 With the first frost approaching, Creek Iversen and a bunch of students from SUNY New Paltz about to go picking peppers on an autumn afternoon at Brook Farm. Photo by Eric Francis.
This Land is My Land: The Story of Brook Farm CSADear Friend and Reader: Some people have no sense of irony. In June 2011, Mohonk Mountain House, a high-end hotel in New Paltz, NY, sold approximately 874 acres of its land to the Open Space Institute (OSI), the land preservation organization where former Mohonk Preserve board member Robert K. Anderberg is vice president and general counsel. Planet Waves readers have heard of Anderberg before -- he's the mastermind behind attempts to illegally claim large swaths of the Grandmother Land, where I take many photos, and put it into the hands of land conservancies. This transaction is part of a much larger foothills preservation initiative by land conservation organizations that's been in the news the past few years, the stated purpose of which is to protect land close to the Shawangunks from development. When you study the plans, however, it can start to feel like the region is being raided by land conservancies who intend to acquire every square inch they can get their hands on, by any means necessary.
Described by Harvard University as "one of the nation's leading sustainable agriculture and food organizations," it does its best to present that image. Glynwood and OSI are funded from the same pot of gold -- the Wallace Foundation, created from the profits of Reader's Digest, a favorite magazine of Middle America. Another interesting fact: OSI even owns the land where Glynwood's headquarters is located, demonstrating OSI's influence over Glynwood on the decisions you're about to read about. If you read Glynwood's literature, you hear about how its mission is to encourage community-based agriculture. You'll see pictures of horses pulling a plough, guided by young people, and greenhouses, and barns, and idyllic scenes of rural life the way things used to be. Their webpages and brochures are public relations masterpieces, appealing to the "back to the land" spirit of prospective donors to the organization. Glynwood has plans to start up a number of farming incubator projects on the acreage it will be leasing from OSI (there is a rumor that this will be a 99-year lease, though I could not confirm that) all of which in theory are designed to help encourage the farmers of the future, in a controlled, almost academic environment rather than how it's usually taught -- through a form of apprenticeship. As it turns out, there's already a working farm on the land that Glynwood is leasing, called the Brook Farm Project. An actual organic CSA (community-supported agriculture) project, it's been there for 10 years. After making many improvements to the land and farmhouse over the past decade, Brook Farm is a thriving community that by some miracle broke even in the 2013 growing season.
Brook Farm is a source of food for New Paltz families, a place for people interested in farming to work the land, and a place to meet others who have bonded into an extended family. Its farm stand near The Bakery in New Paltz had become a friendly summertime fixture. A community meeting called by the Friends of the Brook Farm Project was held in October, which packed Deyo Hall with people concerned about the conduct of local land trusts and the closely related Glynwood Institute. Among the facts that came out: Brook Farm takes up just 20 acres of the 323 acres that Glynwood will be leasing. Unless there's some huge divergence in mission, values or purpose, one would think that the two projects could coexist in a mutually productive way. Three hundred twenty-three acres is more land than most local farmers can imagine, and is just one part of Glynwood's land holdings. Before I go any further, I have a question. How come every time I write an article mentioning OSI and the name Robert Anderberg, someone else is getting kicked out of their home, off of their land or being sued to have their property taken from them? Is this some coincidence, or is there a pattern? At the Oct. 2 community meeting in support of Brook Farm, a man named Guy Jones, an organic farmer, told this story. Seven years ago, Anderberg approached Jones, saying OSI wanted a working farmer on a tract of land in Orange County that the organization was willing to sell to him. "Farming is all we do for a living," he said, knowing he would be the perfect tenant. But he was still skeptical. He said OSI came on like a buddy and persuaded him to take the offer -- $300,000 for 110 acres, and they would hold the mortgage. "At closing they banged me for another $100 grand plus a mandatory donation," Jones said to the group of 75 Brook Farm supporters. Still, Jones became OSI's poster child for organic farming, even appearing on the cover of the organization's annual report.
Despite the obvious hardship, OSI would not renegotiate the mortgage, Jones explained. "They said 'Give us all the money or get the fuck out'. They wouldn't even talk. I owed them the last month's interest and I was hoping to wrap that into a new mortgage. But they foreclosed and then they sued me for the last month's interest," needlessly forcing him off his land at a considerable financial loss. "Then they resold the property. They flipped it. They sold it for $400,000 cash." "These guys are bullies," Jones warned the supporters of Brook Farm Project, referring to OSI. "They're not nice people and they're not going to negotiate. They've got the title and they're just going to drive it. They don't need to listen to anyone." That much is true. Brook Farm organizers say they have been left out of all the significant discussions, and that OSI and Glynwood officials have refused to attend their meetings. The heads of OSI and Glynwood did not reply to emails sent to them for comment in this article. Creek Iversen, who runs the farm, was put under a gag order by OSI officials, which led to the resignations of three Brook Farm board members in protest -- gardening columnist Lee Reich, Culinary Institute instructor Rich Vergili, and Dan Getman, a local attorney. "Recently, the board has not functioned as a board should -- by consensus or majority rule," they wrote in a resignation letter signed by all three.
Those involved with Brook Farm and the organizations supporting it say that Anderberg is directly involved in calling the shots, as general counsel of Open Space Institute. In August, Planet Waves reported on a lawsuit that exposed how Anderberg, who serves as a land-acquisition agent for Mohonk, devised a scheme to purchase land from someone who the State Supreme Court ultimately determined did not own it. After securing a false deed, Mohonk then sued the rightful owners, Karen Pardini and Michael Fink, trying to legitimize its title. The courts rejected the effort, affirming Pardini and Fink as the actual owners. I also reported how Anderberg, representing a land conservancy, once purchased a nonexistent interest in land from a former owner, then the conservancy tried to sue Pardini and Fink to take the land. That effort, too, was rejected by the State Supreme Court, which held that Pardini and Fink could bring a fraud lawsuit against the people who had done this to them. More recently, I reported the well-known story of Louise Haviland, who in the 1980s owned land adjacent to the Mohonk Preserve. Anderberg personally purchased her mortgage from its holder, and after he did so, took advantage of a provision allowing him to call in the note -- that is, to demand that Haviland pay him back all at once.
Honest land preservation involves a willing seller or donor -- not someone from whom land is unwillingly taken. OSI and Mohonk supporters overlook these transgressions, arguing for how much good the organizations allegedly do protecting land from development. Nobody is contesting that Glynwood Institute and OSI have a right to choose their own tenant. No evidence shows that any of the land transactions involved in Brook Farm have been illegal, though I have not personally studied the deed record. Many locals have noted that as land coms off the tax rolls and is placed in the hands of conservancies, residents of the towns involved end up paying their share of the tax burden. That would be reasonable if the organizations really were acting in the public interest. The common thread is about the illusion of something versus the underlying reality. The illusion perpetuated by Mohonk and OSI is that they are good neighbors and stewards, not land-grabbers. They go out of their way to perpetuate that image. Glynwood kicking Brook Farm off the land it's occupied for 10 years challenges the illusion that Glynwood supports community agriculture or plans to help "incubate" young farmers. The three organizations involved -- Mohonk, OSI and Glynwood -- seem to be playing a shell game with accountability for this action. For example, in a series of public statements, Glenn Hoagland, the executive director of the Mohonk Preserve, assured the New Paltz community that Brook Farm Project would be left alone. In early 2012, The Oracle student newspaper at SUNY New Paltz covered the foothills acquisition project and reported that, "Hoagland confirmed that the Brook Farm CSA will continue leasing property."
He made similar reassurances at a meeting earlier this year where Mohonk was seeking approval of the New Paltz Town Board on a state grant that would help with its acquisition of the foothills land -- Brook Farm would stay where it is. The problem here is that Hoagland is not in a position to make these statements about Brook Farm. Mohonk is managing a large tract of OSI's land, though the property that Brook Farm currently occupies will be under the control of Glynwood Institute. Perhaps Hoagland was mistaken, or maybe his statements were designed to reassure the community that Brook Farm, something it loves and cares about, would be left alone. He has said the same thing many times, and it turns out not to be true. At the Oct. 2 community meeting about Brook Farm, Mohonk Preserve sent the chairman of its board of directors, Ron Knapp, to represent the Preserve. (Nobody from OSI or Glynwood attended; presumably Knapp was their guy in the room.) After listening to community members vehemently express their concerns about land trusts for three hours running, he stunned the room by asking people to make donations to the Preserve so that it could raise $2 million and purchase land from OSI. That is what I said, and I saw it with my own eyes: at the end of the meeting, Knapp tried to get a little cash out of a bunch of people trying to save the CSA that he was helping crush. Had I not been there, I might not have believed it.
Twice, Glynwood Institute officials tried to talk him out of performing at the event. Yes, they contacted the 94-year-old singer, who has stood up for every imaginable progressive cause for the past 75 years, and tried to persuade him not to support the Brook Farm Project. As I said -- some people have no sense of irony. Tom O'Dowd is a former member of the board of directors of the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, an environmental organization founded by Seeger. He wrote to Seeger on Oct. 3 and pleaded with him not to "join the unfortunate bashing of OSI, Glynwood, and Mohonk Preserve." The lobbying efforts didn't work. Seeger performed as planned. Members of his organization were confused because they didn't notice any bashing going on, just some young people trying to save their farm from green-coated agribusiness. "I have not seen my father so pleased with an afternoon of music in a long time," his daughter Tinya Seeger wrote to Brook Farm Project's leadership. "The afternoon was such a relief for him. He loved seeing so many local singing young people and is enthusiastically in support of all of you." Many people in New Paltz and the surrounding towns feel the same way. The ball is now in Glynwood's and OSI's court -- let's see if they do the right thing. Lovingly,  Additional Research: Amy Elliott and Lizanne E. Webb. Note to those in the Albany, NY area: I will be the keynote speaker at the Property Rights Foundation of America conference Saturday. My topic will be "Preserving Our Property Rights Against Conservationists." This will be held at The Century House, Latham, New York. For details please see their website. 
 Clove Valley Cemetery on the Grandmother Land in High Falls, NY. Photo by Eric Francis.
Scorpio in Two DirectionsMonday, Mercury stationed retrograde in Scorpio, so you may have spent the past few days adjusting to the fact that the tide turned without you noticing. It's often necessary to reset your mind and your routines after this meaningful little planet changes directions, so give yourself an opportunity to do that. If you've been distracted from something, pick up where you left off. If you were in the midst of sorting out an emotional question, note that you may be seeing things from a new point of view now that Mercury is treading backwards through our zodiac, and will be doing so until Nov. 10. [Additional coverage here.]
Also on Nov. 1 is the fourth of seven events of Uranus square Pluto -- the 2012-era aspect. This is the central event, the one marking the midpoint of a process that officially extends until March 2015, when we have the seventh exact square. Just to give you an idea how slow this process is, after the square, we will reach the opposition point of this cycle (Uranus opposite Pluto) in 2046. All of this is happening at a time of year where there's already plenty of concentrated energy and when we have that 'thin veil' sensation of Sun-Scorpio. That has been commemorated for millennia with holidays similar to Halloween, from Egypt to the Americas, that have celebrated the connection between the worlds of the living and the dead, honoring the ancestors and tuning in to the impending approach of Northern Hemisphere winter. Remember, in the old days there were no guarantees of surviving winter, and many people (including children, the elderly and the infirm) did not. There was no guarantee that the food, the fuel or the candles would hold up. Nobody knew how long winter would last. We are fortunate to live in much more stable times now, but the memory is contained in our cells. Note that anyone who threatens the supply lines for basic necessities is not a friend. Mercury, the Sun and the eclipse are part of the grand water trine that has been developing most of the year. In addition to all this Scorpio activity, the grand trine includes Jupiter in Cancer and Neptune and Chiron in Pisces. That's more emotional and psychic energy than we're accustomed to, and it could be manifesting for some people as confusion or drama, or feel overwhelming. This is the time to see the patterns and do something about them, taking incremental steps and acting on what you know. If you know something and know you should take action, I suggest you ask yourself what's motivating you. One remedy to the emotional quality of the sky is Mars in Virgo. That's suggesting that precise action, focusing on what needs to be done and getting it done efficiently and with some determination, will be helpful. Note that Mercury and Mars are occupying one another's signs -- Mars is the traditional ruler of Scorpio, Mercury of Virgo. The two placements are working together. There is plenty to be done, and it needs to be done well so that you don't have to go through the same thing three more times. Allow the Mercury retrograde process to help you work in layers, doing as much as you can, seeing what needs redoing or additional detail, and going deeper. The combination of those four factors, Mercury, Mars, Virgo and Scorpio, can produce some excellent results. There's both cognitive intelligence and innate knowing; attention to detail and attention to the psychological angle of things. Note to Readers: News items below are written and edited by a team consisting of Anne Craig, Eric Francis, Amanda Painter, Susan Scheck and Carol van Strum, with research assistance by the Planet Waves staff. Special thanks to the Fact Checkers List, which goes over each edition on Thursday night -- and to our main astrology fact-checker Alex Miller, and Amanda, who goes over all their suggestions. Our editions are also proofread and fact-checked by Jessica Keet. 
Republican Unraveling?“Genetic Republican" and presidential great-grandson John G. Taft published a stern editorial in The New York Times on Wednesday, saying he didn't recognize the party of his forebears in the “bomb-throwing obstructionism" currently underway, and comparing the Tea Party to McCarthyism. Taft echoes the sentiments of a Texas judge who denounced the party's “ideological character assassination" in an announcement of his decision to run as a Democrat.
In New Jersey, Democrat Cory Booker won handily over Tea Party opponent Steve Lonegan, and Democrat Terry McAuliffe stands a good chance of winning the Virginia governor's race. Yet inside the scream machine, the most strident promoters of right-wing hysteria kept up the battle cry: the shutdown was heroic, and Obama and the Democrats are the ones who should worry. At GOP.com, banners demanded the firing of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. Kentucky Senator Rand Paul calmly endorsed “misinformation" as a viable tactic in a speech to a group of medical students. On Fox Noise, Bill O'Reilly accuses Democrats of outright socialism, while Karl Rove suggests that the executive branch is “in la-la land." Sean Hannity produced a segment in which three interviewees straight-out lied about having attempted to navigate the ACA website. What's driving this ongoing cesspool of idiocy? People for the American Way has a list of some 800 organizations and “think tanks" busily spewing policy suggestions and stirring feces on behalf of those who, like the billionaire Koch brothers, are desperately eager to defund the social safety net, crush workers' rights, and promote corporate profit at the expense of both the environment and the people in it. Sloganeering and a drumbeat of fear are used to convince folks in the heartland and hinterlands that when the right-wing “saves the day," they'll have “their America" back. It would seem that Tea Party darling Ted Cruz is staying true to his Christian Dominionist roots -- a theological construct that exhorts evangelicals to go forth and seize all the money by divine right -- which dovetails nicely with the goals of the corporate empire builders. Back on Earth, 58% of Americans support marriage equality and marijuana legalization, and as of February of this year, 54% favored developing alternative energy sources. De-Bugging the Affordable Care Act Experts brought on board by the Department of Health and Human Services are striving to straighten out the operational issues facing HealthCare.gov, the central portal through which Americans are expected to access the insurance marketplace established under the Affordable Care Act.
Those who have succeeded in using HealthCare.gov to create secure accounts and shop the insurance exchanges say the results aren't bad; the subsidies offered do, in fact, create affordable healthcare choices. The Congressional Budget Office projects that by the end of 2014, about 16 million more U.S. citizens will have health insurance and that, over the next decade, the ACA will result in a slight reduction in the national deficit. The processes of the several private contracting firms responsible for the nuts and bolts of the website and the government agency they were working with were rife with miscommunication, the site crashed during a test just hours before the rollout, and contractors apparently felt pressed for time and at the mercy of arbitrary decisions. These factors, aired during Congressional hearings on Thursday, offered ample grist for the blame mill, much of its outpouring aimed at Obama and HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. Blamers, of course, conveniently ignore the fact that the noisome tantrum being thrown by extremist opponents of the law has required both Obama and Sebelius to stay focused on trying to correct massive onslaughts of misinformation, rather than hands-on oversight of the stuff under the hood. Demands that Sebelius be fired would, if accommodated, take one of the most knowledgeable players out of the game. Republicans on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce reached out to techie-pioneer-turned-party-boy John McAfee as their vision of the Answer Man, a role he has apparently declined. While it all gets sorted out, some Democrats are joining Republicans in advocating that enforcement of the individual mandate section of the ACA, which levies penalties against people who remain uninsured, should be delayed while the website gets fixed. An A-team of specialists has been brought in to troubleshoot the massive system, which is intended to be used by insurance seekers, insurance companies, and government employees from various agencies performing complex tasks such as income verification. Estimates are that the website will be fully operational by the end of 2013 or early 2014. 
A Canadian Crackdown in the Fracking Clash Indigenous Mi'kmaq protesters and Royal Canadian Mounted Police clashed on Turtle Island in New Brunswick on Oct. 17. Cars were burned and some 40 people arrested in a raid on the ongoing blockade the Mi'kmaq had established against shale gas exploration by SNW Operating Company of Texas.
Alward and Elsipogtog Chief Aaron Sock agreed on Friday to a cooling-off period, but it's unclear whether any of this will impact the provincial government's behavior. Indiscriminate mineral extraction and disregard for treaty rights are an unholy combination that puts the entire North American continent at risk of outcomes far more sinister than a few flaming cop cars. In New York, Onondaga representatives paddled down the Hudson to the United Nations last summer in the company of non-native allies to win support for enforcement of the Two Row Treaty of peaceful coexistence, only to have the U.S. Supreme Court refuse a land claim suit that had been working its way through the courts since 2005. Since 1823, indigenous treaty rights have been considered subordinate to the Doctrine of Discovery, which holds that Christians may “discover," take and use land held by non-Christians. The Canadian government takes similar positions on the “rule of law." Generations of frustration and the threat posed by fracking and tar sands extraction have crystallized the Idle No More protest movement, putting indigenous people and their allies on the front lines of the resistance. While international bodies like the UN have offered treaty rights proponents a sympathetic ear, national governments seem determined to keep stonewalling. 
Mountain Astrologer Article on Monsanto Available FreeOver the summer, The Mountain Astrologer published my investigative feature on the astrology of Monsanto. That article is now available free to all readers as a PDF download. The article examines the natal chart of Monsanto -- the first time this has been done in a competent and accessible manner (perhaps the first time ever). You're invited to both read and share the PDF with others concerned about the rise of Monsanto and genetically modified organisms. Group Says No Consensus on GMO Safety The European Network of Scientists for Social and Environmental Responsibility on Monday strongly refuted claims of GMO safety, saying it felt "compelled to issue this statement because the claimed consensus on GMO safety does not exist. The claim that it does exist is misleading and misrepresents the currently available scientific evidence and the broad diversity of opinion among scientists on this issue."
In addition, no epidemiological studies exist that investigate potential effects of GMO food consumption on human health. Since GMO foods are not labeled in North America, a major producer and consumer of GM crops, ENSSER said it is scientifically impossible to trace or study patterns of consumption and their impacts. Due to this lack of data, claims that GMO foods are safe for human health based on the experience of North American populations have no scientific basis. ENSSER also pointed out that claims of scientific and governmental bodies endorsing GMO safety are exaggerated or inaccurate; that there is no consensus on the environmental risks of GM crops; and international agreements show widespread recognition of risks posed by GM foods and crops. Whether to continue or expand the use of GMO foods is too broad an issue to be based on "narrow scientific debate" and decisions need to encompass a broader range of society, the group stated. It believes that strong scientific evidence must be "obtained in a manner that is honest, ethical, rigorous, independent, transparent, and sufficiently diversified to compensate for bias."
UPDATE: Petitions with more than 345,000 signatures admonishing the World Food Prize Foundation for awarding this year's Prize to top executives from Monsanto and Syngenta were delivered to the Foundation's headquarters in Iowa hours before the ceremony, the Center for Food Safety said. Often called the "Nobel Prize of agriculture," the Prize, in its own words, "emphasizes the importance of a nutritious and sustainable food supply for all people." Dr. Robert T. Fraley, executive vice president and chief technology officer of Monsanto, and Dr. Mary-Dell Chilton, founder of Syngenta, were two of the three recipients. "With this award, the World Food Prize is perpetuating the false notion that genetically engineered crops are a solution to world hunger and malnutrition. This kind of biotech propaganda obscures the huge potential of low-cost agricultural techniques that actually increase food production and alleviate hunger," said Andrew Kimbrell, executive director for the Center for Food Safety. 
Can We Heal Our Broken Oceans? Few understand first-hand how gravely humans have damaged the world's oceans, and the creatures who live there. Ivan Macfadyen, a yachtsman from Newcastle, Australia, recently sailed from Australia to Japan, and then on to Hawaii and the continental U.S. His assessment of our planet's waters? "The ocean is broken."
"I've done a lot of miles on the ocean in my life and I'm used to seeing turtles, dolphins, sharks and big flurries of feeding birds," says Macfadyen. "But this time, for 3000 nautical miles there was nothing alive to be seen." The uncanny silence and apparent lack of sea life appear to have two major causes. One is huge trawlers that catch every fish they can in an area -- and then toss overboard to rot everything that is not tuna. Another is tremendous quantities of trash, from plastic drink bottles to an entire factory chimney -- much of it swept from land by the massive tsunami that hit Japan March 11, 2011. "In a lot of places we couldn't start our motor for fear of entangling the propeller in the mass of pieces of rope and cable. That's an unheard-of situation, out in the ocean." As they sailed cautiously, listening to objects hitting the hull, something in the waters off the coast of Japan reacted with the paint job on that hull, fading it in an unprecedented way. Two and a half years out, we're only beginning to understand the magnitude of damage that tsunami set in motion -- same with the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, where catches are severely reduced and tar balls continue to wash up -- all on top of 'regular' pollution. When will we learn? Toxic Dog and Cat Jerky Treat Alert The Food and Drug Administration is asking pet owners and licensed veterinarians to help them track down information on why hundreds of dogs and cats have died since 2007 from eating poisonous jerky treats. About 3,600 have been sickened, and the numbers of illnesses and deaths has appeared to rise since January. The affected jerky seems to be chicken, duck, sweet potato and fruit-flavored varieties. Most seems to be made in China, however pet food manufacturers are not required by U.S. law to state the country of origin for each ingredient in their products. For more information, see Wednesday's blog post. 
The End of Sex? Maybe, in JapanJapan's under-40 population is turning away from marriage and sex by the millions, according to a report in The Guardian newspaper. It's a trend that its media has named sekkusu shinai shokogun, or "celibacy syndrome." If it continues, Japan's shrinking population -- now at 126 million -- could fall further by one-third as soon as 2060.
Men don't want the responsibility of a wife and family, while women know marriage and motherhood would end their careers, The Guardian reported. The World Economic Forum ranks Japan as one of the world's worst nations for gender equality at work. Sources for the story speculate that the 2011 earthquake, tsunami and destruction of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant left psychological scars as well, engendering feelings of futility and hopelessness. "Both men and women say to me they don't see the point of love. They don't believe it can lead anywhere," Ai Aoyama, a Tokyo sex and relationship counselor, told The Guardian. "Relationships have become too hard." Single Japanese people say they enjoy their unattached and nonsexual lives, seeing anything else as "too troublesome." Japan's Institute of Population and Social Security reports 90% of young women believe that staying single is "preferable to what they imagine marriage to be like." Aoyama tries to educate her clients on the importance of intimacy, whether it's in a committed relationship or not. "It's not healthy that people are becoming so physically disconnected from each other," she said. 
Free Press vs. National Security: A 'False Choice' When governments threaten the ability of a free press to do its job by seizing reporters' phone records, documents and names of sources, in the name of national security, it ultimately weakens them and sets up a "false choice" for its citizens.
A free and independent press "differentiates democracy from dictatorship; separates a free society from tyranny," he said. In countries where journalists have fought long and hard for a free press, Pruitt said dictators can look to the U.S.'s example to justify their own media repression. The Justice Department's actions "could not have been more tailor-made to comfort authoritarian regimes." Pruitt said he was encouraged by proposed Justice Department guidelines, introduced after the records seizure, that would give reporters more protections and guarantee that they will not be prosecuted for doing their jobs. "But you can bet that we will be watching closely to make sure they are implemented and enforced," he said. 
New Jersey Governor Stops Fighting Same-Sex MarriageIn the latest win for same-sex marriage, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie abandoned his fight against its legalization in his state. Christie had asked the New Jersey Supreme Court to ban same-sex marriages while he appealed the court's earlier decision to uphold legislation that would allow gay and lesbian couples to marry. The court refused his request unanimously on Friday. The legislation took effect at midnight Monday, and same-sex couples began wedding immediately through the night and into the early morning.
However, even while emphasizing that marriage should be between a man and a woman, Christie has also signed a bill outlawing "gay conversion therapy." Four months ago, after Christie had vetoed the bill allowing same-sex marriage, many activists thought he had solidly blocked their progress. According to The New York Times, however, Judge Mary C. Jacobson of State Superior Court ruled in September "that the state had to allow gay marriages to comply with the United States Supreme Court decision in June that guaranteed same-sex married couples the same federal benefits as heterosexual married couples." The SCOTUS decision meant that couples in civil unions in New Jersey did not have the same benefits as those in marriages, running counter to a 2006 New Jersey Supreme Court decision guaranteeing them equal protection.   "Ocean plastics now outweigh the amount of plankton by at least six to one. This statistic is terrifying, and fuels my artistic endeavors," says Angela Pozzi. Photo: Henry the fish; WashedAshore.org.
From Marine Menace to Transformative ArtOregon artist Angela Pozzi understands that the first step in curbing the destruction of our oceans is to foster individual awareness through tangible means around our use and disposal of non-biodegradable materials. It can be hard to comprehend the 3.5 million pounds of trash collected from beaches across America -- in just one day -- by the Ocean Conservancy's clean-up project last year. Believing in creating "art for life's sake," Pozzi (who is lead artist for WashedAshore.org) collects plastic from Oregon beaches, sorts it by color, and creates large-scale sculptures of sea creatures with it. "I wanted it to be where people would want their picture taken next to it," said Pozzi to Hawaii's KITV of her giant pieces of art, while there for the Pacific Rim Marine Debris Conference. "And then they would have to tell someone what they just had their picture taken next to." Not only is she leading a community effort involving volunteers and school children to create more large-scale artistic ambassadors, Pozzi is available for educational consulting, curriculum development and project design if you'd like to start a similar effort in your community.  Mercury retrograde, healing codependency and Gary Lucas Link to Program This week I am honored to have world-class rocker Gary Lucas as my musical guest, on a program that addresses themes as deep as Gary's music and lyrics. In this edition I cover the recently-begun Mercury retrograde in Scorpio, which will be followed by the Sun ingressing Scorpio early Wednesday morning EDT.
All this astrology in Scorpio, especially the introspective Mercury retrograde, the forthcoming solar eclipse and the presence of Saturn -- all basically working as one entity -- provide a compelling image of how useful and empowering it will be to look within. As for Gary Lucas: you get a full introduction, including a look at his chart and two truly magnificent tracks, one called Evangeline, from his 2000 CD Street of Lost Brothers, and then Ride of the Valkyries from the CD Coming Clean. I give a fascinating overview of Gary's chart, focusing on his cluster of planets in Gemini and Cancer and how they work together to produce someone who is like an atomic fusion reactor of creative energy who looks like he can get by on an hour of sleep a night.  We are happy to offer once again one of our most popular products: the Planet Waves All-Access Pass for 2014. The All-Access Pass is for members who want access to everything we offer in a calendar year. In recent years our product line has grown considerably, and the response from our All-Access subscribers has been overwhelmingly positive. You can read about everything that's included with an All-Access pass here. For those who can't get enough Planet Waves astrology, it's an unbeatable value. Plus, if you order now, we'll include the rest of the readings that come out in 2013, and you'll save $100.  Your Monthly Horoscopes -- and our Publishing Schedule Notes The extended monthly horoscope for November is below in this issue. We published the extended monthly horoscope for October on Friday, Sept. 27. Inner Space for October was published Friday, Sept. 20. Moonshine for the Libra New Moon published on Tuesday, Oct. 1. We published Moonshine for the Aries Full Moon Tuesday, Oct. 15. Please note, we normally publish the extended monthly horoscope on the first Friday after the Sun has entered a new sign; Inner Space usually publishes the following Tuesday but for now it's substituting for one Friday horoscope a month. standing in for weekly #972 | By Eric Francis  Wondering about how astrology is influencing your life now? Eric has prepared a written and recorded reading for you that tells the story. You can get all 12 signs of LISTEN, your 2013 reading, for the special reduced price of only $29.95. LISTEN gives you a detailed reading, available immediately, covering work, relationships, personal growth and creativity.
 Wondering about how astrology is influencing your life now? Eric has prepared a written and recorded reading for you that tells the story. You can get all 12 signs of LISTEN, your 2013 reading, for the special reduced price of only $29.95. LISTEN gives you a detailed reading, available immediately, covering work, relationships, personal growth and creativity.
 Wondering about how astrology is influencing your life now? Eric has prepared a written and recorded reading for you that tells the story. You can get all 12 signs of LISTEN, your 2013 reading, for the special reduced price of only $29.95. LISTEN gives you a detailed reading, available immediately, covering work, relationships, personal growth and creativity.
 Wondering about how astrology is influencing your life now? Eric has prepared a written and recorded reading for you that tells the story. You can get all 12 signs of LISTEN, your 2013 reading, for the special reduced price of only $29.95. LISTEN gives you a detailed reading, available immediately, covering work, relationships, personal growth and creativity.
 Wondering about how astrology is influencing your life now? Eric has prepared a written and recorded reading for you that tells the story. You can get all 12 signs of LISTEN, your 2013 reading, for the special reduced price of only $29.95. LISTEN gives you a detailed reading, available immediately, covering work, relationships, personal growth and creativity.
 Wondering about how astrology is influencing your life now? Eric has prepared a written and recorded reading for you that tells the story. You can get all 12 signs of LISTEN, your 2013 reading, for the special reduced price of only $29.95. LISTEN gives you a detailed reading, available immediately, covering work, relationships, personal growth and creativity.
 Wondering about how astrology is influencing your life now? Eric has prepared a written and recorded reading for you that tells the story. You can get all 12 signs of LISTEN, your 2013 reading, for the special reduced price of only $29.95. LISTEN gives you a detailed reading, available immediately, covering work, relationships, personal growth and creativity.
  Wondering about how astrology is influencing your life now? Eric has prepared a written and recorded reading for you that tells the story. You can get all 12 signs of LISTEN, your 2013 reading, for the special reduced price of only $29.95. LISTEN gives you a detailed reading, available immediately, covering work, relationships, personal growth and creativity.
 Wondering about how astrology is influencing your life now? Eric has prepared a written and recorded reading for you that tells the story. You can get all 12 signs of LISTEN, your 2013 reading, for the special reduced price of only $29.95. LISTEN gives you a detailed reading, available immediately, covering work, relationships, personal growth and creativity.
 Wondering about how astrology is influencing your life now? Eric has prepared a written and recorded reading for you that tells the story. You can get all 12 signs of LISTEN, your 2013 reading, for the special reduced price of only $29.95. LISTEN gives you a detailed reading, available immediately, covering work, relationships, personal growth and creativity.
 Wondering about how astrology is influencing your life now? Eric has prepared a written and recorded reading for you that tells the story. You can get all 12 signs of LISTEN, your 2013 reading, for the special reduced price of only $29.95. LISTEN gives you a detailed reading, available immediately, covering work, relationships, personal growth and creativity.
 Wondering about how astrology is influencing your life now? Eric has prepared a written and recorded reading for you that tells the story. You can get all 12 signs of LISTEN, your 2013 reading, for the special reduced price of only $29.95. LISTEN gives you a detailed reading, available immediately, covering work, relationships, personal growth and creativity.
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