Rockport, MA is a small New England fishing town--quaint buildings, trendy shops, an actual fishing industy, but lots of tourists from all ove.  Many come every year to watch the quirky 4th of July parade--my particular favorite "act" is the lawn chair drill team.  It's the kind of place you can put your blanket on the parade route the evening before the parade, and it will still be there the following evening for you to sit on.  

The parade ends with everyone walking down to the beach for the big BONFIRE, while the Legion Band plays familiar songs in the band gazebo. Every year the firemen put something special on top. This year it was a little red shed.  It burned like a "house afire" and fell to the ground with a fire splash that was spectacular.  

No fireworks, just good old fashioned New England fun.  But this year two things happened that were a bit unusual...

First about 20 Obama people marched in the parade--to my relief they got a lot of applause--not really surprising, I guess, here in Blue country, but still, it was pleasant.

Today's the day -- Iraq Moratorium #12 -- a day to do something to end the war and occupation of Iraq.

It's a simple concept.  The Moratorium asks people to interrupt their daily routines on the Third Friday of every month and take some action, individually or with a group, to end the war and occupation.  It encourages  locally organized, grassroots actions to move more of the silent majority who say they oppose the war to do something to end it.

The national Moratorium doesn't try to tell people what action to take.  It offers a wide variety of options, from wearing a button or armband to taking part in a demonstration, and many things in between.  The important thing is that people do something.

I would like to enlist the community's help in identifying a short story that has some relevance for today's world. It has been a long time since I read this story. I lost the book when my parents basement was flooded out, and time has erased the name of the story and the authour, but it keeps coming back to me whenever I see efforts of the progressive community to move towards a more peaceful foreign policy.

Today I spent a few hours with a group of Armed Guard and Merchant Marine veterans.  Their monthly meeting is always held at Hoss’s though it is difficult to navigate a buffet with canes and walkers.  The group is 59 strong if all are in attendance – some bring their spouses or are driven there by a relative since they can travel 30 miles to be there.  

Friday marks the 12th month, the end of a year, for the Iraq Moratorium.

Since last September, it has united people holding more than 1,200 events and actions in 41 states and 240 communities, from one end of the country to the other.

But it hasn't stopped the war.  Should we give up now?

The Iraq Moratorium folks don't think so.  In fact, they've renewed their commitment to ending the war and occupation, and have made some improvements in the operation. You'll find a new website, with a new address, www.IraqMoratorium.com, and even a new logo to go with the new look.

Witness Against War, a 450-mile walk from Chicago to St. Paul for the Republican convention, reached a Wisconsin Army base on Sunday, and 13 walkers were arrested when they tried to enter the base to interact with soldiers there.

Kathy Kelly of Voices for Creative Nonviolence, who organized the walk, was held on an oustanding 10-year-old warrant for civil disobedience at Project ELF in northern Wisconsin.  The others were released and the walk continues today.

This report is from Jeff Leys, one of the walkers who was arrested:  

In the spirit, perhaps, of the Vietnam war protesters (pictured) who attempted to levitate the Pentagon in 1967, activists in Springfield, Mass. will observe the Iraq Moratorium on Friday, Aug. 15, by encircling the federal building there.

They'll gather at 4 p.m. for a short rally, then will encircle the building and hold hands around it. The theme for the day is "Dont Invade Iran." They are calling the action "Hands Around the Federal Building," and say that car pools are coming from other cities. "we need 350 people to make this work. We are confident we will have that," they say on the Moratorium blog.

That's just one of dozens of events happening across the country, which are listed on the new, improved Moratorium website. There are always more that don't get posted, or that only surface after the fact.

Hiroshima Day, August 6, and Nagasaki Day, August 9, will be commemorated around the world this week. These days take on special meaning at a time when the U.S. and its allies are pressing Iran to forgo development of nuclear energy due to concerns that Iran also plans to develop nuclear weapons.

But is it feasible to continue an international regime built on nuclear haves and have nots? Can we expect countries like Iran and North Korea to indefinitely forgo the power and prestige of being a member of the nuclear club when Pakistan, India, Israel, China, and the U.S. all have the bomb?

As the Iraq Moratorium prepares for its 12th monthly observance on August 15 -- the Third Friday of the month, as always -- it's made some changes to get ready for its second year.

You'll find a new website, with a new address, www.IraqMoratorium.com, and even a new logo to go with the new look.

One thing that hasn't changed is the determination to end the senseless war and occupation of Iraq, by encouraging locally organized, grassroots actions to move more of the silent majority who say they oppose the war to do something to end it.

DFH....... DFH.  I've been one since I discovered a personal affection for thinking for myself.  I suspect many Kossacks reading this fit the same description.  We carry it as a badge of honor.

We have been right about a myriad of issues.

From matters of dissent, and religious freedom, to public education and healthcare for all, to the the most important issues that humankind faces the world over: peace and our survival as a species on this fragile jewel we inhabit that hangs so perilously in the vastness of space.  

We were always the one demographic that has been right from the start about every issue we cared about. Every. Single One.

Follow me below for a reminder of what it is we care about and our quest to make this a "more perfect union" and a better world....... all set to the music of my time. And probably your music too.

Newsflash from ObamaClark.com is that they are nearing FIVE THOUSAND signatures recommending to the Obama campaign that Clark fill the #2 spot.  OK, so 5K maybe a bit anemic so far, but they're working to double that number, and it's growing toward a mandate, isn't it?!  (I can snark on myself in this world, right?)

Seriously, tell me any way McCain can come up with any veep candidate to come close to the shear photogenic pairing of an Obama/Clark ticket - this is a pairing of both style and substance.

Keep reading - the good stuff is below the fold.

In the wake of improbable events, like the arrest of Radovan Karadzic, we should
Consider all possible explanations.
  Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction, but fiction can illuminate truth.  Often the travels of fiction disappoint or outrage, but as Carly Haskins, President of the Carnegie Institution in 1963 said, "A society committed to the search for truth must give protection to, and set a high value upon, the independent and original mind, however angular, however rasping, however socially unpleasant it may be; for it is upon such minds, in large measure, that the effective search for truth depends."  
   The author of the story below would not presume to be an "original and independent mind". The story enclosed is it fiction?  Perhaps.  It is woven from news reports.  It can be seen as a means to view recent events, events that have held the stage as explanation for nearly every act, in a different light. Though to do so today is near treason, or brings on questions of one's sanity.  We have all the answers.  We do not need to deal with messy details. Our ideology demands a struggle between East and West.

I was genuinely saddened today to hear of the passing of Rep. John Seiberling of Ohio.

Bitterness of war, breeds bitterness of war. Time and again this thought echoes in my mind, and it is rather hard to forget. Time and again it is riveted to my very soul and I cannot escape it. Just when I feel that I have shaken it, there it is, firmly attached.

Two weeks ago, some Kossacks helped me to raise $200. Last night I helped to facilitate a fund raising event. My friend, Dr. Wendy Johnson and I helped to raise $700 at a house party. Over the past month, we have worked with Peace groups in Seattle, the Department of Communications, Real Change, and other organizations  to try to reach our goal of $10,000. We have raised $4,000 to date for our cause.... the money we raised was not for Obama, nor for any Congressional candidates. I donated $100 already, plus some in kind donations of time and energy, and I am unemployed right now, a mere student going to school this fall. :-)

We are bringing an exhibit of 60 photographs to the University of Washington Odegaard Undergraduate Library in Seattle. These 60 photos are called UNEMBEDDED. WAR IS VIOLENT. These images will stir you.

More after the fold.

A few weeks ago, Wisconsin peace activists successfully challenged the Army's use of a "Virtual Army Experience" game, aimed at recruiting young people, at a lakefront music festival. As reported then, the festival asked the Army to shut down the game, which offered a chance to shoot at life-sized human targets from a Humvee, replace it with something less offensive, and set an age limit of 17 to participate.

Now comes the charge that by targeting young teenagers the Army is actually violating international law:

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has found that Army use of the game, and its recruiting practice in general, violate international law.

I have picked up an interesting little book recently, "The Undercover Economist" (quite good), and in it I read the following passage:

We all know that in most countries the Ministry of Defense is in charge of attacking other countries and that the Ministry of Employment presides over the unemployment lines. Cameroon's Ministry of Tourism is in that noble tradition. Its job is to discourage tourists from getting into the country.

Now this was obviously a joke, and I immediately got the part about employment and tourism. Then I stared at the page in stupefaction, trying to figure out what was the joke about the Ministry of Defense. It took me about 5 seconds to work that out.

I have been trolling the posts here and see little on the domestic terrorism situation in Tennessee on a Unitarian Universalsit church. Standing up for human rights values has been a central part of our church that is often lost in the theological confusion. UU's are at the forefront of every human rights battle. Our current administration, culture and media continue to devalue our tradition of supporting equality sexually,  racially and through marriage.