Hi all!<br>Major victory! <i>The Wenatchee World </i>will publish my Op Ed article about weapons testing, attached and below.<br><br>The <i>World </i>was started by my grandfather Rufus Woods back in early 1900s to provide local and national news to North Central Washington, and is now published by his namesake, who is my cousin. It is now one of the last family-owned daily newspapers in America -- one of the last places where journalism actually serves the community.<br>
<br>In response to my submission and letter, he wrote, "These are indeed fascinating times - lots of challenges yet amazing
opportunities here at the newspaper. We're in total reinvention mode,
getting back to the basics of <b>serving community</b> and in particularly
more completely embracing the notion of <b>celebrating community successes</b>
as a way to lift the conversation out of the morass of reactivity that
is all too often the baseline of discourse."<br><br>If you'd like a whiff of nostalgia while supporting a rare and valuable American treasure, bookmark the link <a href="http://wenatcheeworld.com/">http://wenatcheeworld.com/</a> I'd like to see them with a national following.<br>
Best!<br>Carol<br><br><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 12"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 12"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5Ccarol%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><link rel="themeData" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5Ccarol%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_themedata.thmx"><link rel="colorSchemeMapping" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5Ccarol%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_colorschememapping.xml"><style>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Navy weapons and weather control testing
in Washington State</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">by Carol Hiltner</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">I received an e-mail last week that
caught my attention. It proclaimed that the U.S. Navy was planning to use the
whole northwestern U.S. for military target practice. <i style="">Wait a second,</i> I thought. <i style="">Could
this be true? Isn’t the Navy supposed to be defending us? </i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Apparently the Navy has prepared
the required environmental impact statement (EIS) that is subject to public
comment until March 11th, and this e-mail outlined the author’s questions and
concerns. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">So I read the e-mail. It was long,
and contained a lot of technical information that I couldn’t assess. The author
wasn’t so concerned that we would shot at, as she was about the airborne
residues of chemicals the Navy admits are toxic, such as depleted uranium and
white phosphorus, that American citizens would be breathing, eating, and
drinking in perpetuity. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Most of the requested target
practice area is just off the Washington coast, from which prevailing winds
would carry persistent toxins progressively further inland. I wondered about
the pollution of the orchards and wheat fields of eastern Washington, the
forests and cities of western Washington, and the immediate impact on our
beleaguered fisheries. Could we indeed be victims of our own defense efforts?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><i style="">Democracy
in action,</i> I thought. I have watched the surge of citizen activism spawned
by our presidential elections with hope and some amazement. I participated when
our President-elect asked Americans to choose the priorities for his
administration by voting on the internet.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">I was still caught up with the wave
of people’s empowerment when I got this e-mail, and I was alarmed about the
prospect of the Navy turning its weapons of war on us, even indirectly. So I glanced
at the summary of the 1000-page EIS, commented via the Navy website, sent
messages to my Senators and Congressman asking them to look into this, and
forwarded the original e-mail to my networks requesting their involvement in
protecting the western United States.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Back through my network came news
that Senator Conrad of North Dakota had responded. His staff determined that,
based on what they found in the EIS, the area under discussion was much smaller
than stated, but still worth watching. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Concerned that I might have
responded to a false alarm, but also recognizing that Senator Conrad’s staff
might not have found the proverbial needles in the 1000-page “haystack,” I
wrote the author, Rosalind Peterson, asking for citations to back up her
assertions. She responded with a flurry of forwarded government reports and
studies.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">What I discovered shocked me. From
the mouth of Mrs. Sheila Murray, Navy Region Northwest Environmental Public
Affairs Officer, this EIS addresses only a minor adjustment to an on-going
weapons testing and chemical weather control program not only on the West
Coast, but also in Hawaii, Alaska, and parts of the East Coast. Weather control?!
Who does this serve and what is the toxic cost? The actual operations areas may
be mostly off-shore, but it is <i style="">our</i> weather
that is being experimented with for the purposes of war. It is our survival
that is being tinkered with through persistent toxic chemical releases. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">I personally live by the adage, “We
get what we focus on.” So, I focus on a humanity engaged in the wholeness of
life. I see this situation as a wake-up call for us to individually and
collectively participate in decision-making with a whole-systems, long-term
perspective. This official request for comments on the Navy EIS is an opening
for citizens to impact the direction of the military that we pay for.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The U.S. Navy Environmental
Impact Statement is posted at <a href="http://www.nwtrangecomplexeis.com/">http://www.nwtrangecomplexeis.com/</a>.
The original article that brought my attention to this is posted at <a href="http://www.newswithviews.com/Peterson/rosalind114.htm">http://www.newswithviews.com/Peterson/rosalind114.htm</a>.
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">We can comment on-line until March
11th at <a href="http://www.nwtrangecomplexeis.com/NtrcCommentForm.aspx">http://www.nwtrangecomplexeis.com/NtrcCommentForm.aspx</a>,
as well as contact our elected representatives. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Guest columnist Carol Hiltner is
cousin of <i>World </i>publisher Rufus Woods, who once worked at the <i>World</i>. She is an author, artist,
and activist who works collaboratively to access peace through multi-cultural
awareness and friendship. She is currently focused on bringing forth the
perspectives of the ancient indigenous culture of peace found in the Altai
Mountains of Siberia. E-mail: <a href="mailto:carol.hiltner@gmail.com">carol.hiltner@gmail.com</a>.
Websites: <a href="http://www.altaimir.org/">www.AltaiMir.org</a> and <a href="http://www.altaibooks.com/">www.Altaibooks.com</a>.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </p>
<br><br><br>
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