This just in from festival organizer Paul Nelson of SPLAB….

PRESS RELEASE

CASCADIA POETRY FESTIVAL TO BE HELD MARCH 24-25 IN SEATTLE

Event Includes Workshops, Readings, and Panels with Northwest US and Canadian Faculty

The Cascadia Poetry Festival seeks to examine the culture of this region by gathering poets from California, Oregon, Idaho, Washington, British Columbia, the Alaska panhandle and Western Montana to learn, share ideas and techniques, begin to discover the qualities of this bioregion and the possibilities for deeper connection between the inhabitants from all parts of the region. On March 24 and 25, 2012, renowned and  emerging poets from the region will present talks on Cascadian culture and illustrate how that is presented in the best poetry of the region..

Featured artists include Sam Hamill, Judith Roche, Tim McNulty, Dan Raphael, Carolyne Wright, Kim Goldberg, Trevor Carolan, Catherine Owen, Maleea Acker, Katharine Whitcomb, Richard Olafson and others. Complete biographies can be found online at www.splab.org/cascadia.

The festival opens on Saturday, March 24 with a faculty-led discussion from 9:00-11:00 am at SPLAB, 3651 S. Edmunds in Seattle. Workshops follow in the afternoon, including a nature walk and writing prompt from 12:00-4:00 pm: Igniting the Green Fuse: Women on Eco-Poetry moderated by Kim Goldberg (Nanaimo, BC) at Seward Park Environmental and Audubon Center.  Workshops by Tim McNulty (Sequim, WA) and Dan Raphael (Portland, OR) will also be held at SPLAB that afternoon. A keynote reading will take place at SPLAB at 7:30 pm.

On Sunday, March 25, the day opens again with a faculty-led discussion from 9:00-11:00 am at SPLAB. Judith Roche (Seattle, WA) will lead a workshop on The Power of Place from 1:00-3:00pm. At 4:00 pm, selected readers from Introducing A Sense of Place: The Washington State Geospatial Poetry Anthology will read at SPLAB, and an evening reading will follow.

All times, locations, and participants are subject to change. Please watch the SPLAB web site for up-to-the-minute scheduling changes. Fees: All Access Gold Passes are available for $50 and get festival attendees into all weekend events. Passes may be purchased in advance through the SPLAB web site, or by contacting SPLAB at 206-422-5002.  Individual workshops are $20, and all readings are a suggested donation of $5.  Morning faculty-led discussions are open to Gold Pass holders and faculty members only.

This event is co-sponsored by Pacific Rim Review of Books, Humanities Washington, and Seward Park Environmental and Audubon Center.

SPLAB is an intergenerational writing, performance, resource and outreach center. Founded in 1997 in Auburn, Washington, by poets Paul Nelson and Danika Dinsmore, SPLAB’s office is now located Seattle’s Columbia City neighborhood.

SPLAB hosts a weekly writer’s critique circle, Living Room, every Tuesday at 7pm, at 3651 S Edmunds in Seattle. For more SPLAB event information, visit www.splab.org.

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For information or to arrange interviews with faculty, contact Paul Nelson at 206-422-5002, or email: pen@splab.org

And behold what appeared, dangling from the ever-dripping trees and shrubs sheltering the city’s homeless each night…

And on the back, it was written…

However every year at this time, throughout my childhood, my parents would take my brother and me to a Hanukkah party at the home of some good friends with lots of other families in attendance.

We played spin the dreidle (whose four faces form the acronym for ‘A great miracle happened here’). We ate latkes and lots of other luscious oily treats (symbolizing the one-day supply of temple oil that miraculously burned for eight days). And we each got a handful of foil-wrapped chocolate coins – Hanukkah gelt (symbolizing the national coins that the Hasmoneans minted to celebrate their freedom after the revolt).

But the most memorable part for me was the telling of the story of Hanukkah each year, with all of the children sitting cross-legged on the floor while one of the adults recounted the saga of how a small rebel army – the Maccabees – fought off a much larger and better equipped army and retook their temple.

The message of this story was always very clear to me: It does not matter how large or powerful your adversary is, how insurmountable the challenges confronting you are, or how impossible your victory may appear. If you are on the right path and do not waver in your belief in yourself, you will prevail.

This message has shaped my life. I carry it with me always. I live by it. My childhood exposure to the story of Hanukkah over and over, and my sense that this story was part of my own personal identity and history, has much to do with the strength and independence and self-determination that people witness in me today, decades later.

I would like to thank Ned and Clara Feldman for offering their home year after year for this event. (The couple met in the 1940s when Ned, as a US soldier, liberated the concentration camp Clara was in.)

And I would like to thank my father, Philip Abraham Goldberg, and his/my ancestors for each surviving for as long as they did so that I could come into the world and hear this story.

Kim Goldberg

Many people have become so sensitized to this radiation that they are now partially or fully debilitated by EHS – ElectroHyperSensitivity. Based on current trends, by 2017, 50 percent of the population can be expected to become electrosensitive, according to an article published in the journal Electromagnetic Biology and Medicine. That’s just six years from now.

Electrosmog levels in sleeping areas are of particular concern because the health impacts of this form of pollution are greater while sleeping, due in part to the disruption of the body’s melatonin production, which is essential for warding off cancer (among other things).

I have been aware of the health risks associated with EMF (electromagnetic fields) for more than twenty years. I have never owned a cell phone, cordless phone, microwave oven, wifi internet or wireless mouse/keyboard for this reason. Nor will I allow a smart meter to be installed on my home. These wireless devices all involve High Frequency EMF.

I discovered that I was far less astute about preventable sources of Low Frequency EMF in my home – and especially my bedroom.

Last month I purchased the ME 3030B Low Frequency Analyser (manufactured in Germany by Gigaherz Solutions). After spending some time getting acquainted with it, I went into my bedroom and placed it on my bed where my head lies. To my surprise, it registered an electrical field of 20 Volts/meter (ungrounded reading). The recommended guidelines cite anything over 10 Volts/meter (ungrounded reading) as being of “Extreme Concern”. I had been sleeping in that field every night for ten years!

By making a few simple changes to my room and home, I was able to reduce that particular reading to ZERO. That’s right, Z-E-R-O.

The biggest offender was a modest table lamp beside my bed. When I unplugged it, the electrical field dropped to 10 Volts/meter. (Extension cords and ungrounded 2-prong appliance cords are big contributors to electrosmog in our homes. These cords are “hot” – that is, filled with electrical current – all the time, whether or not your appliance is turned on).

Next I went out to my back porch, which is on the other side of my bedroom wall behind my bed’s headboard, and I unplugged an unnecessary extension cord. My metering device (still on my bed) dropped to 8 Volts/meter.

My last adjustment was to (briefly) unplug my old 1950′s-era ungrounded freezer on my back porch. At that point, my metering device (still on my bed) dropped to ZERO Volts/meter.

In five minutes I had completely eliminated all low-frequency electrical fields from my bedroom.

I subsequently went out and bought a $2 battery-operated light for my nightstand so that I could read my $1 battery-operated clock in the middle of the night. (Electric clock radios are among the worst offenders in the electrosmog Hall of Fame and are best kept out of bedrooms altogether.)

I also decommissioned my ancient freezer on my back porch and purchased a new compact freezer for $199. Not only is my new freezer grounded (3-prong plug) and energy-efficient, it is small enough that I can get it into my basement, far from where I sleep or work.

NOTE: This particular metering device that I have been describing, the ME 3030B, will NOT measure the RF (Radio Frequency) emissions from smart meters, cell phones, cordless phones and other wireless devices. For that job you need the eHF 35C , which I also now have. When you purchase the two meters together from Safe Living Technologies, you get a 10% discount and free carry case. (No, I don’t work for them or get a kick-back. I’m just a satisfied customer.) With taxes and shipping included, I paid a total of $620 (CDN) for my 2 meters.

Stay strong, live long

Kim Goldberg

Yes, I am doing everything possible to prevent BC Hydro/Corix from installing a wireless smart meter on my home in the first place. I have sent my registered letters, posted my signs, spoken to the Corix installer on his first sweep through my ‘hood, and erected a barricade on my existing electric meter.

But if all of this fails, if I come home some day to find BC Hydro’s cancer-inducing surveillance device strapped to the side of my home despite my unequivocal protest, then I will take the next step of removing it (with the help of an electrician, of course) and replacing it with an old-fashioned safe meter as outlined above in Jerry Day’s video.

I suspect I will not be alone in this endeavour. More than 15,000 British Columbians signed the petition calling for a halt to smart meters, which NDP Energy Critic John Horgan introduced to legislature on November 24.

Is it against the law to replace BC Hydro’s unwanted device with a safe one? I don’t believe it is if the homeowner follows the steps in the video, which include giving advance notification to BC Hydro of your intention to remove and replace their meter with a safe one, and then noting down your electricity consumption displayed on the smart meter at the time you remove it so no one can claim you are trying to steal electricity by removing the smart meter.

In fact, this action is a corrective measure against BC Hydro’s illegal act of placing a cancer-inducing surveillance device on a private home against the occupant’s express wishes.

In any case, it would likely take a judge’s ruling to determine who is and isn’t breaking the law. And judicial rulings can be a long time coming. In the meantime, I’ll choose safety and privacy, thanks.

Will BC Hydro shut off my power if I do this? We’ll see. They haven’t shut off anyone’s power yet over non-compliance with their anti-democratic smart meter program, despite the corporation’s many threats to abuse their customers in this way. BC Hydro isn’t stupid. They understand the concept of ‘Public Relations Nightmare From Hell’. They don’t relish the thought of news footage of low-income citizens, single mothers, infants in cribs, etc. all shivering by candlelight in their darkened homes in winter – or of this footage going viral on Youtube, Facebook and Twitter.

More to the point, will BC Hydro throw the switch for the 15,000 (and counting) British Columbians who are similarly concerned and ready to take whatever action necessary? Let’s get real, folks. That ain’t gonna happen.

We hold the power. We have the numbers. And thanks to Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms, we also (in all likelihood) have the law on our side. We have the right and ability to say ‘NO’ to wireless smart meters on our private homes. If BC Hydro forces them on us anyway, we’ll remove them. Simple.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

1. To get the Safe Electric Meter Replacement Kit described in video, go here.

2. To download the letter of refusal to be mailed (registered) to BC Hydro and Corix, go here.

3. To download the sign to post on your front door AND beside your old hydro meter that you want to keep, go here.

4. To add your name to the petition calling for a moratorium on smart meters in BC, go here.

5. To pre-register for the Citizen’s Initiative to launch a referendum on smart meters in BC, go here.

6. To view a photo gallery of homemade meter barricades, go here.

7. To order a locking meter-collar made by a welder on Hornby Island for $25 + shipping, go here.

8. To join (or donate to) two separate legal actions currently underway in BC against smart meters, go here.

9. For information on wireless smart meters and their consequences, visit Citizens for Safe Technology and the Coalition to Stop Smart Meters.

10. Stay strong, live long!

Kim Goldberg

And occupiers from other shut-down camps are starting to join the Nanaimo encampment (which occupiers point out is a community – not a ‘camp’).

Last night four new tents were pitched, and new occupiers have arrived from Victoria, Comox, Nelson and Saskatoon – cities that have all had their Occupy encampments dismantled.

At today’s General Assembly for Occupy Nanaimo (located downtown in Diana Krall Plaza in front of the public library), participants put out the call to all people everywhere who have been disillusioned and frustrated with the forced evictions and dismantling of Occupy encampments in their own cities to now come to Nanaimo and join one of the last remaining Occupy communities in North America.

Occupy Nanaimo is well-organized and committed to the long-term goals of the Occupy movement. If you want to be part of this movement in a tangible, on-the-ground way, then make your way to Nanaimo. This is a critical time to show your support and solidarity with one of the last remaining Occupy communities.

Some photos from today’s General Assembly, and more…

(photos (c) Kim Goldberg)

“On Thursday December 1st at 09:00 (am) the Corporation of the City of Nanaimo will begin legal proceeding, seeking an injunction to evict Occupy Nanaimo from Diana Krall Plaza.

We have been peaceful and as compliant as we could. We have done everything short of pack up and go.

The City’s offer was for a one hour, bi-weekly forum in which the public can come and speak with us. As a consensus we respectfully declined. Our message is not finished and now is the time that we call for our brothers and sisters to come to Nanaimo. Come to our Occupy.

We are still here, we are still strong, and we are still in solidarity. We make this call out to everyone everywhere. Come to Diana Krall Plaza. Come and Occupy. Bring a tent or just your time. Stay for as long as you can.

We need support now! Let us show them that we cannot be pushed around. If you occupied elsewhere and it has been shut down, come Occupy with us. If you haven’t gotten the chance yet, come Occupy with us!

As evictions spread across Canada we need to stand up together against this inequality.  So please join us in Diana Krall Plaza, Nanaimo.”

Occupy Nanaimo, Occupy Canada, Occupy Everywhere.

(Source unknown)

If you are one of the thousands of British Columbians who is opposed to, or concerned about, BC Hydro’s mandatory installation of 1.8 million smart meters on homes and businesses, then please SIGN THIS FORM to pre-register for the petition that will demand a referendum on the subject.

Pre-registration is crucial because once the petition drive is underway, organizers and volunteers must gather signatures from 10% of registered voters in each of BC’s 85 ridings within a fixed period of time. By pre-registering so that you can be contacted quickly for your signature when the time comes, you ensure the success of this campaign for a referendum on smart meters.

(Even if you are one of the 15,000 British Columbians who signed the recent petition to halt smart meters, which NDP Energy Critic John Horgan presented in Legislature on Thursday, you still need to fill out this pre-registration form for the referendum.)

In the meantime, do what you can to keep a smart meter off of your home by posting the necessary sign, and by physically barricading your current hydro meter with plywood, padlocks, wire freezer basket – whatever you’ve got.

Download sign here.

Some examples of barricades here.

For more information, visit Citizens for Safe Technology.