3 posts tagged “anti-uranium mine protest”

Lots of visits with friends, old and new today. We viewed a CD copy of The National’s report on a portable computer here at the site. It was good press. You can probably catch it on line if you have the capability.

The Ottawa Citizen’s Janice Kennedy is scheduled to arrive on Monday, so maybe we are on a roll, not that we should be letting up on the pressure at all. Mike and Lynn have been receiving email responses from across Canada.

I slipped home for what should have been a hot shower, but with our hot water tank is misbehaving, I had to settle for a very warm one ? I followed that with some catch up with family and email, before dressing in my gramma costume, complete with apron, scarf and granny glasses and heading out to the Halloween fundraising outside of Westport. It was great to see old friends and meet new ones. Some of the costumes were very creative and the music was fabulous. I had told Mike that we had to dress up and, taking me literally, he dawned a three-piece suit and went as a paradym salesman.

I’d like to have stayed to speak after the second set, but, needing to protect my energy, I bowed out and returned to the site at around midnight. A fun connection was that the couple throwing the party had bought some artwork of Elisha’s (my youngest daughter) at a youth poverty awareness event in Perth last winter and had one of the pieces displayed in their bathroom.

Thanks to the lady who returned four sheets of petitions all signed up. If there are others out there, please do get them back to us. Blanks can usually be picked up here or you can print them out online at www.ccamu.ca There are still a few ‘no uranium mine’ signs for anyone who wants one for their lawn/yard.

Driving through Perth last night it struck me that every storefront (and residence) should have a ‘Bring Gramma Home” sign in its window, front and center. Are there some students (we are all students) reading this who might print off that message, perhaps on coloured 81/2 X 11 paper, add the web address at the bottom and approach the businesses in Perth (and in every town across Canada and beyond) with the request that they help with this campaign? If they want to take some brochures send Lynn their names and address and they can be delivered or mailed. It wouldn’t have to be an organized campaign, tho it could be. If you decide to do this and the business refuses, please be polite, smile and thank them anyway. Not everyone shares our view of the issue (or any other).

I’m hearing directly and via friends and family that people are getting concerned more about me as I enter the fourth week (on Monday). Please use that energy to write yet another letter or take one more action to move us closer to a moratorium and please know that I appreciate that you are concerned and your prayers are most welcome.

Love
Donna

Mike headed home in the a.m. and Kassia arrived soon after. It was good to sit awhile with little Zephyr and visit with Kassia and others around the campfire. Because she'd been away, Kassia was surprised to hear Peter Mansbridge speaking my name as James turned on the TV after arriving home from N.S. last night. It was a good piece overall, and has been repeated since, according to reports.

On the question of what people can do in the bigger picture to insure a sustainable future for our children and grandchildren, I offer the following:

At the Personal Level

Learn to enjoy yourself

* The first, and most effective thing that anyone can do is to enjoy what life offers. Finding satisfaction within ourselves creates a foundation for a sustainable world. Turn off the TV; make friends; sing; dance; play music, sports and games; write letters, books, poetry, music; create; cook; sew; knit; paint; draw; sculpt; learn; love; laugh; talk with your kids, your neighbours, your friends; reach out to those less fortunate; pray; make love and appreciate nature. When one enjoys one's self, one is less likely to be influenced by the half trillion dollar annual advertising budget, which aims to convince us that we are inadequate and cannot be happy unless we buy the resource consuming products being sold.

Educate Yourself

* Read about the challenge and the goal by reading such books as: (ie.
Life, Money & Illusion; Living on Earth as if you want to stay (authored by
my husband, Mike Nickerson), The Growth Illusion, Small is Beautiful,
Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth, For the Common Good, The Long Emergency,
Manufacturing Consent.)
* View movies that speak to the issue (An Inconvenient Truth, The End of Suburbia, Who Killed the Electric Car & The High Cost of Low Cost, to name just a few.)
* Attend classes on sustainability in any of its many forms.
* Fast track your personal growth work so that you are ready to handle the emotional challenges that would come with a monetary crisis, health pandemic, climate chaos or extensions of the rich/poor divide.
* Search out meaning and purpose in your life; empower yourself by nurturing your innate greatness; integrate mind, body and spirit - learn to trust your intuition, listen to your body and keep fit.
* Distinguish between needs and wants and consider carefully which desires fulfilled today will undermine the well-being of y(our) children and grandchildren.
* Learn how to build sustainably; conserve; plant trees; grow organically; compost. Full cycle nutrient management is a key element for a sustainable future. Building up the soil in our home areas is essential to being able to feed ourselves, our families and our communities in a post fossil-fuel world.

Additional Actions

* Reduce your material consumption; Reuse and Recycle - waste less.
* Drive less and more slowly; if you must drive, purchase a smaller, more fuel-efficient car when your current car needs replacement; walk and cycle more; take public transit; live closer to your loved ones.
* Get out of debt.
* At election time, vote with your heart; vote for Proportional Representation; vote for a party that puts sustainability ahead of exponential growth.
*If you favour a Party, encourage them to recognize the necessity for choosing sustainability over continuous economic expansion.
*Get involved; run for political office or support someone's campaign.
* Prepare for an emergency by having food, water, candles, and other supplies on hand to last your family for at least one month. (Lots of info available on the net in this regard, ie. www.journeytoforever.org/sitemap.html)

Another day, I'll address what can be done at a community and governmental level.

I'd like all of you to know how much I appreciate that you are hanging in here with me. We can do this, with each of us doing what moves us each and every day.

Blessings
Donna

With the report by the OPP of the potential for FV to arrive at the site at 10 a.m., and with the announcement that a press conference would take place here, we had an exciting morning with over 100 people on site by mid-morning. The mood was jubilant as people greeted each other and asked for updates. (To be part of the quick action list, send a note to Lynn.) The day started out overcast and the sky opened up just as the media were ready to start taping.

Bob Lovelace, our Uranium News lady and moi; among others, were captured on film. I’m not sure if the story about the large number of non-natives that are involved in this protest has been told yet. Anyone want to write a few newspapers about this story or make a comment to CBC? Everyone should know about the large number of community members, native and non, who are involved in this protest.

It was good to sit in circle with the Ardoch First Nations and to hear the latest in regard to negotiations. As the blockade comes to an end, settlers and First Nations will continue with a presence outside the gate, 24/7. Please come add to our numbers – for a few minutes or a few days. For my part, I am grateful for the company (as I’m here almost 24/7) and the ongoing support that the hunger strike is receiving.

If you have not already done so, please print out the petition on CCAMU’s website and circulate it widely. Take it to your class, your club, your gym, your work, and to any gathering you attend. Help us educate the population. Filled-in petitions can be scanned and sent to the Uranium News, or mailed to the address at the bottom of the page.

Thanks to those responsible for the loan of a cell phone for this week, for the lemons, tea and hugs.

Love,

Donna