gays adult

ok, i probably know how it was, but i missed the 4th. i was there weeks ago, but now i am working and couldnt go. any news? how many family showed>?
How was the seen? A lot of sideways visors and cd players? I hope it was pretty much real family, but have been concerned at the trends over the last 7 or 8 years. Did you ever get any rain? Was there a council discussion on declaring ourselves a religous organization? Did the Leo’s stop handing out citations for an illegal gathering after the 3rd as reported? How were the LEO’s on the way out of there? Drug dogs?

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN AUDIO

Hopefully after the 7th / 9th people can fill us sorry working bstrds in on what we missed.
I also pray that most if not all made / make it out safely.
OK, I have been back for two days now and I have been trying to hold back my coments. I was tempted to start schwagging on the scene right away, but I held back. However, since you asked, I will tell you my opinion of this years national gathering. It sucked! Worst gathering ever, or at least the worst one I have ever been to (I started in ‘88). How was the scene, you asked. Man, I don’t know where to start. Let’s start with the violence. Large numbers (dozens) of gatherers where going out and starting fights with the LEO’s. LEO’s where being pushed, kicked, elbowed in the face, and having rocks and sticks thrown at them. Also, large numbers (more than 100) of gatherers were spending their days following the LEO’s around and screaming profanities at them at the top of their lungs. One day, the LEO’s were arresting a couple of individuals (people who had outstanding warrants) and a crowd formed to try to, in the words of one of the people from the crowd, "un-arrest" them. Gatherers formed circles around the folks who were being arrested and formed rings around the LEO’s. Then other gatherers came up and tried to stop the first bunch of gatherers from interfering with the LEO’s. I stood in main meadow and watched as hippies started screaming at hippies and after a few minutes people went to blows. The LEO’s then pulled out their batons and pepper spray. I watched hippies beating up hippies, LEO’s beating up hippies, hippies trying to beating up LEO’s. The violence with the LEO’s rippled throughout the whole encampment and people were agro everywhere I went. Even usually serene places like Yoga Camp were agro when I visited them.
Next, the fire danger was very real, yet nobody seemed to care. I personally put out two fires. One was burning unattended in an unpermitted bliss pit in the middle of the day. It had started on its own from coals left unextinguished the night before. the second was in an unpermiited bliss pit that was underneath a circle of dead pines where some genius decided to throw a huge pitch filled stump on the fire. The flames where 10 feet tall. According to the deal we worked out with the FS, we would only burn fires in permitted fire pits and all fires would be less then three feet. Nobody seemed to care at all about the possibility of a forest fire. Folks built fires where they wanted and as big as the wanted.
This brings me to parking. Parking was a fucking nightmare. When I left I could barely get down the road because the cars were parked so tightly on both sides the the road. I drive a compact car. Any van, truck, or bus is stuck in. A-camp and the Front Gaters are worse this year then they have been recently. A-camp has been telling people that the "gathering is full" and turning people away, even people who have already been home, even people on supply runs. Personally I tell them to fuck off and keep driving. But, many folks are either stupid enough to listen to them or are intimidated by them. If there was a forest fire (tie-in to last paragraph), it would be impossible to evacuate. there is only one road in and out, and that road is jammed with cars freaking everywhere. I don’t know how to describe what a mess the parking scene is. I think the intention was for folks to park at Bus Village, but that is where A-camp is. So, all the early arrivers parked at the Trail Head (because A-camp and the front gaters suck). As more and more people arrived, everybody drove up to the Trail Head and parked, now everybody has parked everybody else in.
There was large amounts of Alcohol and hard drugs in the woods, and it seemed like more people were participating then not. I was there for 12 days and served at main circle for the last 10 days. Main circle was a huge screaming match every night. Some people wanted 1 circle. Some people wanted the servers to form a small circle in the middle. Some people wanted 2 concentric circles. Some people wanted an inside circle for ‘children and pregnant mamas’, etc…. Everynight there was a huge arguement with people screaming at the top of their lungs and not listening to anything anybody else said. This happened while the kitchens stood by with their food getting cold. Supper was served cold everynight because people fought for an hour before we could serve.
On the 4th, I couldn’t find a place to hide where people were honoring the silence. I walked from place to place and everywhere I went, even down in Main meadow, people were talking, laughing, yelling , calling their dogs, shouting at one another, playing guitars, drums, tooting horns and one dude was banging away on cowbell. I mean, come on, a fucking cowbell on the morning of the fourth. That’s when I left. I was out of there before the silence was broken (not that there was any fucking silence to break). I could go on and on. But I feel better having vented a little. I’m not usually such a complete schwagg monster, but after all you asked. You know the old saying: be careful what you ask for.
Also, Yes the LEO’s are still writing tickets. and stopping cars. and searching vehicles. and yes, lots of police dogs, I dont know if they are trained drug sniffing dogs, but the LEO’s got a small pack of German Shephards up there.
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I didnt see most of that either. I saw lots of leos waving hi to me and I returning the wave. I did see one boom box on the main trail in calling them selves camp buttrock but it was more like 4 kids sitting on the side of the trail they were gone a few hours later. Now I do have to agree on the parking it was fucking lame, the lamest I’ve seen on my few times home. (Idaho 2001) has been the best as we actually parked in a huge open area like a real parking lot. There it was just a line of cars of to one side of the road or other. I saw people blocked in all over the place but all in all good! I loved the scenery I hate to say it but the dead pine trees amonst the live ones made for some cool color combos. Ahhhh showers were pretty close ha ha down at the marina about 5 miles. ya I got a 4 day limit on stink thing ha ha… Awesome gathering! lets do better on the parking next year!

Mike…
Ahh one more thing, I did’nt get to hear where the 2007 will be? did any of you hear what region they decided upon? thanks

Mike…
well, i would be tempted to belive some of that story if not for the ‘rocks and sticks’ thing. the ‘hippies’ throwing rocks and sticks at leos was from newspaper articles about when the origional roadblock was broken…i was there for that and the reports were false. as for the other news reports i read about the surrounding of leos and fighting…who knows…
but…i was pissed about the parking myself. i was there WAY early and the cars before me drove on to the gathering site, but i heard an a-camper say ‘ok that was the last one!’ and i was rudley (rude-ly?) ordered to park right at a-camp, which sucked cause i had a lot of water to carry. whatever, my own fault for not driving on thru anyway. i saw real family and much less anarchy than my last gathering in wisconsin, but..i was there early.
still curious how many people showed, i would think more than past years.
i will make one more note on the subject tho, my first words entering the gathering (after being told where to park) were not ‘love you brother’ or ‘welcome home’, it was ‘trade you some crystal meth for a drink of water?’
this from a teenage girl, who pulled the bag of meth out and held it high when there was a cop driving like 20 feet behind us on the road.
but, that could happen anywhere, i guess.

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i’d still like to know what was in those zuzus (or however you spell that)
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yeah someone has to do something with the gutterpunks. I didn’t see the rock throwing, but damn. I can’t believe people are so negative. How do we say who can stay and who can’t on public property?
Someone has to do something about the gutterpunks?!?! is this a proposal to ban gutterpunks? And who is Someone anyway?!?

Okay, let’s take a logical look at some of the problems brought up here, namely yelling & violent acts (like rock throwing). A lot of the time things like this happen because people are frustrated and don’t know any other way to express their frustration. From experience in both MO & AZ, where LEO ‘incidents’ happen right in front of our kitchen; people were frustrated by the way Rainbows were being treated, in the MO incident there was no violence only because one member of the kitchen crew brought out a tarp and encouraged the frustrated people to paint ‘f**k you’ on the tarp. One Elder didn’t understand the concept of this & bitched at us about it but the reality is if the tarp painting hadn’t happened, the LEOs who showed up a little later to investigate (and apologize for) the behavior of their agents would have faced an angry mob. In AZ, the mob did start to get out of control and it took many folks with good energy to turn the stick/rock throwing into an Om. The fact that the violence was detered is a testiment to the true spirit of Rainbow; a similar riot in a city would have resulted in pepper spray & guns. Sometimes being Rainbow is all about turning something bad into something good

Now on to the dude hitting a sister; we’ve seen hippie looking folks get into fights at Gatherings just as often as anyone who has any other stereo-typical cover and Someone has to step in and try to stop these things.

Who is Someone? Someone is Anyone who cares enough to do something; Someone is You, Me, We & Them. If a person comes up to us & says they saw such an act, we ask them what they did about it; usually the answer is that they just walked away. Now if we hear some shouting & it sounds like something is brewing, then several folks will get together & go check the situation. Most of the time the situation can be diffused if the Shanti Sena crew is calm (and Shanti Sena is anyone who cares enough to check!)

You create your own experiences at Rainbow by how you chose to act or not act in any given situation.
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Whats your guys thought on the constant begging you get around every corner? Got buds? got cigs? got this, got that? I’m ok with it for a bit I put on a smile and tell them no I dont smoke, or no I have no buds. but sometimes you get to a point in your head and your like Ahhhhhh no no no no I dont have anything for you as I have given it all away now… ha ha I was the bringer of hot sauce every kitchen I went to got a bottle or 2 of louisiana hot sauce, passed out 25 bottles while I was there….. but ya whats your thoughts on the constant begging? I mean at a gathering no one should have to beg right if they just walk to the right spots to gather what their seeking???

Mike…
we werent at the gathering ,, however, i can say that we did receive two emails from family that went to CO from outside the US and both complaining about it all,,,

"Me and my doughter visited The Gathering in Steamboat
Springs. It was a huge turnoff for both of us. 20.000
people we thought represented something completely different. What we
saw was a huge gathering of pot-heads, mushroom eatting, drug doing
glasseyed ,misplaced individuals. We left after a day and a
half."

since we werent there,, i really cant offer my own 2 cents,,,, but i can tell you that generalizing the "gutter angels" and damning them for everything is not the way to go about or bring about change….,,, it all begins with each of us passing on our kernels of knowledge(communication) whether it be to bjorn from norway or the custykids etc etc,,,,
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I cant offer anything on this years gathering but i can say that i have a lot of gutterpunk friends and i dont see them begging, they may go spangin or dumpsterin, or daylabor then bring it back to camp. the ones that make me agro are the ones that put up "tolls" smoke toke or choke! i get asked for stuff a lot mostly tobacco but then im in need at times myself…so for me its not the gutterpunks as a whole but as a few indeviduals as well as a few that arent gutterpunks
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The gathering was just ok. Lack of drum circles, lots of cops and rangers through the day, though not causing any trouble that I saw. Just walking through the forest. Would stop to talk once in a while to different hippies, and then move on. Though I know that they were busting people, as I saw someone being handcuffed on the way in.

Huge issue was the WARNING from the block the cops set up and the "SPEECH" about how it was an illegal gathering; meanwhile, there are cars stopped all over being searched by the cops. I’m sure hundreds and probably more like thousands of people who otherwise would of been there contributing, ended up turning around.

One of the big things lacking was a fire at main meadow (since it was illegal to have a fire unless you were a kitchen with a permit)….this seriously divided the people at night, and during the day it was too humid and hot in the sun to be out there, so it was mostly empty except for the 4th during the day.

By the night of the 4th there was only 1 decent drum session going on that I could find even after walking a couple miles around.

The 4th was great and I really appreciated the silence. Thousands of people with barely a sound to be heard. The entire time I was filled with energy, and as always GREAT food. Sumpntaeat had some great meat dishes .

Overall for me a postive experience. Met some very cool people and got to know a couple more locals a little better.

- Damian
we had a neighbor sister yell Shanta Sena because her guy would not get out of the tent after they were arguing and a another sister yelled it when she needed a new bandage for a cut on her finger, she was walking around yelling for a bandage and when no one had one she yelled Shanta Sena…..
So many misconceptions about Shanti Sena! Shanti=Peace Sena=Keeper Peace Keepers A cut finger should be refered to CALM but anything involved with keeping the peace is Shanti Sena

Yes, Dancer Annie, you can bitch about whatever you want where ever you want but by bitching instead of trying to change things, you are part of the problem. Problems are solved by doing not by talking or bitching.

Shanti Sena is EVERYONE!!!!!!!! Every man, woman, child, dog, cat or any creature involved in keeping the peace. no one in our kitchen walks around calling themselves Shanti Sena, but each & every one will come on the run if a call of Shanti Sena is within their hearing range. The job of Shanti Sena is to disfuse a situation & if someone is not working toward finding a peaceful solution to a problem, then they are not Shanti Sena no matter what they call themselves.
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from the photos I saw at welcomehome.org…..the gathering didn’t look as populated or colorful as years past.
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Wo ! how it was , is ,
and shall be .
our children ask ‘ why can’t we stay
here forever ? ‘

believe it . ranbO! troubles
are as nothing .
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PS-I myself have much deeper roots in the punk/hardcore/skater scene than the traditional/conventional "hippie" scene, so I was in no way making generalizations about or condescending our "gutter" punk brethren. Just wanted to clarify. And to further clarify/agree with Hippiestead, I agree with the philosophy of "no spectators" immensely…but if any of y’all feel the need to "bitch" constructively, know that I’m a willing sounding board! Now let’s all stop bitching about bitching and get together to discuss all of this in person at the next gathering!
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I had an awesome time, but then i didn’t have a car so avoided those hassles, and i plugged in to some great kitchens: Magic Bowl (early, before it became Dust Bowl), Haribol Krishna, Instant Soup, and PPK. The "secret" to having a good time at Rainbow is to help out, the bitches are usually slackers. I heard a ton of great music at Popcorner, Instant soup, Bread of life, Yoga, and Granola Funk (I helped carry logs for the Pirate ship as well).
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wow..ok…where to start? so forgiveif i ramble..just got back from home myself..so lemme jus start with the only 2 incidents i kno of with leos & no..my whole perception…

it waswonderfull….

ok…my whole trip…
(most)

chevelle (dylanchick1033? on here)was commin to get me from tulsa (yes 5-8 hoursfrom gatherin..28-34 in wrong direction) but instead hearows & bumble & i & what 8-10 piled into a camper on hearowsbf pauls truck (thank my sis for offerin the camper & not carin wen it rattled to peices) it took us 2 days..48 hours or more just to cross missery 1st stop…town of 400 ppl….with the record for the most drug busts in the nation…at a resteraunt the copsdefinately watch…8-12 ppl came out to help us get on the road..1 guy worked on the truck 6 hours..till 2am…& at 7 4 more to get us goin..& wouldnt take 20$ we broke down so often but the sec wed pop the hood ppl stopped…..
we finaly pull in….nearby we’re told wait till 6 & the roadblock goeshome…we roll in & we see lots…i mean lots rolling out for the night…25-40 cars at a guess
we roll in & are told to roll up to the 4th cop..who glances at the almost flat tire then the camper wrapped in rope & duct tape holding it together & tellsus, i want you to knowthis is an illegal gathering and your subject to procecution if u go in & i say ok & drive on…(arrived late on the 1st )
while i was there (almost 3 weeks got home last night ) i sawcops on horses playing frisby..i saw them respecting the sillence…
the sillence was perfect at main meadow..it wasbeautiful but hot…huge….i heardshantasenacalled over aflag incident but calmed quickly…

the 2 big incidents the blockade 1 far as i kno no rockswere thrown just the surrounding & ohm…then released em to go…

the other.. a brother was asked to remove his hoody by leo’s & said no & was grabbed & arrested..even tho he had nothing…he was unarrested & the cuffs returned ..what i heard was the guy holding him tripped & the 3 fell…..a few held the leos a mommet & grabbed the guy away…

i sawsum of the fs being outtacontrol & not any of the rainbow

but mostly oit was chill all theway rund & theresource ppl..the real fs enjoyed it…fish population even increased..

god so many complaintsabout such awonderful gathering?

chevy i gave 2drums for her offer of the ride (and everything else wonderful bout ya chev) & the 1was misplaces 3 times & all 3 got back to her…on the 4th after dar..it was chilly in the meadow but bout 150 ppl were out ther singin & drummin away & morestart driftin in & it turnsinto a huge cuddle puddle & b4 u kno it its like 300 cuddlin in the meadow ..

ok..after the 7th or 9th..whenever…i didnt like the constant hurry up..move out…when i left therewasjust 18 30 or so cars & couple busses & maybe 500 ppl..
but still lotsa camps still up…
seemed like they were gonna make it a hell of alottawork for few folks

far asthe leo stuff…..we have so many good casesagainst them from this
&……we were able to have awonderful gathering..in spite of any agression we felt from them (i felt none myself only got smiles & waves)

oh….whoever said bout the sis not gettin help by shante sena…sumtimes at a gatherin u cqan shout for an hour with ppl 40 ft away & noonewould hear u..its not a not caring, but really is they just cant hear you…..had that happen when i rolled my chair down thesideamountan

damn need newkeyboard

i wouldnt sY IT WASTHE BEST..THAT STILL GOESTO VERMOUNT…..oops..but it was def huge…beautiful…& even if its tru 1 or 2rocks got thrown wich i dont think happened..i’m proud of hopwwe handled everythimg…aslong as not too many more left in the last 4 days & cleanupsstil goin smooth & fast

all i can say isim glad i wasthere…happy to be homeaqgain after 4 days on amtrack hell…hopin i can find my camerain my gear tomoro & go on tellin wonderful stories bout my experience & still feelin high yet battered by it physicaly (busted up my chair goodon the way to pizza till u puke at lovin ovins…waslimpin along on 3 wheels & back 2 rubbin the frame holdin me back more then havin the brakes on would…so need lil recovery time b4 vermount)

maybe its just amatter of bein at the gatherin ya wanna be at..& havin the experiece u want…but i thought it wasgreat & my only breif interactionswith leos were all real freindly & warm….with smiles they told me it was nothing like they were told it would be…

ya kno…i wasall ready to go thru allthese threads to see wassup & all & share my experiences..but all this negativity just made me not wannaread no more for awhile….
Welcome back ’soaringeagle’

I have many sites where I read up on the ‘rainbow gatherin’
Not all have unpacked yet…many have luvin stories
So we may hear of more …

This is why so many need the ‘healings’ of those who’ve returned

But,…U rest dear ‘Brother’
Don’t let the ‘downers drain yer ‘good’ energies

(((((rainbow hugs)))))
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As is her wont, Karin tells it well. "When you absolutely, positively, have to have the right word, ask an English Major."

———-*************———–

" Keep in mind this only represents things I was involved with or have
first hand knowledge of and by no-means represents everything that
happened at this year’s gathering.

The evening of June 20, we hit Grand Junction, Colorado and upon
checking, my voicemail messages found out about the blockade at the
gathering prohibiting people from entering the site.

After a few phone calls to media and an email blast to my list, we

sacked out in a motel for the night.

The morning of June 21, I called a few different people at the USFS,
asked questions, and asked for changes. Specifically I was told that
any and all people could get ticketed for going to observer the
gathering. Additionally, I was told about the nudity ban and spoke to
many people trying to gain an understanding of the temporary
prohibition against nudity, was told it would only be enforced along
the road and complained to numerous people why the closure order was
not written something to the effect that "within 500 feet of any
marked USFS road" nudity would be prohibited.

After shooting out another email blast to my list, we headed home.

We stopped at the Clark store for a bit, met up with other gatherers,
got the skinny on tickets being issued for ingress and egress, talked
to some folks about what was called the "Ninja" movie (sneaking in to
the gathering), and decided to head home.

After heading home, we picked up a hitchhiker who gave us details on
how to Ninja in. As we approached FS500, we met people driving out
due to a roadblock. At the first of checkpoints, we were told if we
proceeded to the gathering we would be ticketed. I was also given a
paper indicating that the following activities were prohibited:

Nudity
Digging slit trench latrines
Building rock/mud ovens
Cutting of standing trees

After this point, my rider bailed out for a Ninja entry and I
continued to the second check point. All vehicles were being turned
around at this point and the LEOs instructed me to turn around as
well. However, due to poor planning on their part, they were trying
to turn people around in the narrow road with three foot drop-offs in
the very large meadow. As I was driving a large rig, I told them I
was unable to turn around at that location without fear of rolling my
rig. I asked them why they didn’t pick a spot where a car larger than
a Honda Civic could turn around. After much discussion, they told me
there was a third checkpoint up ahead where I could turn around and I
proceeded.

The third checkpoint turned out to be the same as the second and the
conversation about turning around or backing up a mile was repeated
and I was allowed to proceed to the fourth checkpoint where I was
promised I could safely turn around. The LEOs at the fourth check
point were a bit freaked that I ended up there, but after recognizing
one of the officers from previous gatherings and having a bit of a
chat were I politely asked to be given a ticket and allowed to enter
the gathering, my request was granted (although the second checkpoint
officers came driving down in a big huff and a brief argument between
the LEOs ensued). Later, people surmised that in those days, only a
limited number of tickets were issued each day and once the "quota"
was reached, all subsequent folks were turned around. In the five
hours after I entered, only one car entered after me and they too had
to "talk their way into a ticket" in order to enter.

I spent the evening of the 21st at the Front Gate hanging with A-camp
and hoping to welcome more family home but it was very lonely. One of
the A-camp brothers told me he had made a permit application that was
denied.

On the morning of the 22nd, after a great night’s sleep, I hiked into
the gathering. The advice I was given at that point was to avoid LEOs
by disappearing into the woods when they walked through. That seemed
to be what was being done by the more experienced folks I knew and I
followed suite for a day or two.

As my intended focus for the gathering was the biodegradable
composting shitter project, I got to work. Things went great. Two
improvements for next year come to mind: better signage to people
understand what we’re doing and more frequent maintenance. Twice
daily maintenance isn’t enough. Hopefully next year, I can pull
together a crew so we can do shitter maintenance at least 4 times
during daylight hours. As to the shitter project, we used all of the
improvements: 1) shitters in the sun; 2) add a handful of duff
(dried plant matter) after each deposit; 3) line the shitters with a
corn/soy polymer to prevent overloading the ecosystem with fecal
matter; and 4) shitter covers. Additionally, we had a soap and water
hand wash, bleach water hand wash, and alcohol gel hand sanitizer. A
couple of extras were lots of privacy screens and even a commode for
the squatting impaired.

After that I started trailing the LEOs to observe and call out Six Up
as needed. A few of them were very uncomfortable about this and
singled me out for photos, discussions and attempted identification
as a person who follows them. this was done in a very intimidating
manner where two or three very large guys surrounded me and got so
close that if I had done the same to them, they would have cited or
arrested me for interfering with an officer.

The USFS Resource folks had serious concerns about the site we were
at which centered around the fire danger. The ground was green with

grass and other plants, but probably 30% or more of the trees in the
area were dead from beetle kill. As there was a lot of lighting in
the area, the possibility of a lighting caused fire starting miles
from us and sweeping through the dead trees had them worried. The
other concern had to do with the single road in and out of the area.

One of the resource folks took a couple of gatherers to see a
proposed alternative site. while I didn’t hear about this until July
1st or 2nd, apparently the site had no water and was not usable for a
gathering and the option of moving was not mentioned. I doubt people
would have moved at the point as many of the kitchens were up and
serving main circle..

A day or two later, I hiked back to my rig for another load of
shitter stuff and on the way back, just past the trailhead, I was
almost run over by the USFS LEOs driving into the gathering due to
the "incident". I hung around near the vehicles with my camera ready
to assist in whatever way possible. The USFS came out with one
brother in custody and a heap of gatherers bringing up the rear. The
gatherers where physically non-violent, and verbally most of them
were using words like we love you, but the tone was definitely
aggressive. As this scene played out, (most of what I know on this
situation will remain confidential for valid reasons), the USFS LEOs
were like dogs wanting to fight but being pulled away by their human
helpers.

I resumed my hike in and got back to work. Later that evening, I met
a few folks at the Trailhead to talk to Tim Lynn and discuss what
happened, etc etc etc.

ON ???, a couple of gatherers met with the USFS resource folks and

walked the proposed alternative site. I didn’t hear of this until
much later and I don’t believe it was discussed in the gathering.

The next time I saw Tim Lynn and his staff in the gathering, I
resumed my cop watch walking and discovered they had the County
manager, County Attorney, and Sheriff Undersecretary with them. So we
walked and I talked to the three local folks as we did the grand
tour. Back at the trailhead, I talked to Tim about the nudity
closure order and that it needed to be modified to specify a distance
from the road. After much discussion, he said his offices were
instructed to enforce it along the road only. The result of this was
I promised him that the next time I escorted him through the
gathering I would have to due it nude to protest the blanket nudity
closure order.

After this walk, the other LEOs stopped trying to intimidate me and
just let me walk with them whenever I choose to do so (which was a
lot but was a good thing as I was trying to work off some extra
pounds and the 5-10 miles a day I spent doing cop walks did the trick).

A couple of things during this time period sadden me. First off,
some media and the Colorado state Health department were told if they
entered they would be ticketed and this prevented the health
department from coming in one day to work with us. When they finally
came in, we spoke about the need for shitters and the health
department agreed to discuss this issue with the USFS.

Also during this time period there seemed to be two parallel efforts
happening to deal with the situation. One was happening by people
either staying in town or at the trailhead, the other was people who
were inside the gathering working with the people on the land. While

this was caused by the ticketing, I was saddened that was as a family
didn’t do a better job at trying to keep people informed of what the
other contingent of gatherers was doing and felt we could have
coordinated our efforts much more effectively. I am as guilty of this
as anyone.

Inside the gathering, we wrote up an operating plan which was
presented to the USFS resource folks and served as an unofficial
agreement for them.

As one of the folks working from inside the gathering, there was a
lot of focus on non-violence and appropriate Shanti Sena responses to
they antagonistic LEO presence. From non-violence workshops and
trying to get a more focused Shanti Sena effort happening to talking
one-on-one to people at strategic camps, the message was "Peace
wins." Something I tried very hard to do, was to work on gathering
without letting the LEO scenes change what I was working on. This
became challenging at times as more than once I lost a shitter digger
crew when the LEOs came by as many people were unwilling to stand
their ground as I was. Also, having key family at odds with each
other didn’t help the situation at all. I am making a heartfelt plea
to my family - the USFS is trying to divide and conquer - please
don’t let that happen.

June 30th was my court appearance. Despite the fact that most
tickets issued seem to follow some pattern of ticket issued within a
certain date range resulted in a certain court date across the board,
a number of high profile people where issued court dates of June 30
even when random gatherers were being given court dates of July 1, 3
or 7. So my court date, turned into "secret leader" day at
court. All day on June 29 I was so blissed out and happy about being
given the privilege of going to court, that by the time I got there I

was flying on love for the court, the officers, my family and
everyone in between.

Just before our 9 AM court time, we circled up and asked for the
spirit of Ghandi and Martin Luther King, Junior to be in us.

Then the first offer of collateral forfeiture for illegal camping
came around and the price tag was $100. By mid day the deal had
dropped to $40. I was in the second group up and while I sat in the
court room, I decided I would plead No Contest as I felt I had
engaged in an act of Civil Disobedience. By using the magistrates
time, I was assessed an additional $35 court processing fee, but was
given time to make a statement on the record which I used to plead my
spiritual need to be with my family to pray for peace, recounted the
history of our attempts to work with the USFS to change the
regulations through legal means and finally felt I had no choice but
to engage in an act of civil disobedience. The magistrate liked my
speech and asked me for assistance on changing other regulations as
well. For this I was assessed a $50 fine in addition to my court
processing fee and given until Sept 1 to pay. Other people were
given much longer as they pled need and one brother was given until
May 1, 2007 to pay $30.

Before I left the court I told them all I loved them, walked outside
and hugged Tim Lynn and reminded him of our date for a naked walk.

After this, the gathering unfolded from me in alternating patterns of
shitter digging and cop walking with wonderful beautiful evenings at
Main Circle.

On July 1, I was at Main Council when I got word that Tim Lynn was in
the gathering. I hurried to meet him. First I asked him to sign a
statement limiting the nudity closure order to xx feet from the road
- after some discussion he told me he would not put anything in
writing, so I informed him that I had no recourse other than to
commence the naked walk. So I stripped down to my hiking boots,
socks and a sun hat and walked with Tim Lynn, some of his officers
and a group of US Marshals for close to two hours. From Trade circle
to Kid Village and Yoga Camp, we walked while I kept up my end of the
conversation and they didn’t say much.

Shortly after that we started getting the opportunity to meet with
Kent Foster and various resource people. These meetings happened at
the cooperation’s area behind INFO late mornings. Most of them only
had a few gatherers in attendance, but lots of good discussions. We
used these meetings to set up two other meetings for July 8. The 11
AM meeting was to discuss the rehab/cleanup plan with gatherers and
resource personnel. After that a meeting was scheduled to happen with
the big USFS mucky mucks to discuss ways to create a more cooperative
gathering in 2007. As I had to leave the evening of July 7, I was
unable to attend either meeting - but hope to hear what happened from
family who were able to attend.

In general, my gathering was blissful and full of joy and happiness
towards all people I interacted with. I was so lucky to be able to
spend a lot of time with the USFS resource personnel and talking
about changing the regulations both with Resource personnel, Law
Enforcement and the media..

Another side effect of the ticketing, was the non-drinking gatherers
abandoned the Front Gate to A-Camp. Standing on the road was
hazardous if you were trying to avoid getting ticketed and somewhere

towards the 4th of July, things down there started getting out of
control. On July 6th, I observed some bad shit down there and rounded
up a crew to go down there. Despite a shown down between the old
Shanti Sena Clan and A-Camp, by the next day things were bad
again. At least two vehicles had windows smashed out, there were
numerous black eyes and other small injuries from altercations, and
at least one brother got beat up pretty bad and had all his (and
family’s stuff stolen). I also have an unconfirmed rumor of folks
trying to get into the gathering and being turned back by A-Camp.

Another problem was the parking. Our parking situation was really bad
and stretches of the road were almost impassible at times. This was
of special concern for emergency situations where one stalled car
would block all traffic on the road. Both the parking and A-camp
situations I believe stem from the fact that we did not obtain a
permit and people were trying to avoid being ticketed (Thank you
Kalif for standing tall in the face of harassment!). While I
understand not signing a permit, in the future we need to still take
care of our shit even if it means we go to jail or get ticketed.

Over the next week or two I will be opening "complaints" with my
federal elected officials and the USFS mucky mucks regarding LEO
behavior and the USFS’s refusal to change the regulations to
accommodate non-hierarch (anarchist) assemblies. When I pull that
information together, I will share it and encourage others to open
"complaints" as well.

I love all of you!

Karin "

Link:
Eagle, i’m soooooooooo glad you made it home! I hope the rest of our crew makes it home safe too! There will always be people who complain about everything. I had an amazing time and met the most amazing people. I can’t wait until VT. I didn’t get enough of CO…lol. Having a job only allows me to take off a little bit.

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I think part of love in life is to try and change other peoples’ ideas so we can exercise or freedom of choice to do what we want when it doesn’t hurt anybody else. However, I have been through years of legal battles. Where a word to the wise is sufficient, these people just don’t get the live and let live attitude. Also prosecutors generally don’t relate to common sense from my legal defenses in two states. Whereas I wrote 100 page briefs, they relied on the presumption of the judge that the government ticketed or charged lawfully by the fact they represent the government. I am resolved to avoid any legal engagements in the future, even at the cost of never coming to a Rainbow gathering. Is there a reason the festival is not held on private property?

peace, rest, sleep and joy…..
Honor Seed
Ooops!!!!!

I just saw this………oh my
Was it me who used that word first on this forum ‘drain’
I was referring to ‘Babylon’ effects
And also the ‘difference’ that is on folks from returning from gathering
sorry if it caused some sort of ‘flame’ here
"Is there a reason the festival is not held on private property"

And are any of those reasons more important than the hassle it would save?

Change is a natural thing, often evolving out of need to adapt.

Is it time to consider a change?
One reason Rainbow isn’t held on private property is that it opens up a whole different group of laws. A small Gathering on private property (like the one at HHB & Dill’s place) usually won’t get hassled but a large Gathering would wind up raided, the ‘man’ can take private land if anyone has drugs with or without the owners knowledge.

Been wondering what type of regs the Family would be faced with if state land was used or what if there was a lease taken out for Family use on BLM land…….
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No redirecting the questioning to state land please, it was a direct question and specifically questioned the use of private land like at Woodstock. I realize the drug issue is enforceable on any land (even foreign lands). I was wondering if it is some unwritten concept that forces a group dedicated to love, peace and happiness into direct confrontation with the government using public land? Who decides these things really, is it by diabolical design the devoted dwell as pawns to be used ??????

Seems to me it would not be that hard to pull 20,000 people together by word of mouth onto private land for a gathering dedicated to love and peace. Do you really want to continue the charade of civil disobedience year after year?

Bad girls, bad boys….I spank the whole rainbow clan…..there….. now you happy?
No redirecting the question to state land please? !? None of us are actually speaking on topic. as it were. Are other suggestions really that big of a problem?

Private land is not a viable option for many reasons; the laws are much different than in the days of Woodstock; private land would require festival insurance is another reason that hasn’t been listed so far

And as stated by cheese-wiz it is also a matter of standing up for our rights as americans; many Rainbow folks are just as dedicated to standing up for freedom as to peace & love. if we allow the government to step on our rights as citizens then soon there will be no rights. Besides the fact that in no way does civil disobedience clash with a belief in peace & love. (spanking might not exactly be showing peace & love tho)

It is really a charade of civil disobedience when people are Gathering despite ticket writing & LEO intimidation? Is it a charade when there is plenty of media coverage talking about the regulations & how they go against our constitutional rights?

we don’t think so. it is time for americans to stand up & if Rainbow doesn’t show folks how, where will they get the courage to stand when they have had enough?
you go ahead and deceive yourself it is a big prob with me, go right ahead…I think this method of discussion lacks the important person to person contact it takes to see and feel how mellow a person is……peace bro. HS
Wow, great to hear everyone’s experiences, I’m surprised how differently each person experiences the same event. I had a great time but did notice a lot more drama than usual (especially with the cops, but luckily I arrived after the roadblock; and also with A-camp and them bringing kegs into the main circle on the 4th!!)… the location was beautiful and we met many friends, both old & new.

I agree that the gathering is what you make it, and in order to change things you have to participate. It was great volunteering for kitchens, running errands & getting water for them, etc.

The main problem I encountered was loose dogs, mostly pitbulls, who were not being kept on a leash. I have a male husky who is always with us on his leash, and he’s been attacked or confronted by other dogs several times at gatherings. He tends to be defensive because of this, but since we keep him on a leash we were able to avoid dog fights. I just wish everyone else who brought their dogs would be responsible owners. This is especially important for breeds that are bred to fight and have the genes to be aggressive. LEASH YOUR DOGS, please!

This was only my second gathering (first was CA 2004), and I had a wonderful time. Each time I learn more and more about rainbow and how the whole thing is run, and I definitely want to become more a part of it. Most of the people we encountered were very friendly and welcomed us home, and I didn’t notice any hostility with cops (we told them we loved them as they walked through), but I was there from about July 2 to July 7, so probably missed the drama with the set-up crew…

So where’s next year’s gathering?
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the two choices seem to be pay in time to confront LEOs or pay in money to insure a private land holder to have a festival. 3 choices, don’t hold a national gathering. 4th choice, at a preset time and place agreed upon, all loving souls from where they are telepathically imagine themselves together………………..just thinking about it all day for a couple of weeks together apart……..(’works for me’) ..yeah it does me too……~~~~~