Welcome to the September 2009 Edition of the Laconneau
Monthly Newsletter.
IN THIS ISSUE
• Book of the Month
• Political Action Forum
• Laconneau Autumn Festival
• Sentier de Vermont
• Regional News
• Regional Calendars
• Contact Laconneau
BOOK OF THE MONTH
The Gospel of Mary of Magdala: Jesus and the First Woman Apostle
by Karen L. King
The Gospel of Mary was discovered in the 19th century and first published in 1955. In her book, Karen L. King provides a translation of the gospel and her thoughts on its meaning and the significance. In the author’s own words, “This astonishingly brief narrative presents a radical interpretation of Jesus’ teachings as a path to inner spiritual knowledge; it rejects his suffering and death as the path to eternal life; ...it presents the most straightforward and convincing argument in any early Christian writing for the legitimacy of women’s leadership; ...it challenges our rather romantic views about the harmony and unanimity of the first Christians; it asks us to rethink the basis for church authority.”
POLITICAL ACTION FORUM
Health Care?
~By Marge duMond
Our health care system is broken. Our president says so[1], and many Americans agree. The World Health Organization ranks the U.S. health-care system 37th in the world, just above Slovenia, Cuba, and Brunei, for fairness and quality.[1] “All the other rich countries do better than we do, and yet they spend a heck of a lot less," notes Washington Post reporter T.R. Reid.[2]
For many Americans, living without health insurance means going without needed health care[3] and, in 2007, “nearly 46 million Americans … were without health insurance.” Rising costs and rising unemployment are driving that number even higher[4]. Yet health insurance is no guarantee of good health care; Michael Moore’s 2007 film, Sicko, shows the financial and physical woes of many Americans who have had insurance and been ill-served and abused by insurers.
Health-insurance companies routinely deny care to patients, cancel coverage, and delay or diminish payments to providers, while their profits and returns to shareholders multiply[5]. In the United States, we spend one-sixth of our GNP on health care, twice the proportion other countries spend. “Health insurance premiums have doubled since 2001, [and] industry profits have soared 428% in that same time.”[6] And how do they spend their money? Discrediting alternative health-care systems,[7] identifying costly patients to dump from their rolls,[8] and buying the protection of key legislators in Congress.[9] In addition, at least 30 cents of every health-care dollar goes to administrative overhead.
SINGLE-PAYER IS THE ANSWER
In Sicko, Moore visits France, England, Canada, and even Cuba, to see how the national health plans in those countries function, and he argues that we must remove the profit motive from the U.S. medical system. Moore is not alone. According to Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR): “Many experts see single-payer national health insurance as the most sensible solution to expand coverage to the uninsured and to reduce costs.” In a January survey (New York Times/CBS, 1/11-15/09), the public “preferred it two-to-one over a privatized system.” “It is also preferred by 59 percent of physicians, according to … the Annals of Internal Medicine (4/1/08).” The Conference of Mayors in 2008 “unanimously endorsed HR 676 [The United States National Health Care Act], as a financial no-brainer.”[10]
The term "single-payer" generally refers to a system in which health care is financed not through private, for-profit insurance companies, but through one large, government-run nonprofit insurance organization. (Medicare works this way.) “That organization pays all the doctor, drug and hospital bills—it is the
‘single-payer’ of all medical bills. In most single-payer plans, every American would be enrolled and would pay into the fund through taxes.”[11]
Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., a longtime champion of single-payer, is the sponsor of H.R. 676, “The United States National Health Care Act,” or “Expanded & Improved Medicare for All,” which has nearly 100 co-sponsors. The bill’s summary says: The United States National Health Care Act … would create a publicly financed, privately delivered health care system that improves and expands the already existing Medicare program to all U.S. residents, and all residents living in U.S. territories. The goal of the legislation is to ensure that all Americans will have access, guaranteed by law, to the highest quality and most cost effective health care services regardless of their employment, income or health care status. In short, health care becomes a human right.[12]
In the Senate, the independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of the great green state of Vermont has introduced S.703, the American Health Security Act of 2009. As of July 19, it had no co-sponsors. The bills differ, but each eliminates the private-insurance companies and provides for universal health care, privately delivered and publicly funded.
In the words of one expert, the health-insurance industry, “...adds cost to the system, but contributes no value at all—it’s a parasite … on the health-care system.”[13] So why haven’t we already scrapped our failing system and created the same kind of national health plan that serves the citizens of every other
industrialized country, at lower cost and with better health outcomes? You guessed it—money. The health-insurance industry donates heavily to key legislators, lobbies hard (spending more than $1.4 million a day[14]), and runs advertising campaigns—remember “Harry and Louise”?—to keep Americans fearful of “government-run health care” and “socialized medicine.”[15]
But now single-payer is making real progress. Five committees (three in the House, two in the Senate) have been holding hearings and writing legislation this year, and single-payer advocates have testified before four of them. A House committee has passed an amendment enabling states to set up their own single-payer systems. According to activist Margaret Flowers, M.D., “We are making it
into more and new media markets. We are seeing new energy across the nation.”[16] What an exciting time this is, when real change is possible.
TAKE ACTION
WHAT CAN YOU DO? EDUCATE YOURSELF AND OTHERS
Read Uninsured in America, by Susan Starr Sered and Rushika Fernandopulle (UC Press, 2005); it documents wrenching stories of Americans stranded without health insurance, and sets them in a context of culture, class, and caste.
Read Do Not Resuscitate: Why the Health Insurance Industry Is Dying, and How We Must Replace It, by John Geyman, M.D., Common Courage Press, 2008. The title says it all.
Sick Around the World, a PBS Frontline episode, shows how five other industrialized countries provide health care. You can watch the program here: www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/sickaroundtheworld/
Ed Schultz, a liberal Air America and MSNBC commentator, is a strong advocate for single-payer; get talking points here, on The Ed Show, www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jbu7mgnpEO8, and send the clip to your friends.
Bill Moyers Journal, on May 22, 2009, explored single-payer with Dr. David Himmelstein, a founder of Physicians for a National Health Program and Harvard professor of medicine; and Dr. Sidney Wolfe, acting president of Public Citizen. Watch it here: www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/05222009/profile2.html.
A 20-minute video, HR 676—The Single-Payer Solution features eloquent advocacy by legislators, doctors, nurses, and other experts standing up for single-payer at a health-care forum hosted by Rep. John Conyers, author of HR 676. See it here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAuwaKl3-nU&feature=related. Send it to others.
This summer, the Movie Channel and TMC Xtra are re-airing the Oscar-nominated documentary, Sicko, Michael Moore's film about the U.S. health insurance industry and the single-payer systems that work in other countries. Check the schedule here www.sho.com/site/schedules/product.do?episodeid=131802&seriesid=0&seasonid=0], or rent the film from Netflix, and invite your friends and neighbors over for a Sicko viewing party.
GET ACTIVE; VOLUNTEER; DONATE.
If you support single-payer, tell your senators and representative you want them to support it. Find out here thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d111:HR00676:@@@P whether your representative is a co-sponsor of H.R. 676; if yes, thank him or her; if no, urge action. Go here www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s111-703 to see whether your senators are co-sponsoring Sen. Bernie Sanders’s S. 703; then get contact information here
www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm, so you can urge them to sign on.
Go to Health Justice www.1payer.net/, a nonprofit organization working for single-payer. From this site you can send free faxes to your representative and senators, urging them to sign on to single-payer legislation, or to send H.R. 676 to the Congressional Budget Office for scoring, so we will have an official evaluation of how much it would cost and how it would be paid for.
Go to Physicians for a National Health Program, www.pnhp.org/news/action_alerts.php, for single-payer history, news, and action alerts.
Another nonprofit is working to raise money for a national advertising campaign to tell the American public the truth about single-payer: hr676.org/.
To see what else you can do right now, go to www.healthcare-now.org/ for the latest updates and actions.
This issue is critical to the health and well-being of millions of American men, women and children. Educate yourself on the specifics of current legislation and then take action.
Footnotes:
1. “Surcharge Is Set in a Health Plan,” NYTimes, 7/15/09
2. www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/sickaroundtheworld/
3. Uninsured in America, by Susan Starr Sered and Rushika Fernandopulle, UC Press, 2005, pp. xv-xxii, 29-39.
4. National Coalition on Healthcare, www.nchc.org/facts/coverage.shtml
5. Do Not Resuscitate: Why the Health Insurance Industry Is Dying, and How We Must Replace It, John Geyman, M.D., Common Courage Press, 2008, pp. 40-46, 135, 160.
6. E-mail from Sen. Charles Schumer, 7/21/09
7. Bill Moyers interviews Wendell Potter, former health-insurance executive: http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/07102009/watch2.html
8. http://www.prwatch.org/node/8441
9. http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/gang_of_6/?r_by=5220-1889107-_7KPOTx&rc=confemail
10. Maryland Single Payer, 7/21/09;
usmayors.org/resolutions/76th_conference/chhs_03.asp
11. Bill Moyers Journal, May 22, 2009:
www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/05222009/profile2.html
12.conyers.house.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Issues.Home&Issue_id=063b74a4-19b9-b4b1-126b-f67f60e05f8c
13. Leonard Rodberg, Ph.D., Physicians for a National Health Plan, in HR 676—The Single-Payer Solution, video by Talking Eye Media.
14. “Health Industry Lobbying Tops $1.4 Million Daily,” by Eliza Krigman, NationalJournal.com, June 24, 2009.
15. Do Not Resuscitate, pp. 163-165.
16. Margaret Flowers, M.D., Maryland Single Payer.org e-mail, 7/21/09.
If you wish to respond to this article, please send a “Letter to the Editor” to alex@laconneau.org.
LACONNEAU AUTUMN FESTIVAL
Laconneau Autumn Festival
Friday October 30, - Sunday November 1, 2009
Artemis House - Greenville, NC
In the Tradition of Laconneau, the Autumn Festival is a rich and deeply meaningful time. Through this festival, we remember the One we serve as well as our sisters throughout the ages whose courage and self-sacrifice have allowed us to participate in this rich inheritance. We remember them not in sorrow but in joy, for this is the time of the inward journey, the giving up of the old life in the sure knowledge of rebirth. It is a time when we remember with hope the ancient prophecy that forms the heart of our Tradition: “Al cap dels sept cent ans reverdajara lo laurel.”
This year, we will continue to hold the Autumn Festival in the old way and in full accord with the principles of our Tradition. Come join us in Greenville, North Carolina for this wonderful weekend of comradeship, workshops, feminine spirituality and festivities. Lend your voice to the power and love of sisters such as yourself who feel a burning need to see change in this world.
PLEASE NOTE!!!
The schedule for the Autumn Festival has changed. The festival will open with ritual on Friday evening, October 30 at 7:30 p.m. A potluck supper is planned at Jan Salstrom’s house Saturday evening.
The fee for the festival is $275.00. Housing is available in the homes of the Greenville sisters and in hotels in the area. If you plan to stay at a hotel, please make your reservations quickly, as space in area hotels will be at a premium the weekend of the festival due to Halloween. If you have questions or would like more information, please contact Elaine at carolinas@laconneau.org.
SENTIER DE VERMONT
  
  
The Laconneau
Sentier de Vermont
February 21 – February 27, 2010
This February, we will once again offer The Sentier de Vermont, a full residential retreat at the beautiful Fox Creek Inn at Chittenden in the heart of Vermont’s Green Mountains from Sunday, February 21 to Saturday, February 27. The Inn will be closed to all other guests during the period of our stay.
  
The retreat will focus on meditation and spiritual teaching and will include light hiking in the beautiful
surrounding mountains.
Each day will start with a group meditation followed by breakfast. The group will then meet for teaching until midday. Afternoons will be spent either hiking or visiting some of the interesting local sites. The group will meet again for an evening meditation before dinner. After dinner, for those interested, there will be group discussions and traditional music, should the mood take us.
For those of you unfamiliar with it, there will also be instruction in voie d’épée Laconneau’s own traditional form of exercise.
Retreat Fee: $1990.00
  
Accommodation: will be two people sharing. (Limited Single Occupancy may be available for a small supplement on a first come basis.) All rooms are fitted with private bathroom and shower.
Meals: Dinner and breakfast are included in the fee. All food will be in keeping with Tradition dietary rules.
For information or to make a reservation:
Please contact Alex at (770) 235-5447 or alex@laconneau.org. As space is limited to twelve people, a deposit of $500.00 is required at time of booking. All reservations will be on a first come basis.
REGIONAL NEWS
Laconneau Scholarship Fund
The Laconneau scholarship fund has been established to assist women who are unable to afford the cost of classes. If you are in need of a scholarship, please contact your local Laconneau coordinator.
If you would like to make a donation to the scholarship fund, please make your check out to Alex Guyol and send it to P.O. Box 261, Kingston, NJ 08528. If you have questions, please email Alex at alex@laconneau.org.
France News
The Sentier de la Magdalene is scheduled for Sunday, March 21 to Sunday, March 28, 2010. Details of the trip will be available in upcoming newsletters.
News from the Carolinas:
The Greenville Circle has recently begun a new monthly group for mothers and daughters. The purpose of this group is to introduce films, books and activities that provide positive female role models for our daughters. The group met for the first time on Tuesday, August 4, to watch the film, Whale Riders. This film tells the story of a young Maori girl who, against all odds, trains herself to become the leader of her village. Our next meeting will be on Tuesday, September 1, at 6:00PM.
All women who are interested are invited to attend our book reviews, film screenings, meditations, and mother and daughter groups. Through these efforts we continue to build a community of strong women dedicated to changing themselves and the communities in which they live.
Georgia News:
The Georgia Circle held a Magdalene Celebration on July 22nd, the Magdalene Feast Day, at Cedar Hill Enrichment Center in Gainesville. A delicious, traditional medieval dinner was served, after which participants joined in a discussion about the importance of community life both in Medieval times and now. Held as a fundraiser for Laconneau’s scholarship fund, the evening was well attended and
enjoyed. More community gatherings such as these were requested and are being planned for, including another Traditional dinner to be held sometime during the long, winter months.
A seminar on The Gospel of the Beloved Companion was held on Friday, August 28 and Saturday, August 29 at Central Congregational United Church of Christ in Atlanta. The Gospel was read in its entirety and attendees learned about the political and historical context of the times in which it was written. The teachings contained in the Gospel were explained in detail.
A Level I Course was held Sunday, August 30, at Cedar Hill Enrichment Center in Gainesville. All women who have completed the Level I Course are invited to attend Women Circles held monthly in Gainesville.
This summer, the Gainesville meditation group is meeting on the 3rd Tuesday evening of the month at 6:00PM followed by dinner and discussion. In September, participants will discuss how to become politically involved in the local community.
The Gainesville meditation group is hosting a covered dish supper followed by a viewing of the film: Praying the Devil Back to Hell on September 15th at the home of Lynn and Deb.
The Decatur/Atlanta meditation group will continue hosting meditation/dinners on the first Wednesday of the month.
Women’s Circles are regularly held in Gainesville. Please check the Georgia calendar for specific times and dates.
The Georgia Circle continues to welcome all women who desire to work together to heal our communities, our country and our world.
Please contact Lynn at Georgia@laconneau.org for additional information regarding courses, Women’s Circles and Georgia Laconneau events/activities or call Lynn @ 770-654-3734.
Pennsylvania News:
We welcome all women to our classes, meditations, and film screenings as we continue to build a strong foundation for this community of women. Nothing will change unless women change the way we see ourselves. A strong foundation within our community can help form the basis of that change within each woman, if she so chooses.
Washington, DC News:
The DC circle was pleased to host a Level II Intermediate course in August. The next series of classes will begin in November.
Starting in August with the film, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, we shall be screening several films about the Native American experience with colonialism and expansion. The U.S. government’s policy was to “civilize the Indian”. In reality, that policy resulted in decimation of the Native American people and destruction of their culture. The Spirit of Sacagawea is scheduled for Friday, September 11 at 6:30PM.
On Friday, September 25, the Sentier de la Magdalene will begin in the Languedoc, France. For those women unable to participate in the French trip, there will be a day hike and picnic starting along part of the Appalachian Trail in Knoxville, MD on Sunday, September 27, at 10:00AM. Opportunities for archery practice will also be available, as physical exercise is part of the Laconneau Tradition.
FRANCE: Upcoming Events
Friday, September 25 to Saturday, October 3, 2009
Sentier de la Magdalene
Southern France
GEORGIA: September Events
Wednesday September 2, 2009
Meditation, Dinner & Discussion 6:30PM
North Decatur, GA
Monday September 7, 2009
Meditation 6:30PM
Marietta, GA
Monday September 14, 2009
Meditation 6:30PM
Marietta, GA
Tuesday September 15, 2009
Meditation, Dinner, & Discussion 6:00PM
How to get politically involved in your community
Gainesville, GA
Wednesday September 17, 2009
Women’s Circle 8:00PM
Gainesville, GA,
For students who have completed the Level I Course
Sunday September 20, 2009
Meditation 5:30PM
East Decatur, GA
Monday September 21, 2009
Meditation 6:30PM
Marietta, GA
Monday September 28, 2009
Meditation 6:30PM
Marietta, GA
Georgia Calendar Online:
http://www.laconneau.com/CalendarAtlantaGA.html
Georgia Region Coordinator: Lynn - georgia@laconneau.org
NORTH CAROLINA: September Events
GREENVILLE, NC
Tuesday, September 1, 2010
Mother & Daughter Film Screening 6:00PM
Akeelah and the Bee
Artemis House
Greenville, NC
Friday, September 4, 2009
Women’s Circle 8:30PM
Artemis House
Greenville, NC
For students who have completed the Level I Course
Thursday, September 9, 2009
Meditation, Film Screening & Dinner 6:30PM
Sicko
Artemis House
Greenville, NC
Friday, September 18, 2009
Women’s Circle 8:00PM
Artemis House
Greenville, NC
For students who have completed the Level I Course
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Meditation, Lunch & Book Review 12:00PM
The Green Collar Economy: How One Solution Can Fix Our Two Biggest Problems
Artemis House
Greenville, NC
Friday, September 25, 2009
Young Women’s Dinner & Discussion 6:30PM
Greenville, NC
ASHEVILLE, NC
Saturday September 5, 2009
Women’s Circle 8:30PM
Brevard, NC
For students who have completed the Level I Course
Saturday September 19, 2009
Women’s Circle 8:00PM
Brevard, NC
For students who have completed the Level I Course
North Carolina Calendar Online:
http://www.laconneau.com/CalendarGreenvilleNC.html
Carolinas Region Coordinator: Elaine – carolinas@laconneau.org
PENNSYLVANIA: September Events
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Women’s Circle 8:30PM
Philadelphia, PA
For students who have completed the Level I Course
Friday, September 11, 2009
Film Screening 7:00PM
Pray the Devil Back to Hell
Philadelphia, PA
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Women’s Circle 8:00PM
Philadelphia, PA
For students who have completed the Level I Course
Philadelphia Calendar Online:
http://www.laconneau.com/CalendarPhiladelphiaPA.html
Philadelphia Region Coordinator: Anna - Pennsylvania@laconneau.org
SOUTH CAROLINA: September Events
Friday, September 4, 2009
Women’s Circle 8:30 PM
Simpsonville, SC
For students who have completed the Level I Course
Friday, September 18, 2009
Women’s Circle 8:00 PM
Simpsonville, SC
For students who have completed the Level I Course
South Carolina Calendar Online:
http://www.laconneau.org/CalendarSC.html
Carolinas Region Coordinator: Elaine – carolinas@laconneau.org
WASHINGTON, DC: September Events
Friday, September 4, 2009
Women’s Circle 8:30PM
Washington, DC
For students who have completed the Level I Course
Friday, September 11, 2009
Dinner & Discussion 6:30PM
Visionaries in Our Midst: Ordinary People Who Are Changing Our World
Washington DC
Friday, September 18, 2009
Women’s Circle 8:00PM
Washington, DC
For students who have completed the Level I Course
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Hike & Picnic 10:00AM
Knoxville, MD
Washington, DC Calendar Online:
http://www.laconneau.com/CalendarWashingtonDC.html
Washington,DC Region Coordinator: Lorely - dc@laconneau.org
CONTACT LACONNEAU
Please contact your coordinator with questions or updated regional information.
In France: Jehanne - jehanne@laconneau.org
In California:Alex - alex@laconneau.org
In the Carolinas: Elaine - carolinas@laconneau.org
In Georgia: Lynn - georgia@laconneau.org
In Pennsylvania: Anna - pennsylvania@laconneau.org
In Washington, DC: Lorely - dc@laconneau.org
Contact Information Online:
http://www.laconneau.com/Contact.html
Laconneau Newsletter Archive:
http://www.laconneau.com/NewsletterArchive.html
Please visit our website, http://www.laconneau.org, for the complete calendar, further articles, Laconneau’s history and additional information.
You are receiving this newsletter because you attended a Laconneau course or seminar. If you would prefer not to receive emails from Laconneau, please email Alex at alex@laconneau.org to be removed from our mailing list.
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