WIND BLOWING OUTSIDE

The wind has been blowing hard here all day today. It finally stopped raining outside this afternoon after several days of steady and sometimes hard down pours. The temperatures outside are turning cold after a couple of unusually warm fall days. I can't help but worry about the fact that climate change is already impacting our beautiful spinning orb. Global warming will create havoc all over the planet and my biggest concern is that the "competition model" of global governance will pit person against person and country against country. We've got the turn the world military into a "natural guard" and use them for helping people as the seas rise and droughts impact our ability to grow food. We can't keep killing each other.

I went north to Belfast, Maine today for a meeting with two dozen folks to discuss the possible candidacy of Lynne Williams for governor. Lynne is the chair of the Maine Green Independent Party and lives in Bar Harbor. She is a progressive attorney who spends her time representing groups all over the state that are in good fights against corporate power. In the meeting I said that more attention must be placed on expanding the base of the Green Party in Maine before we plunge into another campaign. Lynne has a good vision of using her campaign to build the Greens in the state. The party though needs to become more issue based now if it hopes to attract more people come election time - people need a reason for vote for a candidate or a party. I will do what I can to help.

One of my sisters (I have five of them) called tonight from Florida and said she sent a letter to Obama after reading an earlier blog entry asking folks to do so. Thanks Leslie. I hope others are doing the same.

I watched Obama on the TV news show 60 Minutes tonight. I must say he comes across quite well and is a likeable guy for sure. He was tight-lipped about his plans except he did say he would close the Guantanamo prison camp in Cuba and would stop torture. That is all good. (Although there is talk he might open a similar facility in the U.S.) He and his wife Michelle have a nice connection and I loved the way they talked about their kids. Very loving.

Our friend Sung-Hee Choi in South Korea was very happy about the piece I wrote the other day called "Not Waiting for Godot". She sent it around to key Korean peace groups and it was put up on some web sites in her country. People there very much appreciate knowing that we care about their peace movement and that we show support. That is what solidarity is all about.

I have been writing about some of our Global Network friends around the world from time to time. I want to start doing more of that. Many people work for years and never get any recognition.

I am an avid reader and like to lay in bed at night and read til around midnight when I start to fall asleep. My stack of books is running out. I just finished a Swedish mystery story given to me when I was recently on my Nordic tour. I am boycotting my local library after a big controversy about the children's librarian being unfairly fired after 25 years of good service. The assistant children's librarian is a good friend and a member of our local Peaceworks group. She quit in solidarity after the firing. I can't find it in my heart to go back to the library as a result. I can be very stubborn.

Well enough ramblings for tonight. Time to hit the hay and read a bit.