Politics: War Atrocities

Goya, War

Because, as you know, this blog is dedicated to peace, to the end of war and its atrocities, to the hope of a brighter tomorrow when we will no longer throw our children — and everyone else's — into the gaping maw of Moloch.

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The combat soldier, as an absolutely deprived person, responds to direct situational exigencies. [...] Deadening fear intermingles with acts of bravery. [...]

If enemy prisoners are taken, they may be subjected to atrocities in the rage of the battle or its immediate aftermath. The soldier's distaste of endangering civilians may be overcome by his fear that [the enemy], of any age or sex, can be responsible for his own death (Ed: Or the death of those of his comrades whom he has been trained to think of as his best and only friends.) Where the opportunity arises, looting often occurs. War souvenirs are frequently collected either to be kept personally or later sold to rear-echelon servicemen. (Italics added. Editorial note from ThePoliticalCat.)

— Charles C. Moskos, as cited inMalaya and Singapore During The Japanese Occupation

The "absolutely deprived person" status that is inflicted on servicemen as part of their basic training has the effect of deadening them to all that is human and humane. Apparently, such deadening no longer has the desired effect, for even these poor, pitiful humans retain some vestige of conscience and feeling. They come back from their war crimes with PTSD, and inflict upon their loved ones, neighbours, families, and society in general, the cost of rehabilitating them and dealing with their costly and painful suffering.

Thus, our armies now seek robots, "unmanned drones," that do not, and cannot, suffer any twinge of conscience about killing the innocent, the unarmed, the civilians who are so unfortunate as to live in a zone of war.

It is stated as a matter of fact in many of the memoirs written by PoWs in the Pacific Theater during WW II that their Korean and Taiwanese guards were often more brutal and inhumane than even the Japanese soldiers, who committed unparalleled war crimes in their imperialist expansion into Southeast Asia. Upon reading at greater length of the treatment meted out to these unfortunate "Imperial subjects" of Korea and Taiwan, it becomes clear that the dehumanization process to which these unfortunate "subjects" were subjected could only be remedied or stalled by inflicting upon their helpless prisoners torments that were at least as unpleasant as those that they themselves suffered.

Thus the cycle continues. Each person one rung up on the ladder of abuse directs their kicks and blows to those one rung below. Those at the very bottom of that ladder have no one upon whom to vent their frustrations and rage, and so turn them inward and punish each other and themselves, as they have been taught and shown to do.

Picasso, Guernica

When will humanity emerge from these dark ages? When will we evolve beyond the need of war? It must come soon, or we will surely destroy ourselves and all we hold dear. Iran announced the existence of a hidden uranium-refining facility, and everywhere, the neocons have crawled out of the woodwork demanding an immediate attack upon that unfortunate nation. Why? Because the government of the State of Israel, a bunch of neocon hacks and hawks to the last man, are "afraid" of the possibility that Iran might soon have nuclear weapons. Earliest estimates of this happening range from one to five years. Not that facts should get in the way of hysteria, of course.

Israel possesses an arsenal of nuclear weapons, but will neither confirm nor deny that it does so. Israel is not a signatory to the NNPT (Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty). Iran is. Iran has notified the IAEA, as required by its membership in the IAEA, of its "secret" facility. Iran has also agreed to permit IAEA inspectors to assess its nuclear sites. Israel, not being a signatory to this, most important treaty, refuses to release any information whatsoever about what its doing with nuclear power. Israel is a hawkish state, constantly engaging in acts of hostility against its neighbours, supported by the U.S. to the tune of $10 million in taxpayer money PER DAY. In addition to obscene yearly quantities of military aid. Just this year, despite our own horrendous economic situation, we gave Israel nearly $3 billion in military aid.

The interests of the Israeli people are not being represented by their government, which prefers to use its own civilians as an excuse for further armament rather than negotiate peaceful solutions with its neighbours. Children of Abraham, of Hagar and Sarah, the time has come to beat your swords into plowshares. If you do not, then you will all be obliterated when the Third World War begins, because there are too many people who want it to begin on your doorstep. It is not a war that anyone will survive.

As Tom Lehrer sang, "We'll all go together when we go." Rather than contemplate the death of every living being on this planet, let us work together to a just solution. It can be done, if we all insist on it. Those Christian Dominionists who want Armageddon and The Rapture, do you think that teacher who said "Love thy neighbour as thyself; there is no greater commandment than [this]" would care for your efforts to create Armageddon?

Crossposted over at The Political Cat

International Peace Day: September 21

The theme of the United Nations International Peace Day 2009 is "We Must Disarm." It's focus is on the true costs and dangers of nuclear weapons.



Click this link for an ecumenical prayer service resource (pictured above), written from a Christian perspective by Marlette Black, PBVM. You're free to download and reproduce it to celebrate International Peace Day.

This reading from that service honors the poets, making it a fitting tribute to The Peace Tree's Poetryman:

Making Peace

A voice from the dark called out,

‘The poets must give us imagination of peace, to oust the intense, familiar imagination of disaster.

Peace, not only the absence of war.'

But peace, like a poem,

Is not there ahead of itself,

Can't be imagined before it is made,

Can't be known except in the words of its making,

Grammar of justice,

Syntax of mutual aid.

A feeling towards it,

Dimly sensing a rhythm, is all we have

Until we begin to utter its metaphors,

Learning them as we speak.

A line of peace might appear

If we restructured the sentence our lives are making,

Revoked its reaffirmation of profit and power,

Questioned our needs, allowed long pauses...

A cadence of peace might balance its weight

On that different fulcrum; peace, a presence, an energy field more intense than war,

Might pulse then,

Stanza by stanza into the world,

Each act of living

One of its words, each word

A vibration of light-facets

Of the forming crystal.

--Denise Levertov

Violence is Easy. Peace is Hard.

"I will offer you a simple litmus test to determine whether a person has healthy or unhealthy religion. What do they do with their pain-even their daily little disappointments? Do they transform their pain or do they transmit it? People who are practiced in transforming actual life pain, like Jesus on the cross, are the only spiritual authorities worth following. They know. They can lead and teach. The rest of us just talk." ~Richard Rohr, OFM

In our neighborhood this month, a local man named Steven Mallory unprovokedly assaulted a volunteer at the free meal site for the poor. After fleeing the scene, minutes later, he brutally attacked the police officer who stopped him for questioning. In self defense, the policeman had to shoot, and he killed Steven. Our "inner city" neighborhood, although not a stranger to crime, was shaken to the core. So much violence! A life ended, others severely damaged--all within minutes [for the complete story and video: Violent End to a Violent Life: Our Neighborhood Nightmare].

From the moment I heard there would be a prayer service in response to that horrid sequence of events, I knew I would attend. The service was last week.

The short, simple event attempted to respond peacefully to that violence. People who knew or were related to the perpetrator, people who serve in the neighborhood, neighbors--we all gathered in the site that provides free meals. We sang, reflected, and shared. We stood and extended our hands, symbolically calling down a blessing of peace on the area--in each of the four directions.

Unquestioningly, the testimony of the volunteer, Rylan Bebermeyer, who had been assaulted at that very room, moved me deeply. His lip was split in the unprovoked punch, an attack he did not even see coming, an attack that required 15 stitches to fix. As a neighbor to the Café myself, seeing his bloody gurney going into the ambulance had been my first indication of the trouble that day. He had looked like a character from the movie Rocky--and he even almost chuckled as he recalled that fact himself to the group.

Rylan also recalled that he had prayed early that morning that he would be open to whatever the day would bring to him. As he spoke of the incident his face mirrored deep peace. He expressed no anger--only gratitude: "I never once had a feeling of anger toward Steve. What good would have anger done?"

Instead Rylan remembered gratefully the many people who assisted him--including even the woman upon whom he fell: "...right over there [pointing]. I fell on her. She kept me from hitting the corner on my way down."

Nonviolence is not "goody two-shoes," otherworldly, nor something vapid or "feel good." The person who can integrate undeserved pain deliberately inflicted on him is not taking the easy way out. Our neighborhood is healing. Violence is easy. Peace is hard.

---------

Thanks to the blog "St. Anne, Pray for Us" for bringing the quotation from Rohr to my attention.

Wislawa Szymborska - A Word on Statistics...

by Wislawa Szymborska

Out of every hundred people

those who always know better:
fifty-two.

Unsure of every step:
nearly all the rest.

Ready to help,
as long as it doesn't take long:
forty-nine.

Always good,
because they cannot be otherwise:
four--well, maybe five.

Able to admire without envy:
eighteen.

Led to error
by youth (which passes):
sixty, plus or minus.

Those not to be messed with:
forty and four.

Living in constant fear
of someone or something:
seventy-seven.

Capable of happiness:
twenty-some-odd at most.

Harmless alone,
turning savage in crowds:
more than half, for sure.

Cruel
when forced by circumstances:
it's better not to know
not even approximately.

Wise in hindsight:
not many more
than wise in foresight.

Getting nothing out of life but things:
thirty
(although I would like to be wrong).

Doubled over in pain,
without a flashlight in the dark:
eighty-three,
sooner or later.

Those who are just:
quite a few at thirty-five.

But if it takes effort to understand:
three.

Worthy of empathy:
ninety-nine.

Mortal:
one hundred out of one hundred--
a figure that has never varied yet.

(trans. from the Polish by Joanna Trzeciak)

Cross posted at The Middle of Nowhere

The Opposite of Peace Is — War?

Been reading a lot about World War II lately. My father fought in that war. He lost the hearing on one side thanks to shrapnel that perforated his eardrum. He lost many of his friends. He nearly lost his life.

But my reason for reading is both greater and lesser than a desire to know a little piece of my father's history: I am writing a novel set in that period.

And today, I came across something that encapsulates very nicely the malaise that the reading of the past several weeks has engendered in me. FTA:

WAR is a racket. It always has been.

It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives.

A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of the people. Only a small "inside" group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense of the very many. Out of war a few people make huge fortunes.

In the World War [I] a mere handful garnered the profits of the conflict. At least 21,000 new millionaires and billionaires were made in the United States during the World War. That many admitted their huge blood gains in their income tax returns. How many other war millionaires falsified their tax returns no one knows.

How many of these war millionaires shouldered a rifle? How many of them dug a trench? How many of them knew what it meant to go hungry in a rat-infested dug-out? How many of them spent sleepless, frightened nights, ducking shells and shrapnel and machine gun bullets? How many of them parried a bayonet thrust of an enemy? How many of them were wounded or killed in battle?

Out of war nations acquire additional territory, if they are victorious. They just take it. This newly acquired territory promptly is exploited by the few – the selfsame few who wrung dollars out of blood in the war. The general public shoulders the bill.

And what is this bill?

This bill renders a horrible accounting. Newly placed gravestones. Mangled bodies. Shattered minds. Broken hearts and homes. Economic instability. Depression and all its attendant miseries. Back-breaking taxation for generations and generations.

Maj. Gen. Smedley D. Butler, War Is A Racket

While Japanese farmers, office workers, and civilians were restricted to the grayest of lives by the sumptuary laws enforced before and during WW II, while Japanese intellectuals trembled under the heavy hand of the thought police and suffered torture by the Kempeitai, while Chinese peasants starved and their children were forcibly inducted into the military to fight against superior armies and lose their lives for a pittance, the wealthy crooks who engineered these wars became wealthier still. Come rain or shine, they continued to find ways to profit from the vast human suffering.

George W. Bush paid for the war in Iraq by borrowing billions of dollars from the Chinese. Now your grandchildren will have to repay that debt. I hear some people say Obama is creating a huge debt by borrowing additional monies to stimulate the economy. Unfortunately, the hole that Bush left has to be patched before everything else leaks out of it. And the only way to patch that hole is to stimulate the economy into spending.

People forget that the U.S. economy runs on consumer spending. Before George Dumbya left office, the Iraq war had already cost us three TRILLION dollars. We are bringing our troops back now, but that costs money too. Then there's the issue of reintegrating them into the smashed civilian economy. All the while, the war profiteers like Dick "Dick" Cheney sit back on their seats and bwa-ha-haaa themselves into something like an orgasm. I wish it were an organism. Something intestinal and painful and lengthy.

How many kids have lost their parents in this war? Iraqi kids? Somewhere between one and five million? American kids? Somewhere between three and ten thousand? Nobody really knows. In 2004, when the total casualty figures were around 2,000, Scripps stated that 900 American children had lost a parent to the war. However, the casualty toll has doubled since then, and most of the soldiers in this war have been professional military and reservists, which means they tend to be older, married, and have more children.

How many kids are getting back parents who are not the people they used to be? Broken in body or mind or both? How many kids have to grow up really fast, to become caretakers to their parents instead of being children any more? Smedley Butler was right. War IS a racket.

Blackwater mercenaries made two to three times the salaries of military men for the same work. No-bid government contracts made a lot of people very rich. The wholesale plunder of Iraqi oil made other people (or sometimes the same people) very rich. To us, the taxpayers, is left the broken mess, the debris, the tortured, the cripple, the lame, the halt, the blind, the miserable, people who are still fighting the war in their heads, crying themselves to sleep or drinking or drugging to forget. And they are living among us as are their suffering parents and spouses and children.

The dividends of peace are happy human lives. However, these do not represent adequate profits to those whose greed drives them to profit above all else. And to achieve those profits they will willingly sacrifice every last man, woman, and child of us upon an altar of blood.

Donald Reeves: 'A Very Dangerous Man'

'Imagination is the word that Reeves uses with most enthusiasm to summarise his work and belief, “the view that there is always something new waiting to be born” — whether in a London parish or a Bosnian town. “And imagination for me is the entry into religion,” he adds, an imagination that combines clarity about where society is and a vision of change.' - From The Times, July 10, 2009

Cross-posted at Antimedius and at Blazing Indiscretions.

In The Times (UK) - a Murdoch paper! - yesterday, there's a profile of Donald Reeves, former vicar at the landmark St James's Church - designed by Christopher Wren - in London's West End, promoting his new book, Memoirs of a Very Dangerous Man. I was a member of SJP for a year in 1999; although Reeves was no longer vicar, his mark on the parish was evident in its inclusiveness in celebrating other faith traditions and in its social justice ministries to the marginalised in greater London. St James's, Piccadilly continues to do good work with asylum seekers. In 1999, we were actively assisting Albanian and Bosnian refugees to adjust to life in a strange city and battling with the increasingly hostile UK authorities to prevent their deportations. One Sunday evening, I joined fellow SJP friends to hear Reeves give a talk at Westminster Abbey about his work, just starting to take root in the Balkans.

So, this post is an appreciation of Donald Reeve's life and work.

(I learned some facts about his earlier life in yesterday's article, too.)

Excerpts from the Times's Turbulent priest who now builds bridges in the Balkans

When Donald Reeves, then Rector of St James’s Church, Piccadilly, was told that Margaret Thatcher had described him as “a very dangerous man”, he remembers being “rather pleased . . . it felt like a natural title”. With it he became part of the prominent Anglican tradition of “troublesome priests”, apt to turn their critical fire not only on the world around them but also on the Church that employs them.

And yet the man who enjoyed excoriating Thatcherite political views and episcopal complacency in the 1980s, emphasises his role these days as peacemaker rather than as trouble- maker. Through the Soul of Europe project that he co-directs, Reeves spends much time in the Balkans, attempting to build durable trust between communities only nominally at peace after terrible conflicts.

He is currently most engaged in Kosovo, talking to local Serbs and Albanians, seeking to “dismantle the fear each has of the other” and to break down the isolation of minorities — in this case the Serbs, and their ancient religious institutions, living under armed guard.

Before his work in Kosovo, he was in Bosnia:

Progress was uneven and inconclusive, as Reeves and his colleagues experienced how deeply rooted was the mutual suspicion and resentment of communities where, within such recent memory, co-existence had been replaced more or less overnight by murderous hatred. They had to listen patiently to “raw memories” and accept that there could be “no short cuts, no quick fixes”.

But persuading anyone from the various communities to engage at all was an achievement in itself, a crucial first step in peace-building that others had failed to try. He is scathing about the official peacekeepers, the cynical UN and EU bureaucrats “with their expat salaries and weekends in Vienna” who feel two years in Bosnia is good for their CV.

Reeves's work to enliven a nearly-dead London parish:

But it was his next appointment, to be vicar of St James’s Church in Piccadilly in 1980, that would really make his name. It was not, at first, an auspicious place, known for society weddings but with little evidence of a congregation rooted in the community: “On my arrival,” he said, “I could see no justification for keeping the church open.”

But gradually he turned it into a thriving institution, closely linked to locals, rich and poor, and, above all, a place for the exploration of ideas.

“Jesus wasn’t exactly into garden parties, He was regarded as a nuisance,” Reeves says. “The churches shouldn’t be creating little managers of sectarian communities but should be places of dissent.” His own dissenting challenge to Thatcherism was overt. He sparked lively debate by preaching against the invasion of the Falklands, and he helped the miners’ wives during their husbands’ bitter strike. But debate across boundaries was encouraged — invited speakers included Norman Tebbit as well as Tony Benn, non-believers as well as believers. And, in anticipation of later work in the Balkans, he began to explore the idea of peace-building, inviting Chinese and Russian visitors. Bishop Trevor Huddleston, a veteran campaigner against apartheid, who lived in the St James’s vicarage for many years, was another significant influence.

Hootie and the blowfish - State your peace

Studioversion of "State Your Peace"
With lyrics in the video.
...state your peace; before it's too late.

Emma Goldman on Patriotism

Actress Sandra Oh reads the speech given by anarchist Emma Goldman in San Francisco before the United States entered WWI. Part of a reading from Voices of a People's History of the United States given October 5, 2005 in Los Angeles California (featuring Howard Zinn and Anthony Arnove.)

Oh, how prophetic! This all has come to pass.

Some excerpts from the reading: What is Patriotism? (1908),
Speech given in San Francisco, California

* What is patriotism? Is it love of one's birthplace, the place of childhood's recollections and hopes, dreams and aspirations? Is it the place where, in childlike naïveté, we would watch the passing clouds, and wonder why we, too, could not float so swiftly? The place where we would count the milliard glittering stars, terror-stricken lest each one "an eye should be," piercing the very depths of our little souls?

* "Patriotism, sir, is the last resort of scoundrels," said Dr. Samuel Johnson. Leo Tolstoy, the greatest anti-patriot of our time, defines patriotism as the principle that will justify the training of wholesale murderers; a trade that requires better equipment in the exercise of man-killing than the making of such necessities as shoes, clothing, and houses; a trade that guarantees better returns and greater glory than that of the honest workingman.

* Conceit, arrogance and egotism are the essentials of patriotism. Let me illustrate. Patriotism assumes that our globe is divided into little spots, each one surrounded by an iron gate. Those who have had the fortune of being born on some particular spot consider themselves nobler, better, grander, more intelligent than those living beings inhabiting any other spot. It is, therefore, the duty of everyone living on that chosen spot to fight, kill and die in the attempt to impose his superiority upon all the others.

The inhabitants of the other spots reason in like manner, of course, with the result that from early infancy the mind of the child is provided with blood-curdling stories about the Germans, the French, the Italians, Russians, etc. When the child has reached manhood he is thoroughly saturated with the belief that he is chosen by the Lord himself to defend his country against the attack or invasion of any foreigner. It is for that purpose that we are clamoring for a greater army and navy, more battleships and ammunition.

An army and navy represent the people's toys.

* We Americans claim to be a peace-loving people. We hate bloodshed; we are opposed to violence. Yet we go into spasms of joy over the possibility of projecting dynamite bombs from flying machines upon helpless citizens. We are ready to hang, electrocute, or lynch anyone, who, from economic necessity, will risk his own life in the attempt upon that of some industrial magnate. Yet our hearts swell with pride at the thought that America is becoming the most powerful nation on earth, and that she will eventually plant her iron foot on the necks of all other nations.

Such is the logic of patriotism.

* Thinking men and women the world over are beginning to realize that patriotism is too narrow and limited a conception to meet the necessities of our time.

* The spirit of militarism has already permeated all walks of life. Indeed, I am convinced that militarism is a greater danger here than anywhere else, because of the many bribes capitalism holds out to those whom it wishes to destroy.

* When we have undermined the patriotic lie, we shall have cleared the path for the great structure where all shall be united into a universal brotherhood — a truly free society.

cross-posted on Border Explorer

Tom Waits Road to Peace

Pro-Anti or Anti-Pro (a discussion with my muse.)

My muse has been banging the gong in my head for about two hours now. Before you ask… Yes. There is a gong in my head. It was put there years ago by men in white coats who said it would be used to keep my wits from colliding up against my colossal ignorance. To this day I do not know who those men were. One of them looked suspiciously like my Uncle Chester.

(Long pause.)

Yes. My muse must be banging on it hard, because I’m sure she isn’t just getting my attention for attention’s sake... It’s not her Modus operandi.

(Pause.)

So I’m just waiting for her to rear her beautiful head…

(Looks at watch. Silence.)

I am rather sure that she’ll begin shortly.

(Looks at watch. Silence. Looks at watch again. Silence.)

I’m serious… I am. ...She’s banging the gong so friggin’ loud she must be in one hell of a lather over something.

(Pause.)

Something has her furious! Some injustice or war or genocide or fool or politician or thief- but there I go repeating myself.

(Pause.)

When this happens, and it happens more times than I’ve the pills for, she will, rather quickly, begin to do her thing…

(Looks at watch. Silence. Knocks on forehead.) 

Hello? You can stop banging and get to work, muse. ...Hello?

(Silence. Begins to pace about the room grunting and in general making the headache worse.) 

Say something! Move my fingers already would ya? I don’t have all night and the faithful readers will tire of this idiotic monologue soon and hit the back button, or some link... anything to rid themselves of what isn’t theirs! Namely, my headache!

(Looks about the room desperately to draw attention from the bombardment. Nothing. Begins to pace wildly and grit teeth.)

Stop banging the damn gong and speak! I demand that you say something or take my wrist and begin to type something worthy! Now!

(Silence.)

Come on, muse! I’ve been very patient and you know it! Please? Please? Please?

(You’re groveling.)

Of course I’m groveling! It’s your gonging that is driving me to it! Your incessant clanging is causing me to do things that I would otherwise never do!

(Ha! You always grovel. I’ve told you so many times how unbecoming it is on you. Remember?)

For God’s sake! Must you be such a pigheaded mule?

(That’s better. Still, it is rather evident that you need me to write. I mean you mix metaphors like Michael Steele mixes his definition of conservatism.)

Oh god! That was pathetic, muse!

(Was it?)

Hell yes it was! Just ask the readers here if your metaphor was any better than any of mine. Go ahead. Ask them. I dare you.

(You’ve done it for me, dear. But mine was not a metaphor.)

Huh? …Oh. Yes.

(Silence. Puts fingers to temples. Muse is again banging the gong.)

For the love of all things! This has not been the best of weeks for me, muse! You of all people should know this!

(Sudden stop.)

Oh. No. That didn’t come out the way I intended it. I didn’t mean to imply that this weeks writing has not been your best, muse. I meant, outside of the writing, I’ve had a bad week. Understand? Don’t take it the wrong way. I didn’t-

(You’re groveling again!)

Sorry.

(You need to lighten up, Mark. You need to stop taking things so seriously, because they’re not.)

They’re not?

(No.)

But what about Madoff and torture and war and Sudan and the economy and joblessness and homelessness and hunger and-

(I was talking about your personal life, you schmuck. You’re too serious about yourself.) 

I am?

(Yes. The other things, those outside of you, are serious. You see?) 

Yes. (Beat.) No. I don’t think I get it…

(That’s because you’re not supposed to “get it”.)

I’m not?

(No.)

But… Wait? But… Wait a second… What am I supposed to not get? Myself? But I do get myself. I do! I get myself!

(Really?)

Yes.

(Okay. In what way do you “get yourself”?)

I… Well I… I know what I stand for. Yes! I do! I understand that little missy!

(Then by all means do tell…)

Okay. (Resolutely.) Do you mind? I know I’m resolute about the forthcoming list!

(Sorry. I couldn’t help myself.)

Of course you couldn’t. (Rowwrrr...) Stop it.

(Okay. Sorry. Please, Mark, tell us what you stand for. I’m sure the good readers are just dying to know.)

...Sarcasm noted... Okay. Ummm… I’m against unjust and non-defensive war. I’m against needless starvation. I’m against genocide and theocracy. I’m against tyranny. Against corruption and homelessness. I’m against torture and the death penalty. I’m against Prop 8. Against child abuse and sex slavery. And I'm certainly against racism.

(Muse clears her throat, which causes Mark to think faster, which, in turn, causes his headache to near migraine speed.)

I’m anti-war. Anti-anti-choice. Against slavery of any kind. I'm against pedophilia and against those that would force their religion down the throats of an unwilling populace. I’m anti-empire. Against preemptive strike. Against-

(Muse relentlessly and ferociously bangs the gong!)

Holy crap! Give a guy a heads-up, no pun intended, (none taken) before you bang the goddamn gong! I’m telling you what I’m against! What the hell else do you want from me?

(Muse bangs the gong!)

WHAT? WHAT? TELL ME!

(I thought you were going to tell us what you were for not what you're against.)

Stand for, stand against- like there’s a difference?

(Muse bangs the gong much harder than before and Mark storms out of the room holding his head and screaming...)

© 2008 mrp/thepoetryman

national peace academy launched

an fyi

peace academy

Wild Peace...

Please Take Action Now!

words

i have been thinking a bit about words over the last few days. the 'war of words' is playing out in the halls of congress over the stimulus bill- but it's really about something else. a war of ideas- and it is apparently, a fight to the death. the republican party hates the rest of us and that hatred has fueled an all out assault on what is real and what is their version. sometimes keeping up makes my head spin. and it wears me out. and i also thought about my words and my comprehension of words as i interact with blog buddies and casual readers from around the globe- and i know that what i write and how i write it- effects people.

conveying meaning through words is as old as time and throughout history we have changed the meanings of words and added and dropped words along the way. so, i guess my point is- words only have the meanings given to them by us but how we use the words is what determines war or peace. and it is sad to say, the united states is still not united and we are still at war- in the middle east and here at home. our civil war of words is just as damaging as the real one in the long run.

Dancing around the world...

Where the Hell is Matt

circling the wagons

so that i don't have to circle the drain. as a political blogger who blogged and supported for all i was worth, i feel a bit let down. we have a new congress but i am not optimistic on much movement towards change. traditionally, congress is where good ideas go to die- they get committied and hacked to death so that the original intent is lost and somehow the corporates come out on top anyway. as for mr. obama, i will reserve judgment until after he gets going. i am not optimistic on that front either- but i didn't expect to be as he is not a progressive. sigh. so much for change we can believe in.

the world and this country is still hurtling towards man made disaster and i don't see anyone interested in pulling us back from the brink- at least not anyone in a position to do so- so, i have decided to do what i always do when things look bleak- hunker down and protect me and my loved ones. my focus has shifted from the desperation of keeping the government out of neo con hands to more practical matters. the reality is- as angry as i am about gaza and iraq and louisiana and washington- there isn't going to be any real kind of change.

change takes time. people fight it for all we are worth and it is labor intensive and expensive- in money and relationships. so, not optimistic that our change isn't simply 'not bush'- and that's really ok. i can deal with that. i can only change the things i can- and to that end- my focus this year will be sustainable self sufficiency. it is a big challenge but with the hardships that will lie ahead for america and the world- it's fairly small in comparison. so, i imagine my posts will be more self sufficiency based than lofty platitudes- although i can be cajoled :)

i am currently in the process of ordering heirloom vegetable seeds and/or organic. what i can't get heirloom i will take organic- as long as they aren't genetically modified. i am looking at seed savers exchange and johnny's seeds- and they are not small catalogs! my thought is that if more people turned their suburban lawns into veggie and flower gardens- we wouldn't have to worry about starving. if more folks put some thought into water catchment through cisterns or rain barrels- we could save our drinking water for drinking. if all of us changed a few light bulbs, or researched home solar and wind power- we could help stop using coal- and save folks from acid rain and apparently, coal sludge slides.

what i have found as i have talked to different folks about this plan- it's too much work. baking my own bread is too much work for some folks. putting a couple of tomato plants in a pot of dirt on a patio- too much work. i am flabbergasted. too much work as compared to... watching cable? i realize that there are folks who are not interested in changing their lives and i realize that there are some who have changed far more about their way of life than me. but to sit and do nothing and continue on as if we should be- mind boggles me. at the very least, reuse the stuff you already have.

looking at the world left to us after the last 40 or so years, there was a time i felt bitter. now, is not the time. being proactive is better than reactive- reactive leads to conflict and war and violence. if we start building communities now that are more sustainable and more self sufficient, we don't have as much to worry about from our neighbors who may not have been so forward looking. if we want peace in our country- we have to make it. fed people don't riot, starving ones do. just a thought. namaste

all the same under the skin

in this economic downturn in america, it is easy to lose sight of the bigger picture. i try not to. that doesn't mean that i don't appreciate everything i have and the fact that i live in a land of excess. i do. but it makes me aware that because i have so much- many have nothing. america has always been the land of plenty for most, but we have always had our share of poverty too. we don't like to think about them, but their numbers are growing.

i just read a post with a few interesting links- about poverty, malnourishment, need:

one in 5 humans starving

this earth cannot survive the billions we have become but that doesn't tell the whole story. human beings run on a monied system and the folks with the most money- always win. if you take the planet as a whole- and look at the inhabited continents- most of the world is poor. it isn't just ethiopia that is starving anymore. i just want people in this country to be aware that because of poverty, war, drought, blight, and myriad other issues- one in 5 people on the planet are currently starving.

what can we do? grow our own food; consume less overall; pressure washington to pressure other western nations to stop propping up dictatorships in impoverished nations and to put together plans to help our fellow human beings. we can help end poverty globally by working together for peace and realizing that for all of our differences- we are all the same underneath- human beings.

one.org

from my email

5 lessons to make you think about how we treat people

1 - First Important Lesson - Cleaning Lady.

During my second month of college, our professor
gave us a pop quiz. I was a conscientious student
and had breezed through the questions until I read
the last one:

'What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?'

Surely this was some kind of joke. I had seen the
cleaning woman several times.. She was tall,
dark-haired and in her 50's, but how would I know her name?

I handed in my paper, leaving the last question
blank. Just before class ended, one student asked if
the last question would count toward our quiz grade.

'Absolutely,' said the professor.. 'In your careers
you will meet many people. All are significant. They
deserve your attention and care, even if all you do
is smile and say 'hello.'

I've never forgotten that lesson. I also learned her
name was Dorothy.

2. - Second Important Lesson - Pickup in the Rain

One night, at 11:3 0 p.m., an older African American
woman was standing on the side of an Alabama highway trying to endure a lashing rainstorm. Her car had broken down and she desperately needed a ride.
Soaking wet, she decided to flag down the next car.
A young white man stopped to help her, generally
unheard of in those conflict-filled 60s.. The man
took her to safety, helped her get assistance and
put her into a taxicab.

She seemed to be in a big hurry, but wrote down his
address and thanked him. Seven days went by and a knock came on the man's door. To his surprise, a
giant console color TV was delivered to his home. A
special note was attached..

It read:
'Thank you so much for assisting me on the highway the other night. The rain drenched not only my clothes, but also my spirits. Then you came along. Because of you, I was able to make it to my dying husband's bedside just before he passed away... God bless you for helping me and unselfishly serving others.'

Sincerely, Mrs. Nat King Cole.

3 - Third Important Lesson - Always remember those who serve.

In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less, a 10-year-old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in front of him.

'How much is an ice cream sundae?' he asked.

'Fifty cents,' replied the waitress.

The little boy pulled is hand out of his pocket and
studied the coins in it.

'Well, how much is a plain dish of ice cream?' he inquired.

By now more people were waiting for a table and the waitress was growing impatient.

'Thirty-five cents,' she brusquely replied.

The little boy again counted his coins.

'I'll have the plain ice cream,' he said.

The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on
the table and walked away. The boy finished the ice
cream, paid the cashier and left. When the waitress
came back, she began to cry as she wiped down the
table. There, placed neatly beside the empty dish,
were two nickels and five pennies..

You see, he couldn't have the sundae, because he had to have enough left to leave her a tip.


4 - Fourth Important Lesson. - The obstacle in Our Path.

In ancient times, a King had a boulder placed on a
roadway. Then he hid himself and watched to see if
anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the
king's wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by
and simply walked around it. Many loudly blamed the King for not keeping the roads clear, but none did anything about getting the stone out of the way.

Then a peasant came along carrying a load of
vegetables. Upon approaching the boulder, the
peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the
stone to the side of the road. After much pushing
and straining, he finally succeeded. After the
peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the King indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway. The peasant learned what many of us never understand!

Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve our condition.

5 - Fifth Important Lesson - Giving When it Counts...

Many years ago, when I worked as a volunteer at a
hospital, I got to know a little girl named Liz who
was suffering from a rare & serious disease. Her only chance of recovery appeared to be a blood
transfusion from her 5-year old brother, who had
miraculously survived the same disease and had
developed the antibodies needed to combat the
illness. The doctor explained the situation to her
little brother, and asked the little boy if he would
be willing to give his blood to his sister.

I saw him hesitate for only a moment before taking a
deep breath and saying, 'Yes I'll do it if it will
save her.' As the transfusion progressed, he lay in
bed next to his sister and smiled, as we all did,
seeing the color returning to her cheek. Then his
face grew pale and his smile faded.

He looked up at the doctor and asked with a
trembling voice, 'Will I start to die right away?'.

Being young, the little boy had misunderstood the
doctor; he thought he was going to have to give his
sister ALL of his blood in order to save her but he had chosen to save her anyway.

the war on christmas- and other things

so, i went to the office cmas party this past weekend- mr. betmo's not mine. my 'office party' is going to consist of me, mr. betmo, 2 cats and a bottle of bully hill sweet walter white. and it will be infinitely less tedious. and there are oddly enough- right wing christians in the financial industry. who would have thought that right winger christian capitalists would go into the financial industry? color me surprised :) wink wink. anyhoo- i generally behave myself because any reader familar with my posts here, there and over at my place- know i have little to no tolerance of christianity these days.

my biggest pet peeve is the fact that these asshats are so incurious about a religion that allegedly rules their lives. these people who believe that mere words and symbols negate an entire religion- so you can't even say 'xmas' let alone write it out. for the record, Xmas is not sacriligous. it doesn't mean "taking the christ out of christmas" it's greek for christ's sake.

"The use of "Χ," derived from Chi, the Greek alphabet initial, as an abbreviation for Christ (most commonly in the abbreviation "Χmas") is often misinterpreted as a modern secularization of the term. Thus understood, the centuries-old English word Χmas, is actually a shortened form of CHmas, which is, itself, a shortened form for Christmas. In fact, the use of "Χ" to represent the full word goes back to the earliest days of Greek Christianity."

but, don't try and educate these people- who generally get upset over being called on the fact that the holiday season encompasses chanukah, christmas, eid-ul-adha, and kwanzaa- not to mention celebrating the winter solstice. nope- they feel victimized by the fact that they aren't allowed to put creches on courthouse lawns and that private business have employees say 'happy holidays' instead of 'merry cmas'- even though you only ever hear cmas music piped out of every speaker in the northern hemisphere. mr. betmo has held firm on including other religions being represented in his office if there will be christmas displays- and i support him wholeheartedly. i am not anti-christmas. i am anti-christian. the two are mutually exclusive.

so, in the alleged season of peace while the christians sing 'silent night'- i wonder if they will truly listen to the words and read the words of their bible regarding 'the prince of peace?' nah. if they haven't in the last 2,000+ years- what would make me think that they would now?

Nonviolent Resistance Video Game: A Force More Powerful

A Force More Powerful is a computer game about nonviolent struggle which is available throught the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict. AFMP puts the player directly into the role of planner for a nonviolent movement seeking social change-a role that is challenging, demanding, and sometimes even dangerous.

A unique collaboration of experts on nonviolent conflict working with veteran game designers developed this simulation game to teach the strategy of nonviolent conflict. A dozen scenarios, inspired by recent history, include conflicts against dictators, occupiers, colonizers and corrupt regimes, as well as struggles to secure the political and human rights of ethnic and racial minorities and women.

A Force More Powerful is advertised as the first and only game to teach the waging of conflict using nonviolent methods. Destined for use by activists and leaders of nonviolent resistance and opposition movements, it will also educate the media and general public on the potential of nonviolent action and serve as a simulation tool for academic studies of nonviolent resistance.

Click for more info and ordering information.
Expand the post +/-

Info from their website:
AFMP is primarily a game of strategy, emphasizing abstract ideas and planning rather than reflexes, coordination or quick thinking. Its realism does not depend on resource-hungry real-time animation, but on the accuracy of its underlying political models.

Designed for those with no previous gaming experience and only basic computer skills, the game emphasizes substance over the flashy action common to many popular games. A sophisticated visual interface includes 3D views and animation, but the game is compatible with hardware commonly available in the developing world.

Game play is governed by detailed interactive models-of strategic and political factors, ethnicity, religion, literacy, material well-being, media and communications, resource availability, economic factors, the role of external assistance, and many other variables. Tactics include such basics as training, fund-raising and organizing, as well as leafletting, protests, strikes, mass action, civil disobedience and noncooperation. Many game-play decisions involve selecting which characters and groups should take part in the strategy, and weighing the benefits of such actions relative to their costs.

Game play involves the player's side (the movement) and an opponent (the regime). The regime is created by the designer of each scenario, and controlled by the game's artificial intelligence (AI). The player takes charge of the movement's material and human resources, assesses the strengths and vulnerabilities of the adversary as well as those of the movement, then chooses goals, strategies and tactics.

Groups are the game's basic political units, representing the interests and agendas common to every complex struggle. Recruiting characters and building alliances is a principal game activity, involving labor, business, government, agricultural, academic and professional, media, religious and military categories.

Scenarios involve these characters, groups and alliances, which interact with and against each other, depending on the player's decisions, the particular circumstances of the scenario, and the actions of the regime.

Playing one or more of the packaged scenarios, users will learn strategic planning, formulation of goals (such as compelling free elections or the resignation of a dictator), and the choice of tactics (such as strikes, protests or boycotts).

Each scenario is played within a physical environment which affects the conflict. A national map shows regions, cities, mining, industrial and farming areas, rivers, mountains, ports, and the transportation network. Within regions, zoomed-in city views are detailed down to neighborhoods and buildings. However, a scenario may take place entirely within a single city or region.

AFMP includes a powerful suite of tools with which users can re-create real-life political struggles, or create their own from scratch. It is an unprecedented way for users to learn about the principles of strategic nonviolent struggle, by making the decisions themselves.

At this writing, the game is available for $9.98 +shipping at this site.

I haven't used it myself nor spoken with anyone who has. If anyone has first hand experience with the game, let us know in the comments to this post.