Saturday, December 24, 2005

Merry Christmas Weekly 12/24/05 - 6

Salon Weekly
A Weekly Email Publication of The Lloyd House
Circulation:  504
Growing out of the Monday Night Salon
For info about the Salon, see the bottom of this email
Join us at the Lloyd House every Monday of the year at 5:45 for pot luck and discussion.
3901 Clifton Avenue
Cincinnati, Ohio
to Submit events for the Weekly, send (not attachment) me email, subject line "Weekly-Events:(description)", in times New Roman Maroon color
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To: Friends on our Pot Luck Salon list.

(to unsubscribe see below, bottom of page).  

Clifton Avenue Mosque is Bombed on 20 December 2005

Saturday
   Today,
because of the importance of the bombing hate crime at the Mosque down the street, I am breaking with tradition.  The "Table Notes" are below, the first entry in the Articles, the blue section (but they are in black ink).  Instead, we begin our Weekly with news of the bombing.

  • Steve's essay on what happened Tuesday night, Wednesday, and the gathering Thursday night.
  • My piece on the service I attended Friday at 12:50 at the mosque along with many salonistas.
  • Responses to the Thursday morning special edition email I sent about the Mosque bombing...from Weekly subscribers.  


Steve Sunderland, on the mass meeting Thursday evening
>

>Dear Friends:
>
>        The mosque was packed last night with over 400
>people, non-Moslem and Moslem. By 7:30, the central room of the
>mosque was filled with chairs and more were being placed in any
>location where they would fit. A serious group of people were there,
>sitting and staring at each other as the people filed in. Some sat
>on the floor. All were without shoes and, different from this local
>tradition, women sat with the men, although wearing a scarf.
>
>        My remarks to the gathering focused on the decision
>of the people to come to this besieged and wounded building.
>"Tonight," I began, "we come as Moslems, we come as brothers and
>sisters in faith that hatred will not prevent us from reclaiming our
>religious institutions." I asked people to look at each other, to
>shake hands, to say words of peace, even as we sat in fear and doubt
>about the events of the bombing. People relaxed enough to reach out
>to each other and give a greeting of "peace." We became both a
>mosque of friends and a "peace village."
>
>        I was proceeded to the microphone by Moslem religious
>leaders who expressed deep gratitude for our attendance and by a
>group of 6 Tibetan monks who chanted their sounds of support. And, I
>was followed by speaker after speaker making the same important
>declarations of brotherhood and support for our Moslem community.
>The audience sat watching, listening, and worrying. For many, the
>experience of being at the mosque was overwhelming, this being the
>first time inside a Moslem house of worship. The room they entered
>had not podium, no fixed chairs, none of the signals of Christian
>and Jewish institutions. We faced "East," for those who knew that
>direction. And, we walked through the boarded up area of the front
>door, a new and ominous scar on this beautiful and new building. We
>sat mixed up, confused about how to fit this piece of horror into
>the everyday events in Cincinnati and our world at war. Was there a
>real or assumed connection between our bombing and the bombs being
>exploded in Iraq? Was Cincinnati going to be the new front line for
>Moslems and supporters of religious freedom for all? Were we going
>to find out something that would shift us away from tolerance of
>Islam or were we going to fight, non-violently, any gesture of
>violence, disrespect, and ignorance?
>
>        I wanted to thank all who had come for making the
>choice to stand up for justice even though it was a scary and
>fearful experience. I sensed that the fight for a sacred space of
>respect underlay whatever we meant by the rule of law and justice.
>Listening to the elderly spokespeople for the mosque sing the
>praises of America as a place where they found friendship and the
>American people as possessed of "hearts of gold" made it even
>clearer that an old and determined dream was still embedded in the
>fibre of this group of Americans. A bombing, even two bombs, would
>not easily blow apart such a commitment.
>
>        I left the meeting feeling a new sense of pride in
>the citizens of our city. Average people were there in large numbers
>seeking only to show respect for this Moslem community and they were
>willing to place their bodies into this room at this perilous time.
>No government officials were present and I did not see or hear any
>law enforcement, either police or FBI. We guarded this group and
>this building with our action of presence, our commitment to be
>alive to the importance of making silent witness to an ideal that is
>precious to our deepest notion of respectful identity. In one sense,
>nothing happened. There were no acts of violence or stupidity. The
>threat of intimidation shrunk to a barely visible form. Instead,
>something major and wonderful was experienced. A group of citizens
>came out to declare peace. With their silence, they spoke at the
>highest level. Nothing can hurt freedom when we stand together,
>irrespective of religion and especially when a religion is under
>attack. Somehow the time passes so fast, the weariness of the fear
>lifts, and the confusion about purpose resolves into a clear and
>substantial act of courage. We watched each other as strangers when
>we arrived; we embraced each other as citizens of a great society
>when we left. We passed through the broken doors as the evening
>closed and went into a different night of darkness. How little we
>had known about the depth of caring in our community, a darkness
>that could be filled in with the beauty of each brave citizen. We
>were able to see in this darkness to a new place, a higher level,
>and a warm substance in the shadow of fear. We left with the gift of
>"Shalom, "Salaam," and "Namaste."

Ellen on the Service at the Mosque on Friday 23 December

Friday, 12/23/05

  I did go to the Clifton Avenue Mosque, the Islamic Association of Cincinnati.  I am so very glad I did.  Before I went into the women's entry and up to the balcony where the women overlook the sanctuary, I greeted a man in a muslim "hat" and told him how very sorry I was about the bombing Tuesday night, and that I was there to support the congregation as a Jew and as a neighbor.  I told him that had it been my synagogue that was bombed, I would really appreciate his coming in support and that was why I was there.  He was wonderfully grateful.  While we were talking, Bill Messer arrived, another salonista, there because he got the word through my weekly list email yesterday.  The Muslim man said that last night at the public meeting there was a huge turn out, he estimated over 400 people, of which only 150 were Muslims.  Later, from the microphone, during the sermon, the leader (perhaps he was the Imam) said that last night a woman had come forward, a non-Muslim woman, and given them $400 towards the reconstruction, and that many others had given as well.  
   (There was no bodily harm done in the bombing, it had gone off after everyone had left from evening prayers.  I saw the plywood where the front entry had been blown out.  Amazing that it will take, what did he say? $10,000 , maybe more, to repair.  See below for how to donate.)

  In the women's entry I took off my shoes and put them in the racks provided, and draped my head in the shawl I had brought for the purpose.  (I was wearing a long dress, but turns out some Muslim women did wear pants, but no uncovered arms or heads.)  Then I went on up the carpeted stairs.  Once there I greeted salonistas and salon lurkers (Weekly subscribers) Regine Ransahof, Fanchon Shur, Lynn Haber, Judy Bechtol, Barbara Druffel Peters, Suzanne Clarke, Lisa Haglund, ... who am I forgetting?  There were lots of us.  I was thrilled.  Karen Dabdoub, my friend from the Martin Luther King Coalition and head of the local Council on Islamic Relations (not exact name), a frequent spokeswoman for the Islamic Community here was so pleased to see us, greeting us warmly.  Every time I explained to a congregant why I was there, tears came to my eyes.  They were so appreciative of my, of our presence.  
  Karen said that the hurt that was caused by the bombing was more than healed by the outpouring of support from the community.  It was music to my ears, though still seems hard to believe.  It is such a horrible feeling, when your house of worship is attacked in a  hate crime.  
  The leader spoke for about ten minutes, after having said some introductory prayers in Arabic.  He said most of the (Cincinnati) community are good people.  Said be careful, more careful...lock your car doors, because you never know when someone might try to throw a bomb into  your car.  (This made me so sad ... the fear.)  They haven't decided yet whether to file  claim and see their insurance rates jump....  He quoted some verses from the Koran that seemed relevant.  I couldn't quite  get the connection.  There was the idea of treating your neighbor well, even when he doesn't treat you so well.  Mohammed had a neighbor who regularly threw trash in his yard.  Didn't like Mohammed's new religion.  So one day suddenly the garbage throwing stopped.  Turned out the man was ill.  Mohammed said, "Let's go call on the guy, he's sick."  And he did, and the guy was floored.  And he became a Muslim.  So you should do good even in response to bad acts.  OK.  I got that one.  A  story gets me every time.  
  Then he told everybody to line up on the left-right lines on the carpeting, touching shoulder to shoulder and they did about ten minutes of formal prayer, including times to stand up, times to sit on your heels, and times to touch  your forehead on the rug, butt in the air.  Then it was over, and we stood around talking to Karen and others.  I told Karen I had heard that the   correct term for the house of worship was Masjid, not Mosque.  She said Masjid was the Arabic term, but that the English word was Masjid, a derivative of Masjid.  I told her I had heard that Mosque was derived from mosquito and was a pejorative, but she said that was an urban legend and not true.  We talked on the balcony so long we missed the exit of all the men, mostly, down below and I couldn't tell how many salonistas there were on the main floor, besides Bill whom I had see going in.  
  The people were black, white, and brown, and all were welcoming and friendly, appreciative of our presence and support.  Attending the service was good for my xenophobia recovery, also.  I had never been to a service, although I had visited the mosque before, as well as the one in Westchester, the huge complex visible from the highway.  I told them, you are a Muslim congregation, and you are our Muslims.  You are a part of our community and I am here to affirm that.  They are not Iraqis, they are not Indonesians.  They are Cincinnatians, Americans, and they are part of us.  Yes.      Ellen.


Jenefer Ellingston responds from D.C.  Jenefer became my friend during her dozen or 20 years in Cincinnati married to Michael Carsiotis. She is the mother of Sitwell's habituĂ© Adrian Carsiotis, co-founder of the Green Party of Washington D.C., a sparkling wit, a consumate poet, an unforgettable character.  She is now 75.  
Dear Ellen,
I just read your message below. I admit to shock ... foolishly believed mean-spirited, narrow minded Americans had surmounted their baser instinctual re-actions
to 9/11.  I wonder how those same people re-acted to the pouring out of photos of US militarty torture of Arabs.

Christmyth here is very quiet. Just Damon and I together on Christmyth day... which if fine with me. Being almost 75, my enthusiasm for ritual celebration is fading.
I love the good work that you do ... spreading understanding and good will.
Until the end of '05 I will stand fast for social justice in DC - come 2006, and I will really re-retire for my sunset years.
By the way, lots of Green candidates in 06 for local and state offices... we are not about to disappear.
wish you well,
Jenefer


Jeanette Raichyk responds to the bombing:

Ellen, we have prior commitments out in Brown County tomorrow, but if we had been able to attend the service, we would have needed to know more about the Clifton Avenue area.  Not sure if maybe my phonebook, handy at the moment, may be out of date, but I saw no listing to clarify what I see as missing data*.  Curiously, the idea surfaced that maybe it wasn't safe to send the location of an Islamic site by email.  You see how damaged is our trust in basic civil rights.  Anyway I wanted you to know that some of your readers may also be wondering about the location, parking, etc.

I guess it's time to find the headbands my daughter made for me back in GulfWar I.  You see, I'm a hood-wearer, just see them as a great idea, whether you're working in an office tower with large swings of temps between north and south offices, or you're menopausal and need to instantly adjust your wardrobe.  So last war, when I worked in town and was more public, my hoods were immediately kuffiyahs with the addition of a simple but pretty headband.  These days my tuberoom office is homebased, and winter requires another layer over my hood when we go out, but once indoors, as in a store, the image may be effective.  I do have some real Saudi gear, but that's packed away now, my daughter gravitated instead to some African wear.  I don't know what's available now in Cinci, but it might be both beautiful as well as wholesome to incorporate more ethnic, particularly Arabic at the moment, reminders of acceptance into our wardrobes.  When we homeschooled, my daughter was fascinated with other cultures and we made a point of incorporating the best stuff, clothes, foods, household things and lifestyle ideas, we found in our searches into our own lives.  Maybe we should propose it in the Salon newsletter?  A nice mix of 21st century western and your choice of sensible ethnic peasant.
Jeanette
----------------------
* The Mosque Is listed in the pink part of the White pages directory as "The Islamic Association of Cincinnati" at 3668 Clifton Avenue, opposite the intersection of Clifton and McAlpin.  Zip 45220, in case you'd like to make a donation.  I wrote them a check when I was there.  There is a huge parking lot behind the mosque, and overflow can use the one in the Clifton Elementary School.  It did not occur to me that folks would have trouble finding it...sorry.  Ellen

Noreen Loftus-Spillman sent me this cc. of her note to Karen Dabdoub:


Dear Karen,

I remember you from Mercer PTA.  My son Brendan Whaley was a student in the
same grade as your daughters.  I wish to let you know that although I cannot
be with you for services; I will be with you in spirit.

I am saddened by the violent acts which damaged your place of worship.

If there is something that I might do to be of service to you and your
community; please let me know.

You, your family and your religious community are in my prayers.

Salaam 'alaykum wa rahmat-Allaahi wa barakaatuhu *
(peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings)

Noreen Loftus-Spilman
----------
*Wow, Noreen!  Am I ever impressed.  Ellen





And... Don't miss the interesting article you want to read in blue section.  It might be one of these:
  • Who was at the table Monday 19 Dec., and the presentation by Kenn Deigh and Patricia Sheerin on Hellinger Systemic Constellation Work.  Presentation by Mike Murphy on Peak Oil.  Table Notes.  
  • Gene Bierhorst on bombs dropped on Iraq by U.S.  Astounding!
  • Jane Auer on why she isn't happy celebrating Hanukkah
  • Todd Portune (and others) on the meaning of the give-over of Drake Hospital to Alliance

Hugs to all,
Ellen










Announcements:



(plus, see below for Weekly Events that repeat every week)



21/21 From Sierra Club:

ACT NOW TO KEEP ARCTIC OUT OF DEFENSE APPROPRIATIONS:
VOTES EXPECTED WEDNESDAY

After failed attempts to include Arctic Refuge drilling in the budget reconciliation, pro-drilling legislators have attached a drilling provision to the Defense Department funding bill. The House passed its version of the measure early Monday; the Senate could vote at any time.

ASK your Senators to remove Arctic drilling from the Defense Appropriations bill, even if it takes a filibuster. Thank Senator DeWine for his strong support of Arctic Protection thus far.

CALL SENATOR DeWine at 202-224-2315

CALL SENATOR Voinovich at 202-224-3353

A vote for the Arctic is not a vote against the nation's military. If Senator Johnson supports a filibuster to remove the Arctic drilling from the defense bill, it will have no effect -- none -- on U.S. troops in Iraq. Instead, congressional leaders will strip the Arctic provision from the defense bill, hold a quick conference and send it back to the House and Senate for passage, with no impact on the military's finances. Senator
Stevens himself stated that he could easily go back to conference and remove the Arctic drilling provision from the appropriations package.

Sierra Club
Member Services
85 Second Street
San Francisco, CA  94105
http://www.sierraclub.org



COSTS OF the WAR
dynamite web page!

http://nationalpriorities.org/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=182

Below is a running total of the U.S. taxpayer cost of the Iraq War. The number is based on Congressional appropriations.
The War in Iraq Costs
$228,766,996,485  as of 12/24/05
This web site also compares these costs with things like the costs of education.  Also breaks it down by region, state.  Fabulous resource for helping people understand the terrible cost of th is awful war.

Thanks for this go to my brother Gene Bierhorst in NY.  


1/11

Ohio State U. Sponsors Conference on LOCAL FOOD Growing/Consuming
(This one's for you, David Rosenberg!)


The Case for Local Food Systems
Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2006

A one-day conference sponsored by the Social Responsibility Initiative

In today¹s global marketplace, Arizona ships lettuce to Ohio and Ohio
ships food-grade soybeans to Japan.

But rising energy prices, increasing interest in local food
production¹s economic development opportunities, and consumer demand
for fresh and healthful local foods are combining to increase the
momentum for developing local food production and distribution systems in
Ohio.

"The Case for Local Food Systems," a one-day conference on Wednesday,
Jan. 11, in the Agricultural Administration Auditorium, (in Columbus, OH) will examine
the role local foods can play in contributing to Ohio¹s economic,
environmental, cultural and health-related climate.

The conference will showcase how Ohioans -- including an ice cream
entrepreneur, an Ohio State University vegetable crops researcher,
and a Cincinnati mom active in bringing local foods to local schools
-- already are working to help build such a system.

Linda and Fred Griffiths, well-known in the Cleveland area for their
cookbooks, television appearances and leaders of Slow Food¹s Northern
Ohio Convivium, are the luncheon speakers.

Registration is $25. Lunch is included.

To register or for more details, see http://sri.osu.edu/events.php or
click on the registration form pdf and program pdf at the end of this
message.

The Case for Local Food Systems is sponsored by the Social
Responsibility Initiative of the College of Food, Agricultural, and
Environmental Sciences and is co-hosted by the Department of Human
and Community Resources Development and the OSU Local/Regional Food
System Network.



Molly Bean Smith
Research Associate
Social Responsibility Initiative
The Ohio State University




New: Lloyd House Drum / Dance Weekly

Announcing new sessions of self-expression and manifestation


Movement ­ Dance

Drumming - Instrumental improvisation

Chant - Sing




Facilitated by Ellen Bierhorst, David Dean and Paul Ravenscraft



Every Saturday evening, beginning in 2006, from

7 ­ 9 pm at the historic Lloyd House in Clifton.



First session: January 7, 2006



The address is 3901 Clifton Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45220. These experiential sessions will be held in the zendo on the 3rd floor.



Bring your passion!

Bring your body, your voice and other instruments of art.



What exactly will we be doing? It¹s up to those who attend.

Come help us create the experience!



There is no cover charge. A suggested donation of $5 will be much appreciated, in supporting the ongoing availability of this wonderful facility.



For more information:

Email corvus@fuse.net or call 513-221-4188

Email ellenbierhorst@lloydhouse.com




12/18

Alan Hundley to offer "Tai Chi for Arthritis" at the Lloyd House

6 weekly classes, afternoons,  $60, starting in January.
For more information contact Alan: ahundley@fuse.net
Good for people who do not have arthritis as well.  



12/17
We have lost and found items at the salon... things like serving pieces, bowls, pot holders.  I've been putting dates on them.  When they have sat here three months I say, let's have an auction.  If I remember, on  Monday we will auction them off for heat bill money.  (grin).  Ellen


12/24
Calling for Dancers, especially those with Muslim background:

Contemporary Dance Choreographer
Fanchon Shur

is choreographing a new dance called ³All That Breathes², which highlights the healing between the people of many religious and cultural backgrounds.
³All That Breathes² is set in the  Œgolden age¹ of Spain.  It celebrates that era when  Islamic Moors and the Jews and Christians were collaborating with one another in the arts, medicine, philosophy, mathematics, science and poetry.

We are encouraging dancers with
Muslim background to be in the choreography.

For more information go to:  www.growthinmotion.org

You can call or email Fanchon Shur with questions and/or interest at:

(513) 221-3222        fanchon@fuse.net



12/18

Children!
Calling for Singers, Grades 4 - 8
Multicultural Youth Choir



An opportunity for young people to participate in the all-city MLK Day celebration and sing on the stage of  Music Hall.  Exciting, beautiful fun music, excellent way to build healing in Cincinnati across our many communities.  

Cathy Roma and Todd O'Neal directing:  

Tues. Jan 10: 6 - 8 pm  
at House Of Joy, 5918 Hamilton Ave in College Hill

Sat. Jan 14, 10-11 am House of Joy

Monday, Jan 16: 11 am (rehearsal) to 2 pm (end of performance) at Music Hall

"A diverse gathering of young people from various public schools, churches, mosques, temples, and synagogues will learn and sing two pieces with the Martin Luther King Coalition Chorale.  This mass chorus will be joined by members of the Clark Montessori Steel Drum Band."



No try-out required; just come!



12/18

Ed Gutfrund does workshops, Jan, Feb, March

(Ed is terrific.  I don't know Mark.  ellen)
Friends & Colleagues--

Ed Gutfreund is a Bodyworker and Psychotherapist, and Mark Davis is a
Bodyworker and Wellness Coach. Both are based in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Ed and Mark offer workshops for Bodyworkers, Psychotherapists, Counselors,
Physicians, Pastoral Counselors and Caregivers, and all health and
wellness professionals.
These workshops explore meditative and
contemplative approaches to deepening the experience and improving the
outcomes in therapeutic relationships for both clients and therapists
alike.

Upcoming workshops:

* January 14--Presence for Bodyworkers
* February 11--Presence for Pastoral Counselors and Caregivers
* March 4--Presence for Psychotherapists and Counselors

Contact info:

* web: http://presencepractice.com
* email: info@presencepractice.com
* phone: (513) 542-6917

Presence describes our capacity for being awake and aware within our
experience. To be present is to be connected to and inseparable from our
internal experience, relationship with others and with the world. Being
effective in relationship can be a function of the degree of one's
capacity to stay present, especially so for those working in therapeutic
alliance.

Presence workshops explore the theory and practice of staying connected
and aware in therapeutic relationship. The workshop environment is
conversational and experiential as we explore:

* techniques from both contemplative spiritual and contemporary
psychotherapeutic traditions that build one's capacity for remaining
focused and mindful
* particular obstacles that arise for those in therapeutic roles
* exercises that help integrate these approaches into daily work with
clients and patients.

Presence workshops can help health and wellness professionals:

* be more effective as therapists
* experience more fulfilling work with clients
* maintain healthy and appropriate boundaries
* improve self care and self management
* reduce caretaking fatigue and burnout


Please see our website for further information or contact us via email or
phone. We would also appreciate your forwarding this message to any
colleagues who might be interested. And let us know at
info@presencepractice.com if you would prefer not to receive occasional
workshop updates.

We are in the process of opening our new office suite at 951 W North Bend
Road in Cincinnati and have treatment rooms available for leasing by
health and wellness professionals. We also have a friend in Hamilton, Ohio
with practice space available. Let us know if you're interested in either.

Thanks,
Ed and Mark


1/12


Salonistas
Mara Helmuth and Alan Bern to perform:


------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Mara Helmuth <mara.helmuth@uc.edu>
To: Womens Professional Network <womensnetwork@hotmail.com>
Subject: Jan 12 - Mara Helmuth recital
Date: Fri, 23 Dec 2005 11:23:16 -0500
>Hi all, I'd like to let you know about an upcoming recital of my
>compositions -
>
>8:00 pm, Jan. 12, 2006
>Cohen Family Studio Theater
>CCM, University of Cincinnati
>(parking in CCM garage or on Calhoun)
>free admission
>
>the program contains interactive and electroacoustic works:
>

>The Man and the Moon, collaborative work with Alan Bern (of Brave
>Old World), accordion
>Smoke, collaborative work with Rick VanMatre, saxophone, with
>graphite painting installation by Anna VanMatre
>Where is My Voice? with Steve Sunderland, text
>Percussion Group Cincinnati (Allen Otte, James Culley, Russell
>Burge) will perform.
>possible appearances by Diane Wasnak and Michele Gingras

>
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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1/12
Local Psychologist, Jungian, and Shaman SUSAN CREW to give seminar:

Dreams & Creativity




This exciting course will allow each participant to connect with the "artist within" that creates stories, dramas and images each night in dream time. It is also a powerful way to tap into that part of yourself that loves to play & knows just what you are to become.

We will delve into our dream life through making art. We will paint, draw, make stories, create dramas.  Each person will have opportunities to share one of her or his dreams with the group, as a focus of our work.  

6 WEEKDAY Sessions, 1/12/06 through 3/2/06, 12:00 to 2:00 pm (no class on 1/26 and 2/16). $99.00 at Essex Studios

Registration required at least 5 days in advance.  Full fee of $99.00 due at time of registration. Min. 5, max. 8 participants.

Susan B. Crew, Ph.D.
513-559-1193
www.numinousity.net




1/17/06
Save the date: Martin Luther King Day Celebration at Music Hall, noon, 17 January.
Huge chorale of multi cultural singers under direction of Cathy Roma and Todd O'Neal.  100 children (from all rainbow of different communities in the city) singing with on three numbers.  Keynote address by the most eloquent Bp. E. Lynne Brown of the 1st District C.M.E. Church.  Courtis Fuller as M.C.  Mark Mallor to bring brief greetings. I always sing in the chorale and it is a blast, having rehearsals every two weeks during the fall, but the celebration on MLK Day is a lift off!  Imagine singing "We shall overcome" and "Lift Every Voice" with 2,000 people in Music Hall.  Over by 2:00 pm.  Come.  It's free, but a collection plate is passed to fund the next year's overhead.  All participants are volunteers.  ellen

And, if you really want to get in the King spirit, come first to the outdoors traditional civil rights march, at 11:15, this year starting at Washington Park between Race and Elm at 13th st. opposite Music Hall.  Brief greetings at the gazebo, then m arch down Race to Central Parkway, up behind Music Hall, around to front door of Music Hall on Elm.  

Want to do it up  brown?  Attend the Dreamkeepers Breakfast, at  Music Hall ballroom starting 8 am, $30, the principal fund raiser for the Arts Consortium.  This year the Arts Consortium  has moved from Lynn st. to the Union Terminal building, continuing their fine work bringing music, dance, visual arts, drumming, etc. with an African slant to children in the community.  This is a primo black community event, with all the movers and shakers, entertainment, speeches, awards to several prominent leaders given.  Show your support.  Order tickets: 381-0645.  Want to show huge support?  Buy a table for 6 for $300.  You'll get group recognition.  





Cathy Roma and St. John's Music Series




Jan 28, Sat. 8 pm
Sonic Om: Indian Percussion and Dance music
with Kanniks Kannikeswaren and friends
St. John's U. Church on320  Resor Ave 45220







$10 students and seniors, $17.50 others







Free Childcare







9 April 3 pm
Proud and Peaceful: A concert featuring Piano, Voice, and Comedy: Alix Thio, John Wright, Steve Mallory and Terry LaBolt
St. John's U. Church on320  Resor Ave 45220







$10 students and seniors, $17.50 others







Free Childcare



Weekly Events that repeat every week:


12/10


Need a cool gift?  For someone else or... for yourself?

Neil Anderson gives a fantastic massage.    Give a half hour or full hour massage with Neil at the Lloyd House.  Can't be beat.  Massage is a health and vigor restorer, a tool for self empowerment, a wonderful way to be nurtured, ... good for what ails you, man woman or child.  Call him.


559-1726.


Reasonable rates.
Alan Bern calls Neil a "massage virtuoso".  It's true.  ellen




12/18

THE VEGETARIAN CATERER in Northside
(LOCATED INSIDE APJONES PIZZA)

Specializing in Vegetarian & Vegan Dishes & Bakegoods

Vegan Pizza , Hoagies & Sandwiches

Decorated cakes & cookies made to order

Let us cater your next party or event

Appetizers, Entrees, Soups, Salads & Desserts


Mawusi Tafari, Owner & Vegetarian
4252 Fergus Street
(Located behind the AP Jones CafĂ©¹)
Phone: (513)542-VEGE(8343)
³The Fruit of the Spirit Is Love²







11/12

Intercommunity Justice and Peace Center Events:


IJPC's Peace Committee meeting scheduled for Wednesday evening, December 21, is CANCELLED.  We'll see everyone back at the January meeting January 18.

Women in Black will NOT meet on  Monday, December 26.  In January the time for the weekly peace witness will change to 4:30 - 5:30 PM.  The day - every Monday - remains the same.  Hopefully the time change will add light and warmth to the event.

Everyone at IJPC wishes you happiness as you celebrate during this holiday and holyday season.  Best wishes for a 2006 filled with peace and justice. Blessings on you and those you love.

IJPC's office will be closed from December 24 to January 3.

Remember WOMEN IN BLACK VIGILS continue weekly
Mondays
5-6 pm
Grassy island at corner of Vine St. and Central Pkwy
Wear black or dark- colored clothes.
All are welcome!
513-579-8547



12/3/05

Tender Yoga with Nonegenarian Phil Nightingale


St. John's Unitarian Church on Resor Ave in Clifton
Tuesdays 10:00 - 11:30
Easy, gentle yet effective yoga for "the rest of us".  No one too old, too infirm, too stiff for this class.



11/21/05


buddha dharma study group


New group formed at Lloyd House to study the Buddhist scriptures from the original (most ancient) Pali texts.
Saturday mornings 9:30 - 11:00 (We will skip New Year's Eve, 12/31.  Next session will be Jan. 7).

We will be slowly working our way through "In the Buddha's Words", translated and with introductions by Bikhu Bodhi
with  foreward by the Dalai Lama.
This is a tasty little group.  We will give you a copy of the book.  Come join us!

Format:

9:30, arrive, remove shoes, come up to the (beautifl) third floor meditation room.  
9:45: meditation for ten minutes
9:50: the leader for the  week reads the short passage, next in sequence.  Then the leader shares her/his reactions and thoughts.  Then we go around the circle, everyone sharing or passing.  No interruptions.  After everyone who wants has given their response, we have open discussion until 11:00.  
11:00: tea in the dinning room.

We have a web forum.  Richard Blumberg has been studying this material for years.  I love to listen to him explain it.  He is the guy who gave that excellent introduction to Buddhism last year at the salon.  

I have been meditating for decades, but had never studied the sutras.  This is a treat!   ellen


12/3

Good Odd Jobs Man Available Cheap

Noli Tobias, age 31, Philippino man,  Physical Therapist awaiting U.S.
licensure.  Married to Vietnamese woman, U.S. citizen.  Has social security card.
Will work for $8 / hour.  Housecleaning, maintenance jobs, yard work, etc.  
I have met Noli and like him a lot.  Spencer and friends have hired Noli doing moving and doing housepainting.  They affirm that he is reliable, intelligent, pleasant, competent, quick.  Such a deal!  ellen




Announcement.  Dr. John A. Kelly is beginning a local speaking tour on Healing the Racial divide.  he is available to speak to your church or group.John completed his training at the Layministry Academy of the West Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church on June 1.  Dr. Kelly has a degree in Sociology from West Virginia State University, a traditionally black institution.  He earned his master of social work degree at West Virginia University.  John earned his doctorate in counselor education at the University of Cincinnati specialializing in multicultural counseling.  He is a member of the board of directors of the Reconciling Ministries of the United Methodist Church.  He is also on the board of directors of the Unity House World Peace Center.  Dr. Kelly will present for the benefit of a love offering.  Please contact him to schedule a speaking date at 242-7088;  John is a member of the salon.


- end of Announcements -



Articles

TABLE NOTES F ROM MONDAY 19 DECEMBER, 2005
At the table  Monday , 12/19/05: Dan Hershey, Chad Benjamin Potter, Judy Cirillo, Shirley Reischman, Patricia Sheerin, Janet Kalven, Dallas, Fish, Diane Fishbein, Brian Muldoon, Kenn Deigh, Mike Murphy, Vlasta Molak, Shari Able, Kate Kelly, Alan Bern, Steve Sunderland, Mira Rodwan, Ellen Bierhorst , Nikki Orleman, Neil Anderson

Announcements:

Steve: suspension of the US constitution today.
Dan:  Bush News Conference.  ³I am above the law; I can do what I want because I am saving  you.²  ³I  have to become a dictator in order to save your rights.²  I believe that the country will now focus on this evil.  Recommend we call for end to this.  Must be a challenge in the Supreme Ct., soon.  
Steve:  has authorized spying on suspected Al Queda terrorists.  
I will draft a letter, for the Weekly  next week.  Edit it on Monday.  (I have not received Steve¹s draft, probably due to his Peace Village activities in response to the Mosque bombing.)

Alan: several friends in Germany, headline news for a week, this German who was captured by CIA, tortured in Syria.  
Shari: Bush talked of Alito as an eminent judge, much experience.  :
Kenn: the Patriot Act did not pass.  
Steve: it was sad that we did not have a journalist of stature to stand up to him today.  
Mike: Jack Anderson just died.  He thought white house press conf. waste of time.

Mike:  Short Presentation on Peak Oil

We have brought out half the earth¹s oil reserves.  That¹s why we are in Iraq.  That¹s why we support some terrible dictators.  ...we in US get 80% from fossil fuel, 14% from renewables.  ... Hydrogen is not a feasible option, it takes energy to make it, and the infrastructure is too leaky.
Shale oil, tar sands, takes too much heated water to get the oil from it; also tons of pollution.
Methane hydrate: algae, fall to bottom of ocean, cold down there, frozen.  So much of this down there; a potential source of energy.  The End of Fossil Energy and a last chance for sustainability.
John Howe.    This is the best primer.  Colin Campbell is quoted, ... depletion is simple.  Irish Pub.  Only so many more drinks before closing time.  Œ94 founded Association for the study of Peak Oil.  
Howe is a retired engineer.  Here is a photo of him on his Solar tractor.  
Second best author on the subject :  Richard Heinberg  The Party¹s Over and Power Down.  (We have two copies of Power Down in the Lloyd House lending library.  Come get Œem!  ellen)

Diane: what should we be doing and thinking?  
Mike: How about this.  We could have a series of conferences here and invite the AEA (Local energy group, John Robbins and Jeanette Raichyk are co-chairs.  Join online; google search Alternative Energy Association Cincinnati) and get them to help us learn how to ratchet down to 20% of our current energy budget.  We only have 20 to 50 years (until there is zero petroleum. Already now we are in the period of soaring prices.  Ellen).  If we start now we¹ll be ahead of the game.  Communities that share and care and teach others to become sustainable.  
Three Principles of Sustainability:  
Power down;  Go Local;  Build Communities.  THis is the way to survive.
   Think of your local community as h aving a  25 mile radius.

Heinberg: The Party¹s Over

Civilization as we know it is ending.  Is this awful or great?  Both.  The new society depends on our actions.  An empowering situation.  Empowering for  individuals, small groups.  
Heinbefrg: Power Down.  Much data.

I attended conference by Stelle, an intentional community in Stelle IL, first weekend in Dec.  
(Pat Murphy  --head of the group Community Solution in Yellow Springs who sponsored the Peak Oil conference there in September and in Œ04 in November-- gave a biblical quote and the room exploded after I objected.  We lost half a day wrangling.)  

I would like to see us have a series of conferences here in Cincinnati (at the Lloyd House?) to gnaw on this bone.  
We need all to begin to do concrete things to reduce power usage. ... Have ongoing gatherings.  City wide.  Gather people like Jeannette Raichyk and John Robbins.  Strategies.  

Shirley: Green Ohio is a good group doing this work
.
Mike: we need to rethink how we live.  Get along on 20% the energy we now are using.  

Alan: the American mentality about energy conservation is so different from the European one.  ICE train, like bullet trains in Japan, in Germany.  A brochure on the energy savings.  They use braking energy to generate electricity.  In US they don¹t want to save energy, but rather want to use as much as possible.  Where are our tax breaks?  they are for SUVs!  

Vlasta: Europeans and Japanese use half as much energy as we use here.  And have a better life.
We could conserve up to 75% by using simple, doable tactics.  Less car use; plant trees for shade and winter wind shield.  Simple, doable things.  Europeans are working towards hydrogen fuel cells. ... want to use renewable.

Kenn it is the oil cos. who are saying hydrogen is not feasible.  It is just because they cannot make enough profits with hydrogen cells.

Alan: the book The War Against the Truth author claims that France, China, Russia had signed Euro based oil contracts with Iraq.  This would erode the dollar.  So he thinks that is really why we went to war.  

Mike: as a group of thinking people we need to go beyond criticizing the status quo, but we can have a hand in designing the future.  The White House et al are wrong, asleep.

Alan: I think they do know, not asleep;  they are going just where they want.  Collapse of governmental services, bring on a new era of private services (like water, etc.) and the rich will live well while everyone else will suffer.

Shirley:  James has a video, The end of suburbia, which talks about Peak Oil.  Has some suggestions.  (Ellen: the Lloyd House bought a copy of this DVD and we could watch it any time again.)


Hellinger Systemic Constellation Work: an introduction by Ken Deigh and Patricia Sheerin

Patricia: Shiatsu; yoga teacher;

Kenn: (I have known Kenn for many years.  L.M.T., shaman, presents a lot at Starwood pagan festival, used to have a Lily sensory deprivation tank.  A knock out guy. Ellen)

My Good friend in Berlin, got into this 6 yrs ago.  Flipped over it.  We were giving a shamanic tour in Cornwall.  She lead us in constellation work in the evenings.  Then we trained intensively at the institute.      Heinz Stark trained us.  He is in Germany at the Stark institute.  


It flies in the face of rationality.  
Phenomenological practice; we try to avoid theory.  When we put too much theory, it stops working.  

Sitting around in a big circle and say you want to get something in your life changed?  
Ask a few questions.  then choose someone of our circle to represent yourself, other key players, and place them intuitively in the circle.  This creates a ³field², energetically.  Then we sit and watch.
Amazingly, those people representing you, others, start feeling things; might need to pull towards or away f rom another of the figures.  
   It is not necessary for the representatives to know anything about constellation work or about  your family.      Not even necessary for the representative to know who they are representing.  
   If we can change our perspective on our family of origin, it can make large changes in how we can function or what choices we make.  Can take roadblocks away.

   So we sit back and observe.  Open the door so your soul can move forward.  
   You ask the representers what they are feeling.  Typically turns out that is how the character in the actual constellation typically expresses.  

   There is generally one client at a time, but the field is such powerful medicine, all the people in the room get helped.  


Levels of participation:  client: a person who has some stuck issue  you want worked on.  You offer that as a focus.
People who are willing to be representatives, willing to stand in the place of ³the father² etc.  No experience needed.  Can even have representatives for abstract concepts.  

You can use soul retrieval with constellation work.  


Started 20 y ears ago, Bert Hellinger who had been a missionary with the Zulu in S. Africa.  There is a strong reference for ancestors in the work, and that comes from Zulu tradition.

There are orders of love.  Ways that things go together that work.  
... I had bitter  judgment towards my mother.  Since doing this work, I feel happy and more successful.  
Life flows from grandparents to parents to us.  
Your parents gave you a gift  you cannot possibly return: life.  Everyone who gives us a gift we cannot return is ³bigger² than us.  

Victims and perpetrators are always bound together.  

Mike: There is a process called ³Radical Forgiveness².  fit?
Kenn: no.  someone who is further down on the orders of life to forgive someone higher then them disturbs the order of life.  It is not the child¹s place to forgive the parent.  Instead, you leave the problem with the parent / ancestor.  

Mira: truth and reconciliation process in S. Africa.  I have been amazed and thrilled to see how this works.

Kenn: they have done a lot of constellation work and it has helped a lot.  

³I see you, I see that you are big and I am small.  I acknowledge you for being big.²

(At 8:00 pm about 8 of us went up to the third floor Zendo with Kenn and Patricia and we did some actual constellations.  I witnessed the first, which I found very moving and personally healing.  The second was with a friend ³working² and I heard all about it later.  It was life changing for her and she is really thrilled. ellen)

For more information on Soul Solutions with Ken Day and Patricia  
Sheerin email enki@one.net or call (513) 481-3080. The next workshop  

will be held at the Vernon Manor on Saturday January 21, 2006.


12/24/05
Gene Bierhorst on the sheer volume of bombs dropped on Iraq
12/12/05
Hi, Richard and Joan (Blumberg),
 Several weeks ago when I heard Alex's fine piece on the number of
Iraqis we have killed, (the Blulmberg's son Alex is co producer of "This American Life" on radio) he said 50,000 bombs dropped.  I thought that was
amazing and important and just wished he'd somehow found a way to repeat
that point a lot.
 Now, the New Yorker article last week by Seymour Hersh says 1/2
million tons of explosives dropped by one Marine air wing alone.  In
Iraq.  On Iraq.
 1/2 million tons.  One ton is 4 times 500 pounds. So 1/2 million
times 4 = 2 million 500-pound bombs.  Two million big bombs.
 While I'm sure Alex is on top of this info...it can't hurt to mention
this to him just in case he's missed it.
 He is onto an awfully important topic and I hope he'll be able to
keep updating it.
--Gene (Bierhorst, my brother in N.Y.)

12/24
Jane Auer on Hanukkah

(Jane is one of the most learned Jewish laypersons I have ever known.  Lives in Lexington and, God love her, she reads the Weekly.  Recently she said she had decided they should observe Kwanza instead of Hanukkah.  You should know Jane is the daughter of a prominent Massachusetts Rabbi, Herman Schneider of blessed memory.  Highly observant, elegant Reform   Jewish family, got it?  So when she said she was abandoning Hanukkah I wrote and asked her to explain to me, and for us at the Weekly.  Here's what she aswered:)

Unfortunately I learned a little more about Kwanzaa. It falls short of my needs. *
   The Great Sin of the 20th century (and it looks like its going to be in the 21st) is nationalism. There can be little doubt (and I welcome correction) that all misery that we have witnessed has its roots in it.
   Therefore  I refuse to celebrate Hanukkah- a nationalist holiday that is repulsive. O sure-the Maccabees were great soldiers with a lot of interesting gory guerilla tactics. But their success ushered in an age of nationalism and ethnic purity (proof of maternal Judaism all the way back to Babylon.)  They hated Hellenism. What is great about that? There is a very good reason that this venture has been dumped into the Apocrypha. Apparently the editor of the Mishnah so despised this devotion to the fundamentalist Hasmoneans that it is barely mentioned in the Mishnah. He wanted to drop Purim and Tisha B'av as well. In this awful age of fundamentalism and totalitarian government, I sure as hell am not going to give a nod to atrocity.
       I have been ambushed, however, by a three year old who goes to a nursery school that has never knowingly had a Jew in their midst. His mother (Jane and Steve's Daughter Debbie) made a point that Santa Claus was NOT coming to their house. So, very lovingly, the school included Chanukah on the not-to-be-missed list. He became more and more excited about lights. His brothers found my logic cogent-as long as presents would still be involved in what has become known as 'Jane's moveable feast.' So this year we will light lights and retell the story-but include the reality of what it meant. In other words, we acknowledge our deep sorrow and shame. And we will not reduce it to the ritual of the 10 plagues--not yet anyway.
   Steve sends his love.
   Ja
ne
---------------------------
* I had to guffaw when I read this.  YOu don't know Jane, but since I do, I know this line "Falls short of my needs" is loaded with napalm.  Love that Jane.  ellen




12/24
Nancy Dawley updating us on the Drake Hospital Privatization


Rather than summarizing the issue, I thought I'd include all of Todd Portune's letter to David Wells of the Cincinnati Enquirer written 12/09/05 regarding moving the management of Drake Hospital from Hamilton County to Health Alliance.  That way you can view all of the pieces of Todd's disagreement with the move and what problems he foresees with the change.  The vote has already passed, 2:1.    

From: todd <msn://@mail.mar@/compose.htm?NW=true&amp;mailto:tportune@zoomtown.com>  

To: david wells <msn://@mail.mar@/compose.htm?NW=true&amp;mailto:dwells@enquirer.com>  

Sent: Friday, December 09, 2005 10:15 AM

Subject: Fw: Drake Hospital



Dear David:

I am forwarding to you the current proposed agreements dealing with Drake Hospital that the Board of County Commissioners may vote upon on Monday morning.  I say "may" because in my conversation with Ken Hanover last evening he expressed reservations about several of the provisions in these documents and said that if they represent the "agreement" then there is no agreement yet.

And so it goes.

I will admit that I have not yet made up my mind about these documents in their entirety.  I do have serious questions about several of their provisions that I will detail for you.

Regardless of those I respectfully urge you to consider weighing in on calling for an appropriate Public Hearing at Drake Hospital to permit a careful and thoughtful public airing of the issue.  I have repeatedly asked that the Board permit a public Hearing at Drake Hospital so that those residents at Drake, who may have the keenest interest of all in what will happen to the institution, will have an opportunity to confront their government and voice their opinion.  To date I have been rebuffed by the Board.  I believe it unconscionable to refuse to accommodate people with disabilities about this issue.

I regret as well that the substance of the debate has now turned to become a focus on executive salaries or bonuses.  I agree that the existing salary of Bobbie Bradford appears high and that her severance package is out of line.  Ken Hanover said on Monday that they retainer bonuses to Nolan, Sutton and Zoellner were in line with what is reasonable when you need to retain key upper management during a transition.

But in any event those compensation packages are not the reason for the transfer nor do they jeopardize the delivery of care at Drake.  And that is the real issue here.  So rather than beating up on Bobbie Bradford some more we really should remain focused on what this deal means to the ability of Hamilton County to assure quality care and good outcomes for people who have sustained catastrophic injuries that cannot be treated or rehabilitated profitably.

I have no qualms about the Health Alliance other than there are issues about their treatment of employees from a benefit and wage perspective.  That approach is sure to be applied to Drake where the agreements contemplate a termination of the employee benefit plan and a reduction in wages.  Doing so will of course result in the loss of some employees and have impact on morale.  The impact on quality of care is more difficult to ascertain but will, at some level, be felt.

The Alliance undoubtedly brings a level of efficiency and economy to the picture that Drake as a stand alone facility could not do for itself.  That will bring a benefit financially.  How much of one, and whether it can be sustained during a time when there is no levy, also remains to be seen.

Commissioner Heimlich has made numerous assertions during this debate that have been proven to be untrue.  The most prominent of these was his assertion last week that the Health Alliance has demonstrated that Drake Hospital can be run and provide the same level of care without taxpayer support.  They have done nothing of the sort.  The Alliance desires to have $42.8 Million of taxpayer money over the next four years.  They had wanted the ability to get up to another $15 Million over four years until the Commissioners created such pressure that the HA decided to absorb it and hope for the best.  It is not the least bit informative about the extent of Commissioner Heimlich's shaded assertions that the HA, after all of the scrutiny, as recently as two weeks ago still felt that Drake required about a $13.5 Million annual subsidy - the exact amount the voters thought they were voting for one year ago but withheld by the Board in contravention of the 2004 election and results.

Heimlich also asserted that the Drake Board would confirm what he said when they spoke at the Public Hearing.  Again he was wrong.  Board Member Kevin Flynn said that Drake management had done a pretty good job and had pared expenses down to within a few hundred thousand dollars of being covered with the taxpayer levy.  He said that the biggest cost issue that Drake had were stand alone expenses that the hospital had to incur that would go away if it was a party of the Alliance, but those were not mismanagement issues.

The Alliance, incidentally, confirms this.  The best evidence is everyone's assertion that Drake is a gem.  Assuming that to be true it does not square with it being mismanaged as grossly as my Commissioner colleagues would assert.

There were inefficiencies.  Those were recognized last year and management committed to addressing them.  Management committed during this levy term to do more.  Management had trimmed about $5 Million in annual expenses this year to meet the Levy approved $13.5 Million annual subsidy.  Management was doing what the voters of Hamilton County asked them to do

And also bear in mind, what Phil and Pat and Chris Finney and COAST and everybody on that side of the ledger wanted last year was NO LEVY SUPPORT at all for Drake.  They wanted the levy to die.  And they felt that Hamilton County's support for such was wrong.  They said that no other hospital like Drake in Ohio had a similar arrangement.  And they felt all of this should end immediately.

Had they had their way Drake would be in crisis today and with it the delivery of health care in our community.  The voters voted and approved a levy that was $16 Million LESS than the levy that had been in place.  Drake was getting $28 Million less than what the TLRC recommended.  Financial reform was happening in a big way and commitments to do more had been made.

So for Phil to claim that what is happening today is what he intended all along is just plain wrong.  He wanted nothing for Drake.  Instead the institution, with a positive taxpayer vote, is moving forward with the reforms intended and promised and working on doing more.

So, in the end, where does it all stand and what is still at issue.

For one thing, the future of Drake as an institution to fulfill its full mission as envisioned by the voters is in jeopardy.  The Health Alliance's commitment to Drake's Mission extends only so long as the term of the financial support agreement.  After that all bets are off.  The Alliance will, I think, do its best.  But in the end they are subject to the limits of their resources.  Outside of the loss of Drake levy support the Alliance is facing an uncertain Medicare reimbursement environment and a tax levy review of the indigent care levy that, I am told, will provide decreases in levels of support, not even inflationary increases.  The Alliance will be hard pressed to do what Drake has become.

The agreements attached call for no further levy support.  They bind the county to not seek levy support and for Drake and the Alliance to refuse to ask.  The Agreements also write out the voters and taxpayers of Hamilton County from having any rights or interests in this even though it has been the voters and the taxpayers who have made Drake what it is and who have a vested interest in the outcome because of their support.

Two Commissioners' political agenda of eliminating a tax levy in Hamilton County that they did not like will jeopardize a voter approved health care delivery system.

What could change to alleviate concern?

Number one, let the voters and Drake residents an opportunity to meaningful review and debate.  If the deal is a good one it should survive. If not, then it will be made better.  Inherent in the Commissioners' approach of secrecy is a real disdain for the public and a disregard for the vote and the integrity of an election.  There are broader issues at stake here beyond Drake hospital that we all should be concerned about.  The first of these is the integrity of elections.  In addition is the "behind closed doors" aspect.  The people have been shut out.  Even the Health Care Commission, that was supposed to report on Drake did not.  Its mission was changed without a vote of the Board despite a Board approved and directed responsibility.  How did that happen and who was involved?  And then, there is the legal requirement that the Attorney General approve this.  Given Phil is Petro'd Lt. Governor choice what does that mean or what issues does it raise?

Second, eliminate the provisions that bind all parties against seeking any levy support if needed in the future.  I have had many in-depth conversations with Ken Hanover.  I sincerely believe he is committed to doing all he can to lower costs and maintain Drake fully.  But in the end he is limited to what he can do or guarantee.  There is no reason not to trust him or not to trust future Boards of Commission.  Leave it blank on whether future levy support is needed  Let the Alliance and future Commissioners and voters of Hamilton County to decide that issue.  Excluding the voters and taxpayers from having any rights and binding future Boards and the Alliance from seeking support at any level may be illegal.  But regardless of that why do it?  Let the Alliance do its work in a responsible manner and allow the health professionals to make that determination at the right time four years from now.

Third, even this aspect of the deal must be approved by the Attorney General.  AG review and approval arises out of changes in control, not just based on a sale or some such.  Accordingly, the Interim Control Agreement; this reorganization agreement, all should have been presented to the Attorney General for review by now yet have not been.  They should, and its 60 day review period should begin.

To do otherwise truly inserts two Commissioners' views over that of the electorate and contrary to the expressed will of, and certified vote of, the people.

David, I know this is long.  I do not expect it to appear as a letter or guest column.  But the issues expressed and the facts of the situation are important for you to have a complete picture of the issues involved and at stake.   Thank you for your time and attention.

I hope you'll call for a hearing at Drake.  And I hope you'll encourage reformation of the agreements that allow the Alliance to determine whether it needs more help in the future based upon the then status of health care, and not based on the political agenda of county commissioners.



Sincerely,
Todd Portune


==============================

12/24

Elizabeth Motter on Drake Deal:
To everyone concerned about the Drake Hospital deal:

Carrie Davis has started a website with a petition for citizens to sign if they are concerned about this whole debacle.  Below are the links.  Please pass it around.  Carrie says this issue is not yet a done deal, that we can petition the Ohio Attorney General.  Let's fight it.

http://www.savedrake.com/

http://new.petitiononline.com/drake/petition.html

Brilliant letter, Bill.  Thank you.  I got the same form-letter response from Heimlich to my communication over this, but haven't had time to respond.  You did a great job!
Elizabeth Motter

Bill Joiner wrote:

   Commissioner Heimlich,

Thank you for your response.

Unfortunately I cannot agree with you.  Drake Hospital is a public  
entity and is accountable to the public.  It is my understanding that  
there were several studies of the financial management of Drake, and  
most of those concluded it was well managed.  The public expressed  
its confidence in the Hospital and its management by passing the bond  
levy.  My further understanding is that although some studies  
indicated that greater efficiencies could be introduced, none used  
your language that they were "mismanaging the hospital's finances and  
by wasting millions of dollars in taxpayer money".

After the Hospital is taken over by the Health Alliance it will no  
longer be a public entity, and it will no longer be accountable to  
the public.  I have spoken to someone involved with the Health  
Alliance management and understand that this was a strategic  
acquisition for them because they have a number of patients in their  
higher cost facilities that they wish to offload into a lower cost  
long term care facility like Drake.  Thus their interests are not  
necessarily those of the public's.

The fact that the Drake Board approved the deal is not very  
impressive when one considers that you stacked the deck by appointing  
to that Board your allies in trying to defeat the Drake levy.

Your supposed concern for fiscal responsibility loses all credibility  
from the fact that in your rush to complete the take-over you did not  
negotiate and guarantee in advance a price for the facilities  
representing their actual worth.

You further showed your disrespect for the public by not holding  
multiple hearings which were at convenient times and locations for  
public participation.

You aspire to higher elected office.  Do you believe that disregard  
for the electorate, disregard for the worth of property built and  
supported with public funds, and the uncaring regard for the public  
interest in pursuing your single minded purpose of killing taxes that  
pay for investments in needed public services qualify you for those  
ambitions?  I certainly do not, and I believe that when voters  
outside Hamilton County understand that, many will agree with me.

Respectfully,

William Joiner


On Dec 23, 2005, at 11:12 AM, Heimlich, Phil (Republican Co. Commissioner) wrote:

>
>    Dear Mr. Joiner,
>
>     Thank you for your e-mail.  It is safe to assume that when  
> Hamilton
> County voters voted to support Drake Center, they were voting to  
> keep the
> hospital in business.  Unfortunately, despite the generous public
> support,
> independent health care experts confirmed that Drake's management had
> created a financial situation that was not sustainable.  They did
> this by
> mismanaging the hospital's finances and by wasting millions of  
> dollars in
> taxpayer money.  This is most recently evidenced by the $2.3  
> million in
> severance and bonus payments the top four executives received,  
> money that
> should have gone to patient care.
>
>     The two parties primarily responsible for running Drake  
> Hospital the
> Drake Board of Trustees and the University of Cincinnati, both  
> agree that
> the Health Alliance takeover is the best solution to keep the  
> service at
> Drake intact.  From the patient's standpoint, nothing will change
> at Drake
> except that it will survive and, once again, become the premier  
> ambulatory
> hospital that our community has relied upon since 1989.
>
>     Sincerely,
>
>
>     Phil Heimlich
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Bill Joiner [mailto:
> Sent: Sunday, December 18, 2005 10:49 PM
> To: phil.heimlich@hamilton-co.org
> Subject: Drake Hospital
>
>
> Commissioner Heimlich,
>
> Please know that your behavior with respect to Drake Hospital, and
> your disrespect for voters in Hamilton County, will encourage me, as
> well as many other voters to work very hard against your future
> elections WHATEVER offices you may ever run for.
>
> Respectfully,
>
> William Joiner
>
> This e-mail message, including any attachments, is for the sole
> use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain private,
> confidential and/or privileged information. Any unauthorized
> review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are
> not the intended recipient, employee or agent responsible for
> delivering this message, please contact the sender by reply e-
> mail
> and destroy all copies of the original e-mail message.
>

              




end of articles

The Lloyd House Salon (usually about 15 people) Meets Mondays at 5:45,
EVERY MONDAY, 52 WEEKS/YEAR come hell or high water, as my mother used to say.

We of the Lloyd House Salon gather in a spirit of
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in order to exchange ideas for our mutual pleasure and enlightenment.  

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- end  of Salon Weekly -


Thursday, December 22, 2005

Come to Islamic Center for Solidarity Friday 12:50 - 6

Dear Pot Luck Salon Weekly Subscribers,

As nearly everyone now knows, the Clifton Ave Masjid (mosque) was bombed Tuesday night in an act of anti-islamism.  You can read Steve Sunderland's piece about it below.  I am planning to attend the weekly service, the regular sabbath observance, tomorrow, Friday at 12:50 (lasts until 1:30) to show respect and solidarity.  You may want to join me.  
This is a terrible thing.  I know as a Jew, I would greatly appreciate gentiles attending my synagogue after such an act.  You bet I'll be there!

Hugs,
Ellen
      
Steve says:
....  Tomorrow, (Friday) at 12:50pm, I will be joining afternoon
>services at the Clifton Mosque. Karen has shared with me the correct
>time; the service will end at about 1:30pm.
>
>        Often we wonder just how we can make real our
>commitment to peace and justice. In a world that turns too often to
>violence, hijacks faiths for the purpose of violence, and attempts
>to threaten peace loving people, we are confused about just what we
>should do. I believe the simple act of standing with our neighbors
>as a statement of their right to safety and their right to worship,
>is a witness to all that is sacred about democracy and humanity. In
>this act of coming to the mosque, we transform our society into our
>deepest belief in the compassionate friendship of all. When is it
>ever safe to speak for justice? Now, is a good time.
>
>In peace,
>
>Steve Sunderland, Ph.D., Director
>Peace Village
>513.919.2538

Steve's Eloquent Letter about the bombing:
(Wednesday, 21 December, 2005)
>Dear Friends:
>
>        This morning  at 9am my phone rang to the news that
>the Clifton Mosque, site of our September 10 meeting and the start
>of our annual interfaith walk, and  the religious center for Muslims
>in our community, was twice bombed last evening. Ms. Karen Dabdoob,
>executive director of CAIR, a Moslem civil rights organization with
>a chapter in Cincinnati, was calling to tell me that her mosque was
>damaged by two bombs that destroyed part of the fronts of two
>mosques. Karen, an old friend, sounded frightened. She said: "I am
>organizing a press conference for 11am. Will you be there?" Karen
>had a sound of quiet panic in her request, aware that neither one of
>us could be assured that the meeting later this morning would be
>"safe" for either one of us.
>
>        I agreed to be there and to bring or alert other
>members of the Peace Village. When I arrived at the mosque, the
>damage to the fronts of the buildings were clear. Inside the main
>mosque a crowd of police, federal and local, media, and religious
>and local political representatives were all in attendance and
>sharing their concerns with the media. As each person came forward
>to sit at a little table with a microphone, I sensed that we all
>were shocked by what had happened. Someone in our community had
>taken two pipe bombs and placed them in doorways and destroyed the
>entrances of these houses of worship.
>
>        I stood next to Aneese Faradan, a local Iman (Islamic
>teacher/religious leader)and a vice president of MARC (Metropolitan
>Area Religious Coalition) a Cincinnati interreligious organization.
>Aneese and I had visited tsunami torn Indonesia earlier in the year
>and were warmly received by many of the Moslem representatives we
>found in Aceh and throughout Indonesia. Our eyes met, acknowledging
>that we were standing on very uncertain ground in this mosque. We
>hugged and listened to supportive talk after talk reaffirming the
>need for respecting Islam and offering support for those wounded by
>this violation of sacred space.
>
>        Karen was very smooth in calling on one speaker after
>another, opening the floor to questions from the media, and
>indicating that religious practises would be going on as "normal" on
>Friday. The presentations by the FBI representative and the police
>chief indicated great interest but neither had any leads on who was
>responsible. Rev. Frank Carpenter, St. Johns Unitarian Church, and a
>recent host of a Peace Village/Moslem Mothers Against Violence
>meeting, was the last speaker. He spoke eloquently of the fact that
>he felt that this attack affected all of the "friends" of the
>mosque, including his and other churches that adjoined or were near
>the mosque.
>
>        The great turnout of religious and civic leaders had
>meaning to many of us in attendance. "Cincinnati is not a violent
>city," Chip Harrod, director of the local chapter of the National
>Conference of Community and Justice, noted "and we have not been an
>intolerant city." Yet, something had changed overnight. Glass an
>wood were shattered along with the feeling that this section of the
>city was safe. Thankfully, no one was killed or injured from the
>bombs. But the City was deeply shaken.
>
>        I plan on going to the Friday services at the Clifton
>Mosque at12:50 - 1:30. I urge all members of the Peace Village to join
>me. Let us try and take back this institution of worship. Let us
>show friendship and strength in caring to our Moslem brothers and
>sisters. Let us remind the general community that Moslems need not
>be either afraid of us nor fear that they will be left alone in
>recovery from this horrible event. I spoke, before I left, to the
>man who had worked so hard to build this mosque. He is an elderly
>gentleman, soft spoken, and friendly."I am so sorry for this
>violence,"I said to him. He looked me in the eye and said,"Don't
>worry. We have the strength to rebuild."
>
>In peace, salaam, shalom,
>
>Steve Sunderland, Director
>Peace Village
>513.9191.2538

Sunday, December 18, 2005

Weekly 12/18/05 - 6

Special presentation Monday  12/19 by Kenn Deigh and his wife Patricia S... on Hellinger Family Systems Constellation work, a surprising and powerful modality for healing intergenerational crud. See announcement below, and also article in blue section.   Kenn is charismatic. After the salon Kenn will do a demonstration session in the zendo upstairs.  All welcome.  See you there.  
ALSO, Mike Murphy will give us a short introduction to "Peak Oil" at the table.  

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Saturday 3 December 2005

At the table  Monday , 12/12/05  : Edwin Kagin, Caeley Good,  Helen Kagin, Dottie Shaffer, Yvonne Van Eijden, Spencer Konicov,  Nancy Dawley,  Adrienne Cooper, Caeli Good, Mike Murphy, Marvin Kraus, Gerry Kraus, Anita Sorkin, Vlasta Molak, Alan Bern, Gary Weiss, Dan Hershey, Marty Harrington, Chad Benjamin Potter, Steve Sunderland, Ellen Bierhorst, David Dean, Shari Able, David Sher, Mira Rodwan.  (Welcome newcomers!)

Announcements


Mike Murphy: new salon lending library on this new shelf in the dining room.  To borrow a book, write name in card in the pocket, leave in the box.  To contribute a book, put index card in pocket in inside front cover.
Steve: Tomorrow at 7 at St John¹s will talk about how Islam has been hijacked by terrorists.  Zaynab Something will talk, from Islamic Mothers Against Violence. (see Steve¹s write up on this in the blue section, ³Articles².  )
4 Quaker Peacemakers still held inside Iraq by terrorists.  

Gerry: Just read in the New Yorker, ³The young life of osama bin laden² about his childhood and schooling in Saudi Arabia.  Issue with Santa on Ice flow.

Chad Benjamin:  OTR (Over the Rhine) children¹s choir performing at noon on Sunday at Findlay Mkt. Chad is director.  Inside.  

Anita: monthly group, study group for traditional nutrition, Weston A. Price philosophy.  Second Sunday of every month at 3 in the Portciuncula, basement of the Waldorf School building on Derby Ave. in Winton Place.  Topics:  how to come by raw milk; how to make y our own pro-biotic fermented sourkrqaut, kvas, etc .  See www.westonAPrice.org

David: I have found a church fixer-upper in N Fairmount.  Hoping to rennovate church, center for neo-paganism.   

Steve: the first Northside event Sat. night raised over $6,000.  We plan to buy old buildings and renovate Northside.  

Dan: Right wing view of environment.  Latest New Yorker has piece on the Kyoto agreements and Bush.  Rush Limbaugh spent time presenting his (and Bush¹s) view.  In the S. Pacific whole islands have been evacuated because of rising water.  Arctic sea ice has entered a state of accelerating decline.  By end of this century there will be no ice at arctic.  Greenland...  Hurricanes at intensity levels  4,5, have doubled in last few years.  2005 will be hottest year since record keeping. Despite all this, Bush, ²Global warming is a problem that either will solve itself or won¹t.²  Limbaugh: man did not cause the problem, and cannot solve it, so let¹s not do anything.  INtelligent design concept applied to environmentalism.  

Nancy D:  this week the budget appropriation will come out.  Current version in Senate has a bad provision relating to arctic wildlife ... The version in the  house includes a part to allow public lands to be sold cheaply for mining, e.g. nat¹l forest outside Grand Canyon.  



Discussion:


Dottie Shaffer M.D. Internist  also Acupuncture doc.  Have an East-West approach.  Cincinnati native. great new   office in N. Avondale across from the Belvedere.  Her phone: 221-3134.
Yale undergrad
Case Western Med School
moved here Œ98.  Worked a while at the V.A.  2003 started own practice in N. Avondale.  
Have two little boys, both at Montessori school "The New School" in N. Avondale.

Hand out on  CDC (Centers for Disease Control, a Federal Agency) recommendations re. flu.
Two categories of relevant info: variables relating to the pathogen and those pertaining to the host.
Re. the h ost (your body), things to do in prevention:  Increase your vitality. (Diet, exercise, sleep. ellen)  Medicines (tamiflu, anti viral) only stops replication of the virus, not infection.  Must be taken within 48 hrs.  of first appearance of symptoms.  

(Can y ou have flu without fever?)  Yes.  
fever, aches, cough, respiratory congestion (runny nose etc.).
The fever helps  you fight the flu.  
(Tylenol?)  you have to consider the trade offs.
(Asprin?)  Can bring about Ryes syndrome, so went out of fashion.  

Let¹s say you have low Yin with weakness,...  fever is high yang, so brings you towards balance.  

Whether you survive or not has a lot to do with your vitality, how good  your nutrition, etc.  

(does fever kill the bugs?)  fever is a way to kill them.  ... but the byproducts of some viruses are very toxic.  

Everybody has system weaknesses.  When  you get sick, do you get stuffy nose?  Fatigue?  Migraine? Bowel trouble? You may be more vulnerable if it is a virus that attacks your weak system.  If the virus attacks resp. system and yours is weak, you might come down with it.  

An herbalist says a clove of garlic and elderberry syrup will keep you h ealthy.  St. John¹s wort also.

INcrease kidney and spleen energy.  Eastern med. view.  
Eastern med. is based on energetic system.  Illness is caused by either blocked energy, insufficient, or wrong flow.  
And infection means you have not sufficient energy, vitality to defend yourself.  
Maybe too low yang, too low yin.  
Diagnostics:  talk to them, look at tongue.  Pulse also, but I don¹t use the pulse as much.  

(Our culture?)  Other cultures accept death and illness where we are constantly trying to avoid it.  
I have got calls already asking for Tamiflu.
 
(Anita:  Sauerkraut made in the live-culture traditional way with lactobacillus  also appears to have preventative properties ... a study with chickens who ate sauerkraut that was fermented, live culture; exposed to flu ... did not get sick.)

The flu virus vaccine for Œ05-¹06 is now available, but it does not include protection for the avian flu.  Because the avian flu has not mutated to become a human-to-human flu yet so there is no vaccine for it. (Experts say it is inevitable that it will mutate and become a virus spreadable from human to human.  However, whereas the current strain of bird flu that has infected a couple hundred people world wide is 50% deadly, epidemiologists expect that when it goes ³human²  it will be much less deadly.  That is the pattern ... when it mutates it becomes less deadly to humans. Ellen.)
(Could there be two waves of flu in one season?)  Yes.  However, the vaccine contains all the major strains likely to be abroad in this particular year.  

There are two types of vaccines, those made from  Killed viruses , and those made from  live attenuated (or weakened) virus.

In general, Oct thru Dec is the time to  take vaccine.
In this area, November is the best time.

Recommended esp. for folks over 65; chronically ill (e.g. people with asthma); children under 23 mos. of age; pregnant women; or people who are around anyone who is old, or sick, or young.  

Probably the threat of the bird flu, the avian flu that hs been in the news will occur next year, not this year.  Inevitable mutation to a form that will spread human to human.  

36,000/year die from flu in US in a normal year.  
Who has an adverse Reaction to vaccine?:  People with an egg allergy  have reactions.  Some people have reaction to the preservative, e.g. a mercury based one.

The vaccine does not protect you until two weeks after the inoculation.  

There is an inter nasal swab test to diagnose if you have flu.  You have to send it in, get results.  You have to swab very deep in the nasal passage ... unpleasant.
If there is a community outbreak, the CDC recomm.that people take one anti viral pill a day for seven weeks.  If you are exposed during that time, the pill will prevent the virus from replicating in your body and  you will have a milder case that lasts a shorter time

(Alan: I have a friend in Berlin, in her 50¹s, completely immersed in the western scientific paradigm.  Had serious problems.  Arthritis.  Weak.  All the doctors in the western med tradition ran out of  options.  She got a Qigong master, studied intensively even traveling to his center in India ... cured it.  No more arthritis.  Miracle story.  Unbelievable story and I would not believe it except I know this woman and she is an unimpeachable source.)

Western med is great for acute problems, surgery, infections.  But re. chronic illness they just don¹t get it.  Your friend¹s story is credible to me.  

There are several eastern approaches.  Acupuncture to strengthen the energy system.  
(If you were national health minister what would you do to address the threat of the avian flu?)
 I¹d have everyone take acupuncture. weekly, practice Qigong, and if they are especially at risk, also get vaccination.  

(Difference Flu vs plague)?  Plague is bacterial, flu is viral.  
(you get flu shot?)  Yes in previous years.  I should get it, since I am a health care worker and am around people who are at risk.  I also have asthma.  

(preventive acupuncture?)  The whole orientation of Eastern Medicine is that of preserving health rather than chasing illness.  The best docs in China had patients who were never sick.  Here it is the opposite.

(What is shiatsu?)  (A form of body work) Shiatsu follows the meridians, no needles.  Same energy system targeted as with acupuncture.

(Tai chi vs. qigong?)  Tai Chi is a martial art; Qigong is for health.  They look similar.  Intention is different.  

(cost?)  there is acupunct. by physicians, ranging in cost from $90 - 120/treatment.  Some insur. plans cover it.  I charge $90 / treatment. And I am on all the insurance plans.  
Acupuncture by non physicians in our area costs $65-90.  


(What are the uses for acupuncture?)
Everything.
I use for many things.  Not just for pain.  Most people think of acup. re. pain or gyn problems.
Acup. philosophy is to get the person into balance.  

(Yvonne¹s testimonial:  Hot flashes, weight gain, couldn¹t move well, horrible menopause. For me acupuncture worked like a charm.)

(Good for preventative and also cure?)  Yes.  The idea is to not get sick.  But if you do, you can use acupuncture to get out of that.  
(Yvonne: I have regular acupuncture treatments, usually monthly, and I regard it as like going to garage and having oil change, and service on your automobile to prevent it from breaking).  

(if I get flu. and I come to you, how long would you stick me?)  It depends.  The longer the problem has been around, the longer it takes to get rid of it.  Acute case is easier.  
The perfect time to get acupunct is when you aren¹t really sick, just not completely well; when you feel that things are just a little off.  

Also acupuncture treatment is recommended  at each change of season.  

Sprained ankle, perhaps one session.
Menopause, three sessions.
Smoking cessation, 5 sessions.  (I asked Dottie what her success rate is for smoking cessation with acupuncture:  she said she has treated about 30 people and her overall success rate is c. 60%.  That is fantastic!)

(if I¹m worried about flu, would I get acupuncture?)  Yes, say the Asian flu is here.  You boost your immune system, take elderberry syrup (Sambucol, available at Clifton Natural Foods -- ellen) , take garlic.  Get plenty of sleep.  And you get preventative, health maintaining acupuncture.

(How does acupuncture work?)  It  alters in the nerve muscular junction, resulting in well documented changes in the dopamine, seratonin , chemistry in the synapse.  These chemicals are known to be  pain modulators.  
Also acupuncture at certain points brings MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging, a western medicine diagnostic like X-ray)  changes.  
Einstein found that energy and mass are equivalent, through his famous formula.  
E=MCsquared.  
Acupuncture uses metal needles.  Interacts with the energy system, balances it out, that changes the body.
Sometimes I am incredulous myself.  I had a bad sprained ankle, the kind where y ou are severely compromised and in a lot of pain for many days.  I gave myself two treatments and it was gone!  It was unbelievable how effective it was.  It does not depend upon the person¹s belief in it; it even   works on dogs--there are local veterinarians who use it.  

(Could it be good for mental clarity?)  Yes.  I have treated ADD.

(Have you treated SADs, ³seasonal affective disorder², depression related to the darkness in winter?)  Yes.  Currently treating a couple people.
(When know you should stay home because you might have flu.?)  Headache, achy,  sneezing... you must know your body.

(Testimonial:  acup. very relaxing... my husband ... deepest sleep.  #1 treatment for shingles.)  If you get it early enough it is great for shingles.  

... Don¹t use chewable vitamin C because it is bad for your tooth enamel..

V. helpful for chronic fatigue.  

(Collaboration with homeopath?)  Sure.  Individuals have to see what they are drawn to.  

(Acupuncture effective with High blood pressure?)  Yes.  Harvard study.  There is a bill submitted to congress trying to get vitamin supplements and acupuncture outlawed.  

(sleep apnea?)  There are a lot of physical causes.  I  have not treated it.  I know some treatments to try.  

(Is acupuncture intuitive, more like an art?)  No, it is based on history and physical.  Some people seem to have an intuitive sense to perceive blockage and flow.

(how know if you have a block?)  You would have pain.  
Yin circulates up front,  of the body, yang moves down the back back.  For instance,  headaches, mean that energy is building up in the head because the pathway for descending down the back is blocked.
(cancer)  Yes.  A lot of literature documenting effective use with cancer.  Also with managing the side effects of  chemotherapy.  Medicalacupuncture.org  a physician group.  Good resources.  

It is great to get acupuncture as a preventive, but does not mean you can abuse yourself.   The Eastern philosophy is that health is supported by ³ Exercise, nutrition,  and meditation.²  There are a number of ways to meditate.  It is basically clearing your head.  Exercise can be a med, other forms are concentration med,...
I do a concentration/relaxation form.  I also exercise.  

Is meditation THE ticket?  No.  Just one.

(What happens in an acupuncture treatment?)  The patient will lie on a table for 12 to 30 minutes.  I use anywhere from 10 to 50 needles.  Hair-fine needles.  Individual use, stainless steel.  Sometimes you don¹t feel anything, sometimes a little prick when it goes in.  Sometimes a sensation of deep dull achy feeling, means stuck things are starting to move.  
Some acupuncturists use Moxa, an herb.  They light it and put  a heated ember  on the end of the needle.  Or can heat the needle first.  Or can hook up to electricity.

(I had a friend who was injured and all crippled up.  The Eastern Medicine doc. used Moxabustion.   Friend lay face down, on the small of his back the doc.  put pile of herb,  and lit it.  He did not feel anything. ) Yes I am familiar with that practice.  .

There are some practices in China we don¹t do here because they seem repugnant to westerners.  

(old practices coming back.  Bleeding...)  If I take a needle out and it bleeds, I let it bleed.  Lets energy out.  Indicates congested chi.  I had to unlearn my western medicine, that was the hardest thing.  

No, acupuncture is not tapping into the nervous system.  It is about unblocking energy flow, which is not the same as the flow of electrical impulse along the nerves.

Scar tissue on the body will  block the flow of energy.  

~ End of Table Notes ~


Ellen¹s P.S.:  
   Dottie¹s presentation was extremely well received at the table and more than one salonista said they are planning to go see her for acupuncture.  
   This morning (Saturday 17 Dec.) I awoke having slept 11 hours, with a headache.  I never get headaches.  I had been feeling crotchety and irritable yesterday, big time.  Our three presentations about flu suggest to me that I might have flu, very mildly, but still.  So what I have learned is that when I feel flu-like symptoms I should isolate myself so as not to give it to others.  I stayed away from our (very interesting and really lovely) Buddha Dharma study group in the Lloyd House Zendo every Saturday morning (see announcement below), canceled my afternoon client meeting and my evening party, even though I am sure I could have done all that.  I also took the homeopathic remedy for acute flu, ³Influenzinum Œ05-¹06 200c² and went back to bed.  
   In addition, I notice that the assault of the virus, whatever it is, exacerbates my ³clench up and pull down² response, for which my Alexander Technique lessons and practice is the remedy.  It is remarkable how much better I feel when I remember do to my Alexander Tech. ³inhibition² of the stress reaction.  I am wild about my Alexander Tech. learning.  Since Erik has left town, Anita Sorkin and I have had a weekly practice group, and have derived much benefit from that.  Perhaps when Nancy Dawley, (our salonista A.T. teacher) returns after New Year¹s, we will hire her to come and teach us.  If there are other A.T. students out there who might be interested, we¹d love to have you  join us, whether or not you are currently having regular lessons.

   P.S. I had been complaining to someone that I really needed some Smart Person to lay out for me what is going on in the 20th century, human organization, evolution, systems ... you know.  Get me oriented.  Who was it, Richard Blumberg? or Steve Sunderland? both of whom have read nearly everything printed in English ever ... suggested sociologist Immanuel Wallerstein. Last week I got from the library (how I l ove our library!)   The End of the World as We Know It by Wallerstein.  I am thrilled.  Get this:

:  p. 3: ³A historical system cannot be egalitarian if it is not democratic, because an undemocratic system is one that distributes power unequally, and this means that it will also distribute all other things unequally.  And it cannot be democratic if it is not egalitarian, since an inegalitarian system means that some have more material means than others and therefore inevitably will have more political power.²  
   and ... p. 4: (after saying that the belief in certainty is dumb and any monotheistic  world religion ought to see that...)  ³If everything is uncertain, then the future is open to creativity, not merely human creativity but the creativity of all nature.  It is open to possibility, and therefore to a better world.  But we can only get there as we are ready to invest our moral energies in its achievement, and as we are ready to struggle with those who, under whatever guise and for whatever excuse, prefer an inegalitarian, undemocratic world.²

   Maybe it was Mike Murphy who told me about Wallerstein.  He¹s read everything, too.  I would love to study this book with others, maybe present it at the salon.  I feel the confusion in my head diminishing already, and I¹ve only read four pages.  

   I hope that the sweet spirit of Christmas... of hope, of rebirth, of innocence, of love, of  majesty .. is aborning in everyone this week, and that it is not drowned out by the sickening addiction to stuff and dollars and  Œmore¹, or by intollerable pressure to provide "a beautiful, rich Christmas experience" for one's family.  I remember when I was a child of about  10 (well before I discovered we were a Jewish family) people used to say, as December progressed, ³Have you caught the Christmas spirit yet?²  And then one evening I found myself suddenly feeling uplifted, suddenly letting go of resentments and unhappiness like a hot air balloon dropping ballast, and feeling sweetness and love  towards everyone, even moved to say ³Merry Christmas² to strangers and smile, and meaning it.  It hit me then, ³Why, I¹ve caught the Christmas spirit!²  Later, when I was raising my three Jewish children (hallelujah! they are grown,) I discovered the same thing in Judaism, but it comes every Friday night with Shabbat.  Silver and gold, solemnity and rejoicing, forgiveness and grace.  May you each come down with a really heavy case of Christmas/Shabbat spirit this year!

Don't miss the interesting article you want to read in blue section.  It might be one of these:
  • Systemic Constellation work article by Kenn Deigh (who will present briefly on Monday, then give demonstration at 8.)
  • Steve Sunderland on the Muslim Mothers Against violence presentation at St. John's last week
  • Mike Murphy to present on Peak Oil at the salon Monday, 12/19; here's his essay
  • Election "reform" goes wrong way in Columbus: HB 3
  • Black Box Voting (Go Bev Harris!) on Voting Machine story. Proof of hackabilitly
  • The Religious Right on the warpath... check this out


Hugs to all,
Ellen








Announcements:


(plus, see below for Weekly Events that repeat every week)
* Including Holiday Gift Ideas!



12/18

Gray Road Farms Threatened

Hello Ellen.
  My Gray Rd. neighbors and I have been told
that a developer, Vandercar (sp?) has signed
paperwork with the Gray Rd. fill leading to a
purchase of the lower 45 acres of the site.
  It seems that *45 acres is not enough*.
  They want to buy our properties as well,
including my house
and five(?) others, Leslie Poindexter's "farm"
that the Waldorf school uses for outdoor
education, and a large amount of beautiful
open space. I am sick in my heart about the
wrongness of this plan.
  Will you get this message to any and all that
might help stop this ugly, greed-fed nonsense,
please?
 ...
Janice Trytten

A quiet place, gentle breeze, sage smoke and cedar.                    WARM SHELTER  Native Flutes           www.sunflowertones.net               

12/18

PAUL HACKETT PARTY
'Twas the Holiday week, when all through the State


no politicians were stirring, not even our candidate.
The anxious hosts waited at The Brickhouse with care,
hoping lots of donors would soon appear there.
Paul needs your support by the end of the year
to show D.C. our choice for Senator is clear!
So, we've asked all our friends, we hold very dear
to come out, support him, and knock back a beer.
Please join Jody Grundy, Cheryl Crowe, John Karabaic, Dan &
Lynn Ticotsky
Wednesday December 21 6:00-8:00 PM
at the Brickhouse Tavern, 2038 Madison Road, O'Bryonville.
in support of Paul Hackett for Ohio Senate
Paul will join us at 7PM for a meet and greet.
$50.00 donation suggested
Checks made out to Hackett for US Senate
RSVP requested but not required.
Cheryl Crowe:
cec@exnext.com or Jody Grundy: grundyj@fuse.net

12/18
Sierra Club Calls for Immediate Action on Arctic Wildlife Refuge
ACTION NEEDED TODAY

Senator Ted Stevens is attempting to put an Arctic Drilling provision in the Department of Defense Appropriation Bill.

Please call Senator DeWine. Thank him for his past support of Arctic protection. Urge him to sign onto the CANTWELL letter opposing Senator Steven's gambit to insert Arctic drilling into Defense Appropriations bill.

CALL SENATOR DeWine at 202-224-2315

Senator Stevens should not hold the Defense spending bill hostage over the controversial issue of oil drilling in the Arctic Refuge.

12/18

Alan Hundley to offer "Tai Chi for Arthritis" at the Lloyd House

6 weekly classes, afternoons,  $60, starting in January.
For more information contact Alan: ahundley@fuse.net
Good for people who do not have arthritis as well.  


12/17
We have lost and found items at the salon... things like serving pieces, bowls, pot holders.  I've been putting dates on them.  When they have sat here three months I say, let's have an auction.  If I remember, on  Monday we will auction them off for heat bill money.  (grin).  Ellen



12/18

Good News: Board of Health says NO to ELDA waste transfer Station



From:   Karen Arnett <karen.arnett@fuse.net>
Date:    Dec 14, 2005 5:58 AM

Subject:   Board of Health acts in good conscience - denies  license to ELDA for fifth consecutive year.


December 14, 2005

Update on last night's Cincinnati Board of Health meeting:


The Board of Health denied an operating license for the fifth year in a row to Waste Management for its ELDA waste transfer station. The board took this decision despite previous previous years' license denials being overturned on appeal, and in the face of a near certainty of this current decision being overturned as well. The board was explicit in making the choice to protect the affected neighborhood from yet more pollution: one key concern was for the up to 500 truck trips per day adding to the air pollution load in Winton Place/Winton Hills.  The board of health also expressed concerns about Waste Management having initially won approval for the facility as a recycling facility, and about the company not having gone through the required legal channels with the city of Cincinnati  to seek a zoning approval.

And in an unprecedented move the board denied an operating license to the Gray Road landfill, citing concerns over the landfill's poor track record of violations of the laws.


Karen Arnett
Program Director
ECO: Environmental Community Organization
761-6140 ext 14






12/18

Children!
Calling for Singers, Grades 4 - 8
Multicultural Youth Choir


An opportunity for young people to participate in the all-city MLK Day celebration and sing on the stage of  Music Hall.  Exciting, beautiful fun music, excellent way to build healing in Cincinnati across our many communities.  

Cathy Roma and Todd O'Neal directing:  (first rehearsal is  VERY important):  

Sunday, Dec. 18:  4-5:00 pm
  St. John's Unitarian Church, 320 Resor in Clifton

Tues. Jan 10: 6 - 8 pm  
at House Of Joy, 5918 Hamilton Ave in College Hill

Sat. Jan 14, 10-11 am House of Joy

Monday, Jan 16: 11 am (rehearsal) to 2 pm (end of performance) at Music Hall

"A diverse gathering of young people from various public schools, churches, mosques, temples, and synagogues will learn and sing two pieces with the Martin Luther King Coalition Chorale.  This mass chorus will be joined by members of the Clark Montessori Steel Drum Band."



No try-out required; just come!


12/18

Ed Gutfrund does workshops, Jan, Feb, March

(Ed is terrific.  I don't know Mark.  ellen)
Friends & Colleagues--

Ed Gutfreund is a Bodyworker and Psychotherapist, and Mark Davis is a
Bodyworker and Wellness Coach. Both are based in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Ed and Mark offer workshops for Bodyworkers, Psychotherapists, Counselors,
Physicians, Pastoral Counselors and Caregivers, and all health and
wellness professionals.
These workshops explore meditative and
contemplative approaches to deepening the experience and improving the
outcomes in therapeutic relationships for both clients and therapists
alike.

Upcoming workshops:

* January 14--Presence for Bodyworkers
* February 11--Presence for Pastoral Counselors and Caregivers
* March 4--Presence for Psychotherapists and Counselors

Contact info:

* web: http://presencepractice.com
* email: info@presencepractice.com
* phone: (513) 542-6917

Presence describes our capacity for being awake and aware within our
experience. To be present is to be connected to and inseparable from our
internal experience, relationship with others and with the world. Being
effective in relationship can be a function of the degree of one's
capacity to stay present, especially so for those working in therapeutic
alliance.

Presence workshops explore the theory and practice of staying connected
and aware in therapeutic relationship. The workshop environment is
conversational and experiential as we explore:

* techniques from both contemplative spiritual and contemporary
psychotherapeutic traditions that build one's capacity for remaining
focused and mindful
* particular obstacles that arise for those in therapeutic roles
* exercises that help integrate these approaches into daily work with
clients and patients.

Presence workshops can help health and wellness professionals:

* be more effective as therapists
* experience more fulfilling work with clients
* maintain healthy and appropriate boundaries
* improve self care and self management
* reduce caretaking fatigue and burnout


Please see our website for further information or contact us via email or
phone. We would also appreciate your forwarding this message to any
colleagues who might be interested. And let us know at
info@presencepractice.com if you would prefer not to receive occasional
workshop updates.

We are in the process of opening our new office suite at 951 W North Bend
Road in Cincinnati and have treatment rooms available for leasing by
health and wellness professionals. We also have a friend in Hamilton, Ohio
with practice space available. Let us know if you're interested in either.

Thanks,
Ed and Mark





12/10
Salonista Mike Murphy to present on a(nother) Peak Oil Conference
Monday 12/19

From: <mmurphy10@fuse.net>
Date: Fri, 9 Dec 2005 21:57:40 -0500
To: "Ellen Bierhorst" <ellenbierhorst@lloydhouse.com>
Subject: Re: Weekly 12/3/05 - 3

Ellen--Enjoyed Shirley R's presentation (on homeopathy and flu) last Monday at the salon) immensely.  May go to her. ....
  As to 'Peak Oil,' I'd like to give a 10 minute presentation a week from Monday, on the 19th, if that is okay.  And because it is so emotionally and culturally charged a topic, I guess it will need another 10 minutes for questions.  And, of course, it will become an increasingly pervasive concept in the months and years to come, like the sea is to an island, like the sky is in Great Plains, like water is to fish. A constant.  
              Let's start with 10 minutes, if that's alright.  Mike

Hi Mike,
Sure.  Only... be advised that on the 19th Ken Deigh and his partner Patricia will be also doing a special presentation on Hellinger Family Constellation work.  And, if there should be a huge "current event" we'd need to discuss that as well.  Just to be fore-warned.  Will that suit?
e.

Three Last-Minute Tri-State Treasures:


Tri-State Treasures is a compilation of unique local people, places, and events that may enrich your lives. These treasures have been submitted by you and others who value supporting quality community offerings. Please consider supporting these treasures, and distributing the information for others to enjoy. And please continue to forward your Tri-State Treasures ideas to jkesner@nuvox.net.
Thank you to those who edit their submissions to conform to the Tri-State Treasure
format; it saves me a lot of time & effort.

I'll be away for a few weeks. My best wishes to you all and your families for the Holidays and for the New Year. Please support your community treasures, and see you in 2006.

Sincerely, Jim
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Cinderella [through Friday 30 December]: Embrace the music. An all new family musical just in time for the holidays, this Cinderella reminds us that even if the shoe fits, it may be the wrong size. Filled with magic, music, & wonder - Cinderella will ring in the holidays with song & celebration. Join them for this fractured fairy tale framing a heart-felt tale of longing & belonging. "...the best show of the season for young audiences!² ~ Rick Pender, City Beat.
$5 off adult tickets on Wednesday-Friday 14-16 December if you mention this message. At Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati, 1127 Vine Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202. More info @ 513.421.3555, Jocelyn.Meyer@cincyetc.com, & www.cincyetc.com.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tri-State Treasures is compiled by James Kesner.
To submit Tri-State Treasures, or to request your email address to be added or removed
from the list, send an email to
jkesner@nuvox.net and specify Tri-State Treasures.








11/19
Bargain time for intuitive divination by Malidoma Some student Susan Crew, Ph.D.  She is amazing!  Shamanistic "reading" on  your life and/or  your issues, problems, questions.  Ancient African roots.  If you have been curious about or utilized Tarot, palm reading, I-Ching, etc. you will be fascinated, possibly thrilled by this.  ellen





Connect with the wisdom of ancestors, elemental spirits of water, earth, nature and mineral, and wise beings from other dimensions.




Dear Friends, Colleagues and Kindred Spirits,  

During the months of November  and December of 2005 I will be doing divinations for a fee of $20.00 rather than my usual fee of $60.00 to $100.00.
(This is a spiritual technology taught to me by Malidoma SomĂ© www.malidoma.org and the shaman of the Dagara people, Burkina Faso, West Africa.)  

I will be sending all the money I receive for these divinations to the Shaman of Burkina Faso with whom I studied, and to the people in Dano, home of Malidoma SomĂ©.  

Peace, Susan  
Susan B. Crew, Ph.D.
513-559-1193
www.numinousity.net
Susan@numinousity.net




12/19

Kenn  and Patricia Deigh Present on Hellinger Constellation Work
at Monday Night Salon, 19 December
And... See Kenn's piece in "Articles" below






They will give a short introduction at the table, and then at 8, after the salon, will give a demonstration upstairs in the zendo.  Free!

Systemic Constellation Work is a means by which we can reveal
and resolve hidden dynamics within our family systems which contribute
to current pain or dysfunction. By working with the representatives in
the field, we can discover solutions so that the individual and the
family soul can move toward greater clarity and healing. The work is
done in a group setting, allowing opportunities for participants to act
as representatives of various parts of the client¹s system. This allows
the client to observe their own dynamic from a new and more conscious
perspective.

Kenn and Patricia were introduced to Systemic Family Constellation Work
in Cornwall in 2001.  They pursued training in Germany and the United
States, successfully completing a two year certification course with
Heinz Stark, Bert Hellinger's protégé, in 2005. Both Kenn and Patricia
share a deep enthusiasm for Systemic Constellation Work, fueled by
their own experiences with the healing effects of this powerful tool.
Their work as a couple, with complementary communication styles, is
rare among Constellation facilitators and allows for a greater dynamic
clarity in the field.
They also will be presenting a workshop here during the winter, perhaps in February.  Stay tuned.  


7/16/05


Retreat Space / Temporary Lodging
at the Lloyd House
prices to be negotiated
By the day...week...month.
Reference required



This is a new idea I just got.  Instead of a permanent housemate, we could have "bed no breakfast" guests.  Know anyone who needs this... a weekend getaway?  Mad at the spouse?  Want to meditate or write or heal?  The Lloyd House is quiet, comfortable, jolly.  Plus, massage available at special Lloyd House Resident rates with Neil Anderson, L.M.T.





**********************
2 Different Spaces Available at Lloyd House
Fabulous Clifton Gaslight Castle; warm, multicultural environment
2 miles from U.C.  1/2 mile from Mitchell Ave. exit I-75
Call Ellen: 513 221 1289

Third floor walk up. (A) One room with sleeping loft, private bath, share kitchen
Room has ethernet for high speed internet connection: $10/mo. extra


Share: third floor meditation/dance/yoga room
first floor TV/VCR/DVD, iMac w/ high speed internet, dining room, veranda
Off street parking, spacious yard, gardens, sauna, workout room
2 hours per month building maintenance/yard care/housmates meeting
Laundry (indoor lines for drying) free

and (C) First Floor large office, share powder room, share waiting room/living room/ parking.
Rookwood fireplace.  18 x 18' (very spacious).  
Has its own entry as well as access to public waiting room.  Super for any kind of office, studio, body worker, practitioner, ...

Minimum age: 25
Monthly house contribution: $350; $430 (more if you use A/C, internet)
Available 1 September, 2005
Other housemates include: me, Neil Anderson (our fabulous massage therapist), Alan Bern (musician, doctoral student CCM).  
No smoking in house.
I am looking for: rock solid good vibes 24/7.  Also rock solid financial reliability.  Also, prefer a person who will enjoy the Monday night Salon and is interested in building community here.  Eventually want to explore sharing ownership and all responsibilities.  
Please pass the word to any of your contacts who might know of folks looking for a place to live/work.  
ellen



12/10
Local Psychologist, Jungian, and Shaman SUSAN CREW to give seminar:

Dreams & Creativity



This exciting course will allow each participant to connect with the "artist within" that creates stories, dramas and images each night in dream time. It is also a powerful way to tap into that part of yourself that loves to play & knows just what you are to become.

We will delve into our dream life through making art. We will paint, draw, make stories, create dramas.  Each person will have opportunities to share one of her or his dreams with the group, as a focus of our work.  

6 WEEKDAY Sessions, 1/12/06 through 3/2/06, 12:00 to 2:00 pm (no class on 1/26 and 2/16). $99.00 at Essex Studios

Registration required at least 5 days in advance.  Full fee of $99.00 due at time of registration. Min. 5, max. 8 participants.

Susan B. Crew, Ph.D.
513-559-1193
www.numinousity.net



12/18
County Commissioners voted to "privatize" Drake Hospital!
Thanks Nancy Dawley for keeping us informed.
Ellen,

The horse is already out of the barn.  The commissioners voted today 2:1 to move the management of Drake Hospital to Alliance.  This is supposed to save tax payers money, although about $10 million/year of the tax levy will go to the Health Alliance for the next 4 or so years to help them support the hospital.  Once that is complete, Todd Portune's question was how will Alliance manage to support it from then on without cuts in service.

Doesn't seem like a need to publish a report, unless just for general information about what to expect in 4 years

Any disagreement?

Nancy

Dear Nancy... yes, give us the info. on what to expect in 4 years.  Recently, Drake has been a wonderful service for long term and chronicaly ill hospitalized people who couldn't pay private care.  I dread to see what this will mean.  ellen.




Cathy Roma and St. John's Music Series



Jan 28, Sat. 8 pm
Sonic Om: Indian Percussion and Dance music
with Kanniks Kannikeswaren and friends
St. John's U. Church on320  Resor Ave 45220






$10 students and seniors, $17.50 others






Free Childcare






9 April 3 pm
Proud and Peaceful: A concert featuring Piano, Voice, and Comedy: Alix Thio, John Wright, Steve Mallory and Terry LaBolt
St. John's U. Church on320  Resor Ave 45220






$10 students and seniors, $17.50 others






Free Childcare





Weekly Events that repeat every week



12/10

Need a cool holiday gift?

Neil Anderson gives a fantastic massage.    Give a half hour or full hour massage with Neil at the Lloyd House.  Can't be beat.  Massage is a health and vigor restorer, a tool for self empowerment, a wonderful way to be nurtured, ... good for what ails you, man woman or child.  Call him.

559-1726.

Reasonable rates.
Alan Bern calls Neil a "massage virtuoso".  It's true.  ellen


12/10
11/27
Local Artist (and Earthsave organizer) Mary Ann Lederer offering paintings for Gifts:
Colorful, original, "primitive"
Original paintings make wonderful holiday gifts!

Colorful paintings about animals, people and the earth

Available by appointment.

Call: 513-591-3003 or email: ledererm@nuvox.net

Card and some posters also available.
(Not only is the art wonderful, but it is great to support this local artist who is disabled and inspiring. ellen)

12/18

THE VEGETARIAN CATERER in Northside
(LOCATED INSIDE APJONES PIZZA)

Specializing in Vegetarian & Vegan Dishes & Bakegoods

Vegan Pizza , Hoagies & Sandwiches

Decorated cakes & cookies made to order

Let us cater your next party or event

Appetizers, Entrees, Soups, Salads & Desserts


Mawusi Tafari, Owner & Vegetarian
4252 Fergus Street
(Located behind the AP Jones CafĂ©¹)
Phone: (513)542-VEGE(8343)
³The Fruit of the Spirit Is Love²





Announcement.  Dr. John A. Kelly is beginning a local speaking tour on Healing the Racial divide.  he is available to speak to your church or group.John completed his training at the Layministry Academy of the West Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church on June 1.  Dr. Kelly has a degree in Sociology from West Virginia State University, a traditionally black institution.  He earned his master of social work degree at West Virginia University.  John earned his doctorate in counselor education at the University of Cincinnati specialializing in multicultural counseling.  He is a member of the board of directors of the Reconciling Ministries of the United Methodist Church.  He is also on the board of directors of the Unity House World Peace Center.  Dr. Kelly will present for the benefit of a love offering.  Please contact him to schedule a speaking date at 242-7088;  John is a member of the salon.







11/12

Intercommunity Justice and Peace Center Events:



Remember WOMEN IN BLACK VIGILS continue weekly
Mondays
5-6 pm
Grassy island at corner of Vine St. and Central Pkwy
Wear black or dark- colored clothes.
All are welcome!
513-579-8547


12/3/05

Tender Yoga with Nonegenarian Phil Nightingale

St. John's Unitarian Church on Resor Ave in Clifton
Tuesdays 10:00 - 11:30
Easy, gentle yet effective yoga for "the rest of us".  No one too old, too infirm, too stiff for this class.


11/21/05

buddha dharma study group


New group formed at Lloyd House to study the Buddhist scriptures from the original (most ancient) Pali texts.
Saturday mornings 9:30 - 11:00

We will be slowly working our way through "In the Buddha's Words", translated and with introductions by Bikhu Bodhi
with  foreward by the Dalai Lama.
This is a tasty little group.  We will give you a copy of the book.  Come join us!

Format:

9:30, arrive, remove shoes, come up to the (beautifl) third floor meditation room.  
9:45: meditation for ten minutes
9:50: the leader for the  week reads the short passage, next in sequence.  Then the leader shares her/his reactions and thoughts.  Then we go around the circle, everyone sharing or passing.  No interruptions.  After everyone who wants has given their response, we have open discussion until 11:00.  
11:00: tea in the dinning room.

We have a web forum.  Richard Blumberg has been studying this material for years.  I love to listen to him explain it.  He is the guy who gave that excellent introduction to Buddhism last year at the salon.  

I have been meditating for decades, but had never studied the sutras.  This is a treat!   ellen

12/3

Good Odd Jobs Man Available Cheap


Noli Tobias, age 31, Philippino man,  Physical Therapist awaiting U.S.
licensure.  Married to Vietnamese woman, U.S. citizen.
Will work for $8 / hour.  Housecleaning, maintenance jobs, yard work, etc.  
 I have met Noli and like him a lot.  Seems reliable, intelligent, pleasant, competent.  Such a deal!  ellen



- end of Announcements -

Articles



12/17
Discovering Systemic Constellation Work

Kenn Day

Our bellies warm from hot tea with milk, fresh scones with clotted  
cream and strawberry preserves, we meandered down the curving lane  
toward Rosemerryn House. It had rained - yet again - leaving the air  
with a slightly fresher dampness and cooler than the afternoon had  
been. Lisa began telling me about a friend of hers in Germany who had  
introduced her to a new kind of family therapy. "It's truly amazing!  
And I can't really do it justice in words."

"Can you show me?" I asked.

We returned to the B & B and swept into the seminar room, with Lisa  
still talking.

Lisa is a lanky blonde German women who I met at Mystery School  
several years ago. Her english is fluent and she is sharp as a tack,  
so if she was impressed with this new technique, it seemed like it  
would be worthwhile exploring.

Lisa had all of us sit down on cushions around the edges of the room,  
facing inwards to create a large open circle. Then she settled  
herself and took some deep breaths while looking intensely at each of  
us in turn. Finally she settled back on her cushion and asked if  
anyone wanted to volunteer. My hand popped up but Jason, one of my  
students also volunteered and I passed to him.

I won't go into the details of his work, but I will describe the  
basic process we went through. Lisa had Jason sit beside her and  
asked him a few questions to determine just what it was she was going  
to be working with, then she asked him to choose someone to represent  
himself, his mother and his father. He did so and then she had him  
gently guide each representative to the place he intuitively felt  
they belonged in the circle - which she began calling the "Field".

Then she had Jason come back and sit beside her and observe the  
"constellation" formed by the representatives. As one of those  
representatives, I was surprised to find myself experiencing physical  
sensations, emotions and an awareness of information within the  
family, that I had no other way of knowing. Lisa was right. There is  
no way to put into words the profound strength and depth of this  
work. We were able to reach back to Jason's ancestors to unravel  
entanglements in the family that went back generations.

The results of the constellation were clear and immediate. Our dinner  
that evening was interrupted by a call from Jason's mother - just  
hours after we completed the work. Her call was just what Jason had  
been hoping for. Over dinner, Lisa explained more about the work we  
did. It was pioneered by Bert Hellinger, who worked as a missionary  
for ten years with the Zulu before leaving the catholic church and  
beginning his studies in therapy. He had been ready to retire several  
years ago but was persuaded to do a few workshops to show others how  
he was working with family constellations. Over twenty years later,  
he continues to develop new innovations and still has yet to retire.

The constellation technique is based in experiential group work, led  
by facilitators who help the representatives to reveal hidden family  
dynamics, release entanglements in the system and allow the love to  
flow down through the generations so that life for the client can  
become more fulfilling today. The work is being used for families,  
professional organizations and other systems to clear away obstacles  
and allow for a free flow of energy within the system being addressed.

My wife Patricia and I were so impressed with the work that we  
traveled to Berlin the next year to experience more in depth  
constellations with Analie Schmidt and others. Still hungry for more,  
we entered a two year certification course with Heinz Stark, one of  
Bert's proteges and have just recently graduated - still excited  
about this powerful new technique and ready to help bring it to America.

For more information on Soul Solutions with Ken Day and Patricia  
Sheerin email enki@one.net or call (513) 481-3080. The next workshop  
will be held at the Vernon Manor on Saturday January 21, 2006.





12/18/05
Steve Sunderland on Muslim Mothers Against Violence presentation at St. John's
Dear Friends:
             The war in Iraq continues with the president announcing the deaths of 30,000 Iraqis and over 2100 American soldiers. Violence and bravery seem to also fill our media as the election is about to occur in Iraq. And, we hold our breath for the four Quaker peacemakers who are currently being held hostage by an Iraqi terrorist group. The announced date of their death has already passed but there is no word. So much news to digest and grieve about this brutal way of solving problems and conflicts.

            Hidden from view is the toll that terrorism is taking on Molems who do not identify with the terrorists, and those Moslems who feel that Islam has been deeply dishonored by those using violence in the name of this holy religion. "My children are being threatened and hardened by having to defend our religion," Ms. Zeinab Schwen, co-founder of the Cincinnati based, Moslem Mothers Against Violence, says with a bitter and strong passion. "We are Americans, full citizens of this country, and my children were born right here in Cincinnati," she continues, "and I do not like how we are being treated by either Americans or terrorists." A group of 14 people listened to her stirrring presentation last night at St. Johns Unitarian Church. Ms. Schwen and the Peace Village have agreed to visit schools, colleges and religious institutions to discuss the irrationality of responses to all things Islamic. Our goal is to increase peace through understanding, through sharing stories of fear and ignorance, and it joining together in partnership to educate about Islam our  fellow students and members of religious institutions.(Please write me if you would like us to visit for a conversation.)

             Ms. Schwen, a Palestinian by birth, raised in Egypt, possessing graduate degrees in pharmacy from both the University of Cario and the University of Minnesota, is an American citizen, married and the mother of 3 high school and college aged children. Zeinab, as she prefers being called, is a very attractive woman in her 40's, with blazing brown eyes, a wonderful bright smile, and a fearless soul. She wore a lovely suit and, around her neck, a lovely light brown and white scarf. Our group met with the Rev. Frank Carpenter, as kind host, in a large meeting room in his church. This is the first of a hoped for series of discussions in many sites.

            Zeinab gave us the history of this new organization, founded immediately after and in response to the bombing in London, England, in July, 2005. "The bombers were home grown young British people, average and well educated members of the London community. If they could turn to suicidal bombing, what would prevent our children from going that route?," she asked in a way that both dumbfounded us and brought questions of what could motivate young people to take this course of action. We didn't know what brought young people to such a level of sacrifice and to violence, and we were eager to hear what Zeinab could do to help us understand. "Since September 11, 2001," she said, "women wearing the head scarf and men who have been identified as Moslem have been subjected to an experience of hatred, distrust, and frustration." Zeinab had noticed, as had other Moslem mothers in our area, that their children were being placed in school situations that they were unprepared for. No longer seen as Americans, or, as regular kids, they were now the victims of hard looks, prejudiced comments, and scary actions that brought a new pressure to their relationships. How much pressure could they take? Would their good hearts be changed by the dramatic shift in symbols and actions of their fellow schoolmates? "What would keep them from turning violent?," Zeinab asked with heartfelt concern.

            "We are good Moslems, and believe that Islam is a religion of peace,and means, "inner peace by following our God," she began an answer to what were the principles of her religion. "Any action that links violence to Islam is wrong, and what the non-Moselem world is seeing is the opposite of our teaching about being a good Moslem," she continued."No one is to be treated violently, Moslem or non-Moslem, according to our teaching," she said with determination to us, "and non-Moslems are to be treated with kindness and gratitude,especially if they are of a different faith." Clearly, her grip on her strong feelings was relaxing as she felt that we could hear what was giving her heart so much pain.

            "Don't you see," she said as she removed her scarf and placed it on her head, "that I am the same person, whether in the scarf or not?" We sat awake to what she was teaching, seeing her now as a religious participant endangered by the simple act of wearing her scarf so beautifully around her head. A silence fell over us, perhaps the quietness of the horror imagined if we had to brave the stares and comments of the women of Islam. "I do not have the courage to wear my scarf outside of my house and I am so angry about this situation," she suddenly said. We were tongue tied, almost speechless, and amazed how deeply identified we felt with her. "Maybe we could wear scarfs in church?," I heard someone muse. Suddenly, the academic part of this discussion seemed irrelevant. Curiosity about what Islam is and how it works was superceded by what citizens of this faith are choosing to do to survive in our community, a community that until  a second ago, seemed "safe" to all religions.

            "We must roll up our sleeves and work together," Zeinab said as she unwound the scarf. A part of me wanted to shout: "Don't take off your scarf. You are safe, here. In this place and with these people, we are all Moslems." Zeinab may have sensed this but she continued to take the scarf and place it gently on her shoulders. The air in our room from so many breaths held, seemed to return. We were back to that place where fear slips under consciousness, the place of pseudo-Americanism: the belief that we are all protected by the law.

             We met for 90 of the fastest minutes I have ever spent, each one packed with the double-meanings of fear and enlightenment. All of us in the room were older than Zeinab, old enough to remember the terrible yellow star, the stories of brave people who refused to abandon the persecuted, old enough to remember the taking of the Japanese Americans, and old enough to remember Rosa Parks being threatened by another terrorist ideology. Now, in this old church on a cold December night, we were being asked to join in the struggle for justice for Moslems and for ourselves. We heard the still strong cry for America to be America, to be a place that we can embrace our Moslem family as strong and beautiful citizens of our country. Thank you, Zeinab and the other Moslem Mothers Against Violence for your faith and trust. Thank you, group, for overcoming the fears and joining in our effort to understand and change.

In peace,

Steve

12/18/05
Mike Murphy to present on Peak Oil at the salon Monday, 12/19
         Peak Oil, Iraq & the Need for Community

                                                                  By Mike Murphy



    Why are we in Iraq? The short answer is, ‘peak oil.’

    It certainly isn’t because of any supposed 9/11 connection.  That was a fairy tale, told to us to whip up a war frenzy against Iraq. To stampede Congress and the American people into supporting the White House plan to attack and occupy Iraq, and to place US military bases in the Caspian Sea/Persian Gulf region.  

    The full truth is much worse.  The evidence is very, very strong that there is US government complicity in carrying out the stunningly  sophisticated, multiple jet-liner hijackings and attacks in seemingly unprotected American skies.  Available evidence indicates this all happened not because of any incredible “breakdown” of US intelligence or military preparedness--but because of a deliberate “stand-down” of our intelligence and military forces.  That is, there is strong  evidence that high level government officials, probably in the CIA, and apparently even the White House, are complicit in the 9/11 attacks. .  

    Probably the most accessible book covering this evidence, and analyzing it, is “The New Pearl Harbor: Disturbing Questions about the Bush Administration and 9/11” by an outstanding American investigator, David Ray Griffin.  A longer, more comprehensive work is “The War on Truth: 9/11, Disinformation, and the Anatomy of Terrorism,” by a highly regarded British scholar, Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed.  

    In fact, Ahmed amassed so much information in his researches that he had to put his findings into two books, the other of which is “The War on Freedom: How and Why America was Attacked September 11, 2001,” also highly informative with excellent analyses.    

    The second reason given for the American attack, invasion and occupation of Iraq is to remove Iraqui weapons of mass destruction [WMD].  However, this was another fable, also fed to us to fan the fires of war within us.  There were no WMD, and our government knew it, and the world knew it.  Scott Ritter, the American inspector, knew it.  So did Mohammed el-Barradei, who was given a Nobel Peace prize for his work.   

    Why is the US in Iraq?  Oil, and the control of the major sources of oil in the world, is the real reason why we attacked, invaded and occupied Iraq, and have put bases in the former Soviet transcaspian region.  

    It also a fact there were plans on the table to topple Afghanistan and invade Iraq well before the 2001 9/11 attacks, all because of the desire to control the Caspian Basin/Persian Gulf oil and gas.  Especially since there was no other global power ready to challenge the US move to do so.   But China and Europe were potential, if distant, contenders.

    And because of ‘Peak Oil.’



                                                Peak Oil

    The world has used up half the known oil in the earth.  Beginning in 1859, it has taken us 146 years to do so.

    The next half of oil supplies is expected to be used up in 40 years, at the accelerated and accelerating rate we are using it.  

    ‘Peak Oil’ means we are at the peak of oil production.  From here on out, the oil we obtain will be increasingly harder to get.  Either because more and more of it comes from under the North Sea, or the Arctic Ice cap.  

    Or because getting it requires more energy expenditure, more processing.  Like, we can use existing technology to gasify coal, or we can ‘cook’ tar sands to obtain oil.  But these steps are more difficult ways to tap the energy of fossil fuels, than simply tapping an oil gusher.

    So, the honeymoon’s over, as the experts say.

    Soon, very soon, we must find another way of living.  Because, no matter how many wars we fight over the last remaining drops of ancient sunlight, it is going to run out, and we will have to change our way of living.

         We are like an addict, needing to face reality and get over our habit. If we don’t, we will continue to behave like a crack addict, going to any lengths to satisfy our habit,  which already includes lying, stealing and killing.   The sooner we start, the better.  We need not go ‘cold turkey.’  We can let ourselves down easy.  But to do so, we need to get beyond our fear and greed methods, our ‘complete military dominance’ practices, our selfish and short-sighted visions and policies.  



PowerDown, Go Local, Build Community

    We need to cut wa-ay down on the energy we use, like to maybe 20% of what we presently use.  Of course, we need to use as much  passive and active solar as we can for home heating and hotwater heating, as storage of photovoltaic for lighting and transportation.  

    We also need to explore and utilize geothermal, both hot springs and the much more prosaic passive annual heat storage only 8-feet or so underground.

    Going local, strengthening the local ecomomy,  is also wise, because it eliminates a lot of today’s transportation of goods like foods and clothing.  A local economy is the basis for a local community, too.   

    We will also find that it is sensible to minimize importing our entertainment and social support system, to find satisfaction in local activities.  In short, we need to ‘power-down, go local and build community.

    If we are serious about doing these things, we can not go about attacking and occupying other nations on false pretenses. Much of the “insurgency” is in direct opposition to the US occupation of Iraq.  Yes, some of it is terrorism against civilians.  

    But war is a maddening experience, driving people to do mad things, to strike back in terrible ways, sometimes against rival ethnic groups, who seem to be in cahoots with the occupying forces.  Today’s suicide-bombing of a bus-full of Shia civilians is an example.  

    If we pulled our troops out of Iraq, there might still be fighting.  But there might be less fighting.  

    Yes, Iraq might become fragmented.  That’s not bad.  Yugoslavia came apart, and though there was unfortunate blood-letting, these things can be managed without killing.  Look at the separation of Czechoslovakia into the Czeck Republic and Slovakia.

         Given the fact that we Americans want to dominate the remaining oil  & gas resources  in the world, it seems unlikely we will readily withdraw from Iraq and the Caspian region.  Unless we reconsider our policies.  And we citizens can have a voice in that re-thinking.  

   We Americans should look at the consequences of what we are doing We need to look at not only the Iraqui insurgency, but the influx of Muslin volunteer terrorists and home-grown terrorists.  We also need to look at the very un-democratic regimes we are supporting in places like Uzbekistan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.  

    We need to learn the difference between indigenous home-grown democratic movements that have sustainability, and those token steps we urge upon our client governments, which often fade away like the morning dew.  

    We need to re-think how we use the world’s remaining petroleum resources, whether burning it up is the wisest course, or are there longer-term and better uses.   

    We also need to be thinking and planning and working toward building that solar-based, locally-organized economy and community that is most likely to be sustainable in each region of the post-carbon world.  

    We Americans must outgrow this temporary fit of total military dominance we have allowed to embrace us.  We the people must take upon ourselves the responsibility for helping to develop a vision of a sustainable global society based on caring and sharing.  It’s our opportunity to help the world to grow up.



·        **     Best single book on these important topics is the mercifully short (163 pages) “The End of Fossil Fuel & the Last Chance for Sustainability,” by John G. Howe.  

·        If you want more, I recommend the three mentioned above—“The New Pearl Harbor,”

·         “The War on Truth,” and

·        “The War on Freedom”—

·        plus  two more: Richard Heinberg’s “A New Covenant with Nature: Notes on the End of Civilization and the Renewal of Culture” (Quest Books, $20);

·        and  “Alternatives to Economic Globalization:A Better World is Possible: A report of the International Forum on Globalization”, ed. By Cavanagh and Mander, 2004.



Some other useful books include:



·        Hubbert’s Peak: The Impending World Oil Shortage, by Kenneth S. Deffeyes, Sept 2001.

·             *The Party’s Over: Oil, War and the Fate of Industrial Societies, by Richard Heinberg, April 2003.

·        Crossing theRubicon: The Decline of the American Empire at the End of the Age of Oil, by Michael Ruppert, Oct 2004.

·        Blood & Oil: The Dangers & Consequences of America’s Growing Dependency on Imported Petroleum (TheAmerican Empire Project), by Michael T. Klare, Sept 2004.

·        Powerdown: Options and Actions for a Post-Carbon World, by Richard Heinberg, Sept 2004.

·        Oil, Jihad and Destiny: Will declining oil production plunge our planet into a depression?  By Ronald R. Cooke, July 2004.

·        The Oil Age is Over, by Matt Savinor, May 2004.

·        Out of Gas: The End of the Age of Oil, by David Goodstein, Bef 2004.

·        The Empty Tank: Oil, Gas, Hot Air, and the Coming Global Financial Catastrophe by Jeremy Leggett, Nov 2005.

·        Petrodollar Warfare: Oil, Iraq and the Future of the Dollar, by Wiliam R. Clark, May 2005.

·        The Long Emergency: Surviving the End of the Oil Age, Climate Change, and Other Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-First Century, by James Howard Kunstler, April, 2005.

·        Democracy in Small Groups: Participation, Decision Making & Communication; John Gastil, 1993

·        Save Three Lives: A Plan for Famine Prevention; Robert Rodale, 1991.

·        People Before Profits; Charles Derber, 2002.

·        Communities Directory: A Guide to Intentional Communities & Cooperative Living, 2000 edition.  



###############################################12-11-2005 END

12/18

H.B. 3 in Columbus
End of Democracy in Ohio?


Massive Changes to Ohio Election System
(this article written by Common Cause Ohio before the vote.)




December 6, 2005:  With your help we've pushed hard for true election reform in Ohio.  Earlier this year we slowed the passage of H.B. 3 and Substitute H.B. 3 (Sub H.B. 3), damaging election legislation that would have hurt Ohio voters.  Now, however, this legislation is back, and we need your help to make sure that lawmakers don't harm the electoral process in Ohio by rushing to pass sweeping legislation under cover of the holiday season.


The original H.B. 3 passed the Ohio House in May 2005.  Last week the Senate introduced a 396-page rewritten version of the legislation into Committee to be fast-tracked to passage this week.  Sub H.B. 3 has been updated, but this proposal still contains many provisions that will reduce voters' access to the polls and make registering to vote and voting more difficult in the Buckeye state.


As anticipated, the Senate added a voter identification requirement to the Bill.  If passed, all voters would be required to produce an accepted form of identification at their polling location every time they vote.  The updated Sub H.B. 3 also includes stricter penalties that may have a chilling effect on voter registration drives, eliminates mathematical random recounts and post-election audits done on newly acquired electronic voting machines and raises the threshold to qualify an initiative for the ballot.


We're urging Ohio leaders to deal with real election fraud, not add burdensome requirements that will restrict eligible voters on Election Day.  Rather than legislate true election reform that would improve poll worker training, strengthen accountability and security procedures, and make provisional ballots the safety net they were intended to be, the Senate seems on track to restrict the ability of voters to cast their ballots in a system that is accessible, accurate and accountable.


Please take action today and contact Senators on the State Senate Rules Committee (go here for a list and contact information) and let them know there is no rush to vote Sub H.B. 3 out of committee before year's end.  Sub. H.B. 3 could be a vehicle for positive change, but lawmakers, advocates, and citizens need to work together to protect the rights of Ohio voters.  Call your state Senator today and ask him or her to slow down the Sub H.B. 3 process - the rights of Ohio voters are worthy of a careful, open and deliberative process.

Defeat of Issues 2, 3, 4 and 5 Doesn't Mean the End of Reform



November 14, 2005: Last week's defeat of Issues 2, 3, 4 and 5 was disappointing, but in the wake of the grassroots campaign to pass 2-5 we are already making plans to continue the fight to for fair redistricting and fair elections in Ohio.  This fall's effort marks the beginning of a fair redistricting movement that will continue grow in Ohio, as well as across the country in the coming months and years.



As part of the Reform Ohio Now team, Common Cause Ohio was a leader in the effort that achieved several high water marks in recent months:



   *
     Half a million signatures from Ohio voters over the summer to get Issues 2-5 on the ballot.
   *
     12,000 supporters across Ohio.
   *
     Distribution of 2 million pieces of literature.
   *
     Thousands of phone calls to Ohio voters in the days leading up to the election.



We're disappointed that the initiatives, and the redistricting initiative in particular, didn't win on November 8 but this fight has just begun. We will continue to challenge the undemocratic, rigged system of elections that leaves the voters unable to elect those who best represent their interests and we look forward to working with reformers and party leaders to enact this change.



Common Cause has worked for more than 30 years on redistricting and we certainly won't stop now. We knew when we launched the Ohio and California campaigns that we would face tremendous opposition from entrenched incumbents, both Republicans and Democrats, and from special interests.  The Ohio redistricting campaign helped to start a national dialogue on the issue and we intend to push ahead to hold politicians accountable in Florida, Massachusetts and in other states.  Thanks to all of you who participated and please stay with us as we look ahead.

------------------------
But our side lost:

Elizabeth Motter sends this:
Hello everyone,

HB3 passed the Senate on Tuesday.  The Dems fought hard, but all of
their amendments were tabled and they were of course out-voted in the
end.  Several Senators distinquished themselves by the vigor of their
opposition:  Fedor(in particular), Miller, Roberts, Fingerhut, Dann, and
Hagan.  Brady was absent.  The 11th vote came from Republican Tim
Grendell, who stood by the Dems through it all.  Below is a link that
will take you to a list of the Senators with links to contact them.  It
would be so nice if some of you could write/call and thank them for
their efforts.  It has got to be hard to go to work day after day and
see everything you believe in and stand for being levelled.  Grendell
definitely needs to be thanked as well.

http://www.senate.state.oh.us/senators/by_name.html

Elizabeth


12/18
Bev Harris, heroine of "Black Box Voting" on Proof of Diebold Lying re. Hackability of Voting Machines

BREAKING : Due to contractual non-performance and security design issues, Leon County (Florida)
supervisor of elections Ion Sancho told Black Box Voting that he will never again use Diebold in an
election. He has requested funds to replace the Diebold system from the county. He will issue a formal
announcement to this effect shortly. This comes on the heels of the resignation of Diebold CEO Wally
O'Dell, and the announcement that a stockholder's class action suit has been filed against Diebold by
Scott & Scott.

Black Box Voting: http://www.blackboxvoting.org
Leon County Election Supervisor Ion Sancho:
http://www.leonfl.org/elect/MeetTheSupervisor.htm

Finnish security expert Harri Hursti proved that Diebold lied to Secretaries of State across the nation when
Diebold claimed votes could not be changed on the memory card.

A test election was run in Leon County Tusday Dec. 13 with a total of eight ballots - six ballots voted "no" on a ballot
question as to whether Diebold voting machines can be hacked or not. Two ballots, cast by Dr. Herbert
Thompson and by Harri Hursti voted "yes" indicating a belief that the Diebold machines could be hacked.

At the beginning of the test election the memory card programmed by Harri Hursti was inserted into an
Optical Scan Diebold voting machine. A "zero report" was run indicating zero votes on the memory card.
In fact, however, Hursti had pre-loaded the memory card with plus and minus votes.

The eight ballots were run through the optical scan machine. The standard Diebold-supplied "ender card"
was run through as is normal procedure ending the election. A results tape was run from the voting machine.

Correct results should have been:

Yes:2
No:6

However, just as Hursti had planned, the results tape read:

Yes:7
No:1

The results were then uploaded from the optical scan voting machine into the GEMS central tabulator.
The central tabulator is the "mother ship" that pulls in all votes from voting machines. The results in the
central tabulator read:

Yes:7
No:1

This exploit, accomplished without being given any password and with the same level of access given
thousands of poll workers across the USA, showed that the votes themselves were changed in a one-step
process. This hack would not be detected in any normal canvassing procedure, and it required only a single
a credit-card sized memory card.

On Oct. 17, 2005 Diebold Elections Systems Research and Development chief Pat Green specifically told the
Cuyahoga County (Ohio) board of elections that votes cannot be changed using only a memory card.
Video of Pat Green, Cuyahoga County

According to Public Records responses obtained by Black Box Voting in response to our requests shows that
Diebold promulgated this misrepresentation to as many as 800 state and local elections officials.

In other news, a stockholder suit was filed today against Diebold by the law offices of Scott and Scott:
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/12-13-2005/0004233556&EDATE=


Diebold CEO resigns: http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=175001748

# # # # #

Black Box Voting is a nonpartisan, nonprofit 501c(3) elections watchdog group. This organization is not affiliated in
any way with any political party or any vendor. Without your important support, we do not exist. To donate:
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/donate.html or mail to:
Black Box Voting
330 SW 43rd St. Suite K
PMB  547
Renton WA 98055

The original research of Black Box Voting and its founder, Bev Harris, has been covered by ABC, NBC, CBS, MSNBC,
CNN, and Fox TV national news, as well as by the New York Times, Time Magazine, and most other major news outlets in the U.S.



,Black Box Voting

,  

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12/18
I got in the mail an alarm from Walter Cronkite.  It appears that the Religious Right has won 165 co sponsors in  congress to introduce a horrible legislation to allow churches to participate in political campaigns in ways we though unconstitutional.

"Houses of Worship Free Speech Restoration Act H.R. 235"

Check out details at
http://interfaithalliance.org






end of articles


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