Breaking daddy out of jail
By Paxus – 8/8/08
“You’ve been arrested for this twice before, I have problems also with
Dominion’s nuclear stuff, but why do you have to break the rules?” the
magistrate from Orange County was angry, referring to my two prior US
trespassing offenses at the Exelon Headquarters outside of Chicago and
Vermont Yankee reactor complex.
“This is not the only thing I do to try to stop this reactor. I am a
Dominion stock holder, I go to every shareholders meeting and talk
with senior management about the problems with this proposal. I write
letters to the editor, I lobby the county supervisors, I work with
anti-nuclear organizations which lobby in Washington…”
“Good, so why do you have to break the rules?” He interrupts exasperated.
“Because these other tactics are not effective enough. It is like
Martin Luther King fighting for civil rights.”
“I don’t want to talk about that.” He dismissed
“You asked me why, I’m telling you.”
6 hours, $1000 bail and two different county jail cells later I was
released. Along with 5 other climate activists, including my dear
friends Spot – who i played Magic with for hours until they
confiscated our cards.
Angie and Caroline had ended up taking care of Willow for far longer
than expected. Most of the activists involved in taking over Dominions
“Information Center” at the North Anna nuclear power plant had
estimated we would be released by the early evening. We were quite
wrong.
Willow refused to stay home. Angie had warned him that it would likely
be quite late before I was released and that he would be more
comfortable if he stayed home. He was having none of it, he was going
to be there when I got released. Caroline reported that he was
incredibly well behaved on the long ride out to the Orange County jail
only asking once when they were going to get there and mostly just
reading to himself on Angie’s $5 reading lamp.
He finally fell asleep about half an hour before my 2 AM release. On
the way home I positioned him so he was laying in my lap while he
slept. I got into this work, because it is the right thing to do. But
looking down at his sleeping face and tangled blond curls as we drove
home exhausted, I know now that I stay in it for him. My determined 6
year old son, who is going to wait for daddy to get busted out of jail
even if it takes all night.
I scanned 30 stories online this morning about yesterdays arrest. A
handful mention me by name (i was in the press release). None of them
mentions Twin Oaks. Twin Oaks has a policy of remaining media Neutral
on controversial topics like the proposed expansion of this nuclear
power plant. PLEASE DO NOT FORWARD THIS E_MAIL to anyone you are not
sure can maintain this confidentiality.
http://www.whsv.com/news/headlines/26391054.html
Protesters Arrested at North Anna Plant
At 4:45 p.m. Thursday, six activists with Blue Ridge Earth Fist,
Rising Tide North America, and Nuclear Watch South were arrested for
taking over the Dominion Resource’s North Anna nuclear power visitor
center in Mineral, Virginia.
Earlier in the afternoon, in the spirit of Martin Luther King,
activists staged an empowering display of non-violent civil
disobedience. Protesters held signs and banners inside of the
visitor’s center in a theatrical display of resistance to the nuclear
industry and refused to leave by engaging in a sitting in.
The groups involved say this action was intended to bring attention to
the fact that nuclear power is a false solution to climate change.
Protesters demanded Dominion Resources immediately abandon all plans
for the construction of a third reactor at the North Anna power
station and cease nuclear proliferation in the southeast.
“Nuclear reactors are cost prohibitive, slow to build, and have an
ecological footprint that is several times larger than that of wind,
solar and other efficiency technologies,” says Mary Olson, with
Nuclear Watch South. “Every dollar spent on nuclear proliferation is
money lost on safer, sustainable methods of generation.”
Louisa country resident, Paxus Calta, was among the six demonstrators
who remained in the visitor center until he was removed by the police.
“We chose to take non-violent direct action because Dominion and the
federal government have completely failed to address the climate
crisis,” says Calta.
“We are here to serve notice on the so-called ‘nuclear renaissance’
that the nuclear movement is alive and well,” says Glenn Carroll,
coordinator of Nuclear Watch South.
Dominion owns four nuclear power reactors in Virginia, and is vying
for federal subsidies to put their nuclear reactors online. Dominion
is also expanding the build-out of coal fired power plants with
efforts to build a new coal plant in Wise County, which has been
widely protested.
The Louisa County Sheriff’s Office has the six protesters in custody.
