A prophet-making organization

August 10, 1998 # 225

Dear Friends,

It’s months since our last newsletter, so this had better be great! And there is a lot of news, some of it really good. We are moving September 12.

After decades searching for the right community, I finally found Love Israel Family near Seattle... Actually, I’d almost given up hope of finding just the right group and considered devoting my energies to the work of Radio for Peace International which seems to be doing more for the planet than any other small group. (See later.)

I called their director, Dr. Richard Schneider in Portland, OR and arranged a cheap flight out in May. Recalling our old friend Joan L. who also lives in Portland, I looked for her card and behind it was the card for "Love Israel Family", whom another communal group had praised..

So, I called them and talked with Serious Israel whom I’d met at the West Virginia Rainbow Gathering in 1980. We remembered each other and he warmly invited me to spend time with them which after a few calls seemed more important than the RFPI visit, but I could surely do both.

Serious returned early from a visit to their Eastern WA community, met me the Seattle airport and took me to the friendliest and most beautiful community I’d ever seen. I felt at home there from the very first minute and decided to take Judy and Joel to see it no matter what the cost.

In fact I felt so sure it was right that I offered to donate Birdie, the 1958 Cessna I’ve flown for 20 years. I invited their pilot to come to Philadelphia and fly the plane across the country with us.

We took off early on June 20th on our longest small plane flight..

Towards evening we saw some thunderstorm activity and landed near Ankeny, IA. We had the book Mennonite Your Way listing church folks who accept visitors. Vernon and Francis Merkey met us at the airport. We had a great time with them, even a gift of dried fruit for the rest of the trip. The rest of the trip was pleasant. At night the Missoula airport let us use their courtesy car till morning, and we flew on to Arlington, WA next day. Weather was great, even tail winds, and clouds only rolled in after we landed.

Judy was, like myself, very impressed with the beauty of the community and the grandeur of the environment. Our housing for the three weeks was a wall tent the size of an average bedroom, very nicely set up in a woodsy area next to the 24 ft. yurt where Abishai and his daughter lived.. A former biology professor and political radical, he was our "official" host but we were invited to supper with different families most evenings.

Though Christian, and expecting full dedication to Jesus, this community is very different from some others such as the Bruderhof. They believe much as I do that God is the Universe, and Jesus is God’s son just as the rest of us, making him more of a brother than a ruler. He is found in every person who is to be equally respected and loved.

"Love one another" is the main tenet of the community. Sexual repression found in some com-munities is absent here, but there is a rule against sex between members and non-members. Members see themselves as "married to Jesus Christ" and therefore "married to one another" so that sexuality is not regarded as evil, or requiring marriage. Teenagers may share love with others outside until they join but few of the second generation have yet joined.

I’m told there have been no teen pregnancies, but some adult women have children without being married. The children do pretty well, home-schooled till teen years when they choose to go out to high school and meet other teens. However, there is boredom to be seen amongst both teens and younger children, and some smoke pot. I talked with teens of starting an FM radio station in the neighboring town and they were very interested. I have the equipment.

Though proclaiming community of goods in their charter written in 1970, private property is permitted in many areas. Communal property also exists, mostly the responsibility of a particular person.

Every community has a dichotomy between individual freedom and sharing in the spirit of love. Each group must find the way that works best for them. Some groups like Twin Oaks and East Wind hold property in common and earn income by communal businesses. There we found a bureaucratic control over the life of each member. Other communities allow private property and thereby much inequality. Some hold only the land in common.

At Love Israel we found a mixed approach. Members have total freedom to come and go or to create income but are expected to share their income to support the community’s needs. The deciding factor is love, not rules. I could have kept the airplane, but would then have all the responsibility that involves. I can keep a car and own a yurt, (Mongolian type portable house) and share it with others as I wish but I can also ask advice of community elders and decide accordingly. I find this to be the ideal communal setting, but would like to see more communal meals and a common kitchen. Others agree with that and the group is working in that direction, negotiating with the county zoning board for years for approval.

Meetings are frequent, and everyone, member or not, is encouraged to attend. When I said I faulted the Bruderhof from the first day because non-members were excluded from meetings, I was told here you must attend meetings to become a member.

At Love Israel, meetings are informal, though the person leading the meeting has a plan of items to discuss. However, anyone could raise other issues and if out of place, they’d simply be asked to save it for another group. All meetings start and end with lots of group singing and instrumental music, mostly songs written in the community and well-known to members. The community has not had new members join for a long time (true also of Bruderhof when I first came) and song books were not easy to come by, so a new one would be much appreciated, and I promised to help with that problem.

Decisions were made by an informal consensus, no votes, no haggling, but everyone could be heard on any issue, and things seemed to go very smoothly. I spoke freely as I felt the need, and felt total acceptance. Judy, was not so outgoing, but the community was welcoming.. Joel was encouraged to attend meetings and to help with the work as he chose and was sometimes asked for computer expertise. In time, I hope both will find the same unity and acceptance that I do.

We are indeed in the "last days" meaning a time when the selfish system of property ("the world") is ending. The breakdown is symbolized by Y2K, the computer failure programmers are trying furiously to correct before 2000 when the old programs fail. We can’t correct all essential programs on time, so some of our culture will fail. Sen. Robert Bennett (R UTAH) heading the senate committee on this problem recently said: "If the year 2000 were today it would be the end of civilization as we know it."

"The World is too much with us; Getting and spending we lay waste our powers...". That is the "world" that’s ending, not planet earth. It could be replaced by a rulership of love, a "kingdom of God". That’s what true Christianity is about and what Love Israel and I represent, however imperfectly.

Well, we have about 500 days to go with no chance of a complete solution, especially in Europe and Asia, so that foreign trade and banking will fail,. Here, martial law will be imposed. (Clinton has already signed that order*) - and millions could die in our cities - OR see a wave of caring love worldwide!

Amazingly, it might be up to us which way it goes, but alone, we can’t determine that. We need to pool spiritual and material resources for that purpose. That’s why I must move to community ASAP.

Love Israel has no problem with living well when we can, and each is encouraged to do their best. The group wants to bring the benefits of a liberated Christian communal life to all people, and members assist each one to obtain a good life, just as each one works to sustain the needs of the community. When the present system breaks down as it probably will, by year 2000, I expect many refugees from cities to seek help from the community and that we’ll open our doors as wide as we can. I hope and believe we’ll have a store of seeds for sprouting and other food so no one will starve and our own yurt and other dwellings may be crowded with needy people who’ll be asked to help by working and caring for others.

We have to be willing to give up our own comfort to help those in greater need, and I’m sure the community will do that when the pinch comes.

I hope we’ll also use a little FM station in the nearest town to organize people there and help them get through the hard times where they are. I hope to organize meetings with community youth who go to school there to start a youth-run station such as I saw in Cuba. It was run by a committee of listeners. Meetings are an important part of the communal life.

In addition to morning and evening meetings about every other day, there is a men’s meeting Tuesday evening and a women’s meeting Wednesday night. As we prepared for the huge annual Garlic Festival August 7 - 9, there were daily meetings also.

The founder, Love Israel was away most of our 3-week visit and things seemed to run smoothly without him present, but he was consulted by phone on some issues. On his return he resumed his leadership role which I found much less dictatorial than some say. Anyone, even a teenager could openly disagree with him and have one’s views accepted.

The community does have problems with relationships and does not have excellent ways to deal with them together. However, there is an incredible frankness on all issues including discussion of past problems and mistakes. The group has gone through many changes and difficulties over the years and is still recovering from a major split in 1984 during which about 2/3 of the members left and sued the community to get back about a million dollars that had been freely donated. The suit was settled out of court to avoid publicity and hurting parents of members, but it led to the surrender of considerable property and heavy debts on the property remaining. All this is openly revealed to folks like us without any prodding. All questions are freely answered.

Everyone is expected to help in the garden at times, but when I expressed low enthusiasm for that work, I was given another task, overhauling swings for the children to use; a job seen as urgent for the Garlic Festival. This celebration, originally started 9 years ago as a way to sell community grown garlic, has blossomed into a major annual event that attracts 15,000 people and lots of money. The community publishes 20,000 copies of a newspaper for it, and I offered some articles.

The gardeners saw my video on Sonic Bloom agriculture but were apparently too busy to take it on. So I was told to just find a way to get it going myself and I did find one brother, a brilliant mechanic who was interested in helping. People find their own work.

Most people or family groups have their own dwellings and singles can join a family group if they wish. People can own their house and can even own a 5 acre plot as in investment they can recover if they would ever choose to leave. Each one makes their own property agreement with the community.

Obviously, I found the Love Israel Family to be my ideal community with lots of freedom and honesty, openness to change and concern for the needy and the planet. Much of their income goes for a mortgage on 300 acres of land which is mostly beautiful forested hills they can’t use, but which would be clear-cut if they sold it. We heard that John Hancock Insurance just sold the county 125 acres of land for about three times its real value with the right to remove all the trees during the next eight years.

When I first arrived, the community knew almost nothing of Y2K* and now they are becoming well aware of it, willing to somehow take in as many people as might come seeking shelter when things go bad. They prefer to offer each person all the privacy they want, but are willing forego that to take in large numbers if need be to save lives. Shortly after we arrived, their local paper published a front page article about a church group forming a community because of Y2K. We attended their service to check it out and will keep in touch even though they said Love Israel doesn’t represent their (fundamentalist) Christianity. (* Y2K = "Year 2000 Computer Problem" when main frame computers, all programmed with only 2 digits for the year cannot read the year "00". Billions of lines of program must be corrected and we’re short 500,000 programmers to do it on time. Major disruptions to governments, utilities, all services are likely to occur worldwide at the same time, but the media is hardly covering it, history’s biggest story. You want facts ? Just search the web for Y2K to uncover numerous sites. Sen. Bob Bennett (R-UT) heads a Senate committee about it and says: "If Y2K came today, it’d be the end of civilzation as we know it." We can lend an audiotape of Bennett.)

We also spent time with another community in Seattle called Beacon Hill Intentional Community which we might consider joining. I’d personally like to be part of both groups !

I’d like to sell our house and move right out to Love Israel with a 24 ft. dia. yurt, but Judy wants to keep the house for some months, so we’re offering it for use to a friend as a center for people doing good things in the city. Selling the house for $10,000 will hopefully cover the cost of the yurt.

A yurt is a portable building which we could take apart and move, or sell if we choose. I’d much prefer that to a house in a city which could become very violent in about 500 days. So our present plans are to let friends use this house for a while and borrow from other sources to set up the yurt which will be ready September 12. I hope to offer visitors space in our yurt and to install two soundproofed sleeping decks for folks wishing extra privacy.

Bobby Chau of Umax Technologies just called to say they’re donating their top of the line S-900 PowerMacintosh for our son Joel, whose five-year-old Mac is way below his abilities. With that we can try RealAudio of Radio for Peace programs for micro-radio stations on the Internet. Joel will write more.

In a related discovery, scientists at University of Buf-falo report that they have discovered a way to create room temperature superconductivity meaning we can transmitting electric power with zero loss. This also calls for a whole new theory of physics and will enable us to make much better, smaller computers and motors and eliminate the need for high voltage A.C. To learn more e-mail Ellen Goldbaum; <goldbaum@ newsb.buffalo.edu> or phone: (716) 645-2626.

Chairman, Accuracy in Media, 7/21/98

Dr. Vernon Grose, a former board member of the National Transportation Safety Board and a staunch defender of the NTSB's claim that the crash of TWA Flight 800 was initiated by the explosion of the center wing fuel tank, underwent a complete change of mind while attending a briefing on the causes of the crash by Cmdr. William S. Donaldson and others on July 20. Dr. Gross, a former consultant to CNN on the TWA 800 crash, had been interviewed on television and radio nearly 200 times, defending the official position against its critics.

He came to the briefing, which was held to unveil a new 109-page report by Cmdr. William S. Donaldson on the cause of the crash, out of curiosity. When he left some three hours later, he told reporters that what he had heard and seen had caused him to completely change his mind. He said that he was deeply disturbed and felt that he had been misled by the NTSB. He could no longer believe the government's explanation ... He made his next TV appearance that night with Bill Donaldson, this time criticizing the NTSB ... If you didn't see Dr. Grose's epiphany reported on the evening news that night, or in your newspaper the next morning, it was because the reporters and news organizations that claim to be eager to bring you the latest important, exciting news either didn't bother to attend the briefing or, unlike Dr. Grose, were either unable to comprehend what they heard or too closed minded to allow it to influence their thinking.

They and their colleagues in the other networks and in the print media just don't seem to grasp the fact that the government has a theory that is supported by no evidence and that flies in the face of the testimony of over a hundred eyewitnesses. ...

One can't expect them to develop the expertise of Bill Donaldson and the others with whom he has worked for 15 months to get at the truth and incidentally expose the deceit practiced by the government's investigators. But, as journalists, they should be able to recognize a story when a man of Vernon Grose's caliber and background is willing to listen to the facts and confess that he has been giving the public incorrect information on an important case of this kind. The evidence Donaldson presented included strong eyewitness testimony which he had personally obtained. He showed a chart on which he had plotted where these people were when they saw the missile and where it was. Connecting the dots, he was able to show that one missile was launched about a mile off shore from the barrier island that runs along the southern coast of Long Island. Paul Angelides, an engineer, who has a home on the island only a little over a mile from the estimated launch point, saw the missile ascending. He said the noise was so great that it shook his house. He watched the missile streaking southward toward TWA 800, seven nautical miles away, and explode.

Al Gipe, a former Navy gunnery officer, was on his sail boat out at sea 25 nautical miles offshore. He saw what he thought was an emergency flare go up about 15 miles to the north. He said it looked like a 40 mm. tracer bullet, streaking upward, from south to north, until it exploded high in the sky a few seconds later. He noted down his position at the time, and not long after he learned the coordinates of the crash site from the radio. The estimated launch point was about three miles from the crash site. These were obviously two different missiles, but they both exploded almost at the same time very close to each other and close enough to TWA Flight 800 to destroy it.

What makes this even more interesting is the fact that the radar at McArthur Airport on Long Island had recorded a surface target three nautical miles to the south of the crash site that headed out to sea doing 30 knots when TWA 800 exploded. Donaldson said that for it to be recorded by the radar, its superstructure had to rise 60 feet above the water. Its size and speed rules out a merchant ship. Racing out to sea instead of heading for the accident site to see if it could be of help is highly suspicious. This was only one of four surface targets recorded on radar near the crash site that have not been identified. Bill Donaldson said he had tried hard to get the FBI and the NTSB to tell him what ships these were, but they claim they don't know. ... There was obviously much, much more. It can be found in Donaldson's report on the Internet at:

http://members.aol.com/fl800/index.html

Earlier, Commander Donaldson, spoke for hours on Art Bell’s radio show, insisting 800 was no U.S. military error, but offered no proof and one could easily wonder why the government tries so hard to cover-up a foreign attack. A brief look at one part of another cover-up of the real criminals at work in OK City can really make us wonder. See this:

UPDATE: Unresolved Deaths in Oklahoma !! from Michael A. O'Camb in Utah. Please share this with everyone. -Thanks from Norio Hayakawa:

In the first hours following the blasts that devastated the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City, the morning of April 19, 1995, a number of selfless individuals risked life and limb to rescue many of the victims. Among them were ... G.S.A. employee Mike Loudenslager and others ...[now also mysteriously dead]. In the aftermath of the "bombing" the name Mike Loudenslager holds particular significance in the hearts of many families in and around Oklahoma City ... because of the fore-warning he gave to a number of those who had chil-dren in the ... day-care center. In the weeks preced-ing the bombing, Michael Loudenslager, 48, became increasingly aware that large amounts of explosives were in the building and strongly urged (along with the operator of the day-care center) a number of parents to take their children out. This situation arose after other employees became concerned with an in-creased amount of ordnance (missiles) being brought into the building by the B.A.T.F. and D.E.A. As a result of this concern, a grievance was filed with G.S.A. by the building's security director. The result was, the man who'd complained lost his job there. Then, after the operator of the day-care center (the security director's wife) notified fire marshals after some remodeling had been done (as her license re-quired her to do), the fire marshals were denied access to do their inspection by federal agents and told to leave! The day-care operator lost her contract.

As a result of this (fearing the worst with all the talk around town of a possible bombing), Mike Loudenslager and the day-care center operator then told many of the parents to get their children out. And, because of their warnings, far fewer children were ... [there] on that horrible Wednesday morning than there otherwise would have been.

Shortly after the bombing, Michael Loudenslager was actively helping in the rescue and recovery effort. A large number of those at the bomb-site either saw or talked with him. During the course of the early rescue efforts, however, Mike was seen and heard in a very "heated" confrontation with someone (there). Much of his anger stemmed from the fact he felt the B.A.T.F. was in large part responsible not only for the bombing, but for the death and injury to those inside, including all the children. To the absolute astonishment of a large number of police officers and

rescue workers, it was later reported that G.S.A. employee Loudenslager's body had been found inside the Murrah Building the following Sunday, still at his desk, a victim of the 9:02 A.M. bombing! This, mind you, after he'd already been seen alive and well by numerous rescue workers at the bomb-site AFTER the bombing! He is also officially listed as one of the 168 bombing fatalities... [and so it goes on to suggest other witnesses deaths were murders also-Art].

The above is only part of many reports I’ve seen on e-mail listserves of a cover-up in the OK city bombing, and it is well known that the "Anti-terrorism Act" with its fascist language was pushed through Congress within days so it must have been prepared well in advance. Does anyone smell anything here?

Of course we’ve known for months that McVeigh could not have caused all the destruction. Two top military explosive experts proved that long ago (see earlier newsletters). So is it any wonder the media is not reporting fully on Y2K issues either ? Could media owners also be involved with covering for the government, which to some extent they may also own ? For a free country this is really strange.

Corrupt as this government may be it could all end with the new millennium. The possibilities are almost endless. We hear the world’s most powerful hi-tech military may be out of action from 2000 to 2009 or even 2021 if computer systems are fixed at present rates. But we also hear the Chinese navy is not computerized! Is that why Clinton got so friendly with China’s dictator ? Are those minor issues compared to the major spiritual changes that could happen when millions learn to cooperate in order to survive ?

Tom Atlee has created a special web site to examine the positive future aspects of Y2K and it’s linked to www.aquarianresearch.home.ml.org as the "Y2K & World Transformation" link. Beyond that, we have the promise of abundant clean, safe energy and now a new discovery. A recent announcement by U of Buffalo scientists promises a breakthrough sought for centuries: room temperature superconduc- tivity, meaning electrical transmission without loss. It means far better computers and electronics, tiny motors with amazing power and no heat, a whole now world of positive technology. For info. Write Ellen Goldbaum: < goldbaum@newsb.buffalo.edu>

Monsanto is attempting to take control of the world’s grain supplies and other seed crops by using genetic engineering to create high productivity plants whose seeds are infertile so that all seeds must come from Monsanto every year. The world is waking up to this takeover and worldwide protests are rising. See the following report.

By John Vidal, Guardian (London) 7/31/98

Patrick Whitefield is a lecturer with no history of civil disobedience. After hearing that five women had earlier this month gone into a test field and pulled up some genetically modified plants being tested for the US chemical firm Monsanto, he phoned a Manchester-based group called GenetiX Snowball and offered to do the same. Should Whitefield do so, he risks being sued, fined and given a criminal record. Within weeks of his offer, a Manchester community worker, a Welsh lawyer and at least 250 others including TV chef Antony Worrall-Thomson had phoned to support or to join others taking "non-violent direct action" against the controversial crops. Hardy eco-warriors in the road-protest style, their concern ranged across health, environment, consumer choice and the concentration of the food chain into very few hands.

Widespread grassroots action against GM (Genetically Modified) crops is intensifying. All 325 test fields in Britain have been identified ... and at least 25 have been destroyed by ad hoc and uncoordinated groups. Some firms have not reported attacks for fear that it will increase the chances of copycat crimes. Monsanto [is suing] the five women from GenetiX Snowball to prevent them from "encouraging others". Monsanto’s case was adjourned yesterday. But the corporate lawyers can expect a lot of new business: every week two or more fields are being hit by Earth First! and other activists. ... But the coming together of peace and environmental activists is just the tip of the opposition against companies promoting GM food technologies.

Britain is not alone. The leaders of France's second biggest farm union have become folk heroes after being given suspended prison sentences for destroying GM grain. There have been seven arrests in Ireland and a high profile court case. Greenpeace claims to have mobilized 250,000 consumers in Ger-many, and there is widespread disapproval in Holland and Denmark. Switzerland recently had a referendum on the future of biotechnology. It was approved but only after massive lobbying by the Swiss-based drug and chemical companies who threatened to leave.

Last week European activists flew to the Missouri home town base of Monsanto ... to join the first meeting of global activists against the crops. In India, there are expected to be riots if and when the new technology is introduced. Several years ago more than 750,000 small farmers rallied against the World Trade Organization and American companies patent-ing seeds. The massive Grameen Bank based in Paki-stan which pioneered the philosophy of credits for the poor, pulled out of a joint venture with Monsanto this week. Why don’t we hear of all this in our media ?

We’re beginning to get some radio and press coverage of the Year 2000 Problem, but the enormity of the problem is not being reported. Most small businesses, for instance are doing nothing about it, and both Europe and Asia are ignoring the matter to play with their own problems. It seems clear therefore that world banking systems will fail and our extreme dependence on foreign labor will cause major business failures both here and there .

In the end this could be a good thing and force millions back to simpler, more cooperative lifestyles, and a general realization that corporate greed which is now peaking is bad for everyone. Y2K could bring a whole new era of love, and/or the greatest suffering a planet like ours has ever known. We only have about 500 days to decide what part we’ll play and do it, so let’s have input from all who have answers. Of course there are still many skeptics and for you I’d suggest sending e-mail to John-Michael Caringworth <meetme@texas.net> and ask to be put on his e-mail list which provides a host of information or go to our home page; and see the link to Y2K & World Transformation.

I just spoke with Dr. Richard Schneider, director of Radio For Peace International and the Inst. For Global Education. RFPI has about 40,000 watts of short wave power at the University for Peace in Costa Rica and they broadcast across the world. The big news is web broadcasting to start in a few months or as soon as funds can be found.

This will make their programs available world-wide at times and places wherever and whenever people with modern computers want to get them, and so much more available to the world radio stations. That is exactly what I suggested to Richard when I was with him in Portland, OR last May. For now RFP programs, some of the best in the world, are heard on short wave at 21.46, 15.050, 7.385 and 6.980 MHz.

Now that Umax Technologies is donating their top of the line S-900 computer we will also be able to put some RFPI programs on a web site for U.S. Micro-broadcasters to rebroadcast. RFPI is sending tapes.

Visit URL: www.belonging.org/rfpi for info. On the radio work, www.belonging.org/ige to learn how the Inst. For Global Education teaches young Indians to be world leaders. URL www.belonging.org

is for information on the conference (See below).

Radio For Peace International and the Association for Research and Enlightenment of Virginia Beach, VA are co-sponsoring an amazing worldwide gathering of indigenous people October 4 - 10, 1998. Dr. Richard Schneider says:

Belonging to Mother Earth (name of the conference) will encourage the healing of humankind and the nourishment and survival of Mother Earth. The gathering will bring together indigenous peoples and others from around the world to dialog and share ancient wisdom and healing in terms of and with great

respect for indigenous ways. Healing ceremonies and rituals; words through keynotes, workshops and panels; much informal personal inter-action along with arts and music, will create an exchange of energy and healing among the indigenous peoples themselves and with peoples of the planet to enable a global communications network for all levels of healing. The conference intention: Unified in the Spirit of Love and Respect, we heal Mother Earth and one another.

To register for the conference call A.R.E. at 888-273-0020 for Noelle. Most programs will be at the DoubleTree Hotel where a bedroom with two double beds is $64/night for any number of people.

Hotel meals are $22/day for three meals. Richard has offered work scholarships for April and myself but we’ll need to share a ride from Phila. to Virginia Beach and to share hotel costs with some others.

GAVIOTAS; A VILLAGE TO REINVENT THE WORLD by Alan Weisman

In 1971, Paulo Lugari of Bogota, Colombia started his search for answers to the problems of the third world by going to an almost uninhabitable area to start a model cooperative village that would use their own technologies to prove that science and love together could solve the world's problems of overpopulation and poverty. As a great-grandson of a former president, Lugari had connections that brought him in contact with U.N. funding and many idealistic professionals willing to create the experiment.

Corporate power, politics and a devastating, long running civil war were their greatest enemies without which they could have brought a new era of health and abundance to a poor nation as well as create a model utopian village for all to see and learn from. Locally, they did that and much more, even planting millions of trees with the unexpected result of re-establishing a rainforest that had not existed there for millennia. This little village has indeed proven that a spirit of cooperation can re- invent the world.

Today that becomes more important than ever as we approach a new time when only love and cooperation might save us from Y2K, a cultural collapse such as we've never seen. I gave my copy of the book to a leader of the Love Israel Family which is spiritually akin to Gaviotas and he's reading it with great interest. If only Colombians could find a way to end their political warfare, Gaviotas could become the subject of an amazing positive future film such as Ted Turner (CNN) told me he'd like to create. I know Alan Weisman would like to help that happen, and maybe, along with many other miracles of these times it will. The book needs more photos.

Those with e-mail can get a much longer re-view of the book by asking me for the document: "Gaviotas.rev" or for the text of Alan's first broadcast about it on NPR by requesting "Gaviotas.txt". We can also lend a tape. You can buy the book from any bookstore or the publisher, Chelsea Green for $22.95.

Since we’ll have to leave Philadelphia no later than September 12, and will be packing from the first on, we may not be able to send out items usually found in our newsletter or in the "Items Available " section of our home page. However visitors wishing to come by and pick up some items or take books we must give up can call us and then come over. There’s lots of stuff too good to throw out, but hard to sell. I can’t say when we’ll again be able to fill mail orders.

I wish I could sell this service, but it’s too complicated to be an agent, and only available in 72 cities in the following states: AZ, CA, CO, DC, FL, GA, IL, LA, MA, MD, MN, MO, NC, NJ, NY, NV, PA, OH, OR, OR, TX, WA.

If you sign up with WorldCom you can get a phone card number which you can punch in from any non-coin phone in the cities available; no bills, no tax. To find out if your city is one, just call 800-225-5438 (800-call IDT). At the recording hit 0 and await customer service. Have a credit card ready. The rep. will sign you up and you can use the system in about 10 min. To use it you want a memory dial phone because you’ll start each call by dialing a local number, wait 5 sec. for a recording and then (with memory dialer) dial your phone number plus a 4 digit PIN they’ll give you. Away from home, you can access your account and get the .05 rate in any serviced city. At each call you’ll be told the credit and time you have left in your (credit card) prepaid account. Check that it is .05/min. and call back if it’s not.

WorldCom will also let you have unlimited Internet service for only $13.95/month, a fine rate.

If your city is not yet with IDT, you can get 9.9 cent/min. service all the time. For that call my friend, Richard Larson (free) at 1-877-749-4471 and tell him I said you should get 9.9 cent 24 hr. service. I’ll get 30 min. free calling for each one who signs up.

We were recently given a very sweet donation indeed. A long needed replacement for our old Macintosh Performa 575 was given to us by Umax Technologies. Umax makes a whole line of scanners, as well as Macintosh clones.

We knew that we needed to get a PowerMac of some sort in order to make archived Radio For Peace broadcasts available on the net in RealAudio form. In a few weeks or so, you will hopefully be able to download these broadcasts and listen to them as they download in real time from our (web site).

I am writing this article using our new Umax S900 right now, and it is very exciting. So far, I would have to say this is the fastest, most stable, and of course, most user-friendly computer I have ever had the opportunity to work on. It is pretty late in the night… or… technically morning I guess, but I am being kept awake to write this article mostly by the noise of the fan that is cooling off the chip inside this wonderful machine.

Even though Umax, like many other businesses we had spoken to previously, had already depleted their year’s budget for donations, they took funds from their own publicity department to help us continue our work.

My friend’s dad has been using an old black and white Umax scanner for many years now in order to publish his magazine, "The Hammer". Even with the age of the scanner, it has never failed him, and it’s always worked well enough for his purposes. If you’re looking for a new, high quality scanner, go to a brand name you can really trust, Umax.

I can see myself living in Washington during Y2K and running this baby off of hydrino energy. Of course, if everyone in the world owned nothing but Umax computers, there would be no Y2K problem.

So, folks, go get as many SuperMacs (The name of the mac clones sold by Umax) as you possibly can, and maybe, just maybe we can avoid Y2K!

After we initially unpacked the thing, we had a few questions and we decided to call Umax’s free tech-support for the answers to a lot of complex hardware related issues. For the first time in my life, I got a bunch of quick, clear answers to everything I was curious about, and at no cost! They must have wise men from inside the mountains of Tibet doing their technical support or something!

Anyway, tell your friends about it, then follow up and see if they heard what you said and remembered it. If you are planning on having them over any time soon, you could just lock the door and not let them out until they order a SuperMac. Another idea is to learn hypnotism. You are getting sleepy. Wait, no, that’s me, sorry. Well, when I snap my fingers you will go buy a SuperMac and stop reading.

*SNAP* -Joel Rosenblum (5:00 a.m. 8/7/98)

Aquarian’s next project is to get the world’s best radio programs available on the worldwide web as indicated above. Check our "Latest News From Aquarian" section on our homepage weekly for details. Donations will help. Also, please look at our current list of RFPI programs online every so often to see what's new. They are all going to be encoded in RealAudio 5.0 so you will need to download that.

Peace and love,

Art & Judy & Joel Rosenblum