Brandon Ross op ed Press-Citizen 9 May 2018

Protect your family and say no to the chemical lawn

We take for granted today that the use of lead paint, asbestos insulation and mercury fillings are health hazards to be avoided. Likewise, herbicides in lawn chemicals pose grave dangers.

The poisons that kill violets, clovers and dandelions also affect soil microbes and earthworms, and are ingested by squirrels, birds, pets, deer, bees, fish and other wildlife, and can be found in our drinking water.

These agents — which include toxins like 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (usually called 2,4-D), glyphosate and dicamba, and have friendly names like Roundup — cause cancer, nerve damage, and endocrine and reproductive disorders. And those most susceptible are children.

Studies have found that our brains are vulnerable to these chemicals, especially during fetal and early childhood development.

Despite the 24-hour signage, these poisons can be found on lawns for as long as two months. Homes where sprays have been used are found to have these chemicals in carpets and furniture. A 2001 study found that a week after lawn treatment, 2,4-D could be detected on indoor surfaces, including tabletops and windowsill. Scientists found that indoor exposure to this toxin for children was about 10 times higher during the week after lawn chemical application than the week before.

There are many books on the subject of these chemicals and better solutions to minding our grounds, and websites including the Rachel Carson Council, Beyond Pesticides and many others.

Protect your family, the neighborhood and our wildlife, and say no to the chemical lawn.

— Brandon Ross, Iowa City

Posted in Good Neighbor, Publicity | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Brandon Ross op ed Press-Citizen 9 May 2018

What is Community Rights? by Paul Cienfuegos

The national Community Rights movement represents a local level cultural and legal strategy for communities, both conservative and progressive, to begin to dismantle corporate rule from the local up! If you’re a single issue activist, as Paul Cienfeugos was for decades, using conventional methods, mostly regulatory hearings, protest marches, petitions, lawsuits, etc, it’s time to recognize corporate harms as merely symptoms of allowing corporations to claim constitutional “rights”, sometimes referred to as corporate personhood.

Join with Community Rights activists, be trained and guided, to pass enforceable laws that prohibit harms, by reigning in corporate “rights”. Join 200 communities in nine states which have already done so. Paul Cienfuegos offers his knowledge and expertise as a leader in the Community Rights movement. His email address is Paul@CommunityRights.US. For a selection of Paul and others’ writings, interviews, and speeches, and for more info on bringing Paul or other resource people to your community or registering for an upcoming teleconference workshop, go to www.CommunityRights.US

Interview and film by Barry Heidt of Sustainability Action Media (SAM) with help from Ruth Ann Barrett of EarthSayers.tv and Tom Hopkins of Sustainable Today. An earlier edition of this video was published here in October 2012. [View older version]

Posted in Community Rights | Comments Off on What is Community Rights? by Paul Cienfuegos

March, 2018, Lecture Series

Barbara Schlachter Memorial Lecture Series: Stories from Brave Mother Earth Protectors

Fee: none. No registration. Open to All Ages
Mondays, 3/5 – 3/26
6:30 – 8 PM in room 202

Presenter: 100Grannies.org for a Livable Future

3/5: Jerry Schnoor, “Climate Change and Policy”   (video)
In this talk, we will investigate the most recent effects of climate change and discuss how to mitigate and adapt to it. In addition, the latest developments on policy, both nationally and internationally will be discussed. Jerry Schnoor is a Professor of Environmental Engineering and Co-Director of the Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research.

3/12: Del Holland and Carolyn Dyer, “Iowa City Cohousing, the First Cohousing Community in Iowa”
Topics we will address are: the concept and brief history of cohousing in the United States and the roles it serves in maintaining an interdependent community for those who live there; the development of Prairie Hill, the community Iowa City Cohousing is building; the opportunities it provides for Iowa City folks, and how it will contribute to workforce housing and serve as a model in Iowa City of sustainable living. Del is a retired teacher who worked in the Iowa City and Cedar Rapids school districts. He is also active in environmental and sustainability organizations. Carolyn is a professor emerita of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Iowa.

3/19: Tim Dwight, “Solar Power: The Second Coming or Powering the World on Solar”
Tim’s solar energy journey began in 2008. He became involved with Integrated Power Corporation from Novato, CA, after leaving the NFL. Being involved in the day-to-day operations of iPower, researching and asking fundamental questions regarding solar’s growth potential, he has become passionate regarding solar. Direct legislative advocacy brought Dwight back to Iowa. He travels around Iowa with his trailer, educating people about solar and how it is cost effective. Come listen to Tim’s journey and hear about his solar energy companies. Tim Dwight is a Solar Energy Advocate with Integrated Power Corporation and President of Iowa Solar Energy Trade Association.

3/26: Suzan Erem, “Leaving a Healthy Farm Legacy: SILT’s Impact on Future Generations”
Escalating land prices jeopardize the hard work that has built our vibrant farmers’ markets, locally-sourced restaurants, Community Supported Agriculture and food co-ops. But without immediate and lasting action, local healthy food will become a passing fad. The Sustainable Iowa Land Trust is making it forever instead, through permanent protection of the land for sustainable food farming. Hear from one of SILT’s founders how this 3-year-old organization has already changed lives and local economies and how its mission will improve public health and the environment for generations to come. Suzan Erem is the president and co-founder of the Sustainable Iowa Land Trust, launched in January 2015 to permanently protect land to grow healthy food.

Posted in Education | Tagged | Comments Off on March, 2018, Lecture Series

Iowa City Area Restaurants with Vegan Options (27 Dec 2017)

RESTAURANT LIST

These restaurants told us they have vegan options, but don’t be afraid to ask for vegan options anywhere. This page was originally a Word document from 2017 available for download here.

2 Dogs Pub

1705 S. 1st Ave, Iowa City

 

Atlas Restaurant

127 Iowa Ave, Iowa City

 

Backpocket Brewing

903 Quarry Rd. Coralville

Crust and sauce are vegan ( beer is vegan, too).

 

Basta Pizzeria Ristorante

121 Iowa Ave, Iowa City

319 337-2010

 

Blackstone Restaurant

503 Westbury Dr, Iowa City

 

Blaze pizza

201 S. Clinton St Unit 167, Iowa City

 

Bo-James

118 E. Washington, Iowa City

 

Bread Garden Market

225 S. Linn St, Iowa City

Salad bar with soup and lettuce salads and hot food. Lots of options. Some are labeled. Also have a vegan muffin and brownie.

 

Big Grove Brewery

1225 S Gilbert St, Iowa City

Chips, salsa, guacamole; hongos tacos are vegan minus the dairy cheese.

 

Chili’s

2651 2nd St, Coralville

They will make it vegan at your request.

 

China Wok

2302 S. Clinton St., Coralville

 

 

 

Chipotle

201 S. Clinton St., Iowa City

Website says that beans, rice and tortillas are vegan( might ask), sofritas-tofu.

 

Cortado Coffee & Cafe

26 S Clinton St, Iowa City

Vegan falafel, hummus, and pita, sandwiches and salads can be made vegan. Non-dairy milk available for coffee drinks. Also some vegan muffins.

 

Dumpling Darling

213 Iowa Ave, Iowa City

Vegan kimchi dumplings, green curry bao buns, edamame etc.

 

El Bandito’s

327 E Market St. Iowa City

 

Has separate vegan menu – fajita salad, black bean salad, chips and guacamole, portabello mushroom tacos, black bean tacos, portabella tacos, potatoes with rajas  calabacitas, green gigantic. Some salsa is vegan, some is not—you need to ask. Specify vegan when ordering to make sure they don’t sauté anything in butter.

 

Fairgrounds

345 S Dubuque St, Iowa City

Vegan breakfast burrito, different wraps and sandwiches, roasted potatoes with salsa, waffles,pancakes, baked goods including regular and gluten free muffins, and cookies etc.

 

Forbidden Planet Pizza 111 S Dubuque St., Iowa City

Forbidden Planet is a non-vegan restaurant, but all three kinds of crust are vegan. They also have several different sauces that are vegan: traditional marinara, garlicky olive oil, and black bean sauce. (Their slow cooked marinara is not vegan. It contains cheese.)

Hamburg Inn No. 2

214 N. Linn St. Iowa City

 

Heirloom Salad

211 E Washington St, Iowa City

Most days have a vegan soup. Salads and sandwiches can be vegan.

 

Her Soup Kitchen

625 S. Dubuque St. Iowa City

 

High Ground Café

301 E. Market St. Iowa City

 

India Café

227 E. Washington St. Iowa City

 

Joseph’s Steakhouse

212 S. Clinton St. Iowa City

 

La Regia Taqueria

436 IA-1 Iowa City

 

Leaf Kitchen

301 Kirkwood Ave. Iowa City

 

Masala Indian Cuisine

9 S. Dubuque St., Iowa City

Buffet has vegan options and they are labeled. Several options on the regular menu. They

told us that the white rice is vegan.

 

Mellow Mushroom

1451 Coral Ridge Ave, Coralville

Several vegan options for pizza  etc

 

Molly’s Cupcakes

14 S Clinton St, Iowa City

They have some vegan options.

 

New Pi

22 S Van Buren St, Iowa City

1101 2nd St, Coralville,

They have vegan sandwiches, wraps and salads, cookies, peanut butter bars, cake etc

 

Nile Ethiopian Restaurant

89 2nd St, Coralville

They have many vegan options.

 

Noodles and Company

2451 2nd St, Coralville

Some noodles are vegan, They said to let them know you want vegan dishes and they will assist.

 

Oasis

206 N Linn St, Iowa City

Lots of vegan options: humus, pita falafel, tabbouleh salad, red cabbage salad and majadra  (lentils with caramelized onions).

 

 

 

Oyama 

1853 Lower Muscatine Rd, Iowa City

 

Gomale (steamed spinach with sesame oil and sesame seeds), age tofu –fried, gyoza (vegetable) dumplings, miso soup, garden salad with ginger dressing, seaweed salad, rolls—peanut avocado, mantato ( mango and sweet potato), shitake maki, fried sweet potato, tofu teriyaki, vegetable yaki with udon or soba noodles.

 

Pancheros

32 S Clinton St, Iowa City

Rice is not vegan ( has butter ), but beans and veggies are vegan and so are all the toppings except sour cream and cheese.

 

Red’s Alehouse

405 N Dubuque St, North Liberty

They have a separate vegan menu with great options including a beetburger and flatbreads.

 

Short’s Burger’s & Shine

18 S. Clinton St, Iowa City

 

Short’s Burger’s Eastside

521 Westbury Dr., Iowa City

 

Sushi Popo

725 Mormon Trek, Iowa City

 

Takanami Resturant

219 Iowa Ave, Iowa City

Several rolls are vegan such as vegetable roll, cucumber , avocado, green monster—ask to be sure.   Some soups, salads and entrees are vegan —need to ask.

 

Taste of China

1705 S 1st Ave, Iowa City

Several options, but you just need to ask.

 

Teddy’s Bigger Burger

324 E Washington St., Iowa City

 

Thai Flavors

340 E Burlington St, Iowa City

 

Thai Spice

1210 S Gilbert St, Iowa City

    Several options, but ask about animal products like fish sauce or eggs.

   

 

 

    The Airliner

22 S. Clinton St., Iowa City

 

The Mill

120 E Burlington, Iowa City

 

Trumpet Blossom

310 E Prentiss, Iowa City

All vegan restaurant with great patio. Try the reuben.

 

The Wedge

517 S Riverside Dr, Iowa City,   

 

Which Wich

23 S Dubuque, Iowa City

925 25th Ave, Coralville

 

Wig and Pen East

363 N 1st Ave, Iowa City

 

Z’Mariks Noodle Cafe

19 S Dubuque St., Iowa City

Some noodles are vegan and tofu is an option. Some dishes are vegan minus the cheese.

 

Zombie Burger

180 E Burlington St., Iowa City

Vegan burger and salad is vegan minus the cheese.

 

 

Posted in Diet & Climate | Tagged | Comments Off on Iowa City Area Restaurants with Vegan Options (27 Dec 2017)

Dangerous times a crucible for change – Miriam Kashia – December 16, 2017 PC

Big kudos to the Iowa City Council for unanimously passing this resolution last week: Resolution calling on the United States Congress to pass a Revenue Neutral Carbon Fee and Dividend Program.

This proposed legislation is supported by about 400 local branches of Citizen’s Climate Lobby across the U.S. and Canada. Citizen’s Climate Lobby is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, grassroots advocacy organization focused on national policies to address climate change. The local Climate Lobby branch, Iowa City Climate Advocates, has been active for about five years, and it lobbied this week in the Cedar Rapids offices of Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst for support of this proposal.

The Climate Lobby’s proposal puts a price (“fee”) on carbon where it is extracted or imported, and returns the proceeds (“dividend”) to the public to offset the increasing cost of carbon-related daily living. Widely studied, the plan actually helps those at the bottom of the economic ladder and is minimally costly to those at the top without harming the economy. The plan’s predictable fee increases are supported by many corporations, as it helps them to plan ahead for making gradual energy transitions.

Because this plan relies on the market instead of regulations, it has found increasing support on both sides of the political aisle. Most importantly, many leading economists and climate scientists affirm that it will be effective at significantly reducing carbon in our biosphere.

This is timely and critically important.

A new study from the Carnegie Institution for Science published in the journal Nature indicates that climate change is occurring at a faster rate than previously predicted, and carbon emissions must be reduced more quickly to avert increasingly catastrophic consequences.

Twenty-five years ago, the Union of Concerned Scientists and over 1,500 independent scientists sent out a “Warning to Humanity.” The authors of the 1992 declaration feared that humanity was pushing Earth’s ecosystems beyond its capacity to support the web of life.

Now, “World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity: A Second Notice” has been issued, and signed by 13,524 credible climate scientists from 180 countries. Despite notable progress with renewable energy and carbon, methane and other greenhouse gas reduction efforts, they tell us “humanity is not taking the urgent steps needed to safeguard our imperiled biosphere.”

Meanwhile, Reuters news just informed us: “The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency could launch a public debate about climate change as soon as January, Administrator Scott Pruitt said on Thursday, as the agency unwinds Obama-era initiatives to fight global warming.” This so-called debate about climate warming and its causes has been over for a long time, so this appears to be an obvious ploy to confuse the public and attempt to continue to raise doubts about anthropogenic climate change. The foxes in Washington are not just guarding the hen house, they are systematically tearing it down.

The American public is connecting the dots with regard to our rapidly increasing global climate crisis, and numerous polls indicate the majority now understands that the crisis is real, and human activity is the root cause. Overwhelmed by the current political upheaval and myriad attacks on environmental safeguards, many people do not believe they can make a difference.

The good news is: There are now 62 members of the congressional Climate Solutions Caucus — half Republicans and half Democrats. That number is steadily growing, and there is a movement afoot to initiate a similar caucus in the Senate. Every one of us can make a call to our senators and representatives to encourage them to join the caucus and support carbon fee and dividend legislation.

“Dangerous times are a crucible for change.” — Philippa Gregory “If the people will lead, the leaders will follow.” — Gandhi Miriam Kashia is a resident of North Liberty. She is a member of Iowa City Climate Advocates and the advocacy group 100 Grannies for a Livable Future.

Posted in Archive, Publicity | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Dangerous times a crucible for change – Miriam Kashia – December 16, 2017 PC

Anna Meyer op ed in Storm Lake newspaper

Your taxpayer dollars are funding corporate propaganda

Congress wants to spend millions peddling corporate talking points on GMOs

BY ANNA MEYER

While Congress hasn’t accomplished much in 2017, it did manage to pass a budget resolution — and within that budget, a sum of $3 million stands out.

Congress appropriated that $3 million to fund the Agricultural Biotechnology Education and Outreach Initiative.  That’s a partnership between the Food & Drug Administration and the Department of Agriculture “to provide consumer education on agricultural biotechnology and food and animal feed ingredients derived from biotechnology.”

What they’re really talking about is a promotional campaign for genetically modified organisms, or GMOs.

There are two major flaws with this plan.

First, the FDA is tasked with building a campaign around the “safety and benefits of crop biotechnology.” But what about the risks, concerns and unknowns?

Leaving those out means using government agencies and taxpayer funds for corporate propaganda. It benefits companies like Monsanto, Dow, Dupont, Syngenta and Bayer, which collectively earn billions of dollars from these technologies, but does little to inform consumers.

Second, the initiative will push forward “science-based” education. The question is: Whose science are they using?

There’s very little independent or government research on GMOs and their corresponding pesticides. The lack of unbiased and comprehensive science on biotechnology is a result of corporations controlling who can do research on biotech products.

Much of the existing research is either industry-funded or straight out of biotechnology companies’ own labs. The existing regulatory framework relies on voluntary reporting and doesn’t require independent verification to prove the safety of new products before they land on dinner plates across the country.

If the government’s going to educate consumers on biotechnology, it must first do its own unbiased studies on the long-term environmental and health impacts of existing GMOs and pesticides. It also needs a much more rigorous — and mandatory — regulatory process.

The government must tell consumers the full truth, presenting balanced and unbiased information on the benefits, risks and concerns around biotechnology. The FDA must openly address consumer concerns about long-term environmental impacts, corporate influence on government research, and corporate control of our industrialized food system.

We’re at a turning point in history where we can reverse the harm that we’ve done to our communities, farmland and environment.

Industrialized, chemical-intensive agriculture designed to work around biotechnology is a failed system. It’s increasing herbicide use, exacerbating pesticide resistance, polluting our waterways, soil, and air, and promoting highly processed food and confined animal production.

In order to build a more sustainable food system for our health and our climate, we need to move away from chemical-intensive agriculture. Rather than promoting corporate interests, that $3 million would be much better used to promote the transition to regenerative organic agriculture, to build urban food hubs, and to aid the next generation of farmers in accessing land and resources.

The FDA doesn’t need a biotechnology marketing initiative. It needs an initiative to bring back public trust in federal regulatory agencies, and move the country forward towards truly sustainable agriculture.

Anna Meyer is the Food Campaigns Fellow at Green America. Distributed by OtherWords.org.

Posted in Legislative, Publicity | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Anna Meyer op ed in Storm Lake newspaper

Lynn Gallager LTE, Solon paper 11/9/17

Johnson County and CAFOs
I support the efforts of the Johnson County supervisors to put a moratorium on construction of CAFOs in the county. It is very unfortunate that we do not have local control. The supervisors are doing the best they can in a difficult situation.
CAFOs are not well regulated. The DNR does not have enough staff to enforce even the minimal rules that exist. Until August, 2017, the DNR thought there were about 8,500 CAFOs in Iowa. In August, 2017 the EPA required the DNR to do a survey and with satellite surveillance they discovered 5,000 more CAFOs. I guess those 5,000 escaped any oversight since we didn’t even know they existed.
In addition, CAFOs with less than 1250 hogs have virtually no regulation at all. Large operations with 2500 hogs or more need to meet the master matrix, but that is easy to do because it is inadequate. Improvements to the master matrix were proposed in September, but the Iowa Environmental Protection Commission stopped this effort. If a person wants to avoid the master matrix altogether, they just build a CAFO and say they will have 2,499 hogs instead of 2,500.

CAFOs pose a threat to the environment; to our water and air. They are a threat to human health. They are perfect incubators of superbugs. Eighty percent of all antibiotics are routinely fed to animals on CAFOs to promote growth and to keep the animals alive in the unhealthy conditions where they are forced to live. We are heading for world when bacteria will be resistant to all antibiotics. If this happens, a person could die from a minor cut and elective surgeries will no longer be possible.
The way animals are treated on CAFOs is morally wrong. The extreme confinement in closed buildings, with no access to the outdoors and no ability to express natural behaviors makes their lives nothing but torture. Imagine what it would be like to be a hen in a battery cage or a sow confined for years in gestation and farrowing crates. Think about what it would be like to live in a building where you are forced to breathe air filled with the gases and stench from excrement and urine 24/7.

Please support our county supervisors and contact your state legislators to tell them we need a moratorium on CAFOs and changes in the laws to allow local control. And if you eat meat, dairy or eggs, please reduce your consumption and start asking about the sources of these products so you can stop purchasing any products that were produced on CAFOs. Thank you.

Posted in Archive, Publicity | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Lynn Gallager LTE, Solon paper 11/9/17

October 2017 Film Festival

https://100grannies.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/newlogo.png

Listening to Mother Earth Through Film

Open to All Ages
Mondays, 10/2 – 10/23
6 – 8 PM in room 202, Johnson County Senior Center, Linn Street

What do you really know about the issues of climate change and global warming? 100Grannies.org for a Livable Future present four films for education and discussion this fall.

10/2: Origins
This beautiful film describes the development
of technology and how that development has
pulled us out of balance with nature. How can we
live a healthy life in the modern world without
poisoning the planet? The film attempts to
provide solutions.

10/9: Awake, A Dream From Standing Rock
The remarkable ongoing story that began
with the gathering of over 500 tribes and
multicultural allies in a peaceful resistance that
forever changed the fight for clean water, the
environment, and the future of the planet. A
must see!

10/16: An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power
How close are we to a real energy revolution?
This up-to-date documentary addresses the
progress now being made to tackle this major
global problem with incredible human ingenuity.

10/23: Seed: The Untold Story
In the last century 94% of our seed varieties have
disappeared. Biotech chemical companies control
a majority of the rest. Why is this important?
What can we do? The film provides some
answers.

Posted in Education | Tagged | Comments Off on October 2017 Film Festival

Lessons from 100 dissident grandmas: Never stop trying (23 Sep 2019)

(Photo) 100 Grannies protested construction of the underground Dakota Access Pipeline, which crosses 18 counties in Iowa. Here, Linda Quinn of Iowa City hangs a banner Feb. 22, 2017, from a pedestrian bridge over Riverside Drive in Iowa City. Protesters, including Quinn and members of 100 Grannies, visited U.S. Rep. Dave Loebsack’s office, US Bank and Wells Fargo to protest the pipeline end encourage passers-by to divest from the banks, which made loans to enable its construction. (Liz Martin/The Gazette) Article below by Lyz Lenz of The Gazette.

# # #

Ann Christenson is 83 and knows the world is in trouble, but she’s not waiting around for Jesus or God or anyone else to solve the problem. “The world is on fire,” she told me, “and you better start putting it out.”

Christenson is one of the co-founders of 100 Grannies, a nonprofit formed by self-identified grandmothers who are fighting climate change.

The group was founded in Iowa City by the Rev. Barbara Schlachter, an Episcopalian priest, who died in 20016. Schlachter was one of the first women ordained in the Episcopal Church and after she retired, she committed her life to protecting God’s creation through non-violent activism.

Writing in a self-published paper titled “How to grow a Grannies group,” Schlachter explained her vision for 100 Grannies. “I could picture 100 grandmothers on a railroad track — a 10 by 10 legion — waiting for the coal train. … 100 Grannies was a force to be reckoned with. Who could say ‘no’ to 100 Grannies?”

In their nine years of existence, the grannies have protested climate actions all over the United States. Members of the group have been arrested protesting the Keystone Pipeline at the White House and the Dakota Access Pipeline in Keokuk.

And they plan on getting arrested a few more times before their time on earth is up. There is too much at stake. The group also partners with local student groups, joining them on their protests and activism.

It’s easy to quit when the world feels engulfed in flames. This summer Notre Dame burned. The Amazon burned. The middle of America flooded, while the West Coast simmered in drought. Global warming saw bodies thaw out of the snow on top of Mount Everest. Starving polar bears journeyed out of the Arctic and into towns in Russia to find food.

Our collective rage over politics, both liberal and conservative, seemed to boil over. There was a mass shooting in an Indiana bar, and at the Gilroy Garlic Festival in California. Twenty-four hours in August saw two mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio. We saw children in cages on the border and yet another woman credibly accused our sitting president of rape.

If 2018 was a year of protest, 2019 has been a year of hopelessness and exhaustion. A recent Pew poll found that 68 percent of Americans were “worn out by the amount of news.” Forty-six percent said they were tired of the political discussions they saw. Even supporters of the president are worn down. Rod Dreher, a senior editor at The American Conservative, said he’s exhausted with the president’s Twitter tantrums. In an increasingly divided America, it feels like the only thing we can agree on is that we are dying — our days are numbered and we are resigned to that fate in varying degrees of hope and defeatism.

Jonathan Franzen wrote in the New Yorker that we should quit fighting climate change and accept our fate. Franzen is only 60. Christenson is 83 and she’s just one of over 100 women who are tired, whose feet hurt, whose backs are bad, who have been protesting and protesting injustice their whole lives.

If anyone should feel defeated it is them, these 100 Grannies. After all, these women have more reasons to complain than almost any one of us. But Christenson laughed when she told me how she was arrested in Keokuk protesting the oil pipeline that was slated to run beneath the Mississippi River. “I had knee replacement surgery right before the protest and I had to climb up and down this steep embankment,” she said. “My surgeon was very happy with his work.”

Not only is she still protesting, but she’s doing it with new knees and an infectious laugh.

While I was at Christenson’s home, an Iowa City high school student stood on the porch of her yellow house, which is edged by the colorful, spiraling overgrowth of late summer. He was coloring in a protest sign and he said the main thing the Grannies have taught him to never stop resisting.

Comments: 319-398-8513; lyz.lenz@thegazette.com

[Source: The Gazette, Lyz Lenz, 23 Sep 2019]

Posted in Publicity | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Lessons from 100 dissident grandmas: Never stop trying (23 Sep 2019)

More Bakken resistance

NoBakken

Jessica Reznicek & Ruby Montoya speak at ICPL 8-26-17

“It’s not over” Published on Aug 5, 2017
Daniel Sheehan gives an overview of the legal battle ahead for the Dakota Access pipeline protesters and the deep political and military ties behind the pipeline. This is similar to the mining and railroad corporations using Pinkertons to maim and murder workers striking for a fair wage.

Jessica Reznicek 100grannies lecture 3-13-17

Arraignment in Lee County

100Grannies Stand with Standing Rock!  Take action here https://standingrock.org/

ann-christenson-to-lee-county-sheriff

ACE letter 7.14.16

Photos – Bakken Resistance

100grannies Facebook page

Posted in Activism, Archive | Tagged , | Comments Off on More Bakken resistance