I was gonna tell you to go to the..

Nineteenth Annual Peacemaker Awards Dinner, sponsored by the Dallas Peace Center, in Dallas tomorrow night. BUT the event, folks, is OFFICIALLY SOLD OUT. Guess that's because they were not only going to honor the tireless peace & justice activists Johnny Wolf and Hadi Jawad (i've met them both, and these men are true warriors for change), but the activist-celeb CINDY SHEEHAN herself is confirmed to make an appearance and, probably, a speech. Photo oppportunity, folks. But, alas, since there are no tickets left for this, I guess you'll have to settle for visiting the DPC website and eating on your own, you little Peacemaker, you!

Hey, we're on the Michael Moore website!

The "Calls to Serve Met with Anger" article that ran in the Dallas Morning News last week got posted on Michael Moore's website as well. kewl. The more folks that read about this issue--no matter the forum--the better off they'll be. Says me.

Go directly here to see the article.

On a related note, my friend Ramsey and I visited two classes at Trimble Tech HS on November 17th. The students were cool and responsive, but the teacher absolutely floored me. She was so supportive and was 100% in agreement with our emphasis, which was to give the students info in order to better decide their future fates vis a vis military recruitment. One kid had been approached by a recruiter during lunchtime and was given a business card. The teacher, during our session, told the student to give me the business card because, as she put it, "You don't need that..." How 'bout that? Hopefully, I--along with other Peaceful Vocations members--can make more regular visits to h.s. campuses in the 817 after the xmas holidays.

For more information on PEACEFUL VOCATIONS, email peacefulvocations@yahoo.com.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR HEALTHY HEART STUDY in Fort Worth

[from the Internal Medicine Clinical Research Office at UNT Health Sciences Center]

The Department of Internal Medicine is looking for healthy people to participate in a research program.

Men and women, age 50 years or more and no history of heart disease, with normal body weight and normal cholesterol. All ethnic groups are needed to participate.

Qualified volunteers will receive laboratory studies and state-of-the-art CT scan of the heart at no charge.

If interested, please contact one of the following persons:

Enisa - 817-735-5159
Della - 817-735-0304
Mabyn - 817-735-2493
Joice - 817-735-2324

C.W.Spellman, PhD, D.O., FACOI
Associate Professor of Medicine
Head, Endocrinology
Director, Diabetes Center

You might want to try this link to information on CT heart scans.

38 shopping days before irony

Coach Baby---style for mile-high prices. Why compromise good taste in times of starvation, homelessness, disaster-imposed migration, and war?

Feel conflicted NOW!

Judge NOT Lest Ye Be.

I am trying not to be so goddamn judgemental. Judgmental of the way i spell JUDGEMENTAL. Judgemental about the potato soup which has burned onions; judgmental about the herbal combination capsules which are not vegan; judgemental about the turkey sandwich which isn't vegetarian; judgemental about the cow which ain't a vegetable; judgemental about the cute guy who has no clue about politics; judgemental about the politically-astute activist who has some slight physical flaws; judgmental about the visual artist who is mal-appropriating Chicano/a culture and making it kitschy-cute; judgemental about the fat neighbor not cuz he's fat but because he is unself-conscious about barenakedness as he waters the lawn shirtless for all to see; judgemental about the wind blowing northward instead of southward; judgemental about the stranger who coughs as they pass me and i wonder if this is some subtle psychological affront to my personhood; judgemental about the unassuming stacks of paper which clutter my room and collect dust as if it could ever be its fault; judgemental about my lack of decorum and faith in my own ability to just be loving and not be qualming so much so friggin everydayin' much.

!Ken Saro-Wiwa! !Presente!

10th ANNIVERSARY OF THE EXECUTION OF NIGERIAN
WRITER KEN SARO-WIWA TO BE MARKED AT FW EVENT---

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10TH, 2005, marks the 10th anniversary of the hanging of Nigerian poet/playwright KEN SARO-WIWA, and poets in Fort Worth will gather to offer a memorial that evening--one of many taking place internationally to commemorate Saro-Wiwa and the ongoing struggle of the Ogoni people.

Join us for a free performance/reading/memorial at:

Beto's Caribbean Cafe
3000 South Freeway (1 block north of W. Berry St.)
Thursday, November 10th
7pm-8pm
free admisssion
817.923.1177

Ken Saro-Wiwa, a successful television producer, playwright, and poet, became deeply involved in the campaign against Shell Oil Co. in the 1990s because of the deplorable human rights violations and environmental devastation--of the Niger Delta--wrought by the company. The Ogoni people, one of many ethnic minorities who live in the Delta, joined in a nonviolent campaign led by Saro-Wiwa against Shell.

It was the international outcry against Saro-Wiwa's execution that led to Shell's hiring of high-priced p.r. consultants to recast its image as a company that put "principles before profits"....

History:

Since Shell began drilling oil in Ogoniland in 1958, the people of Ogoniland have had pipelines built across their farmlands and in front of their homes, suffered endemic oil leaks from these very pipelines, been forced to live with the constant flaring of gas. This environmental assault has smothered land with oil, killed masses of fish and other aquatic life, and introduced devastating acid rain to the land of the Ogoni.

After Ken Saro-Wiwa, an outspoken writer and activist, and eight other Ogoni leaders were hanged after trial in a military court, two witnesses against them admitted that Shell and the military bribed them to testify with promises of money and jobs with Shell.

for more information:

www.remembersarowiwa.com
www.priceofoil.org/
www.mosop.org/
www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=03/07/11/2326226

"When crude oil touches the leaf of a yam or cassava, or whatever economic trees we have, it dries immediately, it's so dangerous and somebody who was coming from, say, Shell was arguing with me so I told him that you're an engineer, you have been trained, you went to the university, I did not go to the university, but I know that what you have been saying in the university sleeps with me here so you cannot be more qualified in crude oil than myself who sleeps with crude oil."
-Chief GNK Gininwa of Korokoro, "The Drilling Fields", Glenn Ellis (Director), 1994

Please share your thoughts & feedback with a comment!

Dear friends, I had been remiss in choosing the optimal settings in order to most conveniently allow you to use the COMMENTS SECTION on my blog. I've now adjusted the settings, so please start sharing your comments. I really want to know if anyone's actually even reading xxcommunicator and if you have any feedback on the news and writing posted therein. Mil gracias!

Getting my first mammogram today!

Yeah, I know, NATIONAL BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH was LAST month. But hey, I made the appointment with the County Public Health Department in October, so does that count? I am excited and not very nervous about this. After all, it's a free service that the Tarrant County Health Department provides to lower-income (yay, that means i qualify!! woo-hoo!) women. And if you want (and who wouldn't?), you can receive a bonus: gyn.exam and pap smear analysis. Now that's a deal, Camille.

As far as I know, breast cancer doesn't run in the family, but hey, I'm constantly exposed to breast-harming environmental poisons--even in this "first world, western nation" I live in---so you never know. I want to suggest that you look into the BREAST CANCER FUND, my favorite non-profit organization working on behalf of our breast health. This org is based in California, so alot of their initiatives focus on pushing for legislation in that state. But their work does have national impact. Back in the summer of 2000, I left scorching Texas for a coupla weeks in Colorado to do a Peak High in Crested Butte. Walking up a beautiful mountain, on a cool summer morning alongside women (some of them breast cancer survivors), men, and children--to raise money for the Breast Cancer Fund--was one of the best experiences of my life so far.

MY FORT WORTH: indie and free events in November

Sound Culture presents :
Indie & Free!
an occasional calendar of FW indie love.

November 6th - Sunday
FWAC (Fort Worth Artists’ Consortium) Artists & Musicians Swap Meet & Sale
2-5pm
Arts Fifth Avenue
1628 Fifth Ave. at W. Allen
fmi: christy@fwac.net

November 6th - Sunday
Fascist Watch Film Series presents
“Wild in the Streets” (d., Roger Corman)
7pm
1919 Hemphill Street
fmi: www.1919hemphill.org
If the voting age was lowered to 15, would a rock star be elected president? The folks from No-Nonsense in November will be there to speak against Proposition 2. Bonus: free organic popcorn!

November 8th - Tuesday
Auditions for the Vagina Monologues
6:30pm-7:00pm
Lancaster Lofts– Warehouse Gallery
1324 E. Lancaster
fmi: www.vdayfortworth.com or
vdayfortworth@hotmail.com

November 10th - Thursday
Commemorate the life of Nigerian activist/poet Ken Saro-Wiwa on the 10th anniversary of his execution on false charges. He dared to rise up against Shell Oil Co., which continues to wreak havoc for the Ogoni people.
6-8pm
Beto’s and the Black Bookworm
Berry St. at I-35
fmi: sound_culture@hotmail.com

November 12th - Saturday
Truth Be Told luncheon 
(a project that offers support and arts therapy to incarcerated women)
11:30am-1pm
Polytechnic United Methodist Church
1310 S. Collard St. (near TWU in FW)
fmi: RSVP to Melodie Minshew at eidolem@wt.net.

November 12th - Saturday
Peaceful Vocations group meeting
2-4pm
Coffee House Gallery
Jennings & Pennsylvania Streets
peacefulvocations@yahoo.com

November 12th - Saturday
Improvised Silence - Experimental music
6 to 10pm
Firehouse Gallery
Meadowbrook at Oakland Streets
fmi: Terry Horn - nothingexists@mac.com

November 12th - Saturday
The Gadabout Film Festival
(this fest tours in a vegetable oil-run ambulance - bring ‘em some veggie oil)
7pm - 10-ish pm
1919 Hemphill Street
$5 donation requested
fmi: www.1919hemphill.org or
http://gadaboutfilmfest.com.

November 25th - Friday
Buy Nothing Day
swap meet & freebie fest
1919 Hemphill
fmi: www.1919hemphill.org
(in the spirit of open source activism)

November 26th - Saturday
Somalian Family Support
at the Black Dog Tavern
downtown Ft. Worth
8pm - late
fmi: sound_culture@hotmail.com or
AfricanRefugeeHelpers-owner@yahoogroups.com


Mark your calendars, lovelies. Let me see your face out at one or more of these cool, community-building events.

MY FORT WORTH: bicycle tour

Okay, it's early Sunday morning. Even though you get to set your clocks back an hour, you probably won't see this in time to get in on it:

TOUR de ARCHITECTURE - BICYCLE TOUR 
October 30 at 10:00 am
Begins at the TCU Soccer Stadium on Bellaire Drive S.

"Join us for a bicycle ride through Fort Worth, by architectural monuments and down the Trinity River Trail. The ride will have routes for both beginner and more advanced riders." [from the website]

Yep, in honor of what they're calling the Third Annual Architecture Month (October is Architecture Month in FW), the American Institute of Architects (AIA) has been educating, exploring, and celebrating ARCHITECTURE AS ART, not only with fellow architects, but with the broader community as well. 

The bicycle tour concept is not new to folks in San Francisco, who have been coordinating cool themed tours-on-wheels to explore things such as the historical district of Barbary Coast on a "historical gambling house and brothel" tour. And then there's the "Activist Bike Tour of SF". Led by the San Francisco Bike Coalition executive director, this bike tour led participants through current transportation hot spots, where they learned the history behind current campaigns for better streets in SOMA, the Bernal Cut, Valencia Street, the Wiggle, Golden Gate Park and many more.

I remember when Ramsey, a fellow activist and rider, led a few of us on a bike tour of the 76104 neighborhood, making stops along the way to illustrate specific concepts of democracy and activism. We need to organize more frequent rides such as these, with education in mind.

There are plenty of Fort Worth bicyclists out there and we should figure out how to coordinate tours of this city, so we can grow and improve it together...

For more info on "October is Architecture Month in FW": http://www.aiafortworth.org/

"2000 Too Many" - report on yesterday's march/rally in FW

At our vigil on Wed, Oct 26th, we met at 4:30pm at the Federal Building, downtown Fort Worth. At approx. 5pm, we marched the two blocks to the Star-Telegram main building, carrying signs and a city-block-long banner (with the names of all the U.S. military dead who hailed from Texas), and chanting loudly our various chants. Several members of CodePink FW walked into the main lobby of the Startlegram, apparently startling some of the front desk staff--who weren't quite sure how to interact with us. Hillary spoke to the traffic coordinator, asking to speak to a Star-Telegram editor. (She, on behalf of CodePink FW and the rest of us, wanted to simply deliver a sweetly-wrapped, pink-bowed white gift box--containing a “pink slip”--into the hands of an actual editor.) After a flurry of anxiety and inelegant (FW-ST staff, not us) communication, an editor was finally summoned down to the front reception desk. Two of our folks, who had carried in a large and prominently-worded pink banner, were ordered to vacate the building—despite our assurances that we meant no harm or damage to anything or anyone at the Star-Telegram offices. A few of the staffers who were on their way out for the day, expressed consternation and agitation about our presence at their precious workplace. Oh, the nerve of us! To practice street democracy and to voice our outcry against the invasion of Iraq! What kind of hoodlums were we to leave the quiet confines of our tv rooms and office cubicles in order to voice opposition to the illegal war the U.S. is waging in Iraq.

After a few minutes, we marched back to the Federal Building for presentations of music, street performance, and poetry.
There were about 60 of us gathered there, in the shadow of the Fed. Building. I noticed three young Latinas emerge from the Traffic Court Building, nonchalantly walk over to a pile of protest signs, and pick a sign up each. They walked quietly to the curbside at Throckmorton, facing oncoming traffic, and held their signs up high. Turns out they had just finished doing jury duty, saw the hubub of our public action, and decided to join us. Really, I was very impressed by their sense of civic responsibility, and I told them so. Two of them mentioned that they were students at Castleberry HS, which had recently administered the ASVAB (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery) test. When I mentioned that they had a right to refuse to take this test, they said that they'd assumed it was mandatory because the school administrators made it seem so.

(The ASVAB is a multi-aptitude test which is given at over 14,000 schools nationwide, and maintained by the Dept. of Defense. The scores a student receives on this test helps the recruiters to determine whether he/she is qualified to enlist in the U.S. military.)

For more information, read on here.

Famed NOLA Radio Station WWOZ is back on the air!

"Oz has always been the intangible glue that holds this community together," says jazz pianist David Torkanowsky, a WWOZ disc jockey. "If you're going to restart the city, you have to start with the heartbeat. For musicians, it's a beacon."

That's such good news, as WWOZ-FM radio is the best radio station in New Orleans and has had an international audience (the OZ streams their programming online). I remember the "you have now arrived!" feeling i would get when approaching NOLA by car and being finally able to get WWOZ on the radio. Blues, jazz, classic tunes, blue book favorites, local musicians, and--my favorite NOLA poet--the raspy-voiced big John Sinclair calling the shots as disc jockey. It's like the feeling i get when i hear old sixties soul classics, taking me back to childhood innocence and simpler now-glorified days.

One spring, when in NOLA for the Jazz Festival, i passed John Sinclair holding it down, broadcasting live from under a tent on the Festival grounds--bringing in the big stars for impromptu interviews and live musical interludes. You felt like you were at the soul of the heart of the body of THE NOLA MUSIC COMMUNITY experience. A precious thing.

From the WWOZ website: "WWOZ is now broadcasting at 90.7 FM in New Orleans from our temporary facility in Louisiana Public Broadcasting's studio in Baton Rouge. Our shows are running from 9am to 10pm CST. WFMU will broadcast pre-recorded WWOZ shows outside of those hours...WWOZ, presently streaming in exile due to Hurricane Katrina, sends a special thank you to our year-round valued Underwriters who support WWOZ as New Orleans' community radio station."

The station's website has up-to-the minute updated info about Katrina Benefit Concerts, Missing/Found Musicians listings, Musican Aid resources, and much, much more. Tune in, listen to the shows, and feel that indescribable Nawlins feel in the songs, talk, chat, and tunes of WWOZ.

2000 U.S. Dead in Iraq

The sad day that we’ve been dreading is here. Today, October 25th, 2005, the Defense Department has announced the 2,000th military death in Iraq.



The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) has listed more than 400 events in 49 U.S. states which will involve thousands of people calling for an end to this war. The media has already started reporting on this, of course, with noted exclusion of any info or statistics about the Iraqi dead...

AFSC, Gold Star Families for Peace, United for Peace and Justice, CODEPINK, Veterans for Peace, Iraq Veterans Against the War and many others are bound to change the perception of this war during this sad milestone. Join us for a show of opposition to White House warmongering that leaves so many, too many, of our people needlessly dead.

TOMORROW OCTOBER 26, 4:00PM ‘TIL SEVERAL HOURS AFTER DARK
COME DOWN TO THE FEDERAL BLDG. IN DOWNTOWN FORT WORTH
BRING QUARTERS FOR METERED PARKING, CANDLES OR LANTERNS, BANNERS, POSTERS, AND YOUR FRIENDS!

Bowing my head as I raise my voice in tribute...

...to yet another poet-comrade who has passed over to the other side. Yes, Pasha Allsup, my Austin poet friend has died, back on September 19th--though i only got word of this last week. Some of our friends in Austin are putting together a tribute memorial performance in honor of Pasha, and i have been invited to submit an original poem--using words or phrases from what i presume is one of Pasha's final poems--"The Chair".

I can't make it to Austin to actually read the poem myself, but here's what i wrote and have emailed to the organizers so it can be shared at the tribute memorial tonight, Sunday evening, October 23rd. Progress Coffee House, Austin, Tejas:


BOOK-RATE TO NIRVANA
(a poem for Pasha)

preface:

he bent over, doubled himself, was still just one but doubled in terms of halving. knees to his chest as his fingers caressed his now-naked toes. his ears folded in so his lobes cupped his cheeks and his belly warmed his thighs as he licked himself closed. a human envelope, a sealed man, book-rate to Nirvana.

body:

Pulling his knees together tightly, he poised for flilght. A passing whippoorwill sent a gust via wingflap and then he too became airborne. He relinquished darkness as his lids lifted so that he could see the topography down below: murky dim light showed that he was heading west on North Loop and he thought of the blind, at the school below. He knew they would not see him or very well, at least, but if he whistled, shrieked a verse, sang a raga, this would most certainly draw their faces skyward. He pressed his tongue to the roof of his mouth, letting the first sound be an “l” and the word sang low in harmony with the pitch of the driving rain, a sudden storm. “Laundry....!!!”

“Air your Laundry!!” He sang. “Pitch those panties and the scraggly jeans you’ve cherished for years. Put everything out like a sail. Your heart, your broken heart words, your uncensored turds, confession rockets of words, your eloquent rage, every last paragraph they leave off the page, the gnarly secrets of pain, the wrist naked to a bleeding vein, every damn last syllable that will vanquish any possible tangent of regret, neglect, forget. Launch them as kites, every last word, tv sound byte, make the unspeakable loud, your echo resound. Here i speak it, there i hear it. Bounces off the clouds, cliffs, crowds. A triple digit decibel infidel, be that man.”

Soon the children had sprinkled past the tutors, the guards, the monitors and were padding gently across the clay floor of the tennis court, with their noses nosing and ears hearing. From their pockets bits of string, spring, sting---dental floss, slinky, bandaids. All useless to help tether the flying mail man, the poet launched, teetering abandon, wildly postal. So they let go, just let him go. They dropped to the ground, first one on his knees, then another fully spread-eagle on his back, while yet others did slow-motion full-body prostrations, as if encircling Kailash herself. This sudden fit, a communal devotional reverie, overtook the playground. Even the chancellor straddled a child’s swing and hummed the melodic sky-drone, broadcast from the sky.

Higher and higher, an elevation is nothing to those who speak only math. He was up higher than numbers could tell and the faint of his yell was soft yet kept peaking. For the loudest ones often drop short, while the panting and whispering diaphoretic and epiphanal incantations are as swelling and eternal time-dwelling as the heartbeat of the HImalayas. You can hear, yes? You too have noticed, right? I can count you as one of the listening and everlasting few, too? Wait, listen, don’t miss it. Hear that? Pasha again: “Euphoric! Eu---phor--ic! Are - you - for - it ?” It was slight, a wing flutter, a never-published-page utter, but it lingers, it stays with me, it can never evanesce, yes?

As he softly landed, where it was the place he landed, a whole new language became spoken, old rule and tenets of rigidity broken. But he did not stay there, for the place he longed to reach was not of commandments--not ten, not any, and never many. Arisen to a new location, he slowly unlicked or rather unsealed himself, gradually unfolding to full-Pasha breadth and length, heft and hue, and keenly spread his arms and said without speaking, breathed without being, laughed without living, “tomorrow is tomorrow is tomorrow and soon you too will wake up to that day. But until then, do not truck with sad tears and journey with fears or tarry with impossible unenchanting careers.

epitaph:

Live, your life, then die, your death, and,......” And I waited for the next words, I held my breath to keep my ears poised, but the next words never came. They did not come until I opened my own true mouth--and remembered.


tammy melody gomez
october 2005

MY FORT WORTH: Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream in town now

The first-ever Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream store in the 817, located at 6115 Camp Bowie (west of the Ridglea Theater), opened several months ago. And guess what? ALL proceeds from ice cream sales will benefit the YWCA programs for disadvantaged women, adolescents, and children. The store offers an opportunity "to provide on-the-job training for at-risk youth of Tarrant County...the goal is to train 30 youth each year and assist them in finding permanent employment." [from the YWCA website]

That's pretty cool: you can eat your ice cream and support positive social programs that benefit fellow Fort Worthians at the same time/al mismo tiempo. Go to the local YWCA website to read up on all the programs and services they offer here in FW. And, if you're not a vegan, you might stop by the Ben & Jerry's for a double-dip of your favorite flavor.

Katrina Store in Richland Hills

Quite by accident, I happened to drive up to the Katrina Store, here in Tarrant County. It's located very close to the Handley-Ederville exit, off I-30. Because I had some time on my hands and am insatiably curious, I parked my car and walked in, just a few paces behind a Latino family who were slowly approaching the entrance. I stopped to study the handwritten signs on the front doors, which detailed the store hours and rules of operation.

Once inside, the attendant sitting behind a big table greeted me and asked if I needed assistance. I could hardly bring myself to look at him as I was completely overwhelmed by the 1) enormity of the space within this store, and 2) was blown away by the gadzillions of goods, clothing, and other merchandise which were attractively displayed on racks, shelves, and tables. Contrasted with a few other Katrina aid stations I'd visited in FW--where the donated items were merely heaped in unrecognizable piles on tabletops--the items at the Katrina Store were better organized by category, with carefully-lettered signage designating item locations.

I was so impressed. According to the attendant, the store is run by the Salvation Army and they plan to keep it open to needy evacuees until "at least December 15th." What an evacuee needs to present in order to "shop" at the Katrina Store is "proof of victim status", which would mean either a Tarrant County-issued "Victim I.D. card" or a driver's license. The store hours are Monday through Saturday, 10:30am-6:30pm, with the last clients admitted at 5pm. Of course, no money is required and everything from personal hygiene kits to kitchen appliances and furniture are free for the taking.

KATRINA STORE
7500 BAKER BLVD. IN RICHLAND HILLS

(On the day I visited, a job notice was posted on the front door. "HELP WANTED. FULL-TIME WAREHOUSE HELP. 8AM-5PM. CALL DAVE, 817-838-5196.)

"Bring 'em Home" demonstration - Friday, October 7th - Arlington, TX

[Thanks to Desiree Fairooz for the following announcement. For more information, please call 817-521-7856 OR 817-468-3069.]

"BRING 'EM HOME" VIGIL
VETERANS FOR PEACE & CODEPINK NEED YOU!!
Friday October 7, 2005
4p-7p Matlock and Bardin
Arlington, TX
(parking available at Radiology Associates or Starbucks)

Signs provided but new ones encouraged. See ideas below. Bring your friends! Bring your kids! Bring your grannies! We'll be handing out mini-flyers about the spontaneous vigil when U.S. fatalities reach 2000. Please come and help. Media will only come if you do too!

LET'S MAKE OUR VOICES HEARD!

Ideas for signs or chants:

US Out of Iraq! Let them have their country back!

This Occupation is a crime - George and Rummy should be doin time

Bring all the troops home now, No WMDs were ever found.

They stay and fight for Bush's lies, and every day another dies...

Money for Jobs and Education, Not for War and Occupation!

Bush and Cheney did the killing while their friends do the drilling!

Power to the Peaceful!

Out of Iraq, We need our troops back!

U.S. out of the Middle East - We the people, we want Peace!

Make Wetlands, Not War. Oil is NOT worth dying for!

CODEPINK, Veterans for Peace and peaceful citizens say, “Bring ‘em on home not bring ‘em on”. On July 3, 2003 Bush vowed to stay in Iraq despite attacks on our troops. Then he posed the challenge to those who would attack us, “My answer is bring ‘em on.”

Most recently when confronted by Cindy Sheehan, his answer has been “Stay the course.” However the American people are unhappy with his course of action. According to an ABC News Washington Post poll from September 8-11, 2005, 62% of people polled disapprove of the way Bush is handling the situation in Iraq.

According to CNN/ USA Today/ Gallop poll 60% of the people polled consider withdrawing our troops from Iraq either now, or if the number of troops killed becomes too high. For those of us who understand the devastation of war this number is already too high. Also, 53% of the same group polled thinks it was a mistake sending troops to Iraq in light of developments since we first invaded.

The purpose of this vigil is to raise awareness and motivate people to hold our government accountable. We want people to be aware that they are not alone. The sentiment of our country and the world are on their side. The mainstream media has turned a blind eye to the peace movement so we feel we have to stand out on this street corner to let our neighbors know about it. It must be made clear that our elected officials have forgotten that they are public servants who work for us, the people. The President says he doesn’t govern by polls. Instead, he has governed by poor judgment and misinformation at best. Evidence has shown that most likely, he has governed by lies and deceit (9/11 Commission Report, Downing Street Memo, Dulfer Report). It is time for all Americans to wake up, stand up and hold our government accountable.

It's My Birthday and I'll Make Peace If I Want To

One of the few things I've been clear about this month is that I knew, deep in my soul, that I needed and wanted to be at the 2nd World Congress on Matriarchal Studies, which this year is happening in San Marcos (on the campus of Texas State University) and is themed "Societies of Peace." So, off I go, on my birthday no less (September 30th, baby!) to spend a wondrous weekend surrounded by some of the most brilliant and painstakingly righteous women that I know! (Big shout outs to Firesong, Frieda Werden, Bracken Firecracker, Millilani Trask and Andrea aka Gaia!)

The Congress kicked off on Thursday the 29th, but it's probably not too late to get out there to get your ears filled and heart sung, cuz it goes on 'til Sunday, October 2nd. Click here for more information and to register online. There's no registration cost because the folks putting this together adhere to the concept of the Gift Economy. Donations and other resource support will, however, be gladly accepted. See ya there, mujeres!

Here's schedule information:

Friday 30th September  Texas State University, San Marcos

  Opening ritual
 
  Part III.  Present Matriarchal Societies - Africa
 
9 - 10:30 a. m.      Panel 4:  North Africa
 
  Hélène Claudot-Hawad, France
 
"Woman the Central Pillar of Society"
  The Representation of Gender among the Tuareg (Imajaghen)/Sahara
 
  Fatimata welet Halatine, Tuareg (Imajaghen), Central Sahara
  Renouncing privileges: a Tuareg Woman in Modern Times
 
  Malika Grasshoff, Kabyle, Berber, Algeria/France/Germany
  The Central  Position of Women among the Berber People
of Northern Africa, exemplified by Kabyle Women
 
10:30 - 11 a. m. Discussion with the audience
11 - 11:30 a. m. Break
 
11:30 a. m. - 2 p. m.      Panel 5: West and South Africa
 
  Wilhelmina J. Donkoh, Akan, Ghana, West Africa
  Female Leadership among the Ashante
 
  Gad A. Osafo, healer, Akan, Ghana, West Africa
  Akan Healing Heritage – an Overview
 
  Cécile Keller, woman doctor/healer, Switzerland
  Matriarchal Medicine
 
  Dr. Yvette Abrahams, Khoekhoe, Namibia, South Africa
  Living in Our Natural World:
Indigenous Women, Power and Knowledge
 
  Bernedette Muthien, Khoisan, South Africa
  Beyond Patriarchy: The Khoisan and Partnership
 
2 - 2:30 p. m. Discussion with the audience
2:30 - 4 p. m. Lunch Break
 
  Part IV.  Present Matriarchal Societies - Asia
 
4 - 6  p. m.      Panel 6:  India, Sumatra, China
 
  Patricia Mukhim, Khasi, Northeast India
  Matriliny among the Khasi and Garos of Meghalaya:
  Challenges and Opportunities
 
  Savithri de Tourreil, Nayar, Kerala, Southwest India/Canada
  Nayars: matrilineal or matriarchal or a bit of both?
  How do they fit into a South Indian Matrix
 
  Peggy Reeves Sanday, USA
  Divine Queenship: Considerations from the Minangkabau of West Sumatra
  of West Sumatra
 
  Ibu Ita Malik, Minangkabau, Sumatra, Indonesia
  The Role of Minangkabau Women
 
6 - 6:30 p. m. Break
 
6:30 - 7:30 p. m. Lamu Gatusa, Mosuo, China
  A Sacred Place of Matriarchy: Lugu Lake – Harmonious Past and Challenging Present
 
  Danshilacuo, Mosuo, China
  Mosuo Woman – Environment, Pullulation, and Views on Own Culture
 
7:30 - 8 p. m. Discussion with the audience
 
 

Saturday  1st October     Texas State University, San Marcos
 
 
  Opening ritual
 
  Part V. Past - Historical Matriarchal Societies
 
9 - 11:30 p.m.      Panel 7:  Research in the USA
 
  Joan Marler, USA
  Old  Europe through  a  Matriarchal  Lens
 
  Lucia Chiavola Birnbaum, Italy/USA
  Black Madonnas, Cathars, and Witches – Peaceful Societies and Violence
 
  Vicki Noble, USA
  Those Without Husbands: How the Amazons Got Their Name
 
  Marguerite Rigoglioso, USA
  In Search of the Libyan Amazons: Preliminary Research in Tunisia
 
  Susan Gail Carter, USA
  The Matristic Roots of Japan
  and the Emergence of the Japanese Sun Goddess, Amaterasu-o-mi-kami
 
11:30 - 12 P. m. Discussion with the audience
12 - 2 p. m. Lunch Break
 
2 - 4 p. m.      Panel 8:  Research in Europe
 
  Annette Kuhn, Germany
  Transitions of Matriarchal Power in the Symbolic and Social Sphere in History
 
  Kurt Derungs, Switzerland
  Landscape of the Ancestress. Principles of the Matriarchal
  Philosophy of Nature and the Mythology of Landscape
 
  Kaarina Kailo, Finland
  The "Helka Fest" - Traces of a Finno-Ugric Matriarchy and Worldview?
 
  Christa Mulack, Germany
  Matriarchal Structures in the Hebrew Bible
 
4 - 4:30 p. m. Discussion with the audience
4:30 - 5 p. m. Break
 
5 - 5:40 p. m. Origin of  Patriarchy
 
  Heide Goettner-Abendroth, Germany
  Origin of Patriarchy -
  Criticism of Theories and a Suggestion for the Solution
 
5:40 - 6 p. m. Discussion with the audience
 
 
8 - 9 p. m. Evening program
  Max Dashu, USA
  Slides Show: Mother-Right and Gender Justice
 
  Lydia Ruyle, USA
  Icons: Sacred Images of the Divine Feminine Around the Globe
 
 

Sunday  2nd October      San Marcos, Texas
 
  At the Parks and Recreation Dept. Activities Center
501 East Hopkins
San Marcos TX 78766
 
  Opening ritual
 
  Part VI. Matriarchal Politics
 
9 - 11  a. m.
Big Panel: All of the lecturers are invited who would like to make
 
a short statement on this topic.
 
Discussion with the audience
 
11 - 11:30 a. m. Break
 
11:30 - 12:30 p.m. Developing  a DECLARATION
 
 
San Marcos River

 
3 - 6 p. m.

Public matriarchal ritual of
"The Circle of a Peaceful World"
 
All of the speakers and participants are invited.

Fort Worth Mayor Issues Urgent Call for Volunteers

The following news release was disseminated on-campus at the University of North Texas Health Sciences Center today:

(Fort Worth, Texas). Fort Worth workers and volunteers continue to care for Louisiana families nearly a month after Hurricane Katrina struck the Crescent City. Each day, hundreds of volunteers are needed to help support Katrina survivors. Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief urged all residents to find out how to get involved.

"Fort Worth has certainly faced its share of challenges. But no matter what we encounter, Fort Worth residents and businesses always stand firm to help those in need," said Moncrief. "Volunteerism is the backbone of disaster response. I applaud those who have already given up their precious time to help our neighbors, and I challenge others to find ways they can make a difference today."

Volunteers wanting to help in shelters should not go directly to the shelter sites but should call the local Hurricane Katrina Phone Bank at 817-392-7400. Volunteers are scheduled for four-hour shifts and are needed 24 hours a day. Shelter needs include child care, food service, computer assistance, sorting of donated goods, welcoming guests and assisting in moving guests from shelters to apartments or other interim housing.

Medical volunteers also are needed to assist locally. Physicians, nurses, pharmacists and emergency medical technicians interested in volunteering should register at www.metroplexvolunteers.com to submit their license information and availability. Those within Dallas and Denton counties may register at this site as well.

For those unable to volunteer, a fund has been established to assist Hurricane Katrina evacuees in Tarrant County. Checks made payable to Tarrant County Relief Fund should be mailed to Tarrant County Administrator, 100 East Weatherford St., Suite 404, Fort Worth, Texas 76196. Donations can also be made online at the Tarrant County website.

Barbara Bush Relocated

[Thanks to Liliana Valenzuela for sharing the following "report".]

BARBARA BUSH RELOCATED
by Andy Borowitz

Former First Lady Moved to New Location Away From Cameras, Microphones.

Just days after former First Lady Barbara Bush made widely publicized remarks about people made homeless by Hurricane Katrina, the White House said today that Mrs. Bush had been moved to "a new location away from television cameras and microphones."

Mrs. Bush, who in talking about Katrina refugees said that "This is working very well for them" and that many of them "were underprivileged anyway," was transported to a facility where she will have plenty of food and water but no more media appearances, the White House confirmed.

"She will be much more comfortable in this new location, surrounded by armed guards on a 24-hour basis, than she was at her compound in Kennebunkport," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan. "This is working very well for her."

Responding to a reporter who questioned whether Mrs. Bush would be happy being uprooted from her estate, Mr. McClellan said, "She was overprivileged anyway."

While the White House took credit for its success in relocating Mrs. Bush, some congressional critics argued that it did not act quickly enough to relocate the outspoken former First Lady.

"This was an emergency situation," said Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del). "They should have relocated her the minute she opened her piehole,"

For her part, the former First Lady remained out of view, but released the following official statement: "I am doing well, but I remain envious of those who were relocated after Hurricane Katrina - boy, do those folks have a sweet deal."

Elsewhere, President Bush mourned the passing of actor Bob Denver, calling the "Gilligan's Island" star "a great American and a role model for me personally."

(You can hear some of Barbara's infamous barbs here.)