HEADING TO SACRAMENTO

High school friend Ron San Miguel joined me in Berkeley last night

Bring Our War $$ Home art show opened last weekend in Maine

• Last night I spoke in Berkeley at the Unitarian church. An old high school friend, Ron San Miguel who now lives in Oakland, met me at my radio interview on KPFA and then we had dinner together before my talk. We both went to Wheatland High School north of Sacramento, California when our dads were stationed at Beale AFB. Ron's brother Rick and I were in a rock-and-roll band together. Ron is an excellent musician and teaches young people. He is a special person and it was a real pleasure to see him after so many moons. I can thank Facebook for connecting us.
  
• I am on the train to Sacramento where I speak at a college this afternoon and then do an evening talk at a public event organized by Peace Action. I had a great sleep last night which refreshed me and seemed to knock out a sore throat I was developing. Got to stay strong.
• The photo above of the Bring Our War $$ Home art show was sent to me by Natasha Mayers from the Union of Maine Visual Artists. We've been working with artists around Maine for the past couple of years to get images produced of how our endless war $$ could better be spent here at home. The month-long art show opened last weekend with 100 people showing up. Our theory is that we need to use more cultural expressions to reach the public with these messages. Poetry, music, art, radio, and videos are important vehicles that fit nicely with our more traditional marches, rallies, and public speaking around these issues. People respond to different stimuli so it increases our effectiveness as organizers to use all these mediums of communication.