I met Jan Tamas (in red sweater) last October when I went to Prague to attend a conference he and others in their growing coalition organized to oppose the U.S. Star Wars radar from being deployed in their country. I was immediately impressed with him.
He is very gentle and unassuming but when he speaks I noticed that people looked to him with great pride and respect. He is a leader.
Jan recently came to Colorado Springs and to Omaha for our annual Global Network conference. Following those events we helped arrange for him to do a speaking tour as part of the No U.S. Bases Movement that is just taking hold here in the U.S. He visited several key cities on the east coast including a stop in Brunswick, Maine and finished up in Washington DC.
Jan has a PhD and works as an IT professional in the computer industry. I think he creates software programs. But on his free time he does his peace work, is a member of the Humanist Party, and frequently travels to Africa for development projects.
I love to hear him talk about democracy and how after the fall of the Soviet Union the people in his country, and Poland which is to get the U.S. "missile defense interceptors, thought they were at last free from foreign domination. He concludes that his people cannot allow themselves to be shackled by another military empire - this time the U.S.
In the U.S. we have become a bit too cynical and jaded. It is hard for us to be moved anymore because a fog of sadness seems to have engulfed the people of our country as a result of our immoral and illegal occupation of Iraq. People here in many ways are sleep walking through life. Sometimes I hear people say they are resigned to the death of the planet because of our destructive way of life. Many Americans have given up - they have forgotten why we should want to live.
Jan, and the hard working coalition he is a part of, is a breath of fresh air helping to blow this deep fog from our American minds. The Czech people, by a count of 70%, oppose the U.S. radar base coming to their nation. They are urging our hearts to reawaken and beat to the sound of life again.
Please take a small step and sign the petition to oppose the radar in the Czech Republic.
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