RALPH

             Ya know, sometimes one just overflows with pride.   I often wonder what my boys might have become if they had had the opportunity to grow up. David would be just a few years younger than Ralph.
              I had Ralph as a young'un in elementary school my first year of teaching - that year when, no matter how long you teach, you will always remember those kids, where they sat, what they did... Ralph was in the 3rd grade that year. He was not an outstanding artist, not the class clown, or the kind of kid you had to give "that LOOK" to... but he had Something. I was not able to define what that was - still can't, but in the course of my 38 year career, I have been so blessed to have had a few kids with that Something. They didn't all become big shot politicians, but they all became FINE men and women- people to be proud of. I confess, having had and lost 2 boys, I paid more attention to my boys than my girls in school, and especially in that age bracket, always wondering if mine would have been like this kid or that...........
                My pride in Ralph is not exactly politically oriented, tho I am proud of his beliefs and the stands he has taken in his political career... but it is as a doctor where he so greatly shines in the hearts of so many here. This article does not begin to give him the credit he deserves - he does not seek publicity or fame. He is often very understated, even underrated. Humble. My kind of guy. He does tons of pro-bono work, flies out to Tangier, for example, to care for kids when they come home from CHKD. No one mentions the stuff he does like that, and that is the way he wants it.
Check him out here. Ya gotta love this guy.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/ralph-northam-vas-low-key-lieutenant-governor-juggles-politics-and-pediatrics/2014/07/27/9bfcbf72-fd7f-11e3-8176-f2c941cf35f1_story.html

MAKE A JOYFUL NOISE - 2013

In spite of a lot of illnesses, our group got together and headed out once again to carol in the neighborhood. The weather was very cooperative with temps in the upper 50s! I remember the first year – we sang standing in snow!

Once again we had singers from several different churches. The Baptists provided the words in English for those of us who learned out songs in Latin! We included the words for Ava Maria for them to ponder. We did not try to sing it. Maybe next year. About half way thru the men disappeared to try to get my van running. Dead battery. Oh well, it is the original battery… I added up how old it is and much to my shock, it is 7 1/2 years old. Since I only have 47,000 miles on it, and it is a Toyota good for another 200,000 miles or so, I don’t think about things like age. But I guess the battery did.

We did not have our usual police escort this year, so that limited where we went. We stayed off the Main streets because of the kids – they get excited and sometimes run across the street. So, to keep them safe, we stayed on the back streets. We sang at the homes of several people who usually come and sing with us. It has been a year for surgeries and such…

Anyway, we had a good time. Lots of cookies, hot chocolate, and a Muslim friend made us a tray of Turkish Baklava. I thought that was a good way to top off my 4th Ecumenical Moment.

 

MY NEWEST HERO!

Published on Wednesday, May 15, 2013 by Common Dreams

How the US Turned Three Pacifists into Violent Terrorists

by Fran Quigley

From left, Greg Boertje-Obed, Sister Megan Rice, and Michael Walli. (Photo: Saul Young/News Sentinel)In just ten months, the United States managed to transform an 82 year-old Catholic nun and two pacifists from non-violent anti-nuclear peace protestors accused of misdemeanor trespassing into federal felons convicted of violent crimes of terrorism.  Now in jail awaiting sentencing for their acts at an Oak Ridge, TN nuclear weapons production facility, their story should chill every person concerned about dissent in the US.

Here is how it happened.

In the early morning hours of Saturday June 28, 2012, long-time peace activists Sr. Megan Rice, 82, Greg Boertje-Obed, 57, and Michael Walli, 63, cut through the chain link fence surrounding the Oak Ridge Y-12 nuclear weapons production facility and trespassed onto the property.  Y-12, called the Fort Knox of the nuclear weapons industry, stores hundreds of metric tons of highly enriched uranium and works on every single one of the thousands of nuclear weapons maintained by the U.S.

“The truth will heal us and heal our planet, heal our diseases, which result from the disharmony of our planet caused by the worst weapons in the history of mankind, which should not exist.  For this we give our lives — for the truth about the terrible existence of these weapons.”
- Sr. Megan Rice

Describing themselves as the Transform Now Plowshares, the three came as non-violent protestors to symbolically disarm the weapons. They carried bibles, written statements, peace banners, spray paint, flower, candles, small baby bottles of blood, bread, hammers with biblical verses on them and wire cutters. Their intent was to follow the words of Isaiah 2:4: “They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.”

Sr. Megan Rice has been a Catholic sister of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus for over sixty years.  Greg Boertje-Obed, a married carpenter who has a college age daughter, is an Army veteran and lives at a Catholic Worker house in Duluth Minnesota.  Michael Walli, a two-term Vietnam veteran turned peacemaker, lives at the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker house in Washington DC.

In the dark, the three activists cut through a boundary fence which had signs stating “No Trespassing.”  The signs indicate that unauthorized entry, a misdemeanor, is punishable by up to 1 year in prison and a $100,000 fine.

No security arrived to confront them.

So the three climbed up a hill through heavy brush, crossed a road, and kept going until they saw the Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility (HEUMF) surrounded by three fences, lit up by blazing lights.

Still no security.

So they cut through the three fences, hung up their peace banners, and spray-painted peace slogans on the HEUMF.  Still no security arrived.  They began praying and sang songs like “Down by the Riverside” and “Peace is Flowing Like a River.”

When security finally arrived at about 4:30 am, the three surrendered peacefully, were arrested, and jailed.

The next Monday July 30, Rice, Boertje-Obed, and Walli were arraigned and charged with federal trespassing, a misdemeanor charge which carries a penalty of up to one year in jail.  Frank Munger, an award-winning journalist with the Knoxville News Sentinel, was the first to publicly wonder, “If unarmed protesters dressed in dark clothing could reach the plant's core during the cover of dark, it raised questions about the plant's security against more menacing intruders.”

On Wednesday August 1, all nuclear operations at Y-12 were ordered to be put on hold in order for the plant to focus on security.  The “security stand-down”  was ordered by security contractor in charge of Y-12, B&W Y-12 (a joint venture of the Babcock and Wilcox Company and Bechtel National Inc.) and supported by the National Nuclear Security Administration.

On Thursday August 2, Rice, Boertje-Obed, and Walli appeared in court for a pretrial bail hearing.  The government asked that all three be detained.  One prosecutor called them a potential “danger to the community” and asked that all three be kept in jail until their trial.  The US Magistrate allowed them to be released.

Sr. Megan Rice walked out of the jail and promptly admitted to gathered media that the three had indeed gone onto the property and taken action in protest of nuclear weapons.  “But we had to — we were doing it because we had to reveal the truth of the criminality which is there, that’s our obligation,” Rice said. She also challenged the entire nuclear weapons industry: “We have the power, and the love, and the strength and the courage to end it and transform the whole project, for which has been expended more than 7.2 trillion dollars,” she said. “The truth will heal us and heal our planet, heal our diseases, which result from the disharmony of our planet caused by the worst weapons in the history of mankind, which should not exist.  For this we give our lives — for the truth about the terrible existence of these weapons.”

Then the government began increasing the charges against the anti-nuclear peace protestors.

The day after the Magistrate ordered the release of Rice, Boertje-Obed, and Walli, a Department of Energy (DOE) agent swore out a federal criminal complaint against the three for damage to federal property, a felony punishable by zero to five years in prison, under 18 US Code Section 1363.

The DOE agent admitted the three carried a letter which stated, “We come to the Y-12 facility because our very humanity rejects the designs of nuclearism, empire and war.  Our faith in love and nonviolence encourages us to believe that our activity here is necessary; that we come to invite transformation, undo the past and present work of Y-12; disarm and end any further efforts to increase the Y-12 capacity for an economy and social structure based on war-making and empire-building.”

Now, Rice, Boertje-Obed, and Walli were facing one misdemeanor and one felony and up to six years in prison.

But the government did not stop there.  The next week, the charges were enlarged yet again.

On Tuesday August 7, the U.S. expanded the charges against the peace activists to three counts.  The first was the original charge of damage to Y-12 in violation of 18 US Code 1363, punishable by up to five years in prison.  The second was an additional damage to federal property in excess of $1000 in violation of 18 US Code 1361, punishable by up to ten years in prison. The third was a trespassing charge, a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in prison under 42 US Code 2278.

Now they faced up to sixteen years in prison. And the actions of the protestors started to receive national and international attention.

On August 10, 2012, the New York Times ran a picture of Sr. Megan Rice on page one under the headline “The Nun Who Broke into the Nuclear Sanctum.”  Citing nuclear experts, the paper of record called their actions “the biggest security breach in the history of the nation’s atomic complex.”

At the end of August 2012, the Inspector General of the Department of Energy issued at comprehensive report on the security breakdown at Y-12.  Calling the peace activists trespassers, the report indicated that the three were able to get as far as they did because of “multiple system failures on several levels.” The cited failures included cameras broken for six months, ineptitude in responding to alarms, communication problems, and many other failures of the contractors and the federal monitors.  The report concluded that “Ironically, the Y-12 breach may have been an important “wake-up” call regarding the need to correct security issues at the site.”

On October 4, 2012, the defendants announced that they had been advised that, unless they pled guilty to at least one felony and the misdemeanor trespass charge, the U.S. would also charge them with sabotage against the U.S. government, a much more serious charge. Over 3000 people signed a petition to U.S. Attorney General Holder asking him not to charge them with sabotage.

But on December 4, 2012, the U.S. filed a new indictment of the protestors.  Count one was the promised new charge of sabotage.  Defendants were charged with intending to injure, interfere with, or obstruct the national defense of the United States and willful damage of national security premises in violation of 18 US Code 2155, punishable with up to 20 years in prison.  Counts two and three were the previous felony property damage charges, with potential prison terms of up to fifteen more years in prison.

Gone entirely was the original misdemeanor charge of trespass.  Now Rice, Boertje-Obed, and Walli faced up to thirty-five years in prison.

In a mere five months, government charges transformed them from misdemeanor trespassers to multiple felony saboteurs.

The government also successfully moved to strip the three from presenting any defenses or testimony about the harmful effects of nuclear weapons.   The U.S. Attorney’s office filed a document they called “Motion to Preclude Defendants from Introducing Evidence in Support of Certain Justification Defenses.”  In this motion, the U.S. asked the court to bar the peace protestors from being allowed to put on any evidence regarding the illegality of nuclear weapons, the immorality of nuclear weapons, international law, or religious, moral or political beliefs regarding nuclear weapons, the Nuremberg principles developed after WWII, First Amendment protections, necessity or US policy regarding nuclear weapons.

Rice, Boertje-Obed, and Walli argued against the motion. But, despite powerful testimony by former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, a declaration from an internationally renowned physician and others, the Court ruled against defendants.

Meanwhile, Congress was looking into the security breach, and media attention to the trial grew with a remarkable story in the Washington Post, with CNN coverage and AP and Reuters joining in.

The trial was held in Knoxville in early May 2013. The three peace activists were convicted on all counts.  Rice, Boertje-Obed, and Walli all took the stand, admitted what they had done, and explained why they did it.  The federal manager of Y-12 said the protestors had damaged the credibility of the site in the U.S. and globally and even claimed that their acts had an impact on nuclear deterrence.

As soon as the jury was dismissed, the government moved to jail the protestors because they had been convicted of “crimes of violence.” The government argued that cutting the fences and spray-painting slogans was property damage such as to constitute crimes of violence so the law obligated their incarceration pending sentencing.

The defense pointed out that Rice, Boertje-Obed, and Walli had remained free since their arrest without incident. The government attorneys argued that two of the protestors had violated their bail by going to a congressional hearing about the Y-12 security problems, an act that had been approved by their parole officers.

The three were immediately jailed.  In its decision affirming their incarceration pending their sentencing, the court ruled that both the sabotage and the damage to property convictions were defined by Congress as federal crimes of terrorism.  Since the charges carry potential sentences of ten years or more, the Court ruled there was a strong presumption in favor of incarceration which was not outweighed by any unique circumstances that warranted their release pending sentencing.

These non-violent peace activists now sit in jail as federal prisoners, awaiting their sentencing on September 23, 2013.

In ten months, an 82 year old nun and two pacifists had been successfully transformed by the U.S. government from non-violent anti-nuclear peace protestors accused of misdemeanor trespassing into felons convicted of violent crimes of terrorism.

Fran Quigley is an Indianapolis attorney working on local and international poverty issues. His column appears in The Indianapolis Star every other Monday

A GOOD MAN, SEVERAL GOOD MEN

Good men are hard to find. Remember hearing that one? (and all the bad jokes, yes, I remember them, too.) I almost never get involved in politics on this blog... unless you know me pretty well, you won't hear much about my political inclinations. I was born into a Republican household, but I was also taught to think for myself somewhere along the line. I can honestly say I am generally above politics - if I like you and what you truly stand for based on what you have done, I will vote for you and support you to the end of the earth. I do think for myself. So, I am going to make my big political statement here... no surprise to some... I am first and foremost against war. I do not believe we have any business being in Iraq or Afghanistan, no business at all. My idea of supporting the troops is to bring them home. Those who love carrying guns, shooting people, hiding behind a uniform or in a tank, we have numerous mercenary groups who are looking for folks like that. With that out of the way, I will not vote for someone who wants to drag us into a war, bomb Iran, or to whom God has supposedly told to get elected and bomb Iraqis, Iranians, or any other group. I am still a Flower Child. That said...

Last week I had an opportunity to meet our former governor and current Senator, Mark Warner. He was Not here campaigning - Senators serve 6 year terms, he has 2 to go. He was just HERE... asking US what was on our minds, what he could do to make life better. It is seldom politicians come to little back water areas like ours even when they are campaiging. Anyway, he was here, there were NO prepared speeches, he read no notes, nothing was written on his hand, nobody stood near-by passing over cheat notes... he just talked WITH us, not TO us. Our Delegate, Lynwood Lewis, introduced him, and turned the floor over to Warner. After a few moments about what was going on in DC and where he stood and a plea for folks to work together, he opened the floor for questions. Folks were civilized (is that a good word? I am beginning to question that term.) and cordial. I jumped in on the No Child Left Behind discussion stating that teachers who read the law knew it was a bad deal from day One... He listened. It was like a conversation with a neighbor, one you like! He was animated, but I think that is just his way of speaking. I wondered how well he could speak if his arms were tied down! He never talked down to us, but then, not to be concieted, the vast majority of the crowd was educated, most with at least a Master's degree.

The Shore has been fortunate. We have had several excellent men representing us, men who cared more about serving the shore than serving their own political interests. One was Republican, and I would vote for him in a heartbeat if he ran again. One is a Democrat, and I will vote for him again in November. Both are men that I cannot find anything to criticize - and trust me, I am good at that! I have known Bob Bloxom most of my life. They don't make them any better than Bob. Actually, Bob was screwed by members of his own party because he voted FOR those of us who voted for him, and not always with his party. Sometimes we get folks in office that are NOT politicians... they are the folks we want who will represent US! Often, the politicians then work to get rid of them.

I had Senator Ralph Northam in school when he was just a little boy - my first year of teaching. He was a sweetheart then and he is the same today (only taller!) Ralph is a neurological pediatric surgeon at Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters in Norfolk when he is not in Richmond, and does a lot of work pro bono. I guess the Tea Baggers would call him a socialist (unless it was their child or grandchild he was caring for and they were out of work, had no insurance, no income, etc.) but I just call him one hell of a good man. A man of compassion. An HONEST man - a rare bird in these times. You might think I am dreaming, but I know these men are actually listening to me when I talk to them about something. They don't just say "unh huh," and shake my hand (They are all good huggers!) and not hear a word. They are real people first, politicians last. They are in office to serve those of us who put them there, not the BIG corporations that now own most politicians. They are not there for the money or glory or because they want to bomb somebody or finally make "Poppy" proud.

If you ever have a chance to vote for one of these great men, please do so.

Mark Warner was a good governor and has tried to be as bi-partisan as he could be in DC, working for the good of the People and not for the crippling of the government or the ruin of a president. It takes a lot to impress me... and I am impressed. If the time comes that he chooses to run for a higher office, I certainly would not hesitate to vote for him.

A CELEBRATION OF GIFTS

 

I don’t usually make a big deal of my birthdays – and this year, it seems my brain was about a month behind schedule and I managed to forget a couple VERY IMPORTANT birthdays (note: head hanging in shame) for which I will be apologizing for at least a year… BUT I mention this year’s birthday, not because there was a RADICAL number change (not yet) but because the celebration was unusual for me. I don’t do the party thing very often. Almost never at my house where parking can get tricky… and my parties are always non-alcohol events (no buzz dust or smoke, either) and so I pick my companions carefully. I am fortunate to have some wonderful friends. You can visit the Frog and PenguINN’s blog to see what we had to eat! (http://thefrogandpenguinn.blogspot.com/2010/09/birthday-time.html) And I might mention, in passing, due to the hatred being spewed forth by certain individuals in the “news” – my guests represented Catholics, Methodists, Buddhists, Muslims, a couple agnostics, even a Baptist, and all the races were represented except Chinese or Japanese. (They tell me Oriental is not PC anymore.)

My friends also know, not all gifts come in boxes wrapped in paper, and even though I did get a number of them, in spite of stating, I thought quite firmly, “NO GIFTS!” the point of this posting is to share some of the OTHER gifts. If you have been reading my blog for a while, you will know I consider a beautiful sunset a gift, or a butterfly… or coming over and plowing my garden for me, or building me a Stand Uppity Garden… Those are all great gifts! A friend came by with his weed whacker and cut the grass and weeds out in front of my house that the town has decided to no longer cut. There is a drainage ditch in  the middle of this, so mowing is not an option.  They have trimmed alongside the roads for years, but the new mayor decided it is VDOT’s job. Is this a mess or what? VDOT cuts along side the roads once, maybe twice a year. So the town looks like crap now because the mayor apparently does not take pride in how the town looks, just in being Right. “It’s NOT our job!”

Another friend came by and saw how the culvert under my driveway was blocked… again, a problem for VDOT. But, being a practical man, he also knows the serious cutback in VDOT jobs and knows it may be another year before VDOT gets the job done, if then. So, he asked if I had a shovel, and in 5 minutes cleaned a load of mess out of the pipe. Before it was weed-whacked, you couldn’t even find the pipe!  OH, see the autumn leaves? 

Still another friend volunteered to come by and cut back the branches on the redbud  and a birch tree where the small branches and leaves were hitting the roof. Check out the pile of branches!  It is over my head again!

One gift was a work of art for my refrigerator… though I can’t decide which side to show, so I change it periodically. This artist is 3 1/2.

And then there are those friends with a sense of humor that is more wicked than even I could imagine… Imagine coming out of a restaurant with a friend and finding a parking ticket under your wiper!

It’s the time of year when critters tend to wander – guess it is the cool crisp mornings we had… can’t be much else, my boys have been “fixed” – heck, they don’t even spray around the yard. Anyway, they disappeared for a day and a half. I walked up and down the road, called and called… nobody in sight, not even at mealtime. So it was a “sight for sore eyes” as my grandma used to say, to see 2 little boys out in the back yard on the morning of my birthday. What a gift! Hmmm, they hate strangers and loud noises, so maybe they took refuge in my neighbor’s garage when Mike came with his chain saw????? Maybe they got locked in?

Mother Nature gives me a gift each year – every year, right on my birthday, the first fall camellia blooms. It has not failed since it started to bloom 20 years ago, though I wondered about this year with the drought. But! There it was! Right on schedule! Am I honored or what?

What can I say? Can there be any better gifts than these? 

THE PUTTER BENCH, a Work in Progress

OK, MOST PEOPLE WOULD CALL this a potting bench, I suppose... but the potting is all done for this year... and mostly what I am doing now is puttering... whatever that actually means. The seeds are all sewn, some are up, some are not, and the lima beans were transplanted earlier this week and looking good! The strawberries are almost finished for now. Sometimes I get a second harvest. We shall see what happens this year. The garden has taken off on its own with a wild riot of color... I never know just what I am going to get out around St Francis, but it is usually beautiful any time of the year. Sooo, now that I have 5 minutes to putter between potting/planting and harvesting, I decided to build myself a potting bench, except, of course, the potting is done for this year. But I end up with all kinds of miscellaneous chores and the old back just needed a place out in the yard where I can DO STUFF without bending down or making a mess in the house, carport, or in a hot stuffy barn. Important stuff like bird feeder cleaning and repair, a place to throw the garden gloves and tools when I have to answer the phone, a place to store the pots, trays, and some of the mixed potting soil till next year, being always mindful to keep that little square spot open next to the Scoop Away bucket (now containing potting soil) - that is the shed where Spook goes when the weather is terribly wet or windy. I decided to give the flat surfaces a coat (or 2) of paint since it is sitting outside. And yes, the bench is tilted. My good friend, Pat, came by and lifted one end so I could tilt it more for rain run off. Another note - I did buy new 4x4s and 2x4s for the legs... 4x4s so it will withstand the hurricane force winds and not blow out in the yard - unless we get a Cat 3 or more. The wood is treated to have contact with the elements. The shelf and work top and all other pieces are scraps I saved for the moment when I might need them. Some of my scrap wood came from the lumber yard's scrap pile. If you go to buy lumber and have them cut it for you, you might notice they have a big scrap pile. Ask and they will usually let you dig thru the pile and take home left over pieces that might come in handy when you make your next project. Got grandkids? A friend's grandson and neighbor kid built a tree house completely out of scrap lumber from the lumber yard. All they bought were nails! It also seemed like a good place to display my very old shore bird decoys... By the way, did you notice the clematis in the St Francis garden??? It is amazing this year. This is not a good shot, but I was in a rush. Forgive me!

OUR LITTLE PARADE IN OUR LITTLE TOWN

DO NOT LAUGH... as far as I know, this was the only parade on the Shore in honor of Veteran's Day. Now I normally do not do a lot in the parade department - but, I got roped into sitting and begging down at the train station. And it was profitable... Considering we need LOTSA money for a new roof, any donations were gratefully recieved. Also, I met a nice guy who helped with the parking issues we had - saving spaces for our antique cars... and wrapping up our yellow tape, no mean feat in a steady wind. Nothing like joining a group and doing your first volunteer job before the ink is dry on your check! After hearing the band and sirens for a while, the parade finally came in view as they headed down East Main St. Eventually, they went around the country sized block and came back headed for the FireHall. When the economy gets rough, the first programs in the school systems to lose funding seems to be the arts. Trust me on this - I taught art for 38 years! None of our county's school bands could make it to march in our little parade, but the kids from Northampton County proudly showed up with only band sweat shirts for uniforms. What they lacked in uniforms they made up for in enthusiasm and talent! God bless them! I must say, it brought tears to my eyes! I also have to say, they were excellent! They played and played - those kids played their hearts out! I do hope they got some money in their Uniform collection bucket! Northampton is one of the poorest counties in the state. We had a good collection of Fire and Rescue vehicles from neighboring Volunteer Fire Departments (as seen thru the freight door in the old train station)

As the antique cars lined up, I spotted my favorite car from the past... I was a Thunderbird fan! Now, I confess, I have a spot in my heart for a certain GTO, but there has never been a sharper looking car than the 66 T-bird. And my favorite color, too! However, I am content with my van... but still, some memories are nice.

A PS - about 20 minutes after posting this, I started checking the blogs that I follow, and found this little bit on mudflats - remember my comment about bands (the arts) (schools in general) and funding? This is why... (and you know how I try to keep this blog non-political...

And skyrocketing national debt? OK, let’s look at the gross federal debt as a percentage of the GDP for the last 30 years…just for giggles.
Jimmy Carter (D) -3.2%

Ronald Reagan (R) +11.3%

Ronald Reagan (R) +9.2%

George H.W. Bush (R) +13.1%

Bill Clinton (D) -0.6%

Bill Clinton (D) -8.2%

George W. Bush (R) +6.9%

George W. Bush (R) +11.7%
I believe that’s what you call a “pattern.”

Just sayin'...