Headlined Guests
Headlined Guests that have appeared on BBS Radio TV
ROSIE CUTTER is an international performance artist and astrologer. Studying astrology and medicine for 14 years, she came upon the Destiny Card system while living on the island of Kauai, Hi.
Our common day playing cards weren't actually used for playing games until very recently, they are actually the origins of the Tarot and are one of the oldest systems of astrology on the planet. Every day has a card, and every card has deep layers of meaning.
Incorporating numerology and astrology, Rosie found her true self through the system, as an award-winning musician and reader. The system has truly opened her eyes to the realization that all forms of life are interconnected through ancient patterns. If we merely stop to take the time and reflect, we can see the patterns of energy that affect us and how to use these uncontrollable forces in our world in a positive way.
Since the discovery of Destiny Cards Rosie has traveled the world far and wide to places like Brazil, Ibiza, Hawaii, and all over America doing thousands of readings and sharing her passion for knowledge that helps people navigate this strange world. Rosie offers integrative readings involving Human Design, Astrology, and Destiny Cards, to see a weather forecast of past, present and future events. She is releasing an upcoming book and weekly card kit with famed Destiny Cards Author Robert Camp in the fall, and is currently working with clients via telephone and internet from her home in Jackson Hole, Wy.
Rosie can be reached at
email: Roselyncutter@gmail.com
Facebook: Rosie Cutter
Larisa Gosla is a Musician, Songwriter, and Sound Healer. She has an extensive background with over a decade of experience traveling the globe facilitating music, dance, sound healing, and other creative arts expressions as a means for healing. Her highest excitement is in allowing herself and others to remember their TRUTHS through her songwriting while BEING in inspiration, peace, and joy.
Learn More About Our Musical Guest, Follow Her and Hear Her Music at:
https://twitter.com/larisagosla
LARISA GOSLA
Larisa Gosla is a Musician, Sound Healer, and Certified Hypnotherapist. She has an extensive background with over a decade of experience traveling the globe, facilitating music, dance, sound healing, and other creative arts expressions as a means for healing. She believes that staying in tune with our bodies/spirit/mind is key to living a healthy lifestyle.
What is Sound Healing?
Sound Healing is the therapeutic application of sound frequencies to the body/mind/spirit of a person with the intention of bringing them into a state of harmony and health. Each sound bowl emits a resonant frequency that is connected to a specific part of the energetic body system (chakra.) Because our body and mind are so connected we hold thoughts, beliefs, habits in our energetic system. When one area of our body is out of alignment, it disrupts the flow of the entire system. The sound frequencies from the Quartz Crystal Bowls move into the energetic and physical body, breaking up what is not needed and re-aligning, while also facilitating a deep meditation and physical relaxation. This allows the body to re-tune to its natural, effortless flow. Larisa likes to describe it as a car wash, but for the energetic body!
Rudolph Steiner said: “There will come a time when a diseased condition will not be described as it is today by physicians and psychologists, but it will be spoken of in musical terms, as one would speak of a piano that was out of tune.”
What is Hypnosis?
Hypnosis is a natural state of heightened suggestibility that we all experience. Have you ever been driving on the freeway and missed your exit because you were daydreaming? Have you ever watched a movie and completely forgot about your “outside life” until the movie is over? Have you ever entered a deep state of meditation where time is suddenly non-existent? These are all wonderful examples of hypnosis.
What is Hypnotherapy?
Hypnotherapy is utilizing the power of hypnosis to bypass the critical mind so that your conscious and subconscious mind can work in harmony together, to create the life you truly desire and deserve! It is used solely for the health and well-being of the individual and is very different from stage hypnosis which is used for entertainment purposes only. You can never say or do anything you don’t want to.
“I attended a sound bowl healing with Larisa to support her as a fellow classmate, and because I was curious about whether or not sound healing worked. I was blown away! I almost didn’t attend that night because I’d hurt my back the previous weekend and the recovery was going slow. I was astounded after the session was over to realize I had absolutely no back pain! I also felt quite uplifted, and as if I’d had a massage. Keep me on your e-mail list, Larisa- I’ll be back!!”
– Heather Renee
GUEST: STEVEN PEROS
After working as a produced writer for Film and Stage, Steven recently forayed successfully into Television, selling his first two original one-hour pilots: Dorian Gray to NBC/Universal, and another one-hour drama for MTV with Relativity TV and Andrew Panay producing. His original teleplay for 2013’s A Country Christmas Story, starring Dolly Parton, broke Holiday Season ratings records for Lifetime Television.
Steven is currently developing a biopic on screen legend Rita Hayworth to star Eva Longoria, who will also Executive Produce.
This comes on the heels of the theatrical release of Steven’s feature directorial debut, Footprints, which he also wrote. The film received the praise of such renowned critics as Kevin Thomas, F.X. Feeney, Mick LaSalle, and the Chairman of the New York Film Critics Circle, who hailed it as “One of the Ten Best Films So Far This Year”.
An award-winning filmmaker and twice-published Samuel French playwright, with credits in Film, Television, and Theatre, Steven wrote the Lionsgate film, The Cat’s Meow, starring Kirsten Dunst and directed by Peter Bogdanovich, chronicling a murder that was rumored to have taken place on board William Randolph Hearst’s 220-foot yacht in 1924.
Steven’s second feature as director, The Undying, a supernatural thriller he also co-wrote, starring Emmy nominee Robin Weigert (HBO’s Deadwood) and Wes Studi (Avatar), was released wide on DVD/VOD in December 2011.
In the world of comedy, Steven penned three episodes of AMC’s Emmy Award-winning sitcom, The Lot, and was a writer on Disney’s Around the World in 80 Days, starring Jackie Chan, directed by Frank Coraci (director of The Wedding Singer and Zookeeper).
In the world of Theatre, Steven was profiled by Samuel French as their Playwright of the Month for April 2011. The Los Angeles Premiere of his play, The Cat’s Meow, had an extended nine- week run, garnering rave reviews from The Los Angeles Times, Daily Variety, CBS Radio, and many others in the print and radio press. The play has been produced in four countries thus far.
Prior to The Cat’s Meow, Steven directed the Los Angeles World Premiere of his full-length play, Karlaboy, a haunting drama for which he received a Drama-Logue Critics Award for Outstanding Achievement in Writing.
Steven has been a frequent contributor to MovieMaker Magazine. His writing on film has also been published in The Huffington Post, New York’s Newsday, Village Voice, and Scr(i)pt. He is a graduate of New York University’s Film School and is a member of the Writers Guild of America.
Empowerment coach Rachel Karu, MS, ACC, is proud to announce the release of her new CD Stepping into More. The CD is a companion to her autobiographical self-help book Stepping into More – Lessons from a Recovering Perfectionist. Rachel is available for both interview and song -- to inspire your listeners to work through their fears, embrace their most cherished passions, and go for it.
Despite Rachel’s success as a coach, speaker, and trainer, she had kept her deepest
passion – to be a singer – hidden for over 20 years. A series of events starting with a car accident sparked Rachel on a quest to lead a more integrated life that includes joyful self-expression through song. Rachel earned her Master’s degree in Counseling for Business, is a certified coach, and is the owner of RAE Development – a professional and personal growth company. A sought-after coach, keynote speaker (who sings!) and corporate trainer, Rachel’s clients include Disney/ABC, Nestle, Mattel, The Braille Institute, Raytheon, and the U.S. Navy.
Mary Arose, founder of SacredHandProductions, is a transformational filmmaker, prayerformance artist, and devotional singer. She discovered her love of singing through the chanting the divine names and since has expanded into various vocal styles - including pop, jazz and soul.
She is currently combining her passions for music, performance and storytelling in a music video called “The Cosmic Seed of Awakening”. This video is based on the revelations of a medicine ceremony that unveils origin stories through animal totems and mystical archetypes. Mary is collaborating with a film crew, dancers and musicians to bring this magical transmission to public audiences, with the intention of evolving concepts into live performance & music.
Additionally, Mary will be performing in two upcoming events in Santa Fe on August 14 & 15. On Friday August 14 at 8pm the Santa Fe Oxygen and Healing Bar will host “Grief & Praise” a prayerformance and cacao ceremony that will journey through love, loss and redemption through storytelling, song and dance. On Saturday August 15 Mary’s music video will premier live at the "THE SEED” a blindfolded, authentic movement journey & multimedia experience.
Marshall Masters is a former CNN Science Features news producer, freelance writer, television analyst and the publisher of YOWUSA.COM. Since 1999, he has been researching earth changes and Nibiru flyby-related topics including: sustainable survival communities, catastrophic crop circles, impact events and future technologies. Like many others, Marshall sees a dark cloud coming. What makes him different is that he also sees a silver lining - a noble and inspiring Star Trek future.
Marshal is the author of “Crossing the Cusp: Surviving the Edgar Cayce Pole Shift”, “Being In It for the Species: The Universe Speaks”, “Survival Wellness Advocacy”, and the Planet X 101 Video Series.
Stefano Tomaselli is an Italian composer based in Los Angeles, California. He started his music career at the age of nine, when he began studying piano with Professor Antonio Ranalli, student of Ferruccio Busoni. His journey as a student culminated with a Master’s Degree in Composition under the guidance of Maestro Alessandro Cusatelli. He also studied Organ with Professor Biondi, Violin with Professor Alessandro Albo and Drums and Percussion with Professor Messina.
Since he relocated to the US with the assistance of Academy Award winning composer Bill Conti, he has been collaborating on several projects with world-renowned tenor Placido Domingo. His collaboration with the Maestro brought him to the attention of the Butler Opera Center in Austin (Texas), who commissioned him an Opera.
Stefano also writes music for the silver screen; he scored “Boy in the Void,” directed by Miroslav Macala (2012), “L’Homme Sans Musique,” directed by Stefano Arduino (2013) and “Amalia,” directed by Biagio Fersini (“Best Original Score” at the “Sonora Soundtrack Film Festival,” 2014), “Road to Juarez,” directed by David De Leon (2015) and he is currently scoring “Lyudmila,” directed by Biagio Fersini.
In addition to creating music, Stefano is also an avid Formula race car driver. He has participated in race events across Europe.
GUEST: STACEY WHITMORE
As a brand consultant for some of the most iconic celebrity clients at her husband’s company, CMG Worldwide, Stacey often browsed through thousands of archived images of legends like Marilyn Monroe, Princess Diana and Ava Gardner.
She was inspired by their pictures, especially the jewelry that adorned them.
In 2011, Stacey’s vision led her to develop her first collection, Jewelry of Legends™, a unique jewelry line inspired by the fabulous baubles of icons like Marilyn Monroe and Princess Diana (Princess Collection™). Soon after, Stacey successfully sold her pieces, from this collection, on HSN. Recently, Stacey has expanded the Jewelry of Legends™ collection to include jewelry inspired by Ava Gardner, Ingrid Bergman, Gene Tierney, Ginger Rogers, and Natalie Wood.
And, that’s not all. Stacey has an exclusive agreement with Heritage Auctions to recreate some of their most sought after heirloom pieces to hit the auction block. All of these timeless pieces are made of superb craftsmanship and radiate in color and cut. The coveted “Heritage Collection” jewelry is available exclusively from The Danbury Mint.
Stacey’s collaborations with The Danbury Mint has expanded to include a collection of “Simply Glamorous by Stacey Whitmore” handbags. This unique collection of handbags reflects the same incomparable elegance, timeless design elements and hallmark details that have made Stacey’s creations sought by women everywhere. “The Heritage Collection” and “Simply Glamorous by Stacey Whitmore” can be purchased by mail order or online at the Danburymint.com.
One of Stacey’s most exciting brand developments includes being the owner and brand creator behind Princess of Beverly Hills™. This real-life maltipoo, known best for her pink hair and accessories, has become a viral sensation on the Internet among young girls and women. Princess of Beverly Hills™ has a widespread appeal teaching a valuable lesson: treat others the way you would want to be treated. Her unique looks, coupled with her sweet personality, pulls fans in.
Stacey has partnered with DEMDACO to produce, market and distribute Princess of Beverly Hills™ merchandise that includes plush toys and accessories to be sold worldwide in 2015. And, soon audiences will be able to watch Princess of Beverly Hills™ show off her acting chops in the in the underdevelopment feature film “Heavenly Stars.”
With her passion for outstanding products, Stacey hopes to continue to help women find ways to treat themselves to the finer things without breaking the bank and inspire women of all ages to achieve their dreams and ambitions.
CYNTHIA MCKINNEY bio
After serving in the Georgia Legislature, in 1992, McKinney won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. She was the first African-American woman from Georgia in the U.S. Congress. She was the first Member of Congress to demand an investigation of the events of 9/11/2001. McKinney was criticized and as a result, she was defeated in 2002; however, she ran again and was re-elected in 2004.
In 2005, McKinney was a vocal critic of the government’s response to Hurricane Katrina. Cynthia introduced legislation to release documents related to the murders of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Tupac Shakur. She was the first Member of Congress to file articles of impeachment against George W. Bush; and she voted against every war-funding bill put before her. In 2008, Cynthia McKinney won the Green Party nomination and ran for U.S. President.
In December 2008, Cynthia made international headlines when her boat was rammed by the Israeli military as she was attempting to deliver medical supplies to Gaza. In 2009, Cynthia attempted to reach Gaza again, this time armed with crayons, coloring books, and school supplies. Her boat was overtaken in international waters by the Israeli military and she was kidnapped to Israel. Cynthia spent 7 days in an Israeli prison. Finally, Cynthia entered Gaza by land in July 2009 with George Galloway's Viva Palestina.
Cynthia completed a cross-country bicycle ride with Bike4Peace 2010. In August 2011, Cynthia visited 21 cities to end the bombing of Libya. More recently, Cynthia participated in Malaysia’s Perdana Peace Organization and served as a Juror on the Bertrand Russell Tribunal on Palestine.
In 2015, Cynthia completed her dissertation on the transformational leadership of Hugo Chavez and was awarded a Ph.D. in Leadership and Change.
Cynthia currently possesses technical proficiency in the French language, but because Cynthia’s current research interest centers on Asia, Eurasia, and the U.S., she is now learning Chinese.
Cynthia is a member of the Working Group for the Great Caribbean Studies, Latin America Council of Social Sciences (CLACSO), The Latin American Studies Association (LASA), and The International Leadership Association (ILA).
Cynthia has two books to her credit and several Chapters that she has authored in the books of others.Mahathir Mohamad’s efforts to “criminalize war.” She has appeared in Kuala Lumpur several times, declaring that city the Peace Capital of the World. She recently reported on her experience in Libya in the “Arab Uprising” Conference organized by the Perdana Global Peace Foundation and served as an official observer at the historic Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Tribunal that, on 22 November 2011, found former President George W. Bush and former Prime Minister Tony Blair guilty of the crime of aggression and other crimes against the state and people of Iraq.
ABOUT 'Ain't Nothing Like Freedom'
Elected six times to the House from the state of Georgia, Cynthia McKinney cut a trail through Congressional deceit like a hot ember through ash. She discovered legislators who passed laws without reading them. Party leaders who colluded across party lines against their constituents' interests. Black-skinned individuals shilling for the white status quo. She excoriated government lassitude over Hurricane Katrina, uncovering dark secrets. She held the only critical Congressional briefing on 9/11, introducing counter-testimony of scholars, investigators, former intelligence agents.
As a member of the House Armed Services Committee, she held Rumsfeld to account for malfeasance by military contractors and missing billions in the Pentagon's budget. Then she hammered him on the reasons for the failure of NORAD air defenses on 9/11. She read truth into the Congressional Record, held town halls and hearings, led protests, showed up while others played along to get along, took the side of the people against the will of the Party. And when she got too truth seeking and speaking, the Republicans rigged the Democratic primaries to boot her out, leaving behind a trail of achievements mostly won singlehandedly. But McKinney rose again like a Phoenix, answering the call to run as 2008 Green Party candidate for President, challenging the corrupt two-party stranglehold on American democracy.
Then it was on to the Freedom Flotilla to Gaza, to be seized on the high seas and imprisoned in Israel. On to Tripoli, to serve as witness to the NATO terror bombing of Libya. On to Malaysia to serve on the War Crimes Commission... Often introduced as the Sojourner Truth, the Harriet Tubman of our age, McKinney reflects here on the Biblical figures of Esther, Deborah and Naomi. This is the Cynthia McKinney saga as it stands to date--what she saw, what she learned, and how she fought for change.
Marilyn Cramer, is internationally known for her alternative and complementary healing techniques. She helps adults and children make permanent, healing changes on all levels: physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually and is founder/owner of LightHealer, LLC in Woodstock, Georgia. She has certifications in Reiki Master, Somatic Healer, Thought Field Therapist, Clinical & Alchemical Hypnotherapist, BioGenesis Practitioner and Mental Coach and is a Medical Intuitive, Clairvoyant and Telepathic.
As a natural Medical Intuitive, Marilyn can “see” inside the human body and help her clients find the root cause of their ailments. There have been numerous times when Marilyn would see an enlarged or diseased organ, tumors, ulcers, clogged arteries, bacteria or viruses in the cells, parasites, fungus, etc., and she would strongly advise her clients to see a doctor/specialist. With diagnostic testing, the doctor would discover the same thing – and Marilyn’s client did not know he or she had this illness/disease.
Over the years, Marilyn has worked with clients who had cancer, ulcerative colitis, PNH (a rare form of bone marrow cancer), Lyme Disease, Crohn’s Disease, liver failure, Multiple Sclerosis, Sensory Integrative Dysfunction (children), Tourette Syndrome, PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), terminal illnesses, Fibromyalgia, extreme fears and phobias, extreme childhood traumas, and numerous other emotional traumas, diseases and disorders. Marilyn uses a combination of methods with Reiki to facilitate healing. She also works closely with the Chief of Surgery at Northside Cherokee Hospital in Georgia, and with surgeons, Naturopaths (ND’s), MD’s and Chiropractors.
Dr James Pilc, a Physician of Obstetrics and Gynecology and currently the CEO of James D Pilc LLC. This corporation includes a complimentary practice of Meditative Healing and Fusion Medicine. In this practice, as a Personal Meditative Guide, healer and awakening coach Dr Pilc teach self-awareness and healing techniques for any illness, chronic or acute. Healing through Fusion Medicine includes Western and Eastern Medicine approaches as well as Meditative Self-Healing.
Through the above corporation, Dr Pilc has become an author of Unstuck: The Enlightenment of Medicine and Introduction to Meditation: A Path to Ourselves. He created meditative CDs/digital downloads for adults and children including Guided Meditation: A Path to Peace, Children’s Meditation: A Beautiful and Magical Relaxation and Deep Mindful Exploration. He also created a meditation buddy for children to snuggle with during their relaxation.
After being diagnosed with bone marrow cancer in 2005, Dr Pilc came to meditation as a complementary therapy to help with healing. His hope is to help those in need of physical, emotional and energetic or spiritual healing and to further investigate the connection between Western Medicine, Eastern Medicine and Meditative Self-Healing. He teaches group guided meditation classes and hold individual Meditative Self-Healing sessions to guide people to find the Core causative Agent of their disease and heal themselves. He has offered meditation sailing aboard the Spirit of Buffalo, bringing it to WNY for the first time and lectured to national and international groups and organizations and interviewed on national radio shows in an effort to raise the global consciousness, help people reach complete healing, and create a new and improved connection with spirit.
Dr Pilc graduated from the University of Buffalo with a Bachelor’s in Science and Medical Doctorate and was privileged to practice Obstetrics and Gynecology in Western New York for more than 25 years. He managed and cared for a private practice of greater than 5000 wonderful people and currently live in Buffalo, New York with his husband and 2 sons.
His favorite quote is from Mother Teresa “Not all of us can do great things, but we can do small things with great love”. This is where healing begins.
Presently working with a group of highly motivated individuals, he is creating a Sciatu Fusion Center to serve Western New York.
Dr. Carmen Boulter hails from Calgary, Canada, where she taught at the University for many years. She is best known for her groundbreaking internationally renowned DVD series, The Pyramid Code. With 25+ trips and tours to Egypt, sacred sites and places unknown, she is a female counterpart to Indiana Jones. Often called in to appear on television as an expert on the Pyramids and ancient sites, she will soon be hosting her own television show!
Carmen is changing the landscape of higher education by painstakingly creating a venue for anyone to learn about their favorite subjects, via Interactive-U. It is a revolutionary concept, which she designed and participates in with passion.
In addition to the DVD Series, The Pyramid Code, she is the author of Angels and Archetypes, a deep look into archetypes, mythologies, goddesses throughout time, up to the present.
Each year she hosts an incredible tour of the Pyramids, with access to many places that are off limits to most. It's a great opportunity to learn, experience and expand consciousness! Check out her website, for more information on the many-faceted aspects of Carmen Boulter's ground breaking work!
Franklin Garcia was elected US Representative (Shadow) for the District of Columbia on November 4, 2014. He is working to bring full democracy to more than 650,000 people in our nation’s capital by helping make the District of Columbia the 51st State in the union. He is part of a Statehood Congressional Delegation that includes two Senators and one US Representative.
Representative Garcia is the former President and founder of the DC Latino Caucus, and current President of the non-profit DC Latino Leadership Council. He has held key positions in the campaigns of Hillary Clinton, former DC Mayor Adrian Fenty, Dominican President Leonel Fernandez, and other politicians. Representative Garcia serves on a number of Boards and Committees and served on the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington Host Committee.
Representative Garcia came to live in Washington, DC with his parents and sister at the age of 10. He attended public school in Montgomery County, Maryland where he graduated from Montgomery Blair High School. He holds an undergraduate degree in Finance from the George Washington University and a Master of Arts degree in Financial Economics for Public Policy from the American University. He is the founder of the DCiReporter TV Show, writes for a Spanish language newspaper and is a Huffington Post and Examiner blogger. He is an active member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and lives in the Woodrige neighborhood in Ward 5
I, Larry Buzzell, was born in July 1968 - one of millions of incarnations here. I grew up in Alaska, spent 4 years exploring "jobs", until re-discovering the sea. Finding ocean work, did 4 years in the Coast Guard and was happy to return to my anscestral home in Neah Bay, Washington, an Indian reservation for the Makah Tribe, to which I belong. The ocean here provides sustenance, adventure, riches, unending challenge and opportunity. It can also become a trap of comfort, familiarity and fear of loss which often accompanies the struggles of reservation poverty, abuse and addictions. Neah Bay offers the entirety of worldy experiences condensed into a micro nation. Or so I thought...
Until I woke up one day, more so than any other day, and met Inelia Benz.
This is Inelia's first incarnation on any planet, so she was born without self-importance, attachments, personal agendas, or the desire for evolution and soul advancement. Yet she knew upon arrival that the planet needed to vibrate at a higher level in order to undergo a global ascension. She didn't know how to assist or communicate this need to others. In 2010 she received a request from Source to go public and become the voice of empowerment; since then, she has been fulfilling that request full time.
Now together as a couple...we find ourselves doing the things we had mainly dreamt of. The daydreams, the dream dreams...now becoming reality. Manifestations become instantly present in the moment we become clear to each other. This is what creates our shared reality. We have begun to gather; like tribes re-uniting, regaining lost clarity, and sharing our "stories"...getting clear.
Meet us, and all who are ready to gather, at https://walkwithmenow.com. Or, meet us physically at Neah Bay, where we are presently manifesting our center, our physical location; a place from which to create with clarity.
* Note from Lance White, the "Zany Mystic"...
I've been blessed to know both Larry and Inelia for a while now, and am gifted with their friendship, wisdom and humor. In addition to raising the vibration of the planet, Inelia has written two books; the first one is "Interview With an Alien", and her recent book just out is titled "Interview With a Psychic Assassin". It's an exciting and thinly veiled true story, with twists and turns to thrill. Its true gift is in its transformative power. Read it and find out why!
MICHAEL R. WALLI is a member of the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker House in Washington, D.C. Roman Catholic layman currently residing in the belly of the beast, Washington D.C.
From TRANSFORM NOW PLOWSHARES
https://transformnowplowshares.wordpress.com/about/story-of-the-action/
Michael Walli(63), Megan Rice shcj (82), Greg Boertje-Obed, (57), succeeded in a disarmament action at the Oak Ridge Y-12 Nuclear facility before dawn on July 28, 2012.
Calling themselves Transform Now Plowshares, they hammered on the cornerstone of the newly built Highly-Enriched Uranium Manufacturing Facility (HEUMF), splashed human blood and left four spray painted tags on the recent construction which read: Woe to the empire of blood; The fruit of justice is peace; Work for peace not for war; and Plowshares please Isaiah.
Under the cover of darkness they intermittently passed beyond four fences in a walk for over two hours through the fatal force zone. “We feel it was a miracle; we were led directly to where we wanted to go,” said Greg.
After navigating through the complex they came to a long, white, windowless building marked HEUMF. “It was built like a fortress,” Greg said describing the four guard towers.
Unimpeded by security, they attached two banners to pillars of the building. “Transform Now Plowshares,” read the first with a green and black icon showing part bomb part flower. A second stated, “Swords into Plowshares Spears into Pruning Hooks–Isaiah”. In addition, between the pillars they strung red crime tape.
When confronted by a guard they read aloud their statement. “He was on his walkie-talkie but he heard it,” Megan confirmed. Before receiving orders to halt they had opportunity to offer guards bread, and display a bible, candles and white roses. Though initially forced to endure a kneeling posture for an extended period, guards responded to complaint and allowed the activists to stand off and on. Meanwhile they continued singing.
At this time they have been interviewed by the DOE investigative unit and have conditional charges of two felony counts for vandalism and trespass. They spoke to supporters from Blount County Jail at 12:30 pm saying they had not been processed yet. All four are scheduled for arraignment in Blount County Court on Monday.
“We’re still opposing the filthy rotten system,” Michael said. “Jesus has no nukes in heaven and no torture in heaven.”
SR. MEGAN RICE - Born in N.Y.C., a member of the Sisters of the Holy Child Jesus since 1950. Serving as a teacher in the US until 1962 and until 2003 in West Africa (Nigeria and Ghana). In 2005 joined the staff of Nevada Desert Experience, an interfaith Peace movement for non-violent resistance to nuclear weapons and war.
Sister Megan Rice, Freed From Prison, Looks Ahead to More Anti-Nuclear Activism
By WILLIAM J. BROAD MAY 26, 2015
From The New York Times nytimes.com/2015/05/27/science/sister-megan-rice-anti-nuclear-weapons-activist-freed-from-prison.html
For more than a year, Sister Megan Rice, 85, a Roman Catholic nun of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus, had caught occasional glimpses of the glittering World Trade Center from her living quarters: the Metropolitan Detention Center, a federal prison on the Brooklyn waterfront.
So when the Volvo she was riding in one morning last week crested the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge and the skyscraper came into full view, it made a strong impression.
“Oh, my gosh,” Sister Rice exclaimed. Drinking in the scenery and the panorama of New York Harbor, she added, “We’re well on our way.”
It was her fifth day of freedom after two years behind bars for a crime for which she is boldly unapologetic. In 2012, she joined two other peace activists in splattering blood and antiwar slogans on a nuclear plant in Tennessee that holds enough highly enriched uranium to make thousands of nuclear warheads. All three were convicted and sent to prison. But on May 8, an appellate court ruled that the government had overreached in charging them with sabotage, and ordered them set free.
Sister Rice and two other activists broke into the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn., which holds highly enriched uranium. The government charged them with sabotage after they splattered the building with blood and antiwar slogans. Credit U.S. Government, via Getty Images
Since her release on May 16, Sister Rice, a Manhattan native, had been reconnecting with family and friends, as well as seeing doctors, lawyers and reporters. She took time to visit St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and she made her first purchase: peanut butter frozen yogurt topped with hot fudge.
Now, dressed in a sweatsuit that fellow inmates had given her, the nun was traveling to the American headquarters of her order in Rosemont, Pa., a suburb of Philadelphia. The agenda was to confer with her superiors about her future — one in which she plans to continue her antinuclear activism. One threat was that the federal government might challenge the recent ruling and try to have her thrown back in prison.
“It would be an honor,” Sister Rice said during the ride. “Good Lord, what would be better than to die in prison for the antinuclear cause?”
Her family and friends seemed slightly agog at her fiery commitment and rabble-rousing energy after so much time in jail.
“It’s unbelievable,” said a cousin with whom the nun is staying, who asked that her name be withheld to avoid unwanted attention. “I would be semicomatose.”
At the wheel of the Volvo on the drive to Rosemont was Roberta Pyzel, a New York filmmaker, who joked and bantered with her friend Sister Rice and a reporter, at one point extolling the merits of road food. She urged the nun to expand her palate: “You can’t live on peanut butter yogurt for the rest of your life.”
Sister Rice, thin but seemingly healthy, was in high spirits and voluble as she talked about her religious order, her atomic radicalization, her life in prison and what may come next.
Even before she broke into the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn., Sister Rice had been arrested dozens of times for acts of civil disobedience. She and other peace activists once blocked a truck rumbling across a nuclear test site in the Nevada desert. Twice, she served six-month jail sentences.
The pacifists belong to the Plowshares movement, a loose, mostly Christian group that seeks the global elimination of nuclear arms.
The Tennessee action took place on a Saturday night in July 2012. Sister Rice, then 82, Michael Walli, 63, and Gregory Boertje-Obed, 57, cut through barbed-wire fences at the Oak Ridge complex. Making their way to the inner sanctum, full of uranium, they splashed human blood on the windowless building, spray-painted its walls with peace slogans, hammered at its concrete base and draped it in crime-scene tape.
After being convicted in May 2013, Sister Rice was sentenced to three years and the two men to five years. She was imprisoned in Tennessee, then Georgia, and in March 2014 was sent to Brooklyn, just off the Gowanus Expressway.
The nun told how a single large room at the Brooklyn prison had housed more than 100 women. Early this year, The Daily News published an article calling the prison a “hellhole.” After that, some inmates were moved. “The language bothered me,” Sister Rice recalled. “But people wouldn’t have listened otherwise.”
She said a gifted legal team, working pro bono, had seemingly materialized out of thin air to fight the government’s sabotage charge. The court’s overturning of the antinuclear conviction this month was hailed as a legal first.
“This action was meant to be,” Sister Rice said of the Tennessee protest. “Things fell into place — unplanned. That’s the unbelievable part of it.”
She said she had lost her access to email at the prison and learned the specifics of her release not from her lawyers or her family, but from a BBC News radio broadcast at 3 in the morning. Disbelieving, she listened again at 4 a.m.
“I started packing,” she recalled, “just in case it was true.”
A security image taken at the Y-12 National Security Complex after the break-in. Credit via Getty Images
Sister Rice occasionally paused her recounting to make or take calls on borrowed cellphones, including an old flip model.
“All is well,” she said into the phone as the Volvo neared Philadelphia. “I have too many funny stories to tell. And we’ll get together and I’ll tell them all. O.K., much love, dearie, and three cheers.”
Asked if she missed anything from prison, she spoke of the friends she had made — especially a younger woman who had tutored her on prison survival. “She was my guru,” Sister Rice said.
As the Volvo sped through Pennsylvania, she explained the purpose of her meeting at Rosemont. After Sister Rice’s conviction, Sister Mary Ann Buckley, the leader of the religious order’s American arm, had issued a statement saying the order intended to “stand behind Sister Megan” and the Catholic Church’s “clear teaching” against the proliferation of nuclear arms.
The meeting, Sister Rice said, was “to figure out what we can look forward to this year.” The order, she added, was founded on the philosophy that the nuns would meet the wants of their time.
“If you can show that,” she added, “there’s no problem. That’s why I had no qualms. I had a mission.”
Much later, on the way back to New York, Sister Rice said the meeting at Rosemont had gone well. But she was now hours behind schedule and had a television appearance set for that evening on MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show.”
Asked about critics who advocate peace through strength, Sister Rice conceded that nuclear arms did have a certain power of intimidation. But she insisted that the United States, by keeping a vast arsenal, was violating its global disarmament pledges and ultimately courting disaster.
“It’s making other countries feel compelled to have nuclear weapons,” she said, going on to mimic the me, too logic: “If you have them, we have to have them.”
Ms. Pyzel, the driver, heartily agreed. “It’s madness,” she said.
Sister Rice added: “We don’t want to end the industry. We want to transform it into something that’s useful. What could be better than making something that’s life-enhancing rather than life-destroying?”
As the Volvo sped along the New Jersey Turnpike, Sister Rice joined in a conference call with the Plowshares team. A group of what seemed to be six or seven people talked for a half-hour about the opportunities that the release of Sister Rice and her two accomplices had presented and about the possibility of public activities in August marking the 70th anniversaries of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
“To me,” Sister Rice said, “what needs to be done is to firm up the fervor and awareness that has grown, to maximize the message around this particular action.”
As it turned out, that same day brought good news. In Cincinnati, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit gave federal prosecutors more time to decide whether to challenge the overturning of the three protesters’ sabotage convictions. Their new deadline is June 22.
For now, at least, Sister Rice is a free woman.
After a long day, the skyscraper known as the Freedom Tower returned to view. Sister Rice and Ms. Pyzel breathed a sigh of relief when approaching the Holland Tunnel, certain they would have sufficient time to get to MSNBC’s studios at Rockefeller Center.
“We’re still being led,” the nun said, referring to the way things always seemed to fall into place. “It’s the universe at work.”
Why I Am On Gaza Freedom Flotilla 3 | By Ann Wright
I served 29 years in the U.S. Army and retired as a Colonel. I was also a U.S. diplomat for 16 years and served in U.S. Embassies in Nicaragua, Grenada, Somalia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Sierra Leone, Micronesia, Afghanistan and Mongolia.
In my 2003 letter of resignation from the U.S. government in opposition to U.S. President Bush’s war on Iraq, I cited the “continuing unbalanced policies of the United States in Israeli-Palestinian issues” as one of my major concerns on U.S. foreign policy.
I had had an assignment in the Middle East. My first experience in Palestine was in January 2009 when I travelled to Gaza and saw the brutal destruction of much of Gaza by the Israeli attack and the deaths of over 1400 persons. Afterwards, I helped organize 5 delegations to Gaza in 2009, including the Gaza Freedom March with 1300 participants from 30 countries. I returned to Gaza in 2011 as a part of an international parliamentary delegation and again in 2012 after the Israeli attack on Gaza. I was a passenger on the Challenger 1 boat in the 2010 Gaza Freedom Flotilla in which the Israeli commandos executed 9 persons on the Mavi Marmara (a 10th person has now died from his injuries) and wounded over 50 and beat up passengers on each of the six boats in the flotilla. I was an organizer for the U.S. Boat to Gaza, The Audacity of Hope, in the 2011 Gaza Freedom Flotilla and an initial organizer for Gaza’s Ark.
I am horrified by the brutal 55 day Israeli attack on Gaza in 2014 that left over 2,200 dead and 10,000 wounded and much of the country in ruins. I am equally horrified by the lack of international assistance for the people of Gaza during this past year and by the impunity that Israel has in the international community for the criminal acts it has committed on the people of Gaza and the West Ban.
I am participating again in another Gaza Freedom Flotilla because I am totally and completely opposed to the continuous Israeli naval blockade of Gaza and the U.S. complicity in the frequent massive Israeli attacks on the people of Gaza. Without the approval of the United States and the military weaponry from the United States, Israel would be unable to continue its military destruction of Gaza and the occupation of the West Bank. As a concerned citizen of this planet, the least I can do is challenge Israel and my country, the United States, by this flotilla.
October 05, 2016
Zaytouna-Oliva taken in International Waters: Whereabouts of Participants Unknown
For the most up-to-date information, follow Women's Boat to Gaza on Twitter or check their website for ongoing updates.
Update: Women to be "deported"/Details Emerge About Capture.
This afternoon, the Women's Boat to Gaza was making good progress to the shores and the women were emotional about meeting all the people in Gaza who were waiting for them. Some of the Palestinians had spent the night at the beach to greet them.
At 9:58 (EST) organizers lost total contact with the Zaytouna-Oliva. The US embassy confirmed that the boat was intercepted. At this time organizers do not know where occupants of the boat are being held.
It is important to know that this happened in international waters and it is not only illegal but sets a bad precedent in giving a greenlight for other nations to attack civilian ships in international waters. The Zaytouna-Oliva was carrying no material aid. This was by design because Israel, as a premise for their attacks, would claim that weapons and contraband were on board. The owner of Zaytouna-Oliva is Israeli.
Ann Wright is a decorated former US diplomat, a member of Veterans For Peace and on our Advisory Board. On board with her were three parliamentarians, an Olympic athlete and Nobel Peace Laureate, Mairead Maguire. They were committed to nonviolence as much as they were committed to breaking the blockade.
Ann has traveled thousands of miles and made a great sacrifice for human rights.
Unlike other nations that have women on the boat, we Americans provide military equipment to Israel that may very well have been used against Ann and our international friends. The blockade on Gaza must end!
Karen Doonan is an author, channel and spiritual counselor who works to reveal TRUTH to the human race through her channeled messages and expansive information channeled through GOD. ALL JUST IS and WE ARE and the human race are now moving from Ascension into Evolution and Karen works to translate this process into everyday human language in order to help the human race understand what this evolution involves. Karen is here to help birth the New Earth which has always existed but was hidden from the human race by the lower dimensional frequencies which Karen refers to as the old 3D earth. We now move into a new way of living and being and we do this through validation of personal physical experience. Karen has walked this process and shares this process in order to physically show TRUTH at a human physical waking mind level. "LOVE is the answer, no matter the question" - (c) Karen Doonan.
Karen Doonan
Author, Channel and Spiritual Counselor
"LOVE is the answer, no matter the question" (c) Karen Doonan
2 Corinthians 5:7 For we walk by faith, not by sight
HARI MENON was born in Kuwait, the third and youngest of three children, where his father was working as an expatriate, initial schooling was carried out there and then returned to India, where he further did his Secondary Schooling in a Convent school and, his undergraduation in Science, switched channels and took a Baccalaureate in Commerce and so became a second generation accountant (his father being one himself). Higher professional education was pursued and qualified as a Chartered Accountant .
Work and career began at at an early age of 18 and the bulk of working life was in the middle east in various countries – UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait and a short stint in Nigeria. Over two or three stints abroad. Given to the liking for the psychical at a very early age, at the age of 32 decided that the world had nothing more to offer, gave up the idea of hearth and home parents and wealth and, moved on in a very determined manner to the soul and spirituality side of life Took initiation from a lesser known person, practised for a year and then took up sannyasa as per vedic rites having been given the name of “ Swami Dhyananada Saraswati”– living in ashrams and a short sojourn in the Himalayas (really short – the winter was upsetting) returned to ashram and continued practices.
Disillusioned by the various malpractices and wrong information within this sphere of human studies, left for home as a sannyasi but resident at home – The Mahabharata prescribes this method quite strongly. I was laso lucky in that both my parents were full fledged yogis unknown to others but who lived fully knowing themselves and others. It has had its effects on me also quite naturally .
Having been single and travelled extensively to various ancient civilizations much of the esoteric was instilled during his childhood and youth. Given to deep thinking on events occurring to oneself and having keenly felt the “need to know” as to “why” and “what”. Has travelled and imbibed the air and sun of Ancient Greece, Persepolis, Heliopolis, Egypt, the Mediterranean islands, Constantinople, Levant and middle east and India and the raw natural energy emanating from Africa. The excerpt (from my book) tells everything -
All these meditations may be said to have been written as a person recovering from an unwanted illness. It has been arduous not to say the least; it has taken me the better part of 20 long years of convalescence if I may be permitted to say so. Mostly written in pain and deep thought, they may seem abstruse to a reader .But these were necessary where at times the hyper use of blocked judgement and reason were involved. Someone who has not gone through a similar period of extreme agony would not have any reason to even go through these meditations. At times they have been helpful in nursing me back to my health, and at times quite surprising in themselves as to their content. Each one of these meditations has been written more in a therapeutic vein than for any open public readership. They follow a common thread, viz one of recovery which no doctor can help but one reaches into one’s own depths and reserves and pulls one out. The ideas may be familiar to readers of philosophy, but then it is understandably so as to some extent philosophy has been relied upon. It is surprising to me that I am alive at all, the intrusions have taken its toll and, sometimes I wonder at the very use of it all. The saddest part is in that, of what took place in my life or a majority of the incidents of the last 20 years have been totally unnecessary and point to a supreme lack of regard for life and its continuance within the ethos of this one country and world .
Whatever good may ultimately emerge from all these exercises , one thing is certain , one has forever lost regard for the country and world and places in which these incidents took place and nothing will ever wipe away either the pain or meaninglessness of the very violence inherent in whatever was extended as teachings of a higher nature .
“Arjuna, everything exists as an idea within me, but really speaking,
Neither am I in them nor they in me “. – Bhagavad Gita
“................and that, when I had an inclination to philosophy, I did not fall into the hands of any sophist , and that I did not waste my time on writers of histories, or in the resolution of syllogisms, or occupy myself about the investigation of appearances in the heavens , for all these things require the help of the gods and fortune...........................” - Marcus Aurelius
Having been my “own doctor” and as the Upanishads proclaim - ......if so done , he cannot be set right by any doctor .........
Having started out as a youth aged 28 brimming with hope and now 53 wiser and fuller as a human being – my travails, travels, and background helped me – with help from people I know in distant lands yet unconnected physically , but only by understanding and understanding alone.
Presently I work to earn a living , do not save , at heart I am a sannyasi , I have had only one guru (myself ) and one excellent teacher and his demonstrations (which count for nothing in the light of ignorance). I have lost nothing but all my youth and productive years- the result is gratifying so one does not complain .
Most of all I am myself and know myself through and through – which is really what we all crave for . My credo “The impossibility of One Being another” . No question is too hard anymore , no answer too soft .
As the President of the Holyoke Teachers Association I plan on using this page to keep everyone informed about everything going on with Holyoke Teachers.