1. Debbie went out to Pinehurst Elementary to prepare her classroom for the resumption of classes on Tuesday and I checked out a new Criterion Channel collection, Cinema Verite. I decided to watch an hour long documentary, Primary. It documents John Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey campaigning in Wisconsin, working to win the April 5, 1960 primary. It was a fascinating look at how the two candidates reached out to voters, what some of the voters thought of each of them, and the respect Humphrey and Kennedy had for one another. It's a black and white documentary with very little voice over narration and works to give viewers the sense of being in the moment as we experience the campaign and election night with the candidates.
2. I've become more and more aware of Leah Sottile's work on extremism in the USA since I began to follow her on Twitter and since the publication of her book, When the Moon Turns to Blood. Much of Sottile's work has been writing about conservative extremism. In her work, however, people in law enforcement asked why she didn't also research and write/podcast about environmental extremism. Sottile accepted this challenge and has now released an eight episode podcast entitled, Burn Wild.
Sottile interviews subjects and narrates stories about the rash of fires set in the 1990s and into the early 2000s by environmental saboteurs. You might remember when the Earth Liberation Front claimed responsibility for the burning of a ski resort in Vale, a ranger station in Oakridge, OR, a horse meat slaughterhouse in Redmond, and several other similar incidents.
Two of the people allegedly involved in these fires, Joseph Dibee and Josephine Sunshine Overaker, escaped arrest back in 2005. Dibee has since been apprehended and Overaker has not.
The podcast tells the stories of the fires. Sottile interviews people who were involved in setting them. She interviews Joseph Dibee. She asks people, including the FBI agent who has worked on her case for many years, about Sunshine Overaker.
I listened to four episodes today and four more to go.
I'm especially interested in this story because of the close connection between the Earth Liberation Front and other radical environmental actions and Eugene, OR. In addition, one of the cases, the burning of pickups at a Eugene car dealership, came before our panel when I served on the Lane County grand jury in June, 2000.
Sottile's podcast has been absorbing and thought provoking and has inspired me to go back and read stories published in the Eugene Weekly in late 2006 about the rise and fall/disintegration of this underground extremist environmental movement and how, for a few years, Eugene's Whiteaker neighborhood was the movement's beehive.
You can find this podcast by clicking right here.
3. I couldn't help but think about how differently I spent New Year's Day today than when I was a lot younger and everything on January 1st revolved around the college football bowl games. I loved those days, especially going to Ted Turnbow's basement or traveling from Eugene up to Roger Pearson's apartment in Salem to take in all that action.
I don't miss the football, though.
I decided several years ago to stop watching football.
I miss the get togethers I used to join in on to watch the Super Bowl or key Duck games or, as mentioned, the New Year's Day bowl games, but I've found other ways to enjoy that time and other enjoyable ways to socialize.
My decision is working just fine for me.
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