CATCHING UP

Long-time GN board member Carol Urner turned up last night in Anaheim

J. Narayana Rao (center) is touring India to spread word about space issues

• As I am doing my speaking tour of the west coast, I just got an email from Global Network board member J. Narayana Rao (Nagpur) who is again touring India on our behalf. Rao reports he is 3,000 miles from home having reached the northeast state of Mizoram which borders Bangladesh and Burma. Rao has been non-stop in his efforts to reach out to college and university students around his country about India's growing role as a junior partner in the U.S. Space Command plan to surround China with "missile defense" systems. He usually finds that virtually none of the students know anything about space issues. He is planning an international conference on Nov 30 - Dec 2 and several Global Network board members will be attending as speakers. Rao is a retired railway worker and lives on a very meager pension. His commitment and dedication is amazing.
  
• I am now on the train from Anaheim to Ventura. I spoke last night at the Unitarian church in Anaheim. Mansoor Sabbagh (his video interview with me is posted below on the blog) came again last night to film my talk. He also videoed my talk in Santa Monica a couple nights ago and has turned it into an audio file which he shared nationally with the Pacifica Radio network.
  
• Yesterday morning Randy and Cris got me up early and we made our way to downtown Los Angeles where I spoke at the monthly meeting of the group called Interfaith Communities United for Justice & Peace. Before the meeting began I went out onto Wilshire Blvd to find a cup of tea and discovered the South Korean consulate was only one block away from the church where we met. During my presentation, while talking about Jeju Island, I suggested that they might consider holding their monthly vigil (which they do after each meeting) at the consulate in support of those protesting against the Navy base. I got a great response from the folks after my talk. Several people showed up that had heard me on one of the three recent KPFK radio interviews. It's been that way at virtually all the talks I've done.
• GN board member Carol Urner (WILPF) showed up at my talk in Anaheim last night. She got a ride from her community with a woman who attended my talk in north San Diego county a few nights ago. Carol has been a dedicated campaigner on the space issue for many years and it was great to see her.
• When our train arrived in Los Angeles this morning Randy got off and wished me well during the remaining three weeks of my trip. He and his partner Cris did a fabulous job of organizing my week of speaking events in Southern California. Last night Randy and I stayed at a hotel in Anaheim close to the Amtrak station. We did a review of the week and my evaluation was that the tremendous amount of radio coverage, that took our message to thousands of people throughout the region, was the best I'd ever experienced while touring. How could I not be thrilled with that?
• One bonus from the radio during the past week was that some listeners contacted the popular nationally syndicated Gary Null show and suggested he interview me as well. So his staff called and they have scheduled me for April 13 at 9:30 am (PST). Null's show started out as a nutrition and health program but his message has gotten broader as he has increasingly become more radical. This will be a great break for the Global Network.