ABOUT PIGSTOCK, WI On July 17th, 2010, the 8th Annual Pigstock: A Gathering for Peace will take place at Windbeam Farm in Hager City WI. Pigstock is a mixture of music, speakers, and community for peace in an idylic location near the Mississippi, just one hour's drive from the Twin Cities of Minnesota. Pigstock is sponsored by Veterans for Peace, Chapter 115 and has a peace-themed agenda. This year we welcome Cynthia McKinney, Mike Ferner and Susan M. Schnall as speakers. See here for more information about our speakers and panels. And we welcome Bonnie & The Clydes and a variety of local musicians to our campfire stage to rock us into the wee hours. See here for more information about our musical program. Facebook users: Please join our Pigstock Facebook page and RSVP on our 8th Annual Pigstock 2010 Facebook Event page! Remembering Pigstock 2009 The seventh annual Pigstock event was held on Saturday, July 18, 2010 under a partly cloudy sky with a very brisk wind and unseasonably cold temperatures. Most people came unprepared for the cold weather and people were willing to share extra jackets and blankets in an attempt to keep us all warm. This weather however did not deter the enthusiasm of those in attendance and most stayed till the very end. The event started in the morning at 9:00 AM with announcements from various local peace groups. The Executive Director of national Veterans for Peace, Michael McPherson, gave us information on what was happening on the national level for Veterans for Peace and gave his views on how we can best proceed in working for peace. It was a most interesting talk. The next session at 10:30 AM was a discussion about the hardships women face in the military. The talk was led by Helen Benedict, Professor of Journalism at Columbia University, author and journalist who spoke of her new book, The Lonely Soldier , which had just been released. Her stories of women in the military were both sad and it was hard to understand why today's military had become that way. Chante Wolf, a Gulf War veteran and member of Veterans for Peace, Chapter 27, Minneapolis, Minnesota gave her true life account of the extraordinary difficulties and discrimination she experienced in her military career. This discussion left one feeling angry but anxious to see that women in the military get the full respect that they deserve and do get in civilian work. During the noon lunch break more announcements were made and we were then entertained by Roger and Jo Cuthberson, also known as String Beans, Chick Pea and Garbanzo who sing and play the mandolin and cittern . They also accompanied Bill Habedank who mustered up enough courage to sing the debut of his new song, The Wind of Peace, also accompanied by Bill McGrath, on guitar. It was not a performance by Mr. Habedank that would lead him to try out for American Idol but people seemed to enjoy the song and he hoped others would try singing it. After a long break the afternoon session started at 1:30PM with our keynote speaker, Chris Hedges, the 2002 winner of the Pulitzer Prize for journalism. Mr. Hedges is a prolific writer and has written several well renowned books. He had served all around the world as a foreign correspondent in many war zones during his career. He had seen first hand what war does to both the warrior and the innocent civilians. At Pigstock he spoke of his new book The Empire of Illusion. It was a spellbinding dissertation on what was becoming of American society which allowed us to become so fearful and prone to violence and greed. After another short break, Chris Hedges joined a panel of local experts including Coleen Rowley, the FBI whistle-blower and Time magazine co-woman of the year 2002; Nigel Parry, a blogger and long time activist ; and Jeff Nygaard, a blogger and writer with Nygaard Notes. They continued discussing what Mr. Hedges had talked about earlier. The talk was very interesting and the time went by much too quickly but people had had a long day and were ready to eat a delicious supper. While relaxing and eating we were entertained by Junkyard Empire who played their original music which was very good. Nigel Parry also performed a couple original songs doing a solo and accompanying himself with his guitar. Towards dark the bonfire was lit and people settled in around the campfire for some sing-along music being led by Bill McGrath from Northfield, Minnesota. New friendships were made and everyone enjoyed the conversations. Some stayed up until the wee hours of the night. This was another memorable Pigstock and made us wonder how we could top this event but we knew we would try very hard next year. Our 7th Annual Pigstock 2009 Facebook Event page Browse the 2009 Pigstock About page in our archive! Bill Habedank remembers Pigstock 2008 This past summer has been a very busy one for Chapter 115 in Red Wing, MN.   We again hosted the sixth annual Pigstock event on July 12th  at VFP member Paul ( and Trudi) Schaefer's Windbeam Farm in Hager City, WI which is just across the Mississippi River from Red Wing, MN. Over seventy people attended the event and many expressed their appreciation of Chapter 115 again hosting this outstanding event. The program began with area peace organizations reporting on recent and upcoming events they had been working on.  Professor David M. Green from Hofstra University, NY, NY then spoke on the mistakes made leading up to the Iraq War and he discussed a seven point plan on how we can work to end this war. After lunch a panel of Iraq Veterans Against the War led by Wes Davies and moderated by Michael and Cynthia Orange gave a terrific discussion of their experiences in Iraq.  It was like a small version of the earlier Winter Soldier event.  People were very moved by the discussion and of the advice of what we can do to help our returning veterans. Following that, Karen Kwiatkowski, Lt Col. USAF, retired, gave her presentation Will the Anitwar Movement Strangle the State?   Her presentation was very interesting and was different than many of the things we had heard before as she took a very Libertarian approach to the Iraq War problem.  You can view the transcript of her presentation at www. LewRockwell.com. Following that was our famous pigroast and discussions around a large campfire and some more lively discussions took place in a much more informal atmosphere. Chapter 115 then jumped into intense preparations for the Veterans Silent March which was to take place on August 31st just prior to the Republican National Convention.   A great deal of time was spent promoting this even and working on logistics and in making the commerative cardboard tombstones.  We also had members volunteer for the VFP National  convention in Bloomington, MN.  Finally we just recently participated in the annual Red Wing, MN Diversity Festival.  We promoted Veterans for Peace by passing out literature and having people learn about the costs of war by playing our "Cost of War Quiz Game".  The game was very popular and many people learned things about the Iraq War that they did not know before.  Yes, a very busy summer but one we look back on with great memories. Who spoke at Pigstock 2007? On July 14, 2007, the 5th Annual Pigstock took place. Speakers included: Elizabeth de la Vega: former Federal Prosecutor, including a stint as Assistant U.S. Attorney in Minneapolis; has written articles published in The Nation, Christian Science Monitor, Salon and Mother Jones; author of United States vs. George Bush, et al, a book which presents in hypothetical form the background and legal case for a grand jury indictment of the Bush Administration on the criminal charge of conspiracy to defraud the United States. Copies will be on sale at our retreat. Ms. De la Vega will speak on The Case for Impeachment. Steven Miles, MD: Professor of Medicine and Bioethics, U. of MN; Miles' new book, Oath Betrayed: Torture, Medical Complicity and the War on Terror, examines the practice of military medicine in "War On Terror" prisons. Using 60,000 pages of declassified documents, Miles shows how investigations of abuses have been designed to protect the generals in charge. Copies will be on sale at our retreat. The title of Dr. Miles' talk is: Command Responsibility for the Abuses at Abu Ghraib. Coleen Rowley: former FBI Agent, celebrated as the whistleblower who exposed the failure of the FBI to properly address information about the 9/11 plots, testified regarding her concerns before the U.S. Senate, gave information to the Dept. of Justice and the Joint Intelligence Committee Inquiry which helped lead to the 9/11 Commission; one of the original protesters of the Bush Administration with Cindy Sheehan in Crawford, Texas; recent Democratic candidate for Congress in the MN 2nd District, losing to incumbent John Kline. Ms. Rowley will speak on Truth, the First Casualty in the "War On Terror". Ann Wright: retired Colonel, U.S. Army and State Dept. Diplomat, one of three Diplomatic Corps officials to resign in direct protest of U.S. invasion of Iraq. Since her resignation, she has become a full-time anti-war activist, frequently cited, arrested, and convicted for her outspoken actions. Ann has been an active participant in Veterans for Peace and with the Iraq Veterans Against the War, who will join her in this presentation. She was one of the five judges in the January, 2006, International Commission of Inquiry on Crimes Against Humanity Committed by the Bush Administration. The title of Ms. Wright's speech will be, The Role of Dissent in a Modern Democracy.