This Blog on Hiatus

This blog is on hiatus until May or June 2010. If you are looking for information on the upcoming annual gathering, click here. For information on the annual gathering that happened New Mexico in 2009, click here.

Message from Cuba

For fun the really late GPS corodinates are something like n 36.04039
by w 106.78108. I finally got to the library here at Cuba.. All the
clean up has been done for over a week now maybe 2 weeks and the
final trash also. The abandoned cars (last 2) the head on collisions
were towed off for free Aug. 2 by a local thanks to a San Diegan named
AXX who found a yard with wrecks and tow vehicles. And old
SXX car got fixed. So now it is formally all over and a great
cleanup. The trash was out a week earlier than expected, the earliest
EVER. I have the sign off sheet it was given to us even before the
last 2 vehicles were towed. One is mailed to GXX I gave one to
MXX I still have 2 and I gave one to VXXwho said he'd mail a copy
to PXX. We in all had at least 4 tows for free and we fixed the
FXX bus at some cost and another car at some cost. Then SXXX
and RXX tyranny at also a cost but not bad. SXX got
fixed by VXX of Lovin Oven and Barking lot and shuttle, she got
her own parts, timing belt etc and computer work. The site looks
great. I logged Telegraph hill (high wholly) and Handicamp to slow
down traffic for growth. The F.S. locals will later cut and log all
roads in. This was a project planned long before we arrived. They
attempted to halt all traffic a few years ago. The grass has grown
immensely and over 5 inches in some areas. SCROLL camps fire pit has
a 5 " growth. Even the roads have lots of grass especially near Trade
Circle. Hundreds of aggressive cows and bulls chased us and our dogs
all over the place. An elk was spotted and lots of birds and also
Ravens everywhere. So all is well. The local thrift shop came up
several times to find stuff out of our trash and to be social. Many
many locals came up to help and visit. I went to the County Fair and
all were cordial. The Cuba News will allow me to print a thank you as
we sometimes do, only this time for free, if I get to it on time.
They also want fotos and may give us an entire page. I'm guessing all
of you heard of DXXX from Calm ripping off the family and supply /
bank $ as well as robbing LXXX and PXXX as well as many others.
We were all shocked we all knew he was a bit disturbed but never
expected that. As the reports go he has done similar actions to other
groups also. Even the local health inspectors were surprised yet did
not trust him from the beginning due to his arrogance and erratic
behavior. However he sort of fooled everyone. You can send this out
to anyone or edit it as you wish. I will be in town for a few more
days then off to see N.M. etc.

Cleanup Letter from USFS

The clean up letter is here:

Page 1
http://www.karinzirk.com/rainbow/Cleanup_ltr_2009_p1.jpg

Page 2
http://www.karinzirk.com/rainbow/Cleanup_ltr_2009_p2.jpg

Please download and distribute.

Looks like cleanup is about done.

Saturday, July 25,2009 there were 9 vehicles remaining on site. Two
were being worked on (transmission replacement on one, timing chain
on the other). The last of the necessary parts had been delivered to
the parts store in Cuba and had been picked up. The last of the water
pipe was being wrapped and loaded. All of the trash had been removed
and recycled or taken to the transfer station.

The interior of the site was growing back beautifully. The late
afternoon downpours - called the 'monsoon season' here in New Mexico
- has come early this year. This has meant that our crews have faced
heavy rainstorms that last only a half hour or so. And that has
soaked the ground, meaning that where we have scarified and duffed
the soil, green plants have poked up and are growing abundantly.all
native species. So in all the high-use areas there is already green
groundcover. It's very beautiful. All the trails have been
re-naturalized. And there have been waterbars put where there is
chance for erosion. The FS has walked thru several times and I think
they like what they see. All the items on our mutual list have been done.

When I left the site yesterday evening the cleanup was in its final
phase: exiting the operating plan area. Everyone remaining was
aligned with a vehicle. There was one cleanup community firepit and
two small warming fires remaining. Heavy rains or something
unforeseen could slow the exit down. But I think we have done a sweet
job leaving Parque Venado and its surrounding woodlands.

Cleanup stuff

NM Rainbow Gathering Cleanup, Friday, July 18, 2009

There were about 120 people onsite yesterday evening. Just about
everyone was working busily on cleanup. Youngsters and oldsters
moving over the landscape with the telltale signs of Cleanup Crew: a
trashbag tied to the waist, falling apart gloves and a tool or bucket
in hand. In the morning we had a family cleanup council. Folks came
from just about every remaining campsite and we all talked about our
various plans for finishing cleanup and packing ourselves out. There
are five vehicles which either need help or have been abandoned.
Pretty much everyone is aligned with a running vehicle for exiting.

The inside of the site is looking 'almost 100%.' Regular late
afternoon showers have helped the high-use areas start greening up
already. Most of the trails were disappeared and all the fire pits
and kitchen areas vanished, scarified and re-duffed.

There is still population along the road by the trailheads and
handicamp - where cleanup is still centered, but that is all planning
to relocate to a different area so the trailhead/handicamp zone can
be re-naturalized too.

On last Monday the 13th we did a long walking tour with the FS
Resource Team and together identified areas that needed work. I'd say
we were in agreement about what was already done to high standards
and what still required attention. Except for what's along the road,
most of the walkthrough's list has been accomplished.

There was probably less overall 'Trash': mixed bags that find
themselves transported to the recycling areas than we've had in the
past. And almost every one of those was opened, gone thru and sorted
for recycling. The glass, metal, aluminum and #1 and #2 plastics
have been transported to recycle stations in Albuquerque and the
non-recyclable has been taken to the transfer station in Cuba,
NM where we have made an arrangement to pay for the excess dumpster
space used. Kitchens have set aside cases of unopened foods for the
local food bank. Warm clothing and blankets left behind are being
dried out, folded and accepted by a local service that can distribute
these next fall.

More later next week.

Consensus for 2010 is East Coast

Consensus at 4:40 pm July 9th, 2009 in Vision Council at Venado Parque meadow, New Mexico for the annual Rainbow Gathering, July 1-7 2010:

New Hampshire, Vermont, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, Kentucky.

Preacher Mike in Accident enroute to gathering

If you're in or near Albuquerque, please stop at the UNM hospital and visit Mike. He apparently has some spinal injuries. Ask for Michael Cardinal.

Updated on July 7th in AM - went to the hospital - he's been released and is heading home.

Update from the land

Mobile post sent by nmgathering using Utterli.  Replies.  mp3

Cops

126 and 69

Cops at 69 and 126

Cops at 69 and 126 cell at welcome home

LEO Harrassment

There has been a lot communication here in NM with the Governor's
office, with Sentators Bingaman and Udall, with US Representative Ben
Lujan and with, of course the admin people in Forest Service.

Everyone is "Looking into it." Everyone says they are "concerned." Etc.

It comes as little surprise to me, and to most at the site. but, also
as usual, it's a shocker to the Admin people who thought all along
that whatever direction they gave would be listened to.

Jeff is, as might be expected, just furious over the FS Leo
harrassment, especially after all the promises the FS admin made
about controlling their Leo's this year.

The FS admin people who we have been working with since last fall --
and who have been tremendously pleased by how we've worked with their
resource folks so far, and worked co-operatively on site selection --
they say they have issued new and more clear instructions to Leo's.
And they say that Regional Forester Corbin Newman is also very upset
that his direct instructions about leo behavior have not been
followed. They say he spent a lot of yesterday with the admin in D.C.
to get his backup together to challenge the leo power here and to get
his authority listened to. We'll see who's holding the reins soon.

LEO Stuff

FS Leo's came upon a large group of people camped along the "J" Road
- FS 70J. This was an area okayed for parking and camping by FS
Resource people. The officers ordered everyone to pack up and leave
their campsites because supposedly there was a rare Goshawk nesting
along there. The truth is that the Goshawk nest that the resource
people found was in a potential (as yet unused) parking area about
two miles away. This was a ruse by the officers to intimidate a group
of people to take down their camps and move for no real reason. There
were a lot of witnesses. I listened to two of them describe the
bullying way in which the order to move was given.

Dogs

There was a change made by IC put in the Operating Plan one day
without consult w/ any rainbows saying that dogs had to be onleash.
This fellow gets ticketed for dog-off-leash that day. The next day,
after discussion, the leash paragraph gets changed then it gets
changed again and by now it's something I think everyone can live
with (dogs ok off leash if under voice control; but dogs onleash on
the roads [rio arriba county ord.]). But this poor guy will have to
appear in court in albq on monday. He was ticketed the only day there
was a dogs-on-leash clause -- put in by the Leo IC before any
discussion and they went into the site, found some fellow who had no
idea the op plan had been changed and they ticket him! How on earth....?

LEOs

The Sandoval County Sheriffs drive by, walkabout and so do the State Patrol. But with them it's "Hey how are you doing?" "How's your Gathering?" "Keeping dry?" A wave and a smile and they are talking with people who are parking volunteers, radio volunteers, C.A.L.M (medical) volunteers, etc. getting to know these people so that if there is some real emergency or security issue we can work together. The FS Leo's have made no working connections with the emergency Rainbow crews.

Mobile post sent by nmgathering using Utterli.  Replies.

Document all interactions with the LEOs

_*Tips for documenting:*_

1) While the event is in progress, write everything down that you can.
Let them see you taking notes. If you can't capture it all during the
event, do it as soon as possible afterwards, as memory of details fades
rapidly.

2) Remain non-emotional in your documentation, and don't editorialize.
Such comments as "They violated my rights!" may be true, but they are
completely unhelpful in documentation for legal purposes. The courts
don't really care about opinions, just facts.

3) Note the date and time

4) Note where the event happened, with road numbers and mileages if
possible. Note whatever traffic control signs you have seen (Stop signs,
slow signs, speed limit signs).

5) Note, in detail, what you see as you approach a "safety check" or
other LEO activity.

6) Note whether all cars are being stopped, every fourth car, random
cars, or whatever. (This matters!)

7) Note what the uniforms looked like--what color, what insignia

8) Note whatever identifiers there are--badges identifying agency,
number, name of officer

9) Note what you can about rank: it may say so on the badge, or the
color of the badge might hold some information down the line for
attorneys to determine whether it was a line officer or someone with
supervisory or management authority. There might also be indications on
the shoulders, arms, or other parts of the uniform. Not how many stars,
bars, or sripes on the chevrons there are. This may make no sense to
you, but it could matter down the line.

10) Write down *everything* that is said, on both sides, whether or not
it seemed important at the time. What seems unimportant to you may
actually make a difference in a suit for injunction.

11) Write down everything you see. Try to keep it in time sequence.
Remember the rules of journalism: Who, what, where, when, and how. Leave
out conjectures about why. They only muddy the waters.

12) Write down who else was there. How many LEOs, how many vehicles.
Note if they are in marked or unmarked cars. Note what the color of
their vehicle is. Note whatever emergency equipment is on the vehicle.

13) Note if it appeared that there was more than one agency involved.
You can't always tell from the cars, but you can usually deermine if the
uniforms/badges/patches are different.

13) As best as you can, note the attitude: loudness of voice; physical
demeanor. Were they helpful and friendly? Neutral? Cold and distant but
not threatening? Hostile and threatening?

14) If there is any abusive, discourteous, or demeaning language, write
it down word for word.

15) If there is any use of force, write down exactly what you saw. Once
again, as difficult as it may be, try to keep emotionality out of it.

16) If you ask for a badge number, do so courteously, calmly and in a
normal tone of voice. If they refuse, don't argue with them. Note down
exactly how they state their refusal, and let them see that you are
writing down what they say.

_*Above all, when you are in the position of documentarian, don't
argue, yell, or interfere with them in any way. Don't get so close that
they have an excuse to mess with you, but get as close as you can in
order to see, hear, and/or film. If they tell you to move back, move back.

If they insist that you move on, weigh your own safety needs against the
probability that non-compliance might yield some valuable information.

*__*Be respectful even if you don't feel they deserve it. *_

Cop scene

Here are accounts which I received from eyewitnesses, each of whom I
spoke to myself.

Individuals 1 and 2 described the movement of a group of ten to
twelve Forest Service Leo's thru the encampment in the dark. The
officers followed a footpath to several different campfires where
people were sitting and shone bright flashlights into all the peoples
faces and eyes. When asked why this was being done sometimes the
answer was "Shut up!" and once one of they officers said they were
looking for someone. When they were asked "Who?" an officer replied,
"It's none of your business." When someone came over to them to ask
what was going on that person had weapons (pepper guns) aimed at them
and was commanded to back off. People were terrified but everyone
just put up with it. These were the same type pepper guns used at Kid
Village last July 3rd.

Individual 3 described a group of about 10 FS Leo's moving thru the
drop off area where there were many vehicles and people, loading and
unloading gear. As they came by one large white bus which was parked
there, one of the officers said he smelled marijuana. He and other FS
Leo's went into the bus. No one was on the bus, the bus owners
weren't there. They searched the whole bus. They found no contraband.
They left the bus.

Individual 4 described watching two FS Leo vehicles speed (est 45mph)
down the crowded section of FS 70 near the drop off with their lights
twirling. They stopped along the road below a small camp. They got
out of their vehicles and moved quickly up the hill to the camp.
Family came to see what was happening. The officers were telling the
people there that their camp was 'dirty' and to clean it up right
away. The people there were frightened and began rolling and folding
some material (bedding? tarp? clothes?) and the officers left. No one
still knows what that was about, except that the exact same thing
happened at welcome home/front gate, in Wyoming 2008.

Individual 5 described being stopped at a checkpoint along FS 69
three times. Once in the middle of the afternoon, he was told he was
driving without his lights on. The next time he was told he was
speeding and the next time he was told he had run a stop sign --
where there wasn't one. He never received any tickets, nor written
warning. He said he was undetered and had just taken to driving the
road with his license, registration and insurance card in his lap.

Individual 6 described being stopped at the same checkpoint and
seeing several other vehicles also stopped there. One vehicle was
stopped for failing to use their turn signal. That car was being
searched. One car was stopped - they were told - because they had a
'dirty license plate.' The officers ran dogs around the cars and said
they had positive hits for drugs. They searched the vehicles. In one
of the four vehicles there they found a small amount of marijuana and
issued a ticket for that.

I witnessed two people stopped at the checkpoint whose vehicle had
been searched. It appeared that the couple was not being issued a ticket.

These are just a few of a much larger number incidences that have
already occurred. I heard about many more, but I report here only
those where I spoke with an eyewitness participant.

People are frightened that some fool will do something foolish and we
end up with terrible results. Most people onsite think these Leo's
are just anxious for that to happen so a calamity can be precipitated
to spoil the event.

The Sandoval County Sheriffs drive by, walkabout and so do the State
Patrol. But with them it's "Hey how are you doing?" "How's your
Gathering?" "Keeping dry?" A wave and a smile and they are talking
with people who are parking volunteers, radio volunteers, C.A.L.M
(medical) volunteers, etc. getting to know these people so that if
there is some real emergency or security issue we can work together.
The FS Leo's have made no working connections with the emergency
Rainbow crews.

Town Meeting Review

The town meeting went really beautifully. There was a lot of
connecting talk between fire, health, emt, store owners, citizens and
rainbow participants. The fs resource did apowerpoint presentation
about the gathering in tp in '95 that was wonderfully positive. They
said what a good cleanup we did, how we worked with local folks,
ranchers, merchants and kept the environmental impact to a minimum.
they praised the cleanup and had great pictures of rehabs crews at
work. The dvd disc with the merchants and townspeople from previous
years that was cvompiled and sent to us was a big hit. We showed it
on a big screen and the packed house applauded at the end. It's a
really well-done and effective video. Thanks to all who helped put
that together.Lots of people spoke. the Cuba citizens asked really
good sensible questions. About a dozen or more Rainbow participants
spoke. C.A.L.M., Shanti Sena, Firewatch, Parking, Hygeine were all
discussed. Many more mingled with everyone before a!
nd after answering questings, doing the meet and greet . It was a
very good scene. Mayor Velarde (who ran the meeting and moderated)
kept the topic to the concerns of the town and away from Gatherers'
issues with the FS. One welcome home volunteer gave fair warning to
the townspeople that driving up 'there' they should watch their own
speed, seat-belt use, turn-signal use, open container issues because
there was a new kind of police up those roads that wasn't usually
there. He got a round of applause and thanks for that.

Incident Command

According to a local news report, the Incident Command will be
setting up shop in Cuba, NM. The Incident Commander is Gene Smithson
(same as last year).

NO BUSINESS AS USUAL in the Santa Fe National Forest...

PEACEFUL protests planned at Albuquerque and Santa Fe...Just about
Everywhere to stop this act of terrorism against our family as we come
home!!!

Southwestern Region Department of Agriculture
Regional Office
333 Broadway SE
Albuquerque, NM 87102
FAX (505) 842 3800

Santa Fe
National Forest
1474 Rodeo Road
Santa Fe, NM 87505
Phone:(505) 438-7840
Fax:(505) 438-7834

LEOs terrorizing with dogs, guns, via a checkpoint charlie setup
impacting... our children..in a bad way akin to the attack on kid
village in wyoming in 2008

as long as this happens.. as long as the rainbows can't just go to the
gathering... and there is this LEO terrorizing ... then PEACEFUL
PROTESTS are planned..we caused no business as usual to happen in the
streets of dallas, atlanta, miami, seattle, sf, berkeleu!!! hey we are
everywhere!!!

No business as Usual...PEACEFUL protests at the governors mansion, at
the plaza, on the roads in and out of santa fe... LETS TAKE A STAND
ASSERTING OUR FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS!!!!

people, on their way to gathering, stop and PEACEFULLY protest the
treatment by the incident command team leos.... ITS TIME TO TAKE A
STAND !!!THE LEOS CANT CONTINUE THE HARASSMENT

the resource people are good, and the townspeople of Cuba, and the
people of new mexico are being respectful... but please urge President
Obama, and Gov Richardson to call on the federals to stop...
harassing the gatherings...Call the white House at 202-456-1414!!!

We did stop them in texas in 1988 with the ho chi minh trail thru the
forest negating any leo blockades!!WELL I CANT MAKE IT HOME DUE TO
ILLNESS BUT I WANT TO SEE MY FRIENDS GET THERE SAFELY!!!
THE LEOS WILL NOT BREAK THE CIRCLE OF PEACE

FLY THE RAINBOW PEACE FLAG!!!
ALL REVOLUTIONARIES EXPRESS YOUR SOLIDARITY

a Checkpoint Charlie situation

according to folks who just come from Site:

(1) on Forest Road 69.... TODAY... a Checkpoint Charlie situation...
every vehicle is being stopped... asked for their papers... i.e.
registration, insurance, etc..
AND THEN, ASKED FOR MARIJANA?.. have you marijuana in the vehicle...?

7-8 LEOs, up to 12.. mainly young, (likely newbees)... polite, but rigid...

After asking about Marijuana, then, DOG is walked around... hit is
determined, Search... \

apparently, some 7 Police Dog Vehicles

FOR TODAY, the rec is to travel up 126, take a turn on 70, follow 70
all the Way to Welcome Home... (things likely change day to day)

(2) LEO INVADE AT NIGHT... a new scene... 10-12 LEOs come in at
Night, surround a camp WITH PAINT-BALL GUNS, etc...
Claim to be looking for someone.... then SEARCH, HARASS the
Camp... two nights now this has happened...

(3) LEOs, during the day... drive fast down Road.. several
vehicles.. then, suddenly roll up to a Camp... get out.. walk in,
Search the Camp.. and then, make Claims the Camp is DIRTY... CLEAN IT
UP... WE WILL BE BACK... issue a LITTER TICKET...

(4) they are (at times) RAIDING DROP OFF AREA... also...

OTHER GATHERING NEWS...

Parking is "tricky" but plentiful... a meadow where many,
many vehicles could park has some "technical problems' but this is
being worked out with Resource... who have been really cooperative...

(about a 1, 000 or so folks on-Site...) Nice, horseshoe shaped
meadow... good drinking water...

Town Meeting went well... things seem good with the Town, and the
Forest Service Resource were cool...

and QXXX, Front Gate , successfully shared the information
that LOCAL FOLKS, as well as Rainbowers, need to be very carefull..
make sure they don't have open containers... seatbelts on, their
paperwork etc... because LEOs are going after the LOCALs as well as
"family"...
[[this happened last year in Wyom 2008.. also]]

please have a safe road Home,

Watch out for LEOs

Yes resource is best ever. Leo is as bad as ever cat and mouse
despite the permit as we stated permits are no easier on us. As years
past they follow you find any reason to stop you even if need to
invent one then sorry if find you in compliance. Then once stopped
they get the dog out claim it gave the positive hit sign thus do not
need permission to search. If find nothing after making a mess and a
lost hour and traffic jam they say you must have at one time picked
up a passenger who at one time was holding. Totally bogus. I saw the
dogs a few times and I happen to know the positive signal No such
signal was present. Just excuse to search illegally feeling that some
will be a positive HIT. Total scam. PS town is very friendly. Road is
nice but SCARY thin and blind curves and killer drop off edges if on
coming car swerves. I take 103 then 70 better rd few miles longer.

Parking

Probably the first 800-1000 vehicles will be in small clusters along
FS 70 where there are many places for 6 or 8 or so vehicles to pull
off the road, and roadside parking for many many more. Then there
will be a much larger parking area on the other side of the junction
of FS 70 and FS 69. That's about 2 miles from the trailhead drop off
point. There's a good Handicamp this year and Tom is already dug in
there. They are working on making the route from Handicamp to the
Main Meadow easier each day - with more trail work. Shuttle is
working on smoothing a road to a Bus Village site but for now all the
busses (there were about 20 onsite last night) are just pulling well
off-road near to the drop-off and trailheads. So far it's been very
smooth parking. Everyone's gotta remember "All Four Off the Road" --
meaning tires really off the roadway. There haven't been any tickets
or even warnings about this -- yet. But that will be an issue and
people who don't lissen to the parking crew's advice will get
ticketed or towed. So far it's been sooooo good.

permit

The FS says they have received another application for a special use
permit for the gathering, which they have accepted and they have
issued a permit. The person who applied has signed for this permit
and at this time who this person is is unkown to us. In any case the
gathering in the eyes of the law is completely legal.
Peace on - come on home.

Message from G

The gathering is beautiful come on home. The FS has denied my
applicaton for an alternative accomodation because of no signature by
a representative. We are working with FS resource people, health
people, water people, archeology people, fire people and all of that
is going wonderfully. We have a working ongoing operating
plan. Kitchens are setting up, kid village is going in, water pipe
being layed, everybody is having a wonderful time - come on home.

Spring Council

Spring Council starts June 10 near Cuba, New Mexico.

Directions from Albuquerque:

Take I-25 north to U.S. Highway 550. Go north on U.S. Highway 550
approximately 65 miles to State Highway 126 (Cuba, NM).

Go east about 15 miles on State Highway 126, look for the sign for FS
20, (the 'G.S.' sign is there also), turn onto FS 20, cross Rio Las
Vacas, come to Trail Creek about five miles from where the pavement
ends. Travel safely.

Welcome

This site was developed to allow people at the Rainbow Gathering in New Mexico to leave voice mail messages on issues of critical
importance. The site also supports voice to text messages and allows
people with cell service to upload photos, audio and video that can be seen by anyone viewing this site. This is an experiment. We'll see how it plays out. Hopefully the gathering will be uneventful, but if it's not, we can upload information on what happens and people in towns can use that information to come home safely.

Be the change you wish to see in this world.