Veterans For Peace - Chapter 10

"Who's Next?"           

 In 1976, Jesuit Father Richard McSorley  wrote, “Until we squarely face the question of our consent to use nuclear weapons, any hope of large scale improvement of public morality is doomed to failure.”   Some 35 years have passed since  Fr. McSorley’s comments.  Hiroshima and Nagasaki clearly were humanities moral nadir. These attacks, designed to take out entire cities, every living thing, trees, plants, cats and dogs, women and children, the old and the infants, Shintos, Buddhists, Christians, Jews, Muslims,  everything, truly has created a morally lost planet. The God of death was reinstated, resplendent and shining, with  a celebration of violence unlike any other, supplanting and perverting the message of Jesus, Mohamed, Buddha and the Torah, the Koran and the New Testament along with a host of other  prophets and faith traditions.  Man proudly proclaimed his ability to destroy whatever God might create.     

In 1965 Tom Lehrer derisively reflected on the nuclear arms race in his song,  “Who’s Next?”. One refrain went:  

“Egypt's gonna get one too, just to use on you know who.  Israel's getting tense, wants one in self-defense.  The Lord's our shepherd it says in the Psalm,  but just in case- WE GOTTA GET A BOMB!”  

By then the arms race had grown tremendously and world governments were thoroughly complicit with the development and deployment of nuclear weapons.  From there it was easy to consent to the use of  nuclear power and the false promises of the nuclear industry touting, safe, clean and inexpensive energy. Most of us very much wanted to believe that something good could come from this demon’s child.  Sadly nothing could have been  further from the truth as Fukushima and  Chernobyl  clearly illustrate. Nuclear power has proven itself  with alarming consistently to be dangerous, dirty and expensive and no one knows how to contain nuclear waste, long term.  Even so the recognition of environmental violence/degradation is still sadly absent  or ignored  and the continued  misinformation provided by the nuclear industry has allowed for the unprecedented  nuclear environmental destruction and degradation world wide.   

Meanwhile the public shrugs and waits complacently for the next cloud of radiation to poison the land and their children while the government continues to  subsidize the nuclear industry. New reports now show increased levels of radioactive iodine in milk found in Philadelphia and little Rock Arkansas from the Fukushima disaster.   

In 1998, Fr. Frank Cordaro,  a participant in the Gods of Metal plowshares action at Andrews Air Force Base spoke about hammering and pouring blood on a B-52 bomber. One of his more humorous reflections was, "Any Church that has more moral clarity on the uses of condoms than it
does on the possession of nuclear weapons is seriously unbalanced." How true his words have proven to be not only for Catholics  but for all of Christianity.   

Recently Fr. John Deer wrote,  “We have trailed so far behind Jesus that most Christians and Catholics can scarcely conceive of loving their enemies or putting down the sword. Instead they vote for war, pay taxes for war and prayerfully send their young off to kill.”   

As I write millions of gallons of radioactive water are being poured into the Pacific Ocean. No one knows what effect it may have but we are assured over and over again the effects will be minimal much like we are assured, an event like this will never happen here.  The nuclear sword once seen only as atomic weapons keeps mutating. First in fire and air, now in earth and water, nuclear waste and cancer is often found very close to home.

In another of his songs, “Pollution”, Tom Lehrer wrote, “fish gotta swim and birds gotta fly but they don’t last long if they try. Pollution . . .”

Desperately I am trying to find some humor in all of this, hoping to counter my despair. And while I may not know whether to laugh or cry, like the prophets old, one thing I am certain of is, “God will not be mocked.” 

Finally the question “Who’s Next?“  has taken on a new and sinister meaning. It is time for us to make some hard choices. Let us hope we choose the God of life.

Post Script:
The editor who requested this article and declined to print it wrote;
 "What I was looking for is in the two graphs about nuclear power’s false promise and later about the radioactive water, but otherwise your focus on nuclear weapons is less compelling at a time when the world is shaken by the catastrophe in Japan. We all have opinions, but I wonder if you really believe that the world’s reaction is a shrug."

My response was, "If you have any evidence the public isn't shrugging, that there is a strong reaction, Indian Point will actually close, West Valley will be cleaned up in a timely manner, that our policies might actually change, I would love to hear.   In another few weeks we will be hearing how Iran is developing nuclear weapons from processing nuclear fuel for its power plants after the propaganda machine and the powers that be decide our fear quotient isn't high enough. Nuclear power and weapons are deeply interconnected."

I had hoped this might create a discussion. It did not.  

 John Amidon spent April protesting nuclear weapons and power at the Nevada National Security Site (formerly the Nevada Test Site) for Easter 2011 remembering the words of  the late Archbishop Raymond Hunthausen of Seattle, "Our nuclear war preparations are the global crucifixion of Jesus." This article is dedicated to : Sr. Anne Montgomery, Fr. Bill Bischel, Susan Crane, 67, Lynne Greenwald, and Fr. Steve Kelly  who on All Souls night, November 2, 2009,  entered into the Kitsap-Bangor Navy Base outside of Tacoma Washington to protest the hundreds of nuclear warheads and the eight Trident submarines based there.

 

 

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

My journey west for the Nevada Desert Experience Sacred Peace Walk began on March 1, 2011. This year I have a flip video camera and am posting videos of the trip and of the events leading to and during the NDE Sacred Peace Walk at http://www.youtube.com/user/pazamidon  I hope you might also join the walk this year begining on April 18, 2011.  More inside . . .

 

Most of the videos will be quite short. The longest currently is less than 7 minutes and the shortest is less than 20 seconds. I am interviewing folks as I go along about projects they are working on. Some of the interviews include VFP members, Mike Ferner, Sue Ferner and Woody Powell. Ed Kinane of Syracuse is posted and talks about drones and the Transformation Peace Walk to Hancock Air Field in Syracuse. There is a remarkable interview with my friend Ann in Springfield. Missouri and much, much more. Some are road videos and others just fun. I hope you will visit pazamidon you tube channel. 

Message is simple: No nukes - Page 1 -- Times Union - Albany NY

By JOHN AMIDON First published in print: Saturday, May 8, 2010

www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=929117... - Cached

 

A letter explanation and clarification to the Sheriff of Nye Country and our readers

I received an email from the Nye County Sheriff's Department expressing concern over a recently posted article, "A Grand Old Flag and the Sheriff of Nye County." The concern, as I understand it, is that some readers might not fully understand that the title and use of the phrase, Sheriff of Nye County, is a metaphor and that when referring to the Sheriff, it meant the law enforcement and security personnel at the Nevada Test Site on Easter Sunday. The story also employed a personalized style of writing, a literary device, to heighten interest in it. Since this article was written in the spirit of good will and understanding, to discuss important issues, and that perhaps some readers might not fully understand this, I wish to clearly state this article was not meant to suggest that Sheriff A. DeMeo, was at the Nevada Test Site on Easter Sunday, April 4, 2010. Sheriff DeMeo was not at the test site and did not confiscate the American Flag. Again, the phrase Sheriff of Nye County was used as a metaphor representing the law enforcement and security personnel present. I respect the Sheriff and his department and the good work they do. I fully understand they perform an important and difficult job. This too was clear in the original article. To be sure this is understood, I offer my apology to Sheriff DeMeo for any misunderstanding this article may have created.

Since the article was written to discuss a number of very important issue which I still hold very dear and as a Veteran of the USMC and one who still honors the U.S. Constitution and serves his country, I have changed the title to avoid any future possible misunderstanding and have substituted law enforcement personnel for sheriff. The article is immediately below for those who have not yet had an opportunity to read it. Thank you!

Sincerely,

John Amidon

A Grand Old Flag and the Nevada Test Site

By John Amidon

Few Americans know that the original lyric in George M. Cohan’s “You’re a Grand Old Flag” was “rag”. Mr. Cohan explained he had a chance encounter with a Civil War veteran who carried “a carefully folded” yet tattered old flag. Mr. Cohan took notice and the veteran responded saying, “She’s a grand old rag.” The public however demanded flag and after all, it is show business. 

Yet what does the flag truly represent? And why did law enforcement personnel confiscate the American flag on Easter Sunday from an middle aged woman at the Nevada Test Site (NTS) then later attempt to return it?

In an earlier and simpler time Mr. Cohan’s lyrics might have summed it up pretty well, “You're a grand old flag, you're a high flying flag and forever in peace may you wave. You're the emblem of the land I love. The home of the free and the brave.” Yet somewhere from then to now, the Republic became an Empire and the values which our flag once seemed to clearly represent have for many become a distant memory. We are no longer the brave for we fear each other and our own government. Our freedoms are eroding and our economy is approaching collapse with a staggering 12.5 trillion dollar national debt thanks to ill advised permanent war in the Middle East and because our politicians lack backbone and consistently borrow and spend.

When serving in the USMC, I took an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States, along with the Declaration of Independence. I know torture is wrong and that habeas corpus is essential for the rule of law. There is no such thing as secret evidence in the country I know and love, so when the FBI uses entrapment based on secret evidence, I am extremely disturbed. When I carry the flag it is to signify the profound respect for and the dignity inherent in the Bill of Rights, freedom of speech, habeas corpus and the rule of law. I carry the flag as a symbol of protest with the hope those Americans who would limit our freedom, who are comfortable with secret detention camps and extraordinary rendition and secret evidence will somehow remember what we once stood for a nation where all were equal in the eyes of the law. I carry the flag like our forefathers did, in resistance to any would-be King George. Lately it seems there is a would-be King George under every bush. Our nation is grinding and slouching and borrowing its way towards a totalitarian state with militarism, apathy, and greed as its guiding constellations.

For many of us it is clear that nuclear weapons pose one of the greatest if not the greatest threat to all of humanity. As President Obama works to limit the proliferation of nuclear weapons, we might well asked who spawned this epidemic of WMD’s and then take a long hard look it the mirror. Nuclear weapons in their inception and development are a crime against humanity. They are designed to kill all living things without discrimination. This is why, year after year, we return to the Nevada Test Site to insist upon a responsible government and the abolition of nuclear weapons. The choices offered by our government are utterly absurd, mutually assured destruction (MAD) and unacceptable damage (UD). For the sake of our world we must honor and implement the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty and decommission all nuclear weapons. We must also act quickly to implement nuclear waste cleanup at sites such as Hanford and our nuclear power plants. Until there is long term containment for nuclear waste, it is time to stop using this dangerous science.

When my friend Catherine carried the flag across the line at the NTS, she carried it proudly knowing all life is sacred and all nuclear weapons are an offense to God and a threat to our nation. Catherine carried the American flag as a flag of protest, like the flag our forefathers created, a flag of profound revolutionary values, which respected the common man and his right to freedom of thought and expression, a government responsive to the will of the people and taxation with true representation. This government would not only tolerate but respect and encourage loyal dissent as a vital and necessary voice for the well being of democracy. When law enforcement personnel confiscated the American Flag, it is likely they understood what was being confiscating and that Catherine was a true American patriot representing the best in America, carrying the flag in loyal and peaceful opposition to the excesses and mistakes of our government. It was right of the law enforcement personnel to recognize the true American values by attempting to return the American flag. That in fact they have failed to recognize, the US government is occupying the Shoshone Nation, that they have no jurisdiction on that land and were there illegally arresting Catherine and others, who were there legally, simply indicates the amount of work that is yet to be done to begin the restoration of “liberty and justice for all.” That the NTS is stark testimony to one of humanities greatest failures, the development and testing of nuclear weapons, that it has created untold death and disease in all of the neighboring states, and killed many ‘down winders” and that this site is protected by law rather than dismantled also shows clearly how much work is still to be done.

One of the most probing essays about, “What the American Flag Stands For” was written in 2002 by Charlotte Aldebron at the age of twelve. It is a very short essay and may be found at: http://www.commondreams.org/views02/0403-01.htm

I would like to quote one paragraph here.

“School children have to pledge loyalty to this piece of cloth every morning. No one has to pledge loyalty to justice and equality and human decency. No one has to promise that people will get a fair wage, or enough food to eat, or affordable medicine, or clean water, or air free of harmful chemicals. But we all have to promise to love a rectangle of red, white, and blue cloth. “

Nearby and not long ago, compassionate Las Vegas passed a law that criminalized feeding the homeless. The law was overturned.

And Arundhati Roy provided us with this provocative and particularly pertinent insight about flags in a time of war.

“Flags are bits of colored cloth that governments use first to shrink-wrap people's brains and then as ceremonial shrouds to bury the dead.”

One half of one percent bear the immediate burden of our wars waged by this country and the rest of us go on as if the wars do not exist.

We bear no ill to the law enforcement and security personnel at the Nevada Test Site. We know they have a difficult job and we know life presents us with some pretty confusing situations at times. And yes we carried the flag as a flag of protest. It always has been and always will be for those of us who understand what it represents. It really is “A Grand Old Flag.” (We are glad you tried to return it. It shows you are thoughtful.) We just have to remember what our symbol means and carry it in accord with its true meaning like Catherine did at the Nevada Test Site . When we remember that, no one will argue with that old veteran from Gettysburg who once smiled and said, “She’s a grand old rag.”

 

 

 

Air Force Paranoia spreading, first Creech now Hancock

 Dear Creech Security:

 In your April 12, 2010 correspondence responding to my April 3, 2010 article, “Air Force Paranoia  at Creech,“ you mentioned the Air Force was paranoid, however not in regard to peaceful demonstrators. Knowing little about Air Force  paranoia I decided to research the subject particularly regarding the Predator and Reaper and other drones. You are correct in asserting the Air Force is a paranoid.  Unfortunately some of the paranoia is directed at peace demonstrators.

I must admit folks at Creech appear less paranoid than Col. Kevin Bradley  at Hancock National Guard Air Field in Syracuse, NY seems. You might want to reference, “Fearing New Threats, Drone Crews Go Top Secret” by  Dave Tobin, (12/18/2009,  Syracuse Post-Standard) an article discussing the Colonel‘s worries and fears. The Colonel is quoted as saying, “With  the increase in the amount of protest at the front gate as well as  around the country, the spike in violence against people in uniform,  that’s a cause for concern.” So pilots at Hancock are not to be publicly identified. Tobin states, “The change of policy reflects what the unit  commander says are worries of threats and harassment of Syracuse-area  members of the 174th and their families here.”  

 After reading this I  couldn't help wondering if Air Force paranoia is contagious and  carried by drones. There must be some strange goings on at the base that most of  the public are unaware of. However, I do know the Syracuse Peace Council, which has been organizing the protests at Hancock has a long, consistent and outstanding record of nonviolence.  Apparently the Colonel worries a great deal, but perhaps he is worrying about the increasing discussions whether drone pilots and their chain of command may be charged with war crimes, hence the preemptive need for secret identities. It is possible this will be a security concern at Creech too since it is very well documented that more civilians are killed with drone strikes than are enemy combatants. Of course many of these victims are woman and children.

An interesting discussion of some of the legal  implications may be found on  http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/tag/perils-of-Pakistan/ ; http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/tag/perils-of-Pakistan/%C2%A0%C2%A0

We also wonder if Col. Bradley and others in the upper echelons of the military chain of command have considered whether this 'increase in protest at the front gate and around the country" shows a legitimate concern and reflects serious misgivings among American citizens. Using long range, impersonal, indiscriminate, robotic killing machines causing the death of so many noncombatants is truly objectionable both morally and in terms of national security.

As I continued my research I almost immediately came across the Air Force’s flow chart, “Air Force Web Posting Response Assessment V.2 "  which provides useful information on when and how to respond to  folks like myself who have written about the Air Force on line. The  articles surrounding this flow chart also discuss the Air Force’s  difficulty in responding to folks, and how this chart was an attempt by the Air Force to guide and shape conversations with bloggers and help improve the Air Force’s public relations. Perhaps this flow chart guided you in your response to my initial post. If you haven’t seen it, the chart is quite amazing and probably would help Col. Bradley with his responses.

For example many of us are wondering about his reference to the spike in violence against military personal. Was the Colonel referencing rape of military women by their male colleagues?  The amount of violence in the military against women is quite staggering. Or was he referring to  the rash of homicides by military personal against their spouses or  the record levels of suicide of active duty personal or veterans? As a veteran of the USMC, I finding it disturbing that veterans commit suicide at twice the rate as the general population.

Pretty soon I felt really nervous for a variety of different and compelling reasons. One frightening prospect is the ever increasing violation of our civil liberties and unparalleled spying on civilians by the government. There is an informative You Tube film clip on the Houston Police department's future plans for police surveillance something which Col Bradley also talks appreciatively about. You can reference, “Police use Drones to spy on Americans!!” on You Tube at:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tHk9Q3Fv6g ; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tHk9Q3Fv6g%C2%A0%C2%A0 . This is a local news report from KPAC in Houston, Texas. So we really do need to look at the mission and its  implications for the United States of America and not just as a  preventative approach to stopping potential attacks on  our Air Force bases. All of  us are being threatened by this new technology and its abuse.

There are other concerns, particularly the lack of due process which make the crews at Creech and Hancock and their chain of command,  “witness, investigator, prosecutor, judge and executioner.” Civilians are disregarded and callously referred to as “collateral damage” and due process of law is lost completely.

Finally, I read about the "Al Qaeda suicide cat" that fried a communications node at Creech. "Control over heavily armed US war  robots fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan was lost last year after a cat  climbed into machinery at an American command base and ‘fried’ everything, a US officer has confirmed." This story may be found at: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/04/19/us_war_robots_out_of_control_cat_strike/

 

You might also want to read ,“Drones and Death: The Israeli Connection”  by Ed Kinane at: http://dissidentvoice.org/2010/01/drones-and-death-the-israeli-connectio... Kinane notes, “To better service Pentagon contracts, Israel even has drone factories in the US at Starkville, Mississippi and  Columbus, Ohio.” Most  U.S. citizens are unaware of this fact and of course this raises a whole new series of national security concerns.

Sincerely,

John Amidon

Easter Sunday Overview

Easter Sunday at the Nevada Test Site had so many special events take place that my last post for this series on the Sacred Peace Walk needed special attention in several  areas. The morning started with a Sun Rise service led by Shoshone Chief Johnny Bobb. Several hours later, we had a very special service, the spreading of the ashes of Bernadette Francke’s mother followed by a remembrance of Martin Luther King, followed by a Catholic Mass. We then proceeded to the line where there was a wailing for the Holy Mother, a term which is being used inclusively to represent Mary, mother of Jesus, Madre Del Mundo and the Earth Mother goddess energy. While the wailing was taking place, civil disobedience was also occurring with 12 women and 9 men crossing the line and subsequently arrested. Also during this proceeding the Sheriff’s men confiscated our American flag, which was quite an interesting contradicition. The flag was carried across the line in protest. After our release we ate lunch and returned to Las Vegas. More information can be obtained about the arrests by reading the Nevada Desert Experience media release. Since each event was deserving of a separate article and I immediately had to pack and ready myself to fly back to New York and since we also did a final vigil on Monday morning both at Creech and at the Nevada Test Site with additional arrests at the NTS, my reports have been slow in coming. My apologies. I expect to have in article in the Voices of Faith column in the Times Union soon, although I am not quite sure when. It will cover the wailing. I've written an article about the flag being confiscated however am still in the process of assessing what I have written. In the mean time the "Air Force Paranoia at Creech" post evoked or provoked a response from the Air Force and that response has been posted on www.vfpchapter10.org along with my other posts. Hopefully at some point fairly soon a response to this letter will be written too. Other concerns are occupying my attention too, such as the April 25 demonstration and Hancock Air National Guard Base in in Syracuse , protesting the use of drones, along with May 2, 2010  demonstration in support of nuclear disarmament in NYC. Both are worth attending and I plan on doing both. For bus tickets to NYC call Peace Action, Albany at 518-595-9324. Finally with T.Thorn Coyle's permission, I have one of her beautifully written posts on the Sacred Peace Walk from her face book writing included below:

 

Sacred Peace Walk, part 2

By T. Thorn Coyle

 

It is the religious belief of the Western Shoshone that the earth is most sacred, this includes everything in it, upon it and above it.

As soon as I stepped across the line and onto the Nevada Nuclear Test Site, I began to weep…

Saturday, we walked 15 miles on asphalt, feet and knees screaming. By the final few miles, my muscles were beginning to seize up. I breathed deeply, realigned, and extended my spine to the sky. It helped. During each day of the walk, many flashed peace signs at us, many ignored us, and some gave the one-fingered greeting. Truckers blew their horns and bikers raised arms in salutation. We battled banners in the winds when they came. During still times, I opened my blue parasol that read “Love, Not Fear”. We walked the desert highway, next to glimmering rocks and cacti, whether 18 years old, or 80. The desert me with a black rock bisected by a ascending white stripe that looked like it was heading off into the distance. The road I walked gave me back a little drawing of a road to take in memento vivere.

Western Shoshone Chief Johnnie Bobb and his family greeted us with the Shoshone flag, burning sage, drumming, and singing as we limped on up to the peace camp where dinner cooked by local volunteers would soon be ready. I felt grateful to be there, to give some small witness to the Western Shoshone – who’s land, despite the Ruby Valley Treaty, has been used to stoke the fires of war – and to the land itself, to the tiny red and purple flowers, to the yucca, cholla and nopal.

We live in times of war and preparation for war. This has affected our minds. We live in times of torture and training for torture. This has affected our hearts. We live in times when the assassination of those who feel threatening to us – whether US citizens or “foreigners” – is acceptable to the governing body of a nation, and to the president who promised hope and change. This has affected our souls. We are awash in the needless shedding of blood and the tears of mothers, fathers, lovers, and children. We are complicit with systems that tear us from each other, that distance us from breath and skin and love, that tell us we are not of the earth, and can degrade the fertile body of this planet, and can degrade even the space between the stars.

We are crying from the wounding of this body, of our body. And it is not going to get better any time soon.

Sunday morning, I rose at 4:30 after another night spent at the Goddess Temple. Others had camped out on Shoshone land, braving the harsh wind and cold. I awoke during the night and sent some energy of calming to the sky, thinking of small tents buffeted with little shelter from the land itself. The outdoor sleepers said the wind stilled itself around 1:30, giving rest and respite for awhile. We made our way back, to join the others around a small fire, while Johnnie Bobb sang for fire and water and for his father, the Sun. We danced and danced together, circling around those flames, feet stepping to the heartbeat of his drum. Later, mass was said, and reconnection made to the sacred in that way. We are of earth. We are of community. We are in communion. But we have to remember. We have to keep drawing ourselves back.

Children of the earth, it is time to heed the calling of your heart. It is time to listen to the roaring in your soul. It is time to take up the task of your desire. As visionary Deena Metzger once wrote: “There is no time not to love.” Can we set aside our fear and hatred of each other? Can we dance the dance of heartbreak and the longing for deep peace?

After Easter Mass – the mass of resurrection in which Fr. Steve spoke of Jesus crawling, bruised and battered, from his tomb – we were led again by the Shoshone to the gates of the bomb beleaguered land. We carried our banners and our prayers. We carried our resolve and our longing. Some began to wail at the white line that marks the boundary between one world and another, between the place where we could stand and the place where we could not. People began wailing, and crying. The drumbeat started and I had to cross. I had to stand upon that land and offer what healing I could muster. I had to walk upon the stones and sand of ancient seabed where I had not stood for a decade of years.

As soon as I stepped across that line, I began weeping. The land rose up and met my feet, surrounding me with recognition: I had come. I had come. I had come.

Once inside the holding pen, I hung a string of paper cranes to fly in the harsh wind, and then walked as far as I could and looked out upon the desert, sending wings of energy and light up into sky and down to earth. Spreading these wings, I let healing roll out from me. The land drank. I could do little, but as we always do, I did my best with what I had. The wind held my body upright, I moved with it, as though riding on the ocean, or dancing with a firm and strong beloved wrapped around my back. I was home… for I was with my Mother, who is everywhere and no place. I was standing on the earth.

Brothers and sisters, these times, like many others, are times that test the resiliency of our souls. As have some of our ancestors before us, I hope we choose the patterns of joy and reconnection rather than stepping toward hatred and our fear. Walking the pathways of joy, we have some chance.

In love and trust – T. Thorn Coyle

 

 

NDE Media Release April 5, 2010 

9 Men & 12 Women

Arrested After Easter Sunday Mass

Followed By Simultaneous Vigils at Creech AFB & NTS   

MERCURY, NV: On Sunday April 4th at the conclusion of the Sacred Peace Walk, pilgrims to America's nuclear proving grounds walked to the boundary of the Nevada Test Site led by Western Shoshone families. About 40 people were gathered for Mass near the boundary, then 21 people decided to cross the line, for which they were arrested by Nye County Sherrifs. U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) employees were on the scene, confiscating flags and banners from the peace activists who were arrested. On Easter Monday two of the prayer-activists repeated their line-crossing at 7:00 AM, while another vigil continued at Creech AFB, just 19 miles away in Indian Springs, NV. Each Nye County citation issued for trespassing carried a $632 price tag.

Since 1988 such citations have carried no legal weight when peace activists conduct these rituals of civil resistance. None ever pay the fine, and Nye County never follows up on these "arrests". Western Shoshone officials and NDE participants agree that Nye County and the DOE violate international law by nuclear weapons activities in Nevada and the "arrests are unlawful because of the internationally disputed zone of the Nevada Test Site. "Each vigiler has a permit from the Western Shoshone National Council to come, gather and go in their country, including at the perimiter of the Nevada Test Site," said Marcus Page of NDE.

"We walked in the footsteps of a long legacy of peace walkers and spiritual leaders to draw attention to the nuclear dangers that continue to threaten our sacred planet and the community of life," said another participant. 

According to Sacred Peace Walker Colette Wisnewski, "My grandaughter carries my genes. I pray today that she will accept her spiritual inheritance and move her prayer into action against atrocities in this world."

NDE's 62-mile, annual pilgrimage to the Nevada Test Site began on March 29 with an orientation in Las Vegas and preparation for our six-day walk starting on March 30. The main Walk ends on Sunday (which happens to be Easter), with an extra special action on Monday for those who can hang out longer in the desert.

We have a support vehicle available for those who need extra support, and for emergencies as well. Some Walkers on the Sacred Peace Walk only come for a few days--all are welcome to do as much or as little of the SPW as the Spirit calls..

 

A Reply From Creech Air Force Base (April 12, 2010) in reference to Air Force Paranoia at Creech

(For the record, I spoke with the author of this letter before publishing it to be sure he was comfortable with this.  He was fine but did ask me to remove his name, phone number and email, as he was concerned about an overload of possible correspondence. This seem reasonable to me and have complied with this request.   Paz, John)

Mr. Amidon,

I read your recent article "Air Force Paranoia at Creech," and I wanted to take this opportunity to engage with you on a direct level. You're absolutely right in stating we as an institution are "paranoid;" however, please understand that any paranoia isn't in regards to peaceful demonstrators practicing their Constitution-given right to freedom of speech. As you're well aware, our installation has received considerable attention from both sides of the spectrum: those who support the mission out here, and those who oppose it. That said, we have also received a considerable amount of attention from those who wish to cause us harm, and it is that threat that has heightened our vigilance.

As the person responsible for protecting the men, women, resources, assets, and facilities here at Creech AFB, it is difficult for me to easily determine who is friend and who is foe...since terrorists rarely wear giant embroidered shirts that say "I'm a Terrorist," my goal is to attempt to determine the intentions of anyone engaging in potentially suspicious behavior.   

Now, I understand you might be wondering how taking photographs could be considered "suspicious behavior," and I understand your concern (trust me, I've always been a firm believer in "right to be, right to see," as the legal-folks might say). My concern rests in case studies from every previous terrorist attack that have shown that prior to commencing an attack, terrorists engage in seven observable behaviors: 

1. Surveillance

2. Elicitation

3. Tests of Security

4. Gathering Supplies

5. Suspicious Activities (i.e., clusters of odd behavior, exhibiting observable paranoia in routine situations)

6. Dry Run

7. Deploying Assets

Photography can fall under "surveillance," especially when photographs are taken of typically non-photogenic items (like infrastructure, security protocol, etc). Whenever our Security Forces or passers-by report individuals on the perimeter clearly taking photographs of aircraft, that's a non-issue: people have a right to photograph, and we understand plenty of people consider aircraft watching or "tailspotting" a hobby. We take this into consideration whenever people take generic panoramic photographs of our base from the highway.   

Now, let's reverse roles here, and pretend I've come over to your house and started to take photographs. If I'm photographing the front of your house, or your yard, or flowers/trees you may have decorating your property, your level of concern would most likely be non-existent since I'm taking photographs of photogenic things; however, would you start getting concerned if I were to take detailed photographs of your door locks, your vehicles' license plates, people coming and going (and their vehicles), or visible security measures? Hopefully you understand where I'm coming from here.   

Whenever we've had a demonstration here at Creech, my focus has never been on the demonstrators themselves; my focus has been watching for behaviors that appear "out of the ordinary;" as such, you had the misfortune of being "flagged" because your behaviors stuck out from the crowd (so to speak). One of my biggest fears is that a person who wishes to cause us harm will use a peaceful demonstration group as "cover" to prepare for and initiate an attack.   

If in the future you'd like to come back to Creech to take photographs, I'd like to ask that you give me a call first. Seriously. I'll even give you a windshield tour of Creech if you'd like. It's not that I'm trying to keep tabs on you or anything (please understand that's not my goal), but when we know who's taking photographs outside of base (and when we understand the intentions behind taking said photographs), we will have that clear understanding that you are not a threat and we will let you photograph in peace.

Semper Vigilare,

 (Name)

//SIGNED//

(name), YA-2, DAF

Chief, 432d Wing Force Protection

Creech AFB, Nevada

Office: (Phone number) (DSN 384)

SIPR e-mail:  (email address)

 

 

 

Air Force Paranoia At Creech (As ye sow ye Reaper) 

Saturday Morning, April 3, 2010

Between the airport pickups and shuttling folks and food to their needed destinations, along with the walking and vigiling and blogging, the rush and blur of each day, has created a sense of joyful weariness. The desert remains breath taking.

Yesterday at our Creech Air Force Base vigil, I had an intriguing and borderline crazy conversation with several counter protesters and Las Vegas Metro Police. I left our group which was engaged with the Stations of the Cross near the main gate at Creech Air Force base and walked to talk with the counter protesters at the south gate. As I walked along the fence I took several photos of the base as I went. Soon I was at the South Gate.

Since I had served in the USMC from 1965 -69, I introduced myself as a veteran and was cordially received. Things were good until I honestly stated I was with the peace walkers.

I had no interesting in deceiving or spying but wanted to talk with these folks and simply listen to their point of view. Sometimes I actually am interested in hearing other points of view and simply listening. The men I was speaking with were also veterans so we shared a common experience.

After telling them I was with the other group, they politely informed me that the police had told them they weren't allowed to speak with me and asked me to leave their designated area. I said look, we are all veterans and have served to defend the Constitution. What about freedom of speech? Isn't this a little crazy that you can't talk to me? Their leader said they felt obligated to follow the police instructions. I said what if officer in charge gave them permission to speak with me? Would it then be possible to talk a little? I looked directly at their leader and said, "Look, you guys have a lot of good ideas and I would like to hear them." To his credit he acknowledged the peace walkers had some good ideas too and said he would talk with me if he got permission. We called a police officer over from Las Vegas Metro Police. The police officer asked what the problem was and I explained the situation. He offered that he wasn't allowed to talk to anyone either but would call the officer in charge. Eventually the officer in the charge arrived and he asked what the problem was? I explained I was a veterans and was hoping to talk with these men however their leader stated he needed permission from the police to speak with me.

At this point an Air Force security man arrived and said he wanted to be part of the conversation. The LV Metro police officer said this was a private conversation and waved the Air Force man back. The officer in charge said that he made it clear to these folks that he wanted things peaceful and uncivil dialogue was strongly discouraged however it was fine with him if we spoke civilly. I explained to him I was just trying to go through the chain of command so that everything would be acceptable to everyone. I asked him to give the seemingly needed permission to the counter protest leader and then offered to buy them lunch at the nearby casino in Indian Springs. The officer went over to convey my invitation then soon reported back that it was declined. Their leader did come over to thank me for the invitation to lunch but said he wasn't interested in eating lunch.

In the course of my conversation with the Las Vegas Metro Police Officer I also learned of the Creech Air Force Base Paranoia. This came out innocently enough when I asked the officer if he minded me taking a few photos of him and his men. He said that was fine and was our right. He also said that I was making the Air Force folks really nervous when I walked along the fence on Highway 95 and took a few pictures of the base. They think everyone is a terrorist he said. (These pictures may be seen on my face book page in the Creech photo album. ) He also mentioned that Air Force security had asked him to make me stop taking photos however the officer said he told the Air Force it was my right to take these photos from outside the fence and that if they were that concerned they would just have to move their base to a place no one could get too.

I also learned that the arrests if any at Creech would be Federal as the LV Metro Police Officer said the base would be making the arrests and not LV Metro.

The vigil itself, from 3 pm to 5 pm, was a very mellow vigil, sunny and windy. The police were very cordial this day and we were all amused at how I made the Air Force so nervous with my little camera. Maybe it was because it was a Canon. There is so much fear. Truly we need to begin speaking to each other again.

PS: If any of you all a happen to be riding through Indian Springs, please stop and take a few pictures of Creech. You can watch the drones fly overhead like vultures. What has happen to the Air Force? What has happened to my country?

The Desert and the Spiritual Quest   April 1,  2010

Last night I returned from the desert to NDE in Las Vegas to drop off some equipment and bring our friend, Kelly from Food Not Bombs home. Food Not Bombs provided a fabulous meal consisting of a green salad, rice, beans and baked potatoes along with a sweet bread for desert. (Thank you Kelly, Charles and Gail for all your great work!) Eating in the desert at sunset, after a day of walking is one of those sublime pleasures earned only through hours of walking, as walking in the desert transforms consciousness and tends to improve the appetite too. Some of us walked part of the day while many in our group completed the entire 14 miles. Strong and gusting winds blew the entire day making it hard to carry our banners but fortunately the wind was at our backs. It was a rare south wind as we headed north.

To most of us Las Vegas has a surreal quality about it, proud of its gambling and show girls. It is garish and opulent and loudly proclaimed as Sin City. It's founding fathers were gangsters, who legend has it, had far more heart than the heartless corporations and banksters who now run this town. This is an often heard lament spoken here by locals who dislike how the casinos are presently run.

Our walkers are now far removed from the city and casino, well out into the wilderness and are doing very fine in spite of the wind. The magnificent expanse and beauty of the desert helps to transform consciousness and aids our peace walkers to commune with the Self, bringing the individual within and putting each in touch with the wonderous forces of nature. For Rumi " the desert was an allegory for a spiritual quest of the Soul journeying into the infinite." Walking in the desert (when it is relatively cool) is breathtaking. I can not tell you of the peace, and joy and quiet you will find here. You must come and discover it for yourself.

 

"Oh that the desert were my dwelling place,

With only one fair spirit for my minster.

That I might forget the human race,

And hating no one, love her only."

                                         Lord Byron

 

"For your sake, I hurry over land and water:

For your sake, I cross the desert and split the mountain in two,

And turn my face from all things,

Until the time I reach the place

Where I am alone with You."

                         Al Hallaj

 

And in this western desert you will find the Nevada Test Site, central to the development of nuclear weapons, old and new. How deeply and profoundly disturbing. How very sad.

The Sacred Peace Walk Begins - March 29, 2010

 
Charleston Peak is  about  35 miles from Las Vegas and climbs nearly 12,000 feet skyward. It still has three to four feet in places and it is possible to go in hiking in the snow  if that is your desire..  Below the high peak area and the beautiful Ponderosa pine  is a desert recreation area filled with many canyons and arroyos. Arroyo is a Spanish word for an intermittent dry stream. I had to look it up as I thought it meant canyon. I spent two extraordinary afternoons in this beautiful desert, wandering through the canyons and walking in the  wonderful silence that only the desert can offer. It is particularly soothing after a bad session at the blackjack table. The cactus  and the beginning hint of desert flowers,  unidentified  critters scurrying about and barely seen, small lizards and the immensity of space is transformational. 

Back at the NDE compound I have been filtering vegetable oil for an amazingly old (well over 300,00 miles old) Mercedes which runs on veggie oil and bio diesel along with regular diesel. It is quite an amazing car.  I am driving a bright yellow Nissan Xterra which is fun  to drive but only gets about 18 miles a gallon  and sucks the juice right up. 

Fr. Steve Kelly  arrived last night and he is a good guy and a hard case and I mean this in the best sense of the word. He noncooperation with the man is legendary. He will spend time in solitary confinement before taking a job if he is incarcerated for civil disobedience.`He will ride a bus long hours before paying the federal tax on a plane ticket. He along with the  group of arriving pilgrims will comprise this year's assembly of peace walkers, all of us walking down state 95 north, usually into the wind and into the desert.

We have also been checking and cleaning equipment, putting up tents, airing sleeping bags and sorting  through the boxes  of dishes and plastic cups from last year. Much has been accomplished and much remains for the last minute rush. The Sacred Peace Walk begins.

 

Angel of the Test Site

Andre and Annabelle and are from Holland visiting the Nevadea Desert Experience and doing prison work. At one point in his life, Andre had been a disc jockey.

For reasons I can no longer recall we began singing, Angel of the Morning. Andre knew most of the lyrics and soon Mary Ann and I were on you tube listening to a number of different version by the Pretenders, Juice Newton and of course Merillee Rush.. Since Mary Ann and I both enjoy the theater of the absurd, (much of life fits this description and nuclear weapons are truly absurd and so very deadly) and since I quite like Angel of the Morning, I rewrote a version of the song which I hope might be sung at the Nevada Test Site before crossing the line. There are some difficulties though as the song isn't particularly easy to sing. Anyone have a spare karaoke machine they can lend us quickly. Below is Angel of the Test Site. Perhaps soon the Raging Grannies might add it to their song book. Then again, maybe not.

 

Angel of the Test Site

By John Amidon

(Sung to the music of Angel of the Morning)

There are no cuffs to bind my hands

Not if my love can change your heart.

There is a need to take a stand

Nuclear weapons tear us apart.

I choose to protest now

I see no need to drop the bomb,

So much better not to harm.

 

Just call me angel of the test site, Angel

Let my heart touch yours before you leave me, Baby.

Just call me angel of the test site, Angel

Then slowly turn away from me.

 

When the blast turns sunlight dim

Then it won’t matter anyhow.

When we dropped the bomb we’ve sinned

Something I ‘m trying to prevent now

Trying not to be victims of bomb,

Trying to avoid the harm.

 

Just call me angel of the test site, angel

Just touch my heart before you leave me baby

Just call me angel of the test site, Angel

Then slowly turn away

I won’t beg you to stay with me

Through the tears of the day,

Of the years, baby, baby,

 

Just call me angel of the test site, Angel

Just touch my heart before you leave me, baby

 

 Don't Fear the Reaper
Standing on highway 95, just at the fringes of Indian Springs, a drone flew overhead, circling  and landing, then repeating the process. It was a typical training regimen at Creech Air force base.  8 of us stood on the edge of the highway protesting drones and the high tech assassins who worked inside the bases. There were  3 state trooper cars and one base security vehicle apparently assigned to watch us. We wondered how was it they had so little to do that there would be almost as many police  as protesters. I  can only guess we were the only action going on way out in the desert even if we could only storm the base with our gray hair, walkers and canes. To be honest there were two young women with us, interns and NDE. The rest of us were over 50 and one or two were over 80. 

All of this  was in contrast to the  warm streaming sun light and blue skies, the snow capped mountains and huge expanses of space only found in the western landscape. We stood on the edge of highway for about an hour and left. Several of us went to the  Santa Fe Station casino for a good and inexpensive evening meal as it was about 6 PM by the time we were back in Las Vegas. Funny, we also tried to find an ice cream parlor but there are few  ice cream parlors in Las Vegas. Go figure!

I continued doing yard work at the NDE compound and today was spent preparing the newsletter, "Desert Voices" for mailing. Very soon now, the 30 plus peace walkers will begin to arrive from around the country and we are trying to present our best face and as much comfort as possible (which will be limited) to welcome our guests.  It is a good time to be at NDE and in the desert. It is pleasant. Soon the intense summer heat will arrive but for now it is beautiful.

I did want to say I also saw Eddie Money in concert. I know Eddie from the hood on Long Island and was friends with his brother when I was in college.  Eddie put on a terrific show to a full house at the East Side Cannery Casino. There is much more to be said and most of it is good. I haven't lost to much either. Praise God!

 

More signs of the end times, spooky stuff and  strange coincidences  

 It has been brought to my attention that the Nevada  Desert Experience (NDE)  has the same acronym as Near Death Experience. And it is so apropos as nuclear weapons and nuclear waste are bringing us to the point of extinction. It we have a nuclear war we will have an amazing distinction, the only species of animal to collectively commit suicide by becoming the ultimate suicide bomber.  Cool huh?   Duhhhhh not cool. Not cool in the least. And what of all the birth defects in Iraq and the tons of depleted uranium we have scatter through the desert sands and desert winds.     Back to Las Vegas and the NDE. What will it be, the  Nevada Desert or Near Death. Sunday I had a rent car and drove into the desert along 95 north.  I went to Cactus Springs to visit the Priestess of the Goddess Temple of Sekhment.  She is a friend, a loving pagan and a member of Code Pink.  http://www.sekhmettemple.com/index.htm   Hopefully the link provided with bring you to their website. Isn't it amazing and wonderful this place of peace and life affirming worship of the Goddess energy is so  close to the most bombed out place on the face of the earth with over 1000 nuclear explosions. It is a place of incredible beauty with snow capped mountains nearby and I can't tell you how great it felt to be there again visiting my friend Candace and  paying my respects to Goddess Sekhmet and of course the Holy Mother and  the Madre Del Mundo. We walked about two and one half miles into the desert seeing long eared jack rabbits and some lizards.  For those of you who have never seen the movie Zachariah  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeHZecjraGs bits and pieces are online. It is a head rock and roll western and the story of Siddartha and  has beautiful sequences in the desert and great rock and roll and a campy sense of humor all rolled (if you get my drift) into one.   I am rapidly running out of my hour's time on the net but a good part of this morning was spend  cutting firewood and visiting with my friend Peter Ediger, whose wise counsel and great  peace is joyful and contagious. He works for Pace Bene and is part of the complex at NDE. I also gave Sr. Megan her first lesson in roulette at Jerry's Nugget. We lost $3 dollars but had a great evening meal at the Nugget's coffee shop. It has a steak and crab legs  special for $7.99. More to come soon

 

Signs of the Apocalypse  

I went to Walmart today, (I know some of you are muttering infidel) and tried to buy a tea kettle for the house I am living in. (Walmart was within walking distance and I only have a vehicle some of the time, presently.) Seeing none I asked and was politely informed by the house wares clerk  that the Walmart Super center had none and that for reasons she did not fully understand she could not order them. I told her this was beyond amazing that Walmarts did not sell tea kettles here and that this truly must be a sign of the apocalypse. She did not smile. I told her that was humor (perhaps feeble) and she said she had not fully woken up yet. But truly it is. Can you imagine the god of consumerism not selling tea kettles? Totally flabbergasting.   the previous night I had gone and saw the movie, Legion. It seemed a good selection for Las Vegas, a low budget horror movie about the end, the end times.  The plot is  simple. God has given up on humanity and decided to destroy us by send a Legion of angels to  kill us. Michael however loves humanity and rebels. Gabriel on the other hand is following orders and is ready to slaughter humanity. The battle takes place in a dinner in the middle of nowhere in Arizona.  This really is a low budget horror flick but with some campy humor, and some surpising good acting. Michael and Gabriel are pretty impressive and the cast of characters are quite engaging and very human, working class folks mostly, struggling with  poor choices in life and a lack of resources and hope.  Long story short, I really liked this movie. So between these two metaphysical events, Walmart's and the movie, right across the street from one another in a casino,  I am convinced the end times are any time now.   In a day or two we will continue preparations for the sacred peace walk. I  puzzle greatly because along with the end times, I know Jesus appeared here recently, asking you all to pick up the cross and become the second coming you are intended to be and end the scourage of nuclear weapons and for that matter nuclear power/waste. Truly there are safer and cleaner ways to boil water.   The counter on this computer shows 16 minutes left and I need to do some quick reasearch so I will end here for the moment. Hope this all makes sense and reads okay. No time to edit.  Perhaps if I were winning I might have written an entirely different column.

 

"Who’s Next?”                                                                               By John Amidon
                                                                                         

In 1976, Jesuit Father Richard McSorley  wrote, “Until we squarely face the question of our consent to use nuclear weapons, any hope of large scale improvement of public morality is doomed to failure.”   Some 35 years have passed since  Fr. McSorley’s comments.  Hiroshima and Nagasaki clearly were humanities moral nadir. These attacks, designed to take out entire cities, every living thing, trees, plants, cats and dogs, women and children, the old and the infants, Shintos, Buddhists, Christians, Jews, Muslims,  everything, truly has created a morally lost planet. The God of death was reinstated, resplendent and shining, with  a celebration of violence unlike any other, supplanting and perverting the message of Jesus, Mohamed, Buddha and the Torah, the Koran and the New Testament along with a host of other  prophets and faith traditions.  Man proudly proclaimed his ability to destroy whatever God might create.     

In 1965 Tom Lehrer derisively reflected on the nuclear arms race in his song,  “Who’s Next?”. One refrain went:  

“Egypt's gonna get one too, just to use on you know who.  Israel's getting tense, wants one in self-defense.  The Lord's our shepherd it says in the Psalm,  but just in case- WE GOTTA GET A BOMB!”  

By then the arms race had grown tremendously and world governments were thoroughly complicit with the development and deployment of nuclear weapons.  From there it was easy to consent to the use of  nuclear power and the false promises of the nuclear industry touting, safe, clean and inexpensive energy. Most of us very much wanted to believe that something good could come from this demon’s child.  

Sadly nothing could have been  further from the truth as Fukushima and  Chernobyl  clearly illustrate. Nuclear power has proven itself  with alarming consistently to be dangerous, dirty and expensive and no one knows how to contain nuclear waste, long term.  Even so the recognition of environmental violence/degradation is still sadly absent  or ignored  and the continued  misinformation provided by the nuclear industry has allowed for the unprecedented  nuclear environmental destruction and degradation world wide.   

Meanwhile the public shrugs and waits complacently for the next cloud of radiation to poison the land and their children while the government continues to  subsidize the nuclear industry. New reports now show increased levels of radioactive iodine in milk found in Philadelphia and little Rock Arkansas from the Fukushima disaster.   

In 1998, Fr. Frank Cordaro,  a participant in the Gods of Metal plowshares action at Andrews Air Force Base spoke about hammering and pouring blood on a B-52 bomber. One of his more humorous reflections was, "Any Church that has more moral clarity on the uses of condoms than it does on the possession of nuclear weapons is seriously unbalanced." How true his words have proven to be not only for Catholics  but for all of Christianity.   

Recently Fr. John Deer wrote,  “We have trailed so far behind Jesus that most Christians and Catholics can scarcely conceive of loving their enemies or putting down the sword. Instead they vote for war, pay taxes for war and prayerfully send their young off to kill.”    As I write millions of gallons of radioactive water are being poured into the Pacific Ocean. No one knows what effect it may have but we are assured over and over again the effects will be minimal much like we are assured, an event like this will never happen here.  The nuclear sword once seen only as atomic weapons keeps mutating. First in fire and air, now in earth and water, nuclear waste and cancer is often found very close to home.    

In another of his songs, “Pollution”, Tom Lehrer wrote, “fish gotta swim and birds gotta fly but they don’t last long if they try. Pollution . . .” Desperately I am trying to find some humor in all of this, hoping to counter my despair. And while I may not know whether to laugh or cry, like the prophets old, one thing I am certain of is, “God will not be mocked.”    Finally the question “Who’s Next?“  has taken on a new and sinister meaning. It is time for us to make some hard choices. Let us hope we choose the God of life.

Post Script:
The editor who requested this article and declined to print it wrote;

 
 "What I was looking for is in the two graphs about nuclear power’s false promise and later about the radioactive water, but otherwise your focus on nuclear weapons is less compelling at a time when the world is shaken by the catastrophe in Japan. We all have opinions, but I wonder if you really believe that the world’s reaction is a shrug."

My response was, "If you have any evidence the public isn't shrugging, that there is a strong reaction, Indian Point will actually close, West Valley will be cleaned up in a timely manner, that our policies might actually change, I would love to hear.   In another few weeks we will be hearing how Iran is developing nuclear weapons from processing nuclear fuel for its power plants after the propaganda machine and the powers that be decide our fear quotient isn't high enough. Nuclear power and weapons are deeply interconnected." I had hoped this might create a discussion. It did not. 

John Amidon is presently protesting nuclear weapons and power at the Nevada National Security Site (formerly the Nevada Test Site) for Easter 2011 remembering the words of  the late Archbishop Raymond Hunthausen of Seattle, "Our nuclear war preparations are the global crucifixion of Jesus." This article is dedicated to : Sr. Anne Montgomery, Fr. Bill Bischel, Susan Crane, 67, Lynne Greenwald, and Fr. Steve Kelly  who on All Souls night, November 2, 2009,  entered into the Kitsap-Bangor Navy Base outside of Tacoma Washington to protest the hundreds of nuclear warheads and the eight Trident submarines based there.