Witches Brew

The sentiment among health care advocates in Washington is clear:

Congressman Schock must be moved to vote in favor of health insurance reform.

The vote in the full House is scheduled for October 12th, and this date is rapidly approaching.

In Peoria, we will hold a rally on October 6th and kick-off an action to call Health Insurance Companies as well as Rep. Schock and Senators Durbin and Reid. See more below

As a community, we MUST send a loud and clear message to Schock:

“We, the people, want you to vote for health insurance reform with a strong public option! Are you complicit in insurance company crimes? Or will you finally stand up for your constituents?” ___________________________________________
STATEWIDE DAY OF ACTION: BIG INSURANCE MAKES ME SICK!

PEORIA AREA RALLY AND CALLING ACTIONS

Congressman Schock, Whose Side Are You On?

When: Tuesday, October 6th from 4:30pm – 5:30pm

Purpose: To pressure Congressman Schock to support his constituents, NOT the insurance industry, by voting for a health insurance reform bill with a strong public option!

Bring homemade signs or use ours!
Possible Sign Messages:

1. Big Insurance: SICK OF IT
2. Congressman Schock: Whose side are you on?
3. Support the people! Support the Public Option!
4. Honk for Health Care Reform!

We will also have informative leaflets to distribute-

Come, bring friends and family, and show community support for health care reform!

PLEASE forward this email to all of your contacts, make calls, organize your network.

MORE TO FOLLOW
______________________________________

NEW TWIST TO MAKING A CALL

We are sick and tired of the abuse that we endure because of big insurance wanting to use our lives for big profit.

The week of October 5th, we will start our Calling Campaign to a Health Insurance
Company Executive.

Call #1:

It is time the Big Health Insurance companies starting hearing from you on health insurance reform. We will provide the Executive’s name and phone, plus some sample scripts.

Call #2:

We will provide phone numbers for Rep. Schock and Senators Durbin and Reid. Let them know what you think of your call to the Health Insurance Executive and that they must support people over health insurance company profits. We need a strong public option with health care reform.

Together, we can do it! Let’s make this happen!

For Information: Joyce Harant,Community Organizer, JHarant@cbhconline.org

Campaign for Better Health Care
Helpline
1-888-544-8271
Website: www.cbhconline.org

All’s well in Stoudtburg. “Bewitched, without incident”:

Witches and pagans who traveled to Adamstown on Saturday for a festival “Celebrating Earth Spirituality” were greeted by a steady rain and praying Christians in a silent protest.

The gathering held at Stoudtburg Village and hosted by Reading Pagans & Witches proved to far less controversial than the debate that brewed in the days leading up to it.

I am feeling proud today of Jen Anderson-Wenger, president of Reading Pagans & Witches.who has been very gracious in print. LancasterOnline.com reported “[She] said several church groups ‘laid hands on us and prayed.’ She said she was pleased at the turnout, and said her group was received ‘very peacefully.’”

I can’t say how I would have reacted to strangers laying hands on me. Prayers–OK, I can be gracious when strangers have the chutzpah to pray over me. A thank you, you, too! and I’m out of there! But, according to Mandy Stoltzfus, staff writer for
LancasterOnline: “Anderson-Wenger said having the church groups come, and pray over them, was an ‘amazing spiritual experience.’”

And in the give and take of the comments she continues to show class:

QUOTE (kd1120 @ Sep 13 2009, 04:39 PM)
as a Christian who has had ties with Gateway House of Prayer, i wonder if Christian organizations would allow Pagans/Witches to come to their event to try to pray over us, or talk us into seeing their point? i highly doubt it. i am glad that the organization with which i have had ties, behaved themselves, but i still find it kind of righteous behavior attending another groups organized meeting to “share Jesus.” something about it just seems invasive to me…..guess that makes me a bad Christian, but if i feel the need to pray for a group, i know that i can do it in God’s presence & not in theirs, and it will still have the same effect! if God decides to move someone’s heart in His direction, He’ll do it regardless of whether i “crash” their event or not!

KD,
I didn’t have a problem with any of the, for lack of a better phrase, “silent protesters” as, I feel, we learned a little more about each other, which was partly what the festival was about. The “distruptive group” was asked that exact question though, and they said they have had it happen and felt it wasn’t disrespectful. I suppose if they didn’t feel disrespected by having someone “protest” them, they wouldn’t find it disrespectful to minister at a Pagan event.

I think yours is a view that is shared by many of my Christian friends and family.

Thank you,
Jen Anderson-Wenger
President, Reading Pagans & Witches

And, darn it! I am proud of KD1120, too. The irony of this dust up while we pause to remember the anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Center…. Hello, religious intolerance is only acceptable when your religion practices it?

And just when I am feeling smug about Pagan manners, I click over to The Poltical Pagan, where Maelstrom blogs about Heathenry/the Asatru faith, where OUR conservatives tend to congregate. Maelstrom, a scholar of Norse culture, has spent a number of years in Iceland and Scandinavia. He writes “reverse culture shock”:

I have always thought that the point of spirituality was to rise above anything as limited and confining as nationalism, but in returning to America, I am struck by how pervasive American nationalism is among Pagans that I have encountered. I had a Heathen acquaintance write to me with a kind of patriotic ultimatum: “Are you American Heathen, or not? If so, good. If not, bye!” I have never in any other context been challenged to produce proof of patriotism in order to be accepted as a Pagan; as some say, “only in America.” For me, this ruins the whole point of engaging in Paganism as a spiritual path. If I wanted a religion based on patriotism, I would worship a deified version of George Washington or Ronald Reagan instead of honoring gods out of ancient Europe.

Boink! Maelstrom thwacks me in the forehead. It’s not just being Christian or Pagan that makes us so perversely attached to our religions:

After living in both Europe and Asia, I can no longer share the easy confidence of many Americans that their country is indeed the best, their society superior; “USA #1,” as it often phrased, sometimes in a rather belligerent manner that I cannot relate to at all. There are many things I love about America, but I love many qualities of other cultures as well. To put it in more Paganistic terms, I have walked among the spirits of other lands and received their blessings and guidance, and my sense of gratitude towards those other lands and spirits does not allow me to uphold any kind of narrow, exclusive patriotism.

Any time we slip into that #1 mentality, we lose our way.

Goofiest reported quote from Stoudtburg: Luke Martin, on of the protesters from Ephrata Christian Fellowship, tells us, “People will always try to fill the vacuum of life. Without God, they will turn to other religions.”

Luke, Lady Liberty is just one face of my Goddess. When She says, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…,” She was including folks stifled by religious intolerance. Think about it.

Michael Brown, pastor of the Universalist Unitarian Church in Peoria has launched a new blog My No Hell Space. In just a month he has written thoughtful posts on Christianity and Universal Health Care, Walter Cronkite and the Interfaith Alliance, and Bela Fleck and the documentary film called Throw Down Your Heart, which is currently playing at the Peoria Theater at Landmark Plaza.

My No Hell Space promises to be an excellent addition to the Peoria Blogosphere. I’ve added it to my blogroll. Add it to your own.

August is half over–and this is only my second post for the month. And I haven’t done any real job hunting either. Tsk! I could make excuses about close encounters of the plumber kind and trying to downsize my life/prepare for a garage sale, but I”ll plead that I have been creating a satisfying blog roll for Witches Brew and a list of quirky links.

On the Pagan blog roll you’ll find Letters from Hardscrabble Creek, the work of Pagan scholar Chas S. Clifton. On The Archdruid Report John Michael Greer will tell you why our economy is going to Hell in a hand basket. The Wild Hunt offers Pagan news from around the world. The Minneapolis Pagan Examiner gives a glimpse of Urban Paganism. Writer and reviewer Peg Aloi has two blogs Orchards Forever and Pagan Foodies.

My Peoria blog roll includes Elaine Hopkin’s PeoriaStory. SecretServer is a revel for local foodies. The Global Warming Solutions Group tells what we can do in Peoria to preserve the environment.

“Worth Reading” is a mix of Pagan and not so mundane websites or blogs that don’t fall into the first two categories. Cultivating Life is my favorite show on the Create Network. I’ve just discovered Homegrown Evolution. It’s about urban farming in Southern California, but it looks like good reading.

I will continue adding links. If you stumble across Witches Brew from time to time, I hope you will check out my blog rolls, too.

This was in my email box today, so I thought I would forward it to you. Let this be one small act of green.

JULY 2009

Help Us Reach A Billion Acts of Green – Register your Acts of Green Today!

Calculate Your Ecological Footprint

Read Our Blog

Nobel Prize Winners Join 40th Anniversary Advisory Committee
From Nobel Prize winners, Vice President Al Gore and Dr. Rajendra Kumar Pachauri, chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change; to Shaquille O’Neal, the American basketball star; and famed architect and environmentalist Maya Lin, high powered individuals joining the 40th Anniversary Advisory Committee also include Mrs. Gaylord Nelson, wife of Earth Day Founder Senator Gaylord Nelson; and original Earth Day organizer Denis Hayes. Christo and Jeanne-Claude and Pete Seeger are among the artists who have also joined the committee. In addition to lending their names to the environmental movement, key members will also be speaking on behalf of Earth Day Network for the Earth Day 40th Anniversary.

Call the Senate to Strengthen the Climate Bill
The U.S. House took an historic step earlier this month by passing a climate change bill by a close margin. While, the bill represents the first step toward carbon reduction policies, Earth Day Network recommends an increase in the level of carbon emissions reductions, an auction of 100 percent of carbon permits and more money for green job training and displaced workers. Call your senators today at 202-224-3121 and urge the Senate to pass an even tougher climate change bill!

Register Your Green Acts Today!
In honor of Earth Day’s 40th anniversary in April 2010, Earth Day Network aims to catalyze A Billion Acts of Green worldwide and you can help! Whether it is planting a tree, recycling, or simply changing a light bulb, you can make the hope a reality. Join Earth Day Network in this effort and register your personal action here!

Join Us on Facebook and Twitter!
Earth Day Network helps activists connect, interact, and have an impact on their communities, helping create positive change in local, national, and global policies. Using Facebook and Twitter, we are forming a community of diverse individuals devoted to civic engagement and environmental advocacy: The Green Generation™. Join us on Facebook and Twitter to stay up-to-date on how you can help others and how others can help you, too!

Share your ideas and causes and connect with our community of advocates, organizations, and individuals, in order to make a difference and celebrate 40 years of Earth Day.

New on Earth Day TV – Inspirational Award-Winning Grassroots Environmental Leaders
This year’s Goldman Environmental Prize winners prove that grassroots environmental work can make a huge impact in saving the world’s resources and improving human health. Nominated by Earth Day Network, Maria Gunnoe of West Virginia won a 2009 award for her fight to protect her family and community from the devastating effects of coal mining in the heart of Appalachia. Watch and learn about the heroic efforts of Maria and other leaders around the globe on Earth Day Television at www.earthdaytv.net.

2009 Earth Day Network 1616 P Street NW, Suite 340 Washington, D.C. 20036 USA +1 202.518.0044

June is International Pagan Bloggers Month, so let me say a bit about GoodGuide.com which offers consumers an opportunity to put their money where their values are.

GoodGuide provides the world’s largest and most reliable source of information on the health, environmental, and social impacts of the products in your home.

With GoodGuide, you can:

* Find safe, healthy and green products that protect you and your family
* Search or browse over 70,000 food, toys, personal care, & household products to see what’s really beneath the label
* Use expert advice and recommendations on products to quickly learn the impacts of what you buy
* Find better products and make purchasing decisions based on what’s important to you
* Create a personalized favorites list with the products that are right for you and your family

GoodGuide in the brainchild of Dara O’Rourke, a Professor at the University of California-Berkeley. One day a few summers ago, he was putting sunscreen on his five-year old daughter Minju, when he wondered, “What’s in this stuff?” He researched the ingredients and discovered that her sunscreen contained a toxic ingredient. He wanted other parents to know what he had found–and he wanted to cut through the confusing claims that make it hard for consumers to make sensible buying decisions.

So he brought together both academic and technology experts to create a world-class team of scientists, consumer researchers, technologists and industry professionals. From Google, Amazon, eBay, PayPal, and Intuit, to MIT and the University of California, we’ve developed a “For Benefit” startup at the forefront of integrating science and technology, working to fill a huge information gap in the marketplace.

GoodGuide makes it easy to look up products I use regularly. And, surprisingly, my bargain priced Suave Shampoo scores higher than many high priced salon products. My Suave Ocean Breeze has an overall rating of 8.7 with a 9.3 on Health Performance, an 8.6 on Environmental Performance, and an 8.1 on Social Performance. In comparison Redkin Blonde Glam Shampoo has an overall rating of 7.7. It does score a perfect 10.0 on Health Performance but a 7.2 on Environmental Performance, and a 6.0 on Social Performance. And it costs about 10 times what I pay for my Suave.

GoodGuide is still in Beta development. A fully functional database may allow you to scan the bar code of a product right on the supermarket shelf and get a product rating.

I gotta shop…with GoodGuide I can choose products that treat the Earth gently and support companies that give back to the environment and look after their employees. –Because we are all caught up in a web of interconnections.

In September 2008, the citizens of Ecuador approved a constitution granting inalienable rights to Pachamama, the Andean earth goddess. Concerned citizens of Macomb who are trying to save the remmants of Chandler Woods from strip mining and Peoria Families Against Toxic Waste (PFATW), who are trying to prevent the Peoria Disposal Company from polluting local aquifers might take note.

The Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) in Pennsylvania helped the San Francisco based Pachamama Alliance frame the new constitution. The CELDF was building on work they had done in Pennsylvania. In 2006 the organization helped Tamaqua, PA, a coal-mining town, “draft a sewage-sludge ordinance that recognized natural ecosystems as legal persons for the purposes of enforcing civil rights. The ordinance in Tamaqua, which has a population of about 7,000, also stripped corporations that engage in the land application of sludge of their rights to be treated as ‘persons.’”

The Ecuadoran constitution goes much farther The constitution says:

Ecuador’s Rights for Nature

Article 1. Nature or Pachamama, where life is reproduced and exists, has the right to exist, persist, maintain and regenerate its vital cycles, structure, functions and its processes in evolution. Every person, people, community or nationality, will be able to demand the recognitions of rights for nature before the public organisms. The application and interpretation of these rights will follow the related principles established in the Constitution.

Article 2. Nature has the right to an integral restoration. This integral restoration is independent of the obligation on natural and juridical persons or the State to indemnify the people and the collectives that depend on the natural systems. In the cases of severe or permanent environmental impact, including the ones caused by the exploitation on non-renewable natural resources, the State will establish the most efficient mechanisms for the restoration, and will adopt the adequate measures to eliminate or mitigate the harmful environmental consequences.

Article 3. The State will motivate natural and juridical persons as well as collectives to protect nature; it will promote respect toward all the elements that form an ecosystem.

Article 4. The State will apply precaution and restriction measures in all the activities that can lead to the extinction of species, the destruction of the ecosystems or the permanent alteration of the natural cycles. The introduction of organisms and organic and inorganic material that can alter in a definitive way the national genetic patrimony is prohibited.

Article 5. The persons, people, communities and nationalities will have the right to benefit from the environment and form natural wealth that will allow well being. The environmental services are cannot be appropriated; its production, provision, use and exploitation, will be regulated by the State.

We really don’t know what this document will mean for Mother Earth. Ecuadorian constitutions only seem to last about 10 years and it will be a long time before these articles have been thoroughly tested. In January 2009 The Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador and regional campesino movements, citing the new constitution, attempted to prevent the expansion of foreign mining.

In an interview Robert Percival,the director of the University of Maryland School of Law’s environmental law program, explained, “The constitution outlines broad principles, and what impact they will have depends on how they are treated by the president, the Legislature and the courts. Certainly, a number of courts have taken very vague environmental provisions and used them as justification for intervention in environmental matters. This constitution goes even further by offering much more extensive and explicit provisions, but it will still require action by the president, lawmakers and the courts to implement.”

What will happen if this idea catches on? If India decides to recognize the rights of Mother Ganges, for example, or Native American people demand recognition for the “personhood” of their sacred lands?

Stay tuned. Tonight 60 Minutes has story on oil drilling in Ecuador.

Jennifer Koons, Following Pa. mining town’s example, Ecuador OKs constitution giving rights to nature, Posted on September 30th, 2008, http://www.earthportal.org/news/?p=1750, referenced 05/03/09

Where has the week gone? Saturday afternoon, April 25th, I helped staff the Global Village booth at the Earth Day Celebration at Forest Park Nature Center. Global Village, if you haven’t been in the shop, is a Fair Trade store in Peoria Heights. Our little booth was stocked with Fair Trade coffee and tea, slavery free chocolate, lovely, inexpensive jewelry and colorful clothes that did not come from a sweatshop.

It was a gusty, overcast day, and we were expecting a deluge of rain. Luckily the canopy did not blow down, and we only got a few rain drops. In fact, the sun came out as we were packing up for the day, and the parking lot quickly turned into a sauna. So I was feeling all sweaty-gritty by the time we met up with other GV volunteers at Chef Leo’s Cafe for dinner.

Chef Leo’s opened at the beginning of April inside the Peoria Bread Company at 1400 NE Monroe in Peoria. It was a cool, calm refuge after a day spent with a moody Mother Nature. At first glance, it seems a little stark. The floor tiles are black and white, the walls are stark white with a row of vivid, abstract acrylic painting marching around the room. The table cloths are black.

Dinner hours are 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm, Tuesday thru Saturday. We started arriving about 5:30. There were nine of us, and we had made reservations, but I felt like a we had arrived about 30 minutes early for a party. Dave, our very genial waiter (the only waiter for our large party and two smaller ones), seemed rushed and distracted. The ice tea was weak, and the bread for the bread baskets was still in the oven. But once we all got our water glasses and fresh tea, and warm bread, we all seemed to catch a collective breath and mellow out. Then we got down to the FOOD and some lively conversation.

“The concept behind the creation of Chef Leo’s Cafe,” according to their website and brochure, “began as a conversation between friends concerning the need for a restaurant that would offer high end vegetarian items and other organic and natural products. The idea was to work with local farmers who specialized in growing organic produce, free range chicken and grass fed beef. Utilizing a network of people dedicated to exposing the community to healthy alternatives.” And Goddess bless them, because Chef Leo’s is making good on those promises. Half of our party selected the special for the evening, a vegan lasagna. The portions were huge, looked gorgeous, and smelled wonderful. Two other people selected an eggplant ragout served over an equally huge slice of bread.

A dedicated omnivore, I had two “grilled lamb chops with saffron vegetables and red bell pepper sauce.” The pepper sauce was delicate and did not overwhelm the lamb. It also came with a generous portion of basmati rice. Another omnivore had a large dinner salad with grilled chicken. My lamb was about $18.00. I think the salad was about $12-14. The lasagna was less than my lamb, more than the salad… They also offer a filet of beef or rib-eye. Prices seemed about right on those, about $23-25.

The only disappointment was the “grilled mushroom polenta with roasted vegetables.” None of us knew what to expect on that one. We guessed mushrooms stuffed with or wrapped in polenta. Actually, they were diced, mixed in the polenta and then the polenta (which is fancy for “corn meal mush”) was grilled. The woman with the polenta said it was dry. It looked a little greasy to me…

Dave, when the rush was over, told us that Chef Leo’s is still in the process of working out the wine list. He promised some good wines at moderate prices and some more expensive selections. The restaurant serves Fair Trade coffee from Global Village. We were too full to entertain any thoughts of dessert. Chef Leo came out to thank us for dining.

Chef Leo’s is also open Tues thru Sat, 11:00 am t0 2:00 pm for lunch. They offer soup, salad, veggie sandwiches and a bison burger. And on Friday and Saturday you can buy bread from the bakery. On the the Near North Side of Peoria, it might be a bit out of your way, but you won’t regret it. You might want to call (309) 676-7790 or (866) 770-3895 for dinner reservations.

We are coming to the end of Heifer International’s Pass on the Gift Month Heifer International seeks to end poverty and hunger around the world by providing livestock, training, and support to small farmers. Through Heifer, you can purchase a hive of honey bees ($30), a flock of chicks ($20), a goat ($120, or a share for $10) or even a cow ($500, or a share for $50). The recipient is required to pass on the gift, donating the firstborn of their animal(s) to another member of their village.

Around the world, in villages ravaged by war, disease, and natural disaster, old men and women struggle to raise a generation of orphans. Milk and eggs, which we take for granted, can stave off the life-long damage caused by malnutrition and can provide cash for education. Manure from livestock goes into the fields to fertilize crops. Even more important: people who were victims are now herdsmen and entrepreneurs, marketing honey, wool, or cheese.

It’s easy to be overwhelmed by the suffering in the world, but you can make a difference. If you don’t know what to give your parent for Mother’s Day/Father’s Day, give donation in their honor to Heifer. Ask your church group or scout troop to purchase a water buffalo ($250, share $25.). Just need some good karma in your life? Need the gods of prosperity to shine upon you? Make a donation.

I am glad to be a Blogger United for Hunger & Hope.

Before the truth finally dawned on me–the Egyptian Goddess Hathor was alive and well–I had hints, some broad and some subtle, that Somecow wanted my attention. The discovery of Heifer International was, for me, one of those subtle but profound affirmations of a her presence.

Let me say, Heifer International in a Christian charity. OK. Pagans, who tend to loath religious institutions and hierarchies, have not yet taken to the intricacies of forming non-profits–there are notable exceptions, of course, but we just don’t organize the way the Christians do. But we do give! And I recommend Heifer International.

Heifer has 180 projects in 50 countries. A small donation can provide chicks or ducks or a hive of honeybees to a poor family, giving them both a source of nutrition and a source of income. In many war-torn, AIDS-ravaged countries, smaller animals are a God/dess-send for grannies and orphans. In some places, your donation can provide trees for a reforestation project. A larger donation can provide goats, pigs, a cow, or even a llama! (I set myself a goal of buying a cow on the installment plan, but I have fallen behind on my payments. A whole cow is $500, but shares are $50 each.) Heifer provides training along with the animals. The recipients agree to pass on the first-born of their stock to another member of their village.

April is “Pass on the Gift” month. On the Heifer website each day of April has a theme with success stories. Today, April 6th, is “Manure Day.” I confess, I don’t often celebrate the joys of manure, but it can be used to enrich fields, be dried for fuel, or converted to gas. Tomorrow’s theme is “World Health Day.”

So if the latest unemployment statistics are getting you down, and the stock market is playing havoc with your 401K, do yourself a favor and read some good news for a change. Then “Pass on the Gift.”