Day trip to Vieques Island, Puerto Rico

I arrived in Puerto Rico yesterday after a very long ride from LAX through Philly.  Puerto Rico is a beautiful island, with patches of civilization that abruptly end at the edge of a square or river, into farm or forest land.
When I got to the Intercontinental Hotel, Terry Long, the organizer was talking with John Eaves, Jr, who is an attorney representing both the families of the Costa Concordia and the people of Vieques.  I found out that there will be 5 FBI agents attending the conference.

I met Michael, who works for John Eaves - he is originally from Germany and has spent the past 30 years in Italy.  He's helping with lawsuits in European countries against tobacco companies, and to establish health care funds like was done in the U.S.

Michael and John are going to Sardinia and meeting with a journalist, Stephania Divertito, who has a big interest in Sardinia.  Apparently she speaks both Italian and English, so I should get to know her.

Terry, Michael, John, and I went to Vieques together, taking Vieques Air Link.  It's a quick taxi ride to the airport and a short 1/2 hour flight.

More pictures...
Charlie Conneley, a Veteran who lives in Vieques was also on the flight, and we met his wife, Myrna Pagan, at the airport.  She's coordinating to get 5 Viequenses to the mainland for the Oct 1-3 conference.  She said that the Vieques clinic is better now - they can have childbirth and dialysis there now.  Myra is now being treated for cancer.

Just as in Sardinia, there were questions about the increased cancer rate and what was causing it.  They ended up taking samples of horse hair and found heavy metals.

We met with former teacher and mayor, Radames Tirach, a Korean War Veteran, who noticed the increased cancer.  There were problems with secrecy and unknown cause, not trust of studies, the military, and big PR campaigns.  The government/military encouraged people to graze their animals at contaminated sites, trying to prove that there was nothing wrong.  He has 13 members of his family with cancer and is the one who convinced John Eaves to take on the case against the Navy.  When he had been the mayor, most Viequenses favored the Navy - now they do not.

Robert (Bob) Rabin, who has been part of the struggle from the beginning, greeted us at the Vieques Fort and Historical Museum.  He will be joining us Oct 1 & 2.  He has cancer and so this year was the first year that he registered as a cancer survivor in the American Cancer Society "Relay for Life".  This year, 180 of the participants have cancer.

Bob told us about two recent developments.  Last night the Municipal Assembly unanimously rejected the EPA/Navy plan to just fence off the most contaminated and dangerous sub-munitions (cluster bombs) area.  And the San Juan hospital opened a new cancer center last week, which is now where Bob is receiving his cancer treatment.

We learned from John Eaves that even though it was not obvious from people's symptoms that they had been exposed to heavy metals, after hair samples were taken from 1000 people and analyzed, 2000 heavy metal diseases were found - an average of 2 per person.  John has a copy of each hair sample in case more testing is needed.

I got to ride in the co-pilot seat on the way back from Vieques!  It allowed me to take lots of great pictures.

There was an early evening welcome party near the beach for those attending the workshops that start tomorrow.  I met lots of interesting people, which I may detail later.  Most importantly, I am not alone in caring about Sardinia or the mess that the military is making all over the world!  I am a valued guest here and that feels GREAT!  I also feel like I'm getting somewhere in my quest to help Sardinia.  Before my article was published, many of these people didn't really know what was going ton in Sardinia, so they are anxious to speak with me and hear my presentation.

The workshops will feed into a meeting with the UN Secretary General in 2013.

Backbone LocalizeThis! Activist Training Camp

A group of around 60 of us, including trainers, had an amazing week learning how to be creative activists!  There were seminars, climbing and kayak training, action planning, and an amazing group of new friends.  Our week's theme was Stand Against Foreclosure and Eviction in support of the new SAFE organization at Bethany church on Beacon Hill.  We visited SAFE, canvassed the neighborhood, and heard from a person whose mother was foreclosed on and evicted.  Now she and her sister are going through the same thing, but they are ready to fight back!  Finally, on Friday, we went to Lake Washington and did a complex action against eviction from the land and water - we were the BeFair Pirates and took down a banker who was holding a house underwater!  It was an amazing experience!

Chalkers accuse Mayor of LA of being a criminal

For more information about chalking incidents involving arrests, go to www.MobileChalker.blogspot.com and if you want to email pictures of yourself doing this evil,sometimes °illegal° deed, use MobileChalker@gmail.com.

LOS ANGELES – After Thursday Night’ Downtown LA Art Walk Melee, the City blames Chalk Walk organizers for the mini riot and Chalk Walk participants blame the City for excessive show of force, violence, abuse of power, and selective enforcement.

Los Angeles City Mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa, told reporters that what Chalk Walkers did was against the law and not protected by the Constitution.

“That’s not free speech, that’s criminal behavior,” the Mayor told news crews after Art Walk.

Now, participants of Chalk Walk accuse the mayor of similar “criminal behavior”.

As Stephen Box points out on City Watch LA, a website about local politics, on March 7, 2009, The Mayor, City Councilmen, and other officials handed out boxes of yellow chalk to be used on the streets and sidewalk of Sunset Blvd to welcome cyclist Lance Armstrong into town to raise funds for Armstrong’s Hope Rides Again art campaign sponsored by Nike.

The City allowed iconic artist, Shepard Fairey, to use yellow chalk on the side of a building to draw an image for the event.  Fairey later donated $15,000 to Occupy LA after he used a picture of one of the participants of Occupy LA to create the Time Magazine cover for Person of the Year 2011, the Activist. 

Much like at Chalk Walk, the Armstrong event had children enjoying the festivities.

Apparently, the city believes their chalking event is legal because they had a permit. However, the box the chalk comes in seems to encourage what the Mayor calls criminal behavior. 

The bright yellow box of chalk they handed out for Armstrong specifically says, “Show your commitment to the cause by filling sidewalks, driveways, and any blank canvas with your statement of intent, encouragement and inspiration.” Presumably, the box suggests that people do such things without permits.

From online photos, it appears at least one participant in the chalking for Armstrong took liberties for Freedom of Expression against the Mayor by writing “The Mayor is a Fool”.

Chalk Walkers also say the Mayor endorses Ciclavia which shuts down the streets for people to walk, bike, and chalk in the streets without worrying about cars.  The city allows chalk art in the streets for this event.

Chalk Walkers say the Venice Boardwalk is covered in advertised chalk art from Pepsi and others.

In addition, there was an anti-walmart permitted protest in Chinatown several weeks ago. Photos from the event show chalk written all over the streets. Participants of Occupy LA that attended the walmart protest –which union and non-profits organizations – had no arrests and no riot gear.

Furthermore, the week before Chalk Walk, the LA Times featured an article about the Weingart Center’s chalk-art campaign to raise money via text messaged donations for homeless in downtown.  

Additionally, the City’s own Parking Enforcers use chalk on private property when they mark tires of vehicles they wish to monitor for time restrains. However, it is illegal to remove that chalk from one’s own tires in certain circumstances.

Again, the City will argue that these events have permits yet they fail to acknowledge the Constitutional ruling of chalk as Free Speech by the 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals in MacKinney v. Neilsen 1995, which specifically states

“No reasonable person can think chalk could damage a sidewalk.”

 “It seems like the city will only allow chalk on sidewalks if someone pays to get a permit,” said one Chalk Walker, “It’s called Free Speech for a reason, it’s supposed to be free for all people, not commodified for corporate sponsors and monied interests.”

Chalk Walkers even question whether the City of Los Angeles even has a permit specifically allowing chalking.

"Chalkvists", activists who use chalk for their activism, say the intimidation, arrests, and violence from Thursday was not simply about chalk but about political repressing their movement since they have now focused in on Central City Association, a business lobbying organization, which activists say has displaced small business owners, minorities, and homeless from down town for decades and lobbied against the 99%' interest in favor of the 1%.

LAPD had made a dozen arrests of activists before Thursday and activists were at Artwalk to do outreach to the community regarding the repression.

# # # 

*PLEASE NOTE: This was written by an individual participant in Occupy LA but is not an official statement.  All official statements have to have consensus from Occupy LA's general assembly.

Fort Manning in Los Angeles, Chalking, and Gerry's Arrest

I've never been in a city where the cops have so much enthusiasm for harassing Occupy folks and over-reacting with violence and stupidity.  The big deal right now is that it's supposedly illegal to "chalk" (write or draw with chalk) the sidewalks - some cop told us that it's OK to chalk the sidewalks, just not the walls of buildings.  However, I went over to Ft Manning near City Hall today and there was no chalk on the ground, so I wrote "Chalking is Free Speech".  After about an hour, the cops came over, took pictures of my writing, called headquarters, and started asking who did it.  It turns out they had an agreement with the Occupiers that they would not make people remove their signs from the grass if nobody would chalk the sidewalks.  This is just NUTTY!  Anyway, I hadn't heard about the agreement and didn't fess up to my evil deed, which I repeated later at a different location.

I think this law or rule must be against the first amendment, so I would like to distribute chalk all over the city and use my little tag on every street corner!  Hopefully I'll get arrested and can take it up the ladder to declare that if money is free speech, certainly chalk would also qualify!!

Dan Turner of the LA Times said,

If drawing on the streets with chalk is a crime, I'd like to report a massive breakdown of civil authority in my neighborhood. I recommend a phalanx of officers in riot gear, because some of these 8-year-olds drawing hopscotch grids on the sidewalk are lawless vandals who won't hesitate to get sassy with authority figures.

It turned out that the park we were in is supposed to close at 7 pm (posted in an obscure place), so the cops arrived in force at 6:50 to tell us to get our stuff and leave.  Not much notice and it wouldn't have happened if we were anybody else that just happened to have a long-running meeting (General Assembly).  We picked up most of the stuff and moved it to the sidewalk.  Then we noticed a young black woman standing alone surrounded by cops.  She was confused, homeless, looking for where to go since she couldn't stay where she was, and concerned about a few items that were left behind, because she had seen cops throw away stuff that was left behind some other place/time.  She didn't really want to be arrested, but was pressing her point about not knowing where else to go.

Gerry decided to see if he could help the situation. He approached the woman and cops and started asking what was going on, and could he help.  They asked him to leave a couple of times, and he persisted in asking what was going on and could he assist and de-escalate the situation.  They arrested him in handcuffs!  Eventually, they undid the cuffs and made him sign a citation - unfortunately, it wasn't an "infraction" but a "misdemeanor", so he is supposed to be in court August 9.  He can't come that day - he'll be at the VFP National Convention in Miami.  Anyway, I'm proud of him for trying to help a young homeless woman, and indeed, after he showed up the pressure was completely off of her!

Yep, they really arrested him for "trespassing" because the park closed at 7 pm.

The Ft Manning group and the cops were watching each other.  The young homeless woman is on the right.

You can see the arrested Gerry in the middle of the cluster of cops

Deschutes River Walk and Bend Pride

It was a lovely day here in Bend, so we went for a long walk along the Deschutes River.  When we got back to the car, the Human Dignity Coalition had completed the Bend Gay Pride parade and were set up in the park, so we had a meal and listened to really great music for awhile.
We're staying with our good friends Les and Michelle before heading on to California.

Seattle after Chicago

We had a very good visit with family and friends in Seattle, from May 22 through June 6.  Zoe, Gerry's daughter, played guitar and sang her own songs at the Beat Walk in Columbia City and we saw her and her mom, Chris, there as well as for dim sum (yum!).


Helen was able to say goodbye to Bisco before she died and had a few short visits with her son Jordan.



We went to Wenatchee to visit Peggy and Jerry and spent a night at Soda Lake near Moses Lake camping and kayaking.  While in Wenatchee we participated in their weekly anti-war vigil.


Most of our stays were with Lissa and Bill and Al Penta's, but we also had a good visit and overnight with Sharon and Felix and Linda and Richard Newton.

Lots of friends were at Joe Colgan's weekly peace vigil, so we were able to have a great visit with them.


Emily Horswill isn't doing well.  She had back spasms so the assisted living place, Merrill Gardens, kicked her out and transferred her against her will to Foss Home.  The fees went from $3000 / month to $7000 and she isn't getting the physical therapy, help with walking, edible vegetarian food, night medication, her phone book, her computer, etc. that she needs.  Both Emily and I phoned the King County Long Term Care ombudsman and a case has been opened.  We did get to take her to visit her daughter, who has a brain tumor and other problems and can no longer drive.  I'm trying to see what can be done to get her out of Foss and into a completely different kind of situation - perhaps an apartment with a live-in caregiver.  There's a lot of research still to do.

MAWO meets VFP in Blaine

About 20 youth from Mobilization Against War and Occupation from Vancouver, BC met with us at Peace Arch Park in Blaine for a picnic and discussion of world affairs.  It was GREAT to see our friends for what could be the first annual Memorial Day Peace Picnic.

Helen Jaccard and Gerry Condon protest against NATO occupation of Sardinia, Italy

At the big anti-NATO protest in Chicago, Helen Jaccard and Gerry Condon added the issue of the NATO occupation of the island of Sardinia in the Mediterranean Sea to the agenda, displaying a banner that was used previously at an anti-NATO demonstration at a NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.

15,000 Protest against NATO in Chicago

Veterans For Peace joined
Iraq Veterans Against the War in a huge rally and march to the Chicago NATO summit to protest NATO's existence and the war in Afghanistan.  Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans (including Scott Olsen) threw their medals back to NATO in a emotional ceremony where each explained why they were doing so.  Pictures

Protest against Keystone XL Pipeline

Hundreds gathered in Chicago during the week of anti-NATO protests to voice their opposition to the Keystone XL Pipeline.  David Rovics entertained the crowd with anti-war songs, my favorite being "If Only It Were True".  Pictures

VFP attempts to deliver letter to NATO

Veterans For Peace wrote a letter to NATO and attempted to deliver it to the summit in Chicago on May 19.  VFP President Leah Bolger read the letter to about 40 members while NATO security police refused to even accept the letter for delivery to NATO.

Anti-Drone March in Chicago

Veterans For Peace joined with Code Pink and several other organizations to protest the U.S. Drone program in Chicago.  Helen Jaccard and Gerry Condon participated, with Helen lying on the ground during the die-in and both representing a person killed in a drone attack.  More pictures

Leah Bolger hearing for Supercommittee CD

Approximately 30 supporters attended the press conference and sentencing hearing for a courageous member and current President of Veterans For Peace, Leah Bolger.  She told the truth about military spending to the Super Committee, the primary message being "Tax the Rich, Stop the Wars".

The judge was very sympathetic to Leah's position and allowed her to show the 52 second video of her action and heard her personal testimony as well as that of two other supporters.  Although the prosecution requested a stay-away from the capitol area order, the judge said he thinks that it's important for everyone, unless they have committed a very egregious offense, to be able to protest in legal ways.  She received a 60-day suspended sentence, 9 months of parole, a $50 fine for the Victims of Crime Fund, and 20 hours of community service.  Working on behalf of Veterans For Peace counts toward her community service hours, so obviously she'll have that done by the end of this weekend.

 More pictures

Veterans For Peace UK Public Launch

Veterans For Peace UK had their initial meeting and Public Launch at the Guiseppe Conlon Catholic Worker House in London on Easter Monday, April 9, 2012.  There were approximately 60 people in attendance.  The speakers were veterans who told the stories their military service and subsequent refusal to fight in wars that they have learned are started with lies for the purpose of lining the pockets of the rich.  They have learned first hand the horrors of war and how easily innocent civilians are killed and maimed in these conflicts.

Now they speak out against war and occupation of foreign lands and the militarization of our society, advocating a non-violent approach to conflict as new members of Veterans For Peace.

They support war resistance in its various forms, and that includes supporting Bradley Manning and Julian Assange for telling the public the truth about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Three members of Veterans For Peace in the United States came to support the new UK chapter - Barry Ladendof, Gerry Condon, and Helen Jaccard

Pictures

NATO Game Over!

NATO Game Over!  Demonstration against the NATO headquarters and nuclear bombs stored just outside of Brussels – at least 360 people were arrested and there were about 200 of us who were not in the danger zone demonstrating and supporting those brave souls who tried to cross the fence into NATO.  Video It was a good event and especially good to be together with several of our friends from previous visits to Brussels.  The sign, "NATO out of Sardinia" reflects the fact that two of our Brussels friends went to Sardinia and told us about the military use of the island and consequent cancers, birth defects, and contamination.  This information led us to visit Sardinia and investigate, and write an article.  More pictures

I see this as one event leading up to the big Chicago event in May.

Grand Opening of The Clearing Barrel GI Cafe in Kaiserslatern, Germany

First GI Café in Germany Opens Its Doors

by Helen Jaccard and Gerry Condon
Kaiserslatern, Germany, March 25, 2012

U.S. soldiers in Germany now have a GI coffeehouse. The Clearing Barrel Bar and Café opened Saturday, March 24, in Kaiserslautern, Germany, home to Ramstein Air Base and Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, among a constellation of U.S. bases, with 50,000 U.S. military and civilian personnel living in the area.

The grand opening was a big success, with over 60 people in attendance.  Well-wishers enjoyed good food and drink, and marveled at the large beautifully remodeled space, with couches, tables, chairs, a bar and barstools, his and hers bathrooms, and a full kitchen.

Beautifully printed posters from the “War Is Trauma” art exhibit were displayed on spacious white walls.  “War Is Trauma,”a collaboration between Just Seeds, an art collective from Brooklyn, New York, and Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW), is about “Operation Recovery”, a campaign to stop the deployment of traumatized troops and to focus public attention towards Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Traumatic Brain Injury and Military Sexual Trauma.

Neighbors, friends, and activists convened from far and near, including Germans and U.S. citizens living in Germany.  Nathan Peld, an IVAW member, arrived after a long train ride from Vienna, Austria, where he is working with the United Nation’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Young German women and men mixed easily with Vietnam-era friends. Political discussions were lively and interesting.  Live music was provided by two young men, one German and one American, who sang and played guitars and were joined by guests in a sing-along.

Chris Capps-Schubert, an Iraq veteran and war resister, and his German wife Meike, an organizer-extraordinaire and member of Military Families Speak Out, have been working very hard for the past two years to make their dream of opening a GI coffeehouse in Germany a reality. Their efforts have been supported by the Military Counseling Network, Connection-EV, the Center on Conscience and War, the German Mennonite Peace Committee, members of IVAW and Veterans For Peace, and many other German and American friends and activists.

Meike and Chris are both counselors with the Military Counseling Network, the European branch of the GI Rights Hotline.  Chris has been a member of IVAW for several years and went on a speaking tour around Germany to gain support for The Clearing Barrel project.   Chris and Meike and other counselors will be available to help soldiers who are seeking to be discharged from the military, facing other difficulties with the military, or seeking help dealing with military trauma.

Meike said, “Having this space available allows us to bring together in one place what we do personally, socially, culturally, and politically.  I am very grateful for all of the help and support that we have received from the peace community and we hope that they will continue to support us.”

Helen Jaccard and Gerry Condon representing Veterans For Peace spoke of the importance of supporting alleged Wikileaks whistleblower Bradley Manning, and GI resisters like André Shepherd, an Iraq veteran who refused to redeploy to Iraq and is seeking political asylum in Germany. Dave Blalock, a Vietnam-era GI organizer who lives in Heidelberg, Germany, said “This is the beginning of resistance.”

GI coffeehouses were a mainstay of GI resistance in the Vietnam era, providing safe, alternative spaces for soldiers to socialize, learn about their rights in the military, receive counseling, engage one another in political discussions, and organize themselves to resist illegal wars and occupations.  The coffeehouse movement grew throughout the 60sand 70s.  Today’s veterans have revived the coffeehouse tradition in order to build community and resistance.  There are two successful GI coffeehouses in the U.S., Coffee Strong just outside the gates of Joint Base Lewis McCord in Washington State, and Under the Hood at Fort Hood, Texas. 

You can find out more about The Clearing Barrel on their Facebook page, GI Café Germany, and on their website, www.GICafeGermany.com.  Donations are still very much needed, so it’s not too late to contribute to this important new resource for our GIs in Germany.

Frieburg, Germany

Frieburg is a city of over 600,000 people located about an hour drive north of Basel, Switzerland, where we landed from Istanbul.  Gerry was here in 1969 and remembered some of the places from his previous visit.

We joined the weekly meeting of the Frieburg Peace Forum and went to their peace vigil the next day.

Lioba Schnevinck gave us a wonderful tour of the historic part of town, which was severely bombed during World War II.  Lioba and her husband Dieter provided us with a lovely bedroom and meals during our stay - THANK YOU! More pictures

Ankara, Turkey

We have had a fantastic stay here with Yeliz (Servas).  She gave us her whole apartment to use for three nights. We met her boyfriend Borak, who is the Assistant Director of the Ankara Orchestra and a double-bass player.

Cappadocia from hot air balloon!

The only thing that compares to this experience is walking and bicycling through the "fairy chimneys" and valleys.  The landscape is like The Badlands, Bryce Canyon and the Grand Canyon, but people have built homes, churches, and pigeon houses in the rock.  In the towns of Cappadocia - Goreme and Ulgrup (and more), hotels, restaurants, and bars are also built into the fairy chimneys.  We slept in two different cave rooms in our hotel (it's a cave - the first one had a leak that they had to repair).  More pictures

Izmir, Turkey

We had a fantastic time in Izmir, Turkey - this blog is just a placeholder for a bigger article.
Pictures