Dear Friends and Family,

Greetings in this mid-summer time. It is nice to be able to communicate more frequently now by e-mail, and feel more connected with you.

This past week we have spent time looking at apartments and homes to rent, and today settled on an apartment in the Karrada area, not far from the Al Dar Hotel where I lived much of the winter in Baghdad. So, when we move on Sun. it will be like coming back home for me. It is more of a residential neighborhood, and we already know many families and shopkeepers in the area. It is also considered a safer area, and people are freer in walking along the streets and shops are open in the evenings. Another big advantage is that we will be reducing the rent we pay by two thirds the price, which will help a lot. We will have less electricity (they only have a back up generator for limited times of the day).

We are expecting two more men to come and join the team in the next three weeks, so that will expand possibilities for our work.

Sun. we witnessed the launching of the new Governing Council in Iraq, 25

Ayatollah Pat Robertson is praying for the departure of at least three Justices of the United States Supreme Court. And the Bush Junta continues its relentless attack on the foundations of American democracy. The "shock and awe" of this ever-escalating blitzkreig has been the root of Bush's strength, keeping the opposition off balance and on the defensive.

But cracks are showing in a totalitarian assault that needs total victory. The regime has grossly overreached its minority non-mandate. Its procession of Big Lies, such as Saddam's nonexistent weapons of mass destruction, are generating just the kind of blowback that can shatter a tyranny, even one in control of the mass media.

Have we turned a corner?

Robertson's "prayer" for the "removal" of three Supreme Court Justices reeks of a "fatwah"---a call to murder. Islamic Ayatollahs issued a similar death threat against Salman Rushdie, whose "Satanic Verses" they deemed blasphemous. In fact, he merely lampooned the Ayatollahs. Against all odds, Rushdie still lives.

Local environmental activist Chad Kister has been busy giving live and taped interviews for talk radio shows around the country about his book, Arctic Quest: Odyssey Through a Threatened Wilderness.

Kister has been on Alaska Public Radio for an hour-long interview and for long interviews in Detroit, Northern California, Fresno California, Dallas, Texas, Colorado, New Jersey and many more.

Kister's publisher, Common Courage Press hired a publicist who set up the interviews. This is after Kister finished a 30-day, 12,000 mile speaking and book signing tour throughout the United States and Canada by train from mid-June to mid-July. Trains get ten times better fuel efficiency per passenger mile than cars or planes.

On December 12, Kister delivered an award to Senator Michael Dewine for his efforts and votes to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge on behalf of the Alaska Coalition.

The Alaska National Public radio presentation accepted phone calls. Several were from oil

The Cincinnati rebellion of April 2001 exposed the racist character of the city. Police brutality, segregation and economic inequality all contributed to an explosion of simmering anger. City Council and Mayor Luken proved unable or unwilling to address the dire issues of race in Cincinnati. Grassroots activists demanded justice and were met with beanbag guns. Segregation in the city has actually worsened while jobs for young African Americans are more difficult to find. Latino and Hispanic immigrants to our city encounter a culture of intolerance and exploitation. Arab and Muslim peoples, likewise, live in a state of fear and suspicion that cannot continue.

The August 9th Organizing Committee aims to unite the people of Cincinnati most affected by the racist climate of the city. Our voices can only be heard when we speak together. The Rally Against Racism on August 9th is a step toward building a diverse movement for justice and respect for all peoples in our community.

Join us for the next orgainizing meeting:
Sunday July 27th 4PM
Drop-Inn-Center (Elm &12th)

             Short of good news ever since the end of the formal war, Bush and Blair are naturally exultant that Saddam's sons, Uday and Qusay, have been satisfactorily incinerated in Mosul, Iraq, presumably victims of someone eager to collar the $30-million reward for turning them in.

            But though Saddam's sons deserve everything they got, and more, the news of their demise should not be cause for great rejoicing in the White House and 10 Downing Street. In the event that Saddam soon follows his sons into the Great Hereafter, that would not, in anything other than the short term, be great news for Bush and Blair either.

            For obvious reasons, Bush and his entourage have been eager to identify Saddam, Uday and Qusay as the instigators of the attacks on the U.S. and U.K. occupying forces, with attendant steady, demoralizing trickle of casualties.

            To suggest otherwise would be to concede that there might be long-term, organized opposition to the Allied occupation, which has less to do with Saddam Hussein and his clan, and more with nationalist, or Islamic/nationalist opposition to the invaders.