Green Party of Tennessee

I have had my nose to the grindstone, so to speak, lately but it seems like every time I look up our situation is worse. The USDA fired a woman in charge of the southeast region based on a story from FOX news and the guy who was able to destroy ACORN, a group that had been helping poor people, by using edited video tape to misrepresent the truth, meaning it was a lie. They apparently snipped a small part of the woman's speech to the NAACP in which she recounted her coming to awareness of her own racism and how it changed her viewpoint. The Dirty Rotten Liar News Corporation then made the false case that she was a racist which got her fired immediately. So a TV network can make up lies and get a government official fired without the government even looking into the accuracy of the charges? We are in trouble aren't we. The crazies out there are making up so many lies now one almost wants to come to the defense of the Democrats. Of course we know the Democrats are just playing their lame part in this corporate funded drama that in the end may have us all enslaved even more than we are today if folks don't wake up and begin challenging the corporate (Republican) lies much more aggressively. We are currently headed for another civil war which I would really like to see us all avoid. Its time to pull the plug on these troublemakers and get down to business on how we can rescue the world from the corporate behemoth.

I will be on the reservation at Pine Ridge for a couple weeks, I'm going to help the natives build a big barn with straw bale walls. If you are voting in the primary, please vote for the non-corporate candidate ...if there is one.

best wishes,

Sequatchie Valley is a relatively long and narrow valley in the U.S. state of Tennessee and, in geologic terms, Alabama. It is generally considered to be part of the Cumberland Plateau region of the Appalachian Mountains; it was probably formed by erosion of a compression anticline, rather than rifting as was formerly theorized.

You can learn more about the Sequatchie Valley and its history by joining a tour of Sequatchie Valley Institute at Moonshadow.

This digital illustration is the result of our Tennessee senators immoral lack of action.

A couple of non-related, but related, stories have come to my attention lately. On the surface, they might seem to have little in common.  One deals with psychiatry, the other with pre-natal medicine, but taken together they raise a red flag for the future of diversity in mainstream culture. The first story came from England’s [...]

By now, Rolling Stone’s article about General McChrystal, and his consequent sacking, is old news.  Michael Hastings has been excoriated by the mainstream media for doing honest reporting, the military has announced that they will be a whole lot more careful about interviews, and the general mood seems to be that “we’re not going to [...]

This month’s “Truth in Strange Places” award goes to Tennessee’s  own Lamar Alexander, for saying, in a speech on the Senate floor: “We use 25 percent of all the energy in the world to produce about 25 percent of all the money in the world—five percent of the people in the world. In order to [...]

In contrast to the cockeyed optimism of Lamar “nuclear option” Alexander and many genuine advocates of sustainable, alternative energy, the sobering truth about our energy future can be found in a short but incisive book by Richard Heinberg, entitled “Searching For A Miracle–’Net Energy’ Limits and the Fate of Industrial Society.”  It’s available for free [...]

I guess FOX news missed an opportunity with that headline, eh? Of course it is not news much like the rest of their program. I went to the Peace Festival knowing I would see a lot of people I know to let them know I was running for Governor again and to meet and hear Cindy Sheehan speak. Cindy is a mother who lost her son in Iraq, a high price to pay for the awareness of what our military industrial complex government is really like. She bemoaned the fact that she was again talking to the choir and told the small crowd of the usual suspects gathered there that protests on the weekends weren't going to change things, "while they(the MIC) take the weekends off to enjoy themselves." She said "we all have to take to the streets", and was clearly reaching the conclusion that change was going to require a full time effort by many people, probably many more than those who would now call themselves members of the Peace Movement. Challenging the military industrial complex and its puppet government of two parties in the streets, however, can get you hurt if you aren't careful. The closer one gets to interrupting business as usual the more brutal the state response.

Cindy told everyone she did not vote for Obama but for the Green Party candidate, Cynthia McKinney, but pointed out how challenges at the ballot box have not gone well either. She said "they tell us that change comes at the ballot box but that is not so." We are given few avenues to change the system because the system doesn't want to change despite all the evidence and signals that they are headed way the wrong direction. The Green Party can lead in the right direction if people will stop voting for the system and they will have to stop allowing the system to convince them its going to change, just in order to get their vote of course.

The Green Party is running in this race in a effort to win a ballot line, it only takes 50,000 votes. currently the major political parties represent corporate interests over that of the people who live int heir districts. These corporate interests fund the political process in this country which allows them undue control over it. Stopping this is difficult but the Gulf disaster is an example of the world we can expect if we don't. I think there is a collective intelligence that needs to be awakened. Our European relations use 43% of the energy we consume. You can't walk into a convenience store and see a whole wall of refrigeration for different colors of the same sugar water in any other country in the world. We are not suggesting austerity, we are only asking for an end to the gluttony.

It doesn't matter what religious or non-religious beliefs we have as long as we have good relations. It is a huge project to rebuild our economy from the ground up, from the community level up. It will require everyone in each community to join in such a project because the time may be coming when they will have no other good option. The Green Party can provide the kind of leadership we need but as was recently demonstrated it is not the leaders who are important for a movement, it is the followers who are most important. Once enough followers are doing what the leader does the leader disappears into the throng. This is how it should be.

Keeping this blog up to date has been difficult but as the campaign and the year progresses I expect to post much more often. I just signed up with the Campaign Corner, a progressive populist site. As a governor there are limits to the things I could get involved in but there are plenty of state issues to take care of. A primary interest of mine is limiting corporate power, empowering communities, food and energy security, but first we will have to fix our broken political system.

Bob Hope once said "No one party can fool all the people all the time. That's why we have two parties." I had never realized that Bob Hope so totally "got it" and these days I think more and more people are. We've been provided a good list of some elements of the mess we are in by progressives but we can hardly blame it all on Republicans. While the two parties may differ in many respects when it comes to campaign promises they begin to look a lot alike when it comes to the overall thrust of policy, which is to serve the interests of the mostly American based multi-national corporations who funded their rise to positions of power. If we look at who gave what to whom to get elected we find the same major corporations giving to both parties but favoring one or the other with more in the years they are the winners. Yes, Virginia, politicians are elected with money, more and more of it every cycle. The candidate who spends the most gets the most votes, its pretty big news when, rarely, that does not happen. Corporations with deep pockets, such as these multi-nationals, can buy our government with a very tiny percentage of what they rake in. How deep are those pockets?

Lets take BP, hmmm I believe that suggestion has been made, ...not a bad idea. BP is a good example, or bad example depending on how you want to look at it, of deep pockets. BP has oil reserves currently of 63 billion barrels of oil. At $60 per barrel, 63 billion barrels represents $3.78 trillion dollars. BP is currently spending $500 million per month on the spill, so in theory it would take 3780 years at that rate for the company to exhaust its reserve assets. If the price of oil were to rise to $120 per barrel, not unreasonable since it reached $147 two years ago, BP’s assets would not run out for 7562 years. Hard to fathom, isn't it? Our President is trying to convince us he has poked a hole in BP's assets with the $20 billion pay off promised by BP. Hardly. BP could pay out $20 billion every year for 189 years, about 7 generations, at current market prices. That sounds about right for how long the toxic effects on the gulf and its coasts will take to heal. If they stopped all oil spills now, that is. We know they are not likely to, there is way too much money to made off of it. So how much does our government cost?

In 1929 Congress capped its own size, in defiance of the constitution, at 435 people. Before that Congress grew with the census as the constitution requires. They used to represent an average of about 30-40 thousand constituents each, now its 700 thousand each. Then there is the millionaire's club, the Senate, another 100 people, the executive branch provides a couple more, so a total of only 537 elected people. I recommend you check out the numbers for yourself but with few hundred million a year BP can pretty much get anyone they want elected and any policy good for oil companies implemented. They also have a $9 billion per year contract supplying our military with oil. Is this the Republicans fault alone?

Our current President has fallen right in line not reversing a single Bush policy and Bush didn't reverse any Clinton policy either. This is the President's primary job, support the policies put in place by all that corporate money. Republican, Democrat, the only difference is their style not their substance. That is not so true for republicans and democrats, however, for these are mostly ordinary people who want much the same thing for their families and communities but as Bob Hope pointed out, they are also some of the people who are fooled from time to time.

Last week I went to an afternoon “event” sponsored by “Nashville Naturally,” which is a partnership between the city, the Land Trust for Tennessee, and The Conservation Fund.  The point of this”event”  was “to help shape the future of Nashville’s natural and cultural resources.” The 3-hour gathering was to begin with an intro from Mayor [...]

I created a bit of a flap a few months back when I referred to Metro Council member Lonnell Matthews, Jr. as “Step n’ Fetchit”  for being so willing to do the bidding of the May family.   I have been doing some research on who financed Matthews’ campaign for Metro Council, and here’s what it [...]

The Gulf Coast oil blowout is a tragedy of epic proportions.  Greed, ignorance, and foolish pride all came together, mounted on the backs of BP executives, government officials, and all us just plain folks who are socked in to our various petroleum habits, and now the ugly reality of our oil addiction is smeared across [...]

This month, instead of a “truth in strange places” award, I’m giving an “inconvenient truth” award, to the once revered but now reviled Helen Thomas, for this exchange, as reported on Democracy Now: RABBI DAVID NESENOFF: Yeah, and any comments on Israel? We’re asking everybody today. Any comments on Israel? HELEN THOMAS: Tell them to [...]

Well as usual we didn't get much chance to read the health care bill. No wonder, its a mile thick and as illegible as a dour corporate lawyer can make it. As usual there are a few spoons of sugar to help the medicine go down but this medicine isn't going to make anyone well, no sir, this is all about ...you guessed it, money, in the form of corporate profits that is. Yup, in the new health insurance law Congress passed, there is a mandate that all states must have an insurance market exchange operating by January 1, 2014. Further, on or before January 1, 2013, if the Secretary of Health and Human Services determines that a state will not have an exchange ready by January 1, 2014, the Secretary shall establish and operate the exchange for that state.

Even more significant, States cannot request a waiver to set up a different plan until 2017. There is no wiggle room, the law is the law. There is no opt-out language. This is a clear mandate that exchanges be established in every state by 2014. States are required to spend the time, money and resources to set up and operate the insurance exchange. They may choose to have one or two or more exchanges or set up regional exchanges. A single payer type plan or a public option with or without an exchange is not allowed. Thus, as things stand, states cannot experiment with any approach that is not based on the private insurance market exchange model until 2017, after they have set up an exchange or the federal government has set one up for them. I guess they didn't like the Greens idea of everyone covering everyone in a way that profits everyone instead of just a few. They do resist pretty much any good idea. It seems to me they've well proven themselves irresponsible citizens, that's polite speak for crooks, and that they deserved to be put out of business. Instead we'll have big healthcare markets dominated by a few big companies with a lot of names. Kind of like buying a candy bar, you think there are a lot of choices but its usually only 3 companies products. We can expect much more of this now that the Supreme Court has allowed corporations to patent living organisms, yes they want to own all the seed, and eliminated all limits on how much they could spend on political campaign, yes they want to one all the politicians. Gosh, I thought they already owned Congress. Oh well, now that we have company owned electronic elections I hope you've all said your good-byes to decency and democracy. Those who called this plan socialism need to study the difference between socialism, corporatism and fascism, and perhaps eat their words. I'll provide the salt.

Our tours on the third Saturday of each month have been very successful with many happy visitors.  Thanks to Alex Fear and Chris Gilligan for conducting the tours.

Ulinawi
Ulinawi, the neighboring community started by our former interns, Nada and Bradley Jones, is becoming well established now, with some great people helping out.  An impressive earth bag and pole framed home is moving upwards, and several other temporary and permanent structures have been built.  Projects include gardens, chickens, goats, and a gravity-fed water supply.  SVI building workshops are now being conducted at Ulinawi, which has more in-progress structures than SVI at this time.

Barking Beetle Conference Center
This beautiful three-floored structure, built in part with a grant from the Community Foundation of Chattanooga, is becoming a vortex for SVI events.  It provides a unique shelter high in the trees when rain prevents outdoor programs.   The structure also provides room for large groups.  Moonshadow is a beautiful venue for meetings and workshops, but has been bursting at the seams when numbers reach 30 to 60 people.  Now we easily have capabilities for over 50 people who can meet in comfort under shelter.  We have even used it as a “campground” for scouts and students when the weather was too inclement to stay in tents.

Plans for the Conference Center
Retreats, conferences, non-profit meetings, workshops, parties, and more.  A current idea is to host weddings.  The Wedding Rocks, where Joel and Michelle were married, is a beautiful outdoor site, and the Conference Center provides an alternate location in case of rain as well as an excellent reception area.

One of our restrictions for large groups is our small parking area, so we are considering establishing a new location for parking.

January

January 10.  Webb School Outdoor Class Visits

January 26. Home School Day at the Tennessee Aquarium

January 30.  Johnny and Carol celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary by traveling to New Zealand and Australia for three months, hiking, camping, and learning about new bioregions, leaving SVI in the capable hands of Asha, Patrick, and Chris.

February

February 24.  UTC Sociology class field trip.

February 27.  Sewanee Creek Community representative visits.

The Board visioning workshop helped determine SVI goals and activities for the year.

A seed exchange and spring celebration was led by Cerulean.

Randall, our gardener for 2008, was joined by Trish for the beginning of Spring gardening .

March

March 9.  Tour group visits. Mountain Justice Spring Break Program with 27 student activists visit and help out with projects here.  This group came to discuss strategy and planning for the upcoming year in the struggle to stop the use of mountain top removal for coal mining in Appalachia.

March 28.  Spring Wildflower Hike.

March 29.  Shiitake Mushroom Workshop with 15 participants who worked enthusiastically to inoculate over 40 logs.  Each person took home a lovely inoculated log and enjoyed a delicious shiitake-filled luncheon.

April

April 7.  Class from University of the South visits for a tour.

April 12.  Second Spring Wildflower Hike.

April 15.  Visit from 6th-8th graders from Chattanooga Montessori School, including a 3-hr tour, lunch, and a hike.

UTC Earth Day presentation.

April 21.  David Brainerd School Senior Class visited for hike and tour

April 25.  Party for the Planet at the Tennessee Aquarium.

April 27.  Co-Sponsor of the Beehive Collective’s Presentation in Chattanooga about the Mountaintop Removal Poster.

Trish worked with the Bethlehem Center for children in Chattanooga from April to June helping to plant a garden with the children.

SVI joined the Buy Fresh Buy Local organization in Chattanooga with participation in the Buy Fresh, Buy Local Food Guide.

May

May 14.  Collegedale Academy Senior Ecology Class Visit.

May 17. Patrick taught a workshop on Fermentation in Chattanooga.

May 21-31.  Food For Life had 96 participants. Programs and workshops were presented by 23 great speakers, including Sandor’s fermentation workshop and Carol’s food preservation and native edibles and medicinal plant hike, a shiitake inoculation workshop, and more.

Appalachian Voices, a story and portrait project about Appalachia, interviewed and drew portraits of the SVI staff and Food For Life participants.

June

June 1-5.  The Warren County School Honors Summer Program.  Fifty kids from Grades 1-6 came to us each day for 5 days for a three-hour hike and tour.  We broke them into 3 groups, each with an experienced guide, and took them up separate trails.  The kids were great!  We hope they will be able to come back next year.

June 9-15. Bonnaroo.  SVI again participated in Planet Roo, the ecovillage section of Bonnaroo. We built a lovely straw-bale house, as usual, with very elegant clay slip designs.  See our website for photographs. We shared our love of sustainable building with over 90,000 music lovers, many of whom were entranced with our goals and our unique building skills.  We’re fond of telling the story about the young man who left Bonnaroo early.  According to his girl friend, he went home to start building a clay house!   Asha and friends performed on the solar stage.   Our staff sold their handmade crafts.  This provided much-appreciated income, as none of us are salaried.

June 23.  Creative Discovery Museum Scientist in Residence Program.  Carol and Johnny took buckets of clay, sand, and straw to the Museum and, with the help of passing kids, built a cob house!  See the web for pictures of this exciting and educational event.

Gardens. Our interns, staff, and gardeners were busy planting, weeding, and harvesting.  We shared our knowledge of the enduring skills of canning, drying, and freezing, producing lots of delicious healthful products, including apple & pear butter, apple & pear cider, dried shiitake mushrooms, grape and muscadine juice, mead, wine, and tomato sauce.

July- August

Building Workshop at Ulinawi sponsored by SVI.

Gardening and food preservation projects continue.

September

Sept. 26.  Tennessee Environmental Education Association Annual Conference, Nashville, TN. Session:  Use Mud to Build Green-Inside or Out!  Carol and Johnny presented a workshop for SVI on use of cob building in the classroom and schoolyard, to encourage creative thinking and understanding of green sustainable building.  See pictures on our website.

October

October 3.  National Solar Tour. Thanks to Chris for organizing the tour this year.  More and more people each year are interested in alternative energy systems.

October  30.  Wine in the Woods. Over 40 people attended our yearly fundraiser, this year with a Halloween costume theme.  We were honored by seven donors with donations of wine from Tennessee vineyards.  Of course, our own wines, champagnes, and meads were featured.   Over 40 people had an excellent evening, with lots of wine and food.  Our new conference center, Barking Beetle, provided plenty of space for tasting sessions, accompanied by an excellent band from Chattanooga.  A number of people spent the night with us, and awoke to discover that heavy rains had brought down our creek.  People who parked on the SVI side of the creek were trapped till the next day!  Not many wine tastings end like this.  We provided meals and our unexpected visitors helped with clean up and hiked on our trails.

Potlucks. We began joining with our neighboring friends and communities in the Sequatchie Valley for monthly get-togethers and potluck dinners.

November-December

December  11-13.  Solstice Party and Open Studio. This annual event attracted many revelers.  We combined the party with a work day to begin raising the roof beams for the new wood-fired kiln shed in Sassafras Flats.  Artists in our community displayed their work in Barking Beetle.  Carol presented an Open Studio event at Sweetgum, with her pottery on display, and provided hot herb teas, cider, and Johnny’s famous fudge to visitors.

There was no earthquake.  There was no tornado.  There was no hurricane boiling up from the Gulf.  And Wolf Creek Dam didn’t even break.  It was just, as the Army Corps of Engineers put it, “a thousand-year flood.” And suddenly, life came to a screeching, splashing halt here in middle Tennessee.  Interstate highways were closed [...]

Our “Truth in Strange Places” award this month is a bit of a golden oldie, as it was uttered as part of a college commencement address in 1969.   According to my source, the speaker repudiated an “acquisitive and competitive corporate life” in her class address at Wellesley College. She called for “a more immediate, ecstatic [...]

I spent quite a bit of time last month doing something unusual for me–following the comment thread on a blog post.  The post was on a site called “Science-Based Medicine,” and its author (whose name I feel no need to repeat, as she is an avid self-promoter) seemed to be an M.D. version of Ann [...]

Back in the early eighties, as we were first becoming aware that an ecological meltdown was at least as likely as a nuclear showdown, a friend of mine used to say,”I think there could come a time when we look back and realize that we have just driven one of the other species necessary for [...]

June 19, 2010

SVI and Moonshadow will be closed to the public on Saturday, June 19 2010 for a private event, and there will no public tour on this day.

• our next public tour will be July 17,2010.