Terezakis

Today is Veteran’s Day. The West has a lot to be thankful for… I have a lot to be thankful for.

The fact that people do not venerate our heroes from every single conflict can be traced back to some very bad PR from LIFE magazine during the war in Vietnam. Out of the number of WWII veterans I have known, two remain standing. Albert Miglio is one of these men. Artist, friend, New Yorker, combat veteran, he also possesses a unique appreciation for the gifts of Greek civilization. My recent visit to the war museum in Crete has also provided food for reflection on this day.

Click the image below for a PDF of truly unforgettable imagery taken by a forgotten LIFE Magazine photographer, prior to the involvement of the United States in World War II.

I also appreciate the effectiveness of some of the images as an anti-ad campaign for Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz. Could never understand why so many of my friends and their parents purchased either brand for transportation.

Freedom isn’t free. Thank the veterans around you and those who serve now.

Buy a Benz?.

Summer is a time-proven golden opportunity to run special interest agendas through when you do not want a bunch of people to know what you are up to. Case and point would be Granite Construction Corporation’s euphemistically named “Liberty Quarry” project. Problem is that they have chosen a section of land to develop which would spell the end of the last wild river and the last wild life corridor in Southern California. LAST. Ain’t no more. All bought up, paved, built on and converted to contemporary ideas of civilization.

I recently became aware of this project as it would mean the destruction, actually the erasure of sites which are sacred to the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians. Having grown up with sacred sites on the islands of both sides of my family (Crete and Samothrace) I have an idea of what their loss would mean – especially to future generations.

Long story short, I will be spending more time updating the new Sacred Sky Sacred Earth website than adding to this one. Please visit by clicking the image below and signing a petition to help save this LAST section of land from destructive development.

The text below was written in response to an article which you can read by clicking on this text or the image above.

Thank you for this article which motivated me to write about a subject which I believe to be of critical importance.

Comments for the Granite Construction video included in this article have been disabled on YouTube. While I can wonder why this is so, this silencing of the voice of the people seems like a good tactic to avoid critical commentary and questioning.

Laurieweb66′s video helped to convey a feeling for the area and is well worth watching. I had the privilege of visiting SDSU’s filed stations there in 2003 and have only the smallest inkling of the area’s importance.

At the heart of this issue is a conflict which I see as theological in nature. The notion that a section of the earth in its natural state is “undeveloped” and therefore available to be exploited in the pursuit of profit is the vision held by many corporations – including Northern California’s Granite Construction Corporation. Bureaucratic legitimation condoning the destruction of the living earth represents the worst type of corrupt nineteenth century expansionist thinking. Permitting callous indifference to works of the Creator damages us all.

The intended rape of the land by Granite Construction ( http://www.graniteconstruction.com/investor-relations/stock-quote.cfm#stockchart ) must be stopped. [Given Mr. Johnson's patronizing report, it seems that trucks and construction companies need to pay more taxes for the wear and tear on our roadways. ]

There are plenty of resources for construction material in Southern California; even if they are owned by companies other than the Northern California Granite Construction company.

The value of gold is determined by its scarcity. The threatened Pechanga Sacred Site includes the LAST free flowing, protected coastal river in Southern California. According to sources on Google, construction aggregate hovers between $15 and $25 per ton, with a possible “5 million tons” of material available (http://www.nctimes.com/mobile/article_5a8dedd2-b2dd-5b51-8cc2-5af508c48cd3.html ).

A quick calculation shows Granite Construction is looking at a $125 million gross, should the project go forward.

With that kind of money flying around, a lot of integrity, spin, and influence can be bought to divorce the public from the truth.

I would like to submit that LAST is more valuable than something measured in 5 million tons: that naturally clean air, water, open space, and the freedom of migrating wild and living things, trump dreams of profit and dust.

Supporting the destruction of an irreplaceable natural resource in the name of profit is no longer an option (if it ever was!).

Public and vocal support is needed to preserve this threatened site.

Sharing the referenced article with all whom you know is an easy first step.