Watch Out for Nuclear Dust

oops, you can't watch them because they are nano-particles we can ingest in our air and food. Detected in the West Coast, by a scientist Marco Kaltofen's monitoring stations, this could be a hazard throughout the Northern Hemisphere. gee, some of the produce I buy is grown in California.

Where is all that Fukushima radiation going, and why does it matter? from Fairewinds Associates on Vimeo.

Action item this video suggests: pester your congress people and safety regulators to start monitoring for small radioactive dust particles. This is different from an x-ray or a plane flight... they last for a short time. In contrast, an ingested radioactive particle can continue to emit radiation to your body for the rest of your life.
I checked on google maps, and I am sorry to say that my nearest nuke is only 23.5 miles away:

This nuke, Shearon Harris, has a terrible safety record.

" Harris has been in violation of federal fire regulations since at 

least 1992, and ranks worst in the nation in at least two critical fire safety criteria. "

Zoom in, Durham, and wake up and smell the steaming potentially radioactive coffee:

The irony is that we wouldn't need the nukes if we went ahead with energy conservation and solar and  wind power generation, according to NC Warn.

Radiation Danger from Japan

I've been waiting for the other shoe to drop in Fukushima Daiichi, worrying about what is too frightening to tell the public, and Arnie Gundersen just dropped it for me. He is a nuclear engineer who had worked at Three Mile Island, and is clearly explaining the science of the leakage of radiation in Japan.
http://www.fairewinds.com/

Astounding Stats on how few Americans are Rich

Mother Jones magazine/website has created these 11 charts that explain the gross inequality in the United States today, a big shift from how things were 30 years ago.

It's the Inequality, Stupid

Eleven charts that explain everything that's wrong with America.
In Colombia, it was obvious that the vast majority of people are poor, and a small percentage of wealthy people run the show.  In America, it is far less obvious, because so many people have homes. But we work all the time to keep them. I was really shocked to see that 1% of Americans own over one third of our country's wealth, and that the next 9% of the richest people own another third, with the rest of us 90% owning the last third, and these 90% have an average income of $31,244.
So I checked the GINI index at the CIA World Factbook. The GINI index measures how evenly the GNP is distributed among the population of each country. The higher the number, the more concentrated the wealth is, in the hands of a few.

Yes, Colombia has an even more unequal income distribution than the USA. But geez,  a few of the countries with a more equitable distribution than us are Cameroon, Iran, Nigeria, Kenya, Guyana, Thailand, Morocco, Turkey, Tunisia, Ghana, Burkina Faso...not just the obvious like Sweden and Norway.
So what income qualifies you as part of the middle class? It seems that America will soon have only the upper classes, and the working class and poverty levels left. A sure sign of a decaying economy.

In Colombia, a sugar cane cutter's house

abandoned home in Detroit, USA

back from Colombia

quick suggestion: tell your congress people to vote NO to the Colombian FTA (Free Trade Agreement). Clinton and Obama and backing free trade, but this will be as bad as NAFTA.
Here is a letter from the Washington Office on Latin America to Congress with more details.
Wondering how was my trip?
I've been home nearly two weeks now, but I feel like I absorbed so much that I have had difficulty summarizing it. I nearly filled a notebook with notes. Compared to the problems and injustices that so many of the people we met are facing, any concerns of mine seem trivial. Although I feel physically safe with enough income to live in a big comfortable house, I saw a richness in spirit, and communities so tightly-knit, which I admire and even envy. The people I am closest to (including myself) spend more time at computers alone in rooms than with other people. Of course we do make many connections with friends in this cyber-world. But the contrast of spending 10 days with 12 people in close quarters, talking, listening, sharing experiences, meeting so many fine brave people, this was really different, both fun and challenging. I wished I could have rewound and edited a few things I said, but, oops, in RL we just have to blunder on.
About half the people in this photo are our Witness for Peace delegation, and the rest are Colombians who have lost family due to state violence by military, paramilitary, or police.

I can see how common dire straits can deepen a community's bonds. Also, it makes sense that life threatening situations cause trivial concerns to slip away, and bring people in close touch with what is of real value in their lives. But returning to the USA has been an adjustment. I am so busy, running from errands to half-planned tasks. So much of American lifestyle (meaning United Statesian) is filled with trivial pastimes that promise self-satisfaction..... shopping, the latest gadget, TV, movies, the prescription drug which will fill that need you didn't know you had until the ad "educated" you. Not to mention all the illegal drugs consumed by US citizens which keeps up a high demand for cocaine, of which 90% comes from Colombia.

This line of thought about consumerism and profit vs an enlightened loving healthy planet of people and all living beings co-existing in peace reminds me of the "Awakening the Dreamer, Changing the Dream Symposium" (which I highly recommend). It seems clearer than ever to me that the USA with it's tax dollars and many powerful Americans working within trans-national corporations are perpetuating a system that is harming the planet, and directly causing misery to the majority of people on earth.

Here is a painting by Jafeth, an internationally acclaimed but humble Colombian artist, who is working to build a better world within a violence torn rural area. This painting shows planting Seeds of Corn, which is the name of a school he founded, which teaches children art, dance, ecology, theatre, and ethical values. It was so healing to meet this wonderful artist after having heard of many atrocities throughout the week.

 Photo op: Susan with Jafeth :-)

So I don't want to rant on in generalities. Over the next few weeks I will try to squeeze in the time to blog about the various people we met, and places we saw.

  But if you have read this far, Thank You!

Here are more pictures of Jafeth's School, community murals and the Magic Pathway to the mother nature  goddess called Pachamama.

Immunizations Daily!

geez, I feel like a pin cushion, and worse, these shots are expensive! Yellow fever $164, Malaria meds $134, typhoid $69, hepatitus A $80, hepatitus B $51 x 3, polio, and a few more I can't remember. I think Blue Cross will cover the polio booster, but they said they don't cover travel vaccines. That is just stupid, because it will cost Blue Cross a lot more if I came home with these diseases than to prevent them. Anyway, I have been warned to drink only bottled water and to do without ice, so with all these precautions I expect to stay healthy throughout the trip. Most of these shots give immunity for at least 5 years or more, so I guess I should become a world traveler soon!

I've been walking with my backpack nearly every day to prepare for my trip to Colombia on Jan 13. Hiking in Sedona was good practice, because it is a high elevation. There are 11 interesting people going on this trip with me... a diverse spread of age range from 21 -71, and from various parts of USA. One man is a lawyer for men held in Guantanamo. Also a union rep, a journalist, an artist, a business owner, and others. I can't wait to meet them... 11 days with these 11 people would be interesting anywhere, but sharing what we learn from the people in Colombia will be amazing!

I'm grateful to all my friends and family who donated to Witness For Peace to help fund this trip.

Thank You, and Happy New year!