Organizing Notes

Bruce Gagnon is coordinator of the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space. He offers his own reflections on organizing and the state of America's declining empire....

My Photo
Name:
Location: Brunswick, ME, United States

The collapsing US military & economic empire is making Washington & NATO even more dangerous. US could not beat the Taliban but thinks it can take on China-Russia-Iran...a sign of psychopathology for sure. We must all do more to help stop this western corporate arrogance that puts the future generations lives in despair. @BruceKGagnon

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

AN OLD FRIEND PASSES ON


* Our dear old dog Red was put to sleep yesterday and we will miss him badly. He was 15 years old and was the best dog I ever had. He had developed Cushings disease and in the past few weeks was losing his ability to stand up and walk around. Never did he complain, always his kind gentle spirit remained. We buried him in Georgetown in the woods along the marshland on land owned by our friend Rosie Paul. Our neighbor girl Leann, who has grown to love Red, dug the hole in the rocky soil. We wrapped him in my beloved red Navajo Indian rug that was one of my most favorite possessions. Native people believe that the best gifts are those hardest to give away.

* A few days ago I got a call from Sr. Mary Jude Jun from St. Louis, Missouri who told me she had been diagnosed with an aggressive cancer. Then on last Friday, as my train headed south to Hartford, she called again and said the doctors had given her just a couple weeks to live. She told me she wanted me to know how much she supports the work of the Global Network and that she would be praying for us. Sr. Mary and I had never formally met but for many years she has been one of my most avid email friends. She would often send comments to the various emails I forwarded around and made an effort to share our space work with others living in her retirement center.

When I began to speak in Hartford on Friday night I began telling the story of Sr. Mary's call and that in her own time of great worry she was thinking of us and praying for our success. That kind of selflessness deeply touches my heart.

* The word from Jeju Island in South Korea is not good. The military has begun the process of buying up some of the land near the proposed Navy base in the Gangjeong village and tearing down some of the tangerine growing green houses. The military has also successfully forced the postponement of the legal case of the villagers that they hoped would help stop the base construction. On April 28 the military plans to hold a small ceremony to bless the construction crews, largely made up of the big corporation Samsung.

The people in the village are meeting every evening to monitor the situation and prepare to resist the construction process.

Global Network board member Sung-Hee Choi has been in Gangjeong for several weeks writing about the situation. She reports, "This sudden whole elevation of tension cannot be done without the U.S. strategy and will to militarize the maritime border with the missile defense system, against China and to use the Jeju Island as one of her effective bases to invade the poorer countries, along with the bases in Okinawa, Guam, Tinian, Hawaii, and other areas."

You can see her photos and full reports here

TAKE ACTION: Call the South Korean Embassy at 202-939-5692 (Admiral Choi) or 202-939-5600 or email at consular_usa@mofat.go.kr

1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Bruce,

I am very sorry about your losing Red. I know the feeling and it tears a hole in you.

4/21/10, 6:18 AM  

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home