Late Breaking News

(added 10/23) FAIR ACTION ALERT: "DEMOCRACY NOW!" IN DANGER: Pacifica management turns against free speech
(added 10/19): Iraq Activism - film, Omran Bus Tour, vigil, Harvest Dinner, speech, rally

Beyond Tolerance continues with two outstanding events
Our Surplus Milk and seeds feed starving Ethiopians
Why help UNICEF now?
Health Care: Despite Economic Boom, Number of Uninsured Drops Only 4 Percent--PNHP
George Orwell's Unhappy Birthday--Norman Solomon
Amnesty International statement on Israel & the Occupied Territories

Peace Community

Nuclear weapons activist to speak
Peace Essay Contest 2001
Peace Essay Flyer
Peace Center Briefs
Mikhail Gorbachev to speak at Modesto Junior College
Scientist says U.S. planned to nuke moon in show of force
US in Colombia: why? - or - Colombia: our next Vietnam?
Slide-show presentation on Nicaraguan community development

Living Lightly:

Mud Pies and Purple Onions

Iraq Activism - film, Omran Bus Tour, vigil, Harvest Dinner, speech, rally (added 10/19)

By MONIQUE CAPP

As some of you may know, the Modesto Peace/Life Center has been sponsoring a campaign to increase awareness of the suffering caused by 10 years of U.S.-sponsored sanctions against Iraq. As part of that campaign, a group of informed and energetic people will be visiting Modesto at various sites and times this coming weekend. There are several events that you may wish to attend, or only one, but don’t miss this opportunity to take part in an effort to speak out to our local community about the urgent need to end the war against Iraq.

This bus tour - "Remembering Omran" - is named after a 13 year old Iraqi shepherd boy killed by U.S. bombing in May of this year. The members of the tour are affiliated with Voices with the Wilderness, an organization that has been sending people and badly needed educational and medical material into Iraq for several years. The leader, Fr. Simon Harak, has made several trips to Iraq with Voices.

Thursday, Oct. 19

• Showing of film by John Pilger, "Paying the Price: Killing the Children of Iraq" at the MJC Student Lounge in the Student Center at the East Campus. There are two showings on Thursday, one at 1:00 pm and another at 7:00 pm, both at no cost.

Saturday, Oct. 21

• Vigil to protest sanctions against Iraq in front of the Brendan Theater at the downtown plaza in downtown Modesto. Bring signs and friends! The time is from 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm.

• Members of the Omran Bus Tour will be in attendance at the Modesto Peace/Life Center Harvest Supper. They will be speaking to interested persons after the supper at 7:30. Dinner costs $10 per adult, $7 for children 12 and under with a $30 family maximum. The event is located at the First United Methodist Church, 16th and H Sts, from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm. This is a great opportunity to speak to our visitors personally.

Sunday, Oct. 22

• Friar Simon will be leading the service at College Avenue Congregational Church located at the corner of College and Orangeburg in Modesto, 10:00 am to 11:30 am. If you’ve been thinking that church would be a great idea, now would be a great time to attend!

Monday, Oct. 23

• Members of the bus tour will be leading classes beginning at 7:00 until 3:00. If you cannot attend any other presentations but are dying to see these people, e-mail me and I will try to find the location of a class that you may attend.

By TINA ARNOPOLE DRISKILL

"The Diary of Anne Frank" will be presented by the Modesto Junior College Drama Department between October 20 and 29 in the Modesto Junior College Auditorium. The highly acclaimed play, the legacy of a young Jewish girl and her family struggling to survive the horrors of the Holocaust, will highlight the October offerings of the year-long Beyond Tolerance programming at MJC.

The play schedule includes special school matinees.

"When I was 14: A Holocaust Survivor Remembers," a moving talk by Holocaust survivor Gloria Lyon, also will be featured on October 25 at 7:30 p.m. in the auditorium in front of the Anne Frank backdrop.

Lyon survived multiple Nazi concentration camps, including Auschwitz. She has dedicated her life to telling her story so that the world will never forget the crimes committed against the Jewish people during World War II. She is the mother of Modesto physician Dr. David Lyon.

Anne Levin, who along with her family, was able to escape the horrors of the Holocaust, brings to the East Campus Art Gallery her photographic essay of their life in prewar Austria and their escape beginning October 6 through 30. A reception with the photographer will be held from 6 - 8 p.m. October 6.

For information or reservations for all Beyond Tolerance events call 575-6081.

James Durst, singer, songwriter: an evening for all ages

Touring the planet since 1965, James Durst has shared his songs with audiences in 40 countries. He will appear in concert on Saturday, October 7, 2000 at the Modesto Church of the Brethren, 2301 Woodland Ave at 7:00 p.m.

Durst draws from an eclectic repertoire of original and traditional songs in more than 18 languages that reflect a global perspective and underscore the sense of interconnectedness we share with all of life. He engages his audience in a participatory journey distilled from his travels and life experiences, bringing us closer to our world and each other. The interplay of his skillful, rhythmic guitar playing and strong, expressive voice paint compelling musical pictures that encourage individual empowerment and compassionate relationships, while helping us to feel more hopeful about ourselves and our place on the planet. Durst's performances are spirited, relevant and often humorous.

Our Surplus Milk and seeds feed starving Ethiopians

Hearing that people in Ethiopia are struggling against drought and famine, Central Valley dairy farmers found a way to feed them.

Dairy Relief purchased 38,000 pounds of dried whole milk and shipped it to Ethiopia. Livingston dairy farmer Tony Azevedo organized the campaign along with Cal State Stanislaus professor, Dr. Donald Johnson.

The University is involved in an agricultural education project in Ethiopia and introduces Getachew Tikubet, manager of the Bio Farm Project, as a visiting professor this fall. He is considered a world expert on organic insect control methods. His emphasis is on bio-agriculture and organic farming methods.

A shipment of 50,000 donated vegetable seed packets was also delivered to Ethiopia. The seeds will help farmers in areas where starving people need to grow vegetables for food.

By PHYLLIS HARVEY

We may not have a United Nations Day observation.

Our children may not even go Trick or Treating for UNICEF.

But UNICEF goes right on helping children around the world where their needs are greatest, giving help, hope and compassion.

In this decade alone, two million of the world’s children have been killed in wars; four million have lost arms, legs, eyesight, or hearing as a result of armed conflicts. Another five million live in refugee camps. Land mine victims in the Balkans and mere boys forced to carry arms in Africa’s raging civil wars rob children of both their innocence and hope for a peaceful future.

In the Balkans thousands of refugees struggle to survive; one million land mines and unexploded ordnance remain, awaiting young victims. In Sierra Leone’s nine year civil war thousands of children are displaced, traumatized, physically scarred. In Ethiopia/Eritrea the recent war and drought put children in need of food and medical help. The sixteen-year civil war in Sri Lanka has left one million children dead, injured or displaced in this island country of eighteen million people.

So what can we do? We can support UNICEF in the ongoing efforts helping these destitute children with education, immunization, primary health care, landmine awareness, relief supplies of food, medical equipment, water purification supplies, and psycho-social support. We can prove there is an instrument more powerful than the world’s most deadly arms: compassion!

REBBESOUL, Bruce Burger, and his band, will return to Modesto to kick off Congregation Beth Shalom’s Ninth Notable Season of fine musical entertainment October 29 at 3 p.m. in Modesto’s Congregation Beth Shalom, 1705 Sherwood Avenue.

The group embellishes the beauty and essence of traditional Jewish music with infusions of Middle Eastern, African and Eastern European world beat rhythms, as well as jazz, rock, pop, reggae and funk. This musical blend creates a unique hybrid in the Klezmer tradition by bringing "together the sounds of today with the sounds of yesterday - truly, old wine in new bottles," says Cantor Barry Reich of Burlingame.

Burger’s trade is "ruach" (spirit), which he relates through his music to all ages. He is a master guitarist, as well as being gifted on balalaika and mandolin. His band members, who have come from places like Tanzania, the Netherlands, and Brazil, as well as the United States, round out the group’s special sound with bass, keyboard, drums and exotic percussion instruments.

Four other great concerts will round out the series:

Tingstad and Rumbel—January 14. Accomplished Narada acoustic musicians on guitar, double ocarina, oboe and English horn.

Grace Lieberman—February 11. Grace and a wonderful slate of local vocalists will put us once again in a Valentine’s Day mood.

San Francisco Saxophone Quartet—March 11. Soprano, tenor, alto and baritone saxophones with a little keyboard . These guys know how to have fun with everything from classical to jazz and pop. Be sure to be on hand to see what surprises they will have in store for us.

Vocolot—April 1. "Imagine Simon and Garfunkel, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares, Manhattan Transfer, and Peter, Paul and Mary, blended together into a women’s à capella ensemble and you’re imagining Vocolot."

GLSEN Modesto invites you to support youth

On Wednesday, October 11 at 7:30 P.M. the New Conservatory Theatre Center of San Francisco will present a performance of The Other Side of the Closet at the Downey High School Auditorium. GLSEN Modesto is the proud sponsor of the Central Valley premiere of this original drama. Canadian playwright Edward Roy will be making a personal appearance at our event.

This superbly written, acted, and directed production will be of special interest to all GLSEN and PFLAG members and to all students, teachers, administrators, counselors, and parents who are interested in ending antigay harassment and hostility. The play was created specifically for high school audiences. Our goal is to have as many youth in the audience as we can.

As the sole sponsor of this event it is especially important that all GLSEN members make an effort to encourage their friends, family and colleagues to attend. A strong turnout at the performance may persuade Modesto City Schools to schedule high school assemblies of the play next year. Please help by attending and encouraging others to attend.

By TINA ARNOPOLE DRISKILL

"Down an Old Road: The Poetic Life of Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel," a documentary entrant in the Sundance Film Festival by filmmaker Chris Simon, will be previewed at the first Poets’ State event October 14 at 7 p.m. at the State Theatre in downtown Modesto, along with readings by McDaniel, Lawson Fuseo Inada and Lillian Vallee.

Known as the "biscuits and gravy poet," McDaniel is a child of Okie sharecroppers who migrated to California’s Central Valley in 1936 during the Dustbowl/Great Depression exodus. Born in 1918 in Oklahoma, she has been writing poetic portraits of her people on scraps of old mail and used paper since she was 8 years old. In the introduction to her collection, "A Prince Albert Wind", Robert Peters, University of California Irvine English professor, says, "You meet her with ease, loving the humanity and clarity." He further calls her "an overlooked American treasure" and describes her poetry as "magical...utterly unpretentious, homemade, and [with] focus [of] rare intensity on her Oklahoma roots and memories." McDaniel will read a short program of her poetry following the film.

Close friend and poet Lillian Vallee, also featured in the film, will join the reading. Vallee, who considers herself a bioregionalist, is concerned with the welfare of all living things in California’s Great Central Valley. She was born in a displaced persons camp in Hamburg, Germany to Polish parents who spent their teen years as forced laborers during World War II. She spent her early years in multi-ethnic Detroit before moving to California at age 11. She chose to study English and Slavic languages and literature and says, "Intuition led me to view the imagination as the greatest source of power and healing." She teaches English at Modesto Junior College, has worked as a free-lance translator and writer, and has been a community activist, poet and resorationist.

Vallee believes the Great Central Valley is undergoing a literary renaissance, and she has been active in organizing lectures, readings and workshops to help residents understand the role of the literary imagination in shaping a regional identity by understanding local natural, social and economic histories.

Lawson Fuseo Inada will join the esteemed poets’ roster, rounding off the second part of the evening of valley poets with his lively brand of poetry and commentary. He also is scheduled to begin the event from 1 to 3 p.m. with a poetry writing workshop.

Born a Sansei (third generation Japanese-American) in Fresno in 1939, Inada is one of the youngest Japanese-Americans to live in the American internment camps. In his poetry he has "taken the camp experience in my hands, stood in the sun, and held it up to the light." He asks, "What did I find? What I expected to find: Aspects of humanity, the human condition."

Inada is an English professor at Southern Oregon State University in Ashland.

Transfusion

When I was an infant, my mother tells me
My ear became infected, my brain inflamed
And the postwar blood of my Polish parents
Was too weak to repel the assault-
Something wanted me dead
Something small but powerful

They filled my veins with the blood
Of a German soldier whose views on the
Inferiority of the Slavic races remain unknown
Something wanted me alive
Something small but more powerful
Than whatever wanted me dead

- Lillian Vallee from handful of snow

Harvest Supper A fundraiser for the Peace Essay Contest October 21, 2000, 5:30-7:30 pm First United Methodist Church, 16th & H Streets, Modesto Adults $10, Children 12 & under $7, Family Maximum $30 Featuring fine homemade soup (Vegetarian Minestrone, Chicken Noodle, Clam Chowder), Salad Bar, Rolls, Pie & other Desserts Advance reservations appreciated--Mail your check to: Peace/Life Center, PO Box 134, Modesto 95353 for info call 529-5750