So far our Piñon Pine Tree Project has raised $1,400. towards a preliminary
budget of $10,000, the cost of a memorial grove commemorating the 30 Afghan
civilian piñon pine nut harvesters assassinated by drone fired by U.S. forces
in September 2019. Contributions have
come from New York State, Oregon, Illinois, Colorado, Arizona, and Berkeley,
San Francisco, and Petaluma in California.
The grove will be planted in Cactus
Springs at 36°34′37″N 115°43′34″W
just west of highway 95, about 60 miles northwest of Las Vegas at the southern
tip of Western Shoshone land. The project has the backing of the Western
Shoshone Council and its representative Chief Johnny Bobb, whom many of us have
met during the times we’ve occupied Creech. Sharing the site will be a Western
Shoshone Museum whose theme will be
nuclear contamination of Western Shoshone land.
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| Piñon pine tree |
Two of our subscribers
have raised important questions. One $100 donor asked why the cost of the
project seemed high, another asked why we were planting piñons which normally thrive
at elevations of 4,500-6,500 feet in Cactus Springs with a lower elevation of 3,500 feet.. And that’s what links the two questions
together. At 3,500 feet, those little piñon saplings need to be irrigated. An
artesian well on site is allowed to draw 500 gallons per day. A solar pump will
draw well water and distribute it through irrigation lines to the trees. Solar
pump and irrigation lines represent a sizeable percentage of the project.
Planting a grove is especially
appropriate now. Many of the latest drone victims were under 18, some even
young children. The farmer hiring them had gone out of his way to alert the
governor of the province that harvesting activity would be happening in
Nangahar, a heavily occupied zone. (A U.S. investigation of the crime has been
called for.)
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| Piñon nut bearing cone |
If you haven’t
already, please send your contribution either by check or money order to 2550
Dana Street, 5-B, Berkeley, CA 94704
payable to the Cecile Pineda Newsletter. You may want to add Piñon Pine Project
in the memo line, or just PPP. Even small amounts are welcome. $5 or $10 adds
up pretty fast, especially when so many of us are drone resisters and have been
for so long. You will receive a letter at your return address acknowledging
your contribution.
We intend our memorial to occupy Creech long after we are
gone.
Join the Global Day of Protest Saturday, January 25th.
Sign up to protest in your city at
Demand McConnell recuse himself from any impeachment trial
at
https://go.fightforequality.org/page/s/McConnell-Recusal?source=MS_EM_PET_2020.01.10_B1_McConnell-Recusal_X__F1_S1_C1__NS_RS
Support Veterans for Peace war powers resolution to prevent
war with Iran at
Read more on Soleimani’s Assassination at
UN orders Canada to halt work on Trans Mountain Pipeline.
25 people occupy Chase Branch in D.C. to launch a major new
campaign targeting the financial industry and its underwriting of fossil fuel industry.
Poll sows Americans just don’t buy Trump’s lies about Iran.
For further reading: Today’s ICH newsletter and Popular Resistance
at
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