ON THE TRACKS AGAIN

I am on the beloved train again heading from Corvallis, Oregon to Portland where I will switch to a bus that takes me to Hood River. I speak there tonight at the Riverside Community Church. I spoke in Hood River a couple years ago about drones.

A local drone manufacturing company is based in this community and was bought up by Boeing a while back. Hood River sits along the Columbia River Gorge and a more beautiful place is hard to find. Sad to see the military industrial complex move into this neighborhood - but they are doing that nationwide as our communities increasingly become addicted to Pentagon $$$$.

My talk went well last night in Corvallis and I am told that two city councilors were in the audience. I thank long-time GN member Linda Richards for organizing the event at Oregon State University.

I stayed in the home of Bart Bolger, the husband of new VFP President Leah Bolger. Leah was out of town as she is touring the country meeting with many local VFP chapters. I discovered that Bart and I are solid Baltimore Orioles fans.

There has been a lot of debate on some national list serves about the upcoming May 18-20 anti-NATO actions in Chicago during the planned NATO summit. Lots of cross-talk about non-violence and diversity of tactics. Some organizations involved won't specifically say they are committed to non-violence while others demand they should. One person commented that our goal should be to reach the public with our message and to have them feel supportive and included in our movement. Making pledges to non-violence seems like a no-brainer to me. Why would we want to alienate the very public we are trying to win over to our side?

I will be going to those events in Chicago and will speak on a workshop panel during the May 18-19 Counter-Summit for Peace & Economic Justice. On Sunday, May 20 I will also speak at a Unitarian Church about the work of the Global Network. There are two different marches on May 20 and I will go to which ever one I can get to as time allows.