Nonviolent Ways Project's Web Log

THE EXPOSED: INTERVIEW WITH VINA COLLEY, SICK URANIUM WORKER

Wes Rehberg — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 13:57:34 GMT

The Exposed: Vina Colley, sick uranium worker from Wes Rehberg on Vimeo.

Above is a 14-minute video of an interview with sick worker Vina Colley, who was an employee at the Portsmouth/Piketon Ohio uranium enrichment and gaseous diffusion plant, now operated by United States Enrichment Corporation (USEC). Colley details her illnesses, workplace problems, her employment and her efforts to obtain medical help and monetary compensation. She is president of PRESS, the Portsmouth/Piketon Residents for Environmental Safety and Security, and co-founder of National Nuclear Workers for Justice.

The interview is connected with a documentary were filming called "The Exposed." -- Wes Rehberg, Wild Clearing.

THE EXPOSED: VIDEO -- RALLY FOR POISONED NUCLEAR WEAPONS WORKERS IN OAK RIDGE, TN

Wes Rehberg — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 20:16:23 GMT

THE EXPOSED: Nuclear Workers rally for illness compensation in Oak Ridge, TN from Wes Rehberg on Vimeo.

Posted on-line is a 14-minute video of a rally in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, organized by the Coalition for a Healthy Environment, whose organizers have been working since the mid-1990s for compensation, care and recognition of nuclear weapons worker contamination. Many among this group are sick from the poisons as well.

The rally, on June 25, 2008, was among others that day in Cleveland, Ohio, organized by Bethlehem Steel former workers in Buffalo, New York, in Denver, Colorado, organized by Rocky Flats former workers, and in Hispañola, New Mexico, by Los Alamos workers. The video can also be viewed in a higher-resolution version at this site: http://www.wildclearing.com/ice-ages/the-exposed.html

We're now developing a documentary on nuclear workers who have become poisoned by heavy metals, radiation and other contaminants and who are also struggling for adequate compensation for their illnesses for those who are yet alive but sick, and for acknowledgement that those who have died did so as a result of limited or no recognition that their illnesses were caused by exposure to contaminants, flawed human safety procedures and limited care.

IRAQ VETERANS AGAINST THE WAR (IVAW) - WITNESS IN VIRGINIA

Wes Rehberg — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 19:32:51 GMT

Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) - testimony in Virginia (Between the Ice Ages) from Wes Rehberg on Vimeo.

Five U.S. veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, members of IVAW, bore witness in May 2008 to what they experienced in these armed conflicts as well as on their return to the United States. Excerpts from the witness of the veterans -- Adam Kokesh, James Gilligan, Jason Hurd, Ray Curry and James Morriss -- are provided in the video here, filmed by Wes Rehberg. Leonard McGann plays the Native American flute in this 34 minute documentary video, filmed at the Building a New World Conference at Radford University in Virginia, offered by the World Prout Assembly.
© 2008 Wes Rehberg, Wild Clearing
A higher-resolution flash broadband version is available at:
wildclearing.com/ice-ages/ivaw-prout.html

MOTHER FOREST SKETCHES - PART 2 - A RATIONALE - (Between the Ice Ages)

Wes Rehberg — Wed, 21 May 2008 14:56:11 GMT

Mother Forest sketches - clip2 - the rationale from Wes Rehberg on Vimeo..

As with the earlier clip here on our work to begin to explore a possible experimental film that would include a segment on the dangers to the mother forest in the U.S., this 8-minute video clip is an attempt to begin to think through a rationale for such an endeavor on the forests and some ideas and approaches toward filming it -- a higher resolution version is viewable at http://www.wildclearing.com/mother-forest/
-- Wes Rehberg

MOTHER FOREST SKETCHES - SAVAGE FALLS, TN, LIGHT-HIKE - (Between the Ice Ages)

Wes Rehberg — Wed, 21 May 2008 14:55:50 GMT

Mother Forest sketches - Savage Falls TN light-hike from Wes Rehberg on Vimeo..

Mother Forest sketches -- (Between the Ice Ages)
... toward a possible experimental film that would include a segment on the fragile, fragmented and increasingly endangered mixed mesophytic U.S. forestland

We're sketching out a possible experimental film that would include a segment on the Appalachian mixed-mesophytic forest and its challenges. The Cumberland forest is said to have served as the mother provider of hardwood trees and other forest life for the North American continent for 150,000 years but now has been decimated and fragmented.

Threats are reported to include logging, development, mining, genetic modification, quarrying, invasive species, and air and water pollutant contamination. A good background on this can be found at the World Wildlife Federation web site. We've also keeping in touch with friends, family and other environmentalists to help guide us on this trail.

Above, as a brief light-hearted start, with Eileen and our rescued dogs Mercury and Jillie, is a six-minute video sketch of a late April hike we took through a trail in the Savage Gulf State Natural Area in south central Tennessee to Savage Falls. The area is a mixed mesophytic forest preserve. Eileen has also gotten out her sketchpad and easel, so graphic art is also forthcoming.

CHATTANOOGA TN'S PROTEST MARCH & RALLY ON IRAQ WAR'S 5TH ANNIVERSARY

Wes Rehberg — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 03:40:38 GMT

CHATTANOOGA'S PROTEST MARCH & RALLY
ON IRAQ WAR'S 5TH ANNIVERSARY
Filmed as a documentary sketch

Chattanoogans and others from Tennessee and Georgia marched and rallied on the 5th anniversary of the Iraq war and occupation to protest U.S. continued involvement and to urge once again that the administration cease this operation and bring American troops home.
Organized by Chattanooga based United for Democracy & Justice, the rally featured the following speakers: Joy Day, organizer; Sandy Lusk, organizer; Chris Lugo, U.S. Senate candidate; Kate Stulce, organizer; and Retired Staff Sgt. Herbert Reed, keynote speaker and Iraq war veteran ill with the effects of depleted uranium munitions contamination. The rally's theme was "Remember the Falling, the Fallen, the Forgotten." The video follows the march and features excerpts from the rally's talks.
The 30-minute video documentary sketch was filmed by Wes Rehberg of Wild Clearingy. A GOOGLE-IZED LOW CONNECTION SPEED VERSION IS AVAILABLE HERE

"CONTAMINATED FOREVER" -- INTRODUCTORY SCENES FROM A DOCUMENTARY ON THE HAZARDS OF DEPLETED URANIUM MUNITIONS

Wes Rehberg — Wed, 21 May 2008 09:10:21 GMT

"CONTAMINATED FOREVER" - the documentary --
... exposing the ongoing impact of the use of depleted uranium ammunition

   Filmmaker Wes Rehberg and artist and social policy analyst Eileen Rehberg have produced and filmed "Contaminated Forever," a 1-hour and 45-minute documentary to help in the effort to expose the terrible consequences of the use of depleted uranium weapons (DU) for test purposes and in the battlefield.
   These weapons were used in Iraq, the Balkans, on testing grounds throughout the United States and territories, and possibly in Afghanistan, Panama and Lebanon, with their poison dust afflicting soldiers and civilians. Their nanoparticle fallout, in the earth, has a half-life of 4.5 billion years, ready to be inhaled or ingested, where, inside the body, they pass through cell walls to begin their radioactive and toxic damage.
   You may view the home page for "Contaminated Forever," as well as a high-bandwidth flash video draft of this segment, at this web page. A DVD of the documentary is also available for purchase there. A Google-ized version is below. -- Wes Rehberg.

"Contaminated Forever" - introductory scenes: a documentary on DU weapons contamination from Wes Rehberg on Vimeo

OUTLINE OF DOCUMENTARY:

PART 1: Introduction
PART 2: CPT actions at Aerojet Ordnance in Tennessee
PART 3: Vieques activists speak out about bombing range contamination
PART 4: Doug Rokke, maligned military whistleblower
PART 5: ICBUW conference at UN Plaza in NYC
PART 6: NL industries victims of contamination
PART 7: Anti-DU rally in Jonesborough, TN
POSTLUDE: Iraq veteran Herb Reed at home

FLASHBACK: KATHY KELLY, THEN OF VOICES IN THE WILDERNESS, SINGS "SONG OF PEACE" IN 2004 COMMEMORATION

Wes Rehberg — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 20:47:48 GMT

Kathy Kelly of Voices in the Wilderness was in Baghdad, Iraq during the aftermath of Bush's "Shock and Awe" attack. A music school was one of the places plundered - people from the school gave her a tape students sang of "Song of Peace." She sang it herself in Holland, Michigan, to celebrate Jon den Herder of Holland Peacemakers in 2004, who was dying of brain cancer -- video below was filmed then at Leaf & Bean's Third Space in Holland. -- Wes Rehberg

CHATTANOOGA, TN, IRAQ WAR ANNIVERSARY PEACE RALLY PROMO - 30 SECOND VIDEO CLIP

Wes Rehberg — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 08:45:34 GMT

Chattanoogans are conducting a peace march and rally on March 22, 2008, to mark the fifth anniversary of the Iraq war debacle and to honor the fallen, the falling and the forgotten -- to urge that our troops be returned home now -- Below is a 30-second video Wild Clearing promo of this event.

BARACK OBAMA - "YES WE CAN" VIDEO

Wes Rehberg — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 20:18:54 GMT

Stirring, and intriguing

LONG-TIME ACTIVIST ANNE HERMAN HAS PASSED ON FROM CANCER

Wes Rehberg — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 07:35:28 GMT

We learned that Anne Herman has passed on from lung cancer in Birmingham, AL. Anne was in Jonesborough, Tennessee, during the 10-day May 2007 delegation and action by Christian Peacemaker Teams against Aerojet Ordnance's production of depleted uranium munitions cores. She was not well then but persisted in being part of every action that team shared with her unsurpassed candidness and humor.

Before then, we had crossed paths with Anne in Chiapas, Mexico, in December 1998 during the time of the commemoration of the 45 persons who were massacred by paramilitaries in Acteal the year earlier. We had known Anne and shared time with her as well during her activism while she lived in upstate NY.

The obituary below is a very fair representation of Anne. The photo is from a film clip during the Jonesborough, TN, action.

Wes Rehberg

-----------

Activist Anne Herman dead at 74

By George Basler
Press & Sun-Bulletin [Binghamton, NY]

Deeply committed, but never strident, Anne Herman was a fixture in anti-war and social justice activities in Broome County [upstate New York] for more than two decades.

"It seemed like every important action that dealt with social justice, Anne was there," said Jack Gilroy, a fellow activist and former teacher.

A memorial service for Ms. Herman, 74, will take place at 12:30 p.m. Dec. 8 at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Binghamton. She died Nov. 22 at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital.

Ms. Herman was motivated by " a deep down, basic caring about people" and an identification with those she considered oppressed throughout the world, said Ann Clune, of Binghamton, a long-time friend and fellow activist.

In the 1980s, Ms. Herman worked as the local coordinator of RAM (Redistribute America Movement), a statewide welfare advocacy group. She later did advocacy work with the Mayan people in Chiapas, Mexico.

Over the years, Ms. Herman protested against everything from spousal abuse to nuclear arms to American foreign policy and, most recently, the Iraq War. She was arrested a number of times, and in 1997 was sentenced to six months in federal prison for trespassing at the Army-run School of the Americas at Fort Benning, Ga.

"She was a pleasant person, but she also pushed. She had the strength of saying, 'I know where I'm going, and I'm going to take all the steps to get there,'" said David Duncan, former director of Opportunities for Broome.

But, Gilroy said, he can never remember Ms. Herman making a negative comment about another person, even someone she disagreed with. In 1998, the Broome County Council of Churches recognized her for her community work.

"She saw problems with power and force being right, and didn't accept that," Gilroy said. Ms. Herman also made beautiful quilts and was close to her six children and five grandchildren, Clune said.

In 2003, Ms. Herman described her lifelong activism this way: "I've come to the place in life where I realize I can't look to success, rather I need to do what I need to do. You never know who you might impact." Donations can be made in her name to the Christian Peacemaker Teams, Box 6508, Chicago, Ill. 60680-6508.

ICBUW LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN AGAINST FINANCIAL INVESTMENT IN DU MANUFACTURERS

Wes Rehberg — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 05:51:27 GMT

From the International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons (ICBUW)

Does Your Bank Support DU Manufacturers?

On November 6th 2007 ICBUW member organisations launched a global disinvestment campaign against investments by high street banks and investment companies around the world in the manufacturers of uranium weapons. Read on to find out how you can get involved.

ICBUW already campaigns globally through traditional means for a ban on uranium weapons. We have now taken the fight to the arms manufacturers and the bodies that fund them.

In collaboration with Network Flanders and Banktrack, on November 6th 2007, the UN Day for the Prevention of the Exploitation of the Environment Through Armed Conflict, we launched 'Too Risky for Business' - a dossier detailing how your high street banks are supporting companies that manufacture indiscriminate and illegal weapon systems.

We have created a full activist's tool kit to allow you to challenge your bank to disinvest and isolate these companies, be it through direct action, letter writing or media work.

Attachments

Activist Tool Kit (1932 Kb - Format zip)

ICBUW

Too Risky For Business bank report
Too Risky For Business bank report abstract
Model press release
Model leaflet
Model letter for banks
Press kit
Four jpeg versions of the logo - colour, black and white, grayscale (all for paper printing) and a web version.
Too Risky For Business (1250 Kb - Format pdf)

ICBUW

Report on how banks are funding uranium weapons producers.

This document is in PDF format and can be read using Acrobat Reader.
Abstract - Too Risky for Business (392 Kb - Format pdf)

ICBUW

Abstract of the Too Risky for Business Report

This document is in PDF format and can be read using Acrobat Reader.

VIDEO: NL INDUSTRIES DEPLETED URANIUM CONTAMINATION IN COLONIE, NY - PRESS CONFERENCE, SITE VISIT

Wes Rehberg — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 10:01:24 GMT

Featured here is a running 48-minute video account of a press conference at the Albany, NY, state legislative office building organized by the Community Concerned About NL Industries at which research findings were detailed that indicate the long-term persistence of depleted uranium contamination.

Also featured is a 6-minute video sketch of a visit to the NL site by CCNL organizer Tom Ellis and ex-resident Tony Ciarfello, who was found to be contaminated.

SUMMARY: A biological study by Randall Parrish of the NERC Isotope Geosciences Laboratory in the UK and others has detected depleted uranium and in one case enriched uranium in former workers and those who lived and worked nearby the Colonie, NY, NL Industries plant, where depleted uranium munitions cores were produced decades ago.

Below first is the press conference video sketch and below that the site visit, filmed by Wes Rehberg. produced by Wild Clearing (c) 2007 --

MUSIC: "LIFE DURING WARTIME" -- TALKING HEADS

Wes Rehberg — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 12:11:18 GMT

Life During Wartime -- Talking Heads ...

For the lyrics, click on this link (pdf file) ...

VIDEO: RALLY AT JONESBOROUGH, TN: ... voices in the struggle against DU munitions

Wes Rehberg — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 15:13:52 GMT

"RALLY at Jonesborough, TN:"
"... voices in the struggle against DU munitions"

PART OF UNITED FOR PEACE & JUSTICE OCT. 27, 2007
NATIONWIDE ACTIONS AGAINST THE IRAQ WAR

This 22-minute documentary video was filmed Wes Rehberg
(c) 2007 Wild Clearing

Featured are talks from rally organizer Linda Modica; Vietnam and Iraq war veteran Herbert Reed (DU victim); Caren Neile - storyteller; veteran and conscientious objector Tim Pluta (also DU victim); clips from the protest at Aerojet Ordnance - DU munitions producer; and music from Robert Baldwin, filmmaker and songwriter.

The video may also be viewed in an improved Flash version at this Wild Clearing web page ...

FOLLOWING JONESBOROUGH, TN, RALLY, AEROJET ORDNANCE'S COMPANY SPENDS 45 MINUTES ON WILD CLEARING WEBSITE

Wes Rehberg — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 09:46:14 GMT

Depleted uranium weapons producer Aerojet Ordnance's company visited Wild Clearing's web site for 45 minutes, following the United for Peace and Justice rally in Jonesborough, TN, where the penetrator munitions cores are produced. A snapshot of the company's visit, the day after the Oct. 27 rally, is below ... intriguing that they should stop by again ...

PHOTOS AND VIDEO FROM JONESBOROUGH, TN, OCT.27 UFPJ RALLY AGAINST DU WEAPONS AND IRAQ WAR

Wes Rehberg — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 04:27:55 GMT

We have posted photos and video from Jonesborough, TN, rally Oct. 27, 2007 against depleted uranium weapons and the Iraq war, sponsored by United for Democracy and Justice (UFPJ) and First Tennessee Progressives ...

-- Herbert Reed, Iraq war vet under treatment for DU contamination, addresses rally

The rally was part of a continuing effort to oppose the production, testing and battlefield use of depleted uranium munitions -- including those manufactured at Aeroject Ordnance in Jonesborough -- to view the photos and a Flash video clip, filmed by Wes Rehberg, visit this iink ...:

Below also is the video clip -- Robert Bruce Baldwin singing his song, "All Across America" --

CODE PINK ACTIVIST CALLS CONDOLEEZZA RICE A "WAR CRIMINAL" -- VIDEO CLIP

Wes Rehberg — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 07:03:19 GMT

FROM CODE PINK:

"Oct 24: .'The blood of millions of Iraqis is on your hands!' yelled our own Desiree Fairooz to Condi Rice during a Congressional hearing and displayed her hands covered in blood. We have gotten under the skin of those in power and we need to continue to make our presence known ... "
To view a video clip of this encounter, click this link ...
To visit Code Pink's web site, click here ...

CATHOLIC WORKER ACTIVISTS ARRESTED AT BLACKWATER HQ IN NORTH CAROLINA, HELD IN JAIL

Wes Rehberg — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 14:59:11 GMT

From: Mary Anne Grady Flores

Peter DeMott of the Ithaca C.W., and other Catholic Workers arrested at Blackwater
Worldwide headquarters in North Carolina, Sat. Oct. 20th, 2007.

From: Ellen Grady
Subject: Blackwater action- Peter and others held
Date: Sun, 21 Oct 2007 13:46:44 -0400
Dear Friends, Last night we received a call reporting on an action that Peter DeMott and other Catholic Workers from the East Coast were part of at the headquarters of Blackwater USA in the Great Dismal Swamp, NC. Six of the group are being held on a $1000. bail, Peter being one of them. They will go to court on Wednesday, Oct. 24 where they will be arraigned and possibly bail will be reduced. Right now they are being charged with resisting arrest, trespassing, and destruction of property. They are being held at the

Currituck County Jail:
413 Maple Rd.
Maple, NC 27956

Five of the activists arrested at Blackwater headquarters remain in jail for failure to post $1,000 bonds. . I understand that all in the group are in good spirits. Please hold them in prayer.
In Peace, Ellen

Blackwater Protest Action Statement
As people of faith who wish to shed light and enkindle hope, we come today to the headquarters of Blackwater Worldwide in an act of nonviolent protest, appealing to Blackwater personnel to disassociate themselves from a corporation which:
* Operates in connivance with the U.S. Military to prosecute the illegal, unjust, aggressive war against Iraq in order to secure American imperial objectives in the Middle East;
* Reaps huge revenues amounting to billions of dollars, in effect robbing the American public of valuable resources needed for the basic necessities of life: food, shelter, health care, etc;
* Murders innocent Iraqi noncombatants, including children, women and the elderly;
* Performs these evil deeds without any accountability and operates with complete immunity;
* Works side by side and colludes with the world's number one terrorist, the United States Govenment.
Steve Baggarly
Beth Brockman
Mark Colville
Peter DeMott
Laura Marks
Bill Streit
Mary Grace

To read the entire protest post, click on this link ...

OCT 27: FALL OUT AGAINST THE WAR RALLY IN JONESBOROUGH, TN -- RESCUE TROOPS FROM DU CONTAMINATION -- MARCH ON WEAPONS PRODUCER

Wes Rehberg — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 15:51:53 GMT

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS REPORTS 73 THOUSAND U.S. GULF WAR ERA DEATHS

Wes Rehberg — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 14:39:19 GMT

OpEdNews
Original Content at www.opednews.com/articles/genera_clive_bo_070921_department_of_vetera.htm
September 22, 2007

Department of Veterans Affairs Reports 73 Thousand U.S. Gulf War Era Deaths

By Clive Boustred

More Gulf War Veterans have died than Vietnam Veterans:
The Department of Veterans Affairs, May 2007, Gulf War Veterans Information System reports the following:

Total U.S. Military Gulf War Deaths: 73,846
– Deaths amongst Deployed: 17,847
– Deaths amongst Non-Deployed: 55,999

Total “Undiagnosed Illness” (UDX) claims: 14,874
Total number of disability claims filed: 1,620,906
- Disability Claims amongst Deployed: 407,911
- Disability Claims amongst Non-Deployed: 1,212,995

Percentage of combat troops that filed Disability Claims 36%

-Source: www1.va.gov/rac-gwvi/docs/GWVIS_May2007.pdf

   NOTE: Soldiers, by nature, typically don’t complain. In other words, the real impact of those who are disabled from the US invasions in Iraq, Afghanistan and other Nations, is not fully reflected in the official Veterans Affairs numbers. When soldiers are sent to murder women and children they tend to never be able to live normal lives there after.
   How come the government numbers of 3,777 as of 9/7/7 are so low? The answer is simple, the government does not want the 73,000 dead to be compared to the 55,000 U.S. soldiers killed in Vietnam Iraq = Vietnam. What the government is doing is only counting the soldiers that die in action before they can get them into a helicopter or ambulance. Any soldier who is shot but they get into a helicopter before he dies is not counted.
   73,000 dead amongst the U.S. soldiers for this scale operation using weapons of mass destruction is not high - we expect the great majority of U.S. soldiers who took part in the invasion of Iraq to die of uranium poisoning, which can take decades to kill.
   From a victors perspective, above any major war in history, The Gulf War has taken the severest toll on soldiers.
   More than 1,820 tons of radio active nuclear waste uranium were exploded into Iraq alone in the form of armor piercing rounds and bunker busters, representing the worlds worst man made ecological disaster ever. 64 kg of uranium were used in the Hiroshima bomb. The U.S. Iraq Nuclear Holocaust represents far more than fourteen thousand Hiroshima’s. The nuclear waste the U.S. has exploded into the Middle East will continue killing for billions of years and can wipe out more than a third of life on earth. Gulf War Veterans who have ingested the uranium will continue to die off over a number of years.
   So far more than one million people have been slaughtered in the illegal invasion of Iraqi by the U.S. Birth defects are up 600% in Iraq – the same will apply to U.S. Veterans.
   Statistics and evidence published by the government and mainstream media in no way reflect the extreme gravity of the situation.
   Those working for the government and media must wake up and take responsibility for immediately reversing this U.S. Holocaust. Understanding who is manipulating all of us is critical for all of us.

Authors Website: www.libertyforlife.com
Authors Bio: As one of the industries foremost technology & business strategists, Mr. Boustred has provided strategy and the architectural vision for some of the world's most successful companies. Mr. Boustred has designed massively scalar systems that have grown to support well over ten million users. The next generation Internet and banking systems Mr. Boustred designed to support billions of users was interrupted by a governmental assault during deployment, which resulted in him analyzing the legal industry and the development of Liberty For Life & CopperCards. For more on Clive visit: www.libertyforlife.com/team/clive_boustred.htm

VIDEOS: VIEQUES ACTIVISTS SPEAK OUT ABOUT DU CONTAMINATION ON THEIR ISLAND

Wes Rehberg — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 08:29:11 GMT

VIEQUES ACTIVISTS ON DU IMPACT

Nilda Medina in Vieques

While in Vieques in September 2007, I spoke with Nilda Medina, Ismael Guadalupe, filmmaker Andres Nieves and Robert Rabin, founders and members of the Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques, on the impact from contamination from the U.S. Navy bombing practice on the Puerto Rican island. These interviews are part of a developing documentary on the impact of depleted uranium contamination on people and the environment.
Nilda speaks of the need for health services, Ismael offers insights into the resistance against the U.S. Navy presence for over 60 years and the contamination, Andres tells how he was personally affected, and Robert scopes out the history of the occupation and the extent of the contamination. These are roughly compiled video clips, basically unaltered, about 10 minutes each. To view these, visit this web page ... -- Wes Rehberg .

VIEQUES INTERVIEW NOTES WITH ACTIVISTS ON DEPLETED URANIUM AND OTHER MILITARY CONTAMINATION

Wes Rehberg — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 13:28:13 GMT

Vieques interview notes with activists on depleted uranium contamination –

for Stop-DU meeting and other forums:
From Wes Rehberg

The interviews and the visit to Vieques are part of a documentary I’m making on DU contamination dangers – U.S. Navy contamination from weapons testing on this Puerto Rican island was the key theme of the interviews. The interviews were conducted during my Sept. 18-24 2007 journey throughout the island.

The key interviews were with six people:
* Nilda Medina, former science teacher, long-time activist and organizer and now developer of cooperative enterprises, who has been imprisoned for her activism against the Navy presence on two-thirds of the island, the weapons testing there, and who now speaks to the health problems of contamination;
* Ismael Guadalupe Ortiz, activist since he was 19 (now aged 63), activist and organizer, addressed UN committee on colonialism twice, was imprisoned four times, who sees contamination now and the necessity of its cleanup as the cause for new occupations of Navy land by activists;
* Andres Nieves, cinema photographer in US, moved to Vieques on retirement, documented via video more than 1,000 hours on Vieques problems for Fort Conde Marisal Museum archives, also an activist, has been tested positive for contamination;
* Zaida Torres, nurse at Vieques hospital, whose child died of cancer, and who addresses issue of contamination and the need for health services and remedies on the island;
* Robert Rabin, a former Bostonian who has lived in Vieques for more than two decades, is director of the museum mentioned above, is a key activist, organizer and educator via the museum, and who has also spent time in federal prison for his activism.
* Tania Cruz Morales, youth activist who speaks to problems related to contamination, including psychological;
I also spoke off-camera with a man who works on the decontamination project for USA Environmental, one of the Navy contractors responsible for cleanup – briefly, he offered a contrast about the exposure and said he has also been involved in Iraq and Kuwait recent cleanup efforts. The contrast is this: He has to wear an array of protective gear, including a protective mask that he says is capable of filtering contaminants at a sub-micron level – uranium oxide and ceramic uranium oxide are such contaminants; but if he’s so protected, then the danger of exposure is clearly evident, including the danger to the people of Vieques, despite Navy and other disclaimers about such a danger. (This part I’ll have to narrate into the documentary)

Summary:

It would be more comprehensive to provide individual summaries of what each said, but in the interests of space and time, I’ll address the key points they made:

1. The Navy remedies for decontamination are inadequate. Not only are they inadequate, but the Navy is exploding unexploded ordnance in the open air as part of the “cleanup,” further spreading contaminants. In addition, the Navy disclaims responsibility for the contamination, saying it’s part of the natural Vieques environment. The activists’ response is that the Navy can be the only source – there is no industry on the island except for a small GE plant, and the types of contaminants and the extent are not naturally occurring. These include uranium oxide, lithium, mercury, lead, arsenic, antimony (gunpowder) – some of which has also entered the food chain. The contamination is on land as well as in the surrounding seabed, has been found in fish as well as measured in sea grass at some distance from the test proving grounds sites. Soil, water, food-chain and the air carry the contaminants.

2. There is a considerable need for medical resources to serve people affected – people have to travel by ferry to the main island of Puerto Rico (1¼ hour trip each way) and then by public transportation to receive chemotherapy and dialysis treatments, for example (diabetes is linked to the contamination as well). The contaminants affect the lungs, kidneys, bones, heart, stomach, pancreas, and other organs. Vieques has a rate of cancer at least 26 percent higher than the main island of Puerto Rico, and now possibly measurable at 50 percent higher.

3. In the face of opposition by the U.S. government, the Puerto Rican government and the U.S. military to comprehensive cleanup and health services related to contamination, it would be easy to give in to despair, but this is self-defeating.

4. Activists must remain optimistic that their cause will bear the results they want accomplished.

5. The solutions are not immediate and short-term. They are long-term because of the pervasiveness of the contamination and the health problems.

6. The problems must not be elided or submerged in people’s consciousness, thus education and continued activism is essential. There’s a tendency, for example, to view the cancer problems fatalistically rather than the result of practices that are specific to the island.

7. The Navy must yield the land ultimately back to the people (some has been "turned over" to the U.S. Department of the Interior as a wildlife preserve) – the Navy originally expropriated two thirds of this island, cramming its 10,000 inhabitants in the center – the island is 21 miles long and 4 miles wide. The land, cleaned up, and the seabed, cleaned up, would be a valuable resource for people and their lives. (Ironically, as in Puerto Rico, tourism is the number one economic producer in Vieques – in Puerto Rico’s mainland; the number two industry is pharmaceuticals).
Basically unspoken except in Andres’ case, these activists have been exposed to the contaminants themselves and so have put themselves at high risk.
-- Wes Rehberg

FROM VIEQUES, PART TWO -- TWO VIDEO CLIPS FROM DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKER ANDRES NIEVES

Wes Rehberg — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 16:54:42 GMT

Below are two video clips posted on the web site of the Commitee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques and YouTube from Vieques documentary filmmaker Andrés Nieves. The first condemns the U.S. Naval bombing and resulting contamination and economic damage to Vieques. The second urges support for the Radio Vieques FM radio project. For more information visit the committee's web site ...

FROM VIEQUES - TWO DECLARATIONS ABOUT THE IMPACT AND RESPONSE TO U.S. NAVY BOMBINGS AND CONTINUED CONTAMINATION OF THE ISLAND

Wes Rehberg — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 05:18:04 GMT

Below are testimonies from Myrna Pagán and Ismael Guadalupe, founders of the Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques, one given at the Japan Peace Conference in Okinawa and the other presented before the United Nation's Committee on Decolonization in 2006. The concern now is the continued contamination of this Puerto Rican island, including from DU, as a result of U.S. Navy munitions testing there. Ismael Guadalupe's testimony is in Spanish, with a translation to follow shortly.

Myrna Pagan Comittee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques We are united in an effort to make PEACE in a world which is in an extraordinarily dangerous moment. The United States of America is at war, a war against world terrorism, the enemy is everywhere, and everything in its command will be used to defend the United States. What are the limits? The Bush administration appears to be deliberately ambiguous as to ruling in or out the use of nuclear weapons. The weapons of mass destruction are not ruled out. We must say no to the use of nuclear arms and military escalation. We must suggest alternatives to those policies which depend on superior weapons power and political domination. Ours are the voices which must be heard at this moment. Voices which call for change from policies of destruction and retribution to a more enlightened response of non-violence, perseverence and noble purpose ... To read the entire testimony, click here ...
TESTIMONIO ANTE EL COMITÉ DE DESCOLONIZACIÓN ORGANIZACIÓN DE LAS NACIONES UNIDAS 12 de Junio 2006 - Ismael Guadalupe Ortiz Mi más sincero agradecimiento a esta distinguida Comisión donde encontramos años tras años el espacio para nosotros, los puertorriqueños, plantear nuestra situación colonial. De seguro, los compañeros que me han precedido han señalado con mucha certeza, las condiciones que nos colocan en condición de sumisión política ante el gobierno de los Estados Unidos. Dentro de esa absurda situación de subordinación política ante los Estado Unidos el caso de la isla puertorriqueña de Vieques es ejemplo de esa vulnerabilidad política. Luego de décadas de resistencia contra la militarización de Vieques logramos el 1 de mayo del 2003 que la Marina de Guerra de los Estados Unidos saliera de Vieques. Durante ese proceso de lucha, quedó claramente demostrado que nuestras instituciones, que forman parte del Estado Libre Asociado, son tan solo una caricatura de un falso poder que en última instancia radica en el Congreso de los Estados Unidos. Ningún tribunal de Puerto Rico pudo darle atención a los miles de abusos que contra nuestro pueblo cometía la Marina Invasora. Utilizando términos muy sofisticados los tribunales de Puerto Rico se declaraban fuera de jurisdicción, cada vez que se buscaba justicia ante los atropellos cometidos por los militares estadounidenses ... To read the entire testimony, click here ...

ARMY CONFIRMS DU CONTAMINATION AT HAWAII'S POHAKULOA TRAINING AREA -- CLEANUP DEMANDED THROUGHOUT HAWAII

Wes Rehberg — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 11:48:31 GMT

An update on the broad contamination by depleted uranium weapons in Hawaii ...

The U.S. Army has admitted that radioactive depleted uranium has been found at the U.S. Army's Pohakuloa Training Area. Military contractor Cabrera Services has also determined that a formerly classified weapon capable of firing DU rounds was used at the 55,000 acre Big Island military base, the Army said in a two-page news release ... this news transmitted via Viviane Lerner on the NucNews nuclear list service, as reported in the Hawaii Tribune-Herald ...
Meantime, Sharon Rudolph offers this statement regarding Hawaii DU contamination : " I'd like to add..... Hawaii residents and especially everyone downwind of any DU discovery wants the military to follow its own laws! Everyone wants free, "REAL" DU testing for all residents! The thousand dollar test!!! Everyone wants the military to follow is own laws to give medical care to anyone harmed ...and in regard to clean- up; close and pave Pohakuloa and every live fire range across the country that used DU! Everyone wants to know why the cancer rates, birth defects, thyroid, immune and neurological problems are so high downwind! Why are feral cats sick on the western slopes of Mauna Kea? Why are hunters reporting a greatly increased amount of tumors in sheep and goats? Hawaii residents want an INDEPENDENT monitor, NOW!
Everyone in Hawaii wants the army to clean up the other 871 contaminated sites, and however many hundred the navy, has, too! AND they must pay for what they've done to Hawaii and the rest of the country!!!!"
To read recent NucNews recent posts from Lerner on this issue, click here ... (pdf file)

OAK RIDGE ENVIRONMENTAL PEACE ALLIANCE VIGIL ON HIROSHIMA DAY, AUGUST 6, 2007 - VIDEO

Wes Rehberg — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 07:04:21 GMT

The Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance (OREPA) conducted a vigil at the site in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, where the atomic bombs used in Hiroshima and Nagasaki were conceived and manufactured. A ten-minute video of their vigil at Building Y-12 can be viewed at this Google video link ...A downloadable mp4 file of the vigil is available at this Wild Clearing web page ...

"A LONG LINE OF CHICKEN HAWKS": FROM CINDY SHEEHAN ON HER JOURNEY FOR HUMANITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY

Wes Rehberg — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 20:31:19 GMT

Cindy Sheehan sent this message on her "Journey for Humanity and Accountability 'Brought to you by Boeing' Day 20 --

Long Line of Chickenhawks
Cindy Sheehan

   An anti-war activist at a town hall meeting in Iowa recently asked Mitt Romney why not ONE of his five sons served the USA in the military. The woman's brother had been in Iraq and she understandably would have liked to know if the Romney family was so supportive of BushCo's war of terror why didn't they support it with their own flesh and blood.
   Mitt Romney said that his five privileged elite stockbroker/real estate boys are supporting our nation by helping get their father "elected." We could dispute the allegation of how getting a pandering, war-mongering, born-again abortion foe elected is good for our country, but that's not the point.
   The point is the ruling class elite who don't have to worry about health-care, jobs, or how they are going to pay for their children's college tuition send our children to fight and die in their wars that only make them richer while sending working-class families into lifetimes of despair. ...
To continue reading, click here ...

WILD CLEARING CONTINUES DOCUMENTARY ON DU MUNITIONS, HEADING FOR VIEQUES, U.S. EXPOSURE SITES

Wes Rehberg — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 16:16:46 GMT

The Wild Clearing effort to film a documentary on DU munitions is underway, as noted in posts in this blog, with future plans in place to visit Vieques, exposure sites in the United States and Canada, and over the longer term, Kosovo.
Rough clips from past filming are viewable at links here and at our DU blog. Suggestions of sites and persons to contact that would be helpful in telling this story are especially welcome. Contact us to let us know. -- Wes Rehberg, filmmaker

DECLARATION OF PEACE PLEDGE: TAKE ACTION FOR A NEW COURSE IN IRAQ

Wes Rehberg — Sat, 14 Jul 2007 10:46:30 GMT

The Goal of The Declaration of Peace
The Declaration of Peace seeks a comprehensive plan for an end to the U.S. occupation of Iraq, including:

➢    An end to all funding for U.S. military operations in Iraq.
➢    Safe and rapid withdrawal of all U.S. troops and coalition forces from Iraq, with no future redeployments.
➢    No permanent U.S. military bases or installations in Iraq.
➢    Support for an Iraqi-led peace process, including a peace conference to shape a post-occupation transition.
➢    Return control of Iraqi oil to the people of Iraq, as well as complete sovereignty in their economic and political affairs.
➢    Support for reparations and reconstruction to address the destruction caused by the U.S. invasion, military occupation, and 13 years of economic sanctions.
➢    Establish a U.S. peace dividend for job creation, health care, education, housing, and other vital social needs at home.
➢    Increased support for U.S. veterans of the Iraq war.
➢    No war against Iran or any other nation.

Yes! I pledge to declare peace by supporting a comprehensive plan to end the U.S. occupation of Iraq and to support an Iraqi-led peace process. ... [several categories of commitment are included in the documents above or the link below]

CLICK THIS LINK TO SIGN THE PLEDGE ONLINE ...

NOT GUILTY! SEVEN WAR PROTESTERS ACQUITTED OF ACTION IN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING

Wes Rehberg — Sat, 14 Jul 2007 09:49:13 GMT

Not Guilty!
Seven War Protesters Acquitted in DC Superior Court

By Gordon Clark
July 13, 2007

On Thursday, July 12, I filed into DC Superior Courtroom
221 along with my six co-defendants to hear the verdict.
We were apprehensive, given that the jury had
deliberated less then one full day, but as the jury
foreman spoke his words flowed over us like cool rain on
a hot summer day - not guilty.
Not guilty! How often do anti-war protesters hear those
words in a U.S. courtroom?
The trial was the result of a nonviolent action taken in
the Hart Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C. on
March 29, 2007 - the day the Democratically-controlled
Senate voted to continue funding the Iraq war. As part
of the ongoing Occupation Project, the National Campaign
for Nonviolent Resistance, or NCNR (formerly the Iraq
Pledge of Resistance), organized a presence in the Hart
building which consisted of more than 100 cardboard
tombstones with pictures of American and Iraqi dead,
accompanied by a reading of the names of the dead.
Approximately 25-30 individuals participated, and seven
of us were arrested by Capitol Police.
Our ability to get a jury trial (as opposed to a judge
only "bench trial") was almost an accident, a product of
the particular charge in the case which, because it
carried a possible six month jail sentence, allowed us a
jury trial upon request. And as any activist who has
ever gone through the process of a trial can tell you,
if you get a chance to appeal to a jury of your peers,
you go for it. ...

To read the entire article, click here ...

"A MATTER OF INTEGRITY" - DOUG ROKKE'S STORY OF INADEQUATE VETERANS CARE AND DU WEAPONRY COVERUPS

Wes Rehberg — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 12:32:47 GMT

'YOU ARE GOING TO WAR"-- those words echoed through my mind, bringing back memories of my Vietnam experiences, as I sat down in my physics research laboratory at the University of Illinois after receiving a telephone call from the Lieutenant Colonel I worked for in the Army Reserve. I knew this would happen after Iraq invaded Kuwait during August 1990. I just did not know when my activation order would arrive. Anyway, on Thanksgiving Day 1990 I would be on my way to war again just as I did on Thanksgiving Day 1969. Twenty-one years to the day after going to Vietnam for the 2nd time, I was going back to war.

Today, I am a disabled and retired Army Reserve Medical Service Corps officer who specialized in nuclear medicine; and nuclear, biological, and chemical warfare operations (NBC); intelligence; medical operations; and emergency field medicine as a former enlisted combat medic. When Gulf War 1 started during August 1990, I was initially assigned to teach nuclear, biological, and chemical warfare (NBC) operations to 4th U.S. Army personnel. I was finally ordered to active duty and sent to Saudi Arabia with the order "to bring them home alive". That was quite a contrast from my duties during Vietnam as a Bomb Navigation Hard-Hat on B-52's when my job was to ensure weapons systems were optimized to kill. Astonishingly I had deployed to South East Asia on Thanksgiving Day 1969 and then again for Gulf War 1 on Thanksgiving Day 1990. I was sent to Saudi Arabia as the theater health physicist assigned to the 12th Preventive Medicine (P.M.) Command professional staff. The 12th P.M. was in charge of all Preventive Medicine within the combat theater. Basically we were the public health department. I also was assigned to three special operations teams: Bauer's Raiders, the Depleted Uranium Assessment team, and the Captured Equipment team.

Today, 15 years since the completion of 1, 1994 and 1999 combat actions in the Balkans, and with Gulf War 2 (Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom) ongoing, I am frustrated that the required medical care for "all" (combatants and noncombatants) casualties and environmental remediation of all contamination still is delayed or denied. To read the entire article, click this link ...

Videos -- Doug Rokke documents service and background:

* * Two 15-minute video clips of Wes Rehberg's interview with Doug Rokke, with background and documentation of his service as a DU munitions expert in Iraq and elsewhere (roughly compiled mp4 video files for research use only) ...
1) comments on service - 2) background and documents

DOUG ROKKE'S CONFERENCE TALK IN TENNESSEE

Wes Rehberg — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 06:14:51 GMT

Dr. Doug Rokke, former Army DU munitions expert, offered a talk on the dangers of weaponized uranium munitions during the Abolish-DU conference in northeast Tennessee, sponsored by Christian Peacemaker Teams Stop-DU Campaign and First Tennessee Progressives. Go to the web page below to find links to his talk.

Visit this Wild Clearing web page to link to an mp4 or Google video of Rokke's talk.

SUPPORT BBC'S ALAN JOHNSTON'S RELEASE FROM ABDUCTION IN THE GAZA STRIP

Wes Rehberg — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 20:16:23 GMT

Click on Alan Johnston's image to sign a petition in support of his release ...

THE SCIENCE: FROM THE 2003 WORLD URANIUM WEAPONS CONFERENCE IN GERMANY

Wes Rehberg — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 06:09:00 GMT

From the Science Panel of the World Uranium Weapons Conference in Hamburg, Germany, in 2003, on the treacherous impact of these weapons.

The Science Panel of the 2003 World Uranium Weapons Conference in Hamburg, Germany, addressed the human internal responses to exposure to DU including measurable chromosomal damage from ingested and inhaled uranium oxide dust. It also addressed epidemiological findings, health consequences and environmental impacts of areas exposed to weapons in the theaters of war where hundreds of tons of so-called "depleted" uranium weapons were used. A 63-page report from that panel can be downloaded by clicking here ... If one wants to explore the scope of the world conference in more depth, there is a link to the conference site in another post below as well as other links throughout the blog that address scientific findings.

ARMY'S 1996 TECH BULLETIN CALLS FOR EXTREME CAUTION IN DISPOSAL OF EXPLOSIVE DU MUNITIONS

Wes Rehberg — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 09:57:00 GMT

ARMY'S 1996 TECH BULLETIN CALLS FOR EXTREME CAUTION IN DISPOSAL OF EXPLOSIVE DU MUNITIONS
A 1996 Army technical bulletin approved for public release details procedures for the handling, transportation and storage of munitions that contain depleted uranium. Although some sentences tend to minimize risks, other sections detail comprehensive protection measures that must be taken to protect personnel from any contamination as well as measures to be taken should contamination occur. To read the entire document, click here ...
Illustrations below are from the document. Note the cautions in the second panel ...

EUROPEAN UNION PARLIAMENT'S MORATORIUM ON DEPLETED URANIUM WEAPONS

Wes Rehberg — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 05:34:00 GMT

Though there are those, especially in the U.S., who still contend that depleted uranium munitions' oxides are not radioactively threatening or toxic, the European Union's Parliament in 2003 resolved that there be a moratorium on DU weapons use by member and non-member states, including those in NATO. (The United States thus, by extension, ought to also comply as a member of NATO.) Three sections of the EU resolution read as following:

[The Parliament ...]

"11. Calls on the Council to support independent and thorough investigations into the possible harmful effects of the use of depleted uranium ammunition (and other types of uranium warheads) in military operations in areas such as the Balkans, Afghanistan and other regions; stresses that such investigations should include consideration of the effects on military personnel serving in affected areas and the effects on civilians and their land; calls for the results of these investigations to be presented to Parliament;

"12. Requests the Member States - in order to play their leadership role in full - to immediately implement a moratorium on the further use of cluster ammunition and depleted uranium ammunition (and other uranium warheads), pending the conclusions of a comprehensive study of the requirements of international humanitarian law;

"13. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments of the Member States, all members of NATO which are not EU Member States, the UN Secretary-General and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe."

To read the full resolution, click here ...

VIDEO CLIPS FROM CPT DU DELEGATION CONFRONTING AEROJET ORDNANCE OF JONESBOROUGH, TENNESSEE

Wes Rehberg — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 09:23:10 GMT

Below are links to three roughly-edited clips from the Christian Peacemaker Teams May 2007 Stop-DU action confronting Aerojet Ordnance's production of uranium weapons used by the U.S. military in Iraq and elsewhere. One is of an attempt to meet with Aerojet officials, another of a balloon release with a message inside that said the balloon indicated the airflow from the DU munitions manufacturing plant, and the third of a press conference at the Aerojet site to which Aerojet was invited but did not appear. The third clip, 33-minutes in length, also provides resourceful descriptions of uranium weapons dangers.

For CPT/FTP May 2007 Stop-DU delegation in Jonesborough, Tennessee (for viewing only)
** Video 1-minute rough-edited clip of balloon release indicating wind direction from Aerojet Ordnance, a depleted uranium munitions plant - mp4 file
** Video 4-minute rough-edited clip of second visit to Aerojet Ordnance entryway to speak with management -- mp4 file
** Video 33-minute lightly compiled clip of CPT/Sierra Club Radiation Committee press conference at Aerojet Ordnance location - mp4 file
These are roughly compiled video clips from Wes Rehberg @ 2007 Wild Clearing all rights reserved.

DOCUMENTATION: DR. ROSALIE BERTELL ON URANIUM WEAPONS DANGERS

Wes Rehberg — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 06:04:00 GMT

Below is an excerpt from an article by Dr. Rosalie Bertell on uranium weapons hazards -- for the complete article, click the link following the excerpt. Bertell is the author of "Planet Earth: The Latest Weapon of War" and founder of the International Institute for Concern of Public Health. (This is also posted in Wild Clearing's DU-Blog)

THE HAZARD:

When a depleted uranium penetrator hits a hardened target, there is an extreme temperature increase, in the range of 5000 degrees Centigrade. The melting points of uranium metal, 1132 degrees Centigrade and uranium oxide, which is 2865 degrees Centigrade, are exceeded. At this extreme heat, a ceramic (glass) form of uranium oxide is created, which is highly insoluble in human body tissue.

Therefore exposure to DUM (depleted uranium munition) is likely to include uranium oxide dust as well as ceramic uranium oxide aerosol in unknown proportions.

Any aerosol of this ceramic DUM which is smaller than 10 micron can be inhaled, and it can damage the respiratory system. The very small particles, less than 2.5 micron, can penetrate to the lower lung area, while the larger particles will affect the nose and trachea-bronchial tissue.. The particles can be rough, and the mechanical body motion will tend to knock off the protrusions first. These particles may be small enough to pass the lung-blood barrier and be scavenged by blood cells and deposited (permanently) in the thoracic lymph nodes. While this will be a very small amount, uranium is an alpha particle emitter and can damage the lymph tissue which travels throughout the body. To read the entire article, click here ...

TACTICS TO THWART A NONVIOLENT CAMPAIGN AGAINST URANIUM WEAPONS

Wes Rehberg — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 18:46:39 GMT

Roger Helbig, Air Force Lt. Colonel, reportedly pressured sponsors, conferees, delegates in Tennessee

by Cliff Kindy (CPT, Stop-DU)

   One week before the Depleted Uranium (DU) Conference at East Tennessee State University, Roger Helbig, Lieutenant Colonel, United States Air Force,sent scathing emails to the organizers and speakers, saying, among other things, "You really have been had [with these speakers]." He went on to discredit them systematically. One of the speakers, Cathy Garger, reported receiving sixteen messages from Helbig. Helbig also made two phone calls and sent two emails to the director of the Church of the Brethren Newsline, which had sent out the announcement of the conference.

   Helbig was attempting to divide the speakers and planners and force them to spend time defending themselves rather than just telling their stories. Apparently, other pressures from behind the scenes also entered this drama.

   An encampment across from the Aerojet Ordnance plant, a primary DU manufacturer, was supposed to happen in conjunction with the conference. Two landowners, who in previous months had offered their land for the Stop-DU encampment, withdrew those invitations in the last days before the conference.

   Then, the final day before the event, the professor who had arranged the space for the DU Conference on campus received a call on her personal cell phone from the Dean of East Tennessee State University. He questioned why she had opened her classroom to an "outside" group. The implication was that she should rescind the offer.

   As planners assess the timing of the conference, they can draw the conclusion that some people are feeling uncomfortable with the growing visibility of DU issues and are pulling out the stops to make the Stop-DU campaign falter.

   Their tactics failed. The conference proceeded on schedule. Sixty activists and interested visitors from at least nine U.S. states and Canadian provinces attended the six-hour teaching/organizing conference.

   [Members of Christian Peacemaker Teams' 18-26 May delegation that participated in the 19 May DU conference are Russell Attoe and Judy Leurquin (Madison, Wisconsin), Bill and Genie Durland (Colorado Springs, Colorado), Ron Forthofer (Longmont, Colorado), Ron Friesen (Loveland, Colorado), Anne Herman (El Paso, Texas), Kirsten Romaine Jones (Toronto, Ontario), Cliff Kindy (North Manchester, Indiana) Murray Lumley (Toronto, Ontario), Jane MacKay Wright (Providence Bay, Ontario), Wes Rehberg (Chattanooga, Tennessee), Michael Smith (Gibson City, Illinois) and Dick and Gretchen Williams (Boulder, Colorado).]

CINDY SHEEHAN'S FAREWELL IN HER WORDS

Wes Rehberg — Tue, 29 May 2007 19:36:52 GMT

(BASICALLY A LINK TO CINDY'S BLOG AND HER FIRST PARAGRAPHS:)

by CindySheehan Mon May 28, 2007 at 09:57:01 AM PDT

I have endured a lot of smear and hatred since Casey was killed and especially since I became the so-called "Face" of the American anti-war movement. Especially since I renounced any tie I have remaining with the Democratic Party. I have been further trashed on such "liberal blogs" as the Democratic Underground. Being called an "attention whore" and being told "good riddance" are some of the more milder rebukes.
I have come to some heartbreaking conclusions this Memorial Day Morning. These are not spur of the moment reflections, but things I have been meditating on for about a year now. The conclusions that I have slowly and very reluctantly come to are very heartbreaking to me ... (to continue reading in Cindy's blog, click here ... )

US SOLDIERS ARE SICK OF IT AND SUFFERING FROM DU WEAPONS

Wes Rehberg — Mon, 28 May 2007 11:29:00 GMT

Sickened Veterans Cite Depleted Uranium's Toll on Their Lives
Associated Press
August 14th, 2006

NEW YORK - It takes at least 10 minutes and a large glass of orange juice to wash down all the pills - morphine, methadone, a muscle relaxant, an antidepressant, a stool softener. Viagra for sexual dysfunction. Valium for his nerves.
Four hours later, Herbert Reed will swallow another 15 mg of morphine to cut the pain clenching every part of his body. He will do it twice more before the day is done.
Since he left a bombed-out train depot in Iraq, his gums bleed. There is more blood in his urine, and still more in his stool. Bright light hurts his eyes. A tumor has been removed from his thyroid. Rashes erupt everywhere, itching so badly they seem to live inside his skin. Migraines cleave his skull. His joints ache, grating like door hinges in need of oil.
There is something massively wrong with Herbert Reed, though no one is sure what it is. He believes he knows the cause, but he cannot convince anyone caring for him that the military's new favorite weapon has made him terrifyingly sick. To read the entire story, click here ... To go to our Uranium Weapons blog site, click here ...

I'M CONVINCED THAT DU USE IS TREACHEROUS - I HOPE YOU ARE, TOO

Wes Rehberg — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 18:54:56 GMT

Researching the sites listed in the companion DU blog, it became clear that those engaged in warfare are using depleted uranium munitions without regard for the everlasting toxicological and radiological impact on the planet and its life.

For humans, the impact is killing and crippling - read the posts there to help see why. The arguments for the "precautionary principle" advanced by scientists and physicians is compelling -- those who would employ and deploy depleted uranium should take every means to assure that its use is safe; victims and the general public shouldn't have to bear that burden.

Unfortunately, even WHO and the IAEA have argued that its use in munitions doesn't present the hazards that are asserted in the posts there. To me, this is mindful disregard, a displacement that is deadly and treacherous. War is equally evil, but its impacts up to now haven't so deeply threatened life on the planet.

The CPT delegation to Jonesborough, TN, is part of a decades-old international effort to bring this disregard and treachery into public conversation, so that we can, since we have to, be those who espouse the "precautionary principle" regarding DU use. Life depends on it. Read the posts included in the DU blog and elsewhere about this menace. I hope you'll join the campaign. -- Wes Rehberg

DISTRIBUTION OF "REMEMBER THESE CHILDREN" AND IRAQ CHILDREN POSTCARD IN CHATTANOOGA, TN, AREA AS A NONVIOLENT ACTION

Wes Rehberg — Wed, 09 May 2007 05:25:36 GMT

Nonviolent Ways Project has begun an action to distribute in public places and to elected officials copies of "Remember These Children" - see below - and postcards of Iraqi Children. Our point is to offer a face and a name to children affected in extreme ways by the violence in Israel and Palestine and the two U.S. led wars in Iraq as well as the sanctions. Hundreds of thousands of children are estimated to have died since 1991 in Iraq, and more than 1,000 children in Palestine and Israel since 2000. Many of these booklets and postcards will be placed in unexpected places (shopping malls, supermarkets shelves, post-office military recruitment displays, for example) to help raise consciousness about the terrible toll this violence has on children.

CONFERENCE & ENCAMPMENT ON DU WEAPONS IN NORTHEAST TENNESSEE

Wes Rehberg — Wed, 09 May 2007 05:26:44 GMT

   Register now for an unprecedented conference and encampment focused on Depleted Uranium production in Appalachia, and help us stop the production of weaponized nuclear waste !
   Sponsored by the Christian Peacemaker Teams Stop-DU Campaign, "DU--from Appalachia to Afghanistan to Iraq" will feature Pentagon whistleblower Doug Rokke, Afghani social scientist Dr. Mohammed Daud Miraki (author of Afghanistan After Democracy) as well as inspirational writer & speaker Cathy Garger.
   The only cost for this conference is a $7 lunch/registration fee. Our hope is that you will then have room in your budget for the purchase of Dr. Miraki's book which will benefit the medical care of DU victims in Afghanistan. Following are the conference and "Camp DU" details. Please send your check for the Conference &/or RSVP for the encampment to Anthony Pittman.
   For more information, including directions to ETSU and links to campus maps and information on DU, please go to http://DUweapons.notlong.com . Peace, Linda
.
APPALACHIAN DEPLETED URANIUM CONFERENCE (Johnson City, TN) & "CAMP DU" (Jonesborough, TN)
EVENT #1:
* Conference on Depleted Uranium: "DU -- from Appalachia to Afghanistan to Iraq"
* Sponsor: Christian Peacemaker Team Stop-DU Campaign
* Location: East Tennessee State University, Rogers Stout Hall, Room 102, Johnson City, TN 37614
* Speakers (to date): Doug Rokke, Dr. Mohammed Miraki, Cathy Garger
* Date: May 19, 2007, Saturday, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. Registration/Lunch Fee*: $7.00Payable to Organizers: First Tennessee Progressives, Mail Fee to: Anthony Pittman, Secretary - FTP, 712 Wilson Ave., Johnson City, TN 37604
EVENT #2:
* Tent Camp Presence across from DU Weapons Factory: "Camp DU"
* Sponsor: Christian Peacemaker Team Stop-DU Campaign
* Location: Roger's land across from Aerojet Ordnance on Old State Route 34, Jonesborough, TN 37659
* Dates: May 18, 2007 through May 27, 2007
* Free: Bring your own Tent**
RSVP: Anthony Pittman @ apittman2002[a]yahoo.com
*If you'd like to attend, but don't have $7 right now, just mail Anthony a note to let us know you're coming. **If you don't have a tent, but would like to be a part of this action, please email Anthony and we'll round up a tent for you.
Linda C. Modica, Co-founder, First Tennessee Progressives, 266 Mayberry Road, Jonesborough, TN 37659; H: 423-753-9697 C: 423-676-2925 E: linda.c.modica[at]mac.com

"REMEMBER THESE CHILDREN": A MEMORIAL BOOKLET ON THOSE WHO DIED IN THE PALESTINIAN & ISRAELI CONFLICT

Wes Rehberg — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 20:35:49 GMT

The web site Remember These Children is dedicated to the memory of children killed in the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. One can order booklets with each child remembered here. For more, please read below. This is a reality that cannot be set aside ... WR

IN ANY CONFLICT, the death of innocent noncombatants is deplorable, and lamented by all. It is the death of children, however, that troubles us the most, for children are seen to be innocent in a way adults are not.
From September 29, 2000, when the current Palestinian intifada erupted, through March 27, 2007, at least 934 Palestinian and 118 Israeli youths under the age of 18 were killed in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. Thousands more have been injured, many permanently.
Remember These Children lists each of these 1,052 deaths. Arranged chronologically by date of death, each entry includes the child’s name, hometown, how the child was killed and, where available, the nature of the fatal injury. The documentation, though painful, conveys the personal reality of these terrible statistics. The waste of human life—of hope and future promise—is almost too great to contemplate ... To read the entire article, click here ...