MY LIFE AS A FISHERWOMAN has taught me one thing, that there are no seas with lines and divisions. So similarly if there is a border that separates me as an American from the anguish and sorrow of my sisters and brothers in Bhopal and their fight for justice, then that line is a false and lying one. All the great religion teach that we are one. One woman's pain is a pain to all. An injustice to one, is an injustice to all. Bhopal is a symbol of the unfinished business of justice that lies before all mankind and the struggle should never be abandoned.

Diane Wilson

Day One

Hello All, This is right before I start my second day at the gate of Dow in Seadrift, Texas. Several things happened yesterday. I talked with several workers from the plant and also the Puplic Affairs Leader, Kathy Hunt, came over to my pickup truck where I am carring the hunger strike. One worker told me to Go Home. Dow didn't care if I starved. They didn't care for the worker so why should they care for me. Another worker detailed quite a few incidents that had happened at the plant in his years there. One incident was about "stinky ditch" that ran parallel to the drinking water supply of the county. these two were about l5 feet apart. he said a worker fell in the "stinky ditch" and swallowed some of the water and died six months later.

It is well known among the workers that many things were dumped into "stinky ditch", hence the name. Also he said, Dow was making a lot of money. there are about l0 or l2 units at the plant and each one makes about a million and a half dollars a week. The oxide unit made two million dollars a week.

The public affairs lady said when I had commented on how little money the people in Bhopal had received (500 dollars) that 500 dollars was real good money for them. Also regarding the warrant that had been placed on Warren Anderson and he had ignored, the PR person said, "Well, maybe the warrant wasn't any good."

Folks, I think we got a double standard going on. anyhow, send ya'll more this evening when i return. Love diane

Diane's widely published opening statement to the press (Word doc)

Day Two

Hi All, Im holding up fine and dandy. It's pretty hot, though and the plant likes to put out an emission or two or three. probably benzene.

Arrive at the plant gate around sun up. About 30 minutes later, the Public Affairs Leader, Kathy Hunt shows up. So you're here again, she says. She said she had called higher up like I had suggested the day before. She talked with John Musser, Public Policy Director who is located at Dow's Midland headquarters. She said Musser was specifically involved with the Bhopal issue. She named the groups on the press release I had given her the day before and asked him if he recognized them and he said, yes, he knew those groups. he had talked with them but they didn't want to hear what he had to say.

I asked the PR lady how come Dow didn't accept the liabilites of Bhopal like they had accepted the liablities of Union Carbide in the USA. She said Carbide's liablity ended when they sold the subsidiary, Carbide India, Ltd. The case was closed. The settlement had been reached. I said but the most those people who suffered in Bhopal received was 500 dollars and I compared it to the recent l0 million dollar settlement given to a family in the USA.

She said, " That's 500 AMERICAN dollars. That translates into a lot in India."

I said that wasn't near enough and how come Dow just couldn't do the morally right thing. Then she said, But we are legal, and yes, as for morally, maybe not.

Then I asked her how come Dow didn't clean up the contamination left over. She said, "But we have SOLD the plant." And I said but in the USA under Superfund Law, if a company sells a plant or land that has contamination on it, they are still liable. And Kathy Hunt said, " But that's an AMERICAN law! It only applies in America. That 's not a law over there."

I also asked the PR lady why didn't UCC give the people of Bhopal the health studies of MIC and what it could do and how to treat it. Kathy said, "Why the citizens in West Virginia who have some MIC have those documents. We gave that information to them. They can get the information from the West Virginia citizens."

Forgot to get a shade for the pickup and Dow put out at least 3 releases before noon. It was plenty hot. Finally near 3 PM, i went and sat inside the truck. .

Day Three

Third Day: July 20, Saturday
Only a skeleton crew at the Dow plant today. I arrived at 7AM, about
the same time as the workers and the welcome I get is a chemical release from the plant. For the first time since the strike, I put up a tarp over the back end of the truck. The only fatigue I have experienced is from the heat
which reaches about 95.

I put up posters I've made on the side of the truck and the series of
posters that Indra made talking of the Terror Twins and Dow, You're Liable, I prop up in a special place by the side of the road. A woman worker comes by the truck and stops, takes some information and shakes my hand. She pointed out a tower and said, "See that. They have a camera there watching everything you do." Then she laughed and said, "You're making them real nervous."

She's the only worker that stops. The Public Affairs Leader, Kathy Hunt
is on vacation so our conversations have stopped for awhile. I forgot to get
newspapers today, so I reread all the emails I have got and the articles
on Bhopal. Later in the day a relative stops and says he heard Dow's stock
dropped 480 points and gives me the phone number of a Mexican activist in
town. I call her up and we talk about the issues in Bhopal and the
international hunger strike. She said to send her some information via
the email and she would see what she could do from Mexico.

The rest of the day is quiet and the heat is intense. Nobody stops
although a lot of workers go past real slow and wave at me. Some just stare. I eventually find the reason for the sudden quietness. I meet a Dow worker in town later in the day and he said the word was out all over the plant--from management on down. She is not broke down. She is protesting. Do Not stop and talk to her. ....so we've got their attention, folks.

Day Four

It's early Sunday morning and me and another activist, Kristin
Rothballer, from California arrive at the plant gate and set up the truck.
I can whip up the tarp in 2 seconds flat now. The plant is working with a
skeleton crew again and a terrible chemical release is coming across the
fence line. There is almost one release an hour until noon and a couple
are noxious enough to make you physically ill. A train runs back and forth on
some nearby rails and any attempt at talking is drowned out by the noise.
Don't know what they're carring in the rail carts. maybe loading Poly. A
worker on the first day told me that Dow produces a million pounds of poly
a day and the going price is three dollars a pound. somebody is sure making
a lotta money.

Couple former workers drop by. One former employee who worked at the
plant on asbestos and now is peddling shrimp off the road is suing Carbide for
all the asbestos exposure. He said he couldn't work at the plant anymore but
he sure could sell those suckers shrimp. He remarked how another worker who
never even worked in the asbestos area sued the company and now was
receiving thousands of dollars.

Another recent employee who had been laid off by Dow with the new
merger, said Dow didn't care about the worker and they would rather pay fines than fix things. He said he was a few years off from retiring with 75 percent
of his pay and Dow wouldn't give it to him. They layed him off and now he
has to wait 9 years to receive his retirement. Another worker had two months
to retirement and the company wouldn't give it to her either.

At the end of the day, a carload of people drove by slow. They stared
at all our posters and didn't wave. Then they whirled around in the middle
of the street and a man yelled at us, "Get a life!"

From Kristin Rothballer

Well, I've never spent a day much like today, sitting in front of a chemical plant, with water, friendship and words to sustain me. And in so doing, I must say that my respect for and trust in Diane and all of us has expanded even more exponentially. Persistence, community and the willingness to make sacrifices...

Apparently, word of Diane's protest made it to the offices of the Dow/UC head honchos, and the workers have been instructed not to talk to us...goddess forbid they receive information about bloodstains in Bhopal!

Some workers drive by and wave, others shake their head at us, and you can almost hear them through their breath saying "stupid women." HA, we are the farthest thing from stupid! Some people stopped, mostly people that knew
Diane. We did get a visit from a laid off worker who told us "Dow doesn't care about people..." Another car full of old folk pulled up close, we smiled and waved, the women in the back seat almost nodded, but it was clear that the instruction from the men in the front seat was not to engage.

They pulled away, turned around, and the gentleman in the driver's seat yelled out "Get a life!" as they drove away. Really, sir, I've got a fine life and wouldn't choose to be anywhere else at this moment. It's truly awefull
that so many people cannot see beyond their own life.
The plant was releasing chemicals, benzene most likely, about once an hour during the first part of the day. We knew because of the terrible, nauseating smell. Not fun to breathe in those moments. The clanging and clattering of metal makes you really wonder what the hell is going on in that sprawling mess...a network of tubes and stacks that extends for acres.

It's a bigass ugly place. One thing that really cracked me up was the "Clean Texas 2000" emblem painted on one of the stacks in the forefront with green cupped hands painted above. Part of what Diane says was about a $10M PR campaign to show the world how much they care. Apparently, when the trees were dying and brown in the plant's driveway, and they were getting ready for a token inspection visit, they SPRAY PAINTED THE TREES HUNTER GREEN! Yeah, that will bring them back to life!

On the front of Diane's pickup truck, we've got a big florescent sign that says, Remember Bhopal. On the side we've got one demanding Dow clean up & pay up. By the back of the truck, we've got some sent by Indian activists in London, with photos, personal accounts, information, etc. Then there's us, hot under the tarp, blown by the wind, really getting to know each other.

It's a beautiful thing to sit with Diane in the back of her truck along highway 185 in Calhoun County, Texas. If you have the chance, I'd highly recommend it. One of the many things we talked about today was mysticism. There is something deeply mystical about trusting and understanding that what we do in Texas has an effect on people's lives in Bhopal, India, and everywhere. There doesn't appear to many people that there is a practical, or direct connection. That old man who shouted at us to get a life thinks we're just wasting our time. I don't. This matters. Diane, you're a wise teacher and a fiercely courageous woman.

Thank you for all of the work you are doing to get the word out about this, it's critical. I've joined Diane in fasting, until I leave tomorrow evening.
I offer much love to y'all... Kristin

Day Five

Well, the plant was in rare form today. Somebody was having an upset
(problems in the process) and there was one continual chemical release
and fire balls and black smoke (an environmental offense by the way, but is
Dow telling) was spitting out of the incinerators. My friend, Kristin
Rothballer from California, and I were at the gate at 6:45 and started handing out fliers to the workers as they came in. All we did was a little smile and
a wave with our fliers. We didn't have a whole lot of fliers because i was
trying to print them out on my printer at home and it was slow, but we did
have enough to start blanketing the plant with information. Most of the
workers looked alarmed at being met, but some stopped and rolled down
their windows and took the infomration. some was managment i'm sure checking to see what in the heck we were doing out there for five days. i ordered hundreds of more fliers and come Day Seven I will blanket the plant again.

Bhopal lives in Texas. You will NOT be forgotten!

Day Six

Sweltering hot, no wind, trains moving. A truckload of workers come by
and slowly examine my signs. one finally gets out and i hand him the
information on Bhopal. Today the cell phone is my company. I have three interviews, one from California, another from Washington, D.C, and a third from India and all of them are before noon. Kristin Rothballer has flown back to California but i have received emails from various women who are heading for Texas and Dow's gate. One promises a party and we can decorate the truck. I've got two signs on the truck now: one in front and another on the door, but i sure could use some creative ideas to make it attractive to the customers that come by. Usually, Indra's (from London) poster is what catches their attention. Another worker stops by. He's seen my truck for 3 days in a
row and wants to know what Im doing. Not surprised he doesn't know. Local
press is not going to cover this story. The editor and publisher of the local newspaper is a former Chamber of Commerce vice president and all Chamber
of Commerce is interested in is jobs jobs jobs, no matter the cost.

Day Seven

Trains moving everwhich way, left to right, right to left. wind is coming
off the bay and helps a little on the heat. a member of my local
enviromental group shows up and she takes picture of my truck and me in
the cowboy hat. train has blocked a view of the plant for the moment. All
the pictures of the fireballs and black smoke shooting from the incenerators
didn't turn out so looks like I'll have to start afresh. or else get
another camera.

A union worker from Texas City called and he has been spreading the
news to the union officials in Texas City. The union is PACE, which is a merger
of the Paperworkers and the Oil Chemical and Atomic Workers (OCAW). The
worker said that he union can provide me some support when i need it. We are thinking of an action and all of this will be helpful. When i went into
Seadrift after the time at the plant. heard the local gossip. word is
that the plant "big wigs" are hacked off about my passing out flyiers to the
workers. they're saying i was blocking traffic and aren't gonna allow it
a second time. We'll see. --Diane

Day Eight

Finally a wind today. And I got company too. Carolyn Raffensperger, from
Iowa, has driven 1300 miles almost non stop to get here. She has a feather
bed in the trunk and a box full of books. We are in hog heaven. Sitting here waving at the workers or maybe I should say management as they go to dinner in town. Workers are sitting in the shade of a pipe eating lunch from a lunch box.

We have received a call from Kinnu, in Houston, an Indian activist, and she is coming down with several Greenpeace activists. Now won't it get lively around here.

Also had a call from some Unreasonable Women and they are getting in touch with some share holder activists. We are calling her back soon and getting that moving. Also an action is being deliberated. Made a call to the union and told them to get ready. Trains are strangely silent. Now what on earth are they up to? --Diane

Day Nine

Well, we've had a lot of company today. Passed out information to the
workers this morning and no external debate with management. They were watching me at the gate, though. Carolyn Raffensperger is here again with her wonderful Iowa mothering and caring. Putting pillows just right and water in my hand.

Want you to know as a fisherwoman I have never had this kind of treatment.

Also, Kinnu arrives from Houston. She is a old friend of Sathyu and is now
in the big ole US of A. She drives down with a couple of friends and they
spend the night next to San Antonio Bay. This morning the vistors make a huge sign to go clear across the truck:."Dow shalt take responsibility for Bhopal."

There is much more interest now in the truck. Everybody slows and now trucks from the plant come by to just view the sign. Hurrah for artists.

Holding Council with the Mystic:
Day nine of the Seadrift Bhopal Hungerstrike

We just closed up the hunger strike site in front of the Seadrift Dow chemical plant. Diane often wears dresses for the protests. Today she wore regal purple cotton. When I returned from a break to sit with her she was reading Underhill's book "Mysticism". She doesn't need to read it to find
out how to be a mystic. Diane is a mystic. She's just finding kindred spirits in these books.

Last night three colleagues came to spend the night and make common cause with the cry for justice in Bhopal. They slept out on the porch of the house of our gracious host. Leaving the doors open, they found an opposum
investigating the kitchen at 4:00 in the morning. It was probably the same opposum who says good night to me as I head for the writer's studio in back of the house. Opposums and mystics, we need the full cast of characters for
this drama.

This morning we helped set up the tarp over the truck. Its a little more physical labor than someone who hasn't eaten in nine days might muster. So those of us who are here to be with Diane actually have something worthwhile to do. Then our friends took a roll of Dian's wallpaper and made a banner
for the side of the truck. UnReasonable Women have many uses for these common household items. (Actually, I will be in Texas in Sept. keynoting the National Hazardous Waste Conference. The other featured speaker is Heloise,
who writes the syndicated column on household management. I do not jest.)

The wallpaper banner makes all the difference. It says simply “Dow shalt take responsibility for Bhopal.” Nice Biblical language with a little rolling pun on ‘Thou’.

People sometimes make extra passes by our truck to
read the signs. Now they have something they can see.
Our friend Kristin and her partner Rhea did research on the toxicants released by the Seadrift plant. We are matching those chemicals with the lists in Ted Schettler’s books on neurotoxicants and reproductive toxicants. Doesn’t look good for Seadrift. But the amazing part of this story is that
the reason we can find out what toxics are used, stored and discharged here is ‘Bhopal’! After the gassing, Congress took action to prevent a U.S. Bhopal-like accident. The result was the law commonly called Community Right to Know and the Toxics Release Inventory.

The source of nourishment during this fast is your love and generosity. So many of you have called and e-mailed. Even Sathyu, one of the Bhopal hungerstrikers, called Diane today.

It is the fast of justice but a feast of love. Diane brings her own beneficence to this feast. She welcomes everyone
into the call for justice with her customary grace and gratitude. But isn’t that what mystics do? Carolyn

Day Ten

Day Eleven

Busy day on the ponderosa (my truck). Carolyn insists on helping me put
up the tarp every morning. Im to sit in the truck till she gets there. I tell her i've been a shrimp captain and never used a deck hand and it goes right over her head. She is very stern about me conserving my energy. Todaywhile she sat and covered the fort at the plant, i went into town and rolled my 85 year old mother's hair. My mother is surrrre I will die and she rolls her eyes at me and I smile and say I will see her again tomorrow.

Our new friends from Texas A&M (Aggies!!!) come down. Drove 7 hours from College Station and they all arrive in a maroon pick up truck. (Did I mention that Texas had more pickups than any other place on earth?) They are students from India. Some have been in the United States three years and some less. They are with a group caled Association for India's Development(AID). I like their slogan (i love collecting inspiring quotes and theirs is good):

Compassion wherever there is suffering
Conviction that the compassion is strong enough to eliminate suffering.
Courage to make this conviction a reality...

We all crowd into the pickup and the wind is howling from the bay so I
have to grab the tarp and make it shut up so we can talk. One of the women with the most lovely hair has a tape recorder and she records while roaming around. is an expert in the field and they all joke about her professionalism.

When I see them, I remember why I loved India so well. The eyes of Indians have more of the soul exposed. I tell them later it's like having ten stars in my truck. Carolyn,,,ever the watchful guard of my energy.....takes them to where she's staying on the bayfront of Seadrift and I lay down and sleep and wake in the face of an old man who is watching me. He knows why I am here and wants to show me something. He takes off his shirt and his back is covered with sores. he said he was driving in his truck down the road and went through some black smoke coming out of Carbide. He immediately had a hardtime breathing, his eyes itched and his skin burned. That was five years ago he said and his back is still filled with sores. He said he has talked with Carbide people and they have lied to him 27 times. I promise to help him with research on what the health effects of the chemicals were.

It took a while to find what the chemicals were he drove through. Carbide said it was just a little diesel, but a worker who lives in seadrift came and told him the truth. The reprecussion from that was that Carbide after finding out he told gave him so few work hours that he was forced to quit. So in ways we still have the same problem. These companies are not concerned on the well being of the communities that they site their monstrous towers and pipes and incinerators, they are concerned only of profit and how to look good.

So I write all my little notes down (I have files and files of this type of wrong doing) and wait for the Indian Students who Carolyn has instructed:
TAKE DOWN HER TARP.

Day Twelve

Well folks, think we're making an impact. Where before security trucks would
go by and wave and smile (after all I was only a little protestor and wasn't
I cute.) –Now after 10 days the cuteness has wore off and additional folks
from all over the country are calling Dow and asking them questions. Why is
an Indian child worth $500 and an American 10 million? Why is there no clean
up. Why is there no rehabilitation and training? No medical information? A
Dow representative told one who called, "things are bad over there anyhow".

Well, I guess he's thinking, a little more agony won't hurt them.
Now it rains. Luckily I've changed to a tarp that's bigger and so I sit in
the slapdab middle of the back of my pickup. Got my pillows, my books, my
notes, my fliers, my water all in my lap and then wait out the rain.
A friend and radio talk show host, Caroline Casey did an interview with me.

And here's the message she just sent:
"Well, team...last week's Visionary Activist show with Diane and Hafsat was
potent in innumerable ways...Many ordered tapes of this show, including.......
heee- haaa....Dow Chemical in Michigan. We welcome their curiosity and desire
to be better informed, and are therefore (with Diane's go-ahead) inviting
them to come on the air with Diane...We extend the invitation to be
responsible members of the community of creation....We are friends of their
souls, ambassadors of their souls, reminding them of the point of life which
is not humorless, rapacious cruel greed, but creating the most beautiful life
possible...

Meanwhile let's keep remembering that the coyote truth-revealing muti is in
the White House, and that whatever Shrub thinks about is where the truth
emerges. And let's remember, we want Cheney indicted first (because we are
the friends of his soul.) And further furthermore, here follows more appalling corporate behavior (we are appalled but not surprised). Also, friends, who check out such things, tell me that in major toy stores, the latest GI Joe accessory is a Camp X-ray kit, with little barb-wire cages in which to keep other humans....No shame...

We invite remorse.
Perpetual Woof!,
Caroline
(aka Wolfa WoofWrath!!!!!)"

July 29th, Day 13. From Carolyn

Pilgrimage for Justice: Devotional Visits
Buffeted by the winds. Sometimes the flapping tarp, roar of trucks and train
whistles prevented us from hearing our own voices on the hunger strike pickup
truck. We leaned in to hear each other. Nine people gathered to be present
for Diane, to bear witness to her commitment and the struggle in Bhopal, but
also to lend their own spiritual weight. A carload of Indian students from
Texas A & M came down, seeking meaning in their pilgrimage for justice. It's
a long drive. Many of the students fasted for the day. We represented
Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity as well as a few who would
checkmark "Other:. We needed a prayer rug during the day. But mostly we
needed to listen well.

When we sit together without the need to cook, set the table or do dishes, we
have time for important questions and conversations. We asked, “what or who
has most inspired you?- How do you prepare for this kind of day, for a
fast, for a commitment to justice?- We agreed laughter was in, but
consideration and preparation was important. Well - except for those who
decided in the moment to fast. In the moment is pretty key too.

Central to our conversation was the question, “how do we commit ourselves
with all of our gifts, talents, uniqueness to something larger than
ourselves?â€_ How do we know that this is "what we are most called to do?"

Some among us knew about Swadhyaya and the role of the devotional visit.
Were there ways to think about devotional visits that could inform what we
were doing today, Saturday, in Seadrift Texas committed to restoration in
Bhopal India?

And death. Hungerstrikes are about putting it all on the line, even life
itse lf. What would you have said today of your relationship to death sitting
in that circle on Diane's 11th day of hunger?

After we closed up the site for the night, I went on a small boat into the
bay. Dolphins were cavorting in the water. "Who are you?" they asked with
an eye out of the water.

Diane herself looks radiant in the morning and radiant but tired in the
afternoon.

I, for one, would say Diane and dolphins inspire me, but then again I have
always been inspired by what I love.

July 30th, Day 14. From Jodie who's taken the place of Carolyn now.

Diane and I held you this morning, feeling as the power of what you have
accepted into your life, moves through you. We were celebrating your
courage, your power, your heart and your beauty and sending you love and
respect across these vast texas flatlands into the birdsegg blue sky subdued
by bilious clouds, from under the green tarp at the back of Diane's truck
covered with banners. We are feeling everyone with us, we are blessed and
having a great ol' time.

Heroic Carolyn is off to her 19 hour drive back home. What a UnRW that one.
I am sad to see her leave as the poetry of her passion had me spellbound last
night and into my dreams. Diane blessed the gift of Carolyn's caring by
removing the earrings given to her by the women in Bhopal, Carolyn left
looking pretty glamorous.
more from the front later...
just wanted you to get that hug asap Nina.
from a heart over flowing with joy, love and gratitude to be sitting with
this beautiful Texas Mystic.

jodie The politics of forcing accountability
7/30/02
Day 14

Kristin and Carolyn have already laid tracks, it is easy to fall into what
needs to be done, their care and attention was deep. The tarp and banners
up, sunscreen and lipbalm applied we began our day as the red (from all the
chemicals) sun came over the spires of the factory. Pickup truck after
pickup truck turning off the road to work.

Trains were passing, the road was noisy, the sun was hot and we had lots to
think and talk about. I decided to seed our planning with an essay by
Arundhati Roy, we were inspired by, time to ask the in ordinary language the
public question, and to demand in ordinary language the public answer. We
need the politics of resistance, forcing accountability, slowing things down
and joining hands across the world and preventing certain destruction ...
closing the book I saw Diane grinning. So I handed her the Tao by Ursula Le
Guin and said open to a page, she opened to this...

True words aren't charming,
charming words aren't true.
Good people aren't contentious,
contentious people aren't good.
People who know aren't learned,
learned people don't know.
Wise souls don't hoard;
the more they do for others the more they have,
the more they give the richer they are.
The Way of heaven profits without destroying.
Doing without doing
is the Way of the wise.

The heart of the earth felt like it was beating in the tent, we could feel
the magic so we went to work on a plan.
How to bring the victims and injustice of Bhopal into an intimate
relationship with Seadrift and then link it to what the press is hungry for
now, corporate greed.

The date of August 15th is perfect to align with our friends in India and to
use an action to expose what is happening here that mirrors what happened and
continues to happen in Bhopal. Over the next few days we will visit places w
here the water is being contaminated, take samples and photos and collect
stories from workers. So why haven't they agreed to zero discharge I ask
Diane, we need to get them to make a statement to us before the 15th. Out of
the truck we leap, with our green and red chinese umbrellas and head for the
administration building. The sign we pass tells us this is a VERY SAFE
plant, next a sign says no cameras beyond this point. Diane asks at the
reception desk for the plant manager, he is no where to be found, a security
guard enters to watch us and then the PR woman comes to 'manage us'. She
wasn't ready for our rebuttals, we weren't going away so easily, she got very
hot and bothered and had to agree to a meeting in the morning to educate us
on Dow and their plans for zero dis charge. We need to know their story
before we move forward.

In the reception area was a newsletter with perfect language for our use.
"Zero is the only standard that we should employ, since no one should be a
safety statistic. We all want to have security and freedom from injury or
danger. To obtain zero we must have a safety awareness that is second to
none." Now they were talking about plant safety but we will extend their
intention for them, to Bhopal and the waters of Seadrift.

We could feel you all with us as we left the building a new energy in motion,
the juju with us, everything just flowing. Diane felt stronger today, it was
long and full, but as it ended for us at the plant, she was off to get food
for the family and supplies at the hardware store. You wouldn't know she was
on her 14th day of a fast, unstoppable energy, enthusiasm and passion.
I on the other hand was taken by the Angel Michael Berryhill through the
mouth and up into the most delightful little river, with hyacinths and tiny
green frogs, and fabulous dragonflies and spider lilies and the magical
flights of what looked like white cranes, (he called them something else)
against the sun falling in the sky.

We feel you with us and we feel enormously blessed.
in love and gratitude,
jodie

Day 15 - From Jodie Evans

We are scouting the bay side of carbide today in a boat with a video camera
looking for discharges trying to tie texas into bhopal for the 15. Jodie and
I went to the administration yesterday and tried to talk to the plant
manager. security showed up....they are very nervous and the pr lady is
fixing to explode....but found this interesting thing as a hand out to
workers:

DOW HAS SET A STANDARD OF "ZERO" AS THE ACCEPTABLE RATE FOR INJURIES AND INCIDENTS. WHILE THIS MAY SEEM UNREALISTIC TO SOME, IT IS THE ONLY STANDARD THAT WE SHOULD EMPLOY, SINCE NO ONE SHOULD BEE BE A SAFETY STATSTIC. WE ALL WANT TO HAVE SECURITY AND FREEDOM FROM INJURY AND OR DANGER.

Another double standard, zero at the plant, but not in communities, not in
India? anyhow handing out flyiers today. got a talk with the exploding pr.
lady. love ya, d.
------
From Jodie.

The plot thickens
7/31/02
Day 15
|
Driving the long straight highway in the gray morning light in the distance
shimmering was...OZ/Dow, can you believe it is covered with tiny lights at
night, They went off when the sun arrived which was a ghostly white this
morning. We met early to hand out flyers at the other entrance, over half
who entered rolled down their window, some looked the other way as if
something more interesting was happening to their left. Diane said we got a
better response on the contractors side than the employee side (who had been
given instructions to ignore Diane), except the women wouldn't roll down
their windows, one did and then threw it back at me. Just as we handed out
the last flyer, security drove up and caught us empty handed. They followed
us back to the truck to see what we were giving out and scolded us for being
a safety hazard (which we are not).
On the heels of this a woman arrives very emotional and starts on Diane, this
is upsetting her and she wishes it was over and this Bhopal thing caused the
ruin of her employer (UC). It was frightening for me but deeply painful for
Diane, I could feel the depth of her tears.
I set up the truck for the day, our fabulous new yellow banner taking up the
entire length and looking much more professional. We gather our thoughts to
plan for the meeting, Bhopal /Seadrift, how to make sure Bhopal doesn't get
lost in our asking for zero discharge.
We pull out Ursula for guidance.

Looking far
You don't have to go out the door
to know what goes on in the world.
You don't have to look out the window
to see the way of heaven.
The further you go
the less you know.
So the wise soul
doesn't go but knows;
doesn't look but sees;
doesn't do but gets it done

Off we go with our umbrellas for the snow job from the PR woman. She spent
the first 10 minutes giving us a lecture about how unsafe it was for us to
hand out flyers and says she will call the cops if we do it again... we
weren't going to flyer tomorrow, but who can resist that bait. We are not
breaking a law. She talked nonstop for an hour, wouldn't let us get a word
in. Didn't really give us a chance to ask our question, but in the end we
pushed it and will return friday at 10 for our answer. I noted some signs on
the wall in the conference room.

If you mess it up, please clean it up
Remember safety is our first priority

Hope you have complied with your admin group critical behavior
They aren't very good role models for what they are asking from their
employees.

Back at the truck is channel 25 from Victoria, an hour of interviews, shots
of the truck from every direction and his on camera report takes place.
Diane's mouth is so parched I am along side with sips of water between
sentences. He is a sympathetic reporter from east LA and promises more
coverage...

This just barely over the UPS man arrives, (the wonders of living in a small
community) and hands Diane a package which includes the most wonderful banner from a group in the bay area, with a love note penciled in by Kristin. We
hang it on the back of the truck and are looking fabulous!!!! It is 10:30
and we are worn out.

It takes much longer to break camp today, each day something has been added
and it gets more complex. I have to force Diane to sit still, she is weak
and has lost 2 dress sizes. We meet her EX-husband and sweet son David at
the dock on the bay and head out for a spy mission. Down the channel we go
deep into Dow's back yard. There it is, a drain with water pour ing from it,
with signs telling us to keep out. We find a few more things that look
rather suspicious and don't fit the story we were told this morning. David
takes videos and I take stills, a lawyer in Houston is reviewing Dow's
permit, the case is building.

The 15th continues to come into focus as we move forward. Nader is including
a piece on Diane in the next CitizenWorks and Hightower and his gang are
seeing how they can help. Pramilla is coming on Thursday the 8th, thank the
Goddess as Diane is getting very weak and needs the help more than ever. Our
angel Michael (he brought Diane a rose in the truck today) will take care of
her on Sat and Sunday.

Can anyone come from Sunday to Thursday???
The current needs are someone to keep track of the friendly press and make
sure they get updates, we need another press release about the 15th. We
could use the writers, we will need some punchy banners, that communicate the
message with wit and power...picture yourself on the lawn at Matilija. I
will send out an email tomorrow night feeding you the images and ideas. The
banners will have to provoke and get the message across.

I wish I could share the beauty as I sat in the boat with Diane, Leslie and
David. It was a 12 hour day for Diane but she was so energized and focused
and relentless in her pursuit for the truth...it is magical to watch her, the
depth and care in her heart continue to just blow me away.
fully inspired and deeply grateful,
jodie

Clean up your mess!!!!
8/1/02
Day 16

At the employee entrance only a few stopped to take the flyer, pickup trucks
flowed past us one after the other, most avoiding eye contact, some couldn't
get past fast enough. Bart, director of operations came after about 30
minutes, ZERO with a circle around it on his left breast pocket. "We have
complaints from employees you are dangerous out here." (The truth but not in
the way he meant it) Diane explained no one was stopping so she didn't
understand the complaint. He walked away after doing his duty, and we left
having accomplished our goal.

I had just finished setting up and was climbing in the back with Diane when 2
cop cars with lights flashing crossed the center divider and drove up onto
the grass coming at us in the wrong direction. "Diane we have company."
They strolled up a bit laid back, "Hi Diane," she went to school with his
Dad, "we had a complaint," they listened to our side of the story quite
graciously and left to hear the other side. When they returned we were told
it was OK to do what we were doing (so much for threats of calling the cops)
but if there was an accident there would be 2 people at fault and the
employees had been instructed not to stop for security reasons. I tell Diane
she's out there with a sandwich board sign tomorrow. We called her friend to
get them ready.

If you mess it up,
please clean it up
slogan from Dow

Dow,
clean up your
mess in
Bhopal
__________
No one
should be
a safety
statistic
slogan from Dow

What are the
20,000 dead in
Bhopal?

Angel and now hero Michael, bought the wood, sawed and drilled, it looks
fabulous, we are ready for the morning.

After the sheriffs left there was some peace, (not quiet, the trains were
moving all day) time for Ursula. "What do you want to ask today" Diane
very quietly said "the reason to continue the fast?"

Children of the Way
The way bears one.
The way bears two.
The two bear three.
The three bear the ten thousand things.
The ten thousand things
carry the yin on their shoulders
and hold in their arms the yang,
whose interplay of energy
makes harmony.
People despise
orphans, widowers, outcasts,
Yet that's what kings and rulers call themselves.
Whatever you lose, you've won.
Whatever you win, you've lost.
What others teach, I say too:
violence and aggression
destroy themselves.
My teaching rests on that.

"Well that's pure Voodoo the earth rose up and talked to us!!!!" tears in
her eyes.

Up storms a very frazzled PR woman, fuming. Proof that all your calls are
effective. Nina Utne made her real nervous and getting the big bosses on her
back probably isn't helping her state of mind. Keep those calls coming.
"I NEED TO ASK YOU SOME QUESTIONS!" Every question she rattled out Diane had
a clear and quiet answer to. "How can you say a continuous black cloud is
coming from the factory?" "Because it was that day," "You make it sound
like it happens everyday," " No, I was doing a report about that day." "You
are putting stuff out there that isn't true" Diane picked up the print out
from the Dow website on Bhopal I had been reading, handed it to Kathy and
said "and just what are you doing??" "And who is this man you say is dead,
there is only one who fell in the water and he has a lawsuit against us"
"Well there is another and he is dead" Kathy demands to know his name.
"Why is this woman from California asking about our road??" (I didn't, Diane
did, but I am clearly stirring things up and she wants me out of it) "Kathy
you came out to the truck the first day and told me this isn't a local issue,
so I have found some." Kathy was at full tilt and stormed off.

Sue called very concerned about Diane's health, so Diane's aunt, a nurse is
coming to check her vitals tomorrow. Sue very much wanted to be with Diane
and offered to help someone who had the time come in her place and she could
supply the resources, yea Ginny!!! I am sooooo happy Diane will have you
those days next week, thank you Sue for making it possible.

After the plan came clear in my mind last night I threw the runes:
commitment creates long term change for the better for all involved. The
goal will be achieved, be ready for surprises, ready to take advantage of the
unexpected. This came from Caroline this morning; 8/15, Mercury square
Pluto, Sharp criticism may force change upon those in powerful positions.
The art of persuasion can be transformed into manipulation. Be careful to
keep integrity in all your dealings.

We were on the right track, by the end of the day the scaffolding was in
place, ready for your brilliance to enhance and refine it.

The Plan
An invitation goes out via press release and virus email from Diane:
Please join her on the 15th at what ever level you feel comfortable,
starting with joining her on the hunger strike, getting a petition signed,
going to their nearest Dow office or Indian consulate/embassy to either
picket with the signs they can download from Indra or sit in and demand an
audience, to staying even after the y are told to leave and risk arrest. If
they want to organize around a local issue and Dow, great. Diane will be
doing all of it, the invitation will be sent out around the world.

In Seadrift, on the 12th we have arranged for an environmental meeting to
discuss the Zero discharge agreement, which Diane has a resolution on from
the city council and the county, and the closing of the public road by Dow.
That night and the next 2 days we will leaflet the area for those that want
to join in on the 15th at the plant, it will end with a sit in at the Dow
office requesting Zero discharge, linking it to the irresponsibility of Dow
in Bhopal. The day will begin with a press conference so the issues can be
clearly stated and proceed from there. Justice in Bhopal will be the main
focus. With the invitation will be the what and the whys (with lots of guidance from
Kinnu)

The 15th of August is the day India received Independence, now we ask for
Independence from Corporate rule. It will include the requests that have
stayed the same for the last 18 years and something about the tragedy
continuing if the sentence is lowered on August 27th. Kinnu has a great
visual for the actions, brooms, to help them clean up the mess.
Just with calls from today we have these groups that will send the invite out
to their contacts are: Nader, Public Citizen, True Majority, some Green
Party offices, PACE union, Texas PIRGs, Hightower, AID, Ruckus, Act for
Change, Utne Reader and this is just the start.

We need to work on getting editorials in major papers that day, Molly Ivens,
Barbara E, Arianna Huffington, Arundhati Roy (are on the wish list), and
getting celebrities to lend their names and sign petitions.

We'll push the story to NPR and the Wall Street Journal, the press person is
a weak spot, M ichael said he help in Texas and I will make some calls to see
if we can get some pro bono help, otherwise it is whoever finds their way to
Diane...which seems to be just happening naturally. I have a dream to get it
on the Phil Donahue show that night.

When someone locally takes on organizing in their area we will need a place
where they can post what they are doing so people from the area can plug in,
I will see if this can be on Bhopal's wedsite and if not the day can just be
full of magical surprises, as there is no failing, every person that joins is
a blessing and a gift. It doesn't take more than a nuisance to capture
their attention and know they are being watched and they can't really get
away with it.

What writers can work with Kinnu to draft the invitation, so it is simple and
clear and holds all the information to make it educational and inspire the
reader to action??

We need to finish this by Sunday night for broadcast monday, anyone who wants
to take on organizing something in their area let me know also, and remember,
make it simple, you showing up is enough, ask Diane.
I am sad to think tomorrow is my last day, to sit with the enormous heart and
soul of Diane, under the big (hot) Texas sky has been a gift from the Gods.
in awe and deep appreciation,
jodie

Zero Discharge
8/2/02
Day 17

Diane walked to the employee entrance as the deep red-orange sun moved over
the factory. The sandwich sign met with the same response, denial and
avoidance, few could allow themselves to look, as if Dow would snatch their
job away in the next moment. The factory and it's workers close in on
themselves more everyday.

We prepared for our meeting with Kathy. A good time for Ursula, Diane's
question for the day was guidance for UnRW. I gave her the book and she
opened to 2 blank pages, auspicious, I said try again, 2 blank pages, third
time is a charm....

BY NO MEANS
Return to how the Way moves.
Weakness is how the Way works.
Heaven and earth and the ten thousand things
are born of being.
Being is born of nothing.

Goose bumps shook over both of us and I looked at the facing page, INTEGRITY.
Ok, so we needed it to be spelled out.

Michael brought us roses as we left with our umbrellas for the meeting with
Kathy, The security guards who receive us have become our friends. I ask to
use the lady's room, but am told I have to be taken there by Kathy. She
escorts us back, through halls that haven't changed since the plant opened in
'54, beige, cracking and dirty. They clearly don't care about any
environment.

"Will you sign a zero discharge agreement?" "No. We feel we are making
sufficient progress our way and it is no value added for us. We are happy to
arrange for a meeting with our community advisory panel, for Diane to discuss
this with them." The same one Diane won't be on because it is a sham,
appointed and at the service of Dow. She continued her complaint that they
aren't getting credit for all the good they have done. "We were the worst in
the country now we are 54th" (which is still at the bottom), she is clueless
and impenetrable. When I started to confront her on some of these comments
she says, referring to the fact that she had led me to the ladies room, "well
you aren't zero discharge either." I silently look back at her, she
apologizes and keeps talking. I was too slow to say mine is biodegradable
and yours isn't, it seemed better to leave the chill of her over reach in the
room. She was flustered and agitated as we left. Diane was quite gracious,
opened her heart, took Kathy's hand and gave her a generous good-bye.
The day was full of visitors, locals, some curious, some offering ways of
support. One 'damn' Yankee offered filtered water every morning. The last
visitor was Aunt June, or Junebug as Diane calls her, she took our blood
pressure, mine 120/80 high for me and Diane 100/70 low for her. She
pronounced us both fine, but told a disturbing story about the last fast and
Diane being hospitalized for kidney failure or something that brought a deep
sigh of concern on her Aunts face, I could tell everyone knows not to push
anything with Diane, they are even more used to her stubbornness than we.
When Junebug left, I asked Diane to look into my eyes. "You know when it is
time to quit or you are damaging yourself, I need you to promise me that at
the moment you call me and I will take on the strike for you and work with
those I know who can help bring you back to strength as quickly as possible
so you can resume the strike yourself. We are talking about lives and saving
the earth, you have to model it yourself." Looking into my eyes with her
intense presence she agreed, on the condition that I end my strike now so I
am ready to take it from her. I agreed and will begin to break my fast at
home and rese arch so ready with what will be needed if that moment comes. I
hope this brings some rest to your concern Sue, and now with Caroline coming
on the 11th Diane will be well cared for all the way through. The perfection
of who is arriving when is startling.

Many volunteers have come forward to help with the drafting of the invitation
this weekend, Thank you Susan and Nina Utne, any others who want to join in
let me know.

I am leaving but not going, my heart remains. I will continue work with
Diane on creating the action at Dow in Seadrift and will create something for
us in LA for the 15th. Michael takes the baton from here, he has been and
continues to be an angel, home and hero. I have been transformed, inspired,
blessed and enlivened by the deep magic around Diane and this global
expression of lives valuing life, every life.

blessings and love to all as we continue to move forward toward a new vision
for our world. Freedom from corporate rule.
jodie

From Diane's friend, Michael Berryhill.

18th day, Saturday, August 3, 2002

Diane’s daughter, Santana, is back in town. She spelled Diane at noon.
‘Tana is 16, and the "baby" of Diane’s five, and she’s a wonderful young
woman, smart and wise. This summer she attended an environmental camp
run by the Bioneers, and is taking after her mama.

When I took my daughter, Elizabeth, to play with Diane’s grandchild,
Taylor, Diane’s daughter Goldie had a concerned look. She remembered the
another hunger strike when Diane almost died. But we had Jodie Evans
here, the ministering angel providing electrolytes and lemon juice and
cayenne pepper and other herbs that will preserve Diane’s health. I
looked Goldie straight in the eye and told her not to worry. Diane has
the support of the whole universe, not to mention the angels of the
Unreasonable Women.

The trains were moving today but there were hardly any workers at the
plant. A new chemical was in the air, that smelled like cookies in the
oven, said Diane, but maybe the nice smell masks something bad.
The Toxic Release Inventory for Union Carbide, Seadrift, shows that the
plant releases major amounts of carcinogens into the air, including
100,000 pounds of benzene, and almost 77,0000 pounds of 1,3 butadiene.
These are two of the nastiest chemicals around. The plant also releases
101,000 pounds of ethylene and 336,000 pounds of propylene, which help
form ozone in Victoria when they mix with traffic emissions.

It’s not just Union Carbide that pollutes Victoria and Calhoun Counties.
There are about eight or nine major plants that pour emissions into the
air and the water. We want them to stop all their pollution.

Three members of AID from India came to visit Diane. They’re graduate
students. They took photos of "stinky ditch" which runs so close to the
local water supply.A lawyer from Austin who specializes in environmental
torts showed up about 2:30 and we filled her i n on the toxic load
that’s going out of these plants. She promises to come back again.
Donna Sue, Diane’s long-time friend from the days she was running her
brother’s fish house, came to visit with her two girls and a grandson.
There were times in the early 90s when Donna Sue was about the only
person in Seadrift who supported Diane’s work against Formosa, the
gigantic plastics firm on Lavaca Bay. Now most of the Seadrifters who
drive by honk and wave. Many of them are men who work in the plants and
know what’s really going on.

Diane is strong and alert as someone on a fast could be. After she left
the plant she visited her mother and rolled her hair, a Saturday
ritual. Maybe there is going to be a little rain to cool us off this
evening. It’s been hot, hot, hot here. That’s Texas in August.
--------

P.S. Yes, there were rains this evening. At least in Houston. Thunderstorms and power cuts. (Reminded me of last June when we got flooded and there were boats on the highway next door.) Cooled off by at least 10 degrees. I haven't checked the weather report in Seadrift but I hope it has rained there too. But when I think of Diane under a makeshift tarp in the back of her pickup, I hope it isn't relentless like last year. There's a saying in Hindi - "Jab bhagwaan deta hai, to chappar phaad ke detaa hai." ('When the Lord gives, he gives way too much' or more subtly, 'It never rains but it pours like hell.')
Kinnu.

From Diane.
Sunday, Aug 4th, 2002.

A difference today. The sun is orange as a basketball. If I had a hoop, I
could toss it. Then, too, the wind is blowing from the north (fishermen are
ALWAYS watching the wind). The weather report says there is a depression the
Gulf. Translated: makings of storms and hurricanes. The only thing that
remains the same is Dow's everlasting chemical smells. Today it meets me a
half mile from the plant and gains strength as I drive into it. It's a
weekend, skeleton crew, so only a few are getting exposed. The workers
probably don't even smell it anymore. I sit in my truck long enough and
probably my nose will get desensitized, too.

I grab a blanket bought in Mexico years ago and wrap it around my shoulders
and wait on Michael, the Unreasonable Women's host with the house by San
Antonio Bay, who comes and helps me put up the tarp. The women who have come before (Kristin and Carolyn and Jodie) have given him strict instructions and
he is so entranced by them that he says he is their slave and will do anything
. I can really do this by myself, I say. I've rigged boats, hauled nets,
but the women are insistant upon me perserving my strength. They say, this
action is bigger than you. You are conserving your energy for the good of
many. This I agree. It is no longer me carrying on a hungerstrike, it is the
community of the earth. It is the first time I have realized the global
community and how powerful it is.

In the Sunday edition of the Victoria Advocate (the local newspaper), Dow
has a full page ad with Dow's emblam and the words: Living. Improved
Daily.---The Victoria Advocate hasn't written a word of the hungerstrike, now
into its l9th day. Surprise surprise.
Diane.

From Ginny.

8.05.02
Day 20

I arrived at Diane's truck this morning and she was sitting in the back
reading one of the stack of books that have been brought by Kristin,
Carolyn and Jodi. It was a relief to see Diane in the flesh, smiling and
tan, looking like Sophie!! She talked with me about how amazing it has
been to feel connected to the other strikers and to feel the support of so
many from all over. It must be feeding her in ways we can't know.
I drove to Seadrift after spending the night with my parents in Houston.
They have been reading what I send them via email about Diane's strike, my
mom particulary. She informed me proudly when I arrived that she had
emailed the Houston TV stations asking them why there has been no coverage
of Diane's strike. She asked me the same question. I told her that I
thought that might be changing given that Diane was hitting 20 days today.
Ironically, the first visitor to arrive this afternoon was a photographer
from the Houston Chronicle, a large mainstream paper. He was followed by
the environmental reporter for the Chronicle, Tony Freemantle. I was
thrown off by the fact that Tony arrived with his 12 year old daughter in
tow...I took that as a good sign.

Tony spent over an hour interviewing Diane, he was well acquainted with her
work. He told her that he knew the hunger strike was for real when he
heard who was doing it. His questions focused alot on the fact that Diane
has spent the last 13 + years fighting for zero discharge in her own back
yard, he wanted to understand why she was so moved by what was happening in
Bhopal that she would jeopardize herself for people halfway across the
globe. "It's all connected..." she replied :-) He told us the story
should hit in the next few days, could come out as early as Wednesday.
Said they were pushing for the story - A good thing?

Throughout the afternoon we had a steady stream of visitors. A man stopped
to tell us that "DOW pollutes and lays off its workers for no reason" -he
was one of them. Another man who worked for the county health services
suggested that Diane also "target that Formosa plant not too far away"
which brought a big laugh from Diane. "What do you know about Formosa?" she
asked. A couple stopped who had grown up with Diane but hadn't seen her in
years. They asked if she'd been to one of the Jim Hightower events - about
democracy. All the while Diane's phone was ringing and the photographer
was snapping pictures, chatting with us in between. He stayed until we
broke down the tent at about 3:30. It was a busy afternoon.

Diane seemed tired but fine as we got in our cars and headed into town.
When Michael and I called to check in around 7pm she was on her cell
phone...sitting on the front porch, restin'.

Riveting stuff.....from Ginny!

8.06.02
Day 21

Met Diane at the truck early, just as the haze was beginning to clear from
the ground, and there was just a bit of pink left in the east. I suppose
it must be from the humidity and the heat, but in the morning the haze
looks almost like San Francisco fog.

As I put up the tarp on the truck, Diane went over to the plant entrance
with her "No one should be a safety statistic - Dow slogan - What about the
20,000 in Bhopal?" sandwich board to greet the workers. After Diane settled
herself in the truck, I went back to Michael's to do some work before going
back to relieve Diane around noon.

Shortly after getting to Michael's Diane called with news. There had been
a spill at the plant. About 8:40 am Diane heard whistles and sirens going
like crazy. As she got up to see what was up, one of the trains that sit in
and in front of the plant came speeding out of the plant. "I have never
seen one of those trains go that fast," she said. In moments 25 vehicles,
trucks, cars and a firetruck came screeming out of the plant headed to the
barge docks towards town. The barge dock is along a canal where the barges
come up to be loaded with Dow/Union Carbide's various products.
Diane got right on the phone and called the Dow main office in Michigan.
The woman there transferred Diane to the Seadrift operator. When Diane
asked what was going on down at the docks, the woman who was quite taken
aback, asked who was calling. Diane replied, "It's me Diane, right out in
front. I just heard the whistles and sirens and saw a mess of cars and
trucks and emergency vehices heading for the dock and want to know what is
going on." The woman said something like "it's a wheel alarm" hmmm, then
hung up on Diane. Diane was not pleased with that response and promptly
called the main office again to complain..."I am a fisherman and I have a
right to know what's going into that bay!" They kept Diane on the phone
long enough for Kathy, the PR woman from the plant to get herself over to
Diane's truck.

Here's where it gets really interesting. Kathy was very apologetic, and
began to answer Diane's questions about the spill. We are unsure about the
exact chemical, but Kathy told Diane that they had 12,000 lbs of an
industrial solvent spill from a pipe that was run into by a mower down by
the docks. She assured Diane that it had not gone into the canal, it had
only spilled onto the ground...

She went on to ask Diane to tell her more about zero discharge, NOT that
they would sign such a thing, but were open to learning about it. She also
told Diane that she was "making them nervous", always a good sign. The
tide seems to be changing here in Seadrift.

Later in the afternoon, Diane got a call from Democracy Now! asking her to
join them tomorrow morning on the show. Thanks you Jodi and co. for making
that happen. She will be on another WBAI Pacifica show Asia Pacific Forum
with Aniruddha Das tonite at 7 pm Texas time.

Diane and I both noticed a definite increase in the friendly waves from
passing plant vehicles. Diane said to me, "Oh it's changin'... you just
gotta get up in their face and not back down...they just don't expect it".
Unreasonable.....

Diane was tired at the end of the day. It was so hot...scarily so. We are
watching our friend closely - and she is strong and doing well.

8.07.02
Day 22
printed

I was running late this morning, printer trouble. I had cut and pasted key
points from the press release/invitation in big bold letters for Diane to
have for her Democracy Now interview, and fought a bit with the printer.
Turned out, as you all know, that she didn't need it today - but she will.
Today was a bit quieter than the last two have been. Diane seemed great
this morning, and as I told you all earlier, she was checked out by Aunt
June, who announced that Diane was "fine for now".
Diane spent some of the morning combing the newspapers. Looking for the
story in the Houston Chronicle and checking out the local small papers.
(We got a call from the Chronicle, they will run the story on Friday.)
Diane told me she found 3 articles in the The Port Lavaca Wave and the
Victoria Advocate that had Dow in the headline, all of them about Dow's
good works in the community. ...FIRST AID CLASS GETS TEST RUN AT DOW...DOW
GETS COMMENDATION...DOW DONATION WILL HELP WITH WEATHER WARNINGS...

Just to put things in perspective here, the total page count for both of these
papers combined is 24.

As I scanned the articles one line jumped off the page at me. It came from
the Wave, an article about Dow receiving the 2001 Caring for Texas Award
presented by the Texas Chemical Council (from one set of industry folk to
another). "Apparent in all their [the Seadrift plant] commitments is how
closely the sites' community outreach, emergency response and pollution
prevention efforts align with Dow's vision of sustainable development
through economic, social and environmental responsibility." It goes on
with basically canned Dow-speak. Finishes with "Committed to the principles
of Sustainable Development, Dow and its 50,000 employees seek to balance
economic, environmental and social responsibility." My, they have been busy.
Diane got a call from Alternet at the end of the day and did an interview.
They plan to run something on Monday.

Anyone who has sent the invite to their list that we don't know about,
please let us know. We also want to be sure to know what folks are
planning for the 15th if anything, keep the info coming.
The heat is definitely taking its toll. Diane commented this morning that
she had always done her hunger strikes in the spring...a much nicer time of
year :-) I spent the afternoon in Victoria, looking a tent options for the
15th. We are definitely going to have to make some shade for the
demonstrators and press.
Gonna go to sleep now...more tomorrow.
---------
---------
This afternoon, while looking for the Seadrift plant number on Dow's website I stumbled upon something similar to Diane's experience in today's newspaper :

http://www.dow.com/about/aboutdow/ethics.htm

"Ethical behavior is everyone's responsibility. Our goal is to create an atmosphere where our people feel comfortable that they have the knowledge and support to protect our company's Values," says Michael Parker.

More shpeel followed: 'The Dow EthicsLine is a toll-free help line, available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The help line is available to those who wish to ask questions about Dow policy, seek guidance on specific situations, report violations of Dow's Code of Business Conduct, or other unethical business practices.'

Since I had a serious ethical problem to report, I promptly called the 1-800 help line. An automated menu asked me to punch in 1 if this was some sort of an emergency where people's lives might be in danger. So I did. After 3 minutes of ringing a lady picked up the phone.

I said, "There was 12,000 pounds of stinking something that spilled into the San Antonio Bay yesterday from your Seadrift plant. I want to know what it is."

She said, "Seadrift....let me see...the computer doesn't show any plant in Seadrift. Are you sure it's not in Texas City or Port Lavaca or Brazosport?"

I said, "No, it's in Seadrift. On TX 185. I am pretty sure 'cos a friend has been sitting outside that plant without since the last 21 days because your company won't do the ethical thing in Bhopal. They won't clean up the drinking water contamination caused by their factory."

"Oh, but we're just a third party. We're not Dow. We just take reports and pass them on to the company."

"So what is it that you think you can really do in an emergency if you're just a third party?"

"Ma'm, all that we are allowed to do is make reports and send them to the company. And I am sorry I can't find the plant you're talking about on my computer."

"But as a concerned citizen I've a right to know what stinking stuff is being dumped in that bay..Once they said it's Butyl Cellusove then they said it's Butyl Carbitol..."

"Oh, so you're not an employee? This hotline is just for employees."

"Duh!.....You mean the Enron kinda potential insiders?....Can you put me on to someone who at least knows about the existence of that plant?"

"If you would like to leave your name and number, I will add that to this report which will be sent to the company within 24 hrs. And here's your report no. for future reference. DOW -02-08-0004. And PIN No. 9W59."

"Sure.....and someone WILL call me back?"

"They're supposed to.......you have a good day ma'm."

You too lady. Because it might be the last slow day you've for at least a week now.

Hope you got that number everyone...it's 1-800-803-6862 from N.America. And 1-989 636 2544 from overseas. And email Ethics@Dow.com

Have fun. Kinnu.

Day 23 - from Diane

Crazy Texas weather! Hurricane brewing off the Texas Gulf Coast and a north
wind blowing. Haven't seen a north wind blowing in the summer in a coon's
age....well,at least a week anyhow. Walked down to the contractor's gate
this morning. thought I'd give the fellas a real treat and let up on the
Carbide employees for a while. Besides, don't want to get too predictable
out here. heard once some good advice. Leave no tracks. The contractors are
generally friendlier than the Dow employees. Dow employees are serious jobs
(down here, that's what they call them. serious jobs! meaning insurance and
retirement of which fishermen have none. so the consequences of accepting
flyiers from the enemy (I guess that's me) is harder than on the contractors.
) So far, Dow has laid off from 300 to 400 workers since the merger and
everybody is walking on eggshells. There is a wild rumor of the plant
closing and that just makes them a little edgier. so i get all kinds of
responses from the workers. most wave and smile, a few have told me to bug
off (not quite those words) and a woman keeps calling me a B......th!!
Kathy Hunt, the pr lady comes by again this morning. since the incident
of 12,000 lbs. and all the screaming engines and sirens and whistles, she
seems anxious to please. she wants to know who my new Unreasonable woman is
and Ginny McGinn introduces herself. works for a nonprofit
environmenal/educational group called Bioneers which has been in the business
for about 13 years. kathy is nodding and taking all this in. So far she's
met 4 women from across the country and she's fixing to meet two more.
While she's asking questions, i start asking mine. What was that chemcial
that was dumpe d? How much and how much have they cleaned up? I am curious
because i drive by the area where it was spilled and two days later the smell
is very potent and could easily make you sick. she says it was Caribol.
nothing to worry about, the men cleaning up, after all, didn't wear moon
suits. i say, well, one of your workers gave me a listing of the health
effects of Carbide/Dow's trade names and Carbitol is listed as an
embryo-fetal toxin and a tertogen. Oh, she says, a study kills one rat and
there it is labled fetal toxin. she laughs. And the teragen, what's that? I
say. oh, a little reproductive hazard. Again, there's that one dead rat.
I ask about the clean up and she says they've dug up 200,000 lbs. of
contaminated soil and are 4 foot down. Im concerned about the level of the
ground water which is around 4 to 5 in this neck of the woods and also is
tidally influenced. meaning a hole full of something will rise and fall with
the tide and is linked with the bay. Always, i am one highly suspicious
woman.

Later in the day, i sit listening to the rolling thunder and finally i
get out of the truck to track where it is coming from. Well, it's not the
eastern sky. it's just one old flare bloiling noise and fire.

From Pramila Jayapal. Day 24, Aug. 9th. Friday.

Arrived last night, long drive through flat roads and shrub fields. We do
like to sell things in this country--even grass is advertised for sale
around me. The air was thick with the approaching thunderstorm, clouds
pregnant with rain, sky shot through with glimpses of golden pink as night
fell. Suddenly, to the left, a tinsel town appeared, ablaze with lights,
little castles in the fairytale land, a promise of all the goodness to be
brought. Didn't take long to realize it was the Alcoa site. Yes,
remembered now that Jodie and others had written about this. The vision of
it is a mirror of the visions we are presented all the time, here and around
the world. The visions of sparkle and glitter, of new technologies, of some
better world--and then, the reality: the reality of the 12,000 pounds of
industrial solvent Dow spilled, or the 20,000 people who have died in
Bhopal. There's a vision. We say no, not ours; we have a different one.
Michael welcomed me with the deep generosity I have heard so much about--we
shared bread and stories and talked about the miracle of what is happening.
"Diane has never had this kind of support," he kept saying. "All the women
and men everywhere just sending her all this LOVE!"

This morning, I notice an article in the paper: the first settlement to a
9/11 victim of $1.04 million--for pain, suffering, loss of potential. When
we get to the plant at 7 a.m., Diane runs to her purse and pulls out the
same article. "Did you see this? Amazing!" She tells me about a
conversation she had with an engineer from the Dow plant who, when she
pointed out the discrepancy between the amount of money accorded to an
Indian and what would happen in the U.S., he said, "Well, our lives are
worth more." We both sit in silent outrage for a moment and then talk about
power unchecked and the false perceptions it creates of value. Human life
is human life.

We have a big discussion about numbers of those killed in Bhopal. There is
confusion out there, we know. Many reports on the internet say 2,000 killed
(the official Dow sites, probably) and we have had questions about how many
really have died. This needs to be cleared up, and Indra amazingly has sent
an e-mail with the accurate information in response to a question he
received. Here it is now in shortened form:

The estimates just published in The Times of India and other places are
3,500-7,000 dead in Bhopal. However, truer estimates took into account
factors like the number of shrouds sold immediately following the leak
(about 7,000) as well as eyewitness reports of mass graves in Bhopal and
other cities (bodies often trucked out by government trucks) from people who
often had worked to fill and unfill trucks loaded with bodies. At a
minimum, we believe 8,000 people died immediately. Following that,
estimates are that about 20-30 people have been dying every month since the
tragedy from gas-related incidents. The total number estimated to have died
since 1984 is 20,000-30,000. Reports from local area hospitals confirm that
the incidences of respiratory and occular diseases remain 3-4 times higher
than in the unexposed population: people in Bhopal still have to drink
contaminated water, breathe contaminated air. Estimates place the number of
seriously ill in Bhopal at between 120,000-150,000.

So a minimum of 20,000 dead since 1984 and still 120-150,000 injured. And
the injured receiving $500 compensation, the dead some $1,200. And, we
understand the families who had babies that died received nothing.
We repe at: This vision is not our vision. This world is not the world we
believe in. This reality is not the reality we subscribe to.

Diane looks incredible, rosy cheeked, full of vitality. A fine breeze is
blowing, the sun still behind clouds, so it is gloriously pleasant for most
of the morning after what I hear have been hot, hot days. Diane can't get
over how good she is feeling: "I can go for 50 days and not notice it!"
She grimaces over the electrolytes and concoctions, but drinks anyway. "It
must all be helpin' so I'll just keep doin' it. I just feel so good! I
just have this huge surge of energy!" It's contagious, but I try to tell
her too that we need her to conserve some of that energy. She knows, she
hears--and she still glows.

The plant is quiet, no smells, no smoke, no nothing. Diane says it's
because of the spill, because of her, because of us. "Dow is jittery as
hell," she says gleefully. "We're gonna have some fun here!" People are
driving by, waving, even honking. "They're comin' around. They've just
never seen such persistence, that's what it is!"

We start planning for the action. Jodi, Ginny, Caroline, Carolyn and
everyone else have done so much, we're just trying to pick up the pieces
that are left.

Before I left Seattle, I searched through piles of books for the right ones
to bring. These literally flew into my hands: a 1948 edition of R.R.
Diwakar's book on Gandhi's idea of Satyagraha: The Power of Truth; a little
old paperback on fasting (these both given to me by an old Gandhian,
non-violent activist and scholar); a book of tankas by a 13th Century
Japanese unreasonable woman, Ursula's translation of the Tao, and Neruda's
book of Questions.

I show Diane the book on Satyagraha; this action on the 15th is about
Satyagraha, I say. Satya meaning truth, Agraha meaning holding fast or
adherence or insistence. She sees the title and flips. "I've heard that
phrase, the power of truth, and I've always wanted to use it, but haven't
quite known how to bring it together. Let's read this..."

I read out loud from Gandhi's own words:
"One thing took deep root in me, the conviction that morality is the basis
of things and that truth is the substance of morality. Thus truth became my
sole objective."

Now about the essence of Satyagraha (and about our own Diane): "The
Satyagrahi is first and last a man of action. His approach to truth is
through the hard facts of common life. He does not content himself with
meditation upon truth, nor try to realize it in the sanctum sanctorum of his
hear. He does not stop with an intellectual discovery and knowledge of
truth. He is not satisfied to be emotionally devoted to truth and to be in
ecstasy over it. He yearns to live the truth. He dies to act
truthfully...To him, knowledge without appropriate action is a meaningless
decoration--a paper flower...The life of a Satyagrahi is identified with
that of humanity itself and is spent in incessant fights with aggression and
exploitation."

What are we about on the 15th, we ask? This passage emerges: "A Satyagrahi
has immense faith in the inherent goodness of human nature. He believes
that it responds to the love, service, suffering and sacrifice. He believes
that the law of love works like the law of gravitation, whether we know it
or not, or accept it or not. It is in this faith, and not in the spirit of
desperate bravado, that he is willing to fling his life away at the critical
moment.&n bsp; Satyagraha is always used for the good of others."
We start talking about the details of arrests. We need to know about bail,
about what people can be arrested for, what medications people are on.
Diane has spoken to one ACLU lawyer that she is less than thrilled with (and
he, less than thrilled about being too involved). "He told my lawyer that
he doesn't think I realize the seriousness of my actions," she says. "I
mean, what is he talkin' about?" We decide we need to know a lot more about
the legal consequences. The ACLU lawyer has mentioned the charges of
terrorism (trespassing on a chemical plant that makes chemicals for
defense), and while he might be overreacting, I certainly know how the USA
Patriot Act has been used since 9/11. We definitely need to look into this.
Also, because this is an action that will involve many non-US citizens, I am
anxious that those non-US citizens do not get arrested as it can affect
their immigration status. We need them, absolutely, and it will fit well
with the idea of having some people who stay outside the plant and picket,
and others who go inside for the sit-in.

We also decide we need to have a flyer to hand out to people, even e-mail
beforehand, that has some basic rules of participating in the action.
Nonviolence at all costs, do not go past the security gate, only
demonstrating with the group in front of the administration building, always
be polite, if you are taken off for arrest, offer no resistance, if you are
just pulled off, then come back quietly and gently. We read this from the
book: "If a government does not concede the reasonable and just demands of
a people, Satyagrahis would say they would no longer be their petitioners,
be governed by them, or have any dealings with them. Obviously, such a step
would draw the wrath of the governme nt. But Satyagrahas would suffer the
consequences cheerfully, but unbendingly."

From the book, we get the idea that we should have tiers of people, one
group that is then replenished by more people as people are taken off. We
don't know how many people we will have, so we'll have to wait and see what
is possible. Leaders, what about leaders of the group? I ask. Diane looks
puzzled--"We don't have any leaders." But who will they follow? Who will
know what to do? Just leadership in that way," I reassure her, because it's
clear (as she groans at me) that she's not comfortable about the
formalization of any leadership. And we both know that the best actions are
the actions where no leader can be identified.

We are brainstorming about possible people to get there too: the book
recommends "men of faith." Do you know any? I ask Diane. She laughs,
"yeah, a few..." Especially in Texas, it seems like it would be great to
have some religious folks down here to sanctify the action. She jumps on
it, picks up the phone and calls a few people. One possibility: a woman
from the Southern Ba