Carol got her lifetime achievement award from US Congressman Earl Blumenaur today. She's a rallying figure in the nuke weapons abolition movement, which I blog about here a lot, like mother like son (dad was anti nuke weapon too of course, ours being a pacifist / Quaker family).
The First Unitarian Church has this useful Eliot Center where I've been to a Johnny Stallings fundraiser to help prisoners, and at least one BarCamp, maybe two.
Today the place was packed with Quakers, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Womens International League for Peace and Freedom, Columbia Riverkeepers, and observers from myriad other groups (see slides).
We had a panel which yakked about the Marshall Islanders' lawsuit against the slothful / inefficient / incompetent Nuke Nations, who under the NPT have agreed to shed these signature hallmarks of an idiocracy in the making. Some Nuke Nations are outside the NPT though, understandably skeptical the others will abide by it.
When people lined up at the microphone, I took off to get some neighborhood context shots and catch up on correspondence. I'm getting pretty good using my thumb to keep the business flowing. However my day job is not doable on a smartphone. I digress.
Carol's role was to accept our appreciation, which she did gracefully. I will refer to this event more in future. Hanford and its impact on the Columbia River was a big focus.
People are still slow to absorb that seepage is not a danger that might occur, but an actuality. They're still thinking the price is avoidable.
The challenge is to expend wisely.
The Congressman's speech was in part about getting a handle on what's really being spent. Big expenses are not that easy to track sometimes, as you might imagine.
Friend Barnes reminisced in the background about this being the 25th Anniversary of Tienanmen Square. He was there, saw what happened. Around him, mostly denial. I was glad to provide a listening ear.
