Rocky Mountain High up for 2nd Colorado State Song

Rocky Mountain High is being put up for vote by the Colorado legislature as the 2nd Colorado State Song.  It was rejected the first time due to the lyrics which were deemed drug related.  The Denver Post is running a poll.  Go in and vote for Rocky Mountain High by John Denver.

There is a survey on this at the Denver Post website...
www.denverpost.com
where you can express your wish that RMH be the second state song. 
You can also listen to the current state song.

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John Denver Peace Cloth New Board Members

We are excited to welcome to the board of the John Denver Peace Cloth three new members, Hollie Carter, Chris Collins and Cassandra Delaney Denver.  All three bring a wealth of ideas and commitment to the work that we have been doing together over the past 7 years.  Hollie Carter has been a long time member and supporter of the Windstar Foundation and also assisted in the creation and is the Director of the Windstar EarthCamp program.  Chris Collins is an amazing musician who has performed and done a lot of the organizing for our annual Peace Cloth fundraising concert in Aspen, Colorado for the last 4 years.  He has also worked with Hollie as the musical director for the Windstar EarthCamp program.  Cassandra Delaney Denver has been a supporter and has made a number of appearances for the Peace Cloth almost from the beginning.  We're thrilled to have them as part of our Board and look forward to a year of great ideas and growth. 

Debra Chilton, John Denver Peace Cloth

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Freedom's Road a truer state of the union

Today, John Mellencamp released his first CD of new material in 5 years and in my opinion his state of the union rings truer than what we will hear spoken tonight.  Freedom's Road is a folk rock anthem about everyman, it speaks of compassion, forgiveness and tolerance and takes on racism in the song Jim Crow, a hard hitting duet with Joan Baez.  My personal favorite is the hidden track Rodeo Clown....a hard hitting song that takes on the state of our present administration:

"Well there's blood on the hands of the rich politicians
Red is the color of the sand and the sea
Blood on the hands of an arrogant nation
who start all the bleeding over their policies

She blamed it all on whispering secrets
she blamed it on the moon and the sky
she thought she broke the back of the city
she thought she thought, she knew she had lied

She changed directions with the gas fires burning
racing for protection what could she possibly find
children with no legs out on the highways crawling
looking for an angel but they ran out of time

She had blood on her face so she had to get even
She hemorraged and bled all over the land
there's blood on the hands of those who kept silent
who won't count the bodies dead in the sand

so you can feast on your stories but it won't stop the bleeding
when the truth is found the houses will surely fall down
ther's blood on their mouths of all lies and liers
the bloody red eyes
the bloody red eyes
the bloody red eyes of the rodeo clown....

Thank you John Mellencamp for your words and music.....and for speaking to us of Freedom's Road

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Pray the men are found today on Mount Hood

Today the weather conditions are good for the rescue teams on Mount Hood to search for the three men lost there. Let's all hold them and their famililies in our thoughts and pray that they are found alive and returned to their families. All of us here in Washington and Oregon are holding our breath that today will be the day they are found alive.

9:31 AM - 1 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Give Peace a vote for 2008 - Dennis Kucinich for President

YES!!! Dennis Kucinich announced his plan to run for president!!  Give peace a vote!!!

We are living in a time of great tests of our humanity, which also present great opportunities for transformation. The war in Iraq is a veil that shrouds our creativity and our potential for prosperity. It cuts us off from the world at a time when it is imperative that we acknowledge our interdependence and interconnectedness.

This is a moment with a profound feeling of destiny. America has been an extraordinary international power to manifest that which we focus our energies upon. This power is true of individuals as well as nations.

In a way, when we focus on terror, we bring to ourselves that which we fear. We focused on terror in Iraq and paradoxically helped to create the circumstances, which have propelled Iraq into civil war and chaos.

The prestigious Lancet report on excess casualties in Iraq estimates that the war in Iraq has caused 655,000 Iraqi deaths, and that 20% of those deaths are a direct result of the actions of coalition forces.

This war sacrifices the lives of innocent Iraqis, the lives of our troops, and the physical resources and good will of our nation. We are sacrificing our financial future, borrowing money from Beijing to occupy Baghdad in a war that military generals and the Iraqi Study Group have concluded is impossible to win militarily.

We are focusing our resources on the power of destruction rather than the vision of a world in which we want to live: A world of prosperity and peace, equity, beauty and justice. It is time for us to stand together to bring the troops home and stand by the people of Iraq through implementing a real policy for the security, recovery, reconciliation and restoration of their nation.

We as a nation have the opportunity to embrace the challenges of our time and take a new direction, starting with ending the war in Iraq. The leaders of my party have said that they will not stop funding the war, and are openly supporting a supplementary appropriations bill for an additional one hundred and sixty billion dollars ($160,000,000,000), on top of the $70,000,000,000 that was appropriated to Iraq for financial year 2007, back in October of this year. This would bring war expenditure for 2007 to $230 billion, double the expenditure of 2006, and by far the largest appropriation of the war so far.

Today, I announced my candidacy for President of the United States in a quest to call my party to courage and integrity on this issue. This is a journey upon which I hope you will join together with me to ensure that our country calls forth our great potential with the same courage of our forefathers and mothers who birthed the vision for our great nation.

You can see a video of my Announcement speech on www.kucinich.us (Our site has undergone its own transformation!)

Our campaign will change the direction of the Democratic Party, the war in Iraq and our nation.

Please join me to help make this great turning possible.

Thank you



Dennis Kucinich

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Ocean Flag Project

 A positive event that is being created that some of you may want to know about and possibly be involved with, the Ocean Flag Project!!!  A wonderful friend of mine, Cassandra Delaney Denver, is on the Board of this organization.  Check it out. 

The Ocean makes up over 70% of our world.  The Ocean is the birthplace of life on this planet.  Until now, our land based societies have created borders and countries with associated flags – while the Ocean, though sustaining and connecting us all and larger and more important to life than any one country - has never been acknowledged for the important role it plays.  The Ocean Flag Project was conceived to bring the Ocean into public and political consciousness.

In order to fully represent the Ocean, we need to join globally and speak with one voice.  By banding countries, businesses, political, environmental groups, and individuals together – the way the Ocean embraces all of us - we will gain support for policy the Ocean needs and restore the vital ecosystem the future depends on.

Our goal is to have a the Ocean Flag flying at the United Nations in 2008 – the ten year anniversary of the 1998 inception of the Year of the Ocean. The Ocean flag standing along with the flags of other countries. A global Ocean environmental policy. Ocean representatives present at all relevant U.N. meetings to insure a brighter future for the Ocean and all life on this planet.

http://www.oceanflagproject.com/index.html

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Peace Cloth on World Tour

I'm sharing with you all a portion of an e-mail I received from Judy Lunn who has a panel of the Peace Cloth that she is taking on a tour around the world with the students from a Semester at Sea project.  John Denver and many others felt that music could break through all barriers to find a common ground. How true it is.   

I'm writing to you today from Chennai, India.   We have are half way through the trip right now, and it's amazing how fast the time is flying by.  I'm attaching a few pictures of the pieces I have collected so far -- I'm focusing on the international students and local citizens primarily -- getting 2 to 3 pieces in the native language of each port.   Primarily the messages are being written with Sharpie Pens on plain white paper.  Although in each port I am trying to find greeting cards, stationery or other artwork depicting scenes from that area.  My goal is to scan and print them onto cloth when I get home, and then to have a professional quiltmaker (a dear friend of mine in Canada) sew all of the individual cloth pieces on a panel to give to you.

I'm very pleased to tell you that in every port I have visited so far -- I have heard the locals singing "Country Roads" -- in fact, I have a video clip of our tour guide from Myanmar (formerly Burma) with a welcome message of peace from his country and singing his favorite song.   I plan on putting the video clips and photos into a Powerpoint Presentation or DVD for you as well.

10:13 PM - 1 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

Aspen Colorado

Tomorrow I leave for Aspen to celebrate the life of someone I admire as a musician but also more importantly as a man who cared deeply about our planet and it's people.  The co-founder of the Hunger Project, Windstar Foundation and on the Boards of  numerous other environmental and humanitarian organizations, John Denver dedicated his life to his vision of a world that works for everyone.  Some of us carry that vision forward in his memory.  Aspen will be five days of meeting old and new friends and to renew the vision through gatherings at events such as the John Denver Peace Cloth, the Windstar Connections program and the Windstar Foundation.  Then, we will come back to our communities to take what we have learned and make a difference. 

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Suzaanne Swift message from her mother re: her refusal to return to Iraq

Thought I"d share this message from Suzanne Swift's mother, who is refusing to return to Iraq. 

From: suzannes mom
Subject: Suzanne Swift Update
Date: Tuesday, July 25, 2006 10:34 PM

Things continue to move forward for Suzanne. The Army has not yet disclosed the results of the commander-directed investigations. The investigator took statements from witnesses, including Suzanne, and forwarded his report to the command. The command now has to decide
whether Suzanne's allegations require the Army to take action, and whether they have any bearing on Suzanne's own case. We expect to learn the results of the investigation any day now.

Suzanne's military psych evaluation came back. She was told she does not have a personality disorder, and that she has symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder but not enough to diagnose her with PTSD. No mention of military sexual trauma. So, she sits in limbo, restricted to base and assigned to "weeds and seeds" details, not knowing what her future holds.

Whatever the Army decides to do, we have total confidence in Suzanne's attorneys, Keith Scherer and Greg Gagne. They were trial attorneys in the JAG and know their way around military law. They are aggressive and very thorough. Their website is: HYPERLINK
http://gslattorneys.com/index.aspx . They were recommended to us by people from Military Families Speak out as being very good at protecting their clients and advocating for families.

We are still doing fundraising to pay Suzanne's legal costs, which are substantial. There is now a link on Suzanne's website to make direct
donation. Check out Suzanne's website for updates, new pictures, articles and action alerts. http://Suzanneswift.org . Huge thank you to Robin Bernardi for all her hard work on the website. She is a patient genius and we owe her so much.

How is Suzanne? She is OK. She is bored and tired most of them time. The stress of not knowing what the Army is going to do with her case has been hard on her. She is pretty isolated and the work she is assigned to do is mundane. She is so amazed at how much support she has
received from around the world. I have been trying to see her every week or so to just hug her and give her encouragement. Her moods fluctuate from sad to angry and then just exhaustion. I tell her to hang on and we are doing all we can do to get her home. She is hopeful that the Army will do the right thing. As I mentioned in earlier
updates her new unit captain is a very steady and kind man and we appreciate his thoughtful responsiveness to making Suzanne feel better.

We continue to be amazed by the activity on the petition. We are moving slowly towards 5,000 signatures. Let's get this done ASAP!!! The comments being made are powerful and significant. Remember we have Suzanne-wear available on cafe press. I wear my shirt frequently and just saw my dad at a rally yesterday wearing his own,
"Free Suzanne" shirt.

The family is hanging on. We want her home. I have joined CODEPINK'S Bring Them Home Fast and am not eating every other day for peace. I have been speaking out and communicating with many people all over the world. Something that has come up is that we need to create a resource list or how to list for women that are experiencing "command rape" and
"military sexual trauma" right now. So, that is something we are working on.

We owe a huge amount of thanks to so many people. It is just amazing. First, all of the thousands of people that have been organizing for Suzanne around the world and the many groups that have signed on to help Suzanne and end military sexual violence. We are continually humbled by you. Amy Goodman is one of my new heros. Democracy Now is a world wide wonder.

Thanks to her and the many journalists and media people who have told Suzanne's story with the light of truth. Elaine,
Aria, David, Stacy, Michael, Sharon, Ann, Robin, Lori, Melissa, Dorothy, Susan, Amy, Elizabeth, Betsy, BJ, Carolyn, Ehren, Bob,
Gillette, Michelle, Lisa, Larissa, Carole....and the list goes on and on.... Not to mention my sweetie, John, and all of our kids, Suzanne's siblings, whose needs have been put on serious hold while I focus on helping their sister, Sonja, Brandy, John Jr and Jake. And of course my mom and dad, Nan Rich and Jim Rich and step mom, Kayla Starr. Love you all.

That's it for now. Remind all the people around you to DO something every day to help create peace in the world.

Peace~

Sara Rich, M.S.W

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US versus John Lennon

A new film is coming out September 2006 by the company that brought us Farenheit 911 it's US versus John Lennon!  Watch the trailer at the link below.  We ARE repeating the past, when will we learn. 

http://www.apple.com/trailers/lions_gate/theusvsjohnlennon/large.html

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