VISIT FROM KOREAN FRIEND - JUNE 22 BUILDING

We had a visitor this weekend in Maine. Sung-Hee Choi, the South Korean activist who now lives in New York City, took the all night bus and arrived here early yesterday morning. Sung-Hee, who teaches art in New York, joined the solidarity hunger strike the same day I did and also fasted for 14 days.

We met Sung-Hee in 2004 when she came to Portland, Maine for our annual Global Network space organizing conference. She has attended each of our annual meetings since then and this year was responsible for arranging for the delegation from South Korea to come to Omaha for our StratCom event.

Each time Sung-Hee attends one of our events she video tapes the key speakers and puts the talks up on the Internet so anyone can view them. Again this year she did the same and you can see her work by clicking on this link: Annual conference dinner speeches.

Sadly for us Sung-Hee's work VISA runs out soon and she must return to South Korea on July 1. She will be a great loss to us here in the U.S. but she will remain active through the group Solidarity for Peace & Reunification of Korea (SPARK). Last year Sung-Hee arranged for SPARK to become a Global Network affiliate and it has been proposed that our 2009 annual space organizing conference be held in South Korea. SPARK is now discussing this proposal and we should have an answer in the next couple of months.

Mary Beth took my place on the hunger strike on June 7 and is doing well so far.

On a related matter there has been a great response to our invitation for people to join the Czech Republic call for a global day of fasting on June 22 in solidarity with their effort to say NO to the U.S. deployment of a Star Wars radar in their nation. Here is the latest list of people who have contacted me saying they will fast on June 22. Many people are now spreading the list far and wide and we are grateful for their support in promoting this important effort.

June 22 Fast List


Beth Adams (Greenfield, Massachusetts)
Bob Anderson (Albuquerque, New Mexico)
Dennis Apel (Guadalupe, California)
Sally Breen (Windham, Maine)
Kelli Brew (Gainesville, Florida)
Anna Maria Caldara (Bangor, Pennsylvania)
Maxine Caron (Byron Bay, Australia)
David W. Chipman (Harpswell, Maine)
Kathe Chipman (Harpswell, Maine)
Sung-Hee Choi (New York, New York)
Michael Connelly (Rochester, New York)
William Coop (Brunswick, Maine)
Frank Cordaro (Des Moines, Iowa)
Lynn DeFilippo (Nome, Alaska)
Aurel Duta (Bucharest, Romania)
MacGregor Eddy (Salinas, California)
Dan Ellis (Brunswick, Maine)
Lynn Ellis (Brunswick, Maine)
Becky Farley (Damariscotta, Maine)
Sr. Barb Freemyer, RSM (Pueblo, Colorado)
Bruce Gagnon (Bath, Maine)
Sr. Carol Gilbert (Baltimore, Maryland)
Starr Gilmartin (Trenton, Maine)
Arlyne Goodwin (Naples, Florida)
Holly Gwinn Graham (Olympia, Washington)
Matt Gregory (Lincoln, Nebraska)
Regina Hagen (Darmstadt, Germany)
Kevin Hall (Dunedin, Florida)
Maggie Hall (Dunedin, Florida)
Luke Hansen (Chicago, Illinois)
Amy Harlib (New York, New York)
Tom Hastings (Portland, Oregon)
Jenny Heinz (New York, New York)
Dud Hendrick (Deer Isle, Maine)
Tensie Hernandez (Guadalupe, California)
Nancy Hill (Stonington, Maine) June 19-24
Mair Honan (Portland, Maine)
Jackie Hudson, OP (Bremerton, Washington)
Connie Jenkins (Orono, Maine)
Carla Josephson (Rio Rancho, New Mexico)
Ron King (Penobscot, Maine)
Tom Kircher (Biddeford, Maine)
Steve Landon (Waldhof, ON, Canada)
Steve Larrick (Lincoln, Nebraska)
Isolt Lea (Gainesville, Florida)
Louise Legun (Allentown, Pennsylvania)
Mary Dennis Lentsch (Oak Ridge, Tennessee)
Bob Lezer (Freeport, Maine)
Mary Leonard, Mercy Associate (Pueblo, Colorado)
Tamara Lorincz (Halifax, NS, Canada)
Carla L. Rael-Luhman (Portales, New Mexico)
Laurie McGowan (Mochelle, NS, Canada)
Karl Meyer (Nashville, Tennessee)
Michael Murphy (Omaha, Nebraska)
Sr. Elaine Lopez Pacheco, RSM (Pueblo, Colorado)
Jeanne Pahls (Albuquerque, New Mexico)
Rosalie Tyler Paul (Georgetown, Maine)
Sr. Ardeth Platte (Baltimore, Maryland)
Bonnie Preston (Blue Hill, Maine)
Kim Redigan (Dearborn Heights, Michigan)
John Rensenbrink (Topsham, Maine)
Judy Robbins (Sedgwick, Maine)
Chris Rooney (Vancouver, BC, Canada)
Robert Shetterly (Brooksville, Maine)
Gareth Smith (Byron Bay, Australia)
Cathy Stanton (Melbourne, Florida)
Janie Stein (Salina, Kansas)
Mary Beth Sullivan (Bath, Maine)
John Tiedeman (Omaha, Nebraska)
Don Timmerman (Park Falls, Wisconsin)
Fran Truitt (Blue Hill, Maine)
Meredith Tupper (Springfield, Virginia)
Carol Urner (Portland, Oregon)
William Watts (San Francisco, California)
Dave Webb (Leeds, England)
Margaret Weitzmann (Potsdam, New York)
Elaine Wells (Omaha, Nebraska)
Molly Willcox (Westport, Maine)
Lynda Williams (Santa Rosa, California)
Mariah Williams (Liberty, Maine)
Loring Wirbel (Colorado Springs, Colorado)
Michael Wisniewski (Los Angeles, California)
Jerry Zawada, OFM (Las Vegas, Nevada)
John Zokovitch (Gainesville, Florida)