PERSONAL NEWS #80
Joined my friend Paul [NYC Kucitizen] on Thursday, November 10th, to attend an event in Riverdale. It was held at the Yonkers Society for Ethical Culture. The evening event was called "Depleted Uranium - Agent Orange of the Iraq War". Paul was part of the "Steering Committee" of this event, as was another NYC Kucitizen [Jessica Flagg]. We drove up to Riverdale in Paul's nice, warm car. Mon dieu ... was it cool and windy that evening. Oh yeah! This was my first time seeing parts of a beautiful area in western Bronx. The houses and landscaping were gorgeous. Another friend and fellow Kucitizen, Cielito, was also at the event. We caught up on news et al. The evening started off with an introduction by Curt Collier and Florence Gold. This was followed by viewing the film documentary called "Poison DUst". [Disturbing Facts - 10,324 U.S. soldiers involved in Desert Storm (Gulf War I) have died. More than 1/3 or 221,502 Iraq War veterans are on disability benefits. Now, soldiers returning from the 2003 invasion of Iraq are confronting serious health issues. The U.S Government denies any connection between their sickness and the toxic DU. Is this a hidden war against our soldiers AND Iraqi civilians?] Watch this film sometime, listen to all the truth and facts, and then decide. [One can purchase this item online at http://www.leftbooks.com/]

After the documentary the following gentlemen spoke and answer questions ... Army National Guard Spc Gerard Matthew, Army National Guard Sgt Herbert Reed and Professor Glen D. Lawrence, PhD. Unfortunately, I didn't take notes of the event, as I was so utterly fascinated with the topic. Forgot to put pen to paper, but next day I did do some Goggling on the topic. Anyhow ... after the event was over I picked up free info, had some refreshment, talked with Jessica/Cielito and then it was time to head out with Paul. [There is a book out in stores called "Depleted Uranium – Metal of Dishonor" and order number is ISVN-0-9656916-0-8] On the ride back we had some company; one of which was Professor Lawrence and an acquaintance of his. I was able to question the professor in regards to my cousin Christopher … who was stationed in Saudi Arabia and Iraq during Desert Storm. He has health issues, due to Desert Storm, one of which is Crohns. The professor mentioned, in relation to DU, that the vitamin Citrite can help. Overall it was a most informative evening and more support for soldiers suffering from DU is so important. I cannot stress it enough ... please ... lend support today. Amen!

Saturday, November 12th, I visited my good friend Katherine in CT. We had an enjoyable, fun day of shopping, lunch, gossip and hanging out at her home. [Also picked up three videos for $2 each ... Cosi, Trainspotting & Ned Kelly.] I then caught the 7:13pm train from Stratford. Then the train got stuck in the Bridgeport station. Conductor said there were electrical wires down across all the tracks in Darien, plus our train was out of service. Many folk ran to grab taxis because the situation didn't sound good. Plus utilize their cell phones. I sat at my seat for sometime debating what to do, as I only had $20 in my wallet and no reserves. Finally left the train with a few others, as they were saying "let’s share a cab to Stamford". Stamford always has local trains running to NYC and its south of where the wires were down, so that area was okay. Well, the taxi thing didn't pan out for me, as it was too costly. While standing on the sidewalk with a few others we heard a diesel train pull into the station. I made a dash up some stairs [not good for asthma] and heard that this diesel train would make local stops to South Norwalk. This is north of Darien and the downed electrical wires. That would get the passengers closer to Stamford, so this was looking promising. Plus the train was heated, because it was getting cold and windy outside. As in these types of situations you end up chatting with those standing next or near to you. I call them "comfort conversations".

Once into South Norwalk the three people [ie: 1 man & 2 women] I was talking to at that time decided to share a taxi to Stamford. So we made a beeline for the sidewalk and street. A taxi driver I had recognized from Bridgeport had just dropped off folk at the station. He said he'd take us to Stamford for $25, but once on the road changed his tune to $10 per person. Damn greedy bastard! We had no choice and were desperate in getting to Stamford, so we pooled our funds together. Arrived at Stamford station at 9pm and ran to find which train was heading to NYC. This took some time, plus up and down a few stairs. [Man, was that station crowded with folk.] This gal told us there was an express train on platform 5 going to NYC. Yahoo! We jumped onboard and felt another glimmer of hope. Plus, Metro North told everyone that these rides would be free. They knew there would be major angry hostile crowds if they said otherwise. The train finally pulled out of Stamford at 9:20pm and we arrived into Grand Central Station just after 10pm. Believe it or not, I had no troubles with the subways and got home at 10:30pm. What a night!

Wednesday, November 16th, participated in the monthly NYC DoP conference call at 9pm. Kevin, David H and I were the only ones attending the call. Sadly, I forgot to take notes on this too. [Geez!] I remember we touched on numerous topics over the course of 50 minutes. After these calls I feel so energized and ready to take on the world for the Dept of Peace cause. Check out our website at http://www.nyc-dop.com/

On Thursday, November 17th, NYC Chapter Dept of Peace held its monthly core team meeting. [We've switched from utilizing "board" to the friendlier "core team".] This time it was held at Dawn & Bill's apartment on upper Westside of Manhattan. Quite a charming place with funky looking cabinets in the kitchen. Those who were able to attend the meeting were Joe, Dawn, Kevin, Coco [she acted as Moderator], Liz, Carol, Maria, Charlene, Norma, Carly, David W and Priscilla. We are still in the process of "incorporating", so I cannot divulge much from the meeting. Only to say it was terrific, energized and very productive. [Many contributed edible goodies. I brought homemade cookies and brownies.]

I also showed a sampling of my homemade "peace" bead earrings that I'll be selling at December meeting. [50% of proceeds will go towards NYC DoP bank account and future events.] As well as at future meetings and events.

[Samplings of those earrings are in the photo at left.] Afterwards, on way to subway, Kevin and I discussed items abit further. These "items" I typed up in email/memo format and sent out to "core team" shortly after that. Overall it was a terrific evening at the meeting, but outside it was so cold and windy. Burrrrrrrrrrr