A FEW MORE THINGS

Villagers and supporters protest outside World Conservation Congress that just began on Jeju island.  The South Korean government won't allow the Gangjeong villagers to have an information booth inside the environmental convention.

Five activists were arrested yesterday for hanging banners at the caisson construction site on Jeju Island.

• It's hard these days not to want to report on every single action taking place on Jeju Island as things heat up there.  The World Conservation Congress has just begun and the Gangjeong villagers and supporters are stepping up their actions.  Yesterday five activists were arrested in a port town about 40 kms from Gangjeong where caissons are built which are being placed in the ocean to help build the docks for the Navy base.  They occupied a caisson for several hours and dropped banners. (I don't quite understand the technology but there is an explanation of a caisson here.)  During the recent typhoon that hit Jeju seven caissons, that had already been placed in the ocean just offshore Gureombi rock, were broken apart and sank.  These will obviously contribute to the destruction of the soft coral reefs offshore.
• Yesterday six of us from our local area held a two-hour vigil outside Bath Iron Works (BIW) where the Aegis destroyers are built.  We timed our protest for when the Navy's DDG 112 (The Michael Murphy) was sent off from BIW with a big ceremony.  We saw auto license plates from several nearby states.  We handed out just over 30 flyers to the workers which was an all-time high.  I held my usual sign that reads "Where do these Aegis go?"  Several of the workers told us they "Love killing people" and I got called an asshole more times than ever before - including from several women who work inside BIW.  We got a few nice remarks from some of the workers as well - one saying he liked our sign depicting a high-speed rail system with the words "Made in Bath". 
• Our Keep Space for Peace Week (Oct 6-13) actions list continues to grow inch-by-inch.  It's always a slow process as each time I forward the list out we pick up a couple more local events on the schedule.
• It's always interesting to see who is looking at this blog.  I often wonder how people from various countries find it.  Here is the breakdown for the past month: 

1) United States
2) Russia

3) South Korea
4) France
5) United Kingdom
6) Germany
7) India
8) Ukraine
9) Canada
10) Australia