationally coordinated nonviolent activities will continue on a regular basis as needed until the United States withdraws from Iraq.

Declare Peace. Take Action to End the US War in Iraq.

The US war in Iraq is an endless fire consuming lives, resources, and the fragile possibilities of peace. Instead of quenching this fire, the US occupation intensifies it. The Declaration of Peace is a call to end this war – and a commitment to take action to translate this call into a concrete plan for peace.

With nearly seventy percent of the people of the United States opposing this war, there is a growing call to bring the troops home now and to establish a comprehensive, concrete and rapid withdrawal plan. This comprehensive plan must include withdrawal of US troops; the closure of US bases in Iraq; support for a peace process in the post-occupation transition; reconstruction and reparations in Iraq; and a shift from hundreds of billions of dollars spent for war to meeting human needs at home and abroad.

The Declaration of Peace is a commitment people are making across the United States to take bold, powerful and peaceful steps to help establish this comprehensive plan to end the US War in Iraq. Together — policy-makers and citizens; Democrats, Republicans and Independents; people of faith and people of conscience – we have the power to douse this fire. Sign The Declaration of Peace – and take tangible, nonviolent action to end this war and to declare a new era of peace and justice.

For More Information:
http://www.declarationofpeace.org
2501 Harrison St., Oakland, CA 94612
E-mail:info@declarationofpeace.org

SIGN THE DECLARATION OF PEACE
http://declarationofpeace.org/sign-the-declaration-of-peace

El Pueblo Unido

2006-06-01T08:58:00.000-04:00

El Pueblo Unido

BY MICHAEL VENTURA -

Letters @ 3AM

Two facts tower above all others regarding U.S. immigration. The first foretells how this issue will eventually be resolved. The second measures the injustice that immigrants suffer. Yet in all that I've read and seen since the May 1 demonstrations, each of these facts was mentioned but once.

The first fact is: "The latest census reports ... [that] nationwide, nearly half the children under 5 ... are Latino or other minorities" (CNN, Wolf Blitzer's Situation Room, May 10). This "half" is mostly Latino. Already, California, New Mexico, and Texas have non-Anglo (mostly Latino) majorities; New York and Arizona are around 40% non-Anglo (mostly Latino), as are Maryland, Mississippi, and Georgia (The Week, Aug. 26, 2005, p.16). Florida, New Jersey, and Illinois (among other weighty states) will likely sooner or later have non-Anglo majorities. The trend will continue. The outcome is obvious. No matter what happens now, eventually Hispanic-Americans will be this country's decisive voting bloc, and immigration law will be whatever they want it to be. The political party that helps them now will be the political party of the future. The party that obstructs them will be doomed to insignificance for decades as this young generation grows up, remembers, and votes.

The second fact was noted by Anna Quindlen in Newsweek (May 15, p.78): "Although the conventional wisdom is that immigrants are civic freeloaders, the woman with a sign that said I PAY TAXES was reflecting the truth. Millions of undocumented immigrants pay income taxes using a special identification number the IRS provides. They pay into the Social Security system, too, even though they're not eligible to collect benefits. In fact, they may be helping to keep the system afloat, with $7 billion currently in a designated suspense file, much of which is believed to have come from undocumented workers."

Read that twice. In practice, the IRS – that is, the federal government – recognizes the legality of undocumented workers. Our government knows where millions of them work. Our government, and everyone who cashes a Social Security check, spend their money. It's well-known that many U.S. corporations pay no taxes, and the Bush GOP has once again cut taxes for the rich, but these "illegals" pay. Their labor and the fruit of their labor is in practice legal, with legal arrangements for tax collection – but the workers themselves are illegal. That is outrageous. House Republicans voted to make felons of people who contribute to their salaries! The hypocrisy of ranting about "illegals" while pocketing their coin – that should be illegal.

Since the federal government benefits from undocumented workers, something is owed those workers in return: Justice. The just resolution is simple. All immigrants who pay taxes should, immediately, be issued green cards. Then they can get at "the back of the line" for citizenship, with the not-so-unreasonable stipulation of learning English (immigrants do that anyway, eventually). As for the penalty fine Bush proposes? Tax-paying immigrants have already paid it.

It is extraordinary that these two facts – the first demographic, the second financial and governmental – are virtually absent from both print and broadcast journalism. You don't expect immigrant-baiters like CNN's Lou Dobbs and Fox News' Brit Hume (and the right-wing radio ranters) to quote a fact that undercuts their arguments; intellectually, they are not honest people. But mainstream journalists and liberal columnists seem equally ignorant of these facts – which baffled me until I looked at bylines and "mastheads" (lists of a newspaper's personnel). May 15's New York Times news section: By my count, out of 24 byline names, one might be Hispanic; May 16, of 41 bylines, two were Hispanic, and two might be. The paper has no regular Hispanic news columnists and seems to have no Hispanic national news editors. May 15's Newsweek had no Hispanic bylines, and Time had one (or it may have been the other way round); U.S. News and World Report, none in the news section. As for The Austin Chronicle – flip through these pages and see for yourself. Anglo broadcast news has Hispanic readers, but readers usually don't write and edit. Of course, one can't always tell by the names. Bill Richardson, governor of New Mexico, is Hispanic; Michael Ventura, writer of this column, is not. By and large, though, names are a fairly decent indication. In news journalism, Hispanic-Americans have yet to be recruited – or should the word be included? On this enormous issue of immigration, the journalistic community is pretty much out of the loop. Or, like me, pedaling hard to catch up.

I was shocked out of my ignorance and complacency by the May 1 demonstration in Lubbock.

Lifelong residents of Lubbock tell me that this city, "the Hub of the Texas Panhandle," never before witnessed a demonstration 3,000-strong. That was the figure quoted the next day in the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal (May 2, p.1). The number seemed, to me, low. Extrapolating from a count of those within about 100 feet of where I walked, and standing on a height to view the entire march, I estimated 4,000-ish, maybe more. At least 3,000, then. In Lubbock, probably for the first time in Panhandle history.

We gathered at St. Joseph's Catholic church in the northeast area of the city. We walked behind a marvelous hand-painted banner of the Virgin of Guadalupe – bright colors on a white background, brilliant in the sun. On either side of the Virgin, folks carried signs: VOTE – IT COUNTS. As was typical of the May 1 marches everywhere, there were lots of kids, tiny ones and midsized ones, running about or in strollers or on the shoulders of fathers or big brothers – kids who will never forget this day, and who are being taught by example to stand up. Also typical, most Lubbock marchers were adults under, say, 32 – which means this phenomenon isn't going away. Everyone was excited. Many were smiling. There was no sense of discomfort, no scent of fear. The atmosphere, happy! (I've walked many demonstrations, and only at Woodstock – a concert, but also a kind of demonstration – have I seen a mass of people happy.) There were many U.S. flags, some Latin American flags, many handmade signs. An Anglo's read WE ALL COME FROM SOMEPLACE ELSE. A Latino's, JUSTICIA PARA TODOS. Justice for all. And there were chants, and when one chant died down you never knew who'd start the next – it might be an old woman, it might be a young man, it might be three high school girls walking hand-in-hand. SÍ, SE PUEDE! Yes, it can be done! EL PUEBLO! UNIDO! JAMÁS SERÁ VENCIDO! A people united will never be vanquished!

My father was 6 before he spoke his first English word. My mother was 11 or 12. (She would become the first woman of her lineage to graduate college.) They didn't often speak Italian or Sicilian around their kids because they didn't want us to face the crap they'd faced before they overcame their accents. If they were alive, they would have marched May 1. In New York City when I was young, Sicilians weren't quite white and weren't quite not. It depended on the neighborhood. I guess I thought I was white – because in 1973, to the shock of my naivete, I discovered that in Lubbock, presto, I wasn't white anymore (if, indeed, I ever had been). An aged Anglo barber left a line of blood across the back of my neck to insure that his establishment would not again be sullied by this particular spic. In memory of him and those like him – and for my parents, myself, and, yes, the honor of humanity – I'd have marched here May 1, if need be, in a wheelchair. And, in fact, in Lubbock some people did march in motorized chairs and in wheelchairs pushed by relatives and friends. (Someone should tell Republicans that such folk don't scare easy.)

When we gathered at the federal building, most speeches were pretty fine. A priest began with a prayer that God "keep in our hearts, 'As you did it to the least of these, you did it to me.' [Jesus' words]." Lubbock County Sheriff David Gutierrez sang the daylights out of "God Bless America" (with marchers joining in). And a graying Anglo judge named Rusty Ladd said this:

"Every founding father of this country broke the law; every escaped slave and anyone who helped that slave broke the law; every Texan (of any color) who fought for the independence of our state broke the law; all those civil rights marchers and protesters of the 1950s and 1960s broke the law and our nation is the better for their having done so. ... If our legislatures ... pass any law ... that tells me I cannot offer food or drink or medical attention or shelter to any neighbor of mine, or passes a law that restricts my ability to treat my fellow man with dignity and respect, then save me a cell in the local jail – for on that day I shall become a lawbreaker as well."

Anyone can reprint this column anywhere free of charge, so long as you credit The Austin Chronicle.

Stop Telecommunications megamergers!

2006-05-27T11:48:00.000-04:00

The largest telecommunications and cable companies are fighting to shut down a free and open Internet. They keep raising prices while making empty promises about serving all Americans. They've even illegally handed over your personal information to government eavesdroppers.

Now they want the government to help them get even bigger.

Please join me in telling the FCC to stop these megamergers. Adding your voice to the FCC's public record is one of the most effective actions you can take to make your voice heard, and only takes a minute. Visit http://www.freepress.net/act/mergers

World Peace Forum 2006

2006-05-27T11:44:00.000-04:00

June 23 - 28, 2006
World Peace Forum 2006
Vancouver, Canada

The World Peace Forum 2006 is an international gathering of individuals, groups and civic governments from cities and communities to envision a living culture of peace and sustainability in our lifetimes.

The World Peace Forum 2006 will organize panels, workshops, public forums,
arts and entertainment activities and networking events to offer all participants an open space for discussion and performance within the main theme of "Cities and Communities: Working together to end war and build a peaceful, just and sustainable world."

For more information, see: http://www.worldpeaceforum.ca/ and
http://www.worldpeaceforum.ca/forum/program

Report from CodePink's Mother's Day 2006 Vigil in D.C. and Call forHunger Strike

2006-05-27T11:41:00.000-04:00

Report from CodePink's Mother's Day 2006 Vigil in D.C. and Call for
Hunger Strike

This past weekend, CodePink transformed the park in front of the White
House. The lawn became a magical space filled with families reclaiming the
historical origin of Mother's Day as a time to work for Peace. Cindy
Sheehan, Susan Sarandon, Patch Adams, Dick Gregory and Iraqi and Iranian
women added their voices and talents to our 24-hour peace vigil.
For news coverage of Mother's Day 2006 Vigil in D.C., see:
http://www.codepinkalert.org//article.php?id=986

CodePink writes: "We literally put our bodies on the line to create a
beautiful aerial image spelling 'Mom Says NO WAR.'
( http://www.codepinkalert.org/article.php?id=984 )
We held teach-ins on Iraq, Iran, immigrant rights, Katrina and more. We
cried with moms who lost their children; we prayed with Native American
healers; we read letters to Laura Bush; we sang and danced and created a
powerful and compassionate community. At the close of the 24 hours, we tied
roses with names of the dead onto the White House fence, and as we chanted
"No More War, No More War", the rain that was predicted for both days
suddenly burst forth as if cleansing our nation's soul. You can see photos
at our virtual vigil at
http://www.codepinkalert.org/article.php?list=type&type=141 A dedicated
group of CodePink women took inspiration from the weekend and decided to
stay in D.C. for a month, taking action at Congress every day to demand an
end to war. Click on http://www.womensayenough.org/ to read more about their
action plans.

While the entire weekend was filled with magical moments, one stood out.
Comedian and civil rights leader Dick Gregory -- legendary for fasting
against the Vietnam War -- was in Cleveland en route to California when he
saw the CodePink vigil on CNN, and immediately changed planes to join us in
D.C. There he met environmentalist/author and CodePink cofounder Diane
Wilson, who earlier had called all of us to up our commitment and join her
in a hunger strike. The two of them joined together and called us to a
long-term fast to bring the troops home. Cindy Sheehan, CodePink members,
military families and Iraqi vets have already agreed to join.

On July 4, we will launch an historic hunger strike called TROOPS HOME FAST.
While many Americans will be expressing their patriotism via barbeques and
fireworks, we'll be fasting in memory of the dead and wounded, and calling
for our nation to be the democracy it was created to be, not an empire.

We're inviting people around the world to show their support for this
open-ended fast by committing to fast for one day -- July 4 -- plus as many
more days as you can handle.
Please sign up to join us at
http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/codepink/signUp.jsp?key=1289
and encourage your friends to do the same at
http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/codepink/tellafriend.jsp?tell_a_friend_KEY=816.
Together, we can bring our troops home."

Check out all the other ways you can join with CodePink this summer at
http://www.codepinkalert.org//article.php?list=type&type=124

The Declaration of Peace and Votes for Peace

2006-05-27T11:33:00.000-04:00

The Declaration of Peace

A Nonviolent Action Campaign For an End to the U.S. War in Iraq

The Declaration of Peace is a nonviolent action campaign to end the U.S. war
in Iraq and bring the U.S. troops home now. By signing the Declaration of
Peace, people across the United States will pledge to: work actively for
this immediate withdrawal from Iraq and take nonviolent action if the U.S.
government has not established a comprehensive withdrawal plan by a
mid-September, 2006 deadline.

If a withdrawal plan is not established by the deadline - shortly before
Congress adjourns for the fall elections - thousands of people will engage
in nonviolent action in Washington, D.C. and in congressional offices and
other sites throughout the nation. Nationally coordinated nonviolent
activities will continue on a regular basis until the United States
withdraws from Iraq.

The Declaration of Peace will call for a comprehensive exit policy,
including:
. Withdrawal of U.S. troops
. Closure of U.S. military bases
. Support for an Iraqi-led peace process, including a peace conference to
shape a post-occupation transition
. End to U.S. control of Iraqi oil
. Reparations for the destruction that this war has caused, and
. Increased support for U.S. veterans of the Iraq war

For more details and to sign the Declaration of Peace, visit:
http://www.declarationofpeace.org/

*************************************************

Voters For Peace: The power to end the war and prevent future wars of
aggression.
What if millions decided to vote their conscience and said 'No More War
Candidates'?

The Voters Pledge makes visible a powerful political force, the peace vote,
a force that politicians cannot continue to ignore. It sends a clear message
to the hawkish minority that leads both major parties to end the occupation
of Iraq and to end unprovoked attacks on other nations.

Sign the Voters Pledge and ask at least 10 of your friends to sign as well.
You can help get 2 million signers in 2006.

"I will not vote for or support any candidate for Congress or President who
does not make a speedy end to the war in Iraq, and preventing any future war
of aggression, a public position in his or her campaign."

Sign the Voters Pledge at: http://www.votersforpeace.us/signUp.jsp?key=1134

Read more about the Voters Pledge in Cindy Sheehan's "A Perfect Mother's Day
Gift: Create a Peace Movement That Ends the Iraq Occupation and Prevents
Future Wars of Aggression" at:
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/051206R.shtml

“ex-CHANGE FOR PEACE” with Roland Wiederkehr

2006-05-27T11:22:00.000-04:00

Bloomington Peace Action Coalition and the Center For Sustainable Living offer a Youth and Community Forum “ex-CHANGE FOR PEACE” with Roland Wiederkehr, co-founder of various institutions in Switzerland and abroad in the field of Environment, Culture and Peace, on June 5.

The Forum will start at 7:30 pm at the Monroe County Public Library, Room 1-B with an introduction by Lew Polsgrove.

Roland Wiederkehr will speak about his vision of creating a “Platform of the Good" to replace the “axis of evil” worldview, and of engaging young people in bringing about change towards a more sustainable and peaceful future. To this end Roland Wiederkehr created a leadership training organization called “ex-CHANGE FOR PEACE” http://www.ecfp.org

“ex-CHANGE FOR PEACE”, founded in Switzerland and supported by the Swiss government, supports young leaders in their efforts to work for a positive future in countries affected by conflict. Roland Wiederkehr will speak about how “ex-CHANGE FOR PEACE” encourages and facilitates young peoples’ effective engagement for peace. The organization was founded in 2001 and has had several participants from the United States, including a young woman from Bloomington, Indiana. http://www.ecfp.org/en/archiv/index.php

Roland Wiederkehr is a former member of the Swiss Parliament. He was Director of the WORLD WIDE FUND FOR NATURE in Switzerland from 1968 – 87, and founded GREEN CROSS INTERNATIONAL together with Mikhail Gorbechev in 1993. The U.S. affiliate organization is GLOBAL GREEN.

http://www.greencrossinternational.net/index.htm
http://www.globalgreen.org

http://greencross.ch

The ongoing activities of Green Cross International are centered around

· Preventing and resolving conflicts over natural resources, especially energy and water

· Addressing the environmental consequences of wars and conflicts. Green Cross promotes the cleanup and conversion of military bases to civilian use, the remediation of nuclear contamination, and the environmentally responsible destruction of conventional and chemical weapon stockpiles.

· Promoting value and behavior changes leading to a sustainable future. Green Cross was one key actors in the development of the EARTH CHARTER, a document which is intended to serve as a universal code of conduct to guide people and nations towards a sustainable future.

Roland Wiederkehr can be reached for interviews at: E-mail: rw@rolandwiederkehr.ch , Phone: 805-969-0413 (until May 30), 812-336-0360 (May 31-June 9)

Bloomington Peace Action Coalition and the Center for Sustainable Living invite members of the community, and especially high school students and young people in their twenties, to learn about these efforts to prevent conflicts and wars over scarce resources (energy and water), and to explore how individuals, and communities like Bloomington, can bring about change towards a more sustainable and more peaceful future.

The event is free and open to the public.

“ex-CHANGE FOR PEACE”

Monday, June 5, 2006

7:30 pm

Monroe County Public Library, Room 1-B,

303 E. Kirkwood Avenue
Bloomington

For additional information: Christine Glaser, Bloomington Peace Action Coalition

E-mail: cglaser@iupui.edu, Phone: 812–336-0360

"Peopleof Conscience and the Morality of War – A Forum for Youth ConsideringConscientious Objection."

2006-05-27T10:28:00.000-04:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 25, 2006

For additional information: Colin Schoder-Ehri, Bloomington Friends Meeting
E-mail: colinse@gmail.com, Phone: 812-219-6517

Bloomington Friends Meeting and several co-sponsors present: "People
of Conscience and the Morality of War – A Forum for Youth Considering
Conscientious Objection."

Bloomington, IN – Bloomington Friends Meeting, Truth in Recruiting,
Bloomington Peace Action Coalition, and the I.U. students group
"Against the Occupation of Iraq" present a forum for youth considering
conscientious objection on Monday, June 12.

The Forum begins at 7:00 pm in the Monroe County Public Library, Room
I-B, with an introduction by Colin Schoder-Ehri, who intends to
request status as conscientious objector if a military draft is
instituted.

Following the introduction will be will short statements by invited
speakers. Rev. Bill Breeden, Brown County author Hank Swain, poet
Patricia Coleman and others are giving personal perspectives on the
following questions:

Are any wars good?
Are you willing to be ordered to kill?
What happens when you decide to follow your conscience?

After these opening statements all participants are invited to share
their thoughts and views on these issues, in a discussion moderated by
Matt Turrissini.

Young people will have the opportunity to discuss and consider how
someone makes the decision to become a conscientious objector and what
steps they would need to take to establish their status as a
conscientious objector in case of a draft.

There will also be information about how someone who is already
serving in the military can obtain conscientious objector status, and
either leave the military or serve in non-combat-related functions.

Handouts will be provided about the reality of war, and about
educational opportunities, career options, and ways for young people
to serve their country outside of the military.

The event is free and open to the public.

"People of Conscience and the Morality of War"
A Forum for Youth Considering Conscientious Objection.

Monday, June 12, 2006
7:00 pm
Monroe County Public Library, Room 1-B,
303 E. Kirkwood Avenue
Bloomington

"A Water Ethic: Cure for the Coming Crisis"

2006-05-23T13:33:00.000-04:00

"A Water Ethic: Cure for the Coming Crisis" is the title of author
Kirpatrick Sale's June 2nd lecture for the Great Barrington Land
Conservancy. Mr. Sale will speak about how for centuries humans have
attempted to have control and dominance over the forces of nature, most
especially of water, but in the 21st century we have come to the point where
our control and use of water has reached a crisis. We depend upon water even
more than we do oil, but what isn't being polluted and defiled is being used
up, in this country and around the world, at a disastrous rate. It is no
exaggeration to say that the wars of the coming century will most likely
about water, and when they are over there still won't be enough to go
around.

"The only way we can escape from the coming crisis is by developing a 'water
ethic,' similar to Aldo Leopold¹s land ethic, but about this precious and
vital resource."

Mr. Sale's talk is part of a weekend of festivities dedicating the William
Stanley Overlook on the Great Barrington River Walk (www.gbriverwalk.org).
The Observation Platform for the Overlook is directly across the Housatonic

River from the site of the historic Horace Day rubberwear factory. It was
here in 1886 that Stanley successfully transmitted high voltage alternating
current electricity. Interpretative signage tells the story of Stanley¹s
experiments and his role in Great Barrington¹s industrial history.

Great Barrington is proud of its River Walk, which also features the W. E.
B. Du Bois River Garden, honoring Great Barrington's native son. The River
Walk is demonstrating the potential for developing riverfront access along
trashed and abused areas, so that more pristine riparian areas may remain
forever wild. River Walk has shown how public access need not compromise
river ecology and water quality, by creating vegetative buffers of native
species, mitigating non-point source pollution with drop inlets, installing
a rain garden and permeable trail surfaces, and addressing degraded soils
with "compost tea". Most important, the process of building the River Walk
trail (now counting over two thousand volunteers) continues to strengthen
Great Barrington's own "river ethic". It is appropriate that Mr. Sale's
Water Ethic address will be made in our town!

Kirkpatrick Sale is a contributing editor for the "Nation" and the author of
nine previous books, including "Human Scale," "Dwellers in the Land: The
Bioregional Vision," "Conquest of Paradise: Christopher Columbus and
Columbian Conquest," "Rebels against the Future: The Luddites and Their War
on the Industrial Revolution," and "The Fire of His Genius: Robert Fulton
and American Dream." He was named by "Utne Reader" as one of the 100 Living
Visionaries. He makes his home in Cold Spring, New York.

In 1980 Mr. Sale was appointed a founding board member of the E. F.
Schumacher Society. He was responsible for suggesting the creation of the
Schumacher Library with its stellar collection of books on local economics.
Mr. Sale's essay "Economics of Scale vs. the Scale of Economics" is printed
below for your information. It was first published in the February 2006
"Re-inventing Economics" issue of "Vermont Commons," guest edited by Susan
Witt. Additional essays by Mr. Sale may be read online at the publications
section of the E. F. Schumacher Society's web site
(www.smallisbeautiful.org).

Best wishes,

Staff of the E. F. Schumacher Society
140 Jug End Road
Great Barrington, MA 01230
www.smallisbeautiful.org

* * * * *

Economics of Scale vs. the Scale of Economics:
Towards Basic Principles of a Bioregional Economy
by Kirkpatrick Sale
from "Vermont Commons" (www.vtcommons.org)

Economics of scale is what conventional industrial economies are all about,
finding ways to more profitably and efficiently exploit nature. But the
scale of economics is what the new economies of the future must be about,
finding the ways to live so that healthy communities may foster a healthy
earth.

There are only two essentials to consider in coming at the problem of the
optimum scale for an economy to produce and distribute goods and services:
the natural ecosystem and the human community. An economy that does harm to
the natural world‹depleting resources, extincting species, maltreating
animals, producing pollution, piling up wastes‹has grown too large; an
economy that is out of democratic and humanitarian human control‹where
decisions are made by a few distant corporate individuals and a polity whose
choices are beyond individual influence‹has grown too large.

Let us take the economic scale that is optimum for the earth¹s systems. It
would be based on conservation, stability, sustainability, recycling,
harmony. That means, for starters, an economy at a bioregional scale‹that
of a watershed or river valley, or a mountain system, or a lakeshore‹for it
more or less dictates the economy appropriate to it: an economy based on a
watershed, for example, automatically considers downriver populations as
well as headwater ones. The human constructs would adapt to the environment
rather than be imposed, and human uses would be confined to those the
bioregion allowed.

In Vermont terms, it would be possible to think of the western watershed of
the Connecticut River, with all the rivers running eastward from the Green
Mountains, as a bioregion (though it would of course demand cooperation with
the New Hampshirites, who share the Connecticut). Another bioregion would
encompass the watershed to the west of the Green Mountains, to Lake
Champlain.

In this case, dairy and general truck farming would naturally be at the
heart of the bioregional economy, although if a truly ecological sensibility
informs it, those farms would not allow the disastrous sort of waste runoff
that now so badly pollutes Lake Champlain and other waterways. Nor would
they use artificial chemicals and fertilizers. Nor would they have factory
farms of 1,000-plus cows and 100,000-plus hens. An ecologically based
agriculture would depend on solar power appropriate to the region, on
human-powered machines, on organic and pest-management systems, perennial
polyculture and permaculture, with markets geared to seasonal and regional
foods.

And the economic scale desirable for the human community would be one in
which decisions about the economy‹what is produced, from what resources, by
whom, for whom, how distributed, how recycled‹are made democratically by the
various units, from towns to bioregions. Most power would locate at the
level of the community, and it is there that we can imagine effecting some
basic economic justice‹specifically, practices of workplace ownership by the
employees, workplace democracy for decision-making, and workplace commitment
to the immediate surrounding populace‹all of the things that are impossible
with large scales and distant chainstore corporations.
And here we come to an essential element of a stable economy that dictates
much of its scale: self-sufficiency. If the farms of Vermont were part of a
self-sufficient economy, feeding the 620,000 people within its borders as
its primary mission, there would not be such a concentration on dairy farms
(and the resultant pollution problems) and there would be a far greater
diversity of animal products and crops, ultimately to the health of the
ecosystems.

Self-sufficiency is operable only at a limited scale, where humans are able
to understand the resources at hand, can perceive and regulate the variants
in the economy, and be sure that production and distribution is made
rational and systematic. It is certainly possible at a bioregional scale,
at least bioregions conceived as no bigger than 10- and 20,000 square miles
(depending on the size necessary for resource variables), and in fact state
governments right across the country even now calculate much of their
operations on geographic areas of such a size, though they usually think in
terms of watersheds or forests or deserts rather than bioregions. (Although
in fact the Federal government has begun to calculate at this scale, with a
bioregional map recently put out by the Bureau of Land Management.)

In terms of population, too, there is a limit at which rough
self-sufficiency can be achieved. I did a lot of analysis of this for my
book Human Scale some years ago, and I found that historically
self-sufficient communities with economies of some complexity tended to
cluster in the 5,000-10,000 population range‹one urbanologist, Gideon
Sjoberg, has said that ³it seems unlikely that, at least in the earlier
periods, even the larger of these cities contained more than 5,000 to 10,000
people, including part-time farmers on the cities¹ outskirts.² Medieval
trading centers commonly held up to 10,000 people for centuries, and even
when larger cities grew in the 13th and 14th centuries to 20,000 or even
40,000, they were typically divided into quarters--literally four parts‹of
5-10,000 people.

On a modern American scale, then, we might imagine a mixture of somewhat
self-sufficient cities within more self-sufficient counties within mostly
self-sufficient bioregions within a totally self-sufficient state, and then
the economy of self-sufficiency might be quite complex indeed. In terms of
Vermont, this might be a mix of relatively self-sufficient cities (Barre,
Bennington, Brattleboro, Burlington (divided into quarters), Essex,
Hartford, Middlebury, Milton, Montpelier, Rutland, South Burlington, and
Springfield are obvious candidates), within ecologically determined more
self-sufficient shires (an Otto River shire, say, and shires for the West,
Black, White, Winooski, Lemoille, Passumpsic watersheds), within the two
self-sufficient bioregions on either side of the Green Mountains, within the
state‹whose economy, if independent, could be just as self-sufficient as it
desired.

Such self-sufficient units would need to be guided by certain maxims to
provide a full range of goods and services, and they would need to adhere to
them with some ingenuity. But the maxims are all simple and thoroughly
practical. They would include the principle of sharing, at the community
level, an adherence to recycling and repairing (or at a more complex level,
remanufacturing) almost everything, an emphasis on handicrafts and bespoke
production rather than manufactures and mass production, a commitment to
using local raw materials instead of imported (and especially local foods,
cheaper, fresher, safer, better-tasting, healthier), a nurturing of local
ingenuity without patent and copyright restrictions, and an agreement to
abandon as unnecessary and undesirable almost everything manufactured at the
factory level anywhere and anyhow. All of which is no more complex than the
old New England adage:

Use it up, wear it out,

Make it do, or do without.

* * * * *
The E. F. Schumacher Society is a tax-exempt, educational organization.
Membership donations support the Society's programs. Donations may be made
on-line at http://www.smallisbeautiful.org/membership.html

Why Peace Begins With You

2006-05-22T14:44:00.000-04:00

Why Peace Begins With You

Seven spiritual practices for bringing peace into your life and the world around you.
By Deepak Chopra

Reprinted from Chopra.com.

The approach of personal transformation is the idea of the future for ending war. It depends on the only advantage that people of peace have over warmakers: sheer numbers. If enough people in the world transformed themselves into peacemakers, war could end. The leading idea here is critical mass. It took a critical mass of human beings to embrace electricity and fossil fuels, to teach evolution and adopt every major religion. When the time is right and enough people participate, critical mass can change the world. Can it end war?

There is precedent to believe that it might. The ancient Indian ideal of Ahimsa, or non-violence, gave Gandhi his guiding principle of reverence for life. In every spiritual tradition it is believed that peace must exist in one's heart before it can exist in the outer world. Personal transformation deserves a chance.

Can it end war?

When a person is established in non-violence, those in his vicinity cease to feel hostility.
— Patanjali, ancient Indian sage

Seven Practices for Peace

The program for peacemakers asks you to follow a specific practice every day, each one centered on the theme of peace.

Sunday: Being for Peace
Monday: Thinking for Peace
Tuesday: Feeling for Peace
Wednesday: Speaking for Peace
Thursday: Acting for Peace
Friday: Creating for Peace
Saturday: Sharing for Peace

Our hope is that you will create peace on every level of your life. Each practice takes only a few minutes. You can be as private or outspoken as you wish. But those around you will know that you are for peace, not just through good intentions but by the way you conduct your life on a daily basis.

Sunday: Being for Peace

Today, take 5 minutes to meditate for peace. Sit quietly with your eyes closed. Put your attention on your heart and inwardly repeat these four words: Peace, Harmony, Laughter, Love. Allow these words to radiate from your heart's stillness out into your body. As you end your meditation, say to yourself, "Today I will relinquish all resentments and grievances." Bring into your mind anyone against whom you have a grievance and let it go. Send that person your forgiveness.

Monday: Thinking for Peace

Thinking has power when it is backed by intention. Today, introduce the intention of peace in your thoughts. Take a few moments of silence, then repeat this ancient prayer:

Let me be loved, let me be happy, let me be peaceful.
Let my friends be happy, loved, and peaceful.
Let my perceived enemies be happy, loved, and peaceful.
Let all beings be happy, loved, and peaceful.
Let the whole world experience these things.

Any time during the day if you are overshadowed by fear or anger, repeat these intentions. Use this prayer to get back on center.

Tuesday: Feeling for Peace

This is the day to experience the emotions of peace. The emotions of peace are compassion, understanding, and love.

Compassion is the feeling of shared suffering. When you feel someone else's suffering, there is the birth of understanding.

Understanding is the knowledge that suffering is shared by everyone. When you understand that you aren't alone in your suffering, there is the birth of love.

When there is love there is the opportunity for peace.

As your practice, observe a stranger some time during your day. Silently say to yourself, "This person is just like me. Like me, this person has experienced joy and sorrow, despair and hope, fear and love. Like me, this person has people in his or her life who deeply care and love them. Like me, this person's life is impermanent and will one day end. This person's peace is as important as my peace. I want peace, harmony, laughter, and love in their life and the life of all beings."

Wednesday: Speaking for Peace

Today, the purpose of speaking is to create happiness in the listener. Have this intention: Today every word I utter will be chosen consciously. I will refrain from complaints, condemnation, and criticism.

Your practice is to do at least one of the following:

· Tell someone how much you appreciate them.

· Express genuine gratitude to those who have helped and loved you.

· Offer healing or nurturing words to someone who needs them.

· Show respect to someone whose respect you value.

· If you find that you are reacting negatively to anyone, in a way that isn't peaceful, refrain from speaking and keep silent. Wait to speak until you feel centered and calm, and then speak with respect.

Thursday: Acting for Peace

Today is the day to help someone in need: A child, a sick person, an older or frail person. Help can take many forms. Tell yourself, "Today I will bring a smile to a stranger's face. If someone acts in a hurtful way to me or someone else, I will respond with a gesture of loving kindness. I will send an anonymous gift to someone, however small. I will offer help without asking for gratitude or recognition."

Friday: Creating for Peace

Today, come up with at least one creative idea to resolve a conflict, either in your personal life or your family circle or among friends. If you can, try and create an idea that applies to your community, the nation, or the whole world.You may change an old habit that isn't working, look at someone a new way, offer words you never offered before, or think of an activity that brings people together in good feeling and laughter.

Second, invite a family member or friend to come up with one creative idea of this kind on their own. Creativity feels best when you are the one thinking up the new idea or approach. Make it known that you accept and enjoy creativity. Be loose and easy. Let the ideas flow and try out anything that has appeal. The purpose here is to bond, because only when you bond with others can there be mutual trust. When you trust, there is no need for hidden hostility and suspicion, which are the two great enemies of peace.

Saturday: Sharing for Peace

Today, share your practice of peacemaking with two people. Give them this information and invite them to begin the daily practice. As more of us participate in this sharing, our practice will expand into a critical mass. Today joyfully celebrate your own peace consciousness with at least one other peace-conscious person. Connect either trough e-mail or phone.

· Share your experience of growing peace.

· Share your gratitude that someone else is as serious about peace as you are.

· Share your ideas for helping the world move closer to critical mass.

· Do whatever you can, in small or large ways, to assist anyone who wants to become a peacemaker.

The Best Reason to Become a Peacemaker

Now you know the program. If you transform yourself into a peacemaker, you won't become an activist marching in the streets. You will not be "anti" anything. No money is required. All you are asked to do is to go within and dedicate yourself to peace.

It just might work.

Even if you don't immediately see a decline in violence around the world, you will know in your heart that you have dedicated your own life to peace.

But the single best reason to become a peacemaker is that every other approach has failed.

We don't know what number the critical mass is--the best we can hope is to bring about change by personal transformation. Isn't it worth a few moments of your day to end 30 wars around the world and perhaps every future war that is certain to break out?

Right now there are 21.3 million soldiers serving in armies around the world. Can't we recruit a peace brigade ten times larger?

A hundred times larger? The effort begins now, with you.

Reprinted from Chopra.com.

"Don't Attack Iran" Petition!

2006-05-16T17:21:00.000-04:00

Please sign the "Don't Attack Iran" Petition!

If you have not already done so, Please sign the "Don't Attack Iran"
Petition!
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/iran
This petition will be delivered to The White House on May 18 (see below).

More than 41,700 people have already signed the petition. Add your name and
help spread the word.

Dear President Bush and Vice President Cheney,
We write to you from all over the United States and all over the world to
urge you to obey both international and U.S. law, which forbid aggressive
attacks on other nations. We oppose your proposal to attack Iran. ...
We urge you to lead the way to peace, not war, and to begin by making clear
that you will not commit the highest international crime by aggressively
attacking Iran.

Please sign the "Don't Attack Iran" Petition! at:
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/iran
or
http://political.moveon.org/dontnukeiran/index.html

**********

Tell Your Senators: "No Military Strike on Iran!"

May 11, 2006 Raw Story article -
US military, intelligence officials raise concern about possible
preparations for Iran strike
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/US_military_seen_
ready_for_Iran_0511.html

The Midwest Social Forum - July 7-9, 2006

2006-05-16T17:10:00.000-04:00

The Midwest Social Forum is an annual gathering of grassroots organizations, community activists, artists, workers, educators, students, and others committed to making a better, more just world possible. It provides an open space for exchanging experiences and information, strengthening alliances and networks, and developing effective strategies for progressive social, economic, and political change. This year it will be held in Milwaukee, July 7-9, 2006, at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Student Union.

Thursday, July 6 will be devoted to retreats and caucuses by communities or networks wishing to gather ahead of time in order to strengthen their collective vision and planning for long-term campaigns and projects, and enhance their capacity to participate in the Forum in a more organized and purposeful way. For example, a youth retreat is currently being organized by several Midwest-based youth organizations. If your organization would like to organize a retreat or caucus with other organizations in the region, whether on the basis of a specific community or around a particular issue focus, fill out this form.

The early deadline to propose sessions and activities has been extended until May 15th. Activities can include workshops, panels, training sessions, round tables, retreats, caucuses, films, and other cultural events. Proposals received by this early deadline have the potential to receive the most widespread and advanced publicity. Download or fill out an online proposal form here.

Registration is now open, and early registrants receive a 10% discount. Download or fill out an online registration form here.

http://www.mwsocialforum.org/

Democracy NOW - May 16, 2006

2006-05-16T17:07:00.000-04:00

* Freedom of the Press Under Attack: Government Begins Tracking Phone Calls
of Journalists *

ABC News reported on Monday that a senior federal law enforcement had
revealed that the government is now tracking phone calls made by journalists
from the New York Times, Washington Post and ABC News. We speak with Brian
Ross, chief investigative reporter at ABC News.

Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/05/16/145201

* Militarizing the Border: Bush Calls For 6,000 National Guard Troops to
Deploy to U.S.-Mexican Border *

President Bush spoke on national tv night and called for 6,000 National
Guard troops to be deployed to the U.S.-Mexican border. We looking at the
growing militarization of the border and the role private contractors, like
Halliburton, are playing.

Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/05/16/145205

* Hundreds Gather in Duncan Oklahoma to Protest Outside Halliburton
Shareholder Meeting *

We go to Oklahoma to speak with Corpwatch¹s Pratap Chatterjee about his new
report "Hurricane Halliburton: Conflict, Climate Change and Catastrophe." We
also speak with Nigerian attorney Michael Keania Karikpo who represents
Environmental Rights Action in Nigeria.

Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/05/16/145210

* Headlines for May 16, 2006 *

- Bush: 6,000 National Guard Troops to Be Deployed to Border
- Report: Government Tracks Phone Calls of Journalists
- FCC Commissioner Calls for Inquiry into NSA Spying Scandal
- Sunni Group Accuses U.S. of Killing 25 Civilians in Iraq
- U.S. Bars Arms Sales to Venezuela
- Haiti & Venezuela Sign Oil Deal
- Ecuador Expels Oil Giant Occidental Petroleum
- Prosecutor Focuses on Cheney in Valerie Plame Probe
- Activists Call for Clear Channel to Lose License Over Hate Radio

Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/05/16/144256

Slamming for Human Rights Midwest Region Tour

2006-05-16T17:04:00.000-04:00

Friday, May 19^th, 2006, 7 PM - Slamming for Human Rights Midwest Region Tour! Boxcar Books - 310A South Washington St., Bloomington http://www.amnestyusa.org/events/midwestern/poetryslamtour05192006.html

Join host Kevin Coval (www.melekyonin.com) and Indiana human rights
activists as Indiana poets compete for Bloomington 'Poet of
Conscience'. There will also be opportunities for you to take action
to end violence against women
(http://www.amnestyusa.org/stopviolence/index.do). Become an AIUSA
member and receive a free 'Slamming for Human Rights' t-shirt or
'Music for Human Rights' CD. The event is free and open to the
public. For more information, please contact Patricia, Local Event
Coordinator, at greendove@gmail.com.

Co-sponsored by Indiana Holistic Health Network, Green Dove Network, Hart Rock, MATRIX, Boxcar Books, Bloomington Peace Action Coalition, Social Justice Steering Committee of the Unitarian Universalist Church, Center for Sustainable Living, WFHB, Holistic Affordable Housing, WME3tv videozine and Reiki Peace and Wellness Arts

Greenpeace Rallies for Solar Energy

2006-05-16T16:58:00.000-04:00

Mirror, mirror, on the Hall… San Francisco’s City Hall that is. More than 300 activists joined me for a rally in front of City Hall yesterday, lighting it up with small mirrors to show our support for solar energy.

That’s because San Francisco is on the verge of building the largest municipal clean energy network in the world, and the city’s mayor can make it happen.

I don’t have to tell you about skyrocketing energy prices or Bush’s failure to address global warming. I’m here to tell you that we don’t need President Bush anymore – not with local leaders like Mayor Newsom stepping up to the challenge.

And why should you care about what happens in San Francisco? Because this project won’t just be the largest renewable energy system in the country – it will be the largest in the WORLD, setting a precedent that every city, large or small, can follow.

TAKE ACTION Thank Mayor Newsom for his courage and leadership in making San Francisco the world leader in renewable energy.

No matter where you live, what happens now in San Francisco could change the future of renewable energy everywhere. That means less pollution, a step towards solving global warming, and lower energy costs.

You don’t have to shine your mirror on City Hall to express your support for renewable energy – just send a note to Mayor Newsom now.

Just a minute of your time could literally change the world.

For a clean energy future,

Samantha Rodgers
Energy Campaigner