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Report from Cuba -- Pastors for Peace in Central Ohio

Sunday evening, August 24, 2003, Pastors for Peace in Central Ohio sponsored a meeting about Cuba at the Olentangy Christian Reformed Church. Caleb Steindam, resident of Columbus and participant in the July 2003 Pastors for Peace 14th Friendshipment to Cuba, summarized the impressions he gained of Cuba while on the trip. Also at the meeting, David C. Jehnsen, Chair and Founding Trustee of The Institute for Human Rights and Responsibilities (IHRR) of Galena, Ohio, outlined the exciting initiatives being taken to equip Cuban churches and their leaders to meet challenges of the future. USA-Cuba relations have plummeted to a new low, fueled in part by a series of provocative actions by the USA government and its officials. It was in this context that Pastors for Peace, an action project of IFCO (Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization), arranged for the 14th Friendshipment of aid to Cuba, including medicines, hospital supplies, school supplies, and even school busses and ambulances.

September-October 2003

President Bush and his cronies are destroying the environment, wrecking our economy and trampling justice, but citizens are fighting back.

Selected articles include:

A question almost unthinkable

Just the (unchecked & unsourced) facts, ma’am

The get-rich con: are media values better now?

Presidential candidates have become fond of asking whether Americans are better off now than they were four years ago. Looking back at a sensational Time magazine story that appeared in late September 1999, we might want to ask a similar question: “Are media values better than they were four years ago?”

     The enthralling title of Time’s 20-page cover story -- “GetRich.com” -- heralded scenarios for wondrously swift elevation into the ranks of the wealthy. The spread had its share of wry digs and sardonic asides, but reverence for the magnitude of quick money in dotcomland seemed to dwarf any misgivings.

     Although the magazine explained that “it’s not all about the money,” the punch line arrived a few dozen words later: “But mostly, it’s the money.” And back in 1999, there was plenty of it moving into new digital enterprises. “In the second quarter of this year, venture-capital funding in the U.S. increased 77 percent, to a record $7.6 billion. More than half went to Internet start-ups.”

     At the time, Silicon Valley executives were holding stocks and options valued at $112 billion -- a few billion dollars more than the

The Full Ostrich on Iraq

AUSTIN, Texas -- The administration is now in The Full Ostrich on Iraq: Dick Cheney put on a fabulous performance last Sunday on "Meet the Press," in which he insisted everything in Iraq is trickety-boo, right as rain and cheery bye. I haven't heard anyone lie with such gravitas since Henry Kissinger was in office.

            But for the complete black-is-white, up-is-down, peace-is-war mode, you have to check out this administration on the environment. I am fascinated by its rank chutzpah. The latest brass-balls moxie episode was President Bush's Monday visit to the Detroit Edison power plant in Monroe, Mich., which he actually touted as a "living example" of why his dandy Clear Skies (gag me) initiative is so good for us all. "You're good stewards of the quality of the air," Bush told the plant's pleased workers.

            The Monroe plant is one of the worst polluters in the country: In 2001, it sent 102,700 tons of sulfur dioxide, the leading cause of acid rain, into the atmosphere, along with 45,900 tons of nitrogen oxide, 810 pounds of mercury and 17.6 million tons of carbon dioxide. A study done in

Untitled

my bike is my statement of purpose...
as i slide and i glide
one second from suicide
and the sound of screeching car tires
and busses
and shuttlebusses...

petrolium driven missiles
weapons of mass destruction
distraction
to lives of fast lives and bikinis
and arbitrarily expensive martinis..

i was taught to believe that i NEEDED TO BE TAUGHT.

caught
by 'Copy-Right' and 'Pat-Pending'...
i discovered 'The Power of Lending'
and "Big Mac, Fillet-o-Fish, Quarter-Pounder, French Fries..."
advertise
mesmerize
hypnotize
in movies and publications
full of mental masturbation
25% 'meaning'...
75% ads...

is that the meaning of life?
as in 'i coulda..'
'i shoulda...'
'i woulda...'
done some-thing with my life?..

cause NOW is where i'm living
not 'Making THEIR Living"
selling away opportunities
when right NOW
my bike...
is my statement of purpose.

Lighten up, America!

Watching the high school kids tottering up the hiking trail under ridiculous burdens I was reminded of the studies of GIs who jumped into the surf in the Normandy landings with 80-pound packs on their backs and promptly drowned. These days, the overloaded backpack is coming under scrutiny as kids totter home from school hefting 30-pound loads. I've become a devotee of the famous long-distance hiker Ray Jardine, whose philosophy of life and loads is set forth in his 1992 classic "Beyond Backpacking," which should be nestled next to the works of John Muir on your bookshelf.

            Jardine and his wife Jenny have hiked all the major trails, Pacific Crest, Continental Divide and Appalachian, and watched with horror as overloaded plodders lost any sense of pleasure and often quit the trail altogether. After thousands of miles and much experimentation, the couple ended up with a total packweight each, minus food and water, of around 8 pounds.

            I read the book in the spring and was convinced. Out went the heavy hiker boots, and in came modestly priced sneakers. (Jardine counsels

Save Walhalla!

A beautiful ravine is endangered that is currently protected by zoning laws. A local builder wants to build on the land, but the zoning board has the final say. Let them know what you think and find out more information at: www.savewalhalla.org.

Corporations Are the Only Victors in Iraq

"It's not about oil.  It's not about oil."

But we're taking their oil. And not just to finance reconstruction.

Paul Bremer, the U.S. administrator of the Iraqi occupation, made that clear back in July when he declared that Iraq needs to accept foreign investment and privatization of its oil before a permanent government is put in charge of the country. In other words, democracy is welcome only after the most important economic decisions for the future of Iraqis have been decided for them.

You’d think that such a blatant rejection of democracy and obvious grab at Iraq’s oil would attract more notice. Bremer made it clear that corporations have priority over people in Iraq, and that the U.S. occupation plans to ensure that.

Our occupation of Iraq has an eerie similarity to another intervention in the Middle East that occurred 50 years ago--the CIA-British coup that ousted Iran’s democratically elected leader, Mohammed Mossadegh and installed the infamous Shah of Iran.

So when Arab nations greet our rhetoric of creating democracy with suspicion or outright derision, we’ve earned it. Iranians struggled

Demonstration Democracy

Just read Dr. Fitrakis's article posted at Online Journal. Earleir today, I was leafletting agains the recall of California Governor Grey Davis. One young fellow walked by and I asked him if he knew about the recall.

"Don't bother me"

Don't you want a democracy? I asked

" I don't care, I am going home to watch a football game."

"So it's OK with you if the country goes Fascist?" "It's OK fo r other people to make decisions that could dramatically afffect your life?"

"You are delusional" he said.

I could only think, "So I'm delusional?"

Many people are way beyond help. And he is a young guy. Where does that leave the future?

Anyway, thanks for your work.

Farm Aid Article feedback

Just wanted to say I was really impressed with the Farm Aid article by Harvey Wasserman.  It really rang true to me at each turn and I was also at almost everything he explained.  

If you'd like some pictures to go along with the article I've got some posted at:

www.funtigo.com/kelvs

Check under "Farm Aid 2003 Keeper."

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