The woman spearheading this spontaneous protest is Cindy Sheehan, of Vacaville, California. She is the mother of Army Specialist Casey A. Sheehan. Casey Sheehan was a Humvee mechanic killed in Sadr City, Baghdad, on April 4, 2004. In a letter she wrote to President Bush on November 4, 2004, Sheehan says it’s hard work "burying your child 46 days before his 25th birthday [... and] not jumping in the grave with him and having the earth cover you both."
Sheehan was attending the Veterans for Peace Annual Convention in Dallas. A bus and a number of vans left the convention early Saturday morning to go to Crawford, home to the President’s 1600 acre ranch, known as the "Western White House."
After the march, Sheehan, along with dozens of veterans and supporters, gathered at the Crawford Peace House, "a place where individuals and organizations can gather for seminars, meetings, or workshops dedicated to peace." In the early afternoon, Sheehan and supporters went to the ranch, where G.W. Bush is expected to spend the rest of August. Explaining what she plans to accomplish by camping outside of G.W. Bush's ranch, Sheehan said, "I want him to personally come and explain to me why we are in Iraq. I want him to explain to my face why my son died."
The group was challenged by an individual who asked the two dozen protestors if they were going to "treat our troops coming back from Iraq the same way you treated us when we came back from Vietnam?" A couple of protestors responded that they were Vietnam veterans, too and Sheehan said, "We support our troops; that's why we want to bring them home safe. I lost a son in this war." The man said he was sorry for her loss, but that "Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and we had to fight them." The protestors asked him where the weapons of mass destruction were, to which the man responded, "They moved them to Syria; that’s where the WMDs are now."
The above was noted by In Dallas and it's from Ozlem Altiok's "Camping out at Bush's Crawford Ranch" (North Texas Indymedia). It's Thursday night and we're doing the Indymedia round up. This entry is focused on Iraq.
Staying on this topic, we'll note Elizabeth's "Showdown on Prairie Chapel Road" (North Texas Indymedia) (also sent in by In Dallas):
Members of Gold Star Families for Peace, Veterans for Peace, Military Family Speak Out and others from across the country are gathered on the side of the road.
The weather was good in Crawford Wednesday afternoon, although there were severe storms on Tuesday night that left water standing in the ditches. About 60 people were gathered along Prairie Chapel Road in support of Cindy Sheehan, Gold Star mother.
People accompanying Cindy since her vigil began on Saturday include Jim Goodnow of Terlingua, member of Veterans for Peace and Keith, who has a cousin in Iraq and "does not want him to come back dead". Celeste, Jean, Bill, and Cindy, who are other members of Gold Star Families for Peace were at the campsite on Wednesday evening, along with representatives of Military Families Speak Out , Veterans for Peace, and Sherry Bohlen, National Field Director of Progressive Democrats of America, whose son, Thor, was born in Vietnam in 1969, and is now serving in the military.
A married couple who drives tractor-trailers detoured from Fort Worth to Crawford to spend time with the campers, before continuing to Las Vegas, and home to Ono, California. They heard about the action from Bill Press on Sirius Radio. They reported other truckers calling in to the program to say they were going to come to Crawford. Casey from Fairplay, Colorado said she came because of "what Cindy has done, and other family members.. to understand the truth of it and stand up to it. That is extraordinary." Others recently arrived from Tucson and Scottsdale, Arizona.
Although rumors still circulate about imminent eviction from the side of the road, no demand has been received from law authorites to dispurse the group. Several members of the press were present, and representatives of GSFP, MFSO, and other groups were often on the phone, participating in radio interviews.
At sundown, Henry Darragh of Pasadena, Texas played "Amazing Grace" on the trombone before Lon Burnam and representative of other groups had a meeting with all present to discuss operations of the action. Due to continuing pressure from near-by landowners, participants are being encouraged to park at the football stadium in Crawford and ride a shuttle to the Prairie Chapel Road site. Room for tents and overnight campers has also become tight, with preference being given to members of military families. Other visitors are encouraged to camp at Tonkawa Park, where cost is $10 each night. People are continuously coming and going at The Crawford Peace House, and the front room has fresh flower arrangements sent by supporters. The Peace House is receiving many calls from elsewhere in the US, with reports of caravans headed to Crawford from Rhode Island, Arizona, California, and Oregon. A librarian from Maine is coming to join her fellows on the side of Prairie Chapel Road.
The Lonestar Iconoclast reports that Viggo Mortensen went to Camp Casey in Crawford to show his support for Cindy Sheehan. (Updates on Cindy Sheehan's vigil from the Lonestar Iconoclast can be found here.)
Rosetta e-mails to note Margaret Downing's "Who Cares? Celester Hall went to Afghanistan to help the troops and make his fortunet. He came back deaf, in diapers and looking for benefits" (Houston Press).
He was unconscious and moaning loudly when the medic arrived to find him on the floor of the civilian workers' tent -- officially B-hut No. 13 -- in Afghanistan on November 30 last year. In response to "painful stimulus," all Celester Hall did was open one eye, his left.
The 53-year-old truck driver from East Texas couldn't answer questions, and no one had seen him fall. There were dried urine stains on his shorts, but no one knew how long he'd been there.
Hall had gone into the civilian clinic at Bagram Air Force Base three days before, complaining of aching all over and sweating when it was cold. KBR medic Charles Dusha had given him ibuprofen, extra-strength Tylenol and a decongestant, and had assigned him to quarters, allowing him to stay in his cot for a few days. Obviously, things had gotten much worse in a hurry. This was beyond what the medic could handle. They scooped Hall up and took him over to the U.S. Army's 325th Combat Surgical Hospital.
Sedated, paralyzed and intubated, Hall was placed on a ventilator and taken for a CT scan that didn't show any gross bleeding or any mass or lesion. They thought he'd had a stroke.
On December 1, Hall was airlifted to Germany, his destination the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center.
Hall had signed on with the Kellogg, Brown & Root/Halliburton subsidiary Service Employees
International, Inc. to make his fortune. But somewhere along the way, in the dusty cab of a supply truck or in his cramped living quarters, his luck had run out.
At the Landstuhl army post, Hall was diagnosed with strep pneumonia meningitis, aspiration pneumonia and nerve dysfunction. The inner layers of his brain were inflamed, rendering him totally helpless. Back in Bryan, his wife, Beema Johnson-Hall, heard of his critical condition through other employees. She called KBR, got a hurry-up passport and readied herself to join him.
On December 2, Hall was given a lumbar puncture. Doctors stopped sedating him, tried to clear away the cloud of drugs. His mental status did not improve.
They brought in a neurologist on December 3. Hall wasn't doing any better. He didn't open his eyes to any stimulation.
The next day an anxious Beema was told not to worry about going over to meet her husband; they were sending him home. On December 5 he was transported to Methodist Hospital in Houston via Air Med International. From there, he went to Kindred Hospital in Houston, an acute-care facility, and then to the St. Joseph Regional Rehabilitation Center in Bryan. Along the way, he'd had a feeding tube put in, as well as a tracheotomy to help him breathe.
On February 17 he went home to his house in Bryan.
Brad e-mails to note Steven Mikulan's "Smoke Got in Their Eyes: Watching black-on-white history" (LA Weekly):
The first thing you notice is how slender everyone was in those days: the rock-throwing rioters, the shirtless detainees curtsying for cameras -- even the white reporters and civic leaders were nearly as skinny as their neckties. It was 1965; Americans were prosperous but not gluttonous. Most, that is, were prosperous -- obviously the African-Americans torching Southeast Los Angeles that summer had a bone to pick with the distribution of that prosperity.
Two contemporary documentaries about the just-concluded Watts riots showed not only a trimmer but blunter America. Hell in the City of Angels was produced by KTLA and The Big News is a compilation of KNXT's August 1965 broadcasts. The latter, named for Channel 2's nightly news show, was anchored by the late, lamentable Jerry Dunphy; Hell, complete with scary music better suited for a Roger Corman movie, was moderated by Hugh Brundage and featured Stan Chambers and a very young and balding Hal Fishman. (Think Roy Cohn on a macrobiotic diet.) The footage of these documentaries, which screen August 11 at UCLA, is hypnotic, even though it's mostly confined to three stages: helicopter shots of burning stores, befuddled officials yammering about regaining control of the city and white newsmen interviewing each other. It's easy to get stuck on the minutiae: the familiar palm trees, an absence of American flag lapel pins on bureaucrats, the ever-present cigarettes between the fingers of everyone from cops to community spokesmen.
Lynda e-mails to note Mike Hudson's "An Open Letter To My Sources" (Niagara Falls Reporter):
As has been my practice for decades, I disposed of my notes, along with the documents and tape recordings, as soon as I was through with them. The best newspaperman I've ever met, George Sample, said it only made sense.
"You don't want to get caught on a witness stand some day trying to explain what the shorthand you scribbled down two years ago means," he said.
How right he was. Back in 1999, while I was working at the Niagara Gazette, I was subpoenaed in a case involving the Niagara Falls Fire Department.
The paper's attorney, Ned Perlman, looked at me in disbelief when I told him I'd long since gotten rid of the notes, but, happily, I was never called to testify.
In any event, the only record of the Reporter's investigation into Local 91 is contained in the stories that were printed in the paper.
Which brings up the thorny issue. Would that you could as easily get rid of information you carry around in your head.
Reading over the stories now, I find that very few of them don't contain references to "a source close to the investigation" or "documents made available to the Reporter" or "a Local 91 member, speaking on the condition of anonymity."
If there hadn't been those kinds of sources, in fact, there would have been very few stories. I made promises to a lot of people, and I'm writing here today to tell them that those promises will be kept, regardless of the consequences.
Judith Miller, a top reporter for The New York Times, is sitting in jail today for refusing to reveal the name of the source on a story she ended up not even writing. A television reporter in Rhode Island, Jim Taricani, racked up $85,000 in fines and spent six months under house arrest earlier this year for refusing to reveal who gave him a copy of a videotaped FBI sting.
Journalism, and the First Amendment of the United States Constitution itself, are under an unprecedented assault in these early years of the 21st century. Corporations, government agencies and, now, union thugs are increasingly using the court system to intimidate and threaten. Freedom of speech is the very cornerstone of our democracy, and any price paid to preserve it is a bargain.
Anyway, we'll see how far they want to take this. I'm ready to go all the way.
Morgan e-mails to note Christine Lagorio's "The Truth Is in There: Talking with Barbara Olshansky, leading lawyer for Guantanamo detainees" (The Village Voice):
When you started representing detainees or their interests, Bush had said the Geneva Conventions didn't apply and you say you didn't even know if the rule of law applied to Guantánamo Bay. But you've had what seems like a lot of legal success [at least six of Olshansky's clients have been released from Guantánamo Bay] since then. What changed?
Once we had a Supreme Court case on our hands, people--retired military officers, former diplomats, assistant secretaries of state, and even Fred Korematsu, who challenged Japanese internment during World War II--came out as being appalled at the government's treatment of detainees.
So the Supreme Court took up Rasul v. Bush and you won.
The day after the ruling, I met with the judge of the district court, where the case had been before, and the judge asked the justice department when I'd get to go down to Guantánamo Bay. The justice department said, "I don't think she gets to go, I don't think the decision means they get lawyers." I was shocked.
Toby e-mails to note Marshall Windmiller's "A problem with principles: Young Democrats, like their party as a whole, still struggle to show integrity on divisive issues" (San Francisco Bay Guardian):
Newsom brought back my memories of the 1957 national YDA convention, in Reno, when then-Senator Hubert Humphrey told YDs to say what they really believed. He lamented that politicians won't say in public what they say to him in private. Publicly they are very good at identifying the obvious, but they don't want to talk about solutions. "I am not popular in my party," he said. "What's the point of winning if you can't advance your principles? You can't talk in ideals unless you are willing to manifest them."
For example, he said, civil unions are like "separate but equal.... It's the biggest problem in our party." He said John Kerry's position on homosexual civil rights was the same as that of Bush and Cheney: for civil union but not gay marriage.
"We need more clarity in our party," Newsom said. "It's about integrity."
Toby: Newsom isn't perfect but he's one of the few making sense. I could go for a lot less 'framing' and a lot more honesty.
Kendrick e-mails to note Rick Anderson's "Unreported Jail Deaths" (Seattle Weekly):
Gas-station robber Ronald Ray Hicks went to sleep in his King County Jail bunk just before 10 p.m. July 25 and never woke up. His cellmate noticed Hicks still lying on his left side on the lower bunk, facing the wall, as the downtown jail was stirring at 7 a.m. The cellmate touched Hicks' ankle, then shook his shoulder. Hicks, 43, who had been on suicide watch in the past, was dead.
Though cause has yet to be determined, authorities think he may have intentionally overdosed on a drug illegally imported into the jail. Hicks had been convicted in 2003 for a poorly planned holdup of an Issaquah gas station--nabbed after running out of gas 200 yards away. For his third felony, he received a life sentence under the state's "three strikes" law. A week before he apparently committed suicide in his two-man cell last month, he learned his appeal was rejected.
Unreported until now, Hicks' death is considered the jail's first of 2005. "We've had no other jail deaths since the first of the year," says Maj. William Hayes, spokesperson for the county's Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention, which runs the county jails.
However, another inmate died in May, also apparently the result of a suicide. Because she was alive when transported from the jail to Harborview Medical Center, where she died a few days later, her death is not considered a jail death. Officials would not release her name. However, a King County Medical Examiner's report shows that Sabrina L. Owens, 36, of Seattle, apparently attempted suicide in a jail intake room two hours after being booked May 9 for investigation of vehicular assault and car theft. The report says she suffered anoxic brain injury—lack of oxygen to the brain—and died at Harborview on May 11. A Public Health department spokesperson says the "cause and manner of death are strangulation by ligature."
A jail employee, worried about "lack of transparency" by officials, tells Seattle Weekly, "There have been several suicides the past few years but . . . they died at Harborview Medical Center. They were never reported as [jail] suicides." The employee also notes "there were no e-mails or memos to inform staffers about" Hicks' recent death. The employee suspects that jail officials preferred to keep details quiet.
Fred e-mails to note A voice from the wilderness' "Bush Policy: Making the World Safer ... for Nukes" (Colorado Independent Media):
Whatever the flaws of the 1968 antiproliferation treaty, this administration in Washington has single-handedly destroyed the last hope of preventing the continued proliferation of nuclear weapons by establishing, and loudly promoting, the notion that America, as the world's only "superpower," has the right to unilaterally invade or attack any nation on the globe on whatever pretext it wants to trump up, not to mention by calling for the development and deployment of nuclear "bunker-busting" weapons designed for use on Third World battlefields. (Bush and his gang should watch the "Spiderman" movie, with its message: With great power comes great responsibility, not omnipotence)
Brenda e-mails to note Jason Harper's "Straight Talk: Even though he's gay, the girls love Rufus Wainwright" (Kansas City Pitch Weekly):
This country -- especially its heartland -- needs Rufus Wainwright. He's sexy, bold, glamorous, a genius of a songwriter and openly gay. He's the kid in high school sauntering rakishly down the hall with Elvis sideburns and a fashion sense so good he gives even the most thick-necked jocks inferiority complexes -- and he's a consummate pop musician who has released four fully realized albums to widespread acclaim. Adding to his cred is his insanely talented family; his dad, Loudon Wainwright III, and mother, Kate McGarrigle, are folk-music icons, and his sister, Martha Wainwright, is an up-and-coming indie rocker.
At only 30, Wainwright is already too good an artist to become a gay icon -- after all, when was the last time you saw a picture of Tchaikovsky on a gay-rally poster? And he's definitely not the hero of his song "Gay Messiah," who will then be reborn/From 1970s porn/Wearing tube socks with style/And such an innocent smile -- he just sings about him like a queer John the Baptist. Rufus brings his message to the flyover states on his second Odd Men Out tour with Ben Folds and Ben Lee. We caught up with the ever-good-humored singer and pianist at his New York City home before he hit the road.
JH: So you're going on tour with a couple of guys who have both posed for photo shoots in plain white T-shirts that probably came out of a package. Are you gonna give these guys some help?
RW: I think that, if anything, all of us performing together will somehow create some sort of spectrum of subtlety and over-the-topness, and perhaps my shirt or pair of pants will be the peak of that at a certain moment. I have to say honestly that I love the whole gay-straight aspect of this tour. I was saying to someone earlier how last year when we did this, it was a very successful run, while a lot of other big tours like Lollapalooza and some others were really losing some money. And I think that the fact that this was a gay-straight venture was why this was so successful. It brought the white shirts [together] with the no shirts.
Will this be your first trip into the so-called red states since Bush's re-election?
Yeah, I guess since the re-election -- I don't know, I live in New York, so it's kind of hard to gauge what's going on because we kind of fortify each other over here ... I do think actually that even in red states, it's probably more necessary than ever for someone like me to get out there and connect with the downtrodden. I'm excited to get out there. I love America.
We noted this last week but it's been posted at NYC Indymedia and it's important, so once again, Amy Goodman & David Goodman's "Hiroshima Cover-up: Stripping the War Department's Timesman of His Pulitzer:"
On Aug. 6, 1945, the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima; three days later, Nagasaki was hit. Gen. Douglas MacArthur promptly declared southern Japan off-limits, barring the news media. More than 200,000 people died in the atomic bombings of the cities, but no Western journalist witnessed the aftermath and told the story. Instead, the world's media obediently crowded onto the battleship USS Missouri off the coast of Japan to cover the Japanese surrender.
A month after the bombings, two reporters defied General MacArthur and struck out on their own. Mr. Weller, of the Chicago Daily News, took row boats and trains to reach devastated Nagasaki. Independent journalist Wilfred Burchett rode a train for 30 hours and walked into the charred remains of Hiroshima.
Both men encountered nightmare worlds. Mr. Burchett sat down on a chunk of rubble with his Baby Hermes typewriter. His dispatch began: "In Hiroshima, 30 days after the first atomic bomb destroyed the city and shook the world, people are still dying, mysteriously and horribly - people who were uninjured in the cataclysm from an unknown something which I can only describe as the atomic plague."
He continued, tapping out the words that still haunt to this day: "Hiroshima does not look like a bombed city. It looks as if a monster steamroller has passed over it and squashed it out of existence. I write these facts as dispassionately as I can in the hope that they will act as a warning to the world."
Mr. Burchett's article, headlined "The Atomic Plague," was published Sept. 5, 1945, in the London Daily Express. The story caused a worldwide sensation and was a public relations fiasco for the U.S. military. The official U.S. narrative of the atomic bombings downplayed civilian casualties and categorically dismissed as "Japanese propaganda" reports of the deadly lingering effects of radiation.
So when Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter George Weller's 25,000-word story on the horror that he encountered in Nagasaki was submitted to military censors, General MacArthur ordered the story killed, and the manuscript was never returned. As Mr. Weller later summarized his experience with General MacArthur's censors, "They won."
Recently, Mr. Weller's son, Anthony, discovered a carbon copy of the suppressed dispatches among his father's papers (George Weller died in 2002). Unable to find an interested American publisher, Anthony Weller sold the account to Mainichi Shimbun, a big Japanese newspaper. Now, on the 60th anniversary of the atomic bombings, Mr. Weller's account can finally be read.
"In swaybacked or flattened skeletons of the Mitsubishi arms plants is revealed what the atomic bomb can do to steel and stone, but what the riven atom can do against human flesh and bone lies hidden in two hospitals of downtown Nagasaki," wrote Mr. Weller. A month after the bombs fell, he observed, "The atomic bomb's peculiar 'disease,' uncured because it is untreated and untreated because it is not diagnosed, is still snatching away lives here."
After killing Mr. Weller's reports, U.S. authorities tried to counter Mr. Burchett's articles by attacking the messenger. General MacArthur ordered Mr. Burchett expelled from Japan (the order was later rescinded), his camera mysteriously vanished while he was in a Tokyo hospital and U.S. officials accused him of being influenced by Japanese propaganda.
Then the U.S. military unleashed a secret propaganda weapon: It deployed its own Times man. It turns out that William L. Laurence, the science reporter for The New York Times, was also on the payroll of the War Department.
For four months, while still reporting for the Times, Mr. Laurence had been writing press releases for the military explaining the atomic weapons program; he also wrote statements for President Harry Truman and Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson. He was rewarded by being given a seat on the plane that dropped the bomb on Nagasaki, an experience that he described in the Times with religious awe.
Three days after publication of Mr. Burchett's shocking dispatch, Mr. Laurence had a front-page story in the Times disputing the notion that radiation sickness was killing people. His news story included this remarkable commentary: "The Japanese are still continuing their propaganda aimed at creating the impression that we won the war unfairly, and thus attempting to create sympathy for themselves and milder terms. ... Thus, at the beginning, the Japanese described 'symptoms' that did not ring true."
Mr. Laurence won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on the atomic bomb, and his faithful parroting of the government line was crucial in launching a half-century of silence about the deadly lingering effects of the bomb. It is time for the Pulitzer board to strip Hiroshima's apologist and his newspaper of this undeserved prize.
Sixty years late, Mr. Weller's censored account stands as a searing indictment not only of the inhumanity of the atomic bomb but also of the danger of journalists embedding with the government to deceive the world.
Amy Goodman, host of Democracy Now!, and David Goodman, a contributing writer for Mother Jones, are co-authors of The Exception to the Rulers: Exposing Oily Politicians, War Profiteers, and the Media That Love Them.
Cindy e-mails to note snot's "Seventeen year old halts old-growth logging in the Biscuit" (Santa Cruz Indymedia):
For Immediate ReleaseAugust 7, 2005
SEVENTEEN YEAR OLD WOMAN HALTS OLD-GROWTH LOGGING IN THE BISCUIT IN MEMORY OF JOAN NORMAN
Media Contact: Wild Siskiyou Action/Shanna Foley541-659-2682
A blockade has been constructed to stop ancient forest logging within the Biscuit timber sale and to honor the late Joan Norman. A top a platform 50 feet in the air, a 17 year-old woman sits committed to halt felling within this contested old growth reserve timber sale, called Hobson.
Ancient forest logging began at the Hobson old-growth reserve timber sale last week. The sale has been the site of numerous acts of civil disobedience. In the wake of a court decision in favor of the timber industry's further exploitation and destruction of the very last ancient forests on public land, large numbers of citizens continue to come out of the woodwork to defend the Wild Siskiyous. The media is invited to visit the Joan Norman Memorial Road Blockade today.
In the spirit of 75 year-old late activist Joan Norman, who inspired people all over the world with her courageous acts of commitment to ancient forest protection, the young woman is currently suspended 50 feet in the air. The platform is suspended from a traverse between two trees, with support lines anchored into multiple points in the road. Any interference with the ropes will cause the platform to tip, thus endangering the woman's safety.
"I'm incredibly inspired by Joan," said Leera, the young woman occupying the road blockade. "I know that the protection of the last ancient forests is up to all of us; following in Joan's footsteps, its time for my generation to lead the way."
Leera intends to remain in the structure until old-growth logging is halted at Hobson. At only 17 years of age Leera is putting her young life on the line to protect the ancient forests that she loves. Leera is also dedicating the blockade to Joan and hopes that her act will help to inspire others to take action.
We are also announcing a new canopy protection station in Unit 12 of Hobson. Located in an area that highlights the complexity of fire ecology, hanging amongst the intermixed mosaic of green and singed trees, is an innovative canopy protection station. Unlike a traditional tree-sit that protects one tree, this design utilizes new tactics and technology. The protection station is able to defend the majority of the unit slated to be cut.
Local residents of the Siskiyous and concerned citizens from all over the country will continue to oppose the destruction of the last roadless areas and ancient forests on public land. Media is invited to visit the Memorial Road Blockade on Monday, August 8th. Also, media is welcomed and invited to visit the canopy protection station on any day, as the vigil will be sustained until the area is protected.
Escorts and interviews are available – Please call Wild Siskiyou Action at 541-659-2682
Gareth e-mails to note Starhawk's "In Memory of Monica Sjoo" (Bristol Indymedia):
Monica Sjoo is dead. She died on Monday the 8th of August, of cancer, surrounded by her loving friends.
Monica was an artist, a writer, one of the early, powerful visionaries of the women’s spirituality movement. Her book, The Great Cosmic Mother, brought the hidden history of the Goddess back alive, and her paintings transformed ancient images and symbols into contemporary icons of female power.
I first met Monica in 1985, on a walk with women activists from the Greenham Common Peace Camp, that began in Avebury on Beltaine and crossed the military firing ranges of Salisbury Plain to celebrate a wild, powerful, illicit ritual at Stonehenge during a lunar eclipse.
Monica was strong, blunt, sometimes painfully honest, gruff, brilliant and courageous. She faced huge losses in her own life with courage and creativity, and wrote with truthful self-revelation of her own griefs and disappointments. She continued to paint, write and create.
The last time I saw Monica, she came for a night to the Earth Activist Training I was coteaching in England. She presided over the ritual we were having that night in her wheelchair, sitting by the fire like an embodiment of the Crone herself. We told stories, of the walk and the Stonehenge ritual, of Greenham and the antinuclear actions of the eighties, of the early years of the feminist spirituality movement.
The younger women activists--and the men--listened with rapt attention to a history most of them had never heard. Monica seemed strong, at peace, complete. That is how I will remember her, her silver hair shining in the firelight, her eyes alight. One of the mothers of the women’s spirituality movement is gone. May the Goddess embrace her, take her into her loving arms, and bring her strong, creative spirit around the circle to rebirth.
The latest BuzzFlash GOP Hypocrite of the Week has been "honored" (click here to find out who).
Lastly, Luke (wotisitgood4) has set up a new site (wotisitgood4 continues, this is an addition) entitled Operation Milestone Millstone.
The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.
