Vigil to End U.S. School of Terrorism

Join Pete Karlin during the week of November 16 through 23, 2008 for a prayer & fasting vigil to close the U.S. tax-payer funded School of the Americas, now named WHINSEC (Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation). This U.S. Army school teaches warfare tactics to Latin American military personnel who in turn have terrorized their own people with assassinations and egregious human rights abuses.

Read more about the movement to close the School of the Americas.

The significance of beginning a fast and prayer vigil on November 16 is the anniversary of SOA graduates murdering 6 Jesuit priests and their 2 female houseworkers on that date 19 years ago (1989).

This year, Pete's observance in his home at 721 West Court Street in Beloit, Kansas, will follow the Liturgy of the Hours for one week, ending November 23, in solidarity with the thousands of advocates gathering at Ft. Benning, Georgia vigiling for closure of the school of oppression.













FIVE WAYS YOU CAN PARTICIPATE:

1. Come to 721 West Court Street in Beloit, KS to pray and reflect on these issues at any point during the week-long vigil. (Click on the small map for interactive directions)


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2. Follow the vigil in your own home.

Pete Karlin can be contacted at

(785)738-4126 for suggestions and dialogue.
.......Daily Scripture HERE ~
.......Read Reflections HERE ~
.......Hear Music HERE ~
.......'05 Vigil Art/Quotes HERE ~

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3. Borrow books, videos, DVDs and CDs from Pete to learn more about this justice issue. Call (785) 738-4126 or stop by 721 West Court Street to choose from these titles:

Videos:
Convictions: Prisoners of Conscience
Hidden in Plain Sight (also as DVD)
SOA: Guns and Greed
The New Patriots
School of Assassins
SOA: An Insider Speaks Out!

Books:
Disturbing the Peace
SOA: Military Training & Political Violence
School of Assassins: Guns, Greed & Globalization
School of Assassins - 1st Edition
Compilation of Anti-Opression Resources
From Warriors to Resisters
Conscience and Consequence
Prisoner of Conscience: A Memoir

Music:
Sing it Down!

To read descriptions of the above titles, CLICK HERE.


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4. Thank Kansas 1st District U.S. Congressional Representative Jerry Moran for co-sponsoring HR 1707, to close down the School of the Americas/WHINSEC. Learn more about the Latin America Military Training Review Act of 2007 . See whether other representatives you know have joined the 125 co-sponsors of HR 1707 (110th Congress).

Rep. Moran's website, with contact information to send him a thank you, can be reached by clicking on this banner:

Then take the step to petition President-Elect Obama to issue an executive order to close down the School of the Americas (SOA/WHINSEC). To sign on, click on this picture:

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5. Use Cyberspace to communicate and meditate, for example:
.......A. Light a candle for peace and send it on to your friends

To add your candle to this vigil group's, click on the above photo.

.......B. Invite your friends to this vigil. Email them this blog article by clicking on the little envelope icon at the end of the article.

.......C. Sign the Vigil Guest Book! Post your own comments onto the end of this article. Where are you from? What will your own fast look like? What inspires you? If you don't see a fill-in form below, look for a little pencil icon below to click on for commenting.

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Summer 2008 - Native flowers in the yard

Tiptoe through the last of the big bloomers this year, and meet the hearty crew who helped this season's succession of native plants along. These photos also show the contrasting effects of soil held by native root systems compared to the hazards of waterlogged lawns after flooding.

To see these photos full size, just double click on any picture to go to the web album.

Renewable Energy

This letter to the editor was printed in the Salina Journal on April 17, 2008:

Baseload renewable energy
Proponents of the coal-fired generators in the Kansas Legislature say that you cannot use wind energy for baseload power. German scientists would say they are wrong.

Go to www.youtube.com and search with “Combined Power Plant.” Here you can watch a seven-minute video about supplying baseload power from renewable sources. Germany plans to phase out coal and nuclear plants.

By 2050 they will generate 100% of their electricity from a combination of wind, biogas, solar and pumped hydro.

With a population of 82 million, Germany has to supply more power to more people crowded into a smaller area than Kansas and Oklahoma combined, and they plan to do it with renewable energy sources.

From the German example, Kansas could use a combination of wind and natural gas to supply all of our state’s power. As Kansas develops more wind, they would need less backup from gas powered generators.

Jerry Brown
Salina, Kan.

Here is the video Jerry refers to:

Beloit City Council Work Session 2-19-08

"Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself."
Thus spoke Chief Seattle in 1854. Pete Karlin used this quote to set the tone for his presentation to the Beloit City Council at their work session Tuesday night, Feb. 19, 2008. Pete had been invited to share his proposed changes to Beloit's weed control law, Ordinance 1836. He began by sharing his personal philosophy on how to be guided in scientific discoveries by nature itself; see his quote above on the right.


Here is the first seven minute segment of this council agenda item. Watch by clicking on the little black arrow under the screen. If there's no audio, slide the volume control to the right:




How does Ordinance 1836, adopted in 1997, currently read? Below is a link to the text of the code, with four hightlighting colors and strikethroughs indicating issues calling for change. These four colors, blue, yellow, red and green symbolize four over-arching reasons to amend the ordinance, which are explained in the second document in the list below. You can also read in the document titled "WHAT TO PUT IN" the draft of a revised version of Ordinance 1836 that would allow for the progressive practices of natural landscaping in Beloit. Finally, a Table of Contents from a comprehensive legal review of issues pertinent to weed laws is shown from a Chicago-based publication, a journal that appears in the top 12% of legal magazine citings in our nation. If you cannot open any of these files, please download Adobe Reader here:

• Ordinance 1836 - WHAT TO TAKE OUT

• Four Reasons for Amending Ordinance 1836

• Ordinance 1836 - WHAT TO PUT IN

• John Marshall Law Review on Weedlaws

The documents listed above made up the bulk of the study materials presented to the Beloit City Council by Pete. Once the packets were introduced, the assembled group watched an 11-minute video from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency site, "Landscaping Naturally". You can watch the video right from this blog in the article dated Feb. 16, 2008, below, or click on http://westcourtnews.blogspot.com/2008/02/11-min-video-from-epa-website.html to go there now. You may read or print out the transcript to this video by clicking here.

Here's the final 2-minute clip of Pete's presentation to the City Council:

The next day, Wednesday, February 20, 2008, The Beloit Call printed this report on their front page. Click on the article to enlarge it.

You can do your part, now, to help natural landscaping become an encouraged practice to beautify Beloit, improve its drinking water, and to enhance our citizens' relationship with the environment. Send your comments on these proposed changes to Ordinance 1836 to the Beloit City Council by clicking here or mail your letters to Beloit City Council, 119 North Hersey Avenue — Beloit, Kansas 67420 785-738-3551

Thank you!
(blog article submitted by Laura Karlin)

11 Min. Video from EPA website

Landscaping Naturally
Chicago Academy of Sciences video on native landscapes
December 14, 2000


Click on the little black arrow to start the video.

Read along on the written transcript at

http://www.epa.gov/greenacres/nativelandscaping.html