No. 117 – September 30, 2014 – John F. Kennedy's death changed our world

by Melinda Pillsbury-Foster

This last weekend the AARC Conference drew over 200 to the Bethesda Hyatt Regency on the 50^th anniversary of the Warren Report. Kennedy's violent death in 1963 shocked Americans, undermining public trust.

The Warren Commission's purpose was to ease the minds of Americans, not to discover the truth. At the time most Americans needed reassurance, accepting what they were told.

In the years since more shocks have fallen, and reassurances are now thin. Records, now public which refute facts originally provided, are raising more questions for Americans from every walk of life.

In 1963 Andrew Kreig, was sitting in his high school history class when he learned the President had been shot. He believed the assurances given until four years ago.

Now both an attorney and investigative journalist, he realized these holes in the official story, rigidly ignored by the Main Stream Media, of which he was so long a part, must be answered.

Today, Kreig has 60 books on the subject. His book, Presidential Puppetry, covered new ground on the assassination. Puppetry is now being updated to include the Warren Report and current revelations on other events which shocked America. Kreig organized the AARC Conference.

Half a century after the Kennedy murder people, now aging themselves, are beginning to speak out to clear the record, a natural reaction as we face our own final judgment.

A retired judge from Cleveland who served on the Commission, attended the Conference with two non-Warren Commission colleagues. He has yet to speak out, but is considering doing so.

Kreig realized the Kennedy murder was only one of several incidents, stretching back to the Lincoln Assassination, where facts were withheld to 'reassure' the public. The possibilities concealed include the CIA as the assassins of JFK.

Questions are also open on the deaths of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy.

Other events, which changed American and now haunt us, include the Iran Hostage Crisis, Iran – Contra, Pearl Harbor, and the 1912 defeat of President William Taft, an Ohio Conservative, who not have taken us into war, by outsider, Woodrow Wilson. Wilson approved the war after signing the Federal Reserve into law on June 23, 1913, two decisions benefiting corporate elites.

Reassuring us with half truths makes us vulnerable to ever more manipulations and lies. Consider the mortgage meltdown and other events which have harmed millions.

Now, instead of 'reassurance' we need the truth.

No. 116 – September 25, 2014 – Will Bessie Rise Again?

by Melinda Pillsbury-Foster

Reports of 'monsters' living in deep bodies of water occur regularly around the world from every continent. Sightings of the Lochness Monster have been recorded at least since the 7^th Century, the first of these found in the Life of St. Columbia by Adamnan. The sighting was dated at 565 AD. 

 

Over the centuries descriptions of these watery denizens have been extremely consistent. The creature is described as being up to 50 feet in length, the part viewed above the water as serpentine. 

 

The same description has been recorded on multiple occasions by people observing what communities bordering on Lake Erie fondly refer to as South Bay Bessie. 

 

The first recorded sighting of Bessie occurred in 1793, before the area began to be widely populated. This first report was made by the captain of the sloop, Felicity while those on board were shooting ducks north of what is today Sandusky, Ohio. 

 

This report describes the creature as “snake-like, 9 to 12 m (30 to 40 ft) long, at least a foot in diameter, with a grayish color.”

Later that same year another boat reported experienced a similar sighting, this time, “copper-coloured and 60 feet (18 m) in length.” The crew discharged muskets at the creature, which they reported had no visible effect. 

 

The length of the creature varies, some reports stating the length of the creature being less than 20 feet. Individual sightings, reflecting similar appearance and difference sizes, would be natural if the area held a population comprising animals of different ages. 

 

In 1817 the Dusseau brothers reported seeing a creature writhing on the beach which they described it as between 20 and 30 feet and shaped like a large sturgeon - except that it had arms. Panicking, they fled. When they returned they found marks on the beach and silver scales they described as being the size of silver dollars.

The brothers assumed the animal was dying. What if it was spawning? This is not unknown in the animal kingdom. Grunion do it. Why not Bessie? 

 

Sightings have continued intermittently throughout the 20^th Century with huge serpentlike creatures in Lake Erie reported in 1985 and 1987, in 1990 and 1993 and, the latest at 11 a.m. Thursday August 12^th. The creature was reported to be 30 – 40 feet in length. 

 

Is Bessie real – or an illusion shared by people around the world? You decide.

No. 115 – September 18, 2014 – Two Equinoxes, North and South on Earth

by Melinda Pillsbury-Foster

For over forty years the Peace Bell at the United Nations has been rung at the precise moment of the Vernal Equinox, calling attention the balance between the Earth's two hemispheres as the world balances between winter and summer, North and South. This year, bells will ring out around the world for the Southern Hemisphere, too.

The woman who has coordinated these events since 1971 is Helen Bryan Carlson Reurs Garland.

Most people have never heard of her, but many have participated in, or admired, the outcome of her work on a multitude of issues. The Earth Society, which Helen now heads as CEO, is committed to Peace, Justice, and Care of the Earth.

Committed to action, Helen rarely thought about receiving credit for a life filled with the kind of work which connected people to each other and made things happen for peace, justice and the environment. She began this work at the United Nations shortly after it was founded.

Most of what you hear about the United Nations focuses on governments. Helen's work is with ordinary people and Non-Government Organizations. Through her work people can learn who they can work with to solve problems, common to many.

Helen was instrumental in creating a global dialogs on such issues on local commercial fishing. Fisherpeople from all over the world have been able to confront the take over of their traditional fishing grounds by massive corporate vessels which strip the oceans down to the seafloor, because oe Helen's work.

Helen began working for peace soon after graduating from Sarah Lawrence College with a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations in 1947. Her generation included soldiers returning from WWII with whom she had grown up. Many of those she knew and dated went to Yale.

Helen did not realize until many years later she had been living cheek and jowl with the very people who brought the CIA into existence. She read about this years later, in the NY Times, stunned.

Activists such as Margaret Mead learned about Environmentalism from Helen. Buckminster Fuller and U Thant, Secretary-General of the United Nations, were close personal friends. And Pete Seeger held a concert during her birthday cruise on the Hudson River every year from 1968 until he died.

Ring a bell for the Southern Equinox, September 22, 2014 at 10:29 PM EDT. The Earth needs our attention today as never before.

No. 114 – September 11, 2014 – What Happened to World Peace?

by Melinda Pillsbury-Foster 

 

As the memorials for September 11, 2001 end it is time to remember the potential for peace which existed in the days following.

The world grieved with us.

Ordinary people around the globe reacted with outpourings of sympathy, protesting these acts of terrorism. World leaders immediately responded, condemning the murders and offering support. Among these leaders was Vladimir Putin. Russia's president urged "the entire international community should unite in the struggle against terrorism," also saying the attacks were "a blatant challenge to humanity."

Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi called the attacks "horrifying" telling Muslims that "irrespective of the conflict with America it is a human duty to show sympathy with the American people." Mohammed Khatami, president of Iran, expressed, "deep regret and sympathy with the victims." Yasser Arafat, Palestinian president, denounced the attacks. Appearing stunned, he repeated how, "unbelievable" they were.

Saddam Hussein expressed sympathy for those who died.

North Korea also offered its sympathy to Americans.

Few people demonstrated anything but sympathy for America. Prayers and vigils by people of most faiths took place as across the world tens of thousands came out to protest the attacks.

So, who planned the attacks?

Osama bin Laden adamantly denied involvement in the 9/11 attacks in an interview by Ummat, a Pakistani daily, published in Karachi on September 28, 2001 He expressed his views on the loss of life, saying, “Islam strictly forbids causing harm to innocent women, children, and other people.”

Osama went on to say, “They needed an enemy. So, they first started propaganda against Usamah and Taleban and then this incident happened.” Speculating who was to blame, he advised looking, “within the US system,” or for those responsible, or for persons who seeking conflict between Islam and Christianity. Finally, he suggested involvement by American intelligence agencies. 

 

Terror, Obama said, “is the most dreaded weapon in modern age and the Western media is mercilessly using it against its own people.”

 

According to the CIA 15 of the 19 hijackers had Saudi citizenship, 2 United Arab Emirates, 1, Egyptian and 1 Lebanese. 

 

No plan to invade Saudi Arabia was suggested by Bush. 

 

Afghanistan was not involved in 9/11, yet we invaded them. Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction. Saddam Hussein expressed his willingness to leave Iraq, if paid. But we invaded. Millions died. 

 

These wars were policy built on lies. Find those who benefited and you have all the answers.

No. 113 – September 4, 2014 – The Free Stores, FreeCycle, Rethinking Life

by Melinda Pillsbury-Foster

Imagine going into a store where everything is free. It happened in San Francisco as the Sixties and New Age Movement were beginning.

Free Stores were opened in Haight-Ashbury in 1966 by the Diggers, a community-action group made up of improvisational actors. The stores operated from 1966 to 1968, in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco.

The experiment can be viewed as the beginning of today's Gift Economy. Traditionally, buying and selling of goods and services took place using coin and printed 'money.'

The stores closed, but innovations continued. The last half of the Twentieth Century saw played out a series of innovative practices which challenged this, and other, assumptions.

Although barter and trade persisted locally the lack of a unit for transactions limited the practice to very local areas. Reacting to the abuse of money, and the Vietnam Conflict, people began reaching out for alternatives for war and commerce.

In 1966 the Brotherhood of Eternal Love, started in Laguna Beach, was contributing income generated from sales of LSD to fund protests against the Vietnam Conflict with marked success.

Though few knew it doors were reopening from a century earlier.

The first experiments with alternative life-styles and exchange by Westerners in North America came through the Transcendental Movement, communalism ignited through the writings of Robert Owen, a Scottish Socialist. Owens introduced Time Hours with the National Equitable Labour Exchange in 1832.

These experiments often failed. Abigail May Alcott, mother of Louisa May Alcott, author of Little Women, made the observation she was the commune's only domestic animal. It was deemed inhumane to employ animals for labor during Fruitland's existence in Massachusetts.

Communalism did not persist. But time hours was successfully introduced in Ithaca, New York in 1991, providing an alternative to money during the recession then taking place. Ashtabula has a Time Hours Group through St. Peter Church. Try it.

FreeCycling, person to person gifting of unused items, started on May 1st, 2003 in Tucson, Arizona, and took off as the ease and effectiveness of the practice became obvious.

Baby clothes, parts for appliances, furniture, things pass rapidly from person to person through freecycling, saving money without overhead.

No. 112 – March 28, 2014 - The Diner Down on South Main Avenue

 

by Melinda Pillsbury-Foster

The building on South Main Avenue started life as a Tastee Freeze in the 1960's. 

 

Robert Laufland and his wife acquired it, starting a neighborhood diner which began serving early in the morning. Clientele included utility workers and others who had to make early jobs. Bill Murphy remembers delivering donuts there from the Swedish Bakery, owned by his parents across the street. 

 

The portions were generous and the atmosphere friendly and welcoming. Everyone knew everyone, which is how Robert and his wife wanted it. 

 

When Robert's wife became ill the Diner was purchased by Willian Allds, Jr. Then, his parents took it over. During this time Sonja Loll was hired to run the bustling business. The early mornings, beginning at 5am, at the latest 6am, suited her as did the warm, friendly atmosphere of place. 

 

Breakfast could include ham, bacon, mouth-watering biscuits, gravy to die for and more. Extras slices of bread were free. While the cooks made breakfast the lunch specials were already simmering, sending out aromas which drew many back a few hours later. 

 

Diners cheerfully stood to eat sandwiches at lunchtime, waiting for a seat to empty at the counter. Many who ate breakfast there returned for lunch, remembering the savory scents which issued from the kitchen. A good part of their success was the excellence of the food. 

 

Melveen Allds and Sonja were friends and had known each other for a good long time. 

 

A neighborhood gathering place, people nearby, living alone, treated it as an extension of their little-used kitchens. Sonja made sure these customers would have a meal ready for them. The daily special was put aside, with dessert. 

 

It was a comfy arrangement. Melveen and Sonja would sit together at a table when business was light to go over the payroll. Melveen also worked for the Morrisons as a title clerk and bookkeeper. William, Sr., her husband, had worked at General Tire until it went out of business. 

 

The large bar was open at the corner, next to Murphy's Bakery, had standing orders on Friday night for the House Macaroni and Cheese, fried fish and cold slaw. 

 

And in the afternoon there was always coffee for which you paid once and poured forever. Evenings you could enjoy supper, with desert or serve yourself ice cream, closing at 7PM. 

 

Sonja says it was a nice place to work. Do you remember its name?

No. 111 – August 21, 2014 – Drafting Norman Schwarzkopf

by Melinda Pillsbury-Foster

The first Veteran's Administration Hospital in America was paid for with a check for one million dollars in 1918. The check was presented by the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Taxpayers had nothing to do with it.

By early 2004 it was clear to Americans there had been no Weapons of Mass Destruction. The news was filled with images of suffering in Iraq and whole families dying. Coffins holding the bodies of American military were returning to America. Former military were struggling with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and dying on the street, left homeless by the failure of the Veteran's Administration to provide needed care.

In our Lodge, No. 613, Santa Barbara, where I served as Esquire, ensuring our members remained orderly, helping retired military was always on the agenda. By 2004 surge of patriotism, produced by 9/11 was waning. Another four years of George W. Bush looked like a really bad idea, but who could we trust?

It was during a conversation with Steve Brown, a former Exalted Ruler, it came to me that General Norman Schwarzkopf was just the man for the job. So did Steve. So we decided to draft him.

Papers were filed for our campaign committee with the FEC. Steve modestly accepted the position of Chairman of the Draft Committee. The website went up. The news release went out.

Phone calls and email began to roll in.

Then, we were contacted by the newly formed Veterans Party, who really, really wanted Norman as their candidate, too. Phil Meskin, their founder, is a Vietnam Veteran who has served vets since the day he left the service.

It was a perfect partnership.

Norman was living in Florida, right next door to a friend of Mike Pinera's of Iron Butterfly. Mike was living with Jerry Corbetta then. Jerry wrote “Green-Eyed Lady,” and he and Mike toured with Classic Rock All Stars.

Jerry is a friend of mine. Using various connections a sit down with Norman was arranged. We found out Norman was fighting cancer. A presidential run was, therefore, out of the question. It was a sad moment.

Americans desperately wanted a president they could trust. All of us trusted Norm, a man with brains, balls and simple decency.

Election Day saw the longest waiting lines to vote in memory. We wanted peace, sanity, kindness and a government we could trust. It should have been Norman.