Day 11 - Walking as Long as I Can

Climate change and militarization of oceans banners lining the walls at Portland pot luck supper

Fourteen of us walked from Freeport into Portland today - a 15 mile journey.  We had the biggest crowd yet for a pot luck supper at the State Street Church in Portland - much thanks to Grace Braley for organizing that event.

Earlier in the day we walked our first 9.4 miles before our lunch which was provided by the Friends School in their beautiful new no-carbon footprint school.  Three of our walkers went there at 10:00 am and spoke to the combined class of 7th and 8th graders.  Russell talked about the Navy's impact on sea life, Eric (Veterans for Peace member) shared what it means to be a war veteran who now opposes US foreign and military policy, and Katie led the group in singing the alternative words to the Star Spangled Banner written by VFP leaders Tarak Kauff and Ellen Davidson.

As we entered Portland I got a phone call from a man I did not know who wanted to bring us some coffee that he got donated from a local company.  He met us during our break as we walked around Back Cove and the group loved his thoughtful sharing.  One of our folks remarked that it was the best coffee he's had on the entire walk.

A young woman also called early this morning wanting to join us.  She had seen a post on the Internet about the walk and recognized the photo of the Buddhist nun Jun-san who is now with us.  So Lynn showed up at our lunch spot and walked the rest of the way.  These are the kind of spontaneous things that keep happening each day.

Just as I started writing this blog I got a call from Pat Scanlon, our local host in York Beach, who said he had mentioned the walk while at his favorite pizza shop today.  The pizza owner offered to bake 12 pizzas for us and add salad as well.  The magic of the walk continues.

It's exciting to see how the peace walk message creeps into layers and layers of our communities across the state - often in small ways but each touching the lives of ordinary people.  This process of creating experiences for people when they make contact with this traveling road show is how people begin to change. 

Try as they might local Portland activists had little success getting the Portland Press Herald or the local TV to cover us as we walked into town.  Breaking into the bigger mainstream media has become increasingly difficult in recent years.  All along the way we've had good success getting coverage from the smaller local papers but the media giants are still proving to be generally out-of-bounds for groups that dare take on the sacred cow of the military industrial complex.  (One of the smaller Portland weekly papers did send a photographer as we crossed the bridge into the city.)

Al Johnson from the Boston-area VFP Smedley Butler Brigade joined us in Freeport early this morning.  He was on our walk planning committee and had made the trek up to Maine a couple times when we had meetings.  He also raised funds to help with walk costs.  After we reached Portland this afternoon he jumped in his car heading back to Boston to pick up a couple more VFP members.  That is real commitment.

I'm tired and at times I find myself getting just a bit disoriented.  While this kind of walking is truly a young person's game I still love it - particularly walking along the highway with my sign trying to make eye contact with the legions of people driving by.  It's an organizers dream to have such a captive audience - all I have to do is just keep walking - and I will as long as I possibly can.

Activist Profile

 

Video by Regis Tremblay

Day 10 - Into the Shopping Mecca of Freeport

Video by Eric Herter

Following the end of World War II the US loaded nuclear weapons onto warplanes and flew them just off the coast of China.  Each pilot was assigned a different Chinese city as his target.  Bob Dale flew for the Navy and carried a nuke on his plane along with his assigned target city.  Fortunately Bob never had to drop the bomb.  Years later it dawned on him what he had been assigned to do and for many years he has been an active leader in Maine Veterans for Peace.

Today Bob, at 91 years old, walked half of our 10 mile journey from Brunswick to Freeport.  This time he was only armed with two walking sticks, one in each hand.

When we arrived in Freeport, world famous as the home of L.L. Bean store, we walked all the way through the busy town handing out flyers on both sides of the street.  When we hit the end of the mega corporate shopping strip we crossed the street and went back to the other side of town.  Then we headed to the local church where we are being hosted tonight by the parishioners from the First Parish Church (this is the third time one of our walks has stayed here.)  This was our most productive day of handing out flyers yet.

It is great to have Jun-san Yasuda with us today.  She brings joy and deep inspiration to our walk.  She brought with her an activist from Okinawa.

In the morning we head for Portland with a stop at Friends School where they will feed us lunch and three of our folks will speak and sing to the 7th & 8th grade students.

Here are a couple photos from today......

Sunday Song

 

 

Sunday at the Movies

Day 9 - Buddhist Nun Arrives in Brunswick

Civil war statue at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine

We walked into Brunswick today from Bath and after arriving we looped through the downtown area where we were able to hand out many flyers.  Then we passed through Bowdoin College which was having their annual 'parents day' so more people than normal were around.

Three people unexpectedly showed up just before we began walking this morning - it's always a nice energy boost to have some fresh walkers join in like that.  In all we had 15 people doing the whole 9.5 miles today so it was a colorful group for sure.

Mary Beth drove to Grafton, New York this morning to pick up Buddhist nun Jun-san Yasuda and another Japanese woman who will join the walk on Sunday as we head into Freeport.  Jun-san has previously walked with us here in Maine and is a beloved person who has led walks across the US numerous times over the years.  She is particularly loved by Native American activists who have had walking relationships with her for a long time.

Niponzan Myohoji Buddhist nun Jun-san Yasuda joins the walk in Brunswick on Sunday

On Monday we've been invited to have some of our walkers speak to students at the Friends School near Portland.  This will be one of two schools we will visit - the other at the New School in Kennebunk.

Each night during our programs we've been inviting people to join the 'christening' protest now planned for October 31 in Bath when the newest Aegis destroyer gets the 'blessing of Christ' - remember him, the prince of peace!  (Yeah, the guy who said we should love our enemies and turn the other cheek.) Folks seem very committed to coming and we are looking forward to that event as kind of a walker reunion.

Peace Walker Reunion Planned......

Good coverage in local newspaper in the Midcoast of Maine today.  Article about Peace Walk protest yesterday at Bath Iron Works and they printed our open letter to the president of the shipyard as well.  See them here and here

The Other Debate......

BIW Protest - Convert the Endless War Machine!

Photos by Peter Woodruff - retired BIW worker.

Peace Walk Arrives in Bath

Video by Regis Tremblay

It's getting late, I'm tired, my eyes are burning.  I didn't sleep much last night on the floor of Quaker Meeting House in Damariscotta, Maine.

We walked just 10 miles today (sunny and cool with vivid fall colors) and arrived in Bath in time to deliver letters to the president of Bath Iron Works and to the local Machinists Union just before several thousand workers came streaming out of the shipyard at 3:30 pm.  We had 19 folks lined up along the sidewalks with cameras, banners, and signs calling for conversion of the shipyard to building rail, solar and wind power instead of weapons of mass destruction.  Our leafletter supreme, Morgana Warner-Evans, broke the record for handing out flyers at any protest I've ever been to at BIW.  She plowed right into the middle of the workers as the rushed out of the yard and it was a pure joy to watch.

Afterwards we went to a local church and had hot apple cider and seasoned popcorn while we discussed the protest.  We all felt the event was made even more special by the presence of two great banners made specifically for this walk - one by Russell Wray that many have seen attached to our walk van and the other by Artists Rapid Response Team (see above post of photos).

At one rest stop today a reporter from the Lincoln County News came and interviewed us.  See it here

Maine VFP web master Dan Ellis tracked down other news reports about the walk from Belfast and Camden - see them here and here.  A reporter from the Brunswick-based Times Record came out to interview us during the BIW protest this afternoon so we are looking forward to seeing it tomorrow.

Walkers get a well deserved day off on Friday and then on Saturday we resume walking from Bath at 9:00 am for Brunswick and a pot luck supper at the home of Selma & Hersch Sternlieb.  All interested human beings are more than welcome to attend.

Some more walkers had to leave today to return home to work and others keep coming on board for the continuing trip south.  We end in Portsmouth, New Hampshire on Oct 24 with a march back across the bridge to the Naval shipyard in Kittery for our finale event.

Then we are having a walker reunion protest on Saturday, Oct 31 in Bath during the blasphemous 'christening' of another Aegis destroyer from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm.  We are going to have music, poetry, speeches, and more that day under the Halloween theme "Something scary is happening here in Bath." 

Come dressed in custom if you are so inspired. 

Day 6 - Eating for Peace

 

Food is important on peace walks.  We carry two coolers with us filled with cheese, hummus, carrots and other left overs from the excellent pot luck suppers that are organized on our behalf.  We are still eating from the four large loaves of wonderful bread donated to us by a popular Maine baking company.

It's apple season in Maine so we have several bags of donated apples in the back of our van.  During the suppers we've had apple cakes, applesauce, apple crisp and apple bars on the tables.  And of course apple cider is available every night.

Tonight is our first night on the walk where we did not have a home stay provided for us.  During my home stays we've had oatmeal, eggs, and blueberry pancakes for breakfast so far.  This evening we are sleeping on the floor at the Midcoast Friends Meeting House (Quakers) in Damariscotta.

We walked 8 miles south from Rockland today to a farm house (built in 1850) owned by peace activist Steve Burke who provided us with a wonderful lunch mostly grown in his abundant garden.  Steve also hosted our event last night in Rockland so he served his homemade veggie soup then and again today for lunch.  The vegans in our group appreciated it.

Just south of Rockland we were joined for two miles by a couple visiting Maine on vacation from Montana.  They are both members of Veterans for Peace - the woman, Diane Carlson-Evans, was a nurse in Vietnam and went on to be the driving force behind the Vietnam Women's War Memorial in Washington DC.  They had seen a flyer about the walk inside a coffee shop in Rockland (probably the joint where we took refuge from the rain yesterday) and tracked us down.  More magic on the peace walk.

The weather today was sunny (a bit too warm actually) but overall a lovely day for walking.  It appears to be clouding up now with rain on the way but we are safe inside the Quaker Meeting House.

Tomorrow we head into Bath in time to vigil at Bath Iron Works during the 3:30 pm shift change.  Friday we have a day off and then walk into Brunswick on Saturday.  People keep coming and going but our solid core remains largely in tact - all tired but loving the sense of community and purpose that keeps us moving south.

Photos by Regis Tremblay

It's a Failure.......

 

US admits it could not find good rebels to train, but can not explain why it now thinks it can find good rebels to arm.

Aiding ISIS

The evidence is growing that the US and its other allies (Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, UK, Jordan and Israel) are in fact supplying ISIS with weapons and other equipment - including those now famous white Toyota vehicles.

I'm sure ISIS is laughing and saying, "Thanks American taxpayers for equipping us.  How are your pot holes in the roads back home?"

See more on this story here

Day 5 - Fog & Rain in Rockland

The fog was thick when we left Camden this morning for the nine mile walk to Rockland.  After the first three miles the rain started and by about mile six it began to come down much harder.  We took a short break at a park along the water - we couldn't see anything though because of the fog. We decided to skip our lunch and pressed on into the revitalized downtown of Rockland stopping at a book cafe for a hot cup of caffeine.  The owner of the joint told us we could have any dessert for free as a reward for our walking.

Because we pushed into Rockland sooner than expected the Unitarian Church was not going to be immediately available to us so Jason Rawn walked over to the city recreation center and asked if we could have our lunch there.  They kindly said yes so we sat in the basketball court bleachers eating while watching a couple of our folks shoot some hoops.

One older woman joined us today for the walk and I learned she had heard our two speakers on WERU radio the other day.  She wrote down the Maine Veterans for Peace website address given out over the air as the site to find more information.  She went to the website, checked our daily schedule, and came to the supper program in Camden last night and then walked with us today.  She shared with one of the walkers that when her son was in the military he was repeatedly exposed to the use of depleted uranium and has spent recent years battling four different cancers.  She had real incentive to walk with us.

College senior Morgana Warner Evans from West Bath, Maine has been with us the last two days and is specializing in chasing down people as we pass them by to make sure they get one of our flyers.  Everyone remarks about her boundless energy and strong determination to share the message of the walk with as many people as possible.

My favorite part of the day was again hearing the Buddhist chant in four part harmony during the rain performed by the women from Voices for Peace based in Bangor - who I've fondly been calling the McGuire Sisters.

Tomorrow we head south to Damariscotta and will be staying at the Friends Meeting House.

More Space Week

Odisha, India

Kiruna, Sweden

New Haven, CT

Gangjeong village on Jeju Island, South Korea

Day 4 - Acupuncture in Camden

We began our day at the UCC Church in Belfast this morning and headed toward Camden.  The minister from the church walked with us the eight miles to our beautiful lunch spot at Lincolnville Beach.  The weather was spectacular (some Mainers are beginning to like climate change which has extended our summer weather into October).

What an amazing group we have - today 22 folks - some have left the walk and been replaced by others.  Veterans for Peace national board member Tarak Kauff (Woodstock, New York) and former national board member Nate Goldshlag (Boston) joined us tonight in Camden.  Glad to have them with us.

When we arrived at the Catholic Church in Camden today around 4:00 pm fellow walk organizer Jason Rawn had arranged for an acupuncturist to give our weary bodies a treatment.  I noticed that everyone looked more refreshed after the needles were taken from their legs, arms, feet and heads.  I could feel the energy moving inside me.

Mary Beth had to return home today as she has to go back to work tomorrow.  We are really going to miss her drumming and the good natured loving care she provided to all of us on the walk.  She will be back this weekend when she brings Buddhist nun Jun-san Yasuda to join us in Freeport.

We had a local newspaper photographer show up this morning to get some pictures of us as we took off from Belfast.  As we were shuttling cars ahead this morning I tuned back into WERU community radio and there on the air were our two walkers who were interviewed by the station on our second day of the walk - so they replayed the interview!  Thanks WERU.

There was a great program after the pot luck supper tonight at the church in Camden.  We were entertained by Mainer singer/songwriter David Dodson and his wife Mary Kate Small.  Each night we are asking a different walker to speak about why we are walking and tonight Connie Jenkins did a fabulous job with that job.  Each night we are also reading an open letter to the president of Bath Iron Works that we will deliver when we arrive in Bath on Thursday this week.  A similar letter, calling for the conversion of the shipyard to peaceful production, will be delivered to the Machinists Union in Bath as well.  When we land in Kittery, Maine at the Portsmouth Naval shipyard on October 23 we'll also deliver a letter to the Navy commander there.

In the morning we head to Rockland where we will be hosted by the Unitarian Church.  Likely going to get some rain again tomorrow.

Day 3 - Arriving in Belfast

Lunch on the walk

We walked into Belfast today and once again (frankly much to my surprise) the response from the public remained excellent.  They seem to understand our concern about the damage to sea life and at this point don't appear to be much put off by our pointing the finger directly at the Navy for causing so much of the harm.

The weather was perfect again today and we had unexpected visits by two different families with their kids who eagerly brought their boundless energy to us.  One of the moms is a former Catholic Worker activist who has moved back home to Maine to raise her family.  She was driving by when she spotted us and the four of them came back to join us for several miles.

While we had lunch at a beautifully scenic area overlooking the Penobscot River one woman pulled up and donated a bunch of bottled water to us.  Then minutes later another woman pulled up who happens to be a leading activist in the state trying to protect our state's underground water supply from the greedy Nestle water bottling corporation (under the trade name of Poland Springs).  As we neared Belfast another family with their young son joined the walk and the boy chanted "Save the fish" all the way across the bridge leading into the city.

After crossing the bridge we walked through the city streets with the booming Native American drum on wheels pulled by longtime Maine activist Peter Baldwin.  This got the attention of the tourists in the seaside business district and we handed them flyers.

Four women from the Bangor-based choral group called Voices for Peace have been with us the whole way so far.  Tonight at the pot luck supper in Belfast they touched our hearts with several songs.  During the walk they have been singing in response as Mary Beth Sullivan has been drumming and chanting the Nipponzan Myohoji "Na Mu Myo Ho Ren Ge Kyo".  This kept us going up the long hills and down the other side as our legs and feet began to hurt.  We were literally lifted up.

A couple people will leave the walk tomorrow but several more new folks have joined us keeping our numbers in the 20-person range. 

Day 2 Up in Down East Maine

It was a good day as we walked from Ellsworth to Orland, Maine.  The weather was sunny though a bit windy and cold - perfect walking weather but not so great when we stopped for breaks and lunch along the road.  It was a largely rural route today but many cars saw us since we were on the primary North-South coastal highway US 1.  I'd say the support from the passing motorists was generally excellent considering the fact that we are taking on the Navy in a very direct way. I only heard one negative holler at us all day - "Get a job"!

We had 24 people for most of the 11.6 miles.  We ended up at the WERU community radio station where at 4:00 pm two of our folks (Russell Wray and Starr Gilmartin) were interviewed about the purpose of the walk.  They even got in a plug about the October 31 Bath Iron Works shipyard protest we will be organizing during the 'christening' of a new Aegis destroyer that day.

Following the radio show we drove a couple miles to the H.O.M.E. center that helps the poor and homeless.  I'd never been there before and the sprawling campus was quite impressive as this well respected place helps provide jobs for many local folks who are out of work.  One woman who makes quilts at the center told me it is the biggest employer in the area hiring up to 40 workers.  We had an excellent pot luck supper there thanks to local activists who brought food and then we dispersed to our various local home hosts for the night.

MB and I are back in Starr's home where we stayed last night - a fire is in the wood stove as I type this.

In the morning we head off toward Belfast - another 11.5 mile walking day.

It's a really fine group of folks - they have a great spirit and are very determined peace walkers.  Walks are all about building community and we certainly are feeling that up here in what they call Down East Maine.

Space Week at Menwith Hill in UK

It was a wet night to say the least up at Menwith Hill, we had a real grand Yorkshire attendance. The amazing Dave and Yorkshire CND came with wonderful banners and signs, as always beautiful and peaceful support from the Quakers. We had enough in attendance to protest at both gates, often on a Tuesday when we protest, and stop vehicles leaving, they use another exit, however, we got that one covered. Many vehicles were stopped peacefully and were able to read our messages of peace and that we oppose what is happening in Space and how we want no part of the cluttering and taking up of the beautiful space ... We shared food of soup and rolls, the MDP with Mike at the helm were amazing and facilitated our peaceful vigil.

Walk Day One

After our pot luck supper tonight in Ellsworth folks posed for a group photo.   

We walked four miles in the pouring rain today through Ellsworth just to get a bit of a tune up.  Everyone was soaking wet.  Had nice response from the public - one guy came out of a auto dealership and told me he was impressed that we were walking in the rain.  I handed him one of our flyers.

In the morning we are expecting nice weather for our 11.6 mile walk.

After walking, and drying out a bit, we had a 90-minute orientation to go over the whole walk plan.  People shared why they were walking which was a very moving thing to hear.  We have a very solid group of folks with us.

Happy Sailing

Final Prep for Maine Peace Walk

Artist Russell Wray has been working non-stop this week to get his dolphin (Maka) ready for our Maine Peace Walk which starts tomorrow in Ellsworth.

We heard on Monday that the mini-school bus we were going to use as our walk shuttle recently broke down so we were in scramble mode.  Russell found a rental 15-seat van in Bangor for our 16-day walk at the rate of $1,200.  He took it home and had to quickly redesign Maka's mounting device to fit the new dimensions of the van - as well as having to weld a borrowed roof rack for it to sit on.  He still has yet to figure out how to hang the banner he made to fit the mini-bus onto the van. (And now as you can see above he has completed his mission.)

Years ago Russell dragged Maka across the entire continent on a walk he participated in - so he has a special relationship with this beautiful dolphin.  He's been the leader of a group here in Maine called Citizens Opposing Active Sonar Threats (COAST) for many years.  For Russell this walk is personal and he has given his heart and soul to making sure we have captivating visuals to grab public attention as people zoom by along Highway 1 while we walk south toward Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

I spent the day yesterday going through my 'To Do' list packing up peanut butter, kitchen supplies, flyers, signs, banners, sweatshirts (with the dolphin logo made by Russell), and alot more.  Today I have to make hummus and cut carrots from the garden for our lunches. I called the Borealis bread company this morning asking for a donation of several loaves and will pick them up at their bakery as we drive north in the morning. 

Two walkers come to our house tonight and then we leave early in the morning picking up three others as we head to Ellsworth.  (One of those arriving here tonight is a post-911 Iraq war veteran from western Massachusetts who plans on walking the whole way with us.)

We've got at least 11 folks walking the entire route (about 175 miles) with many more joining in as we pass through their local communities.  We heard from a young man today who is part of a group called Maine Students for Climate Justice.  He is urging his fellow students across the state to participate in the walk.

The Pentagon has the largest carbon bootprint on our Mother Earth.  The US spends more than one trillion dollars each year on the military and very little when it comes to dealing with the reality of climate change.   Our oceans, the life source of the planet, are in grave danger from climate change and out-of-control global militarism.  Our walk is aimed at trying to get folks to see these important deadly connections.

Hope to see you along this journey.

Some 'Deep Background' on Syria

In Al Jazeera’s latest Head to Head episode, former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency Michael Flynn confirms to Mehdi Hasan that not only had he studied the DIA memo predicting the West’s backing of an Islamic State in Syria when it came across his desk in 2012, but even asserts that the White House’s sponsoring of radical jihadists (that would emerge as ISIL and Nusra) against the Syrian regime was “a willful decision.” 

This young reporter Mehdi Hasan does a tough interview.  I wish the mainstream media in the US could watch this and learn how to put these war mongers to the test.

Maine Peace Walk Daily Schedule

Sacred Gureombi coastline on Jeju Island, South Korea before it was blasted to build the Navy base that will port Aegis destroyers made in Bath, Maine.  The peace walk will be connecting all these dots.

 

 

• Day 1 (Ellsworth) Friday, October 9 -   Ellsworth Unitarian Church (121 Bucksport Rd) Evening potluck and kick-off program at 6:00 pm. Homestays needed.    Host: Starr Gilmartin 667-2421

• Day 2 (Orland) Saturday, October 10 - Potluck supper 6:00 pm and program at H.O.M.E (90 School House Rd.) Sleep at H.O.M.E.  Host: Starr Gilmartin 667-2421 or Lawrence 415-565-9867

• Day 3 (Belfast) Sunday, October 11 - First Church UCC (104 Church St) Pot luck supper (unadvertised) 6:00 pm, public program 7:00 pm.    Home stays needed & sleep at church: Cathy Mink 323-5160 & Bev Roxby 669-2903.      Host: Joel 338-2282 or 323-0940 at the UCC Church

• Day 4 (Camden) Monday, October 12 - Our Lady of Good Hope Catholic Church (7 Union St) Pot luck supper and program at 6:00 pm. Home stays needed. Host: Maureen Kehoe-Ostensen 763-4062

• Day 5 (Rockland) Tuesday, October 13 - Potluck supper and program at Unitarian church (345 Broadway) at 6:00 pm. Homestays needed.  Host: Midcoast Citizens for P & J (Steve Burke 691-0322)

• Day 6 (Damariscotta) Wednesday, October 14 - Friends Meeting House (77 Belvedere Rd) Potluck Supper and program at 6:00 pm. Sleep at Meeting House.  Host: Friends Meeting (Sue Rockwood 570-854-4458)

• Day 7 (Bath) Thursday, October 15 - UCC Neighborhood Church (corner of Washington & Centre) Potluck supper and program at 6:00 pm. Homestays needed.  Host: Bruce Gagnon 904-501-4494 & Karen Wainberg 371-8190

• Day 8 (Day off) in Bath Friday, October 16 - Stay at same homestays again this night. Potluck supper at Addams-Melman House (212 Centre St) at 6:00 pm. Host: Bruce Gagnon 904-501-4494 & Karen Wainberg 371-8190
• Day 9 (Brunswick) Saturday, October 17 - Pot luck supper at Sternlieb home (21 McKeen St) at 6:00 pm. Walker music program. Home stays needed in Brunswick. Host: Selma Sternlieb 725-7675

• Day 10 (Freeport) Sunday, October 18 - Pot luck supper at First Parish Congregation Church (on US 1) at 6:00 pm and program. Sleep at church. Host: Paula O’Brien 865-6022 & Sukie Rice 318-8531 & Cheryl Avery 865-0916

• Day 11 ( Portland) Monday, October 19 - State Street Church-UCC (159 State St.) Pot luck supper & program at 6:00 pm.  Homestays needed. Host: Grace Braley 774-1995

• Day 12 (Saco) Tuesday, October 20 - First Parish Congregation Church on corner of Beech & Maine. Pot luck supper and program at 6:00 pm. Home stays needed.  Host: Tom Kircher 282-7530

• Day 13 (Kennebunk) Wednesday, Oct 21 - New School (38 York Street). Pot luck supper and program at 6:00 pm. Sleep at school.  Host: Olive Hight 207-590-9505

• Day 14  (York Beach) Thursday, October 22 - York Beach (52 Freeman St) Supper, music program & sleeping spot at 6:00 pm. Host: Pat Scanlon 978-474-9195 & Smedley Butler Brigade of Boston-area VFP

• Day 15 (Portsmouth) Friday, October 23 - Supper and program at St. John’s Episcopal Church (100 Chapel St) at 6:00 pm.  Home stays needed, Host: Doug Bogen 603-617-6243

• Day 16 (Finale in Portsmouth) Saturday, October 24 - Meet at Market Square 10:00 am. Walk thru downtown and back over bridge to Kittery. Rally & speakers at shipyard gate (deliver letter). Walk back to Market Square for final closing circle around noon. Host: Doug Bogen 603-617-6243

 

~ The walk is being sponsored by: Maine Veterans for Peace; PeaceWorks; CodePink Maine; Citizens Opposing Active Sonar Threats (COAST); Peace Action Maine; Veterans for Peace Smedley Butler Brigade (Greater Boston); Seacoast Peace Response (Portsmouth); Maine Green Independent Party; and Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space.

 

For full walk route schedule details see http://vfpmaine.org/walk%20for%20peace%202015.html

More Space Week Events

Felice Cohen-Joppa writes from Arizona:

As workers arrived, five Tucson peace activists held signs early this morning outside the Raytheon missile factory during Keep Space for Peace Week. The Raytheon Peacemakers group demonstrates there monthly against war and those who profit from it. Star Wars "kill vehicles”, surveillance drones, weapons for armed drones, cruise missiles, Mavericks, AMRAAMs, microwave crowd control beams, cluster bomb and much more are manufactured here. No Weapons in Space or on Earth!

 

Our newest Global Network board member JV Prabhakar really organized a great event in Visakhapatnam, India! Prabhakar (2nd from left in this picture just above with sun glasses) writes:

The call given by Global Network Keep Space for Peace Week across the world, is well received in India, many youth are demanding, Govt of India to reduce military expenditure and to provide that budget for employment. Youth are against purchasing weapons and military helicopters from USA worth 120 Billion dollars. Weaponisation space means preparing for war on earth to destroy our mother earth, together we have to fight to stop. Prabhakar JV with Ksn Raju principal of Matrix technical college students. Demanding no to war. Support peace. Support Global Network.

U.S. Attempts to Control the Global Economy

A must watch on global trade issues - the geo-political war.

It is a War Crime to Bomb Hospitals

Today in a Senate hearing in Washington about Afghanistan with General John Campbell (who oversees all US military operations in Afghanistan), CODEPINK went dressed as "bloodied" doctors and nurses, demanding accountability and an independent investigation for the hospital bombed in Kunduz, Afghanistan over the weekend. 

Physician Dr. Margaret Flowers was arrested at the hearing for speaking out and she is still being held by police!

Sign the CodePink petition to General Campbell here: http://www.codepink.org/campbell_kunduz

Was a great witness for truth - it is a war crime to bomb hospitals - but especially despicable for the Pentagon to try to weasel out of it by blaming others.......

US 'exceptionalism' takes another hit.



For the record:  The US puppet regime in Kiev often targets hospitals, clinics, schools and churches as they shell their own citizens in eastern Ukraine.  That doesn't make the news.

At the Pentagon

Art Laffin is one of my favorite activists on the planet Earth. Years ago when I was regularly organizing protests in Florida at the space center Art would often come and lend an experienced hand.  He has lived at the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker House in Washington DC for many, many moons.

Art and others from the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker have been holding weekly protest vigils at the Pentagon (very early in the morning as the military personnel arrive via the subway) and the White House for as long as I can remember.  Each year during Keep Space for Peace Week he pulls out his space related signs and takes them to the Pentagon and White House. 

Here is his brief message that came along with the above photo this morning:

Yesterday, we were four strong at our weekly Pentagon vigil. During the vigil we held signs saying: "Keep Space for Peace" and "No Weapons in Space." An Air Force major upon seeing the "No Weapons in Space" sign replied: "I hope so!"

In the Pentagon metro station there are numerous slick panel size ads showing Northrup Grumman's latest weapons. My friend, Andrés Thomas Conteris, took the enclosed photos of me holding the "Keep Space for Peace" sign in front of one of the photos, which I thought you might like to see.

The Public Relations War

 

It didn’t take long, after Russia began its anti-terrorist bombing campaign, for social media to be flooded with ‘evidence’ of civilian casualties. The claims were readily repeated by Western mainstream media - and even some peaceniks.

It turns out the reports were false and fabricated.

Space Week Events Underway

We are starting to get some feedback from folks around the world who are organizing Keep Space for Peace Week events during October 3-10. 

The video above is from the protest at the US space surveillance and communications base at Croughton in Northamptonshire, England.

This photo is from the first of several events planned in Nagpur, India during space week.  Other events are also scheduled in several other cities throughout India as well.
 

Following our October 3 event at Bath Iron Works (BIW) in Maine we gathered in front of the shipyard administration building for a photo.  We'll be back here for another vigil again on Thursday, Oct 15 as the Maine Peace Walk passes through Bath at the time of the 3:30 pm shift change.

Then we also plan to return on Saturday, October 31 at the time of the next 'christening' of another Aegis destroyer from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm. Thousands of people come for the ceremony so there will be a huge crowd for us to communicate with on that day.

Latest Show

 

Len Yannielli, a retired biology teacher, is interviewed by Bruce Gagnon on "This Issue" about his new book "The Shares -- A Story of Revolutionary War History in a Connecticut Community," where Len in more recent times organized a campaign to preserve a sensitive tract of land. In addition, they discuss climate change and other sensitive issues.

Sunday Song

 

 

U.S. Chief Middle East Buddy Saudi Arabia: Executioners Wanted

Meet the new head of the United Nations panel on Human Rights: the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Abby Martin takes us inside the brutal reality of this police-state monarchy, and tells the untold people's history of resistance to it.

With a major, catastrophic war in Yemen and looming high-profile executions of activists, The Empire Files exposes true nature of the U.S.-Saudi love affair. 

This is How WW III Could Start

This is Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) who is a leading fascist in Washington - one of many.  His harsh words in this Senate speech indicates the kind of dangerous and provocative talk coming out of Congress these days.

(It's not just Republicans talking like this. Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has called for establishing a no-fly zone in Syria "to stop the carnage on the ground and strikes from the sky, to somehow clarify the situation, to try to stop the flow of refugees". Clinton also noted that "Putin is playing a very dangerous and cynical game. He definitely does everything in his power to support Assad and to consolidate the Russian presence in Syria and the Middle East".)

The feeling of US exceptionalism and entitlement is clearly evident in Cotton's  hostile words.  He assumes that the US can go make war anywhere on the planet that it wishes to.  Despite the fact that Syria invited Russia, and not the US, into their country Cotton still arrogantly declares the right of the US to control the world.  He rejects regional powers like Iran, Iraq, or Russia having the right to be concerned about what a mess the US has made in the Middle East.

This kind of talk could get a war going real quick with Russia.  Cotton calls on the US to shoot down Russian planes over Syria.  If his warmongering demands are followed the US just might find itself in the middle of World War III.

Sadly there are many of these fascists in Washington who do want the 'final solution' with Russia and China before those nations successfully create the multi-polar world that would put the US in its rightful place as just one nation among many.  The thought of the US bully having to get along with others on the 'global playground' is just too much for these arrogant cats to consider.

In the end I hope their words are just bluster and will be ignored.  If the public remains silent the power of fascists like Cotton will surely grow.  If the public speaks out and rejects these dangerous and provocative words then, like Dracula, Cotton will shrink under the light of truth.  Let's hope the American people wake up from their own slumbers in time.

Sorrows of Empire

Coleen Rowley interviewed at a Des Moines, Iowa Air Guard Drone piloting base protest.

When Coleen Rowley was an FBI agent in Minneapolis, her office got a lead just three weeks before 9-11: A known Islamic extremist named Zacarias Moussaoui had paid $8000 in cash for lessons to fly a Boeing 747. Rowley's team arrested him and wanted a warrant to search his laptop computer but Rowley's superiors at FBI headquarters said "no."

After 9/11, when it became clear that more could have been done, Rowley wrote FBI Director Robert Mueller a letter pointing out that "no one will ever know" the impact the computer search would have had calling his defense of the agency a "rush to judgment to protect the FBI at all costs." She testified in a Senate hearing a few weeks later. She was chosen by TIME magazine as one of their Persons of the Year in 2002. 

Getting Ready for the Peace Walk

Maine artist Russell Wray made this banner for our upcoming peace walk down the coast of our state.  He will hang it on the side of the bus we will use as the 'blister vehicle' as we head south on US Hwy 1 from Ellsworth to Portsmouth, New Hampshire.  Russell really captured the theme of our walk perfectly in this incredible work of art.

He's also made a fiberglass dolphin that will sit on top of the bus.  Actually he made it years ago for a walk across America and he pulled the dolphin, that he calls Maka, on a cart the whole way.  He's redesigned Maka to sit on top of the bus and even called the state to make sure it would fit under all bridges along the coast.

Russell has carried on the often lonely struggle here in Maine for years as the chief advocate for sea mammals that are impacted by Navy sonar.  So it was an easy decision for him to take on the art work for the walk.  We've been repeatedly moved by his gentle nature and deep affection for our relations under the seas.

I had a call early this morning from Starr Gilmartin who has been in charge of organizing the first couple of days of the walk in the Ellsworth area.  She's coordinated food, housing, media, public outreach and more.  When she called she asked if she woke me up and I said yes.  'Well this is training for the walk', she told me, 'you've got to start practicing getting up earlier'.  I told her I hoped to begin that training next week......

I've got a long list of Odds & Ends that need to get done before we start walking in Ellsworth on October 9.  I'm still waiting for the call from the local health food store about our order of 10 pounds of chunky peanut butter.  I've got to make a batch of hummus and cut carrots from the garden for our lunches the first few days.  I've got ice in used milk jugs in the freezer to keep our coolers cold.  I've yet to get signs made on sturdy poster board for the walkers to carry. We got a Subaru wagon donated to carry our gear but I discovered the front brakes were shot so yesterday spent two hours in the repair shop getting them fixed.  Gotta have brakes on US 1!

You can follow our walk updates on the Facebook page set up by Lisa Savage.  Find it here

I just learned yesterday that the next 'christening' of a Navy Aegis destroyer at Bath Iron Works here in Maine will happen on Saturday, October 31.   So we will be asking folks to come to Bath for a protest that day (from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm) as we walk.  Timing could not have been better.

Carving Up the Middle East

 

In this first episode of a two-part series for his TeleSUR show “Days of Revolt,” Chris Hedges and Sabah Alnasseri, Associate Professor of Middle East Politics at York University, trace the roots of Islamic State to their origins and explore comparisons to the 20th-century genesis of Israel.

Hedges begins by pointing out how the Sykes-Picot agreement of 1916, responsible for “carving up the Middle East and turning countries into protectorates,” has only been changed twice—once with the Israeli independence and now with Islamic State.

As Hedges put it, the tactics used to redraw the map in the Middle East are both effective and familiar, including the “use of foreign money, use of foreign fighters, tactics of ethnic cleansing and terrorism and this mythical vision—in the case of Israel, the recreation of Judea and Sumeria from the Bible, and in the case of ISIS, the recreation of the seventh-century caliphate.”

Alnasseri agrees, opening his response with the observation that, “to understand the pheonomenon of ISIS we need to contextualize it within the setbacks and counterrevolution against the Arab revolutions.“

Interesting Interview on Syria

Srđa Trifković is a Serbian-American writer on international affairs and foreign affairs editor for the magazine Chronicles.

I know this is all very confusing to most people - especially when the media in the west is so full of lies and distortion.  It's hard to figure out what is true and what is not about Syria.

I highly recommend reading this timely article on the Syria situation by journalist Robert Parry here

Endless War $pending

U.S. Military Budgets 1948-2015

• Obama      FY2010-15      $663.4 billion per year

• Bush Jr      FY2002-09*   $634.9    "

• Clinton       FY1994-2001  $418.0    "    (This was the period after the Soviet Union fell apart thus the lower Pentagon budgets)

• Bush Sr      FY1990-93     $513.4    "     

• Reagan      FY1982-89     $565.0    "      

• Carter         FY1978-81    $428.1     "      

• Ford            FY1976-77    $406.7     "    

• Nixon          FY1970-75    $441.7     "     

• Johnson      FY1965-69    $527.3     "    

• Kennedy     FY1962-64    $457.2     "     

• Eisenhower FY1954-61    $416.3     "

• Truman       FY1948-53    $375.7     "    

*Excludes $80 billion supplemental added to FY2009 under Obama.

 The U.S. military receives more generous funding than the rest of the 10 largest militaries in the world combined (China, Saudi Arabia, Russia, U.K., France, Japan, India, Germany & South Korea). 

Can we not see that both Republican and Democrat presidents have kept the $$$ pipeline into the Pentagon flowing on a steady basis?  All the current talk in Washington about the military budget being in bad shape is pure baloney.