Here is a photo of a real, live, U.S. Army tank in Iraq. Several of my ardent critics have clearly shown that my earlier photo of a tank was not in Iraq but Israel. (Though I'd strongly claim it was made in the USA - one of the few things that are these days.) So it is actually true that the U.S. has tanks in Iraq and is daily using them to destroy people, fire depleted uranium shells that will leave radioactive toxic contamination for thousands of years to come, and kill many innocent Iraqi people. Let the critics have at it now!

Bush is having to get back out on the road to sell his war to a public growing increasingly opposed to the failing policy of occupation in Iraq. I watched much of his speech to the VFW in Salt Lake City via C-SPAN today and the tepid applause from the audience throughout the speech indicated it was not going over well. The mayor of Salt Lake City had called for protests of the Bush visit and another mother of a dead GI in Iraq, from the Gold Star Families for Peace, traveled there to speak against the Bush war plan. Republican Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE) was all over the news yesterday calling Bush's war "another Vietnam." Humpty dumpty had a great fall, and all the kings horses and all the kings men could not put humpty back together again!

The Army has announced that they are planning for the U.S. to continue its occupation of Iraq for at least the next four years. Is there any doubt that the U.S. government (controlled today by the oil and weapons industries) has no intention of ever leaving? Last night I got an e-mail from a Maine friend who has a son in Iraq. He just got there and killed his first Iraqi a couple of days ago. He told his parents he barely missed being killed himself. Why do we have to stay in Iraq any longer? How many more innocent lives must be lost? How much more of our hard-earned tax dollars must be wasted there before the American people speak out with a resounding and emphatic NO?

BULLDOG CAMP

Just back from five lovely nights at Bulldog Camp up in northern Maine. The rustic camp of about 8 small log cabins sits next to Enchanted Pond.

Mary Beth, and our friend from Portland Karen Wainberg, and I shared the expenses and the cabin. We took a couple long hikes, heard the loons sing one evening, took a couple canoe trips, picked wild blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries. We took turns cooking for each other and read while sitting on the cabin's porch overlooking the pond (it was quite a large lake but Mainers call them ponds. Don't know why.) On the other side of the pond was a large mountain that some said looks like a bulldog. I didn't see it.

I read two books while there, one a historical novel about the Haymarket affair in Chicago in the late 1880's when political activists were framed and hung for a riot that was largely caused by the police. It was a moving story and illustrated how the powers that be will use all resources at hand (media, police, courts, etc) to try to stop social justice movements -- in this particular instance the movement for the 8-hour work day. The leading economic elites of the time were determined to kill the movement.

Mary Beth and Karen read my new book and gave me good reviews. Since I got home I've heard from three others giving me the high sign so I am feeling quite good about the early reactions to it.

The cabins had no electricity and no hot water. We used gas lamps for light and had to heat water on the stove to wash up with. It was truly a Maine woods experience and I would have liked to stay for two weeks - the only downside was the bed's mattress was bad and my back is crying out. Our two dogs loved the trip and were free to run wild and they surely did.

So now back to work but the memory of Bulldog camp will linger for awhile....

Cindy Sheehan speaking outside of Bush's Texas vacation ranch. Cindy will be in Brunswick, Maine on September 10 to speak at the Veterans for Peace march that will protest the Navy's Blue (Hell's) Angels jet performance team. Brunswick Naval Air Station will host the Hell's Angels the weekend of September 10-11. The slogan of the protest will be - Real angels don't drop bombs!

COORDINATOR TRIP REPORT - NORTHWEST

This report covers the period of July 28 - Aug 10 as I traveled to the northwest for a speaking tour in Oregon, Washington, and Canada.

Before I left I did several radio interviews on Oregon stations promoting the trip. Stuart Henderson (Florence) served as the coordinator for my Oregon trip that took me to Portland, Corvallis, Florence, Eugene, Salem and Hood River. In Washington I spoke in Olympia, Seattle, Suquamish, at the Ground Zero peace community near the Bangor Trident submarine base, and in Bellingham. Then my last stop was in Victoria, British Columbia. All together I drove 1,200 miles and took several ferry rides in the beautiful Pacific ocean waters.

The Florence, Oregon talk was especially exciting as Stuart worked hard to turn out double the crowd they normally get for such events. Stuart even put flyers on cars in this tourist-busy coastal town in order to spread the word.

In Eugene my host, Michael Carrigan, took me to a noon-time hour-long interview on the local college public radio station that is heard throughout the region. My talk that evening in Eugene was again well attended and I was particularly pleased that Lane County Commissioner Peter Sorenson attended. Sorenson is now a candidate for governor - running against the unpopular incumbent governor who is a Democrat. One of his major themes in the campaign is opposition to the war in Iraq. This was the first day my new book, Come Together Right Now, was available and I sold one box of them that evening. Michael also arranged for me to meet with the editorial board at his local newspaper.

I was in Seattle for several days thanks to retired Episcopal minister Bob Beveridge. Bob, and his wife Berta, took good care of me. They led me to several great events held around the 60th anniversary of the U.S. nuclear bombing of Hiroshima. My talk at Bob's church, St. Mark's Cathedral was well attended and the next day Bob and I took a ferry out to Bainbridge island to join a Buddhist Peace Walk. It was nice to walk the 12 miles that day after having been in a car for a week straight. The three-week walk began at the Hanford nuclear facility, and ended at the Bangor submarine base. On August 8, about 75 of us gathered at the base gates at 5:00 am to greet the thousands of sailors entering the base for work. Twenty folks blockaded the front gate and backed the traffic up for at least a half-hour before they were arrested and taken away.

While participating in the walk I was able to speak to two different gatherings of folks who turned out to support the walk. A member of Veterans for Peace, Mark Wilson, also spoke. He announced he is running for the U.S. Senate in Washington. It was good to hear a candidate speaking the truth about the war and the need for economic conversion. Very refreshing stuff.

On August 6, Bob and Beta took me to Seattle's "From Hiroshima to Hope" lantern floating ceremony at Green Lake. Well over 1,200 people attended this moving event that began with music and theatrical remembrances of the tragic nuclear bombing. This was the 20th year of the ceremony where people placed candlelit lanterns in the lake at dusk, creating a magical scene. I was very touched by the whole event.

On August 8, after the dawn demonstration at the submarine base, I drove north and spoke in Bellingham, just a few miles below the Canadian border. Long-time friends Dorie and John Belisle moved there about nine years ago from Florida and started an apple farm. Their kids had come to the Florida Youth Peace Camp for several years that I ran while working with the Florida Coalition for Peace & Justice. Today, in addition to the farm, Dorie works with local farmers to get them to plant trees along creeks and river beds on their land in order to protect the water bodies and ensure salmon survival -- as the fish are diminishing these days. John serves on the local planning commission to try to stop the rapid destruction of farm land for suburban living. He and I spent time talking about how peak oil will impact farm life and suburbia as prices of oil rise and supplies dramatically diminish in coming years.

From the Belisle farm I drove seven miles north to the Canadian border. Canadian immigration made me sit for 30 minutes as they ran computer background checks on me after hearing I was a political activist. They got hung up on my past arrests for non-violent civil disobedience and I had to spend time explaining the nature of the actions over the phone to one of their supervisors. Fortunately I finally was allowed into the country, but as a result of the delay I missed my scheduled ferry ride to Victoria.

After a wait I took the next ferry ride to Victoria and was amazed at the beautiful islands along the trip. (On the ferry ride back to Washington I was to see several Orca whales jumping out of the water.) Immediately after arriving in Victoria I was taken to a CBC radio interview to promote my talk at the university that evening. A potluck supper was held at the home of my host Susan Clarke. There I met several transplanted Americans who had moved to Salt Spring Island, just off the coast of Victoria. They had much to say about their reasons for leaving the U.S. - something I hear many people say they'd like to do these days.

My talk at the university was well attended and well received. I read from my new book at the start and end of the talk. My last chapter in the book is about America's addiction to war and violence and the need for a national 12-step program to heal our passion for war. Before I read from the last chapter I shared the story about my own family life - one of alcoholism and domestic violence. My military step-father had returned from Korea and Vietnam, never dealing with his emotions from the war experiences, and turned to drinking and violence to relieve his suffering soul. I told how he had often beaten me. Throughout this trip I had seven people approach me telling me that this was their story as well.

During the Buddhist Peace Walk one monk told me that a woman had been crying in their temple the night before when they returned there to sleep after my talk. They asked her why she was crying and she said that her husband had come back from Vietnam with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and had turned to alcohol and regularly beat her son. Her son had significant problems as a result and was now in prison. The monk told me my story had touched her heart.

Conversion was the central message of my trip. I said over and over again that we must convert the military industrial complex to sustainable technology development. And I said, we must heal the broken hoop - we need to convert the warlike heart of the American nation and the American people.

While in Seattle the Navy's "Blue Angels" jet performance team was making tremendous noise over that city. I began to refer to them as the "Hell's Angels" in my talks. That same Navy Hells Angels flight team comes to Brunswick, Maine on September 10-11 and I am now organizing a statewide demonstration to oppose their visit on Saturday, September 10. Cindy Sheehan, the mother of a soldier that died in Iraq who is camping outside George W. Bush's Texas ranch at this very minute, will be one of the speakers at our event. Our theme is that real angels don't drop bombs.

In the closing chapter of my book I say this, "After awhile this proclivity to violence turns to ugly addiction. We, as a culture, begin to celebrate it and brag on our prowess. We romanticize the wars and the warriors. We idolize the weapons and stand in wonder as the warplanes fly overhead in celebration of our collective insanity. And insanity it is. If you doubt it, just ask some of the people whose countries we have invaded."

JUST BACK AND WORN OUT

Just got back at noon today from my trip out west. Was supposed to arrive last night but once again the airlines are falling apart at the seams and my plane out of Seattle was delayed 3 hours so I missed my connection home to Portland. Had to spend the night in Atlanta, thankfully Delta paid for the hotel, but I didn't get alot of sleep last night.

My last couple of trips have all had serious airline delays and cancellations. The whole airport scene, not matter which major airline hub I fly into, is very chaotic these days. I know most airlines are in financial trouble but their service is getting worse, and their flying customers are frustrated and furious.

My last talk (Aug 9) in Victoria, British Columbia was outstanding as the audience was alive and engaged. The Canadians are really paying attention to the issues, frankly generally more educated than the Americans I speak with. And they are much more responsive and furious about what they see the U.S. doing. If only more folks in the U.S. were as passionate we'd be better off today than we are.

I am busy signing books this evening and putting them in envelopes as we can now fill our hundreds of orders for my new book. I hope to have all the orders filled by this weekend.

I plan to post my northwest trip report on the blog in the next day or so.

Next week I go on a week long vacation to a northern Maine camp and will not be writing on the blog. No phones, internet, e-mails or anything. I need a rest. I am tired but my spirit is strong as ever. See you all soon.

This is the apple farm outside of Bellingham, Washington that I just visited. Friends John & Dorie Belisle at Bellewood Acres struggle to keep their business alive by hard work, smart marketing, and community service. Dorie is a leader in local sustainable agriculture programs and John serves on the county planning commission to try to limit growth that is chewing up available farm lands for suburban living. They made it possible for me to bring the Global Network message to their community.

SUB BASE PROTEST

I was up at 4am to get ready for a 5am protest at the Bangor, Washington submarine base. Abut 75 folks folks gathered at the front gate as the navy personnel entered the base. Twenty folks blocked the front gate and were arrested. Buddhist monks, who lead a 3-week walk to the base, were there at the front gate drumming and chanting. Everyone was surprised at the lack of negative response as the folks drove into the base after having traffice backed up for well over 1/2 hour. Only saw a couple of very negative responses. The sub base is home of the west coast Trident nuclear submarine fleet.

Following the action I drover further north to Bellingham and will speak here tonight and in the morning head on to Victoria in Canada for a talk there. Then on Aug 10 I head back to Seattle to fly home.

Am visiting old friends from Florida who have an apple orchard outside of Bellingham. They've been here about 10 years and have been inviting me to visit for many years.

BANGOR PEACE WALK

Yesterday I join the Hanford to Bangor Peace Walk that is heading to the submarine base where the Trident II missile subs are docked. I walked about 14 miles along with 30 other folks. The walk is being led by the Buddhist order Nipponzan Myohoji, the order that does peace walks around the world. The walk made it as far as Squamish, the place where Chief Seattle is buried.

Thursday night I spoke to a good audience at the St. Marks Episcopal Church in Seattle. Retired Episcopal minister Bob Beveridge has scheduled me four days worth of activities in the Seattle area. This evening we will attend the Hiroshima memorial service and lantern floating ceremony. On Sunday we will head back to the walk and to a day long non-violence program at Ground Zero, the name of the anti-nuclear activist group that has been protesting at the Bangor sub base for 30 or so years. I will speak there, stay the night, and then attend a protest at the base gates early Monday morning. Monday afternoon I will be back on the road heading north to speak in Bellingham, WA.

Long-time Florida friends John & Dorie Belisle moved to Bellingham years ago and bought an apple orchard there. They've been inviting me up for a visit for many years and now it will be possible to make the trip.

OLYMPIA

I spoke in Olympia, WA tonight on a panel talking about the need to get rid of nuclear weapons and Star Wars. I dragged my weary bones up here today from Hood River, Oregon where I spoke last night. I swam yesterday in the beautiful river that flows from the nearby mountains. Before that I was in Salem and Eugene. After one week on the road I am feeling the road weariness and look forward to getting to bed as soon as I get this written. In the morning I prepare to head to Seattle for a couple days of events there.

I am staying at the home long long-time Global Network member Holly Gwinn Graham who is also one of our great singer/songwriters who has written many fine space protest songs. Jackie Cabasso, from the group Abolition Now, is staying here and also spoke on the panel this evening.

Holly's home has a great view of the water, which is part of the lower fingers of Puget Sound, from her from door. A very special spot.

BOOK SELLS

Spoke to 75 people in Eugene last night and had the first test of how my book would sell. I had one box (32 books) shipped overnight to Eugene. After the talk sold 29 of them so was pleasantly surprised at the reaction. Folks were pleased with the turnout on a hot summer Sunday night. Said it was more than they had expected.

Earlier in the day, at noon, I did a one-hour radio interview on the local college NPR station. Show beams out throughout the region and got a great response from it when people arrived at the meeting last night. Got an e-mail from the host of the show this morning saying the station is already getting very positive reaction to the interview. Nice to hear.

Today I meet with a person at the editorial board of the local Eugene newspaper and then drive to Salem for a talk there tonight. Unfortunately I will only have 3 books with me. Don't get another box until I get to Olympa, WA.

Hope you all are doing well. I always enjoy reading the comments, even those from my critics. Think peace.

COASTAL FOG AND MAGIC

Spoke to a packed room at the Florence library last night - a beautiful coastal town in Oregon. Stuart Henderson worked hard, including sticking over 200 flyers on cars around town, to turn folks out. People said half the audience was not the regulars. Great energy in the room and it was a fun evening for me.

It's foggy along the coast as I look out the window now. Going for breakfast with my hosts to a place on the beach this morning so I can get a look at the ocean.

Today I head to Eugene for a radio interview on the college NPR radio station and then another talk in the evening.

Enjoying my Oregon visit. Have added another talk to my schedule as Bellingham, WA has now filled my only free day, Aug 8.

One thing I notice about Oregon, different from most places I visit, is that they seem to have more access to radio. Already done about 5 radio interviews and have just gotten started. Oregon also appears to be one state with very little military industrial complex presence....maybe there is a connection there. Hope they can keep it this way.

OREGON TRAILS

Hotter than hell here in Oregon. Took me 13 hours to get here, flying via Atlanta. Not the most direct route. Got to bed after 2:00 am Friday morning and had to wake up early for a radio interview with Thom Hartman who has a show on a local Portland station. Did three radio interviews yesterday promoting the trip. Spoke last night at the Unitarian church in Portland.

Today I head south to Corvallis for a lunch talk and then out to the coast for a talk this evening in Florence. My books arrived in Brunswick on Friday and some will be overnighted to me so I can have them for the rest of the trip. People were disappointed last night after the talk wanting to buy a copy but I had none to offer - just an order form.

The thing going through my mind this morning is the dispair and hope message. People feel very down right now as they look at the world and the question is what is my role in helping to bring hope to them? Having to talk about the plans for space control and domination, the enormous cost, the resulting global instability of a new arms race are not hopeful themes.

I end my talks by talking about a transformative vision being needed. I paint a visual picture of what economic conversion would look like and appeal to folks to help us create the momentum and political demand to make it a reality. I suggest we have to move from addiction to militarism and war to a collective transformation as a people.

I try to tell the truth and give some hope through a positive vision for the future. I keep in mind those who came before us and who have struggled to make life better. I try to honor their memories. I also pray before each talk that I will be able to remember our relatives: the things that swim, the things that fly, and the things that crawl. I try to remember my connection to all that is sacred.

I leave on Thursday for a two-week speaking tour out to Oregon, Washington and Victoria BC. Will stop in about 10 locations along the trip for talks. Should be quite exciting. Hope the weather, yes we have global warming, will cool off by then. Will try to get some small tidbits about the trip onto the blog while I travel. My book arrives from the printer on Friday....at last! Best wishes to all. Stop the Bush madness.

PROTEST AT AEGIS "CHRISTENING"

Christ's blessings were given to a new Aegis destroyer yesterday in nearby Bath, Maine. (Do you think the Prince of Peace would really have given his blessing to a war ship that basically took food and clothing from the poor to build it?) Several thousand navy personnel and shipyard workers lined up at 8:30 am to attend the event. Outside the gates stood 20 of us, half were members of Veterans for Peace, as we held signs calling for the conversion of the shipyard to peaceful production.

We stood outside the gates for 2 1/2 hours as the people filed past us. A few took our pictures, a few gave us the finger or thumbs down. An occasional person driving by gave us a honk on the horn or flashed a peace sign. But the outright hostility that I have seen at other "christenings" was not evident yesterday.

The entire Maine congressional delegation was inside - Republican and Democrat alike. In today's paper Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) was quoted as saying that we need to build more of the destroyers because China's navy is now "rapidly overtaking our own." Total garbage. China is being dragged out by the supporters of the military industrial complex as the justification for a massive expansion of the Navy, Star Wars and the like.

The Aegis, launched yesterday in Bath, is being outfitted with Theatre Missile Defense (TMD) systems that would be used to hit "rogue state" missiles right after they were launched in their boost phase. In order to do this you'd have to park the ships just off the coast of the "offending" nation. Since China is now put in the rogue state category by many, including Sen. Snowe, the U.S. plans are to deploy the ships in Japan, South Korea, Australia, and even likely in Taiwan, just 90 miles off the coast of mainland China. If you check your map you will see that this will essentially be a naval encirclement of China's coast. Imagine how China, who today has 20 nuclear missiles capable of hitting the west coast of the U.S., will respond. (By the way the U.S. today has over 7,500 nuclear weapons in our arsenal of hypocrisy.) China has said that U.S. deployments of Aegis off their coast will force them to build more nuclear weapons. Off to a new arms race. Who benefits from that here in the good ole US of A?

I don't shop at Wal-Mart but I do like to walk through the big box stores now and then to see where their products are produced. These days it is hard to find many products that are not made in China. We've become one of China's best customers in the world. Is it likely that China wants to nuke one of its best customers? I think not.

What the U.S. really fears is that China is becoming a major economic power. The U.S. wants to manage China to ensure U.S. global economic dominance. By militarily surrounding China the U.S. thinks it will be able to dictate policy to China. The war in Iraq is about oil. China's oil. The U.S. does not rely on Iraq's oil but China and other countries in the Asian-Pacific do. If the U.S. has permanent bases in Iraq, and controls that oil, then the U.S. holds the key to the Chinese economic engine.

We the American taxpayers will be bled to pay for this new military expansion to surround and "manage" China. We will have our education, health care, social security, and other social programs defunded so the global corporate machine can play games with China. But first they must be demonized and Americans must be made to fear China. That job is now well underway.

The House of Representatives voted yesterday, 291-137, to reject a call for a planned and timely withdrawl from Iraq. The House instead said the U.S. must stay to make Iraq free. Free for who? For the people of Iraq or free and easy for the big corporations to slice and dice the country up.....spoils go to the winner.

MASSIVE SPACE COST OVERRUNS AT PENTAGON

by Martin Sieff
UPI Senior News Analyst
Washington (UPI) Jul 19, 2005

In testimony before the Strategic Forces Subcommittee of the House Committee on Armed Services delivered last week, Robert E. Levin, director of Acquisitions and Sourcing Management at the GAO, delivered a devastating critique of the Bush administration and the Pentagon's space acquisitions' record.

"The results are discouraging," he said. "Systems cost more and take much longer to acquire than promised when initially approved.

"Overall, we have found that DOD (the Department of Defense) has been unable to match resources (technology, time, money) to requirements before beginning individual programs, setting the stage for technical and other problems, which lead to cost and schedule increases," Levin said.

Many of the problems, Levin said, came from sloppiness on the part of DOD leaders or senior officials in defining what they specifically wanted their new space-based high-tech systems to do, or in being too visionary -- approving programs when the technology did not yet exist, or had not yet been developed sufficiently to ! assure the necessary reliable performance.

"Technologies are not mature enough (in some cases) to be included in product development," Levin said. "Cost estimates are unreliable -- largely because requirements have not been fully defined and because programs start with many unknowns about technologies."

Levin painted a picture of thousands of hardworking and dedicated individuals stymied by the complexities and cross-purposes of the bureaucratic structures in which they had to function.

"Factors that make it more difficult for DOD to achieve a match between resources and requirements for space acquisitions," he said "... include: a diverse array of organizations with competing interests; a desire to satisfy all requirements in a single step, regardless of the design or technology challenge; and a tendency for acquisition programs to take on technology development that should occur within the S & T (science and technolo! gy) environment."

Also, he said, "DOD starts more programs than it can afford in the long run, forcing programs to underestimate costs and over promise capability."

"As a result," he said, "there is pressure to suppress bad news about programs, which could endanger funding and support, as well as to skip testing because of its high cost."

Levin acknowledged that the Department of Defense "has recently revised its space acquisition policy, in part to attain more knowledge about technologies before beginning an acquisition program."

"However," he continued, "we remain concerned that this policy still allows programs to begin before demonstrating technologies in an operational or simulated environment."

The results of these shortcomings have cost billions of dollars and seriously reduced the space capabilities that the Department of Defense has been able to deliver, Levin said.

"For decades, space acquisition programs have been encountering large cost and increases and schedule delays," he said," As a result, DOD has been unable to deliver capabilities as promised.

"This year alone," Levin said, "... costs have continued to climb on the Space-Based Infrared System High (SBIRS-High) program ... pushing DOD's investment in this critical missile warning system to over $9.9 billion from the initial $3.9 billion made nine years ago."

Also, he said, "the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System has been restructured and is facing cost increases and schedule delays."

Even the simplest and most straightforward part of the military space program -- launching satellites into space on reliable, cost-effective rockets -- is becoming more difficult and vastly more expensive, Levin warned.

"Unit cost increases for launch vehicles have now increased! by 81 percent since 2002 due to erroneous assumptions about the commercial launch market upon which the program's business case was based," he said.

In the case of many programs, Levin said, there would be no improvement in sight and cost over-runs would continue for many years.

"DOD originally planned to complete expenditures for SBIRS-High in fiscal year 2005, for example, but currently plans to spend about $3.4 billion in fiscal years 2007 through 2013," he said.

Levin and his GAO analysts were not alone in their indictment.

Pedro "Pete" Rustan, director of Advanced Systems and Technology at the National Reconnaissance Office, told a congressional subcommittee, "I think space acquisitions procedures are the biggest challenge facing our space systems today. "We must do things differently."

"Unless decisive actions are taken," Rustan said, "I think we will continue to spend lar! ge amounts of money without returning a commensurate capability to our stakeholders."

Rep. Terry Everett, R-Ala, the subcommittee chairman who called the hearing, made clear he took the criticisms seriously. "Acquisition and management practices, as well as industry standards and quality control must be vastly improved," he said in his opening statement.

FULL REPORT ON RECENT ORGANIZING TRIPS

This report covers the period of July 11-18 when I traveled to northwest Michigan for a six-city tour, and then participated in two events in Maine.

My trip to Michigan was initiated by an old friend, Carol Still, whom I knew long ago in Florida. She was a member of the Florida Coalition for Peace & Justice and some years ago moved to Michigan to be near family. Carol had recently shown our video, Arsenal of Hypocrisy, on her local cable TV station and received quite a number of phone calls from new people expressing interest in the video. As a result a task force was created to begin working on the space issue and they then sent representatives from their new group to the recent Global Network annual conference in New York City. The group, called the Interfaith Peace & Justice Network of NW Michigan, also decided to host me on a speaking tour.

I had never been to northwest Michigan before and was to see much of the region as talks were scheduled for me in Traverse City, Suttons Bay, Petoskey, Alden, Charlevoix, and Manistee County. This part of Michigan is along beautiful Lake Michigan and is also the cherry capital of the world. The organizing committee took turns driving me from place to place throughout the rural countryside that is heavy populated with tourists during the summer. Tom Shea, in Traverse City, was the hub who kept things coordinated throughout the week. Unseasonably hot weather was on everyone's mind and needless to say I ate a lot of cherries during the trip. During each of my talks I read bits from my new book, Come Together Right Now, that is currently at the printer and should be finished within a week.

A young journalist from a small newspaper in Manistee County came to my first talk that was held in Traverse City. He taped the presentation, and then wrote a strong front-page story for his local paper promoting my talk that would take place in his community at the end of my tour. As I was packing up my things from my literature table after my talk he asked if he could take the handful of Keep Space for Week posters that I had left. He said he'd like to put them up around the county. It is not often that a journalist volunteers to do that. He had a special light in his eye and you could see that this young man was alive and was going to amount to something.

After speaking in Petoskey, I was driven to the small town of Alden to speak at a local library. I was told this is the community where filmmaker Michael Moore lives, and that he is often active with the local progressive community. Folks reported that Moore is now working on his next film, to be called Sick-O. Apparently it will be about the fact that health care is not available to legions of citizens in our country. One of my hosts took two of our Global Network videos and promised to give them to Moore.

That evening I stayed at the home of Barbara and Bruce MacArthur in Charlevoix, overlooking Lake Michigan. The next morning Bruce took me to his Rotary Club meeting, where he had arranged for me to speak. Thirty people were there to hear me, including the chief of police and the county prosecutor. I began by asking how many of them relied on cell phones, computers, cable TV and GPS receivers. I talked about the growing problem with space junk and Bush's plans to deploy weapons in space. Of course this plan would dramatically increase the likelihood that civilian satellites would be destroyed by the debris created when the Pentagon knocked-out other countries' "space assets" in order for the U.S. to "control and dominate" space. I got a good reception.

During my last stop, I stayed at the home of Robert and Diane Burnett in Frankfort. They live on a small piece of land not far from Lake Michigan where they raise animals and have a large garden. I enjoyed my time with Robert, who loves baseball as much as I do. He took me swimming in cold Lake Michigan early on my last morning there. They have a 16-year-old dog named Bobo who they described as the "town bum." Bobo loves to wander through town and various shops have a spot set aside for Bobo to rest. One local man always waits for Bobo to visit and then he takes the dog to the local hamburger joint and buys him a burger. While I was there Diane had to drive into town to pick up Bobo after they discovered he had once again slipped off for another one of his jaunts to town.

Folks in northwest Michigan are now discussing active participation during the GN's October 1-8 Keep Space for Week. It was a great visit and I am grateful to all of my hosts.

I returned to Maine just in time for a July 17 Town Hall Meeting on Iraq that our Congressman Tom Allen (D-ME) had agreed to hold after months of pressure from the peace movement. Phone calls, letters, following him to speaking events, and an occupation of his office in Portland finally convinced him to hold the public event. Well over 500 citizens turned out to give testimony against the war in Iraq and called on the congressman to vote against further funding for the occupation. He recently introduced a bill that says the U.S. should not permanently stay in Iraq but he has not yet been willing to vote for legislation calling for an exit strategy and a timeline for withdrawal to be set. Much to our dismay, but of no surprise to us, the local newspaper failed to cover the event.

On July 18 I drove three hours north to Deer Isle where I joined about 25 people from the group called Island Peace & Justice for their weekly anti-war vigil. Later that evening I spoke at The Good Life Center, the former home of Helen and Scott Nearing, who became famous for their back-to-the-land efforts. The center today hosts speakers throughout the summer and holds programs on homesteading and sustainable living. Among the many books published by the Nearings are titles such as Living the Good Life and The Conscience of a Radical. The Nearings built their home of stone, made much of their own furniture, grew their own food, and served as teachers and inspiration for millions. It was an honor to sleep in their bedroom and feel the power and simplicity of their lives. The caretakers suggested I read an anti-war pamphlet written in 1946 by Scott. I was struck by how little things have changed since that time. The military industrial complex still promotes war between "good and evil" and still suggests that the U.S. is the nation of great virtue. During my talk at the center I emphasized the current campaign underway in Maine to bring the economic conversion theme into the consciousness of the people. If we ever hope to end war we must get a handle on how people make a living. Why can't we make rail cars, solar, and windmills at the military production facilities in Maine and throughout the U.S.?

My next speaking trip takes me to Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia from July 28 - August 10.

IRAQ TOWN HALL MEETING

Under intense pressure from the peace movement in Maine, Rep. Tom Allen (D-ME) held a town hall meeting today at Portland High School on the Iraq issue. Several months ago the peace movement in the state began a coordinated campaign to get our congressional delegation to agree to hold a town meeting. We've been calling, writing, and holding occupations of their offices reading the names of U.S. and Iraqi civilian war dead. Today well over 500 people turned out for the event.

At first Rep. Allen would not hold such an event. Rep. Allen maintains that we can't leave Iraq because if we do there might be a civil war and innocent Iraqi people will suffer. It appears that is happening now. His position is the basic Democratic party position, and at one point in the event he suggested we all go and read the statement of Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) who forcefully articulates this position that we must stay in Iraq and stabilize it until the Iraqi government asks us to leave. One Veterans for Peace member reminded the congressman that the Iraqi government, like the one the U.S. installed in Vietnam during that war, is a puppet government and is not likely to ask us to leave.

Two parents of GI's now in Iraq both spoke out strongly against the war calling for the troops to be brought home ASAP. None of the people who spoke up during the event expressed the slightest support for the war.

At least half a dozen of the people who spoke up called for the conversion of the military industrial complex. This, I think, indicates that our campaign to bring that issue alive here in Maine is making progress. People are seeing the common sense of using our tax dollars to build mass transit rail systems, solar power, and wind power at the weapons production facilities in the state that now produce weapons for endless war.

When I spoke I asked the audience what the nation's number one industrial export was. WEAPONS they yelled out. And when weapons are your number one industrial export, what is your global marketing strategy, I asked? WAR they yelled back.

This was a great day for the peace movement in Maine. We showed that we can mobilize people, we got very little help from the mainstream media who basically refused to give any advance coverage to the event. We also showed the growing power of ordinary people who are moving to oppose the war. Rep. Allen continues to say that we can't leave Iraq but he is moving in our direction as he clearly is feeling the pressure to change his position. We will keep working, and building, in order to grow this anti-war movement.

Next month we will again occupy the office of Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) where we will read the names of dead GI's and Iraqi civilians. Each time we read them it takes us longer - the last time it took six hours. But each time we read the names our numbers grow.