Stand Up in September Vigil

I'm so proud to report that on Tuesday, August 28, 2007, more than 40 people came out to the MoveOn.org "Stand Up in September" event.

Along with hundreds of other groups across the nation, we held candles and read the 2007 war toll calendar, listing how many soldiers died each day and where they were from.

The response from passing cars was extremely positive--according to one attendee's count, 48 to 4. And one voice in particular caught everyone up short, that of a little girl, shouting, "Bring my Daddy home!"

I've posted photos from the Radford Vigil (and the 8/25 Radford Farmers Market booth highlighting Mountain Top Removal education) and photos from other MoveOn vigils can be found here.

Thanks again to everyone who made it out--I was so overwhelmed by the support and the passion found right here in the New River Valley. Stay tuned for the next opportunity to get involved!

What is the cost of the war to our district?

I just wanted to say thanks to all the Council members who volunteered this weekend at the Radford Farmers Market for the "Cost of War Report" event.

Without you (Rick Robers, Tim Jackson, Melissa Londry, Teresa Volante, Laura Spielman & special guest, Sue England) we wouldn't have been able to hold such a successful event--signing up 13 new members to the council and generally spreading the word about how much the war in Iraq has cost Virginia's 9th district...

$679 Million so far, if you were wondering! That would've been enough to pay for healthcare coverage for 188,286 people (or 338,920 kids); Head Start for 94,124 additional kids; or 10,258 new elementary school teachers. I know, it's hard to fathom. Email me if you're interested in reading the full report from MoveOn.org (with data provided by the National Priorities Project.)

So if you're outraged and you want to do something about it, join us on Tuesday, August 28 at 7:45 p.m. for a candlelight vigil in Radford, VA. Go here for more details on how to convince Congress to "Stand Up in September."

Also, look out for a blurb about the Cost of War event in the upcoming August 23 issue of the New River Voice!

Toxicity

Another little video for you. This is the trailer for the Robert Salyer/Appalshop film, Sludge, which our group got together to watch recently. It's amazing to all of us that something of this magnitude could happen (a spill many times larger than Exxon's and in the middle of a town) and still get very little national press. Also frustrating that the company responsible got nothing but the teeniest slap on the wrist. Highly recommend this film!

Now for a little Venezuelan TV...

This is a little addendum to my last post (and will probably only be truly meaningful to those of us who know Rick) but fellow council member Melissa managed to find a YouTube video of our dear Rick chatting with President Hugo Chavez! The video is a tad long but Rick is introduced around 1:47 and is first on-screen at 1:49. Then zoom ahead to 2:46 to hear Rick address President Chavez. After which the camera pans to Sean Penn around 4:38... Yay Rick!

Dispatches from our own International Activist!

Excerpts from a recent email Rick sent from Venezuela, where he's traveling with a delegation of activists convincing School of the Americas. Hugo Chavez announced that Venezuela would no longer send personnel there for training in January 2004, but the organization Rick's there with is joining together with allies there to convince other countries to cease their support as well. Without further ado, here's the latest exciting news from Rick:

Arrived safely and everything is going well.

You are not going to believe this. The second day we were here we actually attended a panel meeting with Hugo Chavez. There were about 1500 people there but we were in the front row. At the conclusion, he introduced our delegation and went name by name. After he finished he randomly picked my name...he goes:
'Rick Robers....who is this Rick Robers from Dublin, VA? What does he have to say to us today?' I am going completely nuts as I am getting ready to speak to Hugo Chavez and address the crowd. I basically said it was nice to be here, that not all Americans dislike Chavez or the Venezuelan people and I look forward to the day when our government will find the wisdom and courage to open the dialogue and works towards peace....there was much applause, I look to my left and Sean Penn (I promise I am not making this up) who was a special guest of Chavez is looking at me and clapping...he is about 10 seats down from me. Chavez addressed me saying thank you but he does not have much optimism with Bush. It was unreal.

That afternoon, Lisa (our trip coordinator) tells me she got a call from the Vice President's office: he saw our dlegation on national TV and wants to meet with us. We meet with him (just our delegation) for about 2 hours the next day. He introduced himself to us each individually and stops when he shakes hands with me and says "Ah yes, I saw you on TV yesterday"...it was crazy!

Here is the part where I would normally say I am making this stuff up, but I am not. My head is still kind of in a tailspin. Okay, much more of the trip to share, but I have to run. I apologize for sounding self indulgent, but I had to share this story. It was an unreal opportunity.

Everything else is going well. We have been meeting tons of neat people and seeing some amazing things. We even spoke on a Caracas radio station. OK, hope you are all doing well. I miss you guys. Will try to write more later but it is doubftul I will have internet access...
Peace...Rick

Let me point out again--this is little Rick from Radford! We can accomplish great things if we put ourselves in a position to be heard!