Category Archives: Articles

This month, we continue highlighting a Gainesville activist, veteran, honored hero, and friend of SPOHP, Scott Camil. Scott is a member of the Gainesville Eight: the group of seven Vietnam War veterans and one civilian caught in a conspiracy by the FBI, who attempted to frame them for terroristic threats. 

In this 2005 interview with John Aversono (A), Scott Camil (C) shares about his upbringing, his time in the Marine Corps from his training to engagements in combat, and touches on how he became an antiwar activist. Be advised this includes profanity and graphic descriptions of war. Transcript edited by Donovan Carter.

A: How long after basic training were you sent to Vietnam?

C: I graduated boot camp in September of 1965. Then I went to ITR, for October of 1965 and November of 1965, that’s infantry training. It is like boot camp but not as strict except now you are learning tactics, mountain climbing and that kind of conditioning. I arrived in Vietnam on something like March 20, 1966.

The world’s first Flying Pig Parade is a people-powered “un-parade”

by Glenn Terry

Gainesville is getting a performance like it’s never seen. The world’s first Flying Pig Parade will take wing on Saturday, December 30, at 2 p.m. The downtown satire of a traditional holiday procession will feature a unique brew of home-grown talent. It’ll include hip musicians, dazzling performance artists, towering puppets, and a dozen dancing mosquitoes.

By Drake Cromer-Moore, Outreach Pastor, Meizon Church

During the global pandemic of 2020, Meizon Mission started as an online church creating services and devotionals for people displaced by the many disruptive events of that year. In 2023, Meizon Mission found alignment with First Christian Church of Gainesville, a church that has been actively present in our city for over 100 years. Affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), First Christian Church merged with Meizon Mission and together we look into the next century, unified together, as Meizon Church. 

A report back from the first ever Democratic Socialists of America delegation to Cuba, and how it ties into DSA’s broader program of anti-imperialism

by Aron Ali-McClory,National Co-Chair of the Young Democratic Socialists of America

“I feel human again.”

Those were the words of a delegate from Michigan who was visibly emotional after Mariela Castro, the Director of Cuban National Center for Sex Education, led some 43 DSA members in both a minute of silence for Gazans, but also in chants of “Free Palestine!”

Castro’s response to the delegate: “We all have family in Palestine.”

At this moment, we are witnessing crimes against humanity in Gaza. More than two million people are being denied food, water, and electricity, and their hospitals are being bombed and infrastructure destroyed, all with the express purpose of ethnic cleansing—to push the population of Gaza into the Sinai. 

Innocent Israeli lives were lost on Oct. 7 and should be mourned, but as Stefanie Fox, the director for Jewish Voices for Peace, stated, “Reality is shaped by when you start the clock, you know, and while the Israeli government may have just declared war, its war on Palestine started 75 years ago.” 

Veterans for Peace welcomes all to attend their 37th annual Winter Solstice Concert, a community celebration of peace and light, singing, dancing, and fellowship, on Saturday, Dec. 9 at 7:30pm at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship at 4225 NW 34th Street in Gainesville.

The show will feature performances, including a Cherokee Peace Chant, from Drums for Peace, John Chambers & Friends, David Beede & Janet Rucker, Quartermoon, Other Voices, and a Choir of Heavenly Semi-Angels. And of course Master of Ceremonies Bob Treadwater, with signing for the deaf graciously provided by Diane Delage. Pre-show music by Cathy DeWitt and Mark Billman starts at 7:30pm.

Tickets can be purchased online at tinyurl.com/Iguana1738, available on a sliding scale from $20 to $40 each. Pay what you can. 

For the safety of all guests and performers, masks will be required inside.

Questions? Contact vfpgnv.donations@gmail.com. 

by Mary Savage

Earlier this year, Congress voted to increase the debt ceiling and gave relief to senior citizens, and those approaching retirement age, knowing that Social Security and Medicare were safe from cuts. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) then announced plans for a commission to cut these programs behind closed doors. McCarthy understood the only way to cut our owed benefits is to make a secret deal and present it to the American people under the guise of being “bipartisan, on both sides of the aisle.” This would give cover to members of both major political parties. Then, voters won’t know who to blame at election time. But Americans know the only way to win at this is not to play. 

‘We have to behave as what we are: citizens engaged in a struggle for democracy’

by Donna Waller,  Retired SFC Political Science professor & community  activist 

On Oct. 25, I sat for 3.5 hours at the Alachua County Legislative Delegation’s annual public meeting. Watching and listening to everyone gave me a lot to think about, but the longer I stayed, the more I focused on the issue of gerrymandering. 

The word dates back to the dawn of the republic when a Massachusetts Governor, Elbridge Gerry, created a district in the form of a salamander in order to give his party an advantage in the legislature. Drawing districts in an odd shape in order to help or harm a candidate or group is a time-honored American tradition, but so is the belief that it is a negative one that makes a mockery of our historical drive toward political equality. 

by Carol Mosley

After a seven-year struggle to put a phosphate mining plan to rest, Bradford County is trying to update (hopefully upgrade) the Comprehensive Plan on mining. They’ve been trying to get this done since 2019, but were continually stymied by mining issues. This time it is Chemours FC that is throwing monkey wrenches in the gears.

Chemours mines along the trail ridge between Bradford and Clay counties. The discharge eventually flows into the Santa Fe River. They mainly produce titanium dioxide from the minerals obtained, which is used to make things white. 

UF student: ‘Florida university instruction [is turning] into a censorship nightmare’

by Stevie Sanders

The day I opened my acceptance letter from the University of Florida was one of the happiest days of my life. I have dreamt of coming to UF since I was a bright-eyed nine-year-old screaming to Tom Petty at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. 

Imagine my despair when, within my first year at the university, outside forces would threaten to shatter that dream. 

by Joe Courter

What a time we are in as we head into the end of 2023. The absolute horrors that are taking place following the events of October 7 are incomprehensible. Of course I must say that the pre-Oct. 7 situation in Gaza and the region is equally incomprehensible to me, watching this pressure cooker of a situation dating back over half a century get worse and worse until it finally blew up … into what we don’t know. At the time of writing this, November 2, there is no resolution in sight, just the horrors of collective punishment on the innocent civilians of Gaza. It is being watched by millions of anguished witnesses around the globe. I am too disgusted to say anything more. I am completely appalled.

by Robert “Hutch” Hutchinson 

The new Utility Authority board met in October for swearing-in and getting organized. Their Nov. 1 meeting dealt with some sobering business. 

The accumulated debt of Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU) and the rates for electricity are two preoccupations of the Utility Authority, as they should be. Over the years, GRU has created one of the nation’s most complicated financial portfolios, with a bewildering array of short- and long-term debt. Almost every day, large amounts of it roll over, and the companies that provide assurances to institutional investors are showing signs of concern. One “liquidity facility” has indicated they are discontinuing their coverage of GRU debt until governance issues are resolved. 

The November/December issue of the Iguana is now available, and you can access it here! If you want to get your hands on a hard copy, check out our distro locations here.

Big 3 buckled as stand-up strike spread
The Auto Workers (UAW) now have agreements with each of the Big 3 automakers
by Dan DiMaggio | Labor Notes | Oct. 31 | tinyurl.com/Iguana1737
A roundup from Labor Notes on the end of the strike and what’s in the tentative agreements. 

Gaza and the Empathy Gap
How we Americans feel about Gazans living under Israeli bombs does matter, since we’re the ones financing it
by Ryan Grim | The Intercept | Oct. 23 | tinyurl.com/Iguana1717
Hamas’s attack on Oct. 7 was terrible and should be condemned, but Israel’s response has been horrifying. Even so, many Americans, and the White House, unwaveringly support Israel. But what if we put ourselves in the shoes of Palestinian civilians? To imagine how it feels to see unconditional support being given to a military operation that is killing thousands upon thousands of innocent people, how it must feel to see calls for a humanitarian ceasefire attacked as not just wrong but “repugnant” — not from a college student group, but from the podium at the White House. How we Americans feel about all this does matter, since we’re the ones financing it.