Wednesday night I led a discussion following a screening of "The Tillman Story" at the Naro Cinema in our nation's most heavily militarized town, Norfolk, Va., where almost half the economy is military. What an incredible tragedy that film relates!

Pat Tillman was so good, so decent, so brave, and of such misguided integrity that what happened to him is excruciatingly painful to watch. For all the politicians' talk about the troops, the troops, the troops, almost never does a troop have a name and a face and a voice. Reflecting on this, one realizes that every person killed in war has a story and a family, just like Tillman did, including even the over 99 percent of our war dead who are non-Americans.

While most of us Virginians don't feel we have a tight grip of control over our national government, Virginia's Koch Royalty have a very different perspective. While many states are completely unrepresented at the Koch Brothers' gatherings that determine the agenda for moneyed interests in our politics each year, Virginia has a major presence, more than any other state, and that's not counting the sizeable contingent from across the Potomac in Washington, D.C. Here's the full list.

Two dozen Virginians are members of the House of Lords. Here's the Virginia list in more detail, starting with those near Washington who tend to be professional rightwing advocates, and working our way out to the further reaches of the state where the royalty tend to be people who are just filthy rich.

By David Swanson

It's hard to imagine a desirable and sustainable world with the world's largest naval base still in it, but it's hard for a lot of people in Norfolk, Virginia, to imagine it gone. The military is not just the force of good that selflessly patrols the world, slaughtering evildoers for the betterment of humanity, but it's also the primary source of jobs.

Wednesday, April 14 Book Signing 6:00 p.m. at Azar's

Movie at 7:30 p.m. at Naro Cinema

Movie Premier: THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN AMERICA: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers A high-level Pentagon official and Vietnam War strategist, Ellsberg concluded in 1971 that the war was based on decades of lies, and leaked 7,000 pages of top secret documents to The NY Times-a daring act of conscience that leads directly to Watergate, Nixon's resignation, and the end of the Vietnam War. A riveting story of how this one man's profound change of heart created a landmark struggle involving America's newspapers, its president and the Supreme Court. Narrated by Ellsberg. (94 mins)

Speaker: Charlottesville and DC-based author and activist David Swanson has just recently conducted a 50-city nationwide book tour promoting "Daybreak: Undoing the Imperial Presidency and Forming a More Perfect Union". He will draw parallels between the Ellsberg era and current U.S. foreign policy.

A book signing and reception for David Swanson will be held at 6:00 pm at Azar's on Colley Ave prior to the film event.

Join us for a unique & enlightening evening!

Naro Cinema 1507 Colley Ave Norfolk VA, 23517 757-625-6276 http://narocinema.com

By David Swanson

I ran into Creigh Deeds, candidate for Virginia Governor, at the farmer's market in Charlottesville on Saturday. He'd been trailing in the polls for a long time while the two men ahead of him, Brian Moran and Terry McAuliffe beat up on each other. Now Deeds is leading, but only just barely. Essentially it's a three-way tie for the Democratic nomination in the Tuesday, June 9th, primary, with virtually nobody planning to vote and the outcome entirely dependent on who gets their handful of supporters to actually go to the polls.

A 900-acre mercenary training compound has been proposed for Shenandoah County, and a citizen group has formed in opposition: RockDem.

Is Michelle Bachman the new Virgil Goode?