NIMBYism Strikes…

They are considering running a 345kV power line with 120 to 150 foot towers across our land.  Naturally, I am considering stopping them.   

Abductions in Iraq

FOR IMMEDIATE

RELEASE

November 30, 2024; 1:00 A.M.
(Baghdad)

Contact:
CPT Iraq in Baghdad 07901-339-537
CPT in Canada:  Doug Pritchard 416-423-5525

We were very saddened to see the images of our loved ones on Al Jazeera television recently. We were disturbed by seeing the video and believe that repeated showing of it will endanger the lives of our friends. We are deeply disturbed by their abduction. We pray that those who hold them will be merciful and that they will be released soon. We want so much to see their faces in our home again, and we want them to know how much we love them, how much we miss them, and how anxious and concerned we are by what is happening to them.

We are angry because what has happened to our teammates is the result of the actions of the U.S. and U.K. government due to the illegal attack on Iraq and the continuing occupation and oppression of its people. Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) has worked for the rights of Iraqi prisoners who have been illegally detained and abused by the U.S. government. We were the first people to publicly denounce the torture of Iraqi people at the hands of U.S. forces, long before the western media admitted what was happening at Abu Ghraib. We are some of the few internationals  left in Iraq who are telling the truth about what is happening to the Iraqi people We hope that we can continue to do this work and we pray for the speedy release of our beloved teammates.

We can confirm the identities of those who are being held as follows:

Tom Fox, age 54, is from Clearbrook, Virginia and is a dedicated father of two children. For the past two years, Mr. Fox has worked with CPT in partnership with Iraqi human rights organizations to promote peace. Mr. Fox has been faithful in the observance of Quaker practice for 22 years. While in Iraq, he sought a more complete understanding of Islamic cultural richness. He is committed to telling the truth to U.S. citizens about the horrors of war and its effects on ordinary Iraqi civilians and families as a result of U.S. policies and practices.

Mr. Fox is an accomplished musician. He plays the bass clarinet and the recorder and he loves to cook. He has also worked as a professional grocer. Mr. Fox devotes much of his time to working with children. He has served as an adult leader of youth programs and worked at a Quaker camp for youth. He has facilitated young people’s participation in opposing war and violence. Mr. Fox is a quiet and peaceful man, respectful of everyone, who believes that "there is that of God in every person" which is why work for peace is so important to him.

Norman Kember, age 74, is from London, England. He and his wife of 45 years have two married daughters and a 3-year old grandson. He has been a pacifist all his life
beginning with his work in a hospital instead of National Service at age 18. Before
his retirement he was a professor teaching medical students at St Bartholemew’s
Hospital in London. He is well-known as a peace activist, and has been involved in
several peace groups. For the past 10 years he has volunteered with a local program
providing free food to the homeless. He likes walking, birdwatching, and writing
humorous songs and sketches. In his younger days he enjoyed mountaineering.

James Loney, 41, is a community worker from Toronto, Canada. He has been a member of Christian Peacemaker Teams since August 2024, and is currently the Program Coordinator for CPT Canada. On previous visits to Iraq, his work focused on taking testimonies from families of detainees for CPT’s report on detainee abuse, and making recommendations for securing basicl legal rights. James was leading the November 2024 delegation in Iraq when he went missing.

James is a peace activist, writer, trained mediator, and works actively with two Toronto community conflict resolution services. He has spent many years working to provide housing and support for homeless people.

In a personal statement from James to CPT, he writes: "I believe that our actions as a people of peace must be an expression of hope for everyone. My hope in practising non-violence is that I can be a conduit for the transformative power of God’s love acting upon me as much as I hope it will act upon others around me."

Harmeet Singh Sooden, 32 is a Canadian electrical engineer. He is studying for a masters degree in English literature in Auckland University in New Zealand to prepare for a teaching career. He enjoys art, is active in squash and worked part time as a local squash coach. His family describes him as peaceful and fun-loving and he is known to be passionate about the plight of the underprivileged around the globe. He works tirelessly in his spare time to educate and help others.

Christian Peacemaker Teams has been present in Iraq since October 2024, providing first-hand, independent reports from the region, working with detainees of both United States and Iraqi forces, and training others in non-violent intervention and human rights documentation.

Christian Peacemaker Teams is a program of Brethren, Quaker and Mennonite Churches (USA and Canada). The Baptist Peace Fellowship, Every Church a Peace Church, On Earth Peace and The Presbyterian Peace Fellowship are also sponsors of CPT.  Christians from other bodies in the ecumenical Christian community are participants in the 40 member full time Christian Peacemaker  Corps and the part time 125 member Reserve Corps.

When Bloggers Roamed the Earth

Werkstatte1There is news, good news, and a creative outpouring from all over.  Michael O’Connor Clarke has taken a senior management position at Marqui!  Ronni Bennett is in Portland Maine looking for a new home. 

Problem with blog postings is that we catch a snapshot and seldom turn all the little images into a flipbook.  This deprives us of context and motion.

Rather than substantiate the following assertion with mere data, I’m going to ask you to take it on faith.  The bull market is back and the world o’ blogs, a mere parking lot for so many underemployed refugees from the dot com daze, has emerged as the paper of record.

Tidy people are using aggregators to roll their own info-feeds and are better informed than they were last year.  Newspaper circulation has again declined in all markets.  Messy people like me still haven’t gotten our minds around personal aggregation since it smacks of newspapers piling up on the porch.

There is no way out of Iraq and southwest asia looks like a re-run of southeast asia without the leeches.  Bush, struggling for any action he might take to appear effective, threatens long prison terms for illegals apprehended by el migre.

Brian Moffatt quotes Geordie Best:  “I spent a lot of my money on booze, birds and fast cars – the rest I just squandered.”

Yes, at Sandhill we share all the fits that’s news to print.

Here, for friends, family and the occasional reader who might have floated in on a Google search for "woodchuck pie,"

BESO!

Deepak Chopra and Kate Moss

Golby echoes Locke’s drumbeat of demystification with a post today that contains a post within the post and in other ways provides strong echos of Hamlet and competition for Shakespeare in this modern genre.

These two posts, "Kate’s Difficult Life" and "Finding Kate Moss" should be read together. 

Mike’s passionate coverage of the American Global War has been interrupted by an urge to explore some pop cultural nuances in the context of his own life and history.  "I write," he says.  "It’s what I do.  Nothing else matters."

I have often explained to my children that they come from a long line of
unremarkable people. Much as we’d like to assume otherwise, we all do. I have
also explained to them that none of us had happy childhoods. Much as we’d like
to assume otherwise, none of us did.
– Mike Golby

Transgressive Blogging

Liz Ditz reviews Pinyo’s "7 Deadly Sins of Blogging." While I hoped for a list that was more fun than that, Pinyo has indeed placed some good guideposts.

Flying Dog

Matt and Wendy were exploring.  In the barn they climbed the steep steps to the hayloft.  The hayloft door stood open, a gaping maw ten feet above the ground, about six feet square, convenient for loading bales.  Molly raced up the stairs past them.  When she got to the loft she must have looked through that opening and seen her frisbee on the ground outside.  Matt got to the top in time to see her launch herself out the door, land (none the worse for wear), and come charging back up the stairs with the disk in her mouth.

Aussies have a levitation gland, I think.

Party People

Dadwendymatt

Here’s Dad, Wendy and Matt…  the visits are too brief, the distances too great…  here’s hoping some day we can all have as much time as we want to spend together.