Woodstock Peace Economy: November 2011

Howard Zinn

"I'm gratified that citizens of Woodstock and its environs are organizing to transform the production of components now used for frightful weapons to peaceful and sustainable purposes. The bucolic setting of Woodstock is such a contrast with the ugliness of arms production. It is especially horrifying that this is taking place in a town whose heritage is peace and harmony. I support your work and hope other people will rally to your campaign to remove this blight from your areas, and perhaps other places in the country where war materials are produced will take up the struggle for a weapons-free, peaceful world. Thank you for what you and your friends are doing."

David Swanson

"Woodstock Peace Economy is providing the necessary answer to the claims of senators and congress members that they cannot shift funding from weapons to human needs because weapons mean jobs. While we know theoretically that non-military investment creates more and better-paying jobs while avoiding all the damage done by unnecessary weaponry, until local communities demand conversion from swords to ploughshares, and local workers demand conversion from swordmakers to ploughmakers, mere facts are not going to get in the way of legislators' loyalties. If other communities follow Woodstock in pursuing a peace economy, we just might all live to tell about it."

Monday, November 14, 2011

New study links TCE with Parkinson's Disease

TCE, which is contaminating Woodstock's groundwater thanks to the carelessness of the local weapons contractor, has long been known to be extremely poisonous, linked with cancer, heart defects, liver and kidney disease, and more. Now a study published in the Annals of Neurology has found a six-fold increase in the risk of Parkinson's disease among people exposed to the chemical. Another civilian legacy of the war economy...